Air defence boost: Indian Air Force gets first Indo-Israeli missile

In a significant boost to India’s air defence capabilities, the Indian Air Force (IAF) was handed over its first Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) system on Thursday, in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, at Jaisalmer. 

The MRSAM provides protection against incoming enemy aircraft and tactical missiles. It is called a “network centric combat air defence system” and has been designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in partnership with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). 

Such is the military’s and DRDO’s confidence in this missile that it was operationally deployed in secret, even before it completed development. This was in September 2016, when the army was planning “cross border strikes” against Pakistan to avenge the killing of 19 Indian soldiers near Uri. 

Pakistani retaliation was expected against a key IAF base, which was protected only by aging Soviet-era missiles. To fill this gap, the IAF’s first MR-SAM unit, which was still being built in Hyderabad by Bharat Dynamics Ltd, was quietly airlifted to the vulnerable base — a vote of confidence based on recent firing trials. And when Indian commandos crossed the LoC on the night of September 28, 2016, the MRSAM was poised for operational use.

About 20-30 per cent of the MRSAM has been developed by the DRDO, including the missile’s propulsion system that is based on a sophisticated dual-pulse rocket motor, its thrust vector controls, and electrical harness (wiring).

IAI has designed and developed 70-80 per cent of the MRSAM, including the Elta MF-STAR radar, which forms the heart of the system.

This is the only missile that all three services have enthusiastically acquired. The naval version of the MRSAM, which is called the LRSAM (Long-Range Surface to Air Missile), is stored in, and fired from, sealed canisters below warship decks, in order to protect the missile from the corrosive marine environment. The LRSAM primarily protects Indian warships from sea-skimming, anti-ship missiles.

So far, the LRSAM has been operationally deployed only on three Indian Navy destroyers — INS Kolkata, Chennai and Kochi. Each carries 32 missiles in “vertical launch unit” canisters. Now the LRSAM is being fitted on four more destroyers being built under Project 15B and seven frigates being constructed under Project 17A.

The IAF version of the MRSAM is mounted on trailers, and is fired from the open at enemy fighters coming in to attack air bases and other high-priority targets. The army version of the MRSAM protects ground troops from enemy ground attack aircraft. Army MRSAMs are mounted on high-mobility vehicles that keep up with tank columns moving cross-country. All three versions of the missile are identical, except for the software that controls their “self-destruct” function.