Drdo In Talks To Sell Missile To South Africa

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is in talks to sell the Nag anti-tank missile to the South African army that plans to test it on its Rooivalk helicopter.

The Nag is a radar-evading missile capable of hitting tanks and other ground-based targets up to 25 km away when fired from a helicopter. It uses a smokeless propellant and comes with a lightweight launcher mounted to the underbelly of a helicopter.

The Nag is the cheapest missile of its kind in the world at Rs 10 lakh a piece. Similar French and British missiles come for three to four times as much.

 

Talks for the sale to South Africa were held during the visit of Indian army chief General V P Malik to Cape Town recently. The South Africans want to test the missile before buying it.

A decision on allowing South Africa to test the missile is awaited from the Indian defence establishment. The Nag is undergoing final tests by DRDO. It is made by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Dynamics, the missile manufacturing company functioning under DRDO.

The Nag, under development for the last six years, is the most sophisticated missile in the Indian arsenal that includes Agni and Prithvi.

The missile will be ready for deployment by the beginning of next year. An important part of the army's battlefield support systems, it will be mounted on army helicopters like the Cheetah and the proposed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH).

The Nag has a unique guidance system that enables it to home in on its target in a cluttered battlefield. It also evades enemy surface-to-air and anti-aircraft fire besides giving the slip to radars and electronic warfare systems.

The army will need over 2,000 of these missiles. DRDO can substantially cut its development cost if there are one or two more buyers of the missile.