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India’s homegrown air-to-air missile Astra will undergo its carriage trials which will have test pilots from the Aircraft systems and Testing Establishment taking off in a Su-30 MKI combat aircraft provided by the Indian Air Force. Astra missile has been successfully test fired earlier this year but the indigenization of the critical technology is yet to be perfected.
Officials revealed that evaluation tests and telemetry on the Su-30 is being done and the combat aircraft will be modified to carry the missile on it at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The trials will involve a mock Astra missile which is not electrically connected to the on-board system of the SU-30 and the missile will be devoid of explosives as well.
The trials will reveal the mechanical, structural and electrical compatibility aspect of the missile and the aircraft besides verifying the amount of strain on the aircraft. This first phase will involve the participation of 20 sorties and the second phase will verify the integration of the missile’s avionics with the aircraft. The first phase will begin in January, 2009 and the second phase is expected in July 2009.
Presently, the Astra missile has a Russian Launcher and Seeker Head and they are yet to be integrated with the radar and other aspects of the missile.
Astra missile is a part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme and is developed by a team of defence laboratories headed by the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL). Astra is designed for an 80 kilometre range in head-on mode and 20 km-range in tail-chase mode.
The beyond visual range missile has been integrated with the carrier aircraft Sukhoi-30 MKI and integration with other fighter jets like mirage 2000 and MiG 29 will be taken up after the guided test to verify its accuracy in destroying manoeuvring targets. Astra missile can be launched after receiving a signal from the far away target and it will seek and home in using a complex range of onboard manoeuvres based on radio frequency (RF).
DRDL took nearly five years to develop the 150-kg tactical missile. Before the control and guided tests, two experimental flight tests were conducted in March 2007 to study the ballistic performance and control of the missile at low altitudes and shorter ranges.
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