Astra Mk1 BVRAAM Demonstrated long-range against Low RCS Target

Source : RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

Astra Mk1 BVRAAM

Dr. S Venugopal, Project Director for the Astra Program speaking to Dr. Anantha Krishnan Tarmak Media House revealed that Astra Mk1 took down a Banshee target drone in head-on mode when it was about 87km away from the launch platform. This is a significant demonstration of the capability of the missile since target drones usually have very low Radar cross-section (RCS) due to the small size of the drones making it very difficult to take down at long range.

idrw.org who spoke to Defence Expert Ranesh Rajan said that the Banshee target drone that has an RCS value with a probability of 0.5m2 to 1.4m2 is designed to imitate remote-controlled aircraft, cruise missiles, and subsonic tactical aircraft during combat training and testing of air defense missiles and demonstration of such long-ranges against a target that has such low RCS value will come handy against aircraft with frontal stealth profiles.

Rajan also said that this confirms that Astra Mk1 is capable of engaging a wide range of airborne targets autonomously, including cruise missiles with less than 1-meter square RCS.

Astra Mk1 has a range ranging from 90km to 110km depending on the Target RCS and launch altitudes of the missile and in the last three trials, it has demonstrated maximum and minimum range against target drones even against maneuvering targets.

NOTE: Article cannot be reproduced without written permission of idrw.org in any form even for YouTube Videos to avoid Copyright strikes