Focus: GS III- Defence Technology
Why in News?
Recently, Vertical Launch Short Range Surface to Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) was successfully flight-tested by Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Navy from an Indian Naval Ship at Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha.
About VL-SRSAM:
- For the deployment of Indian Naval warships, VL-SRSAM has been created and developed cooperatively by three Defense Research and Development Organization facilities.
- The missile is capable of destroying a variety of close-range aerial threats, including sea-skimming targets.
- Sea skimming is a technique many anti-ship missiles and some fighter or strike aircraft use to avoid radar and infrared detection.
Design:
- The missile is intended to hit fast-moving aerial targets with a range of 40 to 50 km and an altitude of roughly 15 km.
- Its design is based on the Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missile known as the Astra.
- The Defence Research and Development Organization created the Astra (“weapon”) air-to-air all-weather beyond-visual-range active radar homing missile for India.
- A Beyond-Visual-Range (BVR) missile is an air-to-air missile that can engage targets at distances of at least 20 nautical miles.
Features of VL-SRSAM:
- Cruciform wings: They are four small wings arranged like a cross on four sides and give the projective a stable aerodynamic posture.
- Thrust Vectoring: It is the ability to change the direction of the thrust from its engine, control the angular velocity and the attitude of the missile.
- Thrust is the force which moves an aircraft through the air.
- Canisterised system: The inside environment is controlled, thus making its transport and storage easier and improving the shelf life of weapons.
