India Clears Anti-Tank Nag Missile for Production
NEW DELHI - Two decades after the homegrown Nag anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) was conceived, it has been cleared for production.
The ATGM was indigenously designed and developed by the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation [DRDO]. The 4-kilometer-range missile will be produced at state-owned Bharat Dynamics, which will make about 200 missiles in the first year and double that number in following years. The Indian defense forces require about 4,000 ATGMs.
The production of the Nag missile was ordered early this month after successful heat trials in the Rajasthan desert, said a senior Indian Army official. The winter trials of the missile were concluded last December.
All the user tests of the Nag missile have been completed and the Army has given its approval, said a senior DRDO scientist.
The latest trials of the Nag missile were conducted using an advanced imaging infrared seeker head, one of the Army's essential requirements, the Army official added.
The Nag will replace the existing Russian Konkours and European missile Milan, both of which are manufactured under license by Bharat.
The Army urgently needs the more advanced Nag to improve kill probability as the missile uses a high explosive warhead to penetrate the armor found in modern tanks, the official said.
The Nag missile will be made in land and helicopter versions, where it will be fitted on the indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter, although the current order is only for the land variant.
The Nag is a third-generation, all-weather, top-attack, fire-and-forget missile, one of five missile systems developed by the DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. Design work started in 1988 and the first tests were carried out in November 1990.
The DRDO scientist said focus will now shift to the helicopter version, which will have an extended range of seven kilometers. The air version will be completed in two years, added the scientist. The land version also eventually will have a range of seven kilometers.
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