Bot at 06:19, 7 November 2022

2022-11-07T06:19:52Z

New page

{{Short description|First generation wire-guided missile}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
The '''DRDO Anti-Tank Missile''' is a first generation [[Wire-guided missile|wire-guided]] [[anti-tank guided missile]] (ATGM) developed in India by [[Defence Research and Development Laboratory]] (DRDL), a part of the [[Defence Research and Development Organisation]] (DRDO). It has a subsonic speed up to {{convert|300|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}} with a range of {{convert|1.6|km|mi|abbr=on}} and carries a 106 mm [[high-explosive anti-tank]] (HEAT) warhead.<ref name="fi">{{cite news |last=Joseph |first=P. Chacko |date=19 August 2007 |title=The first ATM |url=http://frontierindia.net/the-first-atm |website=Frontier India |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612165617/http://frontierindia.net/the-first-atm |archive-date=12 June 2012 |access-date=5 March 2022}}</ref>

==Introduction==
In 1959, India began a feasibility study on a first generation ATGM. New General Staff Qualitative Requirements (GSQR) were issued and the task of preliminary study and wind testing was assigned to Department of Aeronautics and Institute of Science, Bangalore.<ref name="fi"/>

==Development==
In 1962, DRDO was granted {{INRConvert|6|l|year=1962}} to begin work on developing an anti-tank missile due to a conflict with China in [[Ladakh]]. It has a range of 500 meters to about 2 km.<ref>{{cite news |title=CASS India |url=http://www.cassindia.com/inner_page.php?task=research&&id=131 |access-date=20 June 2018 |work=CASS-India}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Parthasarathi |first=A. |title=Technology at the Core: Science & Technology with Indira Gandhi |date=2007 |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=9788131701706 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BrRN4qlR1AsC&pg=PA170 |language=en}}</ref>

After the first aerodynamic design was completed, a full-scale model of the complete configuration was tested in a wind tunnel at [[Indian Institute of Science]] (IISc), Bangalore. There, the model was given force and momentum tests which were completed in 1961. Vibrating spoilers were used during these tests to determine control effectiveness. The ATM was designed to have a subsonic flight speed of about {{convert|90|m/s|ft/s|abbr=on}}.<ref name="fi"/> In 1963, the entire design was reworked to hold a 106 mm HEAT warhead in the nose.

==Propulsion==
DRDL determined the propulsion motor requirement and designed the propulsion system. The motor was made of aluminium alloy. It had two compartments, one for the sustainer and one for the booster.

Another part of DRDO, the Explosives Research & Development Laboratory (ERDL), made the propellant compositions and also developed the SUK black propulsion grains. Molybdenum inserts were used as sustainer. The booster grain had star type hole for very fast burn and the sustainer was cigarette burning type for constant thrust.<ref name="fi"/>

==Control and guidance==
The actuator and [[gyroscope]] were the main components of the control and guidance system of the missile. The actuators were spoiler type, (similar to [[Mosquito (missile)]]), which gave a response time of 10 milliseconds with a stay time varying from 80–20 and 20–80 milliseconds. The gyroscope developed for the missile had three degrees freedom.<ref name="fi"/>

==Testing==
The missile was test-fired near Imarat, a village on the outskirts of [[Hyderabad]], India, which held the reliability order of 65%. The test trials were attended by Gen Bewoor, then Deputy Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army. The missile was tested 16 times and hit its target 14 times. Two Indian army teams which were trained on European ATMs, [[Cobra (missile)|Cobra]] and [[ENTAC]], carried out the tests. These test revealed no significant difference between firing the European and indigenous ATMs. Work was still to be done on inhibition of the sustainer motor.<ref name="fi"/>

==Termination==
After waiting for more than 10 years with no results, in 1969 ATM project was terminated as the Indian Army revised its General Staff Qualitative Requirements (GSQR). The new GSQR extended the range of the missile from 1.6 km to 3 km. They also required the formerly man-portable missile to be able to mount and fire from a mobile launcher. This led to production of Nord [[SS.11]]B1 at Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Hyderabad under license from France.<ref name="fi"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Ramarao |first=Prahlada |title=Build Up to Blast Off: DRDL 1962 to 1982 |date=2016 |publisher=Frontier India Technology |isbn=9789385699047 |page=63 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J1vzDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA63 |language=en}}</ref>

===Future development===
*[[Nag (missile)]]
*[[SAMHO]]
*[[MPATGM]]


==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Indian missiles}}
{{Defence Research and Development Organisation}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drdo Anti Tank Missile}}
[[Category:Guided missiles of India]]
[[Category:Anti-tank guided missiles]]

DRDO Anti Tank Missile - Revision history

Bot at 06:19, 7 November 2022