NASM–SR or Naval Anti-Ship Missile–Short Range is a helicopter launched

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A good ...

being developed by the

Defence Research and Development Organisation The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) (IAST: ''Raksā Anūsandhān Evam Vikās Sangaṭhan'') is the premier agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in Ministry of Defence of the Government of India ...

for the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

. It is the second indigenous air launched anti-ship cruise missile developed for the Indian Navy.

Development

Since 1980s, the Indian Navy has been using Sea Eagle anti-ship missile on its

Westland Sea King The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engin ...

Mk42B multipurpose helicopter. The NASM-SR is intended as a replacement for the

Sea Eagle missile The BAe Sea Eagle is a medium weight sea-skimming anti-ship missile designed and built by BAe Dynamics (now MBDA). It is designed to sink or disable ships up to the size of aircraft carriers in the face of jamming and other countermeasures inc ...

which restricted flight range and increased take-off weight. The development of NASM-SR was made public for the first time in 2018 by the then

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from coun ...

Nirmala Sitharaman Nirmala Sitharaman (born 18 August 1959) is an Indian economist and politician serving as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of India since 2019. She is a member of the Rajya Sabha, upper house of the Indian Parliament, since 2014. S ...

. Fund of ₹434.06 crore for the development was also allocated in the same year. The design and specifications of the new missile was revealed at the DefExpo 2020. The specification showed Mach 0.8 capable air launched anti-ship missile with a range of 55 km. The missile has an Imaging Infra-Red (IIR) seeker immune to jamming, state-of-the-art navigation system and integrated avionics. The NASM-SR can be easily adapted to launch from ships and land-based vehicles. DRDO is speculated to be developing a long range version of it for attacking land targets. As the Sea King Helicopters are being phased out, the NASM-SR will be equipped on Indian Navy's newly acquired

MH-60R The Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk (or Sea Hawk) is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission United States Navy helicopter based on the United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a member of the Sikorsky S-70 family. The most significant modificatio ...

naval helicopters.

Testing

Indian Navy successfully carried out the first test of the missile from a Sea King Mk42B helicopter on 18 May 2022. On maiden test firing, NASM-SR demonstrated its

sea skimming Sea skimming is a technique many anti-ship missiles and some fighter or strike aircraft use to avoid radar, infrared detection, and to lower probability of being shot down during their approach to the target. Method Sea-skimming anti-ship missi ...

capability and approaches the target at 5m above the sea level. The maiden test was successful, and the missile is said to have reached the designated target with high degree of accuracy. It validated the control, guidance and mission algorithms.

References

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External links

General:
Technology Focus : Ammunition Systems and Warhead Technologies, Defence Research and Development Organisation
Missiles Anti-ship missiles of India

Development

Testing

See also

References

External links