India flight tests helicopter-launched Nag missiles, SAAW glide bombs
India’s armed forces tested the Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon glide bomb system and the HeliNa helicopter-launched Nag anti-tank missile, the Ministry of Defence said.
Both systems are indigenously designed and developed.
Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon tests
The Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon was tested three times from IAF aircraft with different release conditions at Chandan range between August 16 and 18, the MoD said in a release.
“The weapon system was integrated with live warhead and has destroyed the targets with high precision,” the release said, adding that “all the mission objectives have been achieved.”
The MoD said the weapon has “undergone eight developmental trials” to date, and its performance “for different ranges under multiple launch conditions has been demonstrated.”
The Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon was last tested in November 2017. It is unclear which aircraft was used in Sunday’s test, but SAAW was test-launched from a SEPECAT Jaguar aircraft in May 2016 and from a Sukhoi Su-30MKI in December 2016. Plans are reportedly in place to integrate SAAW with the Dassault Rafale when it enters service with the Indian Air Force.
A 120kg-class weapon, SAAW is a lightweight, high-precision guided glide bomb designed to destroy runways, bunkers, aircraft hangers and other reinforced structures form a standoff range of up to 100 km.
HeliNa test
Separately, the helicopter-launched Nag anti-tank guided missile known as ‘HeliNa’ was successfully flight tested in Pokhran on August 19, the MoD said in a release.
Launched from an Indian Army helicopter that was not specified, the weapon system “released smoothly from the launch platform” and “hit the target with high precision,” the MoD said, adding that the system was “tested for its full range.”
The long-delayed Nag is an all-weather, top-attack fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile under development by the Defence Research and Development Organisation and manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited.
HeliNa, the 7 km-range helicopter-launched variant, was slated to employ lock-on after launch, but the MoD said the missile was “guided by an Infrared Imaging Seeker (IIR) operating in the Lock on Before Launch mode.”
