Astra Mk-1 Air-to-Air Missile- Features, and Strategic Significance

Astra Mk-1 Air-to-Air Missile- Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 3: Security- Security challenges and their management in border areas; linkages of organized crime with terrorism; Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.

Recently, the Ministry of Defence said that it has signed a contract with the Hyderabad-based public-sector Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) for supply of the Astra Mark-1, at a cost of Rs 2,971 crore.
- These Astra Mark-1 Missiles will be deployed on fighter jets of the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy.
Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missiles are capable of engaging beyond the range of 20 nautical miles or 37 kilometers.
- Air-to-Air Missiles (AAMs) are fired from an airborne asset to destroy an airborne target.

Background: Astra project was officially launched in the early 2000s with defined parameters and proposed future variants.
- Around 2017, the development phase of Mk-1 version was complete.
About: The Astra Mk-1 is a beyond visual range (BVR), air-to-air missile (AAM).
Design and Development: The Astra Mk-1 missile has been designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
- Astra Mk-1 Missile has been developed for deployment on fighter jets like Sukhoi-30 MKI and Tejas of the IAF and the Mig-29K of the Navy.
Astra Mk-1 Missile Range: While the range for Astra Mk-1 is around 110 km, the Mk-2 with a range over 150 km is under development and Mk-3 version with a longer range is being envisaged.
- One more version of Astra, with a range smaller than Mk-1 is also under development.
Features: The Astra Mk-1 missile can travel at speeds more than four times that of sound and can reach a maximum altitude of 20 km, making it extremely flexible for air combat.
- The missile is fully integrated on the Sukhoi 30 MKI I and will be integrated with other fighter aircraft in a phased manner, including the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas.
- The Indian Navy will integrate the missile on the MiG-29K fighter aircraft which are deployed on the Navy’s aircraft carriers, thus adding to the lethality of India’s Aircraft carriers.

The missile has been designed based on requirements specified by the IAF for BVR as well as close-combat engagement, reducing the dependency on foreign sources.
AAMs with BVR capability provides large stand-off ranges to own fighter aircraft which can neutralise adversary airborne assets without exposing themselves to adversary air defence measures.
- Stand-off range means the missile is launched at a distance sufficient to allow the attacking side to evade defensive fire from the target.
Astra is technologically and economically superior to many such imported missile systems.

shivam