Centre approves purchase of missile system to strengthen air defence against China

Following heightened tension along the disputed Sino-Indian boundary in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, the Defence Ministry on Tuesday approved procurement of indigenous VSHORAD missile systems for improving the air defence in the northern sector.

In addition, the ministry also cleared purchase of a home-made helicopter-borne anti-tank missile for the Indian Army and Brahmos Launcher and Fire Control System for the Shivalik class of ships and Next Generation Missile Vessels for the Indian Navy.

The three procurements worth Rs 4,274 crore were approved by the Defence Acquisition Council headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

The approval for the DRDO-made very short range air defence system (VSHORAD) with infrared-homing technology comes three months after the Defence Research and Development Organisation conducted two successful test flights of the man-portable short-range missile from a ground-based portable launcher at the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur.

“In view of the recent developments along the Northern borders there is a need to focus on effective Air Defence weapon systems which are man portable and can be deployed quickly in rugged terrain and maritime domain. Procurement of VSHORAD, as a robust and quickly deployable system, will strengthen the Air Defence capabilities,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

The missile, meant for neutralizing low altitude aerial threats like UAVs at short ranges is propelled by a dual thrust solid motor. The design of the missile including launcher has been highly optimised to ensure easy portability.

Anti-tank missile Helina is the helicopter-launched third generation Nag missile, which was one of the fine missiles on which DRDO was working since the days of APJ Abdul Kalam. In April 2022, the missile was successfully flight tested in the high altitude for two consecutive days as a part of user validation trials.

Earlier, validation trials of the ‘Helina’ were conducted at Pokhran in Rajasthan, which proved the efficacy of the missile in desert ranges.

Helina is the third generation, fire and forget Anti-Tank Guided Missile that can engage targets both in direct hit mode as well as top attack mode. The system has all-weather day and night capability and can defeat battle tanks with conventional armour as well as with explosive reactive armour.

Since this missile is an essential part of weaponisation of Advanced Lightweight helicopters for countering enemy threat, its induction would strengthen the offensive capability of the Indian Army, the ministry said.