ARDE and L&T are working on a Pinaka based extended range anti submarine rocket. L&T will soon start the integration of Extended Range Anti-submarine Rocket on a new launch platform
ARDE had recently demonstrated a new rocket technology to the Navy, who have issued a set of qualitative requirements to be achieved during the agency’s internal trials.
Currently, the navy has vintage Russian rocket RGB-60 with a maximum range of 5.3km, which is an unguided area weapon for combating submarines. These rockets are fired from the RBU-6000 rocket launcher, which is fitted on-board certain Indian Naval Ships including the R-Class, Delhi Class and Talwar Class of Navy ships reported earlier by TOI.
The Indian navy wants an extended range anti-submarine rocket which can engage an enemy’s submarine from a distance of 8km. Accordingly, a group of scientists worked on the project and developed the rocket according to the requirements of the navy. Now, the agencies working on the qualitative requirements that the Navy has prescribed.
The development is based on a specific requirement of the Navy that, firing torpedoes to engage the enemy submarine is considered as a deliberate attack and it can be costly if the attack fails. Therefore, the rockets are mainly seen as an ‘urgent attack weapon’, which can be fired as a single or in salvo to disrupt the movement of the submarines. Therefore, the role of the rocket is as crucial as torpedoes.
Considering the importance of the Indian Ocean Region and the increasing sighting of foreign submarines in the Indian Ocean, the officer said, it is need of the hour to have an extended range rocket which can engage hostile submarines from further away.
Reliable sources indicate that L&T will soon start the Integration of Extended range Anti-submarine Rocket on a new launch platform.
