The two-tiered BMD System consists of the PAD, which will intercept missiles at
exo-atmospheric altitudes of and the AAD missile for interception at endo-atmospheric altitudes of up to . The deployed system would consist of many launch vehicles,
radars, Launch Control Centres (LCC) and the Mission Control Centre (MCC). All these are geographically distributed and connected by a secure communication network. It has manoeuvre thrusters which can generate a lateral acceleration of more than 5
gs at altitude. Guidance is provided by an internal navigation system with mid-course updates from LRTR and active radar homing in the terminal phase. Further development led to the improvement of the interception range from . The improved missile will utilise a gimbaled directional warhead, a technology also used by Israel, the US and Russia. This technology allows for a smaller warhead to destroy the target missile. The second stage of the PAD uses
liquid rocket propellant, which corrodes fuel tanks when stored for long, the PAD could not be on standby 24×7. Instead, it would need to be filled up during a period of crisis in anticipation of trouble. This is less than optimal for a weapon intended to defend against an attack at any moment.
Prithvi Air Defence Exercise The PADE (Prithvi Air Defence Exercise) was conducted in November 2006 in which a PAD missile successfully intercepted a modified Prithvi-II Missile at an altitude of . The Prithvi-II
ballistic missile was modified successfully to mimic the trajectory of
M-11 missiles. The
DRDO plans to test the anti-ballistic shield against missiles with a range of . The test will be conducted with a modified Prithvi missile launched from a naval ship and the anti-ballistic missile launched from
Abdul Kalam Island. The interception of the target missile will take place at approximately altitude. On 6 March 2009 the DRDO carried out a second successful test of the PAD interceptor missile. The target used was a ship launched
Dhanush missile which followed the trajectory of a missile with range of a . The target was tracked by Swordfish (LRTR) radar and destroyed by the PAD at altitude. On 6 March 2011 DRDO successfully test-fired an interceptor missile from the Advanced Air Defence (AAD) system which destroyed a 'hostile' target ballistic missile, a modified Prithvi, at an altitude of 16 km over the
Bay of Bengal. The Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile positioned at Abdul Kalam Island, about 70 km across sea from Chandipur, received signals from tracking radars installed along the coastline and travelled through the sky at a speed of Mach 4.5 to destroy it.
Advanced Air Defence (AAD) The
Advanced Air Defence (AAD) also known as
Ashwin Ballistic Missile Interceptor is an anti-ballistic missile designed to intercept incoming ballistic missiles in the endo-atmosphere at an altitude of . The AAD is a single-stage, solid-fuelled missile with siliconised carbon jet vanes. Guidance is similar to that of PAD with indigenous radio frequency seeker. It supports
inertial navigation system (INS), mid-course updates from ground-based radar and
active radar homing in the terminal phase. It is tall, weighs around and a diameter of less than . The land-based launcher of the missile system is manufactured by
Tata Advanced Systems and was jointly developed by
TASL and DRDO. The launcher is based on a 12×12 truck chassis. Each launcher carries 6 missiles in canisterised form and can launch them in Single or Salvo Mode as per situation. The launcher also includes Launch Control System and power generation system. The launcher, termed as Advanced Air Defence Mobile Launcher System (AAD MLS) is equipped with a dual redundant communication link to the Launch Control Complex (LCC) and has an RF Wireless Link and a Physical Link.
Trials • On 6 December 2007, AAD successfully intercepted a modified
Prithvi-II missile acting as an incoming ballistic missile enemy target. The endo-atmospheric interception was carried out at an altitude of . The interceptor and all the elements performed in a copy book fashion validating the endo-atmospheric layer of the defence system. The launch was also shown through a video link at a control room of DRDO Bhawan, in Delhi. The sequence of events of the test was as follows. At 11 am the
Prithvi (missile) lifted off from Launch Complex III of
Integrated Test Range at
Chandipur, Odisha. Radars at
Konark,
Paradip detected the missile and were continuously tracking it. The target information was sent to MCC for further processing. MCC classified the target, calculated the trajectory of the missile and assigned the target to an AAD battery located on Abdul Kalam Island (Abdul Kalam Island), across the sea from Chandipur. The AAD was launched when the Prithvi reached an apogee of . The AAD, with the help of midcourse updates and its terminal seeker, manoeuvred itself towards the target. The AAD made a direct hit at an altitude of and at a speed of Mach 4. Radars detected formation of a large number of tracks, signifying that the target had broken into multiple pieces. The thermal cameras located on Abdul Kalam Island also picked up the direct hit through thermal images. • On 6 March 2011, India launched its indigenously-developed interceptor missile from the Odisha coast. India successfully test-fired its interceptor missile which destroyed a 'hostile' target ballistic missile, a modified Prithvi, at an altitude of 16 km over the Bay of Bengal. The interceptor, Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile positioned at Abdul Kalam Island, about 70 km across sea from Chandipur, received signals from tracking radars installed along the coastline and travelled through the sky at a speed of Mach 5 to destroy it. As the trial was aimed at achieving the desired result with precision, the interceptor missile had its own mobile launcher, secure data link for interception, independent tracking and homing capabilities and sophisticated radars. "
It was a fantastic launch. The trial, conducted from two launch sites of ITR off Orissa coast for developing a full fledged multi-layer Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system, was fully successful", he said. • On 10 February 2012, the AAD was again successfully test-fired from Abdul Kalam Island off the state coast near
Dhamra in
Bhadrak district, about 170 km from
Bhubaneswar. • On 23 November 2012, India again successfully testfired its home-made supersonic Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor missile from a defence base off the coast of the eastern state of Odisha. "''The test-firing was part of India's efforts to create a missile defence shield against incoming enemy missiles. The AAD interceptor missile, which was fired from the Abdul Kalam Island off the Odishan coast, successfully destroyed, in mid-air, an incoming ballistic missile launched from the
ITR in Chandipur, about 70 km from the Abdul Kalam Island.''" • On 6 April 2015 an improved AAD was tested. The missile was launched from a canister for the first time and the composite rocket motor fired successfully. The missile had improvements over the previous version in terms of bigger warhead, improved maneuverability and reduced miss-distance. As the missile was in the air one of the sub systems malfunctioned, making it veer away from the flight path resulting in the failure of the mission. Another test was planned to take place within 30–45 days after detecting and resolving the problem. • On 22 November 2015, an upgraded version of AAD (Advanced Air Defence) was successfully tested. The anti-ballistic missile took off at 9.40 a.m. from the A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (Wheeler) Island as soon after it received the command to waylay and destroy an incoming electronically simulated target missile. Conditions similar to the launch of a target missile from
Balasore were simulated electronically and upon receiving its coordinates, the interceptor missile, travelling at supersonic speed, engaged and destroyed the "virtual target" in mid-flight. • On 15 May 2016,
DRDO officially reported that AAD intercepted and destroyed a Prithvi ballistic missile fired from a ship. • On 28 December 2017, DRDO successfully carried out an AAD missile test in which an incoming modified Prithvi ballistic missile was intercepted and destroyed with a direct hit. • On 3 August 2018, a successful test was carried out from
Abdul Kalam Island where one of multiple incoming targets simulating 1,500 km class ballistic missiles was destroyed.
Sea-based interception The
DRDO Floating Test Range is expected to assist in the development of the Phase 2. This vessel
INS Anvesh (A41) was set to undergo sea trials in September 2021. On 21 April 2023, DRDO and the Indian Navy conducted the maiden flight trial of the sea-based interceptor missile for naval ballistic missile defence capability. The Newer versions of the Ashwin system, namly the AD-1 and AD-2 interceptors are planned to be deployed on Indian Naval vessels by 2027.
Prithvi Defence Vehicle (PDV) Prithvi Defence Vehicle (PDV) is an anti-ballistic missile designed to intercept incoming ballistic missiles in the exo-atmosphere at an altitude from to . The first test flight of the missile was expected in 2010. The PDV is designed to take out target missiles at altitudes above . On 27 April 2014 first PDV was successfully test- conducted by
DRDO. On 11 February 2017, DRDO successfully conducted a second test for PDV missile. The third test was conducted on 12 February 2019.
Prithvi Defence Vehicle Mark 2 |246x246px In March 2019, India conducted an
ASAT test. India officially confirmed that this missile was a Ballistic Missile Defence interceptor. PDV Mk-2 is a 13 m tall, 18.87 tons, three stage missile.
Solid rocket motors with flexible nozzles constituted the first two stages, with the Kill Vehicle being the third stage. According to a report published on the official
DRDO website, the missile has the capability to shoot down targets moving at 10 km per second in orbits as high as 1,200 km. The accuracy of the missile is less than 10 cm It has been suggested that this missile may have the capability of
exo-atmospheric interception of
intercontinental ballistic missiles. A report published on the official DRDO website suggested the same. At DefExpo 2020, DRDO confirmed that the PDV Mk-2 was ready for limited series production. The
solid rocket booster used is a derivative of the technology first developed for the
Sagarika missile. This missile was not derived from the
Prithvi ballistic missile.
Phase 2 Initially under Phase 2 program, AD-1 was designed to neutralize a
medium-range ballistic missile at 1,000-3,000 km range, whereas AD-2 was for intercepting an
intermediate-range ballistic missile at 3,000-5,500 km range. According to Samir V. Kamat, AD-1 can intercept an incoming missile with a range of 5,000 km.
AD-1 missile The AD-1 interceptor missile is developed for both low exo-atmospheric and endo-atmospheric interception roles and can be used against long range ballistic missiles. It is a two-stage missile and powered by solid propellants. The missile boasts an advanced but indigenous missile control system. It has the capability to neutralise any nuclear-capable ballistic missile with a range of about 5,000 km. On 2 November 2022, the maiden successful test of the missile was conducted by
DRDO. The test witnessed the participation of all BMD weapon system elements placed in different locations. The test was successful and all sub systems performed satisfactorily. On 24 July 2024, DRDO conducted another successful flight test of the Phase-II Ballistic Missile Defence System. At 1620 hours, the target missile was fired from Launch Complex-IV
Dhamra in an attempt to simulate an adversary missile. Weapon system radars stationed on land and at sea spotted the target missile, activating the AD-1 Interceptor system. At 1624 hours, the AD-1 endo-atmospheric missile was fired from the ITR Launch Complex-III
Chandipur. The entire network-centric weapon system, which includes interceptor missile, mission control center (MCC), low latency communication system, and long range sensors, were validated during the test.
AD-2 missile The AD-2 missile is in the development phase with a maximum range of more than 5,000 km capable of intercepting
intermediate-range ballistic missile and
intercontinental ballistic missile. The
wind tunnel models of the kinetic warheads were showcased in 2024-end at DRDO's Hyderabad facility. == Specifications ==