LRAShM (missile)

Former President of India and head of the DRDO, Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, stated at the Defence Research and Development Organisation Directors Conference on February 21, 2007, that India would require a modern defence system involving hypersonic weaponry, which he proposed to be developed by the nation in a span of fifteen years. Two missiles were introduced to meet these operational needs, with there development being publicly announced at 2023 Year End Review of the Ministry of Defence as the Long Range – Anti Ship Missile and BM-04 respectively. Official work on a hypersonic vehicle propelled by scramjet engine started on a small scale in early 2008 with conceptual studies and design. Large-scale testing and system engineering was done in a phased manner instead of all-up testing as on India's other strategic platforms due to low levels of funding. During the development process, DRDO made notable advancements in the field of computational fluid dynamics, which are essential for building hypersonic vehicles. By 2015, the development of a conventionally armed missile with a range of more than was deemed necessary by the Indian Armed Forces in order to counter ship-based threats in the Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal, and Arabian Sea, as well as land-based threats from China, beyond the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the provinces of Xinjiang, Tibet, and Yunnan. Therefore, Advanced Systems Laboratory began full-scale work on the project from 2017. The Defence Research and Development Laboratory requested funding from the Indian Government to build a Hypersonic Wind Tunnel to aid in design and development of future hypersonic missiles. The facility was initially put into service in October 2019. On 19 December 2020, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh formally inaugurated the fully built Hypersonic Wind Tunnel (HWT) test facility at the Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Missile Complex. With a nozzle exit diameter of one meter and the ability to replicate speeds between Mach 5 to 12, the HWT facility is an enclosed free jet facility powered by pressure and vacuum. It was built at a cost of . Following China's two hypersonic weapons tests in the summer of 2021, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stressed the need for hypersonic weapon development during a lecture held at DRDO on December 14, 2021. India has since then built 12 hypersonic wind tunnels that can test speeds of up to Mach 13, according to the October 2021 Congressional Research Service Report. In February 2024, IIT Kanpur built and evaluated the Hypervelocity Expansion Tunnel Test Facility, referred to as S2, in the Department of Aerospace Engineering's Hypersonic Experimental Aerodynamics Laboratory (HEAL). The S2 facility can simulate flight speeds between Mach 8 to 29 and aid in the development of ballistic missiles, ramjet and, scramjet engines. It is anticipated that the facility will support multiple projects, ranging from spaceflight applications under ISRO's Gaganyaan and RLV-TD programmes, and DRDO's Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle, ET-LDHCM and LR-AShM. == Development ==

The LRAShM missile is being developed at the Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Missile Complex in Hyderabad with other DRDO laboratories and industry partners. The Vehicle Research and Development Establishment assigned the responsibility for developing the dummy article to simulate load and force on the vehicle during trials to Sterling Techno-Systems, a private sector business based in Pune. The aerodynamic characterization research was conducted at the 1.2m Trisonic Wind Tunnel Facility of the National Aerospace Laboratories. The programme is being led by Project Director A Prasad Goud. By 2 February 2026, two developmental trials were completed with the third expected to be conducted soon. The initial variant of the missile was showcased publicly for the first time at the Delhi Republic Day parade in 2026. In April, DRDO Chairman Samir V Kamat indicated that the missile has reached an advanced stage of development, and more development flight trails were to occur later. Three further hypersonic weapon projects are underway with the DRDO. These include Project Vishnu, a hypersonic cruise missile; Project Dhvani, a winged glide body vehicle and anti-hypersonic missiles. == Trials ==

• The first test was conducted on an unspecified date in 2023 as per the 2023 Year End Review of the Ministry of Defence. Given that the missile and canister were designated "LR-02," it's possible that this was India's second test. Earlier, a report had suggested the test launch of a similar anti-ship ballistic missile that could target warships and aircraft carriers at long distances of over . • On 1 May 2026, a Phase-II Trial was conducted off the Odisha coast from the Integrated Test Range. The missile struck a simulated sea borne target at a range of 1,500 kilometers. The test validated the missile's terminal guidance precision, along with other mission objectives from launch to final impact, mid-course manoeuvres and a sustained high-velocity flight. A NOTAM had earlier been issued between 1 and 3 May 2026 over the Bay of Bengal with the no-fly and no-sail zone extending 1,680 kilometres in length. This was conducted as a part of Phase-II development programme. == Design ==

The missile features a delta-wing hypersonic glide vehicle mounted on a two stage solid propulsion rocket motor system which sends launch it partially into orbit at a hypersonic speed. By dimensions, the missile has a length of , diameter of and weighs . The radome, covered by a carbon-silicon carbide heat shield, includes a radio frequency seeker with a range of . According to official sources, the missile reaches Mach 10 during launch phase. In the mid-course, the missile maintains an average of Mach 5 and follows a quasi-ballistic trajectory during which it can perform manoeuvers within the atmosphere. The solid rocket booster stage of Sagarika served as the model for the LRAShM's propulsion system. The DRDO team accelerated the production process and reduced the development time by leveraging technologies developed for the Sagarika and Agni missiles. Variants • The original missile variant is a land-based anti-ship missile, with potential carrier killer roles, for the Indian Navy. == Reactions to testing ==

According to Tom Karako, a missile defense specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, India's LRAShM test is an element of a larger worldwide pattern towards the design, development, testing, and procurement of several different, extremely fast, maneuverable missiles. According to Ankit Panda, Stanton Senior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the most recent LRAShM test is a part of the evolving Indian defense posture, which will rely on the Indian government's approval of hypersonic weapons and how it leads to an affordable acquisition of the platform for the Indian Armed Forces. Due to China's rapidly evolving mid-course defense capabilities against the current generation of missiles, the Indian strategic community considers LRAShM to be a viable choice in any future conflict with China. ==See also==