Israel’s ‘tank killer’ was ordered as part of an emergency purchase last year due to a military standoff with China, which is yet to show any signs of de-escalation. The widespread usefulness of such weapons has been demonstrated during the ongoing Russo-Ukraine conflict.
Ukrainian troops armed with American-origin Javelin ATGMs and Western Next-Generation Light Anti-Tank Light Missiles (NLAWs) have destroyed hundreds of Russian tanks and other armored vehicles since the conflict began on February 24.
israeli family Spike ATGM Equally lethal and versatile. joining the army spike LR-2 launchers and missiles, which have a ground-attack range of 5.5-km, while the IAF is integrating its Russian-origin Mi-17 V5 armed helicopters with Spike NLOS (Non-Line of Sight) missiles that can hit ground targets. Can destroy about 30. -km away.
“Both the fifth generation ATGMs are being inducted in limited numbers under emergency procurement to address certain operational gaps. The huge requirement for ATGMs will be met through ‘Make in India’ projects,” a top defense source said on Sunday.
“The pilot controlled NLOS missiles, which can be armed with a variety of weapons, are mainly carried by IAF helicopters for special missions ‘behind the hill’,” he said.
Incidentally, the Indian Air Force has 22 Apache combat helicopters, which are equipped with sting Air-to-air missiles, Hellfire Longbow air-to-surface missiles, guns and rockets were added in September 2015 under a deal worth Rs 13,952 crore with the US. The Army is getting six Apaches in return for a deal worth Rs 5,691 crore. In February 2020.
Spike LR-2 missiles can be used with either a tandem HEAT (high-explosive anti-tank) warhead, which has 30% more armor-penetration capability, or a smart multi-purpose warhead.
The Army had earlier inducted a limited number of Spike tank-killers with a strike range of 4 km to meet the immediate operational requirements till the indigenous man-portable ATGM being developed by DRDO is ready.
With a huge shortage in a variety of shoulder, vehicle and helicopter-launched ATGMs, the Army has been seeking third and fourth generation ATGMs for more than a decade.
The force’s current inventory largely includes the second generation Milan-2T (2-km range) and Konquers (4-km) ATGMs, manufactured by defense PSU Bharat Dynamics under license from French and Russian companies.
Indigenously launched third generation ATGMS, Helina for Army and Dhruvstra for Indian Air Force, with maximum strike range of 8 km, have been successfully test fired from Dhruv advanced light helicopters but are yet to be inducted has gone.
Similarly, DRDO in January this year in its “Final Deliverable Configuration”, test-fired a man-portable ATGM with a strike range of 2.5 km. But it is still some time away from induction.