Army VSHORAD Tender

Army VSHORAD Tender 

French UN peacekeepers with Mistral

     After years of evaluation the Army is all set to award the tender for VSHORAD systems valued at around $ 1 billion. VSHORAD( Very Short Range Air Defence ) system is basically an air defence system with a canister launchable missile system that is mounted on a stable platform. VSHORAD contains of a long range twin tubes equipped with ECCM suites. The VSHORAD is a Long awaited tender for which the army has completed an extensive battery of field trails and a final report drafted.

    The tests included putting the system to use under extreme climatic conditions, Coastal environmental Trails, High altitude Trails each of these trails proving the capabalities of the system.

    After extensive initial trails only three contenders of the five contenders remain in the race to supply the system Indian Army. Chiron and Starstrak were knocked out afer the initial evaluation.French Mistral, Swedish SAAB RBS 70NG and the Russian new generation Igla-S continue to be in extensive trials before the final contract is awarded. The VSHORADS requirements will be largely met by a local manufacturing line, and a mandatory offsets requirement will apply.

      The deal comprises supplying of a total of one thousand launchers along with six thousands missiles and support systems and training systems, also here the Mistral and Igla S uses the IR based homing for target lock while only the SAAB RBS 70 uses the Laser based homing for target lock, while compared to IR homing the Laser homing have disadvantages like Most of the Fighter jets have RWR (Radar warning Receivers ) and MAWS sensors which can easily alert the pilot if the aircraft has been lased by
any laser lights and can alert the pilot to put in use the counter measures. VSHORAD have a very short range which is about 10 or less kilometers.  Battlefield is a chaos filled area and the ability of laser guidance missile to find or lock on to targets is greatly compromised under various circumstances. Saab’s RBS-70 NG is a beam ridden system with a Hard 3D short range radar attached to it alongside a C2 system and battery commander terminal. It fires within an 8km range at an altitude of 5km, which very well exceeds the Indian requirements.
    




    Back in the end of 2013, the US offered it's stinger missiles under Foreign Military sales, but which but failed to pass the stringent standards set by the Indian Army Evaluation team.

Igla-S

Twin tube Igla-S VSHORAD

As of now the Indian Army uses the Igla-S the Russian MANPAD which is a battle proven system under the Indian condition earlier our MANPAD crew shot downed two Pakistani helicopters using the Igla-S. Igla is a cheap, easy to maintain and use system. It's a highly portable, very effective system compared to other contenders. During the trails in summer 2012 Igla failed to hit the targets where it shot down only one out of four targets, during the sea trails the system failed produce any impressive results, in the high altitude tests the Igla's failed to intercept any target.

 The Igla S can engage targets at the Altitude upto 20000 feet, where as it's operation range remains classified.

MBDA Mistral

Twin Tube Mistral Launcher

       Mistral is the latest generation Fire and Forget missile, It's a man portable, fully digital heat seeking missile. The Mistral has a 97% of kill probability compared to other systems in the range of low level air defence. The missile is having high kill probability as well as can maneuver upto 30 G ,  which can hit highly maneuverable Combat Jets and Helicopters. The system can be used in all rough weather conditions and be put to use under any condition. MBDA can also be deployed under stand alone mode.

SAAB RBS 70 NG

SAAB RBS 70 NG, surveillance radar in the foreground

        The SAAB offered the RBS 70 next generation variant which is claimed to be unjammable. It uses the Laser beam for Target acquire and Lock function. During the SAAB evaluation in Sweden which exhibited to seventeen country's defence officials the system scored a hundred percent kill probability. Unlike the IR guided missiles which are easily jammable, the RBS 70 uses the Laser beam riding which can't be jammed in open area's. The RBS 70 NG range is classified but according reliable sources the missile can engage a target up to 8 kilometers away flying at an altitude of 16000 feet . Unlike other systems the RBS 70 needs a surveillance radar where three to five stations can operate under one Radar.

      The RBS 70 NG can be used in any tough conditions, the system will work under stand alone mode too according to SAAB reports.


Editor Kathik Kakoor