Independent development and serial production of promising guided missile weapons for various carriers is today an important indicator for assessing the level of the military-industrial complex of any more or less developed state. In an increasingly expressive multipolar military-political model of building peace, a fairly large number of regional powers have made their own "breakthroughs" in the development of missile technologies, developing and launching into serial production long-range precision weapons, which, under certain circumstances, can put even powerful armed forces in a difficult position. superpowers.
Iran, albeit with the help of the PRC and the DPRK, was able to develop and begin mass production of several lines of anti-ship cruise missiles ("Noor", "Gader") and ballistic missiles ("Khalij Fars"), capable of sending any Saudi Arabian naval surface warship to the bottom and even the United States. And Taiwan independently designed the Yuzo 3-stroke multipurpose / anti-ship missile, which allows for massive strikes against surface ships of the Chinese Navy, as well as 15-20% of the eastern coast of the Middle Kingdom.
But a very important part of the development of modern air forces today is the development of highly effective guided long-range air combat missiles with an active radar homing head. Today, India remains a prominent leader here. Defense Research and Development Organization DRDO is making every effort to bring the first production Astra air-to-air missiles to initial combat readiness as soon as possible. The acceleration of pace may be directly related to the fact that Delhi is playing a complex double geopolitical game, in which it participates with the US and Vietnamese navies in the anti-Chinese exercises Malabar, and simultaneously conducts a number of joint defense programs with the Russian Federation (FGFA, BrahMos). In such contradictory conditions, the "path" of cooperation with one of the parties may be suddenly lost, which can inevitably lead either to a shortage of Western European MICA missiles for Indian Mirages, or to a similar situation with the Russian R-27ER1 and RVV-AE missiles for MiG-29K and Su-30MKI, also in service with the Indian Air Force. The only visible solution to the issue is the creation of a single national air combat missile integrated into the control system of all tactical fighters in service with the Indian Air Force. The active radar "Astra" became such a missile.
According to information from Indian sources dated August 22, 2016, the main prototype of the Astra Mk.1 modification continues to be tested, and if you believe their dynamics over the past 6 years, they are already at the final stage. So, initially, from 2003 to 2014, launches were made from a specialized ground-based launcher at the Chandipur training ground, and later launches from the suspensions of the super-maneuverable multifunctional Su-30MKI fighter were performed. Then the first full-scale interceptions of training targets were worked out, which ended successfully. In addition, in 3 launches from ground stands, DRDO specialists received comprehensive information for the development of a project of a promising ground multichannel air defense system with a short reaction time QRSAMS (Quick Reaction, Surface to Air Missile), in which the Astra Mk.2 modification rocket can also be used. with an increased period of operation of the power plant and a range of 35-40 km at ground launch. According to its characteristics, this complex will correspond to the American self-propelled air defense system "SLAMRAAM". Further tests of the "Astra Mk.1" continued on board the Su-30MKI.
Air-to-air missiles of the Astra family are very promising DRDO products. Almost all structural elements of the hull are made of composite materials, which makes Astra an ultra-small airborne object with an RCS of about 0.02 m2. Even modern enemy AWACS aircraft will be able to detect it at a distance of only 70-80 km. To reduce the likelihood of visual detection of the missile by the enemy at the initial stage of the trajectory, the product uses a modern solid-propellant rocket engine with low-smoke fuel.
The Astra Mk.1 version has excellent tactical and technical characteristics and is almost 1.5 times more effective than the French air-to-air missiles (the range approaches 110 km into the front hemisphere and 20-25 km after), the speed flight is approximately 4750 km / h. Such indicators are achieved at altitudes of 15-20 km. An important quality of the "Astra" is the maximum overload of the missile of 40 units, which makes it possible to intercept not only tactical aircraft, but also cruise missiles performing anti-aircraft maneuvers with 15-fold overload. The range for such targets is reduced to 80-90 km in the stratosphere and to 50-60 km at medium altitudes (from 5 to 8 km).
The high maneuverability of the rocket at various angles of attack is achieved by using wide cruciform wings of low aspect ratio, but at speeds less than 1500 km / h, the excellent maneuverability of the rocket is sharply reduced, since the controls are represented by small tail aerodynamic rudders, the area of which is smaller than, for example, in missiles family R-27R / ER, and the location in the tail does not allow to influence the center of mass of the rocket, which is why the sharp energy maneuvers of the Astra missiles at low speeds are not subject to. The solution to the issue can be a change in the aerodynamic design of the rocket with the transfer of aerodynamic control surfaces to the nose of the rocket and the displacement of the modified swept wings to the rear of the rocket, or equipping with a "belt" of impulse gas-dynamic engines of transverse control, as is done in the French anti-aircraft missile "Aster-30". Changes to the Astra design have not yet been reported, but it is already known about the development of a version of the Astra Mk.2 extended-range missile.
The new modification in terms of combat qualities should confidently take a place between the American AIM-120C-7 and AIM-120C-8 (AIM-120D) missiles. Its range will reach 150 km to the front hemisphere, and its speed will reach 5M, so that in the coming decades, the Indian Air Force will not need to purchase expensive air combat missiles from the European corporation MBDA "Meteor". The unification of the missile with the fire control systems of most modern tactical fighters is realized thanks to the introduction of the MIL-STD-1553 bus into the avionics of the missile, which is capable of receiving pre-launch data about the target and the most optimal trajectory to reach it from any carrier of such a tire. The most ambitious plan for the near future in the Indian Air Force is considered to be the entry of the Astra into service with light multirole fighters of the 4+ generation LCA Tejas. A promising Indian "tailless" with distant "Mirazhev" roots for the first time will receive an advanced long-range air combat missile of national development, eliminating the dependence of the Indian Air Force on the external arms market.
The high angular velocity of the "Astra" with an overload of 40 units, with a mass of 154 kg, will make it possible to successfully use it in close air combat, keeping the fighter's thrust-to-weight ratio of more than 1.0, which is most important for the Indian MiG-29K carrier-based multipurpose fighters. For example: 4 Astra Mk.1 / 2 missiles have a total mass of 616-650 kg (14-16% of the MiG-29K combat load), and 4 R-27ER missiles have a mass of 1400 kg (31% of the total combat load machines), which can have a very negative effect on the flight performance of a fighter in dogfight. In addition, all modern combat aviation of the transitional generation can carry various types of container electronic reconnaissance stations and optoelectronic detection and guidance devices, which can issue target designation to missiles with an active radar seeker in passive mode by radiation from enemy radar, infrared radiation from engines and target silhouette. then ARGSN will do everything by itself. Such a method of covert use of the Astra family of missiles can find itself in the armament of the Indian Su-30MKI for radio-emitting and heat-contrast targets at a distance. At the same time, in the infrared channel of the OLS-30I operation, target designation for the Astra will be limited to 50 km to the front hemisphere (to the rear hemisphere, the range will exceed 45 km due to the limited “energy” of the rocket), but on a radio-emitting target with the radar on " Astra Mk1 / 2”can be launched to the maximum distance.
Typical targets are captured by the Astra active radar seeker, operating in the Ku-band of centimeter waves (12-18 GHz), at a distance of 15 to 20 km: an irradiation warning station (RWS) on an enemy fighter will be triggered shortly before being hit, leaving a minimum of time for anti-missile maneuver, electronic warfare and shooting of dipole reflectors. But ahead of a phased transition to fighter aircraft of the 5th generation, where all weapons should be located exclusively in the internal compartments. And here DRDO has a long way to go in changing the aerodynamic design of the Astra rocket. First of all, it will be necessary to change the geometry and reduce the wingspan - stabilizers, as well as tail aerodynamic rudders. The wings will be reduced to narrow planes. Then you will need to change the configuration of the attachment points to the inner pylon. The program for creating a version of the Astra for promising stealth fighters will be very similar to the work carried out by the Russian Vympel Design Bureau to upgrade the Products 170-1 to the Product 180 level, where for compactness the lattice aerodynamic rudders were replaced with flat and non-folding ones. The missile can receive a combined active-passive radar guidance, the passive channel of which will allow the use of the "let-and-forget" principle from greater distances than the range of the ARGSN, and for non-maneuvering targets, a purely passive mode can be used, which at one time was introduced into the R modification rocket -27EP.
The success of the ambitious Astra Mk.1 / 2 URSM program can be strengthened by numerous contracts with the Ministry of Defense of such countries of Southeast Asia as Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. In service with their Air Force today is 35 Su-30MK / MK2, 18 Su-30MKM, 17 Su-27SK / UBK / SKM and 10 MiG-29N, to which Astra will already be partially adapted during the Indian program for the Su-30MKI. And, of course, new modifications of extended-range missiles could become the main armament of FGFA stealth fighters.
