India signs a Rs 2,971 Crore contract for the home-grown ASTRA missile to fix post-Balakot deficit

Vishal Thapar May 31, 2022

A Rs 2,971 Crore ($382 Million) contract on May 31 for the ASTRA Mk I Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile marked a major milestone in the process of indigenising India’s missile weaponry.

The contract was signed by the Ministry of Defence with the state-owned missile maker Bharat Dynamics Ltd for an unspecified number of ASTRA Mk I missiles - which have a reported range of about 110 km - for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Navy.

So far, all air-launched missiles in use by the Indian armed forces - with the exception of the BrahMos – are imported. The ASTRA marks a success in indigenisation efforts under the ‘fight’ category, in which India is heavily dependent on imports. ASTRA is India’s first home grown air-to-air missile, also symbolising India’s growing maturity and self-reliance in missile systems.

The absence of a longer-range air-to-air missile was exposed when the IAF was pushed on the defensive by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in the latter’s February 2019 post-Balakot offensive on the strength of the AIM 120-armed F-16 fighters supplied to it by the US. IAF frontline Su-30MKI fighters were outranged by the PAF BVRs and were thus forced to take evasive action which allowed the PAF relative initiative.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)-developed ASTRA Mk I gives the IAF parity with the PAF’s AIM-120 missiles. The Mk II and Mk III variants of the ASTRA now under development will increase the IAF’s BVR envelope to 160 and 350 km respectively, which will outrange Pakistan and match Chinese capability.

“Air to Air missile with BVR capability provides large Stand Off Ranges to own fighter aircraft which can neutralise the adversary aircraft without exposing itself to adversary Air Defence measures, thereby gaining & sustaining superiority of the Air Space,” the Ministry of Defence stated.

The missile “is fully integrated on the Su 30 MKI fighter aircraft & will be integrated with other fighter aircraft in a phased manner, including the Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas),” and “the Indian Navy will integrate the missile on the MiG 29K fighter aircraft”, the statement added.

“This missile is technologically and economically superior to many such imported missile systems,” the Ministry of Defence asserted.

“ASTRA MK-I BVR AAM has been Indigenously Designed & Developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) based on the Staff Requirements issued by the Indian Air Force (IAF) catering for Beyond Visual Range as well as Close Combat Engagement reducing the dependency on foreign sources.

“The Transfer of Technology from DRDO to BDL for production of ASTRA MK-I missile and all associated systems has been completed and production at BDL is in progress,” the official statement elaborated.

“This project will act as a catalyst for development of Infrastructure and Testing facilities at BDL. It will also create opportunities for several MSMEs in aerospace technology for a period of at least 25 years,” the statement added

The contract was signed by Joint Secretary & Acquisition Manager (Air) Sanjai Singh of the Ministry of Defence and Director (Production) P Radhakrishna of BDL.