The scariest image of an Indian missile?

missile
Agni-1 ballistic missile RV detonation (watch the video here)

So, what's scary about this damp and grainy GIF image?
Nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles have different detonation mechanisms depending on the type of target they are fired at. Earth penetrating nuclear warheads are used against deep-buried hardened targets. Against 'exposed soft targets', the warhead is rigged to detonate at a certain altitude to maximize the radius of destruction. These 'exposed soft targets' are usually cities. The image is of an airburst test of  Agni-1 RV. Airburst fusing has its own set of challenges. An RV flies at several times the speed of sound, fusing has to be precise or the RV would miss the detonation window. Against a city, it would hardly matter but it would have a serious impact on kill probability if the target is hardened, for example. a missile silo.
Anyway, airburst nuke: One moment you are like "Aw look... a shooting star" and next moment you are either vaporized or burnt to crisp or burnt and blind depending on how far you were from the detonation.
 It's a good thing that the Indian government decided to stop displaying nuclear missiles in the Republic Day parades. For one, they are a weapon designed to kill millions, nothing to be proud of, and second, India had been negotiating a nuclear deal with Japan when the decision to not showoff nuclear weapons was taken....."hide the nukes."

BMD cometh?

missile, BMD, interceptor
AAD intercepts a target missile

Here is an interesting video of an AAD missile engaging a Prithvi TGT missile (Dhanush modified to mimic a number of trajectories). So far the interceptor missile has been reliable. It would make quick work of most short to medium-range missiles. As of medium to long-range targets, the Kinetic Kill Vehicle of the PDV has matured significantly. The PDV interceptor will be put through more rigorous tests once the floating test range is commissioned. It has already been proven against hypervelocity targets.

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Comments

  1. The interception videos are good stuff... Surprised that you managed to get your hands on them.

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