Defexpo 2020: India to test Nirbhay cruise missile powered by indigenous propulsion system

India is expected to carry out in April the first developmental trial of a Nirbhay cruise missile fitted with an indigenous propulsion system, an Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) official told Jane’s during the 5–9 February Defexpo 2020 exhibition in Lucknow, northern India.

India’s Nirbhay cruise missile, seen here during the 5-9 February Defexpo 2020 exhibition in Lucknow, northern India, is set to be tested in April powered by an indigenous propulsion system. (Jane’s/Rahul Udoshi )

Called the Indigenous Technology Cruise Missile (ITCM), the weapon, which is essentially the Nirbhay missile fitted with the indigenous Small Turbo Fan Engine (STFE), is being developed by Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) of India’s state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). ADE has planned two developmental tests using the ITCM to demonstrate the STFE and a new radio frequency seeker.

The ADE official also confirmed that new variants of the missile are either planned or already being developed, including the ground/ship-launched Long Range Land Attack Cruise Missile (LRLACM), the Submarine Launched Cruise Missile (SLCM) – or Nirbhay SLCM – and the future air-launched version, possibly known as Air-Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) or Nirbhay ALCM.

The 6 m-long, nuclear-capable, land-attack Nirbhay has a diameter of 0.52 m and is fitted with two tapering-chord fold-out (backwards) wings with a span of 2.7 m. The one-tonne missile is brought up to the takeover speed of its turbofan engine by a jettisonable solid-propellant booster. The missile cruises at a speed of 270–305 m/s, and its maximum strike range is stated to be 1,000 km.