Nirbhay which means “Fearless” is an long range nuclear capable cruise missile indigenously developed by DRDO has been successfully test fired at Indian Army’s Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Odisha.
Nirbhay
- Nirbhay is an all-weather low-cost long-range cruise missile with stealth and high accuracy.
- The missile has a range of more than 700 km and it weighs about one tonne and has a length of 6 metres.
- It carries a ring laser gyroscope for high-accuracy navigation and a radio altimeter for the height determination.
- It is capable of being launched from multiple platforms on land, sea and air and shall be inducted into Indian Navy, Army, and Air Force.
- Nirbhay is very maneuverable and can fly at tree-top level making it difficult to detect on radar.
- The missile has a fire-and-forget system that cannot be jammed.
- Nirbhay is being adapted for the Indo/Russian Su-30MKI. The missile is capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
- It would be capable of delivering 24 different types of warheads depending on mission requirements and will use an inertial navigation system for guidance.
- It is India’s answer to America’s Tomahawk and Pakistan’s Babur missile.
Cruise Missile Vs Ballistic Missile:
A Cruise Missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and uses a lifting wing and a propulsion system, usually a jet engine, to allow sustained flight. Cruise missiles are generally designed to carry a large conventional or nuclear warhead many hundreds of miles with high accuracy. BRAHMOS is the Supersonic Cruise Missile.
A Ballistic Missile is a missile that follows a sub-orbital ballistic flightpath with the objective of delivering a warhead to a predetermined target. The missile is only guided during the relatively brief initial powered phase of flight and its course is subsequently governed by the laws of orbital mechanics and ballistics. Prithvi I and Prithvi II, Agni I and Agni II are some of the example of ballistic missile.
