India’s Anti-Tank HELINA To Spawn Longer Range Strike Weapon

India’s Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL) plans to extend the range of the HELINA (Helicopter-mounted Nag) anti-armour missile into a >20-km range strike munition for combat aircraft and helicopters. HELINA project director KS Vara Prasad has indicated that his team is building a “miniaturised inertial navigation package” to enhance the existing weapon without adding weight or too much cost.

The HELINA, an air-launched variant of the Nag anti-tank missile, has a range of 7-km and has been captive flight-tested, with a scheduled first firing for later this year. The programme director has also revealed that a feasibility study is officially on to integrate the HELINA onto the Rustom-H MALE UAV. More details soon.

26 thoughts on “India’s Anti-Tank HELINA To Spawn Longer Range Strike Weapon”

  1. i doubt 20km is achievable. The brimstone – essentially a variant of hellfire for fast moving jets – is only about 10kms.

    I don't think our tech. is better than hellfire. Good to be ambitious but one should not set unrealistic expectations just for publicity.

    lets c.

    -vishal

  2. 'Great …but if India have such capability then why going to buy Spike or Javelin missile.'

    India clearly doesn't, it will have the capability soon but not now. Even the basic NAG is not ready yet, leave alone an air launched and shoulder launched variant.

  3. because eagle the nag is not shoulder launched as it is to heavy but i do think they are working to make it a shoulder launched weapon and use the spike or javelin as a stop gap
    Shiv sir can you plese repprt about the progress of the nuclear submarine both SSBN & SSN

  4. You mean all the hard work and protracted development effort that went into the Nag is beginning to spawn off an entire range of anti-armour guided missiles to be launched from a variety of platforms?

    Whowouldathunkit?

  5. Is it possible, or achievable? Let's examine the options. Firstly, range envelope extension involves more than just the installation of a miniaturised FOG-based INS. For acquiring & hitting targets beyond 12/14km from medium altitudes, the HELINA will have to be equipped with either a laser beamriding seeker or a millimetre-wave radar (like that of the Brimstone). Secondly, the entire aerodynamics and propulsion system of the HELINA will have to be redesigned. And all this will undoubtedly add to the missile's weight. Therefore, a far better option is to design a brand new modular PGM (like SAGEM's AASM family) from scratch, which options terminal guidance system options as well as warhead-type options. I'm pretty sure that the DRDO is aware of all this and consequently, either K S Vara Prasad's remarks are born out of sheer ignorance, or he has been misquoted and misinterpreted.

  6. It is patently ludicrous on the part of these incompetent fools to try and make anything better than the western products. The theory of relativity has shown that such a thing as better than west cannot be achieved. Even a child born today knows this!!

  7. Good move, Brimstone 2 has 20km+ range at less than 50kg wt. Hope we can also match its GHz Millimetric wave radar (MMW) then its going to be a very useful weapon for our MALE UAVs. Such things can loiter around and give nightmares(and quick trip to the next world) to intruders who try to cross over the border/through the sea lanes. Only thing, we should get this inducted at the earliest to both Army n Air Force and in significant nos.

  8. @ Prasun

    How dare you think that misreport and miquote incidents take place in the indian media!!…you are a damn fool!!!

  9. pransun sengupta if you think that you know better than the scientists working at DRDO, than it would be gr8 if you join DRDO and teach them the right direction.

    Instead of ranting here on every project of DRDO do some constructive work that will build this nation.

    You should have gone through the presentation of the K S Vara Prasad before posting here and calling him an ignorant. Hes not ignorant, its you who thinks that you know better than a person whos involved in weapon system development.

    Go first learn the abcd of system desgin.

  10. Prasun Sengupta, some points: For hitting targets beyond 12-15 kms the propulsion redesign need not necessarily have to be heavier. India and DRDO has enough experience with air augmented engines to be able to incorporate these into the HELINA. The other route they can go for is miniaturization and optimization of existing systems to reduce weight by using enhanced materials and MEMS devices to reduce weight to a great degree. Also better airfoils can be used to improve range at very little weight penalty.
    As to your suggestion that the DRDO will go in for some kind of beam riding seeker, I very much doubt that since, laser beam riding requires constant painting of the target and the countermeasures against this are very easy to adopt. Beam riding seekers are not very effective in those mountainous regions it is most likely to be deployed.
    The biggest challenge will be the milimeter wave radar or any other active/semi-active seeker that they want to put into it. It will bare the most weight penalty because even today, these are very heavy to include.

  11. It should have bunker busting technic. the range can be little less to 18km but should be over kill all the best DRDO guies

  12. To [email protected]: For hitting targets beyond 12km the rocket motor-based propulsion system will have to be similar to that on the AASM, which will definitely increase the HELINA's weight. The only way to keep the HELINA's weight increases to a minimum will be to settle for a 12km-range envelope, instead of the 20km+ figure being touted. Air-augmented engines are definitely out of the equation. Laser beam-riding is more reliable than MMW radar in all kinds of terrain, and especially in the desert. MMW radar works best in an uncluttered environment. Over cluttered terrain MMW radar CAN work as advertised if it incorporates a lock-on before-launch mode. The DRDO's greatest prevailing handicaps are in the areas of all-weather/full-spectrum optronics and data-linking, which is why the Nag's IIR-based seeker continues to be imported. Although a MMW radar has been lab-tested since 2004, the very fact that it has yet to be introduced into the Nag/NAMICA is indicative of the DRDO's inability to overcome the reqd R & D challenges of MMW radar-based guidance.

  13. To [email protected]: For hitting targets beyond 12km the rocket motor-based propulsion system will have to be similar to that on the AASM, which will definitely increase the HELINA's weight. The only way to keep the HELINA's weight increases to a minimum will be to settle for a 12km-range envelope, instead of the 20km+ figure being touted. Air-augmented engines are definitely out of the equation. Laser beam-riding is more reliable than MMW radar in all kinds of terrain, and especially in the desert. MMW radar works best in an uncluttered environment. Over cluttered terrain MMW radar CAN work as advertised if it incorporates a lock-on before-launch mode. The DRDO's greatest prevailing handicaps are in the areas of all-weather/full-spectrum optronics and data-linking, which is why the Nag's IIR-based seeker continues to be imported. Although a MMW radar has been lab-tested since 2004, the very fact that it has yet to be introduced into the Nag/NAMICA is indicative of the DRDO's inability to overcome the reqd R & D challenges of MMW radar-based guidance.

  14. Perhaps using CL20 propellant, it may be possible to match brimstone range and capability for helina.

    It is all within our hands. MMW + Electro-optic fusion seeker can nail any destined target.

    Propellant and seeker technology is where we have to concentrate to make a world beater AATGM.

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