Elevating India’s strategic deterrence and second-strike capability, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight-tested the indigenous 1,000-km range Submarine Launched Cruise Missile (SLCM) off the Visakhapatnam coast. This deployment empowers India’s conventional diesel-electric submarines with pinpoint land-attack capabilities.
Key Points
- Strategic Capability: The SLCM is a game-changer for the Indian Navy, enabling Kalvari-class conventional submarines to launch devastating, precision-guided strikes deep into enemy territory without breaking the ocean surface.
- Sea-Skimming Trajectory: Powered by the indigenous ‘Manikanth’ turbofan engine, the missile utilizes a “sea-skimming” flight profile (flying just 3-5 meters above sea level) to evade coastal radar detection networks.
- Dual Mission Variants: DRDO has engineered two specialized configurations: the Land Attack Cruise Missile (LACM) and the Anti-Ship Cruise Missile (ASCM), both utilizing active radar homing seekers.
- NavIC Guided Navigation: Features an advanced Ring Laser Gyroscope-based Inertial Navigation System (INS) augmented by India’s NavIC satellites, allowing it to navigate complex terrains via multi-waypoint maneuvering.
- Import Substitution: This successful test definitively ends the Indian Navy’s reliance on foreign weapon systems, such as the Russian-made Kalibr or the American Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Source Link: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2014589
Q1. The term ‘Sea-Skimming’, frequently associated with modern cruise missiles like the Indian SLCM, primarily refers to:A) A mechanism where the missile acts as an underwater torpedo before transforming into an aerial weapon.B) A flight trajectory where the missile flies extremely close to the water’s surface to evade enemy radar detection.C) The mid-air refueling process of a missile while flying over an oceanic body.D) The capability of a cruise missile to intercept incoming enemy torpedoes.
