RudraM-II Missile

About RudraM-II Missile: 

• It is an indigenously-developed solid-propelled air-launched missile system.
• It is meant for Air-to-Surface role to neutralise many types of enemy assets.
• It is designed to have a strike range of almost 350-km, from a Sukhoi-30MKI fighter of the IAF.
• It involves a number of state-of-the-art indigenous technologies developed by various DRDO laboratories that have been incorporated in the missile system.

RudraM series missiles

• These are being developed by the DRDO as new-generation anti-radiation missiles (NGARMs) for destroying a variety of enemy surveillance, communication, radars, and command and control centers on the ground.
• The 150-km range RudraM-I missile, with INS-GPS navigation with a passive homing head for the final attack, was first tested in Oct 2020.
• The missiles are meant for suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD) from long stand-off ranges, which in turn will enable IAF strike aircraft to carry out bombing missions without hindrance.

What is an anti-radiation missile?

• These are designed to detect, track and neutralise the adversary’s radar, communication assets and other radio frequency sources, which are generally part of their air defence systems.
• Such a missile’s navigation mechanism comprises
  • Inertial navigation system: A computerised mechanism that uses changes in the object’s own position — coupled with GPS, which is satellite-based.
  • Passive homing head: A system that can detect, classify and engage targets (radio frequency sources in this case) over a wide band of frequencies as programmed.

Q1. What is the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)?

It is the R&D wing of the Ministry of Defence, Govt of India, with a vision to empower India with cutting-edge defence technologies and a mission to achieve self-reliance in critical defence technologies and systems. It is India's largest research organisation.

Source: RudraM-II air-to-surface missile successfully flight-tested by DRDO from Su-30 MK-I off the Odisha coast