India’s first air combat missile Astra will be launched soon, sooner than you think

India will join the elite club of powerful air combat missiles by 2016, as estimated by DRDO. The 3.8 meter long air-to-air missile, Astra has been successfully tested of its range nine times from Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets since last year and next month trials will begin to prove the missile's brains to test the "target lock-on and destroy" capabilities. All the tests will be ready by mid 2016.

If Astra is ready, India will join the exclusive club which is ruled by four countries till now, US, Russia, France and Israel which have developed such

"The Astra missile, with a range from 44 to 60km, is coming up very well. I am confident it will be able to meet the revised project completion date of December 2016," said DRDO chief Dr S Christopher, talking to TOI on Thursday.
In the upcoming tests the missile will undergo through, it will be armed with terminal radio-frequency seekers but without any warheads or propellants. Then it will be fired in "full configuration" at "actual manoeuvring targets" mimicking enemy fighters.

DRDO says Astra has "excellent" ECCM (electronic counter-counter measures) to tackle jamming by hostile aircraft, active radar terminal guidance and other features for "high single-shot kill probability" in both head-on and tail-chase" mode.
Astra is a part of the family of sleek missiles capable of detecting, tracking and destroying highly-agile hostile supersonic fighters packed with "counter-measures'' at long ranges.

(Image credits: Indiatimes)