The Indian S400 ( XR-SAM)

XR-Sam stands for extended range surface-to-air missile system this system will be in a long-range surface-to-air missile system that will protect Indian airspace from incoming stealth fighter jet cruise missile terminal phase of ballistic missile drones helicopters and UCAV.  The buzz about XR-Sam started couple of years ago it was believed that system will have a new improved missile which can knock off a target and a long distance till now there was no acknowledgement about the system being developed by DRDO however many defense analysts spoke about this and a rough sketch of this missile system was already in public domain and this is why there were a lot of speculation around this missile system basically there was an alltogether new page that was added on the Drdo website this page not only acknowledges that the idea is working on XR-Sam but also gives a brief sketch about the system as you can see it on your screen right now the image of the missile looks like a simulated one and it appears this is a screen shot of an simulator or one similar to MATLAB maybe and this is why we believe either the design phase is completed or it is in advanced stages the other two important things to be noticed on this page is that this system is developed for Indian Air Force and that we developed by DIDL the other three very important things to be noticed here are the ranges so this system will have a range of 250 kilometres for maneuverable targets and 350 kilometers for slow moving targets like AVAX the second important thing to be noticed here is that this system will be mobile it will be mounted on truck and the entire system can be moved very easily the third and the most motivating one that that Indian Air Force has accepted this configuration initially it was believed that XR-Sam will have to type of missiles but now it appears it will be just one type of result which will be used in the system usually the long-range systems use different type of missiles for long range and short range engagements because it makes an economical sense the long range missiles are usually costlier and sometimes their minimum range is also a concern the other reason could be India is working on multi-tiered systems which will have Akash or maybe Akash-ng ,MR-Sam ,LR-Sam , S400 triumph, and ballistic missile shield so this system will be used specifically in 150 to 250 kilometers range and sometimes for slow moving targets in 350 kilometer range this new missile will be a two-stage missile and it will have a seeker assembly at the nose followed by a missile assembly and at the back it will have a booster because of the booster the missile will have extra range and this is why it will be called as extended range surface-to-air missile system when we are talking about a missile system that has arranged more than 250 kilometers then this missile system can not depend only on seeker because most of the seeker assembly they have limited range thus to achieve long range the initial guidance is provided by a different source and in most of the cases it is inertial navigation system the inertial navigation is achieved with the help of a gyroscope this gyroscope provides a reference direction and missile cruises in that direction in modern days missiles the gyroscope is replaced by solid-state laser linked gyro however the gyroscope is not very accurate and this is why it cannot act as a seeker assembly all it does is to bring missiles close to the target from where the seeker assembly can start working now let's understand why this missile system has a lesser range against maneuverable target and longer range against the target which are moving slow when the target is maneuvering that is the target is moving fast from one place to another in that case the missile has to change the target does the missile requires constant power therefore it continuously burns its fuel to remain power but if the target is moving slow say for example our air to air refueler or and add one early warning and control system they will follow a specific path and will not maneuver much in these cases missiles will not require power throughout right and therefore it can achieve a longer range observing the missile system closely one can understand that this missile system has a different missile on top and at the bottom it will have an booster to achieve a longer range this booster will be separated once it completes the initial boosting period the other important aspect of this design philosophy is that the missile system which will be used might be an already tested one this missile system could be Astra, Astra2  the one which is used in QR-Sam or even solid fuel reducted ramjet and based on this the entire configuration of the missile system changes so therefore the information on speed warhead and propellant is mere speculation but one must notice that this missile system has a striking resemblance to Barak ER system however the range of Barachias system is just 150 kilometers but another important thing to be noticed here is the philosophy used this missile system has a similar philosophy as arrow series of missiles Israeli arrow 1 and arrow 2 are also two-stage missile systems with very similar philosophies and I am sure it gives lot of excitement to those who understand the potential if the system is based on arrow the design and the specification for this missile system is frozen and Indian Air Force has agreed to this configuration the next stage in the development lifecycle is development of the system once the system is developed the testing will start and by year 2022 all the testing will be done and system will be ready for the induction it is suspected by year 2024 the user trials will also be completed and this will begin its mass production and induction in services by 2025 the ballistic missile shield program of India will be completed in two phase the phase one is already in testing and it has completed multiple successful trials it is believed the second phase of this missile defense system will have an interception range of 150 kilometers while the first phase with two different type of missiles that is by defense vehicle which can intercept at the altitude of 50 to 80 kilometers and AD the advanced air defense missile that can intercept the incoming targets at an altitude of 15 to 30 kilometers on the lower altitude side Barak 8 with a range of 70 kilometers to kilometres can intercept at an altitude of 16 kilometers and Akash within range of 30 kilometers can intercept at an altitude of 18 kilometers so the ranges between ballistic missile shield and barak 8 should be covered and that will be done with the help of XR-Sam & S400 triumph.