Ballistic Glide Re Entry Vehicle (BGRV) and Indian Missile Program

Page:15 Feb 2011

Ballistic Glide Re-entry Vehicle (BGRV)and Indian Missile Program

-Arun S Vishwakarma

©Arun S Vishwakarma, Email: [email protected]

Bharat Pratham and India Research Foundation


Page:2

Agenda

• What is BGRV

• Why BGRV

• Indian Context

• Shourya

• Agni missile family

• Summary

05 Feb, 2011 ©Arun S Vishwakarma, Email: [email protected]


Page:3

What is BGRV?

• Re-entry vehicle

Protects payload from extremes of temperature and

deceleration experienced when spacecraft re-enter plant’s atmosphere

– Spacecrafts use thick blunt nose RV

• generate separating shockwave to keep away heated gas

• Loses most energy at higher altitude, slow terminal velocity

05 Feb, 2011

SRE (PSLV)



Page:4

Missile RV

– Missiles use RV with sharp nose

• High ballistic coefficient (low drag)

• Loses most energy at lower altitude, high terminal velocity

• Experiences much higher temperature and deceleration shock

• Most missiles RVs are Ballistic RV that fall down like stones

purely driven by aero-dynamic forces and material ablation

• RV’s with small blunt nose made of ablative material generate

separating shockwave to keep away heated gas

• Most missiles use “dumb” RV

• Missile accuracy depend on precision of launcher and ability

of passive RV to retain shape and structure

• MIRV bus gives precise velocity to RV

05 Feb, 2011

Mk-6 RV



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Drawbacks of dumb RV

• Accuracy – Depends on RV behaving consistently, accurate weather estimate

– Missiles ability to impart correct final velocity at point in space

when RV is detached

• Warhead– To compensate for accuracy require bigger high yield warhead

• Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Nemesis – BM Predictable ballistic path in space and through atmosphere

– Ballistic flight means high apogee altitude, radars can detect &

track from great distance, giving vital time space for ABM system

– Ablation leaves plasma ionic trail with large radar cross

section/signature

– Thermal signature



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What is MBRV?

05 Feb, 2011

• Maneuvering Ballistic RV (MBRV) is

different from Ballistic Glide Re-

entry Vehicle (BGRV)

• Accuracy Augmentation

– Pitch and Cross range correction

– Accurate to few meters

– Radar scene correlation

• ABM

– Upto 100 G maneuver

Lightning Bolts, First Maneuvering Reentry Vehicles by William Yengst ISBN # 978-1-61566-547-1



Page:7

What is BGRV?

• Ballistic Glide Re-entry Vehicle

05 Feb, 2011

Indian composite BGRV Missile (K-15)

Agni’s Mk-II MARV/BGRV




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BGRV

Shourya/Sagarika (K15): Hypersonic BGRV Missile



Page:905 Feb, 2011

BGRV

• Aerodynamics– Long, high aspect ratio body

– Slight angle of attack to generate lift.

– Control surfaces: fins | paddles | small gas thrusters

• Flight– On board flight control and navigation: Hi Accuracy

– ~ 25 G maneuvering

– Porpoise maneuver in pitch axis

– “S” shape maneuver in azimuth plane

– Rolling to spread heat and reduce thermal shielding



Page:1005 Feb, 2011

BGRV

• Stealth and ABM resistant– Non-predictive flight trajectory

– ~ 25 G maneuvering

– Rolling spreads heat

• Reduce thermal signature

• Reduced plasma RF RCS signature

– Glides below Long Range Radar horizon

– Flies below space based sensor’s altitude threshold

– Small, light warhead



Page:11

Why BGRV?

• Accuracy

– Small, light warhead (Low / medium yield) against hardened or

counter value targets

• Evade ABM defenses

– Reduced arsenal footprint, cost and security

• Increase cost of ABM

– Differential deterrence

– Threatening to low tech adversaries (E.g TSP)

– Stabilized deterrence to N3 (China, Russia, USA)

• NATO study from literature

– Urban target (Pg 180)

Reference:

• Wings of Fire : APJ Kalam

• Weapons Of peace: Raj Changappa

• Lightening Bolt: William Yeangst



Page:12

BGRV : Indian context

• Low yield warhead

• Accuracy for 90% target destruction

• Assures destruction of counter value targets

• Cross range targeting of missile silos on far side

of mountain slope

• ABM hardened

• Small missile force does job of large qty

• Multi-application platform

– Shourya/ Sagarika

– Agni-II, II+

– Agni-III, V, MIRV05 Feb, 2011 ©Arun S Vishwakarma, Email: [email protected]


Page:13

Shourya

• BGRV

• Booster lifts BGRV to 5 Km

• Main stage imparts kinetic energy for cruise

at 40 km altitude

– Evade space sensor and ground radar

• Main stage stays attached to BGRV

– Small Radar RCS

• Fins for hypersonic cruise flight



Page:14

Shourya flight types



Page:15

Shourya flight types

Shourya/Sagarika : Hypersonic BGRV Missile

05 Feb, 2011 Bharat Pratham and India Research Foundation©Arun S Vishwakarma, Email: [email protected]



Page:16

MBRV

• Maneuvering Ballistic RV:

– Pitch

– CrossRange

05 Feb, 2011




Page:17

BGRV foot print

05 Feb, 2011




Page:18

What is BGRV?

• “S” Curve on Azimuth plane

05 Feb, 2011




Page:19

BGRV Re-entry

05 Feb, 2011




Page:20

US MRV

05 Feb, 2011

MRV Mk4ALightning Bolts, First Maneuvering Reentry Vehicles by William Yengst ISBN # 978-1-61566-547-1



Page:21

Pershing-II MARV

05 Feb, 2011




Page:22

Pershing-II MARV

05 Feb, 2011




Page:23

Agni MRV/BGRV



Page:24

Agni MRV/BGRV



Page:25

Agni missile series

• RV Mk1, Mk-II finned and no-fin



Page:26

Chinese / Paki - M11

• Ballistic Glide Re-entry Vehicle

05 Feb, 2011




Page:27

Russian Topol-M

• Porpoise (skipping) trajectory

05 Feb, 2011




Page:28

Development timeline

05 Feb, 2011




Page:29

Performance

05 Feb, 2011

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Page:30

Indian precursor of BGRV



Page:31

Reference

• DRDO, Technical Publications

• Lightning Bolts, First Maneuvering Reentry Vehicles by William Yengst

ISBN # 978-1-61566-547-1

• Indian Defense Review, Lancer Publication

• Wikipedia



Page:3222 October 2005

Backup &

Reference material




Reading Material

Lig

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s, F

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Maneuveri

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eentr

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ehic

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by W

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Yengst

ISB

N #

978

-1-6

156

6-54

7-1




Reading Material





Reading MaterialLightning Bolts, First Maneuvering Reentry Vehicles by William Yengst ISBN # 978-1-61566-547-1



Documents

Ballistic Glide Re Entry Vehicle (BGRV) and Indian Missile Program