The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) showcased the Long Range Anti-Ship Hypersonic Missile (LR-AShM) for the first time at the 77th Republic Day Parade on Kartavya Path in New Delhi on Monday. The hypersonic glide missile is capable of striking both stationary and moving targets, carrying multiple payloads, and has a range of up to 1,500 kilometres.

India’s mechanised and special forces capabilities were showcased in full strength during the celebrations, underlining the nation’s advanced defence technology, operational preparedness, and growing focus on self-reliance in military capabilities.

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About Anti-Ship Missile (LR-AShM)

1. The Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LR-AShM), developed by the DRDO, is being showcased with its launcher and is designed to meet the Indian Navy’s coastal battery defence requirements.

2. The missile is capable of engaging both static and moving targets and can carry multiple types of payloads to a range of approximately 1,500 kilometres.

3. LR-AShM is a hypersonic glide weapon that follows a quasi-ballistic trajectory, initially accelerating to around Mach 10 and sustaining an average speed of Mach 5 through multiple atmospheric skips.

4. Unlike conventional ballistic missiles, it flies at lower altitudes and can manoeuvre during flight to alter its course and evade interception.

5. Its low-altitude, high-speed and highly manoeuvrable flight profile makes detection by enemy ground- and ship-based radar systems extremely difficult for most of its trajectory.

6. The missile is powered by a two-stage solid rocket propulsion system, with the first stage separating after burnout and the second stage enabling hypersonic speeds before an unpowered glide phase.

7. The successful development of LR-AShM places India among a select group of nations possessing advanced hypersonic missile capabilities.

DRDO Other Successful Missiles 

In a major technological breakthrough achieved earlier this month, the DRDO successfully carried out ground tests of its Actively Cooled Scramjet Full-Scale Combustor, recording a sustained run time of over 12 minutes. The milestone builds on a subscale combustor test conducted on April 25 last year, which had run for more than 1,000 seconds.

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Earlier, in September 2020, the DRDO had demonstrated hypersonic air-breathing scramjet technology through the flight test of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle from the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Launch Complex.


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