New Delhi (Sputnik) — India will soon procure 240 smart bombs worth $200million from Russia to boost its air power. On Tuesday, Indian defenseminister Nirmala Sitharaman cleared the purchase plan of these bombs whichwill be used to hit specific targets with minimum collateral damage.
“These bombs, which fall under the category of Precision Guided Munitions,are used by Indian Air Force (IAF). This procurement will address thedeficiency of Precision Guided Munitions in the IAF arsenal,besides enhancing the offensive capabilities of the IAF,” Indian defenseministry said in a statementlink>.
[image: Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hand with India’s PrimeMinister Narendra Modi during a photo opportunity ahead of India-RussiaAnnual Summit in Benaulim, in the western state of Goa, India, October 15,2016]According to an official document, these bombs are effective against groundtargets like railway yards/bridges, major installations, bunkers, runwaysand hardened targets. The bomb can be carried on various in-serviceaircraft like the Jaguar, MiG and other advanced combat aircraft of theIAF. Such bombs play a very important role in strike missions whereaircraft are tasked to destroy ground installations and enemy runways.
At present, the IAF is fully dependent on imports of the lethal bombsfrom Israel, France, Russia and the United States for its fighters. But thecountry is also striving to attain self-sufficiency on the munitions front.Last year, the state-owned Defense Research & Development Organization hadsuccessfully tested a precision-guided high-speed low drag (HSLD) bombweighing 500 kg, which is the largest bomb locally developed in the countryso far.
“During the carriage trials, the aircraft touched the carriage limitsof 0.85 at 150 m altitude and completed 6.5 ‘g’ and full roll maneuvers.The structural integrity of the bomb was found satisfactory after thetrials,” DRDO said after the trial.
In 2016, OIS Advanced Technology (OIS-AT) teamed up with Sagem of Franceto establish a manufacturing unit for precision-guided guidance kitsto meet domestic requirements.