Astra IR: Yet another missile going to be added soon with Indian Airforce, Test likely to be done in 2021, Big threat for Pakistan & China
Infrared
homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light
emission from a target to track and follow it. Missiles which use infrared
seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers" since infrared is
radiated strongly by hot bodies. Many objects such as people, vehicle engines
and aircraft generate and emit heat and so are especially visible in the
infrared wavelengths of light compared to objects in the background.
Infrared
seekers are passive devices, which, unlike radar, provide no indication that
they are tracking a target. That makes them suitable for sneak attacks during
visual encounters or over longer ranges when they are used with a forward
looking infrared or similar cuing system. Heat-seekers are extremely effective
India’s
first Indigenous developed Beyond Visual range air to air missile Astra
equipped with an imaging infra-red homing seeker instead of an active radar
homing might be ready in 2021 to carry out Captive flight trials onboard
Su-30MKI jets that have been deputed and modified to be used as Testbed for all
upcoming Astra BVRAAM tests, including that of Astra Mk2 said well-informed
sources close to idrw.org. Astra-IR will sport a new sapphire dome due to its
infra-red homing seeker that has been developed and the prototype of the
missile will be assembled soon.
In captive
flight trials planned to be conducted in 2021, a new radome will be tested to
see any interference with the infra-red homing seeker, and once cleared it will
progress to testing the seeker itself. Infra-red on the missile can be activated
and can perform independent scans without any guidance from the fire control
radar of the aircraft.
In Captive
trials, Astra-IR Seeker will be activated in the search mode to test the
efficiency of the seeker in the detection of the hostile targets in the near
vicinity. Based on the data collected further improvements might be planned to
optimize its search range and improve its accuracy.
Actual test
firing of the Astra-IR will take place in 2021 itself since most of the components are from Astra-RF that has been
tested numerous times already and even the IR sensor is adapted from another
missile system, so this project will be a quick turnaround project that will
boost India’s air to air missile arsenal.
IR version
will also offer locked on target before launch or lock-on after launch
capabilities. Astra-IR is not be a replacement of the existing Close Combat
Missile (CCM) but in testing, it was found that Astra-RF showcased potent
short-range capabilities that could have benefited if it was equipped with a
cheaper infra-red homing seeker. DRDO’s do have plans to develop a short-medium
ranged dedicated CCM in near future but then Astra-IR and Astra-RF will play
the role of the Medium and Short-range AAMs. Astra-IR will have a range of
0.5Km to 40-50km.
With
Saudi, UAE Gone, Why Israel & India Could Even ‘Snatch-Away’ Pakistan’s New
Best-Buddy – Turkey ?
With
Turkey and Israel set to overcome their differences and get their ties back on
track, experts believe that Pakistan would be watching anxiously as Israel and
its key ally India having already pulled Islamabad’s strongest ally – the UAE
and Saudi Arabia on its side would be gunning for Turkey?
Israel has started to be recognized by prominent Islamic nations
including the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, while it has stuck a partial deal with
Morocco with the help of Donald Trump. Many experts believe that once Saudi
Arabia joins the list, it could open doors for more Islamic nations to join in
including Pakistan.
Before the peace deal signed by
the UAE, Sudan, and Bahrain, no Arab country except Egypt and Jordan had any
formal relations with Israel. Others have been reluctant to accept Israel
unless a two-state solution is reached.
According to media reports, Turkey has appointed an ambassador to
Tel Aviv more than two years after it cut off diplomatic ties. There had been
no ambassador in either country since May 2018, after the United States in 2017
decided to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The United Nations had then
passed a resolution condemning Trump’s move.
Turkey has now selected a new ambassador to Israel, Ufuk Ulutas,
40, who is currently serving as the chairman for the Center for Strategic
Research at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, said a report in Al-Monitor, citing
“well-placed sources.”
Media reports claim that the reason behind this move could be to please Washington. Days before Joe Biden takes over as US President, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Turkey under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) over the latter’s acquisition of the S-400 missile system from Russia.
Rift With Saudi Arabi And UAE
Despite several efforts, Islamabad failed to receive any support
from Saudi Arabia on the Kashmir issue. At the Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation (OIC), Riyadh turned down Pakistan’s request to convene a session.
Angered over Pakistan’s pressure to support its Kashmir stance,
Riyadh withdrew a $1 billion interest-free loan it had extended to Islamabad and
also refused to renew a deferred oil payments scheme, which was meant for
easing their import bill.
Over the years, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have enjoyed fruitful
relations with Riyadh extending financial aid and oil supply to Pakistan.
Not just Saudi Arabia, but Pakistan is now at loggerheads with the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well. After the UAE and Israel signed the peace
deal, brokered by Washington, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has refused
to establish any ties with Israel until the Palestinians get their rights.
There have been reports of a split between the Saudi Arabia royal
family as King Salman remains firm on his stance of the boycott of Israel
unless Palestinians receive a separate state. However, the crown prince is in
favor of normalizing the kingdom’s relations with Israel, said a report in the
Wall Street Journal.
Experts’ Take
Abhijit Iyer Mitra, a senior fellow at the Institute of Peace and
Conflict Studies, told EurAsian Times that Turkey never broke off ties with
Israel; they just called their ambassador back. Now sending a new one again is
“purely a secretarial task”.
Analysts believe that the dilemma that Pakistan faces is that, if
it gives in to Israel, then a precedent would be established on the Kashmir issue
as well.
“They can’t grasp the Arab inwardness that ignores Kashmir, which
they often equate with the Palestinians living under ‘Israeli tyranny,” wrote
Khaled Ahmed, consulting editor, Newsweek Pakistan.
However, Iyer-Mitra says there is no connection between Kashmir
and the Palestinian issue.
“The greatest sentiment issue for the Palestine issue was in
Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. After normalizing relations
with Israel, have you seen any violent protest in Sudan, the UAE, and Bahrain
due to this?” he asked.
On being asked whether Islamabad’s foreign policy may see a change
with respect to Israel, Iyer-Mitra said that Pakistan can’t change its foreign
policy, unlike all these other countries that have now normalized ties with Israel,
and are much more developed and “don’t have strong terror outfits as in
Pakistan”.
“The UAE and Saudi Arabia’s disappointment with Pakistan has
nothing to do with Israel and is a bilateral issue,” Iyer-Mitra argued. “Even
if Pakistan normalizes relations with Israel, it won’t solve its problems with
Saudi Arabia.
Moreover, Pakistan’s refusal to send its army in the Yemen war has also created a distance between the two allies,” Iyer-Mitra stated.
He concluded King Salman might be willing to overlook Pakistan’s
actions due to “the old affection between the states” but the crown prince and
de facto King of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, is “not willing to forgive
Pakistan’s actions”.
“Even King of UAE, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has an anti-Pakistan
stance for a long time but he plays number two to Saudi Arabia,” he said.
With Turkey normalizing ties with Israel, Nitin J Ticku, an expert
on international affairs believes that this could be another attempt by Israel
to pull Turkey on its side after winning the Arab world.
Not only there are ongoing efforts to pressurize Pakistan to
recognize Israel but there would be attempts to improve ties between Turkey and
India in order to isolate Pakistan and snatch-away Islamabad’s new best buddy.
I hope we all remember how Malaysia completely changed its policy
overnight after the departure of Mahathir Mohamad. This could also be the case
with Turkey and once Erdogan departs, Pakistan would have to start from
scratch, Ticku concluded.
