Shaurya (missile)

Shaurya ( IAST: shāurya, meaning 'Bravery' ) is a canister-launched hypersonic surface-to-surface tactical missile developed by the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for use by the Indian Armed Forces. It has a range of 700 to 1900 km and is capable of carrying a payload of 200 to 1000 kg conventional or nuclear warhead. It provides the potential to strike at very-long-range against any adversary.

Description
The Shaurya missile is speculated to be the land version of the under-water Sagarika K-15 missile However, the DRDO officials have reportedly denied its connection with the K-15 programme.

On 12 November 2008, the missile reached a velocity of Mach 5 as it crossed a distance of 300 km, with a surface temperature of 700 °C. The missile performed rolls to spread the heat uniformly on its surface. Flight time was between 500 seconds and 700 seconds. It has been described as a complex system with high-performance navigation and guidance systems, efficient propulsion systems, state-of-the-art control technologies and canisterised launch. It can be transported by road and is hot-launched by TEL. The missile has six motors; the first one is the motor in the gas generator. Shaurya incorporates a ring laser gyroscope and accelerometer, which was tested and integrated by the Research Centre Imarat (RCI) based in Hyderabad.

The Shaurya missile was revealed to be designed specifically to be fired from submarines. A top DRDO scientist has confirmed this and further said that after taking off and reaching a height of about 50 km, the missile starts flying like a hypersonic cruise missile. Once it reaches the target area it manoeuvres towards the target before striking with an accuracy of 20 to 30 m within the target area.

Testing
The missile was launched from an underground facility with an in-built canister from Complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur.

The missile was successfully test-fired for the third time, from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Odisha, on Saturday 24 September 2011, in its final configuration. The missile flew at 7.5 Mach, and covered its full range of 700 km in 500 seconds. After this test, the missile is ready for production and induction into the Navy.

On 3 October 2020, DRDO successfully test-fired an advanced version of the Shaurya with an 800km range from Balasore as part of user trials.

Operators

 * 🇮🇳 - As of 6 October 2020, the Union Government of India under the guidance of National Security Council (NSC) approved induction and deployment of Shaurya in Strategic Forces Command (SFC).