DRDO Glide Bombs

DRDO Glide Bomb / Gaurav Bomb
DRDO Glide Bomb / Gaurav Bomb
	Gaurav glide bomb during trials
Type	Smart Glide bomb[1][2]
Place of origin	India
Production history
Designer	G. Satheesh Reddy, Research Centre Imarat (DRDO)[1][2]
Designed	2014–present
Manufacturer	Adani Defence and Aerospace
Variants	Gaurav (Winged), Gautham (Non-Winged)
Specifications
Mass	Gaurav - 1,000 kg (2,200 lb)[1][2]; Gautham - 550 kg (1,210 lb)
Length	4.0 m
Diameter	0.62 m
Warhead	CL-20 (fragmentation, cluster munition)
Detonation; mechanism	Contact and proximity fuze
Operational; range	Gaurav (Winged) - 100 kilometres (54 nmi); Gautham (Non-winged) - 30 kilometres (16 nmi)[1][2]
Flight altitude	10 km
Guidance; system	Mid-course: Inertial navigation system with GPS/NavIC satellite guidance ; Terminal: Semi-active laser homing[3]
Launch; platform	Sukhoi Su-30 MKI[4]

The DRDO Glide Bomb is a product of the Defence Research and Development Organisation to deploy a standardised medium range precision guided weapon, especially for engagement of targets from outside the range of standard anti-aircraft defenses, thereby increasing aircraft survivability and minimising friendly losses.

Development

The bomb was designed by the nodal Laboratory Research Centre Imarat[5] in Hyderabad with the help of Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE) in Bengaluru, Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) in Chandigarh and Armaments Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) in Pune.[1][2] The team designed the bomb specially for the Indian Air Force to fill their requirement of precision guided weapons.[1][2]

Variants

Under the DRDO's Long Range Glide Bomb (LRGB) project, 2 variants have been planned:

Gaurav - The winged version. It has a range of up to 100 km and weights 1,000-kg. It can carry either pre-fragmented or penetration-blast type of warhead.[1][4]

Gautham - The non-winged version. It has a range of 30 km and in future the range will be enhanced to 100 km weights 550-kg. It can also carry either pre-fragmented or penetration-blast type of warhead.[1]Although this bomb lacks wings, it does include a control surface that works in conjunction with the inbuilt navigation and guidance system.

The length of both the bombs is 4 meters. The diameter of both the bombs is 0.62 m. Both bombs have onboard inertial navigation system with GPS and NaVIC Satellite Guidance System.

Trials

The DRDO and the Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully tested a 1,000 kg glide bomb on 19 December 2014 that covered a range of 100 km guided through its on-board navigation system. The flight path is of the glide bomb was monitored by DRDO radars and electro-optic systems situated at Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur.[6] On 17 August 2018, the IAF and DRDO did a covert successful trial of Gautham and Gaurav at Pokhran firing range, Jaisalmer.[7]

Long Range Glide Bomb - Gaurav

Gaurav LRGB on display by Adani Defence and Aerospace.

DRDO and IAF successfully tested Long Range Bomb (LRB) on 29 October 2021 from Su-30MKI at Balasore, Odisha. The bomb was released from 10 km altitude which successfully hit a sea based target using laser guidance. It is a 1,000 kg bomb which DRDO developed as an alternative to Spice 2000. The LRGB is a part of a family of newly developed precision guided munitions with a range of 50 km to 150 km in range.[8]

Operators

India

Indian Air Force

References

"DRDO successfully tests 'glide bombs' in Pokhran". Times of India. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
"India Successfully Tests One Ton Glide Bomb. Why That's Important". NDTV. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
Gupta, Shishir (29 October 2021). "India's 1st long-range 1 ton guided bomb test-fired, hits target 100 km away". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
"India tests glide bomb". The Hindu. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
"DRDO Tests 1000 Kg Class Indigenous Guided Glide Bomb". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
"1,000-Kg Guided Glide Bomb Tested by DRDO". Indian Defence Review. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
"2 smart bombs by DRDO pass test". Deccan Chronicle. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
"DRDO, Air Force successfully test India's first indigenously developed long-range bomb". The Indian Express. 30 October 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.

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[timesofindia.com-1] "DRDO successfully tests 'glide bombs' in Pokhran". Times of India. Retrieved 20 August 2016.

[ndtv.com-2] "India Successfully Tests One Ton Glide Bomb. Why That's Important". NDTV. Retrieved 20 August 2016.

[3] Gupta, Shishir (29 October 2021). "India's 1st long-range 1 ton guided bomb test-fired, hits target 100 km away". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.

[Hindu-4] "India tests glide bomb". The Hindu. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2016.

[pib.nic.in-5] "DRDO Tests 1000 Kg Class Indigenous Guided Glide Bomb". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 21 August 2016.

[6] "1,000-Kg Guided Glide Bomb Tested by DRDO". Indian Defence Review. Retrieved 22 September 2020.

[7] "2 smart bombs by DRDO pass test". Deccan Chronicle. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2020.

[8] "DRDO, Air Force successfully test India's first indigenously developed long-range bomb". The Indian Express. 30 October 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.