Babur LACM & Ra’ad ALCM Detailed

While the world is now more than well-conversant with the ‘Wall Mart’ of nuclear weapons proliferation that was created by Pakistani metallurgist Dr A Q Khan since the mid-1990s, substantial details have emerged since late 2004 about a parallel ‘Wall Mart’ that Dr Khan had built up, this time for acquiring LACMs off-the-shelf. Also smuggled out of Kiev by August 2001 were detailed production engineering data packages of a LACM called Korshun, which had by then been developed by Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk-based Yuzhnoye State Design Bureau, with production tooling being built by the Yuzhnoye Machine-Building Production Association, or Yuzhmash. The Korshun’s powerplant was a redesigned RD95-300 turbofan that bore a strong resemblance to the 36MT engine developed by Russia’s NPO Saturn. Dimensions of the Korshun, which was identical to the Raduga-developed Kh-65SE LACM (first displayed in August 1992), included a wingspan of 3.1 metres, length of 6.3 metres, diameter of 0.514 metres, and a mass of 1,090kg. Range of the LACM was then claimed to be 600km when carrying a 500kg warhead.

As the entire Kh-55SM/Korshun smuggling operation (from late 1997 to August 2001) was bankrolled by Iran, Teheran in early 1998 staked its claim for leading the R & D effort aimed at producing the Korshun into a ground/sea-launched LACM with industrial help from China and Pakistan. Iran next established Project 111, under which it clandestinely acquired from Ukraine the technical data packages for fabricating the Korshun’s (now called Ghadr by Iran, Babur/Hatf-7 by Pakistan and the Dong Hai DH-10A by China) solid propellant booster and its propellant; RD95-300 turbofan for cruise flight; the fuselage structure and warhead casings made of 15CDV6 maraging steel, titanium-stabilised steel, HE-15 aluminum alloy and polymers; and ground-based X-band monopulse radars and optronic telemetry tracking systems for LACM test-flights. Pakistan’s NDC subsidiary of NESCOM was contracted to provide computer software related to fluid mechanics, atmospheric flight mechanics, and astrodynamics. While the DH-10A derivative of the Korshun was to have a hybrid GPS/fibre-optic gyro-based inertial navigation system giving it a CEP of 20 metres, Iran and Pakistan opted for an imaging infra-red (IIR) terminal guidance system for which China in 2002 created a consortium of state-owned R & D institutes and companies (called the Xi’an Sicong Group) that included the Shanghai Institute for Optics & Fine Mechanics, China North Opto‑Electro Industries Corporation (OEC), Changchun Institute of Optics & Fine Mechanics, and Luoyang Opto-Electro Technology Development Centre. These entities had earlier obtained vital IIR technology inputs from Russia’s NPO Astrofizika and Ukraine’s TOCHNOST.

By late 2003, the General Armaments Dept of COSTIND, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp’s (CASC) 3rd Aerospace Academy (also known as China Haiying Electro-Mechanical Technology Academy or CHETA) and 8359 Research Institute had, along with the Beijing University for Aeronautics & Astronautics, Shanghai Jiaotong University, China State Electronics Systems Engineering Corp, Sichuan Aerospace Industry Corp and the Tianjin Institute for Power Sources had completed fabrication of the first six prototypes of the 1,500km-range DH-10A LACM, and in August 2004 the first test-firings were conducted at an instrumented offshore range in the Bohai Sea. The LACMs were fitted with a hybrid inertial navigation system using a fibre-optic gyro coupled with a GPS receiver and a digital radar altimeter to provide a CEP of 20 metres. In early 2005, flight-tests of another variant of the DH-10A, having a range of 600km and equipped with a fibre-optic gyro coupled to a Xi’an Sicong Group-built digital scene-matching terminal-homing system using IIR seekers with 40º field-of-view, were carried out. This missile was later to become the 500km-range Babur, while its 280km-range anti-ship variant, incorporating an active radar seeker with 40km range for anti-ship strike, was designated as the C-602/YJ-62 and offered for sale worldwide since September 2005 by CPMIEC. The DH-10A has since been deployed by China with both conventional HE/FAE and tactical low-yield nuclear warheads, with the latter developed by a consortium of China’s 7th Research and Design Institute, owned by the China National Nuclear Corp, China Metallurgical Equipment Corp (CMEC) and China Southwest Institute for Nuclear & Fluid Physics.

The Babur and C-602, though, differ in several aspects. The most visible difference is the engine installation. The Babur’s twin-spool RD95-300 turbofan, derived from the 36MT engine developed by Russia’s NPO Saturn, is embedded in the tail and uses a ventral air inlet duct (which pops out after missile launch) and tailcone exhaust. The missile’s rear section also mounts a four-surface tail control assembly with anhedral on the stabilators. The 700lb thrust engine with a thrust-to-weight ratio of 4.8:1 comprises a single-stage centrifugal compressor, two-stage fan with a two-stage low-pressure booster, a reverse-flow annular combustor with rotary injection, a turbine section with one high-pressure and two low-pressure stages. It uses a special high-density blended aviation turbine fuel that has more energy for a given volume than standard fuels, and can endure harsh weather conditions and long storage periods. The Babur has a length of 7.2 metres, diameter of 0.52 metres, wingspan of 2.67 metres, and a 450kg HE blast/FAE warhead. After its launch by a solid-fuel booster, the cruise turbofan cuts in, giving the Babur a cruising height of 1km (that drops to 200 metres in the terminal phase), speed of 880kph and a range of 600km. The C-602, on the other hand, is a conventional cruise missile design, with mid-body wings that deploy following launch. The fixed ventral air inlet is mounted slightly forward of the cruciform tail fins. The missile is 6.1 metres long (without the 0.9 metre-long launch booster), and weighs 1,140kg. The solid propellant booster weighs an additional 210kg. The C-602 has a cruise speed of Mach 0.6, carries a 300kg HE blast warhead, is powered by a small turbojet, and has a stated range of 280km, with the missile flying at an altitude of 30 metres during the cruise phase of an engagement. In the terminal phase, the missile descends to a height of seven metres, and it can be launched from truck-mounted launchers, from warships as well as from medium multi-role combat aircraft.

In the Babur’s case, although China has supplied NESCOM with the jigs, lathes and moulding/machining/milling tooling required for fabricating the LACM’s sub-assemblies, it has asked NESCOM to independently source raw materials required for machining and moulding the sub-assemblies. It is for this reason that NESCOM has had difficulties in mastering the Babur’s production engineering-cum-process challenges. The Babur’s IIR terminal seeker—offering a CEP of 10 metres—has been supplied off-the-shelf by Xi’an Sicong Group. NESCOM was in late 2005 authorised by the Pakistan Army (with COSTIND’s consent) to join forces with Turkey’s military-industrial entities for developing a stretched, ground-launched, 1,000km-range variant of the Babur equipped with HE blast/FAE-based warheads. As far as the Babur’s motorised 8 x 8 transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) goes, the CASC has, for reasons of plausible deniability, sub-contracted the Sungni General Automotive Factory of North Korea’s 2nd Machine Industry Bureau to develop and supply off-the-shelf the vehicle as well as the reloader vehicle, both of which are reverse-engineered variants of the Russian MAZ-543TLM vehicle. The TEL has a length of 13.36 metres, width of 3.02 metres, maximum road speed of 55kph, unrefuelled range of 650km, and is powered by a 600hp Deutsch diesel engine with all four axles driven. There is a separate 10kW electrical generator to power the missile’s pre-launch operations and two hydraulic pumps to raise the missile cannisters to their launch positions before launch. The TEL is supported by four hydraulic jacks during the missile launch. Each TEL houses six LACMs that are each contained inside rectangular cannisters similar to the ones developed by CPMIEC for its WS-2/3 families of multi-barrel rocket launchers, and which are elevated to an inclined position of 70º prior to missile launch. The TELs will also be accompanied by another 8 x 8 vehicle equipped with a directed-energy-based self-defence system, this being NORINCO’s ZM-87 Disturber portable flash-blinding high-energy laser with 10km range. Present plans call for the Pakistan Army to raise two Babur Battalions—the 23rd and 26th Missile Group--(at a rate of one Battery every year starting 2009), with each having four Batteries each with six TELs housing 24 LACMs and 24 reloads and 12 other supporting vehicles, all manned by 175 personnel.

As part of its efforts to bolster its offensive firepower the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has begun inducting into service the Hatf-8 (also known as ‘Raad’ or ‘thunder’ in Arabic) air-launched cruise missile (ALCM). Described as having a range of 350km (220 miles) and equipped with an imaging infra-red (IIR) seeker with digital scene-matching capability, the conventionally armed ALCM has been under development since 2003 and will be capable of being launched by the PAF’s fleet of F-16, upgraded Mirage IIIEA and JF-17 ‘Thunder’ combat aircraft. Military-industrial entities responsible for developing the ‘Raad’ are Pakistan’s Wah Cantonment-based Advanced Engineering Research Organisation, or AERO (previously known as the Air Weapons Complex) and the Kentron subsidiary of South Africa’s Denel Aerospace Group. Typically, two ALCMs will be carried by the combat aircraft’s two inboard underwing pylons, each of which is rated at 2,041kg for manoeuvring flights at up to 5.5 g. Targets to be engaged by the ‘Raad’ include static targets like hardened aircraft shelters, bunkers and command-and-control centres, bridges, airspace surveillance radar stations, as well as strategic industrial infrastructure such as telecommunications nodes, ports and petrochemicals refineries. The missile weighs 1,200kg, has a 450kg (9,92lb) high-explosive fragmentation warhead, has a length of 5.1 metres, diameter of 0.17 metres and a wingspan of 3 metres (with its twin horizontal fins deployed), is powered by a turbojet (a reverse-engineered Microturbo TRI 60-30 turbojet producing 5.4kN thrust), cruises at a speed of Mach 0.8, and is a fire-and-forget missile optimised for pre-planned attacks.

Following an Air Tasking Order, the operating PAF squadron will prepare the Raad’s mission data files with the pre-planned data, together with the latest operational intelligence. The flight path of the ALCM will then be planned on a dedicated server-based system that can support up to 16 ALCM launches. This capability enables the pilot to launch the ALCM from a relatively wide window, which does not expose him to risks of detection and engagement with hostile ground-based air defences. Once launched, the missile follows a path semi-autonomously, on a low-altitude flight path (at an altitude of 250 metres) and is guided by GPS and terrain-matching to the area of the target. Close to the target, the missile ‘bunts’, i.e. it climbs to an altitude of 500 metres intended to achieve the best probability of target identification and penetration. During the bunt, the ALCM’s nose cone is jettisoned to allow a high-resolution IIR seeker to observe the target area (the ‘bunt’ enlarges the seeker’s forward field-of-vision). As the IIR seeker acquires the target and compare it with files stored in its memory, the aimpoint will be identified and tracked and be used as the reference for terminal guidance. The target acquisition process is constantly repeated with a higher resolution data set to refine the aimpoint, as the missile closes in on the target. Tracking will continue against this refined aim point until the precise target location is identified. On its terminal phase just prior to impact, the ‘Raad’ will be positioned at the optimum dive angle pre-selected during mission planning. The IIR seeker has a 3-metre circular error probability. The ‘Raad’ will also be equipped with an ‘abort’ mechanism, which will be initiated only if conditions for potential high collateral damage are expected. In such a situation, the mission will be aborted and the ALCM will then fly to a predetermined crash site.

Military industrial cooperation between Pakistan and South Africa dates back to the mid-1990s when the PAF sought Denel Aerospace’s expertise for developing a family of precision-guided munitions for ground attack as well as a family of air combat missiles. In February 1996, soon after the PAF concluded a US$50 million deal with Italy’s Galileo Avionica for the supply of 30 Grifo-M3 airborne multi-mode pulse-Doppler radars for the upgraded Mirage IIIEAs, contractual negotiations began on a $160 million contract with Kentron to cover the licenced-production by AERO of the latter’s U-Darter within-visual-range air-to-air missile (a reverse-engineered R550 Magic-2 missile developed by MBDA). Following this, the PAF by April 1999 had commenced contractual negotiations with Denel Aerospace for co-development of a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) under a project codenamed H-2, as well as a family of ALCMs under Project H-4. Flight tests of the BVRAAM got underway in 2001 and the resultant missile is now the AERO-produced variant of Kentron’s 60km-range R-Darter missile, which in turn is a derivative of the Derby BVRAAM developed by Israel’s RAFAEL Armament Authority.

The first ALCM to be developed under Project H-4 was a 120km-range surgical missile armed with high-explosive runway-cratering bomblets, as well as a passive radiation seeker for targeting hostile ground-based air defence radars. This is a derivative of the MUPSOW ALCM that has been under development by Kentron since the early 1990s and incorporates twin side-mounted air intakes and fixed horizontal and vertical tailfins. Thus far, the PAF has conducted two successful qualification flights of the MUPSOW, these being done on April 22 and December 17, in 2003. Following this, AERO and Kentron began work on developing the ‘Raad’ by carrying out minor modifications to the MUPSOW’s airframe, which included a stretched fuselage, a fixed ventral air intake and twin vertical tailfins, and incorporation of twin swivelling horizontal fins. The PAF’s present plans call for the procurement of 120 anti-runway variants of the MUPSOW and 50 anti-radar variants, and up to 500 ‘Raad’ ALCMs.

For acquiring the much-needed strategic targeting capability by 2012, Pakistan and Turkey have joined forces with Ukraine’s Yuzhnoye Design Bureau to develop and deploy up to four multi-spectral overhead reconnaissance satellites each with a visible band resolution of 0.9 metres with a 10km swath. According to an agreement inked between Beijing and Islamabad last month, all these satellites will be launched by CGWIC’s Long March 3A rockets from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China’s Sichuan Province. For theatre-wide real-time reconnaissance and generation of MGIS and TRS data bases in support of conventional fire assaults by TBMs and LACMs, the PAF will buy up to 12 WZ-2000 HALE-UAVs, while the Pakistan Army in December 2006 began acquiring a fleet (four systems each with five UAVs) of 450kg Falco tactical UAVs whose deliveries by Italy’s Galileo Avionica (the Italian unit of SELEX Sensors and Airborne Systems and part of the Finmeccanica group) are now underway. The WZ-2000, developed by a consortium of Chinese entities like the Chengdu Aerospace Corp, Luoyang Opto-electro Technology Development Centre, China National South Aviation Industry Ltd, Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology and CLETRI, will come be fitted with a chin-mounted, stabilised optronic turret-mounted sensor, as well as a nose-mounted X-band SAR along with related transmitter/receiver modules and a programmable digital signal processor. Each Falco UAV, on the other hand, comes equipped with a new J-band data link, a 70kg dual sensor payload comprising an EOST-45 infra-red and electro-optical turret and Selex’s new Gabbiano X-band SAR radar. The Falco has a takeoff and landing footprint of around 60 metres (195 feet) and can operate for 14 hours at an altitude of 19,700 feet. Its ground control station allows planning, re-tasking, simulation and rehearsal of missions as well as being a valid support for the operators’ training. The station can control up to two UAVs and allows the operator to manage the payloads, sensors and data collected in real time.--Prasun K. Sengupta