Govt to procure next-generation Very Short Range Air Defence System
New Delhi, The government has started the process to procure a next-generation Very Short Range Air Defence System or VSHORADS , which should be able to engage aerial targets "both by day and night" and under all weather conditions, including in snow-bound locations.
The defence ministry has issued a request for proposal for the procurement, which was uploaded on the Indian Army's website on Saturday.
In the RFP, the ministry said it intends to procure "48 launchers, 48 night-vision sights, 85 missiles and one missile test station of Very Short Range Air Defence System or VSHORADS under Buy category" and seeks participation from prospective bidders in the procurement process, subject to requirements.
Under the "operational characteristics and feature" head, the RFP document says, "To meet the evolving dynamic air threat, Army Air Defence requires Very Short Range Air Defence manportable missile system for effective terminal and point defence."
"These VSHORADS, based on infra-red homing technology, are effective fire-and-forget type of missile systems and are being referred to as VSHORADS ," it says.
Manportable refers to an object capable of being carried by one person over a long distance.
The RFP defines the General Staff Qualitative Requirements for the planned VSHORADS .
"The system should comprise of a IR homing missile coupled to a manportable launching mechanism and suitable sighting system to engage targets both by day and night," it says.
It should have the capability to engage fighter, transport aircraft, helicopters and UAS , the document says.
The procurement seeks to booster the Army's air-defence capabilities to deal with any adversarial aerial threat.
Under the "Proposed Service Employment" head of the RFP document, it has been said that the VSHORADS will be used by "all three services as terminal and point defence system against all types of aircraft, helicopters and UAS".
The air defence system is proposed to be employed on land and ship-based platforms with these two configurations "manportable single launcher configuration" and "para dropped operations".
The system is proposed to be employed across all terrains, including high-altitude areas, plains, deserts, coastal areas and the maritime domain.
The VSHORADS system should be able to "operate during day and night for engagement of aerial targets under all weather conditions, including snow-bound locations".
The range of the operating temperature is minus 30 degrees Celsius to 50 degrees Celsius , according to the RFP.
"The missile should be effective against all types of aircraft, helicopters and UAS" and according to the requirements defined in the RFP, the maximum effective range is 6,000 metres or more, while the minimum range is not more than 500 metres.
The system should have the ability to engage targets approaching at a speed of 400 metres per second or more, according to the requirements defined in the document.
On the "deployment time", the requirement says the "system to be deployable from transportation to firing mode within three minutes".
On the transportability requirement, the RFP document says "the system with single launcher should be manportable" and the equipment should have the capability to be transported in "service vehicle, ships, trains and aircraft and being para dropped".
The Defence Research and Development Organisation is also working on a VSHORADS.
In February, the DRDO successfully conducted three successive flight-trials of a VSHORADS from Chandipur, off the coast of Odisha. These tests were carried out against high-speed targets flying at a very low altitude, the defence ministry had then said in a statement.
A VSHORADS is a man-portable air defence system designed and developed indigenously by Research Centre Imarat, in collaboration with other DRDO laboratories and development-cum-production partners. The missile system has the capability to meet the needs of all the three branches of the armed forces the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, the ministry had said.
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