IGMDP

IGMDP Book Committee

Chairman
Lt Gen (Dr) VJ Sundaram, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd.)
Members
Dr SS Murthy
Shri NR Iyer
Shri Arun Kumar Nayyar
Shri HS Venkataraman
Shri Atul D Rane
Member Secretary
Shri Ashok Kumar

ii

IGMDP

Integrated Guided Missile Development

Programme

Defence Research & Development Organisation

Ministry of Defence, India
2008

iii

DRDO SPECIAL PUBLICATION SERIES

IGMDP: Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme
by Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO)
Series Editors
Editor-in-Chief
Dr AL Moorthy
Editors
A Saravanan
B Nityanand
Sudhanshu Bhushan

Associate Editor-in-Chief
Ashok Kumar
Printing
SK Tyagi
SK Gupta

Marketing
MG Sharma
RP Singh

Cataloguing in Publication

Defence Research & Development Organisation

IGMDP: Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme
DRDO Special Publication Series
Includes subject index

ISBN: 978-81-86514-23-8
1. Missile system
4. Trishul
I. DRDO

2. Prithvi
5. Nag

3. Agni
6. Akash

II. Title (Special Series)

2008, Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) Delhi-110054, India

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Indian Copyright Act 1957,
no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted,
stored in a database or a retrieval system, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the
prior written permission of the authors and publisher.
The views expressed in the book are those of the authors only. The editors
or publisher do not assume responsibility for the statements/opinion expressed
by the authors.

Designed & Published by Defence Scientific Information & Documentation

Centre (DESIDOC), Metcalfe House, Delhi-110 054, India.

iv

CONTENTS
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Chairmen, Guided Missile Board
Chairmen, Programme Management Board

vii
viii
xi
xiii
xiii

Prologue
1.
2.
3.

The Missile Story

IGMDP - Some Thoughts
Indias Missile Programme

4.
5.

Overview of IGMDP
Genesis

VS Arunachalam
APJ Abdul Kalam
VK Aatre

3
6
8

Overview
AV Ranga Rao

13
37

Projects
6.
7.
8.
9.

HS Venkataraman
Avinash Chander
P Chattopadhyay
Prahlada, RR Panyam &
AD Rane
NR Iyer

Prithvi
Agni
Trishul
Akash

10. Nag

63
110
120
141
171

Management
11. IGMDP Management System
12. Quality Management
13. Cost and Time Management

NR Iyer & AK Nayyar

SC Narang
AK Nayyar & NR Iyer

211
230
242

Infrastructure Development
14. Integrated Test Range
15. Research Centre Imarat
16. Civil Works and Estates

SC Narang
MVS Suryakanthrao &
SK Ray
KN Singh

257
264
274

Technologies Developed
17.
18.
19.
20.

Aeronautics
Solid Propulsion Systems
Avionics
Autopilot, Guidance &
Systems Engineering
21. Inertial Navigation

P Venugopalan
A Subhananda Rao
SK Ray
NV Kadam

283
304
309
312

P Banerjee

317
v

22.
23.
24.
25.
26.

Onboard Computer
Hydraulic Actuation Systems
Advanced Simulation Centre
Environmental Testing
Warhead Systems

27. Trishul Radar and

Prithvi RAS
28. Akash Radar Systems
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.

MMW Radar Seeker

Imaging Infrared Seeker
Ground Systems
Wheeled Vehicle Systems
Tracked Vehicle Systems

34. Parachute Systems

KV Ramana Sai
AK Chakrabarti
SK Chaudhuri
K Jayathirtha Rao
Surendra Kumar &
KPS Murthy
G Kumaraswamy Rao
S Varadarajan &
M Vijaykumar
NR Iyer
NR Iyer
MR Joshi
Lt Gen Tejpaul
S Sundaresh &
LC Raghavan
Balraj Gupta

321
325
327
334
337
349
352
355
361
368
376
379
382

Materials
S Sundarrajan &
HS Venkataraman
HS Venkataraman
KRK Rao &
Haridwar Singh

35. Missile Materials

36. Liquid Propellants
37. Solid Propellants

389
394
396

Partners
38. Industry Partnership
39. The User

PK Samantha & K Sekhar

HS Venkataraman

405
414

Lessons & Future

40. Lessons Learnt
41. Missile Technologies
for Future

VK Saraswat

427
432

Appendices
IGMDP Project Directors
Guided Missile Board (1983)
Programme Management Board (1983)
Project Management Boards (1983)
Subject Index
vi

471
472
472
473
479

FOREWORD
The Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, now known
better by its abbreviation IGMDP, is perhaps the first programme in
India which brought together a large number of R&D laboratories, government
departments, industries and academic institutions in the country within
an integrated structure involving all the groups in a functional network.
The programme was visionary and ambitious, aiming at the same time,
deliveries to the Services as the end goal in a reasonable time frame.
It caught the attention and imagination of the people with successes
and they also shared our disappointments at failures. We thankfully
acknowledge the support and encouragement received at national, political,
governmental, user and media levels all through.
This book chronicles the genesis, progress and current status of
development of the state-of-the-art guided missiles under the IGMDP.
It emphasizes the need for realistic assessments of technical expertise,
manpower, cost and time and the gains accrued to the country.
The programme has harnessed and augmented the science & technology
base in the country to meet the development and production requirement.
The value of missile systems, such as Prithvi and Dhanush already
inducted into service by the IGMDP is much more than the total investment
in the programme. In addition, the expertise, infrastructure and leadership
built up under the programme have laid the foundation for missile
systems such as the Agni series, BrahMos and ballistic missile interceptors.
Spin-offs have also benefitted industry and society.
In all this, the necessity for not only R&D expertise but also political
will and a strong industrial base in critical technologies emerge as
essential requirements for success.

(M Natarajan)
SA to RM & DG R&D

vii

PREFACE
The Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP)
was sanctioned by the Government of India in a bold move to break
the total shackles in which India was bound by its own diffidence in
the missile field. It was a result of technical initiative, user support and
above all political will. The path enabling this decision, the programme
and its current status as well as the technologies and facilities developed
as a part of the IGMDP are presented in this book. The lessons learnt
and the mistakes made are discussed and suggestions are also made
for the future.
Missile science and technology studies had started in 1956 with
an eight member Special Weapons Development Team (SWDT) formed
by the Defence Science Organisation. The SWDT was expanded to a
laboratory viz., Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL)
in 1961 and charged with the responsibility of missile development in
India. DRDLs first (at DSL, Delhi) project was an anti-tank missile in
1960s followed by a Surface-to-Air Missile (Devil) in the 1970s. These
two projects built-up manpower and infrastructure as well as very good
competence in design and technology. In parallel, a Missile Policy Committee
identified advanced missile systems for indigenous development. In
1982, Dr VS Arunachalam, the Scientific Adviser to the Raksha Mantri
(SA to RM) formed a Missile Study Team, headed by Dr APJ Abdul
Kalam, Director, DRDL, with representatives from DRDO, Services and
Defence Production. The team recommended to Shri R Venkataraman,
the Raksha Mantri, the development of a surface-to-surface missile (150
km), a quick reaction surface-to-air missile (10 km), a multitarget, surfaceto-air missile (25 km) and an anti-tank missile (4 km), along with a reentry vehicle technology demonstrator. Finally, after consideration by
the Prime Minister, Smt Indira Gandhi, and the cabinet, the Integrated
Guided Missile Development Programme covering all the five systems
together was sanctioned in July 1983. The systems were given the code
names Prithvi, Trishul, Akash, Nag and Agni.
The Indian scientific community, industry, academia, services and
the government were all partners in meeting the tremendous challenges
of this programme.
There were successes and failures, good decisions and mistakes.
Prithvi and Agni as envisaged in the programme sanction were completed
in 1994 and follow-on systems have been inducted into services.
viii

The experience and expertise gained from Trishul will be used in collaborative
programmes. In 2007, Akash completed mobility trials for the Army and
user trials for the Air Force. Akash has been accepted for induction by
the Air Force. Nag carried out user trials for the Army against static
targets in 2007 and the user trials against moving targets will be done
in 2008.
The Programme is due to end in December 2008. Apart from the
value of the facilities and expertise built up, the returns from IGMDP
have already exceeded the total investment in the Programme by 65 per
cent. The SA to RM Shri M Natarajan, felt that this was the correct time
to chronicle the genesis, management, progress and status of IGMDP
which would be of interest to other programmes also. The committee
formed by him to write this book considers it an honour to have been
chosen for this task. The committee made requests to more than 200
participants in the Programme both past and present, to give their experiences.
We thank them all for their responses, many recalling events as far back
as the 1960s and 1970s but relevant to the Programme.
I, personally, in addition, would like to thank all the authors of the
various chapters and sections who put together this vast amount of
information in a cogent form and Dr AL Moorthy, Director, DESIDOC
for his whole-hearted support. My special thanks to the members of the
committee comprising:

Dr SS Murthy, who, ensured balance and uniformity.

Shri NR Iyer, who apart from Nag, contributed so much to our

understanding of the Programme management system.

Shri AK Nayyar, who, provided all the missing linksparticularly

time and cost details of various facets of the Programme.

Shri HS Venkataraman, who, more than anyone else, captured the

spirit of the Programme.

Shri AD Rane, who, quietly and methodically marshalled all of us

and Akash.

Shri Ashok Kumar, our ever smiling Member-Secretary who, collated

all the information and met our innumerable demands for drafts of
the book.

In the limited time and space available it has not been possible to
individually acknowledge the contributions of everyone. We hope a
more comprehensive volume in the future will rectify this lacuna.
ix

The IGMDP has indeed been the springboard for many missile systems,
which have been born and nurtured fulfilling the vision of our missile
pioneers to strengthen the defence and security of India.

New Delhi
April 2008

(VJ Sundaram)
Chairman

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The committee gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the following
in the preparation of this book.
Aatre, VK (Dr)

Krishnamoorthy, JAR

Abdul Kalam, APJ (Dr)

Krishna Mohan, V

Angelo, PC (Dr)

Krishnan, S

Arunachalam, VS (Dr)

Kumar, Anil (Dr)

Atul Sen, (Dr)

Kumaraswamy Rao, G

Avinash Chander

Mishra, SS

Babu, KH

Mohan, SR, Rear Admiral (Retd.)

Bagga, RK, Maj Gen (Retd.)

Mukunda, HS (Prof.)

Bahadur, S Capt (IN)

Murthy, KPS

Bains, AS (Dr)

Murthy, KSN

Balakrishnan, R (Dr)

Murthy, VV

Balasubrahmanyam, G

Narang, Neelkamal (Smt)

Banerjee, P

Narang, SC

Bansal, SL

Narayanan, VS AVM (Retd.)

Basu, PK (Dr)

Narayana Rao, V

Bhaumik, H

Nayak, KD

Biswas, PK

Pandarinath, B

Chakaborty, Debashish (Dr)

Pandian, S

Chakrabarti, AK

Paneerselvam, S

Chattopadhyay, P

Panyam, RR (Dr)

Chaudhuri, SK (Dr)

Prahlada (Dr)

Cleetus, M (Dr)

Prasad, CR

Gupta, Balraj

Prasad, MR

Gyaneshwar, Y

Prasad Rao, KVSS

Hradaynath, R (Dr)

Raghavan, LC

Hussainy, SA (Dr)

Rajgopal, AS

Jaggi, HS Lt Col (Retd.)

Ramana Rao, JV

Jayathirtha Rao, K

Ramana Sai, KV

Joshi, MR

Ramanathan, R

Kadam, NV

Ranga Rao, AV

Khosla, Romesh Lt Gen (Retd.)

Rao, KRK (Dr)

xi

Rao, MN

Som, S

Ravindranath, MV

Sridhar, A K

Ray, SK

Srinivasa, K

Rayudu, PVR

Subhananda Rao, A (Dr)

Samantha, PK, Cmde (Retd.)

Sundaresh, S

Santeppa, K

Sundarrajan, S

Saraswat, VK (Dr)

Surendra Kumar

Sarkar, BK (Prof.)

Suryakanthrao, MVS

Satish Chandra, Maj Gen (Retd.)

Swaminathan, R, Maj Gen (Retd.)

Sethi, RC

Tejpaul, Lt Gen (Retd.)

Sethi, VS

Uniyal, JP, Col (Retd.)

Shankar, PR, Brig (Retd.)

Varadarajan, S

Sekhar, K

Vasudevamurthy, N

Shenoy, RP (Dr)

Vathsal, S (Dr)

Singh, Haridwar (Dr)

Venugopalan, P

Singh, KN, Maj Gen (Retd.)

Vijaykumar, M

Sivathanu Pillai, A (Dr)

Wele, SM

xii

IGMDP
Chairmen, Guided Missile Board

Dr VS Arunachalam
1983-1992

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

1992-1999

Dr VK Aatre
2000-2004

Shri M Natarajan
2004+

Chairmen, Programme Management Board

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

1983-1992

Lt Gen (Dr) VJ Sundaram

PVSM, AVSM, VSM
1992-1997

Dr Prahlada
1997+

xiii

xiv

IGMDP

1
THE MISSILE STORY
A TALE OF NATIONAL SELF-RELIANCE IN
TECHNOLOGIES
VS Arunachalam
Smt Indira Gandhi once famously remarked at a DRDO conference
that as a nation we seem to enjoy vicarious pleasure in parading our
failures and concealing our successes. We seem to know more about
our failures than successes. But, truth to tell, many indigenous defence
systems have emerged and they continue to serve the nation well, and
the national repertoire of advanced technologiesmuch to chagrin of
denierskeeps on getting enriched. And such tales of successes are
worth recalling not only to deny the Cassandras the stage but also to
learn the lessons these tales lead to. For every programme, with all its
twists and turns has a story to tell and a moral to preach. I cannot think
of a more compelling theme than the Integrated Guided Missile Programme
(IGMDP) for recounting one such tale.
This story has many heroes and most of them you may not know
or even recall. That rockets and missiles are going to be important parts
of a nations armoury were emphasised by many Scientific Advisors
before me and every one of them contributed in his own way in building
this competence. Prof. BD Nag Chaudhury encouraged the Directors of
Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), our core laboratory
for missile development, to build the necessary competence in many
areas such as propulsion, guidance and control. The laboratory directors,
Air Cde (Retd) V Ganesan, AVM (Retd) VS Narayanan and Shri SL
Bansal built the necessary laboratory facilities and used some of the
operational missiles as the carriers to prove the laboratory developed
systems. The necessary infrastructure to manufacture some of the materials
was also built during this period. These would come in handy when
the country embarked on major missile programmes. Prof. MGK Menon
formed the first Missile Policy Committee in 1975, and later, on the
advice of the then Defence Minister, Shri R Venkataraman, I formed the
Missile Study Team with Dr APJ Abdul Kalam as the convenor. This
was not a mere R&D team but an integrated one including in its membership,
the customers from the three Services, the manufacturers and administrators.

Dr VS Arunachalam, as SA to RM, was Chairman of the apex body (Guided Missile

Board) from 1983 to 1992 and is currently associated with Centre for Study of Science,
Technology and Policy (CSTEP), Bangalore.

IGMDP

When I submitted the recommendations of the Missile Study Team

that suggested a sequential development and manufacture of various
types of missiles, my minister recommended that instead of depending
on serial development one after another, DRDO should embark on a
programme of simultaneous development of all the four classes of missiles
that included a surface-to-surface missile (later named as Prithvi), two
surface-to-air missiles (Trishul and Akash) and an autonomous antitank missile (Nag). To this list we also added later a demonstration of
re-entry vehicle technology (Agni).
To ensure smooth running of the programme, we devised a board
structure endowing it with the administrative and financial powers
normally resident in bureaucratic structures. This reduced the bureaucratic
choke points normally experienced in the execution of projects and also
made all the members of the board as participants to decision making.
Shri Venkataraman also insisted that the production agencies be provided
with appropriate funding to build the manufacturing base. In addition,
resources were allocated for technology demonstration and proving
projects. The Services were spared from paying for them. The board
structure enabled the induction of large number of institutions, both
private and public, academic and commercial, to participate in the programme.
In a sense, the whole nation became a work centre for this programme
and all the participants honed their skills and built the necessary knowledge
base. All these, and more would be needed when the projects matured.
The success of these innovations is seen now: A number of missiles are
already in service, and a few more will see service soon.
This part of the story is now better known and has been ably recounted
by others. But what remains in my mind, after so many years are just
two recollections: One of enormous pride in our building the necessary
critical technologies, in the midst of embargoes and denials; and these
projects were not easy and these roads were less travelled and painfully
hard. Global meetings between scientists were forbidden, commercial
and committed orders were cancelled, and professors from our academies
were denied visas to attend scientific conferences and political pressures
were applied to cancel the projects and programs. In spite of these, our
scientists, engineers and workers have built the needed systems and
competence. When I recall these achievements, I remember the recent
incidents in the world of cricket: of how well our young men won the
game totally ignoring all the abuses thrown at them. It looked as though
the difficulties were the only catalyst they were looking for to excel!
The global environment has now changed. Countries are now coming
forward offering cooperation in many areas of technology. They talk
of sharing advanced technologies and joint ventures. While welcoming
them we should not abandon our commitment to be independent in
4

The Missile Story

critical technologies and of our determination to nurture people into

learning advanced technologies. No technology should be too difficult
or esoteric to our youth. Economists tell us that technology growth and
dissemination is solely through people. These are the crown jewels of
a nations knowledge treasury and we should be nurturing these at all
costs.
And another is a puzzle that I am still unable to rationalise. Why
did we not succeed and why did we not keep to the schedule in some
of the projects we took in this programme? Globally speaking, we are
not the pioneers in this trade and other countries were on this very same
road before and succeeded. Did we take on more than our intellectual
resources and knowledge-base permitted, or were we still learning how
to manage such large commitments with efficiency, technical competence
and professional transparency that these projects deserved?
I sincerely hope that the ongoing programmes will show that we
have learnt these skills as well. IGMDP would then have fulfilled all
its objectives, stated and desired.