Nirbhay

Nirbhay
The Nirbhay, during a test launch on October 17, 2014
Type	Long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile
Place of origin	India
Production history
Manufacturer	DRDO
Specifications
Weight	1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb)
Length	6 m (20 ft)
Diameter	0.52 m (1.7 ft)
Warhead	conventional or nuclear
Engine	turbofan
Wingspan	2.84 m (9.3 ft)
Operational range	1,000 km (620 mi) - 1,500 km (930 mi)
Speed	Mach 0.8–Mach 0.9
Guidance system	INS IRNSS

Nirbhay (Sanskrit: निर्भय, Nirbhay "Dauntless/Fearless") is a long range, subsonic cruise missile designed and developed in India by the Defence Research and Development Organisation.

Nirbhay is an all-weather, low-cost, long-range cruise missile capable of carrying conventional and nuclear war heads. The missile has a range of more than 1000 km, weighs about 1500 kg and has a length of 6 metres. The missile is powered by a solid rocket booster for take off which is developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL). Upon reaching the required velocity and height, Turbofan engine in the missile takes over for further propulsion. The missile is guided by a highly advanced inertial navigation system indigenously developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI) and a radio altimeter for the height determination.

Nirbhay is able to pick out a target and attack it among multiple targets. The missile has a loitering capability, i.e., it can go round a target and perform several manoeuvres and then re-engage it. With two side wings, the missile is capable of flying at different altitudes ranging from 500 m to 4 km above the ground and can also fly at low altitudes (like low tree level) to avoid detection by enemy radar. It is capable of delivering 24 different types of warheads depending on mission requirements and uses an inertial navigation system for guidance. The missile supplements Brahmos by delivering warheads farther than the 290 km range of Brahmos.

The missile was developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru. ADE is a lab under DRDO. After the design was finalized, the technology required for the missile was developed. It was integrated by R&D Engineers, Pune, a specialized arm of DRDO. Indian private sector giant Tata has built the vehicle that is the carrier/launcher for the Nirbhay system and is based on an "indigenous high mobility, all-terrain and all-wheel drive Tata LPTA 5252-12 X12 vehicle", developed in partnership with DRDO.