Aero India 2023: DRDO readies Rudram anti-radiation missile for user trials

A model of DRDO’s NGARM or Rudram-I. (Janes/Rahul Udoshi)

India’s state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is preparing for a series of user trials featuring its Rudram-I anti-radiation missile (ARM) integrated with Indian Air Force (IAF) Su-30MKI fighter aircraft.

A DRDO official told Janes at the Aero India 2023 show, being held in Bangalore from 13 to 17 February, that the Rudram-I – previously referred to as the New Generation Anti-Radiation Missile (NGARM) – has completed development trials and that preparations are now under way for user trials that are scheduled to start by mid-2023.

The Rudram-I was first test-fired from an Su-30MKI in January 2019. The missile, which has been in development since 2012, is scheduled to eventually replace existing Kh-31 (AS-17 ‘Krypton’) and Martel ARMs in the IAF inventory.

The Rudram-I is powered by an indigenously developed dual-pulse, solid-propellant rocket motor, and can be guided by a combination of passive and millimetric-wave (MMW) seekers.