Astra Mk3 ‘Gandiva’ BVRAAM Getting Ready for Development Trials with DRDO's GaN-Based AESA Seeker

India's premier military research agency, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is preparing to begin developmental trials for its next-generation Astra Mk3 air-to-air missile.

Named ‘Gandiva’ after the mythical bow from the Mahabharata, this advanced weapon is set to significantly enhance the combat dominance of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Even as trials are set to commence, the DRDO is already planning a crucial upgrade for the production version, incorporating a state-of-the-art Gallium Nitride (GaN) seeker to ensure its technological superiority.

The Astra Mk3 represents a major leap in India's missile technology. It is a Beyond-Visual-Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM), meaning it can engage hostile targets like stealth fighters, bombers, and AWACS aircraft from distances far beyond what the pilot can see, at a projected range of over 300 kilometres.

Unlike its predecessors, which use conventional solid rocket motors, the Gandiva is propelled by a Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) engine. This air-breathing propulsion system uses oxygen from the atmosphere to sustain flight, allowing the missile to travel farther and maintain high supersonic speeds of up to Mach 4.5.

This technology dramatically increases the missile's "no-escape zone," which is the area within which a target cannot use its speed or agility to evade being hit.

A key enhancement planned for the final production model is the upgrade of its guidance system, often called the missile's "brain."

The current developmental missile uses an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) seeker based on Gallium Arsenide (GaS) technology. However, the DRDO intends to equip the production version with a more powerful AESA seeker built with Gallium Nitride (GaN).

GaN technology offers superior power efficiency, better performance under high temperatures, and significantly greater resistance to electronic jamming, a critical feature for success in modern electronic warfare.

This advancement is supported by India’s growing self-reliance in producing GaN Transmit/Receive modules, a core component of AESA systems, under the "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" initiative.

The missile program has already achieved significant milestones.

In December 2024, the DRDO successfully completed ground-based tests of the SFDR propulsion system at the Integrated Test Range in Odisha, validating its performance.

The current phase involves captive carriage trials, where the missile is mounted on a Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jet to test its integration with the aircraft's electronics, radar, and fire-control systems.

Following this, the missile will undergo live-fire trials to evaluate its performance in real-world combat scenarios, including its ability to intercept targets at maximum range and speed.

The Astra Mk3 is designed for integration with a wide range of IAF aircraft, including the Su-30MKI, the domestically produced HAL Tejas, and potentially the Rafale and MiG-29 fleets.

Strategically, the Gandiva is being developed to give the IAF a decisive edge and counter the advanced capabilities of potential adversaries, such as China's J-20 stealth fighter and the long-range PL-15 missile reportedly used by both China and Pakistan.

While officials acknowledge that miniaturising ramjet technology presents challenges, the DRDO is targeting full-scale production of the Astra Mk3 for the 2030–2031 timeframe, marking a new era for India's indigenous defence sector.

 

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[sanket]

Very good; that will make GANDIV as well as Astra MK2 contemporary missiles. With recent PL-15 debris sent to DRDO labs, it will be beneficial in making further refinements in Astra MK2.

With the GANDIVA missile being a force multiplier from stealth fighters, refuelling tankers, AWACS, and transport aircraft, it will be a game changer. For a stop-gap measure, R-37 & Sky Sting can be handy by the time GANDIVA enters production.

This is a great example of home-grown defence industry advantage; with the developmental process on, it can be fine-tuned according to the time. DRDO has made big strides in GaN technology.

Both Astra MK2 and GANDIVA will be deadly indigenous missiles and end the monopoly of Meteor, which France denied for integration on other fighter platforms, including indigenous as well as Russian.

 

[Radha Ramanan]

There are some things that have come to light from the above article. The major one is that Russia is helping us out with ramjet technology as we don't have the basic design knowledge. Russia had developed a similar ramjet-powered R-77 missile years ago and shelved it due to costs. There were people here tooting their own horn that India was going at it alone with the Astra 3 missile. Even the Chinese wisely collaborated with the Russians for making the KH-31 missile after they failed to copy it. Such is the complexity of a ramjet engine.

Again, when we were designing the Akash missile, we got stuck on the ramjet engine and Russian help was sought and given. The Star ramjet-powered target missile is a spin-off of the ramjet tech involved in the Astra 3 missile.

India was developing a ramjet missile similar to the French ASMP missile for nuclear delivery but it was shelved due to ramjet problems. Nothing was heard after that.

Developing a long-range missile is one thing, and developing the systems needed to make it work at these distances is another. The long-range data link and a powerful radar on the launching fighter to update the missiles is a major hurdle. I very much doubt if the present Bars radar has the hardware and software to guide the Astra 3 at such long distances as it is an old radar; they may have to be upgraded. But the Uttam-based new radar would not have any difficulty. France faced a big problem for the Meteor missile's data link as the missile's exhausts, which gave out ionised gas, were blocking the data link signals. They moved the antenna and solved the problem. The Meteor also took a lot of time to mature and come into service. Again, the laser fuze on the missile has to be more sensitive as the speeds are higher in the Astra 3. The ramjet nozzles are usually made of titanium to take care of the aerodynamic heating, thus increasing the cost of the missile.

India has enough gallium reserves as gallium is a byproduct when aluminium ore is being melted to extract aluminium.

 

[Sandeep]

It’s great that we have developed the SFDR missile but we will need to wait before installing and using it on our Sukhoi jets. As we have started the Super Sukhoi program it will have a completely different technology and equipment that is more modern. There’s no point in installing and integrating the missile with an old radar, jet computers or software etc which is why production will have to weight until they upgrade the Sukhoi jets.