DRDO to Expand LRAShM Hypersonic Programme With Dedicated Surface Strike Variants For Army And Air Force

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has confirmed the expansion of its Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRAShM) project.

Originally designed to bolster the Indian Navy's maritime security, the programme is now evolving into a multi-service platform with specialized ground-strike versions being developed for both the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force.

Technical Advancements and Flight Profile​

The LRAShM is a sophisticated boost-glide hypersonic weapon designed to secure India's coastlines and maritime interests.

The system utilizes a powerful two-stage solid rocket motor to propel the missile into the upper atmosphere. Upon reaching the desired altitude, it releases a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) that descends toward its objective.

Unlike traditional ballistic missiles that follow a predictable path, the LRAShM employs a quasi-ballistic trajectory. It maintains extreme speeds—reportedly reaching a peak of Mach 10—while performing unpredictable maneuvers and atmospheric "skips."

This unique flight profile, combined with its ability to fly at lower altitudes, makes the missile nearly impossible for current radar and air defence systems to track or intercept.

Strategic Expansion to Land and Air​

While the naval variant remains a priority for coastal batteries, the programme's scope has widened following significant interest from other military branches.

• Indian Army: Leading the broader developmental effort, the Army seeks a surface-to-surface version to hit high-value, fortified targets.
• Indian Air Force: The aviation wing is expected to adopt a variant that mirrors the performance of the land-based version, providing a high-speed deep-strike capability.

Weighing approximately 12 tonnes, the LRAShM occupies a critical gap in India's missile hierarchy.

It offers nearly three times the operational range of the Pralay tactical missile, allowing India to conduct conventional strikes against heavily protected assets without resorting to long-range strategic (nuclear) systems.

Operational Impact and Deterrence​

In maritime scenarios, the missile is specifically engineered to neutralize large surface combatants, such as aircraft carriers, by overwhelming their layered interceptors.

For land operations, its precision and hypersonic penetration will allow the military to strike command centres and hardened infrastructure deep within hostile territory.

The LRAShM represents a shift toward a unified "family of missiles" approach. By sharing technology across naval, land, and air platforms, DRDO aims to maximize resource efficiency while providing the armed forces with a cutting-edge tool for Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) missions.

Once fully operational, the system is expected to significantly strengthen India's deterrence posture across the Indo-Pacific and its continental borders.

 

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[ronin-desi]

DRDO is all media bites and fake hype but not real deliverables to our armed forces.
Total operational missiles in
IAF: IAF aresnal are more than 80% foreign imported missiles like MICA, METEOR, BARAK, RAMPAGE, SCALP, BRAHMOS(50% Indian).
Army: rudimentary shells are desi but GPS guided and long range goes to imported one. Anti tank missiles are Russians.
Navy: similar story on their landscape from Spainish torpedo to Russians and Israeli dominated weaponry.
Priority of nation defence not employment of DRDO 5000 engineers + 25,000 support staff at cost of U$3billion a year cost to poor tax payers.
just outsource to private sector.
Since 2014to 2026 : U$2Billion on average x 11 year = U$22 billions spent and output?? Please someone enlighten me any outstanding defence operation product?

 

[Vivek_Singh]

DRDO is all media bites and fake hype but not real deliverables to our armed forces.
Total operational missiles in
IAF: IAF aresnal are more than 80% foreign imported missiles like MICA, METEOR, BARAK, RAMPAGE, SCALP, BRAHMOS(50% Indian).
Army: rudimentary shells are desi but GPS guided and long range goes to imported one. Anti tank missiles are Russians.
Navy: similar story on their landscape from Spainish torpedo to Russians and Israeli dominated weaponry.
Priority of nation defence not employment of DRDO 5000 engineers + 25,000 support staff at cost of U$3billion a year cost to poor tax payers.
just outsource to private sector.
Since 2014to 2026 : U$2Billion on average x 11 year = U$22 billions spent and output?? Please someone enlighten me any outstanding defence operation product?

Astra is Indian homegrown A2A missile, Astra mk1 is integrated with fighter jets, mk2 and mk3 (Gandiva) are the ones with extended ranges in different stages of production and trials respectively. Brahmos is more than 50% Indian. Rudram missiles are also there for the SEAD/DEAD operations.

For Barak and S400, we have our own Akash AD as well forming the layer of Air Defence. Plus Kusha is another homegrown AD which is bound to takeover S400 and become a major exporter. Pinaka is also planned for integration with Airforce.

In Navy, we have produced Varunastra, the home grown heavy hitter, anti submarine torpedo. Only Torpedo in the world to have GPS based locating aid. It's set to replace foreign torpedoes and is currently ordered for mass productions. Infact, Naval arm of Indian Armed forces is way ahead in terms of indigenization. Our home grown K series missiles are in league of their own.

Army wise....we have pvt players building tanks, Whaps apart from DRDO. Missiles like Pralay are set to become the bridge between Prithvi Series and Agni Series.

You're right that we've relied a lot on imports, but things are under change. There are close to 500+ items which govt has put in "no-import" list.

 

[ronin-desi]

Astra is Indian homegrown A2A missile, Astra mk1 is integrated with fighter jets, mk2 and mk3 (Gandiva) are the ones with extended ranges in different stages of production and trials respectively. Brahmos is more than 50% Indian. Rudram missiles are also there for the SEAD/DEAD operations.

For Barak and S400, we have our own Akash AD as well forming the layer of Air Defence. Plus Kusha is another homegrown AD which is bound to takeover S400 and become a major exporter. Pinaka is also planned for integration with Airforce.

In Navy, we have produced Varunastra, the home grown heavy hitter, anti submarine torpedo. Only Torpedo in the world to have GPS based locating aid. It's set to replace foreign torpedoes and is currently ordered for mass productions. Infact, Naval arm of Indian Armed forces is way ahead in terms of indigenization. Our home grown K series missiles are in league of their own.

Army wise....we have pvt players building tanks, Whaps apart from DRDO. Missiles like Pralay are set to become the bridge between Prithvi Series and Agni Series.

You're right that we've relied a lot on imports, but things are under change. There are close to 500+ items which govt has put in "no-import" list.

Parroting media bites from these indian mil-industrial complex IAS chief and MoD are not worth much.
Apart from Brahmos, nothing much used from desi firms but heavy lifting was done by all imported weaponry.
i liked Air-def but that was improvised and training but not reliance on tech. (U$20-30 billions spent do have some few saving grace)
Writing paragraphs on desi weapon testing but nothing much in operational life.

 

[Vivek_Singh]

Parroting media bites from these indian mil-industrial complex IAS chief and MoD are not worth much.
Apart from Brahmos, nothing much used from desi firms but heavy lifting was done by all imported weaponry.
i liked Air-def but that was improvised and training but not reliance on tech.
Writing paragraphs on desi weapon testing but nothing much in operational life.

AD has no reliance on tech ? DRDO integrated old Pechora guns with tech to shoot down Pooki drones precisely in Op Sindoor, that cant happen without tech integration...guess Pook did won in narrative warfare.

Improvisation is the part and parcel of any tech. Brahmos used to have a range of 290, then it got extended to 400 and now the newer variants will have an extension upto 800km...Brahmos NG is being developed for fighter jets only.

Op Sindoor was a limited scale conflict...hence India used missiles which can cause precision strikes. Minimum usage and maximum impact. If the war had prolonged then desi missiles would also have came in the picture....imagine the havoc which Prithvi or Agni would have caused.

 

[ronin-desi]

AD has no reliance on tech ? DRDO integrated old Pechora guns with tech to shoot down Pooki drones precisely in Op Sindoor, that cant happen without tech integration...guess Pook did won in narrative warfare.

Improvisation is the part and parcel of any tech. Brahmos used to have a range of 290, then it got extended to 400 and now the newer variants will have an extension upto 800km...Brahmos NG is being developed for fighter jets only.

Op Sindoor was a limited scale conflict...hence India used missiles which can cause precision strikes. Minimum usage and maximum impact. If the war had prolonged then desi missiles would also have came in the picture....imagine the havoc which Prithvi or Agni would have caused.

in your words, DRDO did jugaad, improvised! Institution taking U$3Billion yearly offering poor jugaad PATAKA instead of decent helmat and AD equipment when Bharat marching to take 3rd biggest world economy.
Why Bharat deserve this mediocre insttitute ? Bharat have millions of engineers and spending U$3 Billion alone on this garbage institute. Look at Agnikul within 5 years less than totoal U$40 million project money with 400 engineers tested Clustered semi-cryo engine which ISRO U$2billion a year undeR PMO office with all perks and priviliage couldnt do since 1990s.
Every PSLV launch and ISRO chief doing all media song and dance like we landed on moon or mars again!
Why do we on Earth need to reward, pamper these clown 3rd rate engineers and army of support staff? we are still poor on per GDP so for sake of better bang out of our money use private sector for speed, innovation and professional output!
even national media is part of these crime on Bharat for not shining light on this loot of Bharat by these corrupt mil-industrial complex comprised of all PSUs.

 

[Vivek_Singh]

in your words, DRDO did jugaad, improvised! Institution taking U$3Billion yearly offering poor jugaad PATAKA instead of decent helmat and AD equipment when Bharat marching to take 3rd biggest world economy.
Why Bharat deserve this mediocre insttitute ? Bharat have millions of engineers and spending U$3 Billion alone on this garbage institute. Look at Agnikul within 5 years less than totoal U$40 million project money with 400 engineers tested Clustered semi-cryo engine which ISRO U$2billion a year undeR PMO office with all perks and priviliage couldnt do since 1990s.
Every PSLV launch and ISRO chief doing all media song and dance like we landed on moon or mars again!
Why do we on Earth need to reward, pamper these clown 3rd rate engineers and army of support staff? we are still poor on per GDP so for sake of better bang out of our money use private sector for speed, innovation and professional output!
even national media is part of these crime on Bharat for not shining light on this loot of Bharat by these corrupt mil-industrial complex comprised of all PSUs.

The answers to these lies in the political environment of this country, deep inside it. Unfortunately its a defence forum so bringing that up will be a diversion.

But just to summarize, we prioritized social justice over merit, we prioritized screwdrivergiri over RnD and we prioritized safe approach over risky innovations.

The solution to all these is increase in pc. Unless that wont increase, the change will always be slow and painful.

 

[Vikas Yadav 007]

🔎 Overall Assessment

India has broad-spectrum coverage, but gaps remain in hypersonics deployment, ultra-long-range air combat, stealth cruise systems, and fully indigenous layered missile defence. Strategic priority: propulsion sovereignty, AI-enabled guidance, private manufacturing scale, and global tech partnerships for self-reliant deterrence dominance.Strength in integration; gap in propulsion materials, seekers, semiconductor fabrication, and private-sector scale.
Gap: No operational hypersonic weapon yet, unlike Russia (Avangard/Kinzhal class) and China (DF-17).
Need: Mature scramjet propulsion, thermal shielding, precision terminal guidance.
Gap: Indigenous system not yet deployed; interceptor range and anti-stealth capability trail US Patriot PAC-3 MSE and Russia S-500 class.
Need: AESA radars, exo-atmospheric interceptors, AI-based battle management.
Gap: No ultra-long-range AAM equivalent to R-37M or Meteor-class no-escape zone performance.
Need: Ramjet/SFDR maturity, advanced seekers
Gap: Limited stealth cruise capability compared to US JASSM-ER class.
Need: Low-RCS design, network-centric targeting.
Missile Defence Shield
BMD Phase-II progressing.
Gap: Multi-layer shield integration comparable to Israel’s Iron Dome–Arrow layered architecture still evolving.
Gap: MIRV maturity, longer SLBM ranges (10,000 km+ class), and operational hypersonic glide vehicles lag behind US, Russia, and China.
Gap: No inducted hypersonic weapon; propulsion materials, terminal guidance, and production ecosystem need acceleration.
Gap: Ultra-long-range AAM (R-37M class)AIM-120D AMRAAM and stealth cruise missile comparable to JASSM-ER.
Strategic Way Forward
Accelerate hypersonic weaponization & MIRV capability.
Indigenous long-range air defence deployment by 2028–30.
Develop ramjet/SFDR-powered ultra-long-range AAM.
Expand PPP & global JV model for seekers, propulsion, AI battle networks.
Build sovereign supply chain in electronics & high-temperature composites.
Overall: India has broad-spectrum coverage; decisive edge requires propulsion autonomy, layered missile shield integration, and industrial-scale manufacturing dominance.

 

[Imaxxx]

The most important question: what is the payload? And second, is it nuclear capable?

 

[ronin-desi]

The most important question: what is the payload? And second, is it nuclear capable?

Such FARTs from DRDO chief are common! its all in air and dream like Railgun, Kali weapon, Aura, Ghatak and what not!
when road meets rubber imported weaponry will do the heavy lifiting. Evidence in past conflits from Kargil, to Sindoor.

Today Indian PM in Israel paveing wy for LORA, RAMPAGE, Sligshot, Laser Iron beam and what not.
these DRDO. HAL, ADA etc are all sarkari MNREGA for screwdriver IKEA flat pack assembly.
HAL is world largest "Transfer of Technology" storage site since 1950s!!

 

[Radium]

🔎 Overall Assessment

India has broad-spectrum coverage, but gaps remain in hypersonics deployment, ultra-long-range air combat, stealth cruise systems, and fully indigenous layered missile defence. Strategic priority: propulsion sovereignty, AI-enabled guidance, private manufacturing scale, and global tech partnerships for self-reliant deterrence dominance.Strength in integration; gap in propulsion materials, seekers, semiconductor fabrication, and private-sector scale.
Gap: No operational hypersonic weapon yet, unlike Russia (Avangard/Kinzhal class) and China (DF-17).
Need: Mature scramjet propulsion, thermal shielding, precision terminal guidance.
Gap: Indigenous system not yet deployed; interceptor range and anti-stealth capability trail US Patriot PAC-3 MSE and Russia S-500 class.
Need: AESA radars, exo-atmospheric interceptors, AI-based battle management.
Gap: No ultra-long-range AAM equivalent to R-37M or Meteor-class no-escape zone performance.
Need: Ramjet/SFDR maturity, advanced seekers
Gap: Limited stealth cruise capability compared to US JASSM-ER class.
Need: Low-RCS design, network-centric targeting.
Missile Defence Shield
BMD Phase-II progressing.
Gap: Multi-layer shield integration comparable to Israel’s Iron Dome–Arrow layered architecture still evolving.
Gap: MIRV maturity, longer SLBM ranges (10,000 km+ class), and operational hypersonic glide vehicles lag behind US, Russia, and China.
Gap: No inducted hypersonic weapon; propulsion materials, terminal guidance, and production ecosystem need acceleration.
Gap: Ultra-long-range AAM (R-37M class)AIM-120D AMRAAM and stealth cruise missile comparable to JASSM-ER.
Strategic Way Forward
Accelerate hypersonic weaponization & MIRV capability.
Indigenous long-range air defence deployment by 2028–30.
Develop ramjet/SFDR-powered ultra-long-range AAM.
Expand PPP & global JV model for seekers, propulsion, AI battle networks.
Build sovereign supply chain in electronics & high-temperature composites.
Overall: India has broad-spectrum coverage; decisive edge requires propulsion autonomy, layered missile shield integration, and industrial-scale manufacturing dominance.

In my impression, Indians have always been extremely confident, and it is unbelievable that some Indians admit that India lags behind China. I found that the Indians here are both confident and anxious: confident that India is a superpower, anxious that India cannot manufacture advanced weapons. Relax, China is not an enemy of India. Let me show you China's man-made landscapes: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1X...eb&vd_source=9f48ba4ca781718132a955247a62df89

 

[Vivek_Singh]

In my impression, Indians have always been extremely confident, and it is unbelievable that some Indians admit that India lags behind China. I found that the Indians here are both confident and anxious: confident that India is a superpower, anxious that India cannot manufacture advanced weapons. Relax, China is not an enemy of India. Let me show you China's man-made landscapes: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1X...eb&vd_source=9f48ba4ca781718132a955247a62df89

Indians admit they're behind China, coz they know that while China started industrialization in 1970s, India only started the same in 90s.
China focussed heavily on manufacturing, India relied more on service sectors like IT. It's only since 2016 the self-development push has gained attraction, and hence more and more industries are moving to India.

China also has strong control on Rare Earth magnets, which is the next Oil and hence under a great risk of trade disruptions in the present geopolitical scenario. India has started the program only recently and by 2028-29 we will be able to mass produce the rare earth magnets without any dependency on any external player.

 

[ronin-desi]

Indians admit they're behind China, coz they know that while China started industrialization in 1970s, India only started the same in 90s.
China focussed heavily on manufacturing, India relied more on service sectors like IT. It's only since 2016 the self-development push has gained attraction, and hence more and more industries are moving to India.

China also has strong control on Rare Earth magnets, which is the next Oil and hence under a great risk of trade disruptions in the present geopolitical scenario. India has started the program only recently and by 2028-29 we will be able to mass produce the rare earth magnets without any dependency on any external player.

Radium is Chinese CPC comrade and i am happy he is upfront this time or his VPN didnt work and gave away his location. As last he posed as Singaporean.
He wont utter single WORD on Chinese leaders as his family would disappear! As far as i know he wont be able to even open these URLs as Chinese firewall block it.

To be honest, 90% Indian fed state propoganda and media bites heavy on nationalism and patriotism so they believe what coming out of ISRO, DRDO, HAL, ADA and Min of Def.
But reality is corruption is priority for them not upliftment of national security.
Corruption is same in no every country so in India and China too.
Chinese model worked faster as its communist country and personal property of CPC 20 odd families and princelings.
Corruption in China is all the way to President, foreign ministers and defence ministers.
1. "Their removal follows the expulsion of nine top generals in October - one of the largest public crackdowns on the military in decades."
2. https://jamestown.org/all-the-presidents-men-corruption-in-the-xi-jinping-era/
3. China's ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang has been jailed for life - the most senior politician to face corruption charges under Communist
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_China

Average Chinese person have no interest or access to normal internet so they would never know reality outside of China.
Only Radium CPC comrades have restricted PC terminals to skim through outside Chinese internet forums to grab info for their police and intel agencies. Chinese only engage in such low level info gathering and propogate fale internet propaganda. This dude would dance around such topics to get some attention and info. Jumping from one topic to another without arguing to settle the point. Once he finish shift, another agent would continue dancing around different branchs.