India has added a long range hypersonic anti ship missile to its arsenal. 1500km range, sovereign capability to hold adversaries at risk. ⬇️
The War Zone has a short read on India’s latest sovereign capability that will shift the combat calculus in the Indo-Pacific – a hypersonic ‘carrier killer’:
“India publicly unveiled what it claims to be its first long-range hypersonic missile today during a display of military power at the country’s 77th Republic Day parade at Kartavya Path in New Delhi. A product of India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LR-AShM) is seen as a way of helping keep pace with similar developments in Pakistan, as well as a means to directly counter regional rival China’s ever-growing naval surface fleet.”
Conventional long range anti shipping missiles are a key way to influence adversaries decision making in the Indo Pacific littoral. Vital shipping lanes traverse India’s waters, carrying 60% of the world’s oil and a third of world trade. With a road mobile anti shipping missile, it can leverage locations such as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to provide persistent anti access area denial to offset and augment its naval capability.
India has one of the most advanced missile arsenals in the world. This nuclear power with an burgeoning space industry has long invested in scaling its arsenal and developing sovereign capability. While for now Australia seems intent on importing and assembling the products of Primes from the US and Europe, we can see plenty of examples in our own region where nation states have chosen differently. In addition to India, South Korea and Japan are two examples.
While we await the decision for Australia’s Project Land 8113 Phase 2 – Second Long Range Fires Regiment, it is clear that our land based long range anti-shipping missile capability is dependent on the Lockheed Martin Precision Strike Missile that Australia has been cooperating with the United States in developing. The MoU signed with the United States provides options for future domestic manufacturing and maintenance of PrSM in Australia but it unclear whether this will see true sovereign capability or simply assembly and some supply chain involvement.
It has been said before but we’ll say it again – is Australia simply content to be joining the queue for in demand munitions made in the USA should competition give way to conflict? Are we adding to rather than just subtracting from the Arsenal of Democracy? Our National Defence Strategy needs to balancing a myriad of competing priorities with an increasingly constrained budget, but none the less it is food for thought!
We’ll add a link to Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) excellent Missile Threat site along with articles mentioned in the comments.
🗺️ via the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace