The Israeli `tank killers’ were ordered under emergency procurements last year due to the troop stand-off with China, which is yet to show any signs of de-escalation. The sheer utility of such weapons has been demonstrated during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Ukrainian troops armed with US-origin Javelin ATGMs and western next-generation light anti-tank light missiles (NLAWs) have destroyed hundreds of Russian tanks and other armoured vehicles since the conflict began on February 24.

The Israeli family of Spike ATGMs is equally lethal and versatile.

The Army is inducting the Spike LR-2launchers and missiles, which have a ground strike range of 5.5-km, while the IAF is integrating its Russian-origin Mi-17 V5 armed helicopters with Spike NLOS (non-line of sight) missiles that can destroy ground targets around 30-km away.

“Both the fifth-generation ATGMs are being inducted in limited numbers under emergency procurements to plug certain operational gaps. The much larger requirement for ATGMs will be met through `Make in India’ projects,” a top defence source said on Sunday.

“The pilot-controlled NLOS missiles, which can be armed with different kinds of warheads, are primarily meant for specialized ‘behind the hill’ missions by IAF helicopters,” he added.

The IAF, incidentally, has 22 Apache attack helicopters, armed with Stinger air-to-air missiles, Hellfire Longbow air-to-ground missiles, guns and rockets, inducted under the Rs 13,952 crore deal with the US in September 2015. The Army, in turn, is getting six Apaches under a Rs 5,691 crore deal in February 2020.

The Spike LR-2 missiles can be used with either a tandem HEAT (high explosive anti-tank) warhead, with 30% more armour-penetration capability, or a smart multi-purpose warhead.

The Army had earlier also inducted a limited number of an earlier generation of Spike tank-killers, with a strike range of 4-km, to meet immediate operational requirements till the indigenous man-portable ATGMs being developed by DRDO were ready.

With a huge deficiency in different kinds of shoulder, vehicle and helicopter-launched ATGMs, the Army has been demanding third and fourth-generation ATGMs for well over a decade.

The force’s existing inventory largely consists of second-generation Milan-2T (2-km range) and Konkurs (4-km) ATGMs, produced by defence PSU Bharat Dynamics under licence from French and Russian companies.

The indigenous helicopter-launched third-generation ATGMS, Helina for Army and Dhruvastra for IAF with a maximum strike range of 8-km, have been successfully tested from Dhruv advanced light helicopters but are yet to be inducted till now.

Similarly, DRDO tested the man-portable ATGM, with a 2.5-km strike range, in its “final deliverable configuration” in January this year. But it is still some time away from induction.

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The contract, which was signed in New Delhi today, will be executed in three years. The order book position of BDL stands at Rs 11,400 crore net including the Konkurs-M contract.

Siddharth Mishra (Retd), Chairman and Managing Director of BDL stated that Konkurs-M is being manufactured by BDL under a license agreement with a Russian Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).

The missile has been indigenised up to the maximum extent. BDL is also offering Konkurs-M missiles for export to friendly foreign countries.

Bharat Dynamics has augmented its manufacturing capacity to meet the domestic as well as overseas demand for Konkurs-M. As a part of its global outreach, BDL is also offering Man-Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, Nag, Milan-2T, and Amogha, in addition to Konkurs M, for export.

Konkurs-M is a second generation, mechanised infantry anti-tank guided missile, to destroy armoured vehicles equipped with explosive reactive armour. The missile can be launched either from the BMP-II tank or from a ground launcher. It has a range between 75 to 4000 metres.

The Atmanirbhar mission initiated by the government of India has given momentum to the indigenisation efforts of the Company. BDL is also strengthening its in-house Research and Development capabilities to take up product innovation to mitigate the Indian armed forces’ product dependency on foreign countries.

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