This Missile is an advanced version of the Nag missile also called as Helina (Helicopter launched Nag missile). As the name suggests, this missile will be deployed on Indian Air-Force’s Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) Dhruv and HAL Rudra.
These missiles are the third generation fire and forget class Anti-Tank guided missiles (ATGM). Just last year, the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) had carried out three successful trials of the Nag missile.
The missile system has all-weather day and night capability and have been designed to destroy modern battle tanks with both conventional and explosive reactive armour as well as other heavily armed targets. It possesses a high probability of a single-shot kill.
The missile is developed a length of 1.85m, diameter of 0.20m, wingspan of 0.4m and weight of 43kg and has four foldable wings. There are 4 tail fins to provide stability during flight.
The blunt nose of the missile contains the advanced guidance system and a real-time image processor which provides images of the surroundings and helps the missile to track the target.
The Nag missile has a target range of up to 5 km while the Helina version can hit up to 8 km. This works both for static as well as moving targets.
The speed of the missile is 230m/s and carries warheads up to 8 kg at a time. Up to 8 ready to fire missiles can be carried at a time in the box launcher.
The Helina missile is being inducted into the Indian army while the helicopter version namely Dhruvastra is being inducted into the Air Force. This is being seen as a huge quantum and morale booster for the Indian Forces.
