The Armament Research And Development Establishment (ARDE) in association with the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) has successfully developed an Extended Range Anti-Submarine Rocket (ER-ASR) to enhance the range of existing RGB-60 Anti Submarine Rocket from 5.3 km to 8.0+ kms. ERASR consists of two motor propulsion systems which can fire the rocket in Short Range mode and Long Range mode to achieve different range capabilities from 500 m to 8900m. It is designed to intercept submarines at specific depths.

Both laboratories are under the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).

During the maiden tests conducted from Navy’s guided missile destroyer INS Chennai on April 3, the performance of the rocket system was evaluated for both the short range of 2.7 kms and in the long range mode at 8.5 kms.

Currently, the navy has vintage Russian rocket RGB-60 with a maximum range of 5.3 kms, which is an unguided area weapon for combating submarines. These rockets are fired from the RBU6000 rocket launcher, which is fitted on-board certain Indian Naval Ships including the R-Class, Delhi Class and Talwar Class of Navy ships.

The Indian navy wanted an extended range anti-submarine rocket which can engage an enemy’s submarine from a distance of 8 kms. Accordingly, a group of scientists at the laboratories worked on the project and developed the rocket according to the requirements of the navy.

Firing torpedoes to engage the enemy submarine is considered as a deliberate attack and it can be costly if the attack fails. Therefore, the rockets are mainly seen as an ‘urgent attack weapon’, which can be fired as a single or in salvo modes to disrupt the movement of the submarines. Therefore, the role of the rocket is as crucial as torpedoes.

Considering the importance of the Indian Ocean Region and the increasing sighting of foreign submarines in the Indian Ocean, the officer said, it is need of the hour to have an extended range rocket which can engage hostile submarines from further away.