avia.wikisort.org - Weapon

The DRDO Glide Bomb is a product of the Defence Research and Development Organisation to deploy a standardised medium range precision guided weapon, especially for engagement of targets from outside the range of standard anti-aircraft defenses, thereby increasing aircraft survivability and minimising friendly losses.

DRDO Glide Bomb / Gaurav Bomb
Gaurav glide bomb during trials
Type	Smart Glide bomb[1][2]
Place of origin	India
Production history
Designer	Research Centre Imarat (DRDO)[1][2]
Designed	2014–present
Manufacturer	Adani Defence and Aerospace
Variants	Gaurav (Winged), Gautham (Non-Winged)
Specifications
Mass	Gaurav - 1,000 kg (2,200 lb)[1][2] Gautham - 550 kg (1,210 lb)
Length	4.0 m
Diameter	0.62 m
Warhead	CL-20 (fragmentation, cluster munition)
Detonation mechanism	Contact and proximity fuze
Operational range	Gaurav (Winged) - 100 kilometres (54 nmi) Gautham (Non-winged) - 30 kilometres (16 nmi)[1][2]
Flight altitude	10 km
Guidance system	Mid-course: Inertial navigation system with GPS/NavIC satellite guidance Terminal: Semi-active laser homing[3]
Launch platform	Sukhoi Su-30 MKI[4]

Development

The bomb was designed by the nodal Laboratory Research Centre Imarat[5] in Hyderabad with the help of Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE) in Bengaluru, Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) in Chandigarh and Armaments Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) in Pune.[1][2] The team designed the bomb specially for the Indian Air Force to fill their requirement of precision guided weapons.[1][2]

Variants

Under the DRDO's Long Range Glide Bomb (LRGB) project, 2 variants have been planned:

• Gaurav - The winged version. It has a range of up to 100 km. It contains a pre-fragmented and penetration-blast warhead.[1][4]

• Gautham - The non-winged version. It has a range of 30 km and in future the range will be enhanced to 100 km. It has onboard navigation and guidance systems and contains a pre-fragmented and penetration-blast warhead.[1]

Trials

The DRDO and the Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully tested a 1,000 kg glide bomb on 19 December 2014 that covered a range of 100 km guided through its on-board navigation system. The flight path is of the glide bomb was monitored by DRDO radars and electro-optic systems situated at Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur.[6] On 17 August 2018, the IAF and DRDO did a covert successful trial of Gautham and Gaurav at Pokhran firing range, Jaisalmer.[7]

Long Range Glide Bomb - Gaurav

DRDO and IAF successfully tested Long Range Bomb (LRB) on 29 October 2021 from Su-30MKI at Balasore, Odisha. The bomb was released from 10 km altitude which successfully hit a sea based target using laser guidance. It is a 1,000 kg bomb which DRDO developed as an alternative to Spice 2000. The LRGB is a part of a family of newly developed precision guided munitions with a range of 50 km to 150 km in range.[8]

Operators

 India

• Indian Air Force

See also

• BLU-109 bomb - United States

References

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