Navy seeks indigenous MiG-29K 80-mm rockets to reduce reliance on foreign munitions

NEW DELHI: Aiming to springiness a propulsion to indigenous weapons for MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB carrier-based combatant jets, Navy has invited home companies to plan and manufacture 80-mm aero rockets for its craft carrier-launched combatant fleet.Dated May 26, the Expression of Intent (EoI) issued by Naval Armament Inspectorate (NAI) successful Goa marks different measurement successful Navy’s propulsion to trim dependence connected foreign-origin munitions. Navy’s full inventory of the munition has truthful acold been procured from a overseas archetypal instrumentality shaper (OEM).MiG-29K/KUB, the Russian-origin twin-engine aircraft, presently service arsenic onslaught unit connected craft carriers INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant.The 80mm aero rocket is simply a dual-purpose munition, designed to neutralise armoured targets specified arsenic tanks and armoured unit carriers arsenic good arsenic unarmoured targets similar radar installations, parked craft and unit concentrations.As per EoI, each sub-assemblies indispensable beryllium developed indigenously, and nary dependence connected overseas OEM would beryllium permitted.The Navy plans to procure indigenous 273 unrecorded rockets and 2,400 signifier rounds aft a prototype successfully completes improvement and testing. Tentative timeline for induction is 2026-27. As per EoI, the limb indispensable stay functional successful temperatures ranging from -60 degrees Celsius to +60 degrees Celsius.