Knowledge nugget of the day: Storm Shadow and Oreshnik

Storm Shadow

1. Storm Shadow is simply a long-ranged, air-launched, conventionally armed, deep-strike cruise missile. It is developed by the UK and France. It tin question up to 250 kilometers (155 miles) and is designed to destruct pugnacious targets similar bunkers and ammunition storage.

2. It weighs 1,300 kg and is 5.10m long. It’s susceptible of being operated time and nighttime successful each weathers and designed to destruct high-valued stationary targets specified arsenic airbases, radar installations, communications hubs and larboard facilities. The study by Airforce Technology mentioned that what makes this rocket a stealthy limb is the operation of its long-range, debased altitude and supersonic speed.

Storm Shadow cruise missile. (AP photo)

3. Equipped with the fire-and-forget technology, Storm Shadow, besides offers precocious precision heavy onslaught capableness arsenic it features a blase navigation strategy that includes inertial navigation (INS), planetary positioning strategy (GPS) and terrain notation navigation for amended power implicit the path.

4. The rocket features the BROACH (Bomb Royal Ordnance Augmented CHarge) warhead — a high-technology warhead, which archetypal cuts the aboveground of the target, penetrates into it and past explodes. Storm Shadow is operated by Eurofighter Typhoon, Rafale, Mirage 2000 and Tornado.

ATACMS

1. Russia besides alleged that debris from a US-made Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) has fallen successful the Bryansk portion of the country.

2. Notably, weeks earlier leaving the White House, Joe Biden provided authorisation to Kyiv to usage the ATACMS, wrong Russia.

ATACMS missiles are fired from the HIMARS and MLRS M270 platforms, which person been provided earlier to Ukraine by the US and the United Kingdom respectively. (Via Lockheed Martin website)

3. ATACMS is simply a surface-to-surface ballistic rocket susceptible of hitting targets astatine up to 300km (186 miles). This scope means that Ukraine whitethorn present beryllium capable to deed targets wrong Russia, including Russian-annexed Crimea.

4. The missiles are fuelled by coagulated rocket propellant and travel a ballistic way into the ambiance earlier coming backmost down astatine a precocious velocity and precocious angle, making them hard to intercept.

‘Oreshnik’ Missiles 

1. The Ukraine Air Force initially claimed that Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic rocket (ICBM), which is nuclear-capable and has longer ranges than intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs). This assertion was rapidly disproven.

2. Russia confirmed that it launched an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile. Putin referred to the rocket arsenic ‘Oreshnik’ (the hazel). In summation to the “Oreshnik” missile, Russia deployed a Kinzhal hypersonic missile and respective cruise missiles during the attack.

3. Ukraine’s Security Service showed The Associated Press connected Sunday wreckage of the caller experimental ballistic missile, which struck a mill successful the cardinal Ukrainian metropolis of Dnipro.

4. The fragments of the Oreshnik, which the Pentagon said is based connected Russia’s RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic rocket -– person not been analyzed yet.

5. According to Western sources, the rocket fired by Russia boasts a scope of arsenic overmuch arsenic 5,500 km, capable to efficaciously people each European metropolis from Russian territory.

The fragments of the rocket Oreshnik. (Reuters)

BEYOND THE NUGGET: India successfully flight-tested a long-range hypersonic missile

1. India is considered among the apical fewer nations erstwhile it comes to designing and processing missiles indigenously, though it is mode down the US, China and Russia successful presumption of range.

1. In a large boost to its subject prowess, India has successfully flight-tested a long-range hypersonic missile disconnected the seashore of Odisha, which was developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

2. It is designed to transportation assorted payloads for ranges greater than 1,500 km. The word “Hypersonic” refers to a velocity astatine slightest 5 times the velocity of dependable (also called Mach-5).

3. The 2 types of hypersonic weapons systems are Hypersonic Glide Vehicles (HGV) and Hypersonic Cruise Missiles. The HGVs are launched from a rocket earlier gliding to the intended people portion HCMs are powered by air-breathing high-speed engines oregon ‘scramjets’ aft acquiring their target.

(Sources: Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine, India successfully test-fires long-range hypersonic missile, What are Storm Shadow missiles?, Roundup of satellite quality this week)

For your queries and suggestions constitute astatine roshni.yadav@indianexpress.com

Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and enactment updated with the quality cues from the past week.

Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram transmission – Indian Express UPSC Hub, and travel america connected Instagram and X.