The Nag

The Nag

The missile was developed under Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP) which was first initiated in 1982 by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. Under this program various missiles were developed which includes – Agni, Akash, Nag, Prithvi and Trishul. The program was approved by the Prime Minister and her Scientific Team in 1980 and Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was inducted to lead the program.

The Nag (Hindi for "Cobra") is an Indian indigenously developed anti-tank missile. It was developed by DRDO - India’s premier defence agency. This missiles enables the Indian Armed Forces to destroy tanks up to the distance of 4 km. The Nag is comparable to the FGM-148 Javelin, Spike or PARS 3LR.

The Nag is a 3rd generation fire-and-forget type missile. It has an 8 kg tandem HEAT warhead. The Nag is a top attack missile. During flight it when approaching the target it flies upwards and then suddenly dives towards the target. This method of attack is very suitable to destroy tanks, because most of them have only a minimum level of armor protection in the upper part of the turret. The Nag can penetrate the latest generation armor, like explosive reactive armor and composite armor.

For guidance the Nag uses imagining infrared passive seeker system which is difficult to jam. The guidance system is also equipped with a CCD camera. Before the launch missile locks on the infrared image of the target. In flight it automatically guides itself onto the target. Hit probability with a single missile is 77%.

The body of the missile is fully made of fiberglass structure. The rocket motor of the missile uses nitramene-based double base sustainer propellant which is smokeless and makes hard to trace the shooter. Missile has a flight speed of 230 m/s.

The Nag is used by the missile carrier known as the NAMICA. There is also a helicopter based version known as HELINA (HELIcopter NAg). The NAMICA version uses a 'lock on before launch' system which means that the missile locks on to a target and is then launched. However the HELINA version uses 'lock on after launch' system so the range of the missile is extended to 7 km. The HELINA variant of this missile is on the verge of completing its trail. The HELINA missile was test fired in July 2015 near Jaisalmer, India. It hit 2 out of 3 targets.

An air launched version of the Nag with a range of 10 km is planned. It will be carried by attack aircraft, such as the Jaguar. Also the DRDO plans to begin development of a man-portable version soon.

Indian Army has ordered 443 Nag missiles and 13 NAMICAs for delivery within the next 3 years at a cost of $50 Million. Indian Army has a requirement for 7 000 Nag missiles and 200 NAMICA missile carriers. Once in service the Nag will replace the ageing MILAN ATGMs.