Free Republic

: India Wednesday test-fired its short-range Astra air-to-air missile from a defence base in Odisha for the second time in two days, defence sources said. The beyond visual range missile was tested at 2.05 p.m. from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in the district of Balasore, about 230 km from state capital Bhubaneswar. Astra is a high-end tactical missile and is envisaged to intercept enemy aircraft at supersonic speeds in head-on mode at a range of 80 km and in tail-chase mode at 20 km. The missile was earlier tested Tuesday, for the first time at night. "We are...

A South African Air Force Saab Gripen D fighter is expected to perform the first live firing of an A-Darter short-range air-to-air missile later this month, advancing a joint project with Brazilian industry. Launched in April 2007 under a 66-month development and production programme co-funded by the Brazilian and South African air forces, the A-Darter is intended to arm the services' respective Northrop F-5EM/FM and future F-X2 fighters, and Gripen and BAE Systems Hawk 120 aircraft. Worth $130 million, the project involves Denel Dynamics and a group of Brazilian companies headed by Mectron. Production activities should start in 2013, with...

Israel is one step closer to producing the most advanced air-to-air missile in history, according to Rafael, the government-owned Israel Armament Development Authority. Its Python-5 has recently passed "significant milestones" in testing and will be ready for operation by 2005. Together with the American manufacturer Lockheed Martin, Rafael currently produces the Python-4, a 1990s-era heat-seeking missile that effectively gives the attacking pilot a lethal gaze: anything he sees from his cockpit, he can shoot down. But the Python-5 promises, in addition to sharper target recognition electronics, a "full attack envelope" - meaning the pilot can destroy aircraft on his tail...