SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG
Nirbhay cruise missile program that has morphed now into Indigenous Technology Cruise Missile (ITCM) a test bed program to evaluate GTRE developed Small Turbo Fan Engine (STFE) called Manik is in the final phase and will be concluded by mid of 2023 after demonstration of the STFE engine performance for the whole range of 1000km in next few months.
The ITCM program once concluded will be used to develop land-based Long Range Land Attack Cruise Missiles (LR-LACM) for the Indian Army and ALCM ( Air Launched Cruise Missile ) program for the Indian Airforce and Indian Navy.
idrw.org has been told that LR-LACM will be having a longer range as requested by the Indian Army and ALCM Variant will come minus its booster stage with that has been modified for launch from fighter jets.
DRDO claims that most of the technology already has been validated both LR-LACM and ALCM variants of the sub-sonic cruise missiles will have high indigenous content and developmental cum user trials will be concluded by 2026.
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