Kavach (anti-missile system) explained

Kavach (anti-missile system) should not be confused with Kavach (train protection system).

Kavach
Type:	Decoy system
Origin:	India
Is Missile:	yes
Is Uk:	yes
Service:	May 2012−present
Designer:	Ordnance Factory Board
Manufacturer:	Rocket launcher: Machine Tool Prototype Factory, Ambernath under Armoured Vehicles Nigam Rockets: Ammunition Factory Khadki under Munitions India
Unit Cost:	6–7 lakh
Production Date:	2012−present
Number:	4,000+
Variants:	Long Range, Medium Range, Short Range

Kavach is an anti-missile naval decoy system to distract radar-guided missiles from their targets and act as a system for self-defence. It was designed and developed by the Ordnance Factory Board for the Indian Navy.

Development

The Indian Navy previously procured chaff rocket systems from the Soviet Union. Supplies came to a halt following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. The Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) took up the challenge to design and develop a chaff rocket system to achieve self-reliance in this field.^{[1] [2]} OFB Director General and Chairman, D.M. Gupta, stated in May 2011 that the company had created two prototypes, successfully conducted the first trial, and would conduct a second and final trial later that year before the system was inducted into the Navy.^[3]

Design

The Kavach decoy system releases chaff made up of silver coated glass fiber. The chaff forms a clutter which remains suspended in the air, causing the incoming radar-guided missile to mistake the chaff for the actual target, and get locked onto the chaff instead of the actual target. Each Kavach rocket costs around –.

The Kavach system has chaff rockets of three different versions based on the range:^[2]

• Long Range: 12km (07miles)
• Medium Range: 5km (03miles)
• Short Range: 1km (01miles)

These versions are fired in different situations based on incoming threats.

Production

The first batch of Kavach rockets were formally handed over to the Navy on 25 May 2012 by the Ammunition Factory Khadki (AFK), Pune which manufactures the rockets, while the rocket launchers are manufactured at the Machine Tool Prototype Factory (MTPF), Mumbai.^[4]

AFK was contracted to deliver around 4,000 Kavach variants to the Indian Navy by 2015.^[5]

Operators

The first ship to be equipped with Kavach was the anti-submarine corvette INS Kamorta (P28).^[6] Ship classes fitted with Kavach include:

• • • Kamorta-class corvettes
  • Kolkata-class destroyers
  • Shivalik-class frigates
  • Visakhapatnam-class destroyers

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2012-05-25 . AFK hands over indigenous RGB versions,Kavach system to Navy . 2022-03-13 . The Indian Express . en.
2. Web site: 25 May 2012 . Navy now has indigenous 'Kavach' . 2022-03-13 . The Times of India . en.
3. Web site: 2011-05-21 . Kavach Rockets For Indian Navy . 2022-03-13 . www.indiatvnews.com . en.
4. Web site: Indian Ordnance Factories: Machine Tool Prototype Factory . 2019-07-01 . 2011-06-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110622035738/http://ofbindia.gov.in/units/index.php?unit=mpf&page=products&lang=en . dead .
5. Web site: Indian Navy receives RGBs and Kavach decoy systems . Naval Technology Market and Customer Insight . 28 May 2012 . 11 July 2014.
6. News: Navy to get first indigenous anti-submarine warship, INS Kamorta tomorrow . The Economic Times . 2022-03-13.