India Joins the Hypersonic Anti-Ship Missile Club
At an annual military parade held Monday, India announced its arrival as the latest nation to join the hypersonic-missile club with the addition of the coastal battery-launched Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LR-AShM). Not to be confused with the American stealth antiship cruise missile of the same name (LRASM), LR-AShM has the appearance and speed of an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM), with the addition of a hypersonic maneuvering missile body.
ASBMs gained prominence during the Houthi Red Sea Crisis in 2023-4, when the Yemeni group used Iranian-supplied ballistic missile technology to target bulkers and tankers in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The hit rates were imperfect, but the missiles proved capable of striking and damaging moving vessels at sea. The trajectory of a ballistic missile is comparatively simple, inscribing a parabolic arc upwards before returning to earth, and Houthi examples proved vulnerable to shoot-down by Aegis-equipped American destroyers.
Like other missiles in the hypersonic category, India's new LR-AShM is designed to maneuver mid-flight in order to reduce the odds of mid-course interception. It launches vertically and reaches Mach 10, then transitions to a convoluted trajectory en route to its target, which could be up to 900 miles away. Missiles in this capability class are often conceived as anti-carrier munitions, designed to destroy a large and ultra-high-value naval target before it gets close enough to launch a strike.
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LRAShM was designed with carriers in mind. India is on friendly terms with most of the world's leading navies, but New Delhi's defense planners have to consider the growing abilities of China's PLA Navy, which is currently building what may well be the world's largest aircraft carrier. China's mid-course missile defense technology is advancing quickly; a hypersonic weapon would counter that capability and restore deterrence. (A nuclear-armed variant of LR-AShM for striking ground targets in western China is also envisioned.)
The missile is slated to go into operational service with the Indian Navy's coastal batteries by 2029, and is expected to be adapted for sea launch and air launch in the years ahead. Further R&D work could expand its range out to more than 2,000 miles, according to NDTV - enough to range the Strait of Malacca or the Gulf of Aden from the Indian mainland.
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