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High Speed Low Drag Bomb
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High Speed Low Drag Bomb
The High Speed Low Drag (HSLD) is a family of short-range air-dropped general-purpose bomb developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation for the Indian Air Force. It can can be used against the destruction of strategic high value enemy infrastructure from stand-off distances. The HSLD is comparable to the Mark 80 series bombs used by the United States Air Force and its allies.
Multiple guidance kits, like PGHSLD and TARA REK, are also under development to convert these unguided bombs into precision-guided munitions. The guidance kit will use semi-active laser or electro-optical/imaging infrared seekers to assist in precision strikes.
The Armament Research and Development Establishment is India's primary agency that started developing HSLD with the help from other DRDO laboratories to upgrade the conventional free fall unguided ordnance used by the IAF fighter pilots while Ordnance Factory Board is the lead production agency. The development started with the aim to replace the older generation imported general purpose bombs that impose huge drag loss on fighter aircraft used by the IAF. The HSLD bomb is specially designed to productively use the higher speed of up to Mach 1.1 and wider flight envelope of newer generation NATO and Russian origin as well as Indian made aircraft.
High Energy Materials Research Laboratory developed the conventional type warhead for the HSLD and GP bombs that features blast, fragmentation and shaped charge for bunker buster role. By feeding the target coordinates, the warhead can be used to effectively destroy runway, railway track, bridge, industrial facility, dock and bunker while able to work in the absence of GNSS input due to satellite jamming.
HSLD can be launched from variety of aircraft that are under IAF inventory like Dassault Mirage 2000, SEPECAT Jaguar, Sukhoi Su-30MKI and HAL Tejas.
Each HSLD bomb variant has two types of tail unit — retarder tail unit (RTU) (for low-level bombing missions) and ballistic tail unit (BTU) (for strategic high level bombing). The 250 kg and 450 kg HSLD bomb uses Dentex as their primary explosive.
On 29 July 2023, Ordnance Factory Muradnagar of Yantra India flagged off the first batch of 780 bomb casings of HSLD-450.
The Precision Guidance Kit for 450 kg HSLD Bomb, designated PGHSLD-500, has a mass of 520 ± 10 kg (1,146 ± 22 lb) and a length of 3.1 metre. The 450 kg HSLD has a high-explosive fragmented warhead with AVU-ETM fuse. The PGK consists of two sub-units — Nose Extension Unit (NEXU) and Smart Tail Unit (STU). The NEXU includes fixed canards as flight control surfaces, semi-active laser (SAL) seeker, anti-jamming GPS antenna, two-axis gimballed laser with a range of 4 km and 20° field of view. The STU includes actuation system with four individually controlled fins, fibre-optic gyro-based INS module, GPS antenna, electrically initiated thermal battery, a flight control unit (FCU) and a telemetry module. When paired with the guidance kit, the bomb can achieve an accuracy of 30 m CEP with INS/GPS mid-course guidance and that of 3 m CEP with SAL seeker as terminal guidance. The bomb is compatible with Su-30MKI and HAL Tejas.
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High Speed Low Drag Bomb
The High Speed Low Drag (HSLD) is a family of short-range air-dropped general-purpose bomb developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation for the Indian Air Force. It can can be used against the destruction of strategic high value enemy infrastructure from stand-off distances. The HSLD is comparable to the Mark 80 series bombs used by the United States Air Force and its allies.
Multiple guidance kits, like PGHSLD and TARA REK, are also under development to convert these unguided bombs into precision-guided munitions. The guidance kit will use semi-active laser or electro-optical/imaging infrared seekers to assist in precision strikes.
The Armament Research and Development Establishment is India's primary agency that started developing HSLD with the help from other DRDO laboratories to upgrade the conventional free fall unguided ordnance used by the IAF fighter pilots while Ordnance Factory Board is the lead production agency. The development started with the aim to replace the older generation imported general purpose bombs that impose huge drag loss on fighter aircraft used by the IAF. The HSLD bomb is specially designed to productively use the higher speed of up to Mach 1.1 and wider flight envelope of newer generation NATO and Russian origin as well as Indian made aircraft.
High Energy Materials Research Laboratory developed the conventional type warhead for the HSLD and GP bombs that features blast, fragmentation and shaped charge for bunker buster role. By feeding the target coordinates, the warhead can be used to effectively destroy runway, railway track, bridge, industrial facility, dock and bunker while able to work in the absence of GNSS input due to satellite jamming.
HSLD can be launched from variety of aircraft that are under IAF inventory like Dassault Mirage 2000, SEPECAT Jaguar, Sukhoi Su-30MKI and HAL Tejas.
Each HSLD bomb variant has two types of tail unit — retarder tail unit (RTU) (for low-level bombing missions) and ballistic tail unit (BTU) (for strategic high level bombing). The 250 kg and 450 kg HSLD bomb uses Dentex as their primary explosive.
On 29 July 2023, Ordnance Factory Muradnagar of Yantra India flagged off the first batch of 780 bomb casings of HSLD-450.
The Precision Guidance Kit for 450 kg HSLD Bomb, designated PGHSLD-500, has a mass of 520 ± 10 kg (1,146 ± 22 lb) and a length of 3.1 metre. The 450 kg HSLD has a high-explosive fragmented warhead with AVU-ETM fuse. The PGK consists of two sub-units — Nose Extension Unit (NEXU) and Smart Tail Unit (STU). The NEXU includes fixed canards as flight control surfaces, semi-active laser (SAL) seeker, anti-jamming GPS antenna, two-axis gimballed laser with a range of 4 km and 20° field of view. The STU includes actuation system with four individually controlled fins, fibre-optic gyro-based INS module, GPS antenna, electrically initiated thermal battery, a flight control unit (FCU) and a telemetry module. When paired with the guidance kit, the bomb can achieve an accuracy of 30 m CEP with INS/GPS mid-course guidance and that of 3 m CEP with SAL seeker as terminal guidance. The bomb is compatible with Su-30MKI and HAL Tejas.