Kavach () is an anti-missile naval decoy system to distract radar-guided

missile A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor. Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this ...

s from their targets and act as a system for self-defence. It was designed and developed by the

Ordnance Factory Board The Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services) (abbreviated: DOO(C&S)) is an authority under the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of Ministry of Defence (MoD), Government of India. Its primary work is to management, give instructio ...

for the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

Development

The

previously procured

chaff Chaff (; ) is dry, scale-like plant material such as the protective seed casings of cereal grains, the scale-like parts of flowers, or finely chopped straw. Chaff cannot be digested by humans, but it may be fed to livestock, ploughed into soil ...

rocket systems from the

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. Supplies came to a halt following the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

in the early 1990s. The

(OFB) took up the challenge to design and develop a chaff rocket system to achieve self-reliance in this field. OFB Director General and Chairman, D.M. Gupta, stated in May 2011 that the company had created two

prototypes A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to ...

, successfully conducted the first trial, and would conduct a second and final trial later that year before the system was inducted into the Navy.

Design

The Kavach decoy system releases chaff made up of

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

coated

glass fiber Glass fiber ( or glass fibre) is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass. Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the inventio ...

. 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: * Long Range: * Medium Range: * Short Range: These versions are fired in different situations based on incoming threats. The Kavach Mod II is a three-layered " soft-kill" system. The launch tube configuration is 4×4 launch tube in two variants: Long-Range and Short-Range. The LR and SR variant weighs 1680 kg and 1350 kg, has a height of 269 cm and 246 cm, and bore of barrel measurement of 106 mm and 98.4 mm, respectively. Length and width of both the systems measures 1300 mm each. According to official sources, 9 such systems are installed on Kolkata-class, Kamorta-class and Deepak-class naval ships. It has a rotation speed of 60° per second. The Fire Control System (FCS) for the Kavach Mod II includes a Main Fire Control System (MFCS), 4 Launcher Control Unit (LCU) and a Remote Fire Control System (RMFCS). It can detect, track and engage upto 5 threats. There are different operational modes * Confusion Mode: Used against enemy search radar at a distance of 30 km or more. The mode launches Long-Range Chaff Rocket (LRCR I/LRCR II) to deliver chaff at 5-12 km away and 800 meters height from launcher to prevent the enemy from locating the ship. * Distraction Mode: Used against incoming missile at 20 km or more before opening its homing head, Medium Range Chaff Rocket (MRCR) launched to deliver chaff 2-4 km away and 800-1000 meters height from launcher. * Centroid Mode: To protect against a “Locked on” missile at a distance of 10 KMS or less launch Short Range Chaff Rocket (SRCR) to deliver chaff at 50-150 meters height from launcher.

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 Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

which manufactures the rockets. The Kavach MOD II multi-barrel rocket launchers are manufactured by the Machine Tool Prototype Factory (MTPF),

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVANI) () is an Indian public sector defence company, headquartered in Avadi, Chennai established in 2021 as part of the restructuring and corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board into seven different Publi ...

. The

Fire Control System A fire-control system (FCS) is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a Director (military), director and radar, which is designed to assist a ranged weapon system to target, track, and hit a target. It performs th ...

(FCS) is manufactured by

Bharat Electronics Limited Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) is an Indian Public Sector Undertakings in India, public sector aerospace and Military, defence Electronics, electronics company, headquartered in Bangalore. It primarily manufactures advanced electronic products ...

(BEL). AFK was contracted to deliver around 4,000 Kavach variants to the Indian Navy by 2015.

Operators

The first ship to be equipped with Kavach was the

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapon ...

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

INS ''Kamorta'' (P28). Ship classes fitted with Kavach include: * ** Kamorta-class corvettes **

Kolkata-class destroyer The ''Kolkata-''class destroyers, also known Project 15A or Project 15 ''Alpha'', are a class of stealth guided-missile destroyers constructed for the Indian Navy. The class comprises three ships – ''Kolkata'', ''Kochi'' and ''Chennai'', a ...

s **

Shivalik-class frigate The ''Shivalik'' class or Project 17 class is a class of multi-role frigates in service with the Indian Navy. They are the first warships designed with low observability features built in India. They were designed to have better stealth feat ...

s **

Visakhapatnam-class destroyer The ''Visakhapatnam''-class destroyers, also classified as the P-15 ''Bravo'' class, or simply P-15B, is a class of guided-missile destroyers currently being built for the Indian Navy. The ''Visakhapatnam'' class is an upgraded derivative of i ...

s ** Deepak-class fleet tanker **

INS Vikrant Two ships operated by the Indian Navy have had the name INS ''Vikrant''. * , a British-built aircraft carrier which was in service from 1961 to 1997, operated as a museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been p ...

References

Missile countermeasures Indian Navy Military equipment of India {{weapon-stub