The SAMHO (or Semi-Active Mission Homing) is an Indian gun-launched
anti-tank guided missile
An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulde ...
(ATGM) developed by the
Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) of
DRDO
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is an agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, charged with the military's research and development, headqu ...
for the
Arjun tanks of the Indian Army under the Cannon Launched Missile Development Programme (CLMDP). The SAMHO has a
high-explosive anti-tank
High-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) is the effect of a shaped charge explosive that uses the Munroe effect to penetrate heavy armor. The warhead functions by having an explosive charge collapse a metal liner inside the warhead into a high-velocity ...
(HEAT)
tandem-charge warhead designed to defeat
explosive reactive armour (ERA) protection of modern armoured vehicles and tanks. The SAMHO is a multi-purpose anti-armour guided missile effective against tanks and low flying
attack helicopter
An attack helicopter is an armed helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the offensive (military), offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles and fortifications. Due to their ...
s.
Originally intended to be fired from the 120 mm rifled gun of Arjun, the DRDO plans to make it compatible with the
T-90
The T-90 is a third-generation Russian main battle tank developed from, and designed to replace the T-72. It uses a 125mm 2A46 smoothbore main gun, the 1A45T fire-control system, an upgraded engine, and gunner's thermal sight. Standard p ...
tanks of the Indian Army, which have a 125 mm
smoothbore
A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. Some examples of smoothbore weapons are muskets, blunderbusses, and flintlock pistols. ...
gun.
Development
The development of SAMHO gun-launched anti-tank guided missile was announced in 2014. The SAMHO missile was developed under the Cannon Launched Missile Development Programme (CLMDP) by the
Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) and
High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) unde
Armament and Combat Engineering (ACE)cluster along with
Instruments Research and Development Establishment (IRDE) of
Defence Research and Development Organisation
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is an agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, charged with the military's research and development, head ...
(DRDO).
The missile is intended to enhance the firepower of the indigenous Arjun tanks in service with the Indian Army.
The missile has 2 modes of attack: the Top Attack Lifted Trajectory and the Direct (Flat) Trajectory. In the Top Attack mode the missile will have a range of enabling the missile to target the most vulnerable part of the target and avoiding most of its countermeasure systems. The Direct or Flat mode, with a range of , shall be used for rapid or immediate engagements at short notice in close proximity.
On 2 February 2024, news reports suggested that DRDO has completed all trials for the missile and it is now ready for production.
Testing
# The first trial occurred successfully on 22 September 2020, from an
Arjun tank with an inert warhead at KK Range,
Armoured Corps Centre and School (ACC&S),
Ahmednagar
Ahmednagar, officially Ahilyanagar, is a city in, and the headquarters of, the Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. Ahmednagar has several dozen buildings and sites from the Nizam Shahi period. Ahmednagar Fort, once considered almost impre ...
. The missile engaged a target kept at a distance of 3 km.
# Another successful missile firing occurred on 1 October 2020 from the same platform at the KK Range.
# On 28 June 2022, DRDO successfully tested the missile engaging a target at minimum range at the KK Range, ACC&S, Ahmednagar. Engaging a target at minimum range by an ATGM is particularly difficult given the dimensional constraints of tank launched ATGMs. The ATGM's performance was tested for maximum ranges in the previous trials, hence, establishing the capability of the missile from minimum and maximum range.
# On 4 August 2022, another successful test was conducted at the KK Range, engaging a target from minimum to maximum range to check performance consistency. Telemetry systems recorded the satisfactory flight performance of the missile.
See also
References
{{Indian missiles
Anti-tank guided missiles
Guided missiles of India