India's Cruise Missile To Be Tested With Manik Engine

India's home-made subsonic cruise missile Nirbhay will be powered by 3 Small Turbo Fan Engines (STFE) or the Manik turbofan engine in its future trails.

The engine is capable of generating 4.25kN Thrust. DRDO's Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) developed the T1, T2, and T3 Prototype engines that underwent developmental ground-based testing starting from 2017.

BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Limited (BATL) will be assisting the company in the integration process of the Manik engine with the Nirbhay missile.

India is currently working on an Anti-Ship Missile and Air-Launched Cruise Missile which will require the indigenous engine, idrw.org reported Sunday.

Powered by a solid rocket motor booster developed by the Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), the missile has an operational range of 1000 km.

Nirbhay missile can travel with a turbofan or turbojet engine and is guided by a highly advanced inertial navigation system indigenously developed by the Research Centre Imarat (RCI). 

The two-stage missile is 6 metre long, 0.52 metre wide with a wing span of 2.7 metre. It can carry a warhead of 200 kg to 300 kg at a speed of 0.6 to 0.7 Mach. Its launch weight is about 1500 kg.