India's Strategic Nuclear Command

MIRV and MARV are rather different... MIRV means you might have say 6 or 8 warheads on the warhead bus and the warhead bus has a liquid fuelled rocket so as the warhead bus flys towards the ultimate target it releases warheads on the way which each fall towards targets on the missiles flight path to its ultimate target.

It can hit multiple specific targets but those targets can't just be anywhere... they need to be either side of the flight path of the missile towards its primary target.

Each warhead is released to fall onto their specific target so the bus might change direction in flight to release warheads toward their targets and then manouver back to its original flight path to make sure the last warhead can hit its target too.

With MARV there is no warhead bus, each warhead is its own missile and each one is released and manouvers to hit their designated target.

They are different from what the Russians have because they are more like aircraft than bombs with control surfaces.

The MARV is not intended to evade ABM systems, it is to precisely hit targets that are further apart.

The missiles the Russians use will have sensors and systems built into the warhead to detect interceptors and manouver specifically to evade them which makes them much much harder to intercept.

These MARVs will be rather more difficult to intercept than MRVs (where a missile might have 4-6 warheads that might all just fall around a point target like a city in a random pattern) or MIRVs(where several targets along the flight path of the missile need to be engaged) or MARV (where several point targets need to be hit with precision because they are hard targets.)

Missiles with flight ranges of 3,000km wont be going anywhere near as far as missiles with a range of an ICBM.

S-400 and S-300V4 can engage targets with flight ranges of 3,000km rather easily...

GarryB wrote:MIRV and MARV are rather different

Yes of course. My point was just like Yars and Topol the Agni-5 can carry both MIRVs and MaRVs.

GarryB wrote:MARV is not intended to evade ABM systems

But then the ABM system will intercept it. It maneuvers to evade ABM systems.

GarryB wrote:The missiles the Russians use will have sensors and systems built into the warhead to detect interceptors and manouver specifically to evade them which makes them much much harder to intercept

Perhaps the delivery vehicle will simultaneously carry MaRVs and MIRVs.

Good job India

ALAMO wrote:Good job India

Blatant lies! You really think they conducted such a significant missile technology test and did not publish any video evidence? Soviet Union and even the US have both released videos of their MIRV, MARV tests.

But then the ABM system will intercept it. It maneuvers to evade ABM systems.

A MARV does not carry all its warheads in a warhead bus... in fact in many ways you can view MIRV as being a bomber (warhead bus) with half a dozen bombs on board that are released as the bomber travels. The MIRV warheads have control surfaces so they can adjust their flight path to ensure they hit precisely where they are aimed but they are not evading like a fighter plane manouvers to evade enemy fire.

If you shoot down the Warhead Bus on a MIRV early enough in its flight then you are going to get most of the warheads too.

A MARV has no warhead bus and is more like a standoff cruise missile carrier (Bear and Blackjack) that release their weapons early and so each weapon scatters and goes after its own target and manouvers to reach their target.

Obviously there are limits on what targets they can hit... you can't launch a missile from Russia and have it hit California and London and Japan with MARV warheads...

But a MARV warhead equipped missile with 6 to 10 warheads means 6 to 10 warhead targets rather than one warhead bus for midcourse interceptors.

And of course it is all complicated by decoys and jammers that will be included that will make the job of finding and identifying and taking out the warheads much much harder.

Looking at how western air defence systems have failed to deal with Russian attack systems from cruise missiles and other weapons I would be quite surprised if their ABM system was anything to actually worry about.

The defense contractor probably decided that by the time they find out it doesn't actually work everyone will be dead and no one can sue us.

The problem of course is that western politicians have talked so much about ballistic missile defence they seem to think it works and they might actually be safe from a Russian attack which makes them more likely do to or say something stupid and start something they can't finish... like the whole Ukraine conflict...

An congrats India...

@jhelb, I understand being skeptical, but I tend to believe India more than I would any western country about anything at all.