Guided Missiles

Popular Science & Technology (PST) series is being published by DESIDOC to promote the knowledge and understanding of the applications of science and technology in Defence among defence personnel, students, and general public. The contents covered in each of the titles are current to the year of publication. Popular Science 8c Technology (PST) is a half-yearly publicatior~ of DESIDOC and it endeavours to promote knowledge and understanding of the applications of' science and technology in Defence. Each issue is devoted to a subject of topical interest arid is written by an acknowledged expert in the field. 'I'he presentation is however lucid and non-technical and is aimed at Defence personnel, stirtlents arlcl the general public. T h e text is supported by figures, photographs and cartoons. Foreword I am clelightecl that Shri T V Karthikeyan and Shri AK Kapoor have brought out a small booklet on guided missiles. Their importance to the Armed Forces has significantly increased. Guided missiles are used for air, land and sea warfare. Frorn the giants of the ICBM class to the midgets such as shoulder-fired weapons, they are used m a multitude of roles. India has heen one uf the earliest countries to make and use iv;ir rockets. Though these were used in the early r i g h t e e ~ ~ t h century, it is only in the 1980s that the c.ount1.y entered in a big way the area of guided missile tleveloptnent i ~ t i c l production. Several of the country's acatlcrnic iristitutions, laboratories, private and public sector ii~clustt-ies arid user services have cotne together-arid are working hand in hand in the development of nlissilr technology i r l an endeavour to make the countr!. self'-sufficient in this vital area. This imok '(;uidecl \Iissiles' \<,ill be valuable in introducing the subject to young readers, and I am hopeful that it wili encourage rnany of them to study the subject in depth ant1 learn in detail the challerige in the area of guided missile technology. 1 congratulate the authors in bringing o u t this very useful volume. Preface Use of modern weapon systerns has revolutionised the concept of warfare. Technology as a force multiplier, provides the competitive and cutting edge. The technology of guided missiles ellcompasses the r-tiultiple streams of engineering. technology and applied sciences. A number of factors are responsible for the successful launcti of missiles. 'These involve …