India has publicly displayed its Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LR-AShM) for the first time.
The missile was showcased during the 77th Republic Day parade on 26 January 2026 at Kartavya Path in New Delhi, along with its mobile launcher.
The display confirmed that the missile has reached an advanced stage of development and is intended for deployment by Indian Navy coastal defence units.
The LR-AShM is designed to engage naval surface targets from land-based positions at ranges of more than 1,500 kilometres.
Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the missile was designed to fill the gap between existing supersonic anti-ship missiles like BrahMos and longer-range ballistic missiles mainly meant for strategic deterrence.
The aim was to create a weapon that could fly at hypersonic speed while manoeuvring through the atmosphere to hit moving naval targets.
The LR-AShM uses a two-stage solid-fuel propulsion system. After launch, the first stage boosts the missile to hypersonic speed and then separates. The second stage continues to power the missile before it shifts to a high-speed flight through the atmosphere.
This flight path allows the missile to manoeuvre, making it harder to track. Indian defence authorities say the missile can reach speeds of up to Mach 10, with an average speed of around Mach 5.
It follows a quasi-ballistic or skip-glide path, moving in and out of the atmosphere instead of following a straight ballistic trajectory, which reduces detection time and makes interception more difficult.
The missile is designed to strike both static and moving maritime targets.
During the parade, the LR-AShM was shown on a transporter-erector-launcher mounted on a high-mobility 12×12 wheeled vehicle.
Each launcher carries a single missile enclosed in a cylindrical canister. Open-source assessments indicate the missile is around 46 feet long, about 4.6 feet in diameter, and weighs less than 44,000 pounds.
The missile achieved a major milestone in November 2024, when it completed a long-range flight test from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off India’s eastern coast.
At the time, the Ministry of Defence said the missile was tracked by multiple range systems, and flight data confirmed successful staging, atmospheric manoeuvring and accurate terminal performance at a range exceeding 1,500 kilometres.
The test is believed to have been the second flight trial of the system.
References: armyrecognition, timesofindia
Source: Maritime Shipping News
