HARDY VETERAN. Simple and cost-effective, artillery weapons stay the mainstay of battlefield firepower
| Photo Credit:
shcherbak volodymyr
Last month, IIT-Madras introduced it had developed a ‘ramjet-assisted artillery shell’, which primarily entails becoming a ‘ramjet’ onto a 155 mm (diameter) shell. For many causes, the brand new, good shell is an engineering marvel.
Ramjet is an engine that sucks in air because the car rushes ahead — the air will get naturally compressed, mixes with gas and burns. This generates thrust without having any transferring elements like generators.
Ramjets are usually utilized in missiles. Even the massive turbofans we see below the wings of economic plane mainly work on the precept of taking in air, compressing it, and letting it slip from the rear to generate thrust. But placing a ramjet on a metre-long shell is fairly a wrestle.
Within the restricted house, the ramjet should stand up to the extraordinarily excessive velocity (Mach 2-3) and acceleration (10,000-20,000 g); stand up to the ensuing violent stress and warmth; and ignite simply after the shell leaves the muzzle, however by no means earlier.
Range vs lethality
Apart from IIT-Madras, solely the Norwegian firm Nammo has developed a ramjet-assisted shell; the distinction is that Nammo has a working model, whereas IIT-M’s shell is not but in manufacturing.
Moreover, whereas the Norwegian shell has air consumption tubes within the entrance, the Indian analysis crew most popular to position them on the aspect, leaving the entrance for warheads, Prof. PA Ramakrishna of IIT-Madras advised businessline. This retains the lethality of the shell however cuts into the additional vary it might have gotten. Ramakrishna recalled that, a few years in the past, one other crew had labored on a ramjet for shells with entrance air consumption, however had not been profitable.
The Indian aspect appears to be happy with the vary it has achieved. Ramakrishna conservatively says the ramjet raises the shell’s vary by 50 per cent, however experiences recommend the additional throw might go as excessive as 80-100 per cent, relying on the gun used. With the superior towed artillery gun system (ATAGS), the vary will increase to 72 km, towards 38 km with out the ramjet; with the K9 Vajra howitzer (produced by L&T in collaboration with Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace), the vary will increase from 40 km to 62 km. Nammo is mentioned to have a spread of over 100 km, however the Indian researchers imagine their product is extra devastating.
An fascinating engineering level concerning the ramjet shell is the positioning of the engine — it sits within the rear, changing the standard ‘base-bleed’ — a small, strong propellant gasoline generator used to keep up the again stress. As the shell screams ahead, it splits the air, which then flows across the shell and merges on the again. This creates a conical low-pressure zone behind the shell, and the stress distinction between the entrance and the again pushes the shell backwards. The gasoline from the base-bleed is used to neutralise this drag, which might in any other case scale back the kinetic vitality and, thereby, the vary of the shell.
“When ramjet is used, base-bleed is not required,” says Lt Gen PR Shankar, former director-general of artillery, who was a part of the ramjet analysis crew at IIT-Madras as a professor of apply.
Both the ramjet and the base-bleed expend actual property within the shell, however the ramjet is a greater gadget because it is a propulsion system whereas the base-bleed is solely an aerodynamic assist.
Tactical flexibility
The Indian technologists have given the nation a first-of-its-kind, absolutely 3D-printed ramjet-assisted shell, which raises the firepower of the military. “While missiles offer long-range strike capability, they are expensive and complex. Artillery guns remain the backbone of battlefield firepower due to their simplicity, survivability and cost-effectiveness, but have traditionally faced hard technological limits on range,” says an IIT-Madras press launch, which calls the ramjet-assisted shell “a significant milestone in the indigenous development of defence technology”.
“If fully realised, this technology could allow Indian artillery units to engage targets at nearly 50 per cent more distances, offering commanders greater tactical flexibility, deeper strike options and enhanced deterrence — without the need for new gun platforms or costly missile systems,” says Ramakrishna, including that the design “ensures that the extended range does not dilute battlefield impact, maintaining the lethality”.
He says extra assessments are wanted earlier than the product will be readied for mass manufacturing — however that is solely a matter of some years. The solely unfavorable — if it may be known as that — is that the shell is far more costly at ₹2-3 lakh, in contrast with about ₹1.25 lakh for a standard 155 mm shell. However, other than the additional muscle the shell would give the military, it has given India a gloss of status. “There has been a lot of interest internationally,” says Ramakrishna.
There is, maybe, one unfinished agenda: offering a steering system for the shell. Finger-on-lips — maybe the selection of aspect air-inlet is to create room within the entrance for a navigation system. Asked if the shell is guided, Shankar replied, “Not yet”. Two telling phrases.
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Published on February 9, 2026