| Kavach | |
|---|---|
INS Chennai (D65) launching a Kavach rocket.
| |
| Type | Decoy system |
| Place of origin | India |
| Service history | |
| In service | May 2012−present |
| Used by |  Indian Navy |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Ordnance Factory Board |
| Manufacturer |
|
| Unit cost | ₹6–7 lakh[1] |
| Produced | 2012−present |
| No. built | 4,000+[1] |
| Variants | Long Range, Medium Range, Short Range |
Kavach (lit. 'Armour') is an anti-missile naval decoy system to distract radar-guided missiles from their targets and act as a system for self-defence. It was designed and developed by the Ordnance Factory Board for the Indian Navy.
The Indian Navy previously procured chaff rocket systems from the Soviet Union. Supplies came to a halt following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. The Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) took up the challenge to design and develop a chaff rocket system to achieve self-reliance in this field.[1][2] OFB Director General and Chairman, D.M. Gupta, stated in May 2011 that the company had created two prototypes, successfully conducted the first trial, and would conduct a second and final trial later that year before the system was inducted into the Navy.[3]
The Kavach decoy system releases chaff made up of silver coated glass fiber. The chaff forms a clutter which remains suspended in the air, causing the incoming radar-guided missile to mistake the chaff for the actual target, and get locked onto the chaff instead of the actual target.[2] Each Kavach rocket costs around ₹6 lakh (US$7,200)–₹7 lakh (US$8,400).[1]
The Kavach system has chaff rockets of three different versions based on the range:[2]
These versions are fired in different situations based on incoming threats.[2]
The first batch of Kavach rockets were formally handed over to the Navy on 25 May 2012 by the Ammunition Factory Khadki (AFK), Pune which manufactures the rockets,[2] while the rocket launchers are manufactured at the Machine Tool Prototype Factory (MTPF), Mumbai.[4]
AFK was contracted to deliver around 4,000 Kavach variants to the Indian Navy by 2015.[1][5]
The first ship to be equipped with Kavach was the anti-submarine corvette INS Kamorta (P28).[6] Ship classes fitted with Kavach include:
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