ISLAMABAD: India has started working on the indigenous design and development of a 1000-kg aerial bomb akin to Mk-84 for the Indian Air Force (IAF), aiming to attain self-sufficiency in the sector.
According to the reports, the project is structured in two phases. The first involves design and development of six prototypes (live and inert), including associated tail units and equipment. The second is the procurement phase. The system is intended to be “compatible with both Russian and Western-origin aircraft” currently operated by the IAF.
Indian Defence Ministry has “issued an Expression of Interest (EoI) for design, development and procurement of 1,000-kg aerial bombs (akin to Mk-84) along with tail units and associated equipment under the provisions of the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020”.
At present, India is procuring Mk-84 class general-purpose bombs from foreign original equipment manufacturers and are in service with the IAF.
The proposed aerial bomb is described as a “natural fragmentation, high-calibre munition capable of generating high blast effect and significant peak over-pressure (PoP) against enemy targets”.
The development phase is required to achieve a minimum of 50 per cent indigenous content. The estimated timeline for the project is approximately 2.5 years from EoI issuance to contract signing. This includes prototype development, followed by user trials and subsequent stages involving evaluation, commercial processes, and contract finalisation. The IAF will enable this process, pushing for indigenous development so that it can be scaled up in operations. The trials will be conducted within India at IAF units or other designated locations and will involve testing on a specified IAF aircraft platform, the officials said.
Participation in the EoI is open to eligible Indian entities, including the private industry, with provisions for foreign collaboration under defined conditions, such as joint ventures, transfer of technology, or commercial off-the-shelf arrangements.
