India’s IIT Madras Institute announced the tests of its bolt-on ramjet kit for 155 mm ERFB-type shells that is mounted in place of the base bleed unit.
India has taken a rather different approach for ramjet-assisted artillery with its ramjet kit, instead of a shell developed from the ground up like Norwegian Nammo’s 155 mm ramjet-assisted shell.
IIT Madras stated that the ramjet kit increases the range for a 155 mm L52 gun from 40 km to 70 km (ATAGS). Due to being a kit for propulsion only, the guidance kit has to be integrated separately. The only available location for the guidance kit is the fuse section, the mounting point for kits like the US-made PGK, which only reduce dispersion.
The ramjet mounted in place of the base bleed component is fed with air through a ring-like air intake instead of a shock cone intake, with the shell body acting as the cone itself. Despite the simplicity, this reduces the thrust because of the reduced airflow into the ramjet.
While this ramjet kit provides a smaller jump in range compared to the ground-up designs mentioned before, which reach as far as 100+ km and feature onboard guidance, it is compatible with the existing inventory of shells and likely cheaper due to its bolt-on nature.
Other countries working on ramjet-assisted shells include Norway (Nammo in cooperation with Boeing), Turkiye (Turkish MoD R&D), and the UK (Tiberius Aerospace).
Author: Kaan Azman
Editor: Özgür Ekşi
