유도탄 인도의 차세대 전술탄도탄 BM-04

[위종민]

인도 DRDO가 하이데라바드 방산 전시회에서 사거리 1,500kg, 탄두중량 500kg급 재래식 탄두 SRBM BM-04를  공개했네요. CEP는 30m 이하이고, 2단추진 고체연료 로켓이며 캐니스터에서 발사됩니다. 

인도, 차세대 전술 탄도미사일 BM-04 공개… 파키스탄 대응 능력 강화

인도 국방연구개발기구(DRDO)는 최근 BM-04로 명명된 차세대 단거리 탄도미사일(SRBM)을 하이데라바드 방산 전시회에서 공개했습니다. 이 미사일은 기존의 핵무장 아그니-P 미사일과 유사한 설계를 기반으로 하며, 최대 사거리 1,500km, 500kg급 재래식 탄두를 탑재하고 있습니다. BM-04는 30m 이하의 원형 공산오차(CEP)를 갖추고 있으며, 고체 연료 2단 추진체와 캔스터형 발사 시스템을 통해 신속한 발사가 가능합니다. The Diplomat

특히, BM-04는 기동성이 뛰어난 재진입체를 통해 적의 방공망을 회피하며, 다중 로켓 발사 시스템, 지대공 미사일 발사대 등 시간 민감형 표적을 정밀 타격할 수 있도록 설계되었습니다. DRDO는 2024년 12월 AI 기반의 극초음속 미사일을 개발한 바 있으며, BM-04 역시 향후 위협 환경 변화에 따라 탄두, 센서, 추진체 등의 업그레이드가 가능하도록 설계되었습니다.

BM-04의 개발은 인도가 통합 로켓 부대(IRF) 창설을 추진하는 과정에서 핵우산 하의 제한적 작전 수행 능력을 강화하려는 전략의 일환으로 평가됩니다. 이 미사일은 파키스탄의 주요 군사 시설을 정밀 타격할 수 있는 능력을 제공하며, 인도 본토 깊숙한 지역에서 발사할 수 있어 적의 대응을 어렵게 만듭니다. 전문가들은 이러한 무기 체계의 도입이 남아시아 지역의 전략적 안정성에 새로운 변화를 가져올 수 있다고 분석하고 있습니다.

The BM-04 Missile: India’s Next-Generation Conventional Counterforce Weapon – The Diplomat

The BM-04 Missile: India’s Next-Generation Conventional Counterforce Weapon

The BM-04 Missile: India’s Next-Generation Conventional Counterforce Weapon

The BM-04 missile development confirm‎s a military doctrine aimed at conducting limited operations under the nuclear umbrella at conventional and subconventional levels.

By Usman Haider

April 10, 2025

Credit: Depositphotos

Last month, the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) unveiled a next-generation short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) at a defense exhibition in Hyderabad. Dubbed as the BM-04, the new missile is akin to the already deployed Agni-P nuclear-armed missile, with a range specific to striking Pakistan. The BM-04 reflects the ongoing efforts undertaken by India to develop and deploy advanced conventionally armed ballistic missiles with enhanced speed, maneuverability, and precision. The missile’s existence indicates that New Delhi seeks to develop a robust conventional counterforce capability. 

The BM-04 is 10.2 meters long, 1.2 meters in diameter and weighs 11,500 kg. The missile has a two-stage solid-fuel propulsion system; it can engage targets located at a maximum distance of up to 1,500 km, with a 500 kg conventional warhead, and has a 30-meter circular error probability (CEP). It can be deployed using a six-wheel indigenous transport erector launcher (TEL). Like the existing missiles in the Indian arsenal, the BM-04 is canisterized, which allows the warheads to be mated with the delivery systems in advance, thus reducing the time required to fire the projectile. 

Once deployed, the BM-04 will be distinct from the previous missiles, as evident in the words of G.A. Srinivasa Murthy, who currently leads the Defense Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), a sub-unit of the DRDO. Murthy stated that the DRDL successfully produced a hypersonic missile with artificial intelligence (AI) assistance in December 2024. This implies that the BM-04 missiles can be regularly upgraded with new warheads, sensors, and propulsion systems as the threat matrix evolves. This will make the BM-04 a robust and reliable system that can withstand future threats. 

According to its design and features, the BM-04 looks like a derivative of the Agni-P, only the newer version will be used for conventional strike roles. In addition, the missile re-entry vehicle appears similar to a boost glide vehicle, which is expected to attain hypersonic speed based on its outlook. This maneuverable re-entry vehicle can evade the adversary’s air defense systems. With its brisk speed, the BM-04 will engage time-sensitive targets, such as multi-launch rocket systems, ground-based missile launchers, and mobile surface-to-air missile systems. If these assertions are upheld, it will undoubtedly enhance the Indian military’s conventional counterforce capability.

Major General Roopesh Mehta, currently serving as additional director general (ADG) for Capability Development at the Integrated Headquarters of the Indian Army, hinted at the BM-04’s existence in his June 2023 article. In the article, he also emphasized establishing a new conventional rocket force. The BM-04’s development has reaffirmed India’s plans to establish an Integrated Rocket Force (IRF), as it was reported two years ago that the Indian military was considering equipping the newly proposed IRF with a ballistic missile with a range of 1,500 km. 

There is more to the BM-04 that meets the eye. New Delhi’s broader objective is to adopt a pre-emptive strike posture. In doing so, India aims to retain an option to conduct precision strikes against Pakistani conventional counterforce targets with high-speed conventional projectiles. It will boost India’s shoot-and-scoot capabilities because the rocket force will have solid fuel missiles in its arsenal, stored in canisters, allowing the military to launch them immediately. In addition, the BM-04 is tailored to neutralize the adversary’s critical infrastructure, including air bases, ammunition dumps, command-and-control centers, cantonments, and logistics nodes.

Why develop a longer-range conventional SRBM, even though the Indian military has already developed the Pralay, capable of destroying targets at a range of up to 500 km? With the operationalization of the BM-04, India can store these weapons deep into its territory, thus making it challenging for Pakistan’s conventional ground and air-based platforms to hit the missile launchers and storage sites. 

If a missile regiment equipped with the BM-04 is stationed in the periphery of India’s XXI Corps (Strike Corps) headquarters, for example, it can easily take out targets located on Pakistan’s western borders. For Pakistan to strike potential BM-04 launch sites in Bhopal, Pakistan’s air force aircraft would have to travel some 100-150 kilometers deep into Indian territory before they can launch a Taimoor air-launched cruise missile with a possible range of 600 km. Pakistan’s ground-launched long-range conventional system, the Fatah-II, can only target a maximum distance of 400 km. The scenario implies that India’s BM-04 systems will have the luxury to strike potential targets in Pakistan from a safer distance. 

Missiles can be built anytime, depending on the leadership’s approval. However, New Delhi’s mindset to effectively engage Islamabad’s conventional counterforce is dangerous. The BM-04 missile development confirm‎s a military doctrine aimed at conducting limited operations under the nuclear umbrella at conventional and subconventional levels. The region’s strategic stability is not threatened by the BM-04, per se, but by the mindset that prevails in New Delhi.

Contemporary South Asian dynamics depict a growing military disparity between India and Pakistan. The BM-04 development signifies New Delhi’s attempt to diversify its conventional missile force and enhance its strike capabilities, aiming to target the adversary’s conventional counterforce targets. The missile development confirm‎s a shift in New Delhi’s force posture, a harbinger that the Indian military seems set to rely more on ballistic missiles for conventional counterforce targeting in future conflicts. In a nutshell, with the BM-04’s existence, the risks of India initiating violence at the subconventional or conventional level remain plausible.

[백선호]

우크라이나 전쟁과 이란과 이스라엘이 서로 본토 공격한 사례를 보면 탄도탄만으로 전쟁에서 이길 수 없고, 탄도탄 공격도 막아낼 수 있다는 것이 드러났죠.

탄도탄이 바다에서 움직이는 표적을 잡아 때릴 수 있다면 항모같은 고가치 표적은 몇 척 있지도 않고 또 만드는데 몇 년이 걸리니 탄도탄이 큰 효과를 내겠지만 육지에서 '복구할 수 있는' 표적을 때리는데 쓰이면 답이 없을 것 같습니다.

[위종민]

항공기가 아니라 미사일로 육지에서 복구할 수 있는 표적을 때리려면 비싼 탄도탄보다는 저가 순항미사일같은 물건을 많이, 계속 들이부어버리는 게 낫겠죠? 탄도탄은 통신결절이나 지휘관리센터같은 걸 확실하게 부술 수 있게 사정거리 관계없이 크고 무거운 탄두를 달아줘야 할 것 같고요.