Kilo Ampere Linear Injector (KALI) is an indigenous Indian electron injector technology developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO) and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre(BARC).
KALI 5000 is a top-secret Indian weapon that has been designed for a potential response to any incoming missiles from hostile neighbours China and Pakistan. The Kali system was initially developed for industrial applications and the defence application of it was a recent spinoff.
What is Kali 5000 Exactly?
The KALI DRDO project was suggested in 1985 by the then Director of the BARC, Dr. R. Chidambaram. Work on the Project began in 1989, by the Accelerators & Pulse Power Division of the BARC.
The project was designed to produce electron pulses of about 100 ns with an energy of about 1 MeV, current 40 kA and a power of 40 GW. This Relativistic Electron Beams (REB) thus generated will be used for the generation of High Power Microwaves (HPM) & Flash X Rays (FXR).
The first accelerators had a power of around 0.4 GigaWatt, which increased as later versions KALI 1000, KALI 5000 and KALI 10000 were developed.
KALI defence system can be used in a High-Power Microwave gun, which could soft-kill incoming missiles and aircraft by destroying the electronic circuitry on the missile.
Large amounts of energy can be stored in small packets inside ‘KALI’. These energy packets can be thrown at their targets at any time as a beam and the enemy’s electronic circuits can be disabled by jamming them with this energy injector.
The KALI series has improved consistently, progressing from KALI 80 to KALI 200, KALI 1000, KALI 5000, and KALI 10000. The weapon is also known as “ Shot Pulsed Gigawatt Electron Accelerator” since all KALI devices are known to be single-shot devices.
KALI Was Commissioned in 2004. Much details about KALI were not revealed by the government, but some consider KALI as the top secret weapon of India.
How Does KALI Wok?
The KALI series of accelerators are described as “Single Shot Pulsed Gigawatt Electron Accelerators”. They are single shot devices, using water filled capacitors to build the charge energy. The discharge is in the range of 1GW. Initially starting with 0.4GW power, present accelerators are able to reach 40GW. The Pulse time is about 60 nano seconds.
The Microwave radiations emitted by the KALI 5000 are in the 3 to 5 GHz Range.
Pulse detonation system is a mechanically simpler engine in comparison to the gas turbine engine, where in the combustion wave travels at supersonic speeds relative to the unburnt oxidiser mixture. It utilizes repetitive detonations of the fuel oxidiser mixture to produce thrust.
For flying systems, however, detonation requires a long tube length to accommodate required amount of energy input. TBRL has been working on a system to reduce the length of the engine so that it can be applied in systems like UAVs and other missiles system as well.
To reduce engine length, suitable devices are employed which reduce the length of the tube required for the transition from deflagration to detonation. A test rig was designed and established for conducting experiments with liquid fuel-air mixtures.
“Developing indigenous pulse detonation technology is a big achievement for Indian scientists. This technology is very important for the cruise, anti-ship missile and UAVs which will be used in manipulating speed and fuel efficiency of the missile or drones,” Rajiv Nayan, a missile technology expert stated.
Applications
The X-rays emitted by KALI are being used in Ballistics research as an illuminator for ultrahigh speed photography by the Defence Ballistics Research Institute (DBRL) in Chandigarh. The Microwave emissions are used for EM Research.
The microwave-producing version of Kali has also been used by the DRDO scientists for testing the vulnerability of the electronic systems of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), which was then under development.
It has also helped in designing electrostatic shields to “harden” the LCA and missiles from microwave attack by the enemy as well as protecting Indian satellites against deadly Electromagnetic Impulses (EMI) generated by nuclear weapons and other cosmic disturbances, which “fry” and destroy electronic circuits.
Electronic components currently used in missiles can withstand fields of approx. 300 V/cm, while the fields in case of EMI attack reach thousands of V/cm.
Kali 5000 Range
There is no information available about the range of KALI Indian weapon but as per sources KALI can target long-range missiles.
Kali Weapon Test
According to some reports, successful tests have been conducted of the Indian weapon Kali. Unconfirmed reports have also said that the Indian secret weapon is responsible for the Siachen Glacier avalanche in 2012, which caused the death of around 135 Pakistan soldiers. Some sources have also claimed that the melting of rigid ice sheets in the region resulted from KALI’s successful test. There have also been reports of placing the weaponised KALI in an IL-76 aircraft as an airborne defence system.
Government has been quiet about information regarding KALI and not much details about it has been shared in public domain.