The Hindu : India to build missile shield with U.S. help

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 02, 2002

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National

India to build missile shield with U.S. help

By Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI JUNE 1. India and the United States have decided to work together in building a missile shield to counter the threat of a missile attack by Pakistan.

"We would be interested in setting up a missile defence system and have agreed to cooperate with the U.S. in missile defence systems,'' confirmed top Defence Ministry sources, adding that both sides had agreed to hold further discussions in this direction. This understanding, in principle, assumes importance in the light of the recent serial ballistic missile tests by Pakistan.

According to highly placed government sources, India is keen to acquaint itself with counter-proliferation know-how that can help in the destruction of hostile missiles while they are still at the launch pad. Analysts point out that in case India is to be successful in this endeavour, it might have to establish linkages between its national surveillance system and the U.S. global surveillance grid. This can provide the necessary real-time information necessary for the task.

The sources said that of the several missile defence systems, India could opt for the `plume interception' system under which a constellation of satellites tracks missiles and sounds a warning as soon as `plume' or launch is detected. Since the time taken for a missile launched from the sub-continent to impact India is less than five minutes, security planners would not like to take the risk of intercepting it during its very short flight path. However, mid-trajectory systems are more suited for countries like the U.S. where the lead time is relatively longer, they said.

Incidentally, New Delhi's support for the U.S. sponsored National Missile Defence has helped to lay the groundwork for cooperation with the U.S. in this field.

A few weeks ago, India was briefed on the missile defence concepts being tried out by the U.S. and a high level team had visited the high-tech simulation center at Colorado Springs. India has also been invited to observe the next series of simulation exercises in which hostile missiles are blocked by the defence system. The U.S. has tested the system half a dozen times and the last four tests have been successful. It is expected to be fully operational by 2005-06.

An Indian team will have advance discussions in this regard at a conference on missile defence systems scheduled this month in Dallas, Texas. This will be followed by a U.S.-led seminar on the subject in New Delhi later this year.

India, like most countries, does not have a missile defence system.

However, with intelligence reports confirming the deployment of missiles by Pakistan, Israel has been asked to speed up the supply of aerostat balloons in an attempt to at least upgrade the monitoring facilities. The contract was signed recently after the Defence Ministry's proposal was approved by the Union Cabinet.

Till India selects the type of missile defence system suited for its requirements, security planners are also paying close attention to upgrading the border radar systems.

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