DTN News: Israel's Rafael Plans JV for Missile Systems In India

DTN News: Israel's Rafael Plans JV for Missile Systems In India *Source: DTN News / By Tarun Shukla Livemint.com (NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - February 18, 2010: Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd plans to start a joint venture in India with state-owned Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) to develop advanced missile systems. Since the Kargil conflict in 1999, Israel has emerged as the second largest defence supplier to India, with annual sales estimated at $1 billion (Rs4,600 crore). The state-owned firm plans to use its India joint venture facility to source some locally made materials, mandatory for all overseas defence supplies and known as offsets. “This is will be our first joint venture. Part of the offsets that we have to provide in India will be in this joint venture,” said Lova Drori, executive vice-president, marketing, Rafael, on the sidelines of the sixth land and naval defence systems DefExpo 2010 show in the Capital. With around two dozen firms, Israel’s presence is among the biggest at the expo. As many as 650 firms from 23 countries, excluding China and Pakistan, are present at the show. A BEL executive said his firm is in discussions with Rafael regarding the joint venture. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak with the media. “Missiles developed here use command guidance. You can have a radar that can send signals for command guidance. At present that is what is done in Akash,” the official said. “Seekers have been tried in India for Nag missiles. But (more) mature technologies will be helpful as well.” The executive was referring to a seeker, which is a missile guidance device aboard an interceptor missile that searches for and homes in on a target. BEL will hold a 74% stake in the venture and Rafael will own the rest, Drori said, adding that the companies would soon seek government approval on this. He also said that the proposed facility will eventually be scaled up to develop new technologies in missile seekers depending on the projects it can secure from India. Once approved, the factory will be located near an existing campus of BEL, which has facilities in Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad. Drori said his firm is not looking at a 49% participation in the joint venture as it feels the Indian government may not allow that. “We do not want to do that. Its unachievable. The government will not approve. We will be happy with 26%,” he said.

Missile Defense In India

Missile Defense In India

*By Bharath Gopalaswamy - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

(NSI News Source Info) March 2, 2009: A few weeks ago, Indian officials held preliminary talks with the United States about purchasing a missile defense shield from it. "India is a partner of ours, and we want to provide it with whatever it needs to protect itself," a U.S. official told the Financial Times. Already, Indian officials and scientists have witnessed some simulations of the U.S. missile defense system, along with a couple of live tests. Washington even has offered to sell the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 system to India. Article Highlights *Recently, Indian officials approached the United States about purchasing a missile defense shield. *New Delhi's once casual interest in missile defense has intensified as its regional threats have increased. *The United States believes that a strong New Delhi can help protect U.S. assets in South Asia and counterbalance China. A few weeks ago, Indian officials held preliminary talks with the United States about purchasing a missile defense shield from it. "India is a partner of ours, and we want to provide it with whatever it needs to protect itself," a U.S. official told the Financial Times. Already, Indian officials and scientists have witnessed some simulations of the U.S. missile defense system, along with a couple of live tests. Washington even has offered to sell the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 system to India. India's interest in strategic missile defense dates back to 1983 when New Delhi initiated an "Integrated Missile Development Program." The program included not only offensive missiles such as the nuclear-capable Prithvi and Agni, but also the Akash, a surface-to-air missile that had the potential to provide India with theater missile defense capabilities. Later in the 1990s, India's Defence Research & Development Organization and the country's military discussed initiating conceptual missile defense studies. Around the same time, the Indian military had a few conversations with Israel and Russia about how they could help New Delhi advance its air defense systems. Although such talk clearly demonstrated an Indian interest in missile defense, it was confined to professional military officers and low-level bureaucrats. The interest of India's elected leadership intensified a few years later, their support growing for a variety of reasons. First, 9/11 and the subsequent war in Afghanistan turned Pakistan into a U.S. ally, triggering speculation that the Pakistani government might be overturned by anti-American Islamic fundamentalists who would then control Islamabad's nuclear arsenal. And if Pakistani nuclear weapons fell into such hands, India feared it might be the first target. Secondly, some in India believe that a domestic missile defense capability might be able to check Pakistan more generally. Ever since Islamabad obtained nuclear weapons, it has emboldened its strategy of supporting insurgencies within India to settle outstanding political differences--i.e., Kashmir. Missile defense, the argument goes, would prove instrumental in providing New Delhi reassurance and protection since Pakistan's nuclear weapons could be countered both offensively and defensively. Finally, few countries in the world face the missile threats that India does. Of course, there's Pakistan and its Ghauri and Shaheen missile series--both of which possess ranges longer than 1,000 kilometers. But there's also nearby China, a fellow nuclear-armed state equipped with DF-21 missiles that can travel more than 2,000 kilometers. So it's no surprise that the upper-echelons of the Indian government have begun to show significant interest in defense technologies that can, at least theoretically, combat such threats. A ballistic missile flight from Sargodha, Pakistan, could reach New Delhi in about 5-7 minutes. As such, Indian missile defense proponents envision the system working as follows: A technically complex and vast constellation of early warning sensors would detect the missile immediately after it is launched. This part of the system is already more or less in place; the Green Pine radar, which India purchased from Israel around 2002 and is situated about 200 kilometers north of New Delhi, can detect a missile 90 seconds after it has been launched--at least on a preliminary basis. The next step is to determine whether the signal picked up by the radar is that of an incoming missile or a false alarm. Complicating matters is that India and Pakistan share a border, making for shorter ballistic missile flights. For example, the estimated total missile flight times are 8-13 minutes for ranges of 600-2,000 kilometers. The flight times can be even less if the missile is flown in a depressed trajectory. Such a short time period places stringent conditions on procedures for evaluating and verifying warnings. There would be no time to consult or deliberate after receiving this warning. In other words, any response would have to be predetermined, presenting a significant likelihood of accidental nuclear war from false alarms. Oddly, despite such potentially catastrophic consequences, in India the debate about missile defense has become a debate about India's burgeoning ties with Washington as a part of New Delhi's "Next Steps in Security Partnership"--a 2002 diplomatic initiative between the United States and India to expand their cooperation in civilian nuclear activities and civilian space programs, along with broadening their dialogue on missile defense to promote nonproliferation and to ease the transfer of advanced technologies to India. For the United States, missile defense initially was only one aspect of its budding bilateral relationship with New Delhi. But over time missile defense has come to represent something larger in the relationship. Quite simply, it represents Washington's implicit support for India against Pakistan, without, of course, supporting an explicit Indian recourse to offensive military strategies. Along these lines, there's every reason to expect the United States to continue to be supportive of India's emergence as a counterweight to China. Ultimately, technology will decide the operational capability of missile defense in India. But for the time being, it can be assumed that New Delhi's decisions with regard to missile defense are strongly linked to the changing tenor of U.S.-Indian relations.

India's Republic Day Parade On January 26, 2009 In New Delhi, India

India's Republic Day Parade On January 26, 2009 In New Delhi, India

(NSI News Source Info) January 27, 2009: T-90 Bheeshma tanks, missiles, helicopters, many various aircrafts and military products were paraded during the Republic Day Parade on January 26, 2009 in New Delhi, India. India celebrates its 60th Republic Day with its annual parade. The parade is an opportunity for India to display its military might, progress and cultural diversity.

Indian Air Force Orders Akash Surface To Air Missiles; BEL, LT, Tata Power To Deliver In 36 Months

Indian Air Force Orders Akash Surface To Air Missiles; BEL, L&T, Tata Power To Deliver In 36 Months (NSI News Source Info) January 12, 2009: The Indian Air Force has placed an order with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for two squadrons of medium range, surface-to-air missile Akash. The Rs. 1,200-crore order comes 14 months after field trials at Pokhran in Rajasthan.Akash is India's medium range surface-to-air missile defense system developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) as part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. The missile can target aircraft up to 30 km away, at altitudes up to 18,000 m. Akash can be fired from both tracked and wheeled platforms. Akash is said to be capable of both conventional and nuclear warheads, with a reported payload of 60kg. A nuclear warhead could potentially give the missile the capability to destroy both aircraft and warheads from ballistic missiles. The missile is described as being able to strike several targets simultaneously, which could mean either separate, independently targetable warheads, or a sufficient blast to destroy a number of them. Along with India, a limited number of other countries including the US, Russia, Japan, Israel, and some EU countries have developed operational multitarget-handling surface-to-air missile systems.

It was reported earlier that the IAF had reservations about placing the order as the missile, in its present version, allegedly did not meet a few of its operating requirements.

The IAF wanted a smaller, lighter missile that had a longer range and was more manoeuvrable according to "The Hindu". The missile also does not have a seeker. Batch-by-batch improvements and enhancements in Akash are expected.

Of the Patriot classDeveloped by Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Akash is part of India’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme and comes with radars, mobile launchers, control centres, battlefield management software and other support systems. It will be utilised by the IAF against attacks from unmanned combat aerial vehicles, aircraft and missiles.

In the same class as the U.S.’ Patriot, Israel’s Barak and the U.K.’s SAM, the 5.78-metre long, 700-kg Akash can destroy targets as far away as 25 km and has a supersonic speed of 600 metres a second.BEL has tied up with Larsen & Toubro, Tata Power, Walchand Industries and ECIL.

It is contracted to deliver the two squadrons in 36 months. DRDL, besides transferring technology in the form of documents for production of Akash, will oversee the weapon system integration and provide support throughout the 20-year lifecycle of the missile.

Project Director R.R. Panyam told newspapers that it was “for the first time that the country’s armed forces had placed an order for such a sophisticated, indigenously developed weapon system.” The IAF could expect a consistent and reliable missile system, and it was expected to place more such orders.

The Army could also look to acquire Akash, but with modifications. Calling the order an indication of the technical capabilities of indigenous defence laboratories, Prahlada, Chief Controller of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, said the missile had an 85 per cent kill probability.

Akash, which can destroy multiple targets, can be fired from both trucks and tracked vehicles. It is expected to cost the exchequer less than similar missiles, whose cost is in the range of Rs. 5-6 crore each. The Akash missile system, according to a statement made by Defence Minister A.K. Antony in the Rajya Sabha, cost the exchequer Rs. 516.86 crore for its development, the highest for any of India’s missile systems.