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| India-Pakistan |
| India all set to acquire Crystal Maze missiles from Israel |
| 2005-12-13 |
| India is on the verge of acquiring a long-range weapon with Israel scheduled to deliver the 100-km range air to surface stand-off Crystal Maze missile next month. Manufactured by Rafael, the Crystal Maze is similar to the Popeye all-weather bunker busting missile that is launched from an aircraft to destroy command and control centers, enemy bunkers and even militant training camps from a distance of 80-100 kilometres. The TV-guided missile, which has a 80 kg warhead, is highly accurate with an error range within three metres. Other than some US allies in Asia and Pacific, this missile is not in the armoury of either China or Pakistan. The acquisition of Crystal Maze missile is extremely significant for Indian offensive capabilities. For the first time, the IAF will have an air-to-surface launched cruise missile that can be fired from an aircraft. The present Indo-Russian venture Brahmos is essentially an anti-ship cruise missile and it is very difficult for the bulky missile to be mounted on an aircraft. Apart from the Crystal Maze missile, New Delhi is also looking to acquire Delilah II anti-radiation drone with missile firing capability and Penetration-500 bombs that have the capability to take out runways, radars and concrete bunkers. The long-range Delilah II drone, akin to US’ Predator used in Afghanistan, has the capability of hanging around (called loiter capability) the target and then hone in at an appropriate time to destroy it. New Delhi signed the Crystal Maze contract with Tel Aviv two years ago, but the IAF this month gave its green signal after successfully testing the precision weapon at the Mahajan Ranges in Pokhran last month. The IAF first test-fired the missile from a Mirage aircraft in December 2004 at Pokhran but the weapon failed to explode after penetrating the concrete bunker. The second test was performed in April 2005 and this time the missile exploded 200 metres short of the target. But last month, the missile fulfilled all its test parameters and destroyed the target. Essentially, the missile is launched from a multi-role aircraft like the Mirage that climbs up to height of over 40,000 feet and uses litening pods (Israeli made binocular devices for all-weather targeting) to fix the target from a distance of over 80 km. The missile is launched after target identification. |
| Posted by:john |
| #1 even militant training camps from a distance of 80-100 kilometres Err.. Perv, time to close down the camps Perv... |
| Posted by: john 2005-12-13 05:51 |