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| India-Pakistan |
| India's DRDO plans low atmospheric missile interceptors |
| 2006-12-02 |
| New Delhi, Dec 02: Buoyed by a successful missile interception in higher atmospheric zone, defence scientists are now planning to shoot down incoming warheads, much closer to ground, with a new missile named Pad. The country's top Missile Scientist Vijay Kumar Saraswat told a press conference today that "within the next three to four months the DRDO is planning to carry out another missile interception in the endoatmospheric zone" -- a pattern used by the Americans in the development of their Patriot PAC-III anti-missile shield. "We have demonstrated the technology to defend against incoming ballistic missile threat," he said, but added it would take another three to four years to develop for the country a full-fledged anti-missile theatre shield. Saraswat's announcement comes in the midst of recent criticism of the DRDO which has been accused of allowing "heavy time and cost overruns" in critical projects. He admitted that the Pad was still a technology demonstrator and said it would need another half-a-dozen tests to validate it as a missile shield. The scientist said in any future indigenous missile shields, India would have to have a mix of exoatmospheric and endoatmospheric interception capabilities to match short reaction threats. He ruled out that India might opt out of trying to acquire either the American or Israeli anti-missile system saying "we are only at the beginning and at this stage co-development or outright acquisition cannot be counted of." Saraswat is the Chief Controller of the country's missile programme and project director of the air defence missiles, whose team successfully carried out India's first ever surface-to-surface missile interception in the exoatmospheric zone on November 27. |
| Posted by:john |
| #7 ...Wondering if the Indians aren't trying to do the same thing to the Paks we did to the Sovs - set the bar so high for a successful attack that it will break their economy beyond hope to try and outbuild them... Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2006-12-02 17:36 |
| #6 "No sir, Mr. Putin, that's not a Patriot missile system we're buying, that's a Pak-riot system. Entirely different. Can we have the codes now?" |
| Posted by: Steve White 2006-12-02 16:54 |
| #5 Offense should be done using Halliburton's Earthquake Machine. Much harder to intecept. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-12-02 16:03 |
| #4 Interesting stuff, john. The video brought it to life - and the "reporter" just couldn't resist being a classic MSM ass at the end. "A recent Russian article mentioned that Russia would not provide the source codes for the S300 system if India bought the Patriot." So, lol, would the Arrow be OK? Lol, fucking Russians. No doubt the ChiComs and PakiWakis are watching very closely. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-12-02 15:01 |
| #3 Interesting video of the Indian ABM test |
| Posted by: john 2006-12-02 14:28 |
| #2 New Delhi: India has unveiled a missile interceptor on the basis of which it claims unprecedented capability to defend itself against a missile attack. The DRDO claims that two batteries of this system are sufficient to defend the capital. It is a substantially reconfigured version of the Prithvi missile. The Monday test demonstrated the ability of the Prithvi-based system to intercept an incoming ballistic missile at an altitude of 80 kilometre above the surface. Missile Programme Head Dr VK Saraswat said, “We have developed the technologies which are required to configure a anti-ballistic missile system. " In fact, it is a two-tiered system, with the modified Prithvi being the high-end interceptor. Should the Prithvi fail to stop an incoming missile; there is a second layer of defence, with another interception attempt at 30 kilometre above the ground with another missile, as yet unidentified. The DRDO claims a 99.8 per cent kill probability with this twin system, when four interceptors are fired in a sequence. "Together against same target you launch one Exo-atmospheric interceptor and also one Endo-atmospheric interceptor. Then you see how it works. Because that is what the actual scenario is going to be, " Saraswat added. Critical to the capability is a modified Israeli Greenpine radar, which tracks the incoming missile. But critics of the missile defence concept have pointed out that successful interception under controlled conditions can be misleading. The technology, it is generally believed, is several decades away from maturity. So, if India were to claim that it has a capability to blunt missile threats, what could it mean for nuclear deterrence in the region? A possibility is that an adversary could over-react to overcome the stated defences by firing more missiles. The DRDO says two of its systems would be sufficient to defend a city of the size of Delhi from a ballistic missile attack. It needs six more tests over a three-year time frame to refine the technology. But the DRDO is not willing to give any assurances on when the armed forces would be able to use this system. |
| Posted by: john 2006-12-02 14:19 |
| #1 Apparently the radar they are using is a "joint development" - they aren't saying who, but is most probably a derivative of the Israeli Green Pine. They probably want to integrate the Patriot PAC-3 with their own interceptors in this ABM system. A recent Russian article mentioned that Russia would not provide the source codes for the S300 system if India bought the Patriot. |
| Posted by: john 2006-12-02 10:58 |