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India joins Ballistic Missile Defence Club

The Hindu : National : Two flight tests of Nag missile successful

Two flight tests of Nag missile successful

HYDERABAD: Two flight tests of the third-generation anti-tank Nag missiles were successfully carried out by the Army in the deserts of Rajasthan during day and night on Sunday, as part of ongoing winter trials.

While the first missile, launched from the dedicated carrier Namica at 1655 hrs, homed in on the moving target at a range of 1.8 kms in nine seconds and destroyed it in a “top-attack mode,” the second Nag, fired at 2200 hrs against a derelict tank, also proved to be equally lethal and smashed the target, covering a distance of 3.1 kms, according to Nag’s project director S.S. Mishra.

He said the entire system for both trials was handled by the Army, which is conducting the final user trials as a prelude to the induction of the day-and-night, advanced, hit-to-kill missile, said to be superior to Spike of Israel and Javelin, U.S.A., in terms of range (four km) and lethality.

Two more flight tests will be conducted on Monday and another trial on December 30.
 
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cross posting

DNA - India - IAF plans missile base near Pakistan border

IAF plans missile base near Pakistan border
Harish Chandra Singh
Tuesday, January 06, 2009 05:01 IST


The defence ministry will establish a huge Air Force base close to the international border in Rajasthan, moving aggressively to secure the country’s western frontiers. The 300-km range supersonic cruise missile BrahMos will be stored at this base, defence ministry sources said.

The ministry is acquiring land in Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar districts, where the Indian Air Force will store some of its most sophisticated long-range missiles. The base will be the IAF’s biggest practice station.

Defence Estate Officer KJS Chauhan confirmed the acquisition process of 29,562 acres at Hanumangarh, around 120-125 km from the border with Pakistan. The IAF has a station in Jodhpur, about 350 km from the border.

According to defence ministry sources, IAF has two projects proposed for the land: Project Richard and Project Thukrana.

Project Richard involves setting up a missile base. The BrahMos missiles will not only be stationed but also stocked there.

Under Project Thukrana, the defence ministry will set up an air force practice station, the biggest close to an international border in the country, ministry sources said.
Mugdha Sinha, who was collector of Hanumangarh till last week, said, “Hurdles for the acquisition have been almost sorted out with farmers.”

The defence ministry will spend more than Rs220 crore towards compensation and rehabilitation of the residents of Moter, Dhandhusur, Bannasur, Bangasur and Dheerdeshur villages.
 
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FT.com / US - New Delhi weighs up US missile shield

New Delhi weighs up US missile shield

By Amy Kazmin in New Delhi and Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad

Published: January 7 2009 18:31 | Last updated: January 8 2009 05:34

The US is in preliminary talks with India over the sale of missile shield systems to help New Delhi guard against nuclear threats.

India’s need for greater protection against threats emanating from Pakistan and other volatile countries in the region was highlighted by an escalation in tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours following the Mumbai terror attacks in November last year. India and Pakistan have fought three wars over the last 61 years.

Officials at the US embassy in New Delhi told the Financial Times that talks had taken place over the last two years, mainly at the technical level. They said US defence officials had conducted computer simulations with their Indian counterparts to demonstrate the capabilities of such technology.

Experts from India’s Defence Research Development Organisation have also watched two live launches of missiles used in the shield system.

The development highlights the fast-changing nature of the strategic engagement between Washington and New Delhi, after decades of frosty relations.

“India is a partner of ours, and we want to provide it with whatever it needs to protect itself,” one US embassy official said. “This fits into the overall strategic partnership we are building.”

However, India’s politicians and defence planners have yet to take a final decision on whether to buy any foreign shield systems as they undertake an expensive modernisation of the army and replace ageing Soviet-era military hardware.

“I get the impression the scientists are quite interested, and that some in the strategic policy community…see this as a future tool in their kit bag,” another US official said. “But India’s political leadership and its strategic community need to decide what their interests and threats are.”

Satish Nambiar, former head of a military think-tank, said acquiring missile shield technology from Washington would be a sensitive move for any Indian administration, given public ambivalence towards the US.

“It would have very serious political repercussions here,” he said.

Interest among Indian defence planners in missile shield systems has grown considerably since September 11, 2001, prompted partly by fears of so-called “loose nukes” in Pakistan, where pervasive instability has prompted concerns about nuclear materials falling in the hands of rogue actors.

A senior Pakistani official with detailed knowledge of the country’s own nuclear programme said last night that Pakistan “will have to take counter- measures to respond” to any agreement between the US and India over a missile defence system.

“For the past many years, we have been considering the possibility of such an outcome one day,” the official said.

New Delhi also views China – with which it has an outstanding border dispute – as a potential adversary, although relations between the aspiring Asian superpowers remain polite.

India has been working to develop its own indigenous missile defence systems, and has conducted two missile intercept tests in the last two years.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
 
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The Hindu : National : Air Force places order with BEL for Akash missile

Air Force places order with BEL for Akash missile

Ravi Sharma

Akash system comes with radars, mobile launchers and control centres

It will counter attacks from unmanned combat aerial vehicles, aircraft and missiles

BANGALORE: In a boost to the country’s missile development effort, the Indian Air Force has finally 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.

Earlier, the IAF had reservations about placing the order as the missile, in its present version, does not meet a few of its operating requirements. The IAF wanted a smaller, lighter missile that had a longer range and was more manoeuvrable. The missile also does not have a seeker. However, batch-by-batch improvements in Akash are expected.
Of the Patriot class

Developed 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 The Hindu 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.
 
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http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...h_cruise_missile_pods/articleshow/3959938.cms

IAF Sukhoi jets being retrofitted with cruise missile pods
10 Jan 2009, 1344 hrs IST, IANS

NEW DELHI: Two Indian Air Force (IAF) Sukhoi-30MKI combat jets have been sent to Russia for a retrofit that would enable them launch the aerial version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile that India and Russia have jointly developed, an official said.

"The aerial version of the BrahMos missiles will be delivered from the Su-30MKI platform. We were in talks with Sukhoi and the IAF for it. Finally two Su-30MKIs of the IAF have been sent to Russia for retrofitting," a senior official of BrahMos Aerospace that manufactures the missile, told IANS, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The aerial version of BrahMos is coming along very well. After being programmed, the missile will be released from the aircraft and will auto-launch towards its target when it reaches an altitude of 50 metres," the official explained.

"The aerial version is nearly nine metres long and this requires modifications of the aircraft's fuselage. Since the Sukhoi company is busy with designing a fifth generation fighter, (India's) DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) scientists, along with Russian experts, will carry out the necessary modifications," the official said.

The modifications will be completed by early 2010.

Once this happens, BrahMos will become a "universal cruise missile" due to its ability to be launched from land, sea - from both ships and submarines - and the air.

The land and naval versions have already been inducted into service with the Indian Army and the Indian Navy.

The navy has integrated anti-ship versions of the BrahMos on its warships, including INS Rajput, and is integrating it on to two other ships of the same class. The missiles will also be mounted on the three 7,000-tonne Kolkata class destroyers currently being constructed at Mumbai's Mazagon Docks.

The navy had Dec 18 last year test-fired the missile from a vertical launcher on a ship in the Bay of Bengal. All earlier launches had been carried out from inclined launchers.

The missile, which takes its name from the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, has a range of nearly 300 km and carries a 300 kg conventional warhead. It can achieve speeds of up to 2.8 Mach or nearly three times the speed of sound.

BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited was established in India as a joint venture through an inter-governmental agreement signed between India and Russia in February 1998.
 
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read full please

Asia Times Online :: China News, China Business News, Taiwan and Hong Kong News and Business.

Among other things, just days ago, Foreign Policy magazine designated the US-India joint anti-missile program as number four on its list of the "The Top 10 Stories You Missed in 2008." The magazine's team wrote:
US-facilitated missile shield in India could become a flash point for great-power struggles for decades to come. The plans are likely to add to fears in Beijing that the United States is attempting to temper China's growing influence in Asia. [US Secretary of Defense Robert M] Gates's trip to New Delhi was part of a tour of three of the region's democracies - India, Australia, and Indonesia - which could be used to counter China's regional ambitions if relations with the United States turn frosty. Even more troubling, an Indian missile shield risks triggering a crisis in the nuclear rivalry between India and Pakistan.


According to Subrata Ghoshroy, a research associate at the Science, Technology and Global Security Working Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who heads the Promoting Nuclear Stability in South Asia Project, India has already demonstrated its ability to track missiles and launch an interceptor fairly accurately, and also the capability to perform onboard data processing to handle ground-based radar updates until an autonomous seeker can take over for the homing phase.

"India has conducted two intercept tests with an interceptor that is basically a Prithvi missile, their workhorse. I do not know how scripted the tests were. The target surely was not maneuvering," said Ghoshroy.

According to Eric Hagt, China program director at the World Security Institute in Washington DC, India's successful test in a two-tiered system - an exo-atmospheric and the more difficult endo-atmospheric anti-ballistic missile defense systems - "does not necessarily make these systems operational as more tests under more stringent conditions are needed for that, but these successful tests still send a strong message that India is dedicated to acquiring a multi-tiered system, and is making substantive progress toward that goal".

In addition, two new anti-ballistic missiles that can intercept intermediate-range ballistic missiles and inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBM) are in development, according to Hagt.

"These missiles, the AD-1 and AD-2, are being developed to intercept ballistic missiles with ranges of 5,000 kilometers or more. Test trials of these systems are expected some time in the next two years," he said, adding that India's significant work on its support infrastructure for operational missile defense systems - on the ground, in the air and in space - is attracting very little attention as this unfolds.

When China conducted its controversial anti-satellite (ASAT) test in early 2007, India lit up immediately. Dr Sharad Joshi at the Monterey Institute Center for Non-proliferation Studies wrote at length about India's reaction to this ASAT test in his March 2007 special report for the journal WMD Insights. He mentioned Jasjit Singh's role in shaping the debate. A well-known Indian military expert, Singh called attention to the failure of India's military to become engaged in India's space program.

"The US is hoping to sell India the Patriot Advanced Capability(PAC)-3 missile defense system, [but] the Indians are more interested in building their own systems than buying some from the US," said Victoria Samson, senior analyst at the Washington DC-based Center for Defense Information. "They have had some tests of an air defense system that they built themselves, but this used "proximity fragmentation" instead of a hit-to-kill interceptor. They have approached the US about collaborating to develop a hit-to-kill capability."

"China obviously is following this with great interest, since a close US-Indian cooperation in missile defenses not only is an indication of their shared strategic interests, but also has implications for China since they can defend against both Pakistani and Chinese missiles," said Yuan. "Beijing now is more confident that India is not very likely to cede its autonomy in foreign policy and be - and be seen as - part of a US-orchestrated scheme against China. China may not like what it sees, but can live with them."

India has ordered Akash surface-to-air missiles from Bharat Electronics Ltd, which Nathan Hughes, a military analyst at the Texas-based geopolitical intelligence company Stratfor, labeled "an important act of financial investment, even if the [Indian] military reportedly continues to have reservations about its capability".

"The limitation for India has not been the lack of a desire to field the systems, but the technical limitation that they are not ready. Even though it is buying the Akash, it is not at all clear that the missile has meaningful operational capability against Pakistani missiles and Pakistani cruise missiles which present a very different targeting challenge," said Hughes.

"One cannot overstate the technical complexity of sufficiently capable missile defenses," he added. "New Delhi still has years and years of development work to do. The more limited range of Pakistan's arsenal simplifies things somewhat, but places much higher demands on reaction speed."

While India can benefit by studying the different paths being taken recently by countries such as Japan and Turkey, for example, the fact that Israeli satellites are so welcome at ISRO's launch facility on India's southwest coast points to a dynamic and potent partnership.

"[India has] a relationship with Israel that some are worried may



lead to [Israel] selling missile defense technology to them. If they did, that would be the Arrow Weapon System which the United States co-developed with Israel and a move which Washington would have to approve - at least for all of it to be sold," said Samson. "If India decided it wanted to buy a missile defense system instead of developing it indigenously, it could follow Turkey's move. Turkey has been coy about its intent for its missile defense system and has been assiduously courted by the United States and Russia to buy their missile defense systems."

According to Hagt, although attempts by India to acquire the Israeli Arrow II have been unsuccessful thus far, the accompanying Green Pine radar system was sold to India.

"Indian sources have also [said] that New Delhi has agreed to pay $2.5 billion to co-develop an air and missile defense system with Israel," said Hagt. "The project envisions a network of 18 batteries that could intercept incoming missiles, aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles. India and Israel are natural partners as India needs missile and air defense systems, where Israel is strong, and Israel is short on space-launch facilities, where India has an advantage."
According to Rick Fisher, senior fellow at the Washington DC-based International Assessment and Strategy Center, India has designed a system to counter short- to medium-range Pakistani missiles and does not appear able to able to counter Chinese intermediate or inter-continental range nuclear missiles

"While there have been reports of Indian interest in longer-range Russian anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems like the S-300V, that has not been realized. India's current priority has been to acquire technologies that it can absorb to develop its own missile defenses, and so far, it appears that India's preference has been to cooperate with Israel and perhaps France," said Fisher.

"Even though India may currently be coy, it remains in US interests to aid the emergence of an Indian missile defense capability," said Fisher. "First, this can help deflect a regional concentration on offensive weapons, and if there is then an offensive-defensive balance, the chances for negotiated limits will increase. This dynamic can also eventually help China to consider that a declining utility for offensive nuclear weapons can increase the attractiveness of negotiated verifiable nuclear limits."

No matter in what direction India turns, China can be expected to sell Pakistan a corresponding anti-missile capability, according to Fisher.

"Pakistani sources already expect that China will sell a future anti-theater ballistic missile defense or (Area Theater Ballistic Missile Defense) ATBMD-capable version of the HQ-9 surface to air missile," said Fisher. "India's development of missile defenses is likely to increase the People's Liberation Army's desire to break out of its now 'stealth' ABM program, likely being done in parallel with its anti-satellite program. China will likely deploy an anti-ICBM capable ABM system before India does so."

China no doubt sees India's anti-missile defense effort as destabilizing. Among other things, as India moves to deploy its system, China fears that Pakistan might counter "by changing its nuclear weapons deployment posture by moving them closer to Indian border for quicker reaction time and making them more difficult to defend against, or by putting them on higher alert status by mating warheads with delivery vehicles, etc. Whatever the reaction by Pakistan it will lead to greater destabilization", said Hagt.

"Some in China suspect that India ultimately has ambitions to become a dominant player in the Indian Ocean and even further afield in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, along which energy and other interests lie. As such, India's nuclear build-up and missile defense targets China's nuclear force," adds Hagt. "The fact that India is working on a range of intermediate and longer range systems beyond the requirements of addressing Pakistan security concerns, appears to support this theory."

In addition, any integration of India into the US global missile defense system, whether it involves interceptors, or the stationing of tracking infrastructure would profoundly affect China's own security.

"China sees this as part of US strategic encirclement of China. This is particularly sensitive for China since its northeast and northwest regions are currently blindspots for US radar systems," said Hagt. "That will disappear with Indian-American missile defense integration. The region would be 'thoroughly exposed', thus vastly decreasing China's 'strategic depth' advantage in this region. This, in essence, would be another 'Poland of the East' in terms of having another overseas missile defense base, this time pointed at China's heart."

Despite what was said earlier about ISRO wanting to maintain its distance from the DRDO team, any missile defense system would dovetail neatly with India's bold space objectives.

"Let us not forget, missile defense systems can be used as ASATs as well, as the US-193 NRO satellite shootdown last year demonstrated," said Hagt. "There is only indirect evidence that India has this in mind in developing missile defense, but the lessons of the Chinese ASAT test were certainly not lost on the Indians."
 
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Nice Article to read but i doubt that Indian government allow US to put her Air-defence weapon in india.

Mutual co-operation to build india's own ABM system is different thing.
 
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DNA: World: India plans to use laser weapons in Ballistic Missile Defence

India plans to use laser weapons in Ballistic Missile Defence

New Delhi: India is planning to develop a laser based weapon system as part of its Ballistic Missile Defence to intercept and destroy missiles soon after they are launched towards the country.

"If you have a laser based system on an airborne or seaborne platform, it can travel at the speed of light and in a few seconds, we can kill a ballistic missile coming towards us," DRDO's Air Defence Programme director VK Saraswat said here.

He said the laser based interceptor will give "more time" to the BMD system to kill ballistic missile launched from a distance of 2000 kms.

"Suppose if the missile is being launched at Indian target from 2000 km. If I have to kill it there, I will have to travel that distance, which will require many minutes to be there. If you have a laser system travelling at a speed of light, it can kill that missile in its boost phase (just after launch) even before it has travelled a few 100 kilometers," Saraswat, who is chief controller R&D, said.

A ballistic missile take-off has three segments. When launched, it is called boost phase, and followed by the mid course when it reaches the highest point of its trajectory and lastly the terminal phase when it is coming close to the target on ground.

Saraswat said its ideal to destroy a ballistic missile carrying nuclear or conventional warhead in its boost phase.

"It's easier to kill a missile in boost phase as it has not gained much speed and is easier to target. It cannot deploy any countermeasures and it is vulnerable at that time," Saraswat said.

The distinguished scientist stated that DRDO laboratories like The Laser and Science Technology Centre (LASTEC) was also developing such technologies.

"In LASTEC, we are developing many of these technologies.We have to package these technologies on aircraft like the Americans have done on their systems," he added.

Saraswat added that it will take another 10-15 years for the premier defence research institute to make it usable on ground.

"It is an involved process and not just about producing lasers. We have to put in many systems like the surveillance and tracking systems together for such a system to work. It will take another 10-15 years before we talk of integrating all these elements," he said.

©2009 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
 
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India plans to use laser weapons in Ballistic Missile Defence


Mew Delhi (PTI): India is planning to develop a laser based weapon system as part of its Ballistic Missile Defence to intercept and destroy missiles soon after they are launched towards the country.

"If you have a laser based system on an airborne or seaborne platform, it can travel at the speed of light and in a few seconds, we can kill a ballistic missile coming towards us," DRDO's Air Defence Programme Director V K Saraswat told PTI here.

He said the laser based interceptor will give "more time" to the BMD system to kill ballistic missile launched from a distance of 2000 kms.

"Suppose if the missile is being launched at Indian target from 2000 km. If I have to kill it there, I will have to travel that distance, which will require many minutes to be there. If you have a laser system travelling at a speed of light, it can kill that missile in its boost phase (just after launch) even before it has travelled a few 100 kilometers," Saraswat, who is Chief Controller R&D, said.

A ballistic missile take-off has three segments. When launched, it is called boost phase, and followed by the mid course when it reaches the highest point of its trajectory and lastly the terminal phase when it is coming close to the target on ground.

Saraswat said its ideal to destroy a ballistic missile carrying nuclear or conventional warhead in its boost phase.

"It's easier to kill a missile in boost phase as it has not gained much speed and is easier to target. It cannot deploy any countermeasures and it is vulnerable at that time," Saraswat said.

The distinguished scientist stated that DRDO laboratories like The Laser and Science Technology Centre (LASTEC) was also developing such technologies.

"In LASTEC, we are developing many of these technologies. We have to package these technologies on aircraft like the Americans have done on their systems," he added.

Saraswat added that it will take another 10-15 years for the premier defence research institute to make it usable on ground.

"It is an involved process and not just about producing lasers. We have to put in many systems like the surveillance and tracking systems together for such a system to work. It will take another 10-15 years before we talk of integrating all these elements," he said.

The Hindu News Update Service
 
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The Article at Wikipedia also indicated that india did buy [ Visit : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-300_(missile) ]Six S-300 BMDsystems from Russia To counter the M11s.

India has bought six S-300 batteries in August 1995 for $1 billion, probably the S-300PMU-2 version, believed to consist of 48 missiles per system. These will most likely be used in the short-range ballistic-missile defence (BMD) role against Pakistan's M-11 missiles.
The System is quite capable so it seems Indians are quite Serious thats why they have atleast Two Operational Systems in Place.
 
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DNA: World: India plans to use laser weapons in Ballistic Missile Defence

India plans to use laser weapons in Ballistic Missile Defence

New Delhi: India is planning to develop a laser based weapon system as part of its Ballistic Missile Defence to intercept and destroy missiles soon after they are launched towards the country.

"If you have a laser based system on an airborne or seaborne platform, it can travel at the speed of light and in a few seconds, we can kill a ballistic missile coming towards us," DRDO's Air Defence Programme director VK Saraswat said here.

He said the laser based interceptor will give "more time" to the BMD system to kill ballistic missile launched from a distance of 2000 kms.

"Suppose if the missile is being launched at Indian target from 2000 km. If I have to kill it there, I will have to travel that distance, which will require many minutes to be there. If you have a laser system travelling at a speed of light, it can kill that missile in its boost phase (just after launch) even before it has travelled a few 100 kilometers," Saraswat, who is chief controller R&D, said.

A ballistic missile take-off has three segments. When launched, it is called boost phase, and followed by the mid course when it reaches the highest point of its trajectory and lastly the terminal phase when it is coming close to the target on ground.

Saraswat said its ideal to destroy a ballistic missile carrying nuclear or conventional warhead in its boost phase.

"It's easier to kill a missile in boost phase as it has not gained much speed and is easier to target. It cannot deploy any countermeasures and it is vulnerable at that time," Saraswat said.

The distinguished scientist stated that DRDO laboratories like The Laser and Science Technology Centre (LASTEC) was also developing such technologies.

"In LASTEC, we are developing many of these technologies.We have to package these technologies on aircraft like the Americans have done on their systems," he added.

Saraswat added that it will take another 10-15 years for the premier defence research institute to make it usable on ground.

"It is an involved process and not just about producing lasers. We have to put in many systems like the surveillance and tracking systems together for such a system to work. It will take another 10-15 years before we talk of integrating all these elements," he said.

©2009 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.


DRDO is developing 2-tier BMD if they able to develop laser weapon for BMD.

In this way it can become a 3-tier system which can shoot down the incoming missile at boost phase.:taz:
 
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