India Aims to Add Missile Capabilities

Senior Indian defense researchers yesterday expressed confidence their nation would possess ICBMs, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and ballistic missile defenses early in the next decade, the Times of India reported (see GSN, May 7).

India’s missile arsenal would still have a shorter range than missiles belonging to Russia and the United States — currently the only nations to possess all three weapons capabilities — as well as China, scientists told the Times at an awards conference for the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization.

New Delhi has begun working on a silo-based missile with a range approaching ICBM capability, said Avinash Chander, head of India’s Agni missile program.

“We have already started the design work for Agni 5, with a range of over [3,100 miles].  It basically involves development of a third composite stage for the two-stage Agni 3,” Chander said.  “We will be ready to test Agni 5 by 2010.”

India would skip the “Agni 4” designation because the next-generation missile would far surpass the Agni 3’s 1,900-mile range.  “We have the capability to go for even longer ranges but it’s for the political leadership to take a decision on such matters,” Chander said.

India has also been using underwater launch platforms to test its submersible K-15 SLBM (see GSN, Feb. 26).  India plans to eventually launch the missile from submarines, but the weapon’s 65-mile range falls far short of weapons deployed by other nations, some of which can travel farther than 3,000 miles.  India expects to prepare its ballistic missile submarine for operation shortly after the end of this decade (see GSN, Oct. 16, 2007).

Meanwhile, New Delhi plans to conduct a third test of its ballistic missile defense system in July (see GSN, Dec. 20, 2007). 

The Indian system in November 2006 fired an interceptor that destroyed a mock enemy missile outside the earth’s atmosphere.  The system hit a missile inside the atmosphere in its second test last December.

“Around July, we will test the [exoatmospheric] interceptor again.  This time, we will test it at an [50-mile] altitude against a longer range ‘enemy’ missile.  Then, in September-October, we will test the exo and endo together,” said V.K. Saraswat, head of the DNDO missile program.

“BMD is very important since there are ballistic missiles all around us.  If you are strong in your defense, an adversary will think twice before any misadventure,” Saraswat said.  He added that the system would be ready for deployment around 2011, once it demonstrates a 99.8-percent likelihood of success against various missile types (Rajat Pandit, Times of India, May 13).

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