After decades of pursuing Pakistan-centric war planning, the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force are recalibrating their sights towards the hitherto neglected northern frontiers with China, giving a hard push to improving its war-fighting capabilities against its more powerful neighbor.
But the Chinese need not worry, as it will take almost a decade for India to come anywhere near the infrastructure that the Chinese have built just in TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region): Since the 1990s, China has built a network of roads, airports and railway in the sparsely populated TAR which gives the People's Liberation Army (PLA) a distinct advantage when it comes to mobilizing its forces if needed in double quick time.
Last Wednesday 18th June, Indian Army successfully test fired the sophisticated Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) Akash in a very low altitude near boundary mission from a defence base off the Odisha coast making the weapon system deliverable.
Akash missile, which has a launch weight of 720 kg, a length of 5.8 metres and a diameter of 35 cm, can carry a payload up to 50 kg and destroy a target 30 km away, flying at a supersonic speed of around 2.5 Mach and reaching an altitude of 18 kms. Akash mobile air defence weapon system has been designed, developed and led to production by DRDO for defending and protecting the important assets of the country from penetrating aerial attacks.
Congratulating the DRDO teams, production agencies and Army for successful demonstration of intercepting the target in a low altitude near boundary mission, Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister and DRDO Chief Avinash Chander said Akash system has great export potential: “The indigenous development, production and induction of Akash weapon system is a significant contribution to India’s self-reliance in air defence technologies,” he maintained. More than 250 industries are engaged in production and supply of various subsystems/components with military/aerospace grade quality for Akash missile and ground systems.
The trial was supervised by Project Director of Akash G Chandramouli and witnessed by Associate Director of LRDE RV Narayana, ITR Director MVKV Prasad, GM of BEL MM Handa, Director (Technical) of BDL NB Singh, Director General of Army Air Defence and other senior Army officials. This flight trial was last among the validation trials being carried out by Army on the first off production models of Akash supersonic missile.
India has conducted a second test firing of a nuclear-capable missile with a range of 5,000 kilometers.
Undoubtly, New Delhi is struggling to challenge Beijing in the race for missile dominance in Asia. "The country has established ICBM capability with the successful second test," said Avinash Chander, a scientific advisor to Defense Minister AV Antony, adding that the next launch would be canister-based.
'Agni-V' long-range ballistic missiles are about 17 meters long, with a diameter of 2 meters and a launch weight of about 50 tons, The Indian Express reported. The missile was test-fired from Wheeler Island, off the coast of Odisha. Missile scientist and 'Agni 5' chief designer V.G. Sekaran said the test was an "overwhelming success and showed the reliability and maturity of the sub-systems," the Hindu newspaper reported.
The three-stage solid propellant missile was first successfully tested in April last year. Agni-V boasts a state-of-the-art Micro Navigation System, enabling the missile to hit the target to within a few meters. According to the spokesman for India’s Defence Research and Development Organization, Ravi Gupta, the missile will be included in the Indian Army’s arsenal by 2014-15. China has the world’s second-largest military budget behind the US, and is far ahead of India in nuclear weaponry, with intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching anywhere in India.
The Agni-V may be India'a answer to China's nuclear buildup. Earlier versions of its missiles could reach only old Pakistan and western China. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, China currently has some 250 nuclear missiles, while Pakistan holds between 100 and 120 missiles and India has between 90 and 110.The total number of nuclear missiles globally is estimated to have fallen from about 19,000 at the end of 2011 to about 17,265 warheads at the end of last year, thanks to the US and Russia reducing their stockpiles under bilateral arms control agreements, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. Russia is believed to possess the largest inventory, with 8,500 warheads, just a little ahead of the 7,700 held by the US.
