December 7, 2007 :: Asia Times :: News
The December 5 edition of The Asia Times includes a thorough evaluation of India's recent military buildup of its air, land, sea and BMD assets. India's growing military sophistication is the result of increased international cooperation and arms purchases. "In the past two to three years, India has spent almost $11 billion on military arsenal, making it the largest arms importer in the developing world."
India and the U.S. are to reach a cooperative milestone with India's participation in the "Red Flag" multinational aerial exercise, slated for August 2008. "'Red Flag' exercises are said to be among the toughest and will allow Indian pilots to witness at close hand the world's best air forces. India has participated in many US-led war games, but this will be at the highest level for the first time." India has also negotiated plans to construct a new class of fighter aircraft with Russia, while U.S. firms compete to build 126 medium multi-role combat air crafts.
India's BMD programs have also steadily advanced:
The new "endo-atmospheric interceptor" put down a simulated electronic missile that is a prelude to striking a live Prithvi ballistic missile, modified to approximate an attack. According to Indian scientists, the "interceptor" missile could surpass the American Patriot Advanced Capability-3 system. India established its "exo-atmospheric" hypersonic interceptor missile capabilities, borrowed from an Israeli system, in November last year when an incoming Prithvi missile was successfully destroyed.
New Dehli has also developed more effective short, medium and long range-ballistic attack missiles, such as the Akash, Prithvi and Agni. Another outgrowth of its close military relationship with Russia is the land-hugging BrahMos cruise missile. "Over the next year, DRDO also has plans to carry out advanced tests for the 250-kilometer Prithvi and the longest-range inter-continental 1,500-2,500km Agni missiles that cover China. Defense officials say that India is looking to produce 20 Prithvi missiles and 50 Brahmos missiles annually."
India's cooperation with Russia also extends to its land assets. New Dehli will import 347 T-90S main-battle tanks (MBT), worth $1.2 billion. In fact, "India's ongoing defense relationship with Russia is more than $10 billion, far higher than any competitor country, Israel, USA, Britain or France." (Article)
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