Missile defence for Delhi

-

A missile defence system for the national capital is being deployed by the Indian Air Force.

Three Israeli-made balloon or blimp-held radar called Aerostat will be deployed around New Delhi after an intelligence alert of a threat from low-flying aircraft. An Aerostat is also being deployed in Agra for the Taj Mahal.

The Aerostat-based missile defence system is a generation behind the systems used by the US. India is in talks with the US and Russia to check out their more advanced missile defence systems (such as the Patriot III and the SV-300). Its Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is also carrying out trials for an indigenous Prithvi Air Defence system.

The Aerostat radar has been used along the international border in Punjab and in Gujarat (Kutch). The radar is currently in use in south India after the LTTE used aircraft to bomb Sri Lankan military facilities last year.

An official of the Indian Air Force said the decision was taken after defence minister A.K. Antony held a meeting last week and asked the service to mount an extraordinary vigil. Following that, security was beefed up at airports.

The deployment of the Aerostats is in line with that measure, the officer said.

The EL/M 2083 Aerostat radar was bought from Israel in 2004-2005. The blimps have a maximum altitude of 13,000 feet. They are tethered to the ground. The radar they carry has coverage of up to 300km.

The radar is used for surveillance and also has IFF (identification friend or foe) capability. For the national capital, the Aerostat will be connected to batteries of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).

If the radar signals an unidentifiable aircraft approaching, it can be programmed to trigger the SAMs automatically.

However, the Indian Air Force usually alerts fighter aircraft squadrons in the vicinity of the capital — in Gwalior, Hindon or Ambala, for example — to be ready to scramble.

The officer said Delhi has no-fly zones over strategic areas (such as over Rajpath and Raisina Hill). Besides, the threat perception for the city was assessed to be higher than that for other urban centres in the country.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Indigenous tank T-90 Bhishma rolls out

-
Image
The first batch of the indigenously built T-90 Bhishma tanks was on Monday (August 24) flagged off by Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju at the rolling out ceremony held at the Heavy Vehicles Factory, Avadi, in Chennai. The T-90S tank incorporates many new technologies in terms of mobility, protection, fighting capabilities, safety and communication. The tank is equipped with 125mm smooth bore gun stabilised in Elevation and Azimuth, 12.7mm anti-craft machine gun and 7.62mm co-axial machine gun supported with high accuracy sighting systems and Automatic Loader ensuring high rate of fire. A significant feature of this tank is its capability to fire guided missile in addition to conventional ammunition using the same main gun barrel. The integrated fire control system consisting of the gunner’s sight, guided weapon system and ballistic computer facilitates accurate firing of conventional ammunitions as well as the guided missiles. The built in Explosive Reactive Arm
Read more

Second only to US IAF & Navy to get DRDO's CHAFF tech for protecting Aircrafts and Ships from enemy missile

-
Image
The Indian Air Force and Navy have partnered with the Defence Research and Development Organisation to acquire the CHAFF technology, which protects warships from anti-ship missiles during combat. After the United States, India is now the second country to develop this capability, signalling a major Aatmanirbhar push in the field of defence. The development is significant because the Indian navy is investigating the sinking of the Russian missile cruiser Moskva and concentrating on how to protect our warships from anti-ship ballistic missiles such as the Chinese DF-21. What exactly is CHAFF? CHAFF is a critical defence technology that protects fighter planes and naval ships from enemy radar-guided missiles during wartime. The importance of this technology stems from the fact that a small amount of CHAFF material deployed in the air acts as a decoy to deflect enemy missiles, ensuring the safety of fighter planes and naval ships. This advanced CHAFF technology was developed by the DRDO to
Read more

India built N-sub in Kalpakkam under codename 'PRP'

-
The secrecy attached to the development of the indigenous nuclear submarine project is almost legendary. What’s little known is the extent to which the Indian N-establishment went to conceal the research not only from the public but also large sections of the scientific community within the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). For almost nine years, most staff working at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) in Kalpakkam believed the Plutonium Recycle Project (PRP) in the complex was used only for that purpose, that is recycling plutonium. But with the launch of INS Arihant on July 25, top DAE officials have finally begun to lift the veil and reveal that they were actually building the core (nuclear reactor and propulsion systems) of the submarine as well as the land-based version of the hull of the indigenous vessel, which served as the technology demonstrator of the main vessel, within the PRP unit. For those in the know, even the term ‘PRP’ denoted the N-sub.
Read more