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The new PDV (Prithvi Defence Vehicle) –
an improved ‘exo-atmospheric kill vehicle’
was developed to tackle hostile ballistic missiles
travelling at supersonic speeds at higher altitudes
to ensure minimum fallout on the ground. The test
report reads:
“The earlier PAD exo-atmospheric interceptor
missile had an operational envelope restricted
to a maximum altitude of only 80 km while the
PDV is designed to take out the target missiles
at altitudes up to and even extending beyond 150
km above the Earth. However, the April 27 first
test of PDV had a comparatively modest goal of
120 km set as the intercept altitude which was
achieved with the target missile being successfully
engaged off the Orissa coast.
The target missile in this case was launched
from a ship in the Bay of Bengal and destroyed
by the PDV interceptor fired from Wheeler Island.
The target missile followed the same trajectory
as a ballistic missile launched from 2,000 km
away. The ‘hostile target’ was detected
by a radar-based system that tracked its course
while a PDV interceptor was prepared to destroy
it. The interceptor missile with onboard inertial
navigation system supported by a redundant micro
navigation system swiftly moved towards the intercept
point. Once the interceptor missile exited the
atmosphere its heat shield opened and the infrared
seeker dome opened to acquire and home on to the
target, destroying it at the intended height of
120 km.”
INDIA’S BALLISTIC
MISSILE DEFENCE (BMD) PROGRAMME
India’s BMD programme is a DRDO initiative
to develop and deploy a multi-layered ballistic
missile defence system which has been in the making
since 1999. Earlier, in 1995, it was rumoured
that in response to Pakistan’s deployment
of M-11 missiles acquired from China, the Indian
Government procured six batteries of the Russian
S-300 SAMs (Surface-to-Air Missiles) to protect
New Delhi and other cities. This however, was
never proven to be true and, with passage of time,
the rumour died a natural death. On the other
hand, the indigenous effort introduced in light
of the ballistic missile threat from its belligerent
neighbours, is very much a reality and progressing.
India’s home-made BMD programme encompasses
a double-tiered system consisting of two interceptor
missiles – Prithvi Air Defence (PAD) missile
for high altitude interception, and the Advanced
Air Defence (AAD) missile for interception at
lower altitudes. Since the PAD was an air defence
version of the already proven Prithvi surface-to-surface
strike missile, it was the first of the two to
be test-fired in November 2006. The AAD which
had to be developed almost ab initio was test-fired
for the first time in December 2007. But after
the first firing the AAD segment of the BMD programme
took off, overtaking the PAD and claiming five
successes out of the six endo-atmospheric test
firings done till now. On the exo-atmospheric
front, to achieve the aim of intercepting enemy
missiles launched from as far away as 2,000 km
and for ensuring minimum fall of debris on the
ground, it was necessary to modify the existing
PAD missile (with an intercept ceiling of only
80 km) to enable interceptions at much higher
altitudes. This resulted in the development of
the PDV which, with both stages filled with solid
fuel, can attain an intercept ceiling in excess
of 150 km. (see the accompanying Table)
April 27 firing of the PDV was just the first
test to prove the new missile. It would need another
four to five tests like it has been done in the
case of AAD testing before the system is declared
proven and ready for operational testing and deployment
with the armed forces. In other words, while the
media is all ready to jump the gun by pushing
India into the elite small club of only three
nations – United States, Russia and China
– that possess anti-ballistic systems, it
would take quite some time before India can actually
boast of such a capability.
Therefore, while the PDV test on April 27 is
undoubtedly a major milestone that will bring
India closer to putting in place a ballistic missile
defence, but, to say the system was ready to be
deployed to cover India’s important cities
would be a bit of a fallacy at this stage.
It must also be remembered that by maturing
the PDV/AAD combination in Phase 1, DRDO would
be able to create capabilities against only those
missiles which have ranges not exceeding 2,000
km. While this will somewhat cater to Pak threat
– at least in the near and midterm –
it would not be adequate against the full spectrum
of Chinese IRBM threat.
DRDO is aware of these ground realities and
in Phase 2 of the programme, plans to develop
two new anti ballistic missiles. These high speed
(hypersonic) missiles will be able to intercept
ballistic missiles with a range of around 5,000
km. The new missiles (AD-1 and AD-2) will be similar
to THAAD missiles deployed by the US and will
require radars with scan capability of over 1,500
km to successfully intercept the target.
It may however be noted that no nation(s) that
have successfully developed the ABM or BMD systems
have found it easy to thereafter deploy and consistently
maintain these systems for foolproof security
of their entire territory – and that includes
the USA as well. The same would also be applicable
to India after its ambitious BMD programme reaches
the intended maturity. Because of the exorbitantly
high costs, it would at best be able to provide
protection to only a small number of its high-value
politico-strategic assets, considered to be vital
for the Nation’s survival. But, contrary
to some sceptical views, this very issue of national
survival makes it mandatory for India to acquire
the BMD capabilities, given the policies of two
nuclear armed adversaries in its neighbourhood.
Finally, all BMD/ABM programmes would lose much
of their relevance if all nuclear armed nations
followed India’s example and accepted its
recently propounded proposal of global ‘No
First Use’ (NFU) till the final goal of a
world, free of all nuclear weapons is achieved.
Unfortunately, there is little likelihood of
that happening any time soon.
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