NEW DELHI, Sept. 2 (UPI)

India postponed until next week a test-firing of its indigenously built Agni II ballistic nuclear capable missile due to a technical glitch.

The two-stage surface-to-surface missile was to be tested by its Strategic Forces Command from Wheeler Island off the Bay of Bengal on Monday, a report in the Indian Express newspaper said.

"But we had to postpone the test due to technical problems," Avinash Chander, director of the Agni missile program, said.

The day next week for the launch is not decided, said Chander, who gave no reason for the failure.

But previous missile failures have been blamed on guidance problems.

There also were doubts about continuous rainfall in Balasore near the test-firing range over the past three days.

India has a checkered history of launching indigenously built missiles, including the Agni I, II and III weapons.

The basic Agni series includes the single-stage 450-mile range Agni I, already inducted into service, and the two-stage Agni II and III models.

The 1,200-mile range Agni II was inducted into the army in 2004 and still is undergoing test-firings. The 65-foot missile weighs around 17 tons and can carry a 1-tonne payload.

The 2,000-mile range Agni III is in the last stages of development.

The solid-propellant Agni series of ballistic missiles are manufactured by Bharat Dynamics, one of India's major manufacturers of munitions and missile systems founded in 1970 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

Bharat Dynamics also manufactures India's Konkurs anti-tank missile.

Agni-II has been developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory along with other laboratories under the government-backed Defense Research and Development Organization.

India's main missile test launch center is Wheeler Island -- just over 1 mile long and 6 miles off the country's east coast in the Bay of Bengal and about 90 miles from Bhubaneshwar, the capital city of Orissa state.

It was from Wheeler Island that Agni III, with a range of just over 2,000 miles, was successfully test-launched from a mobile launcher in February last year.

During a test launch the following month, a Prithvi missile veered off its path, failing to reach its required altitude of around 70 miles. It climbed to around 45 miles before tumbling back into the Bay of Bengal.

Then in September, the DRDO acknowledged guidance problems that caused a failure in another Prithvi missile test launch. The surface-to-surface missile remained on the launch pad during a trial in Chandipur, Orissa.

The short-range, 4.6-tonne nuclear-capable missile became enveloped in orange smoke and the launch was aborted, officials from the DRDO said at the time.

"The failure to lift Prithvi II was due to a snag either in the main missile or the sub-system, including the launcher," a DRDO spokesman said.

Test launch of a Prithvi (P-II) surface-to-surface missile by the Indian Armed Forces. (Photo: DRDO)

July 21, 2011 defpro.com

NEW DELHI | India successfully test-fired on Thursday its new quick reaction, short range Prahaar missile, regional media reported.

The missile blasted off at about 8.15 am local time (02:45 GMT) from the Integrated Test Range in the eastern state of Orissa, the Press Trust of India news agency said.

"The test launch was fully successful as the surface-to-surface, sleek missile mounted on a road mobile launcher, roared into an overcast sky, seconds within its blast off," a defense source was quoted by PTI as saying.

The 150-km range Prahaar is a single-stage missile fuelled by solid propellants, media reports said. It is designed to fill the gap between Pinaka, a 40-km multi-barrel rocket system, and the 350-km range, nuclear-capable Prithvi-II, a surface-to-surface strategic missile.

The uniqueness of the missile system is that "in one salvo, six missiles can be fired with multiple targets," PTI quoted a scientist associated with this project as saying.

The test was initially scheduled for Sunday, but was postponed for Thursday to allow for additional tests of the vehicle which the missile was mounted on, the Hindu website said. (RIA Novosti)

05/07/11 By Vladimir Karnozov SOURCE:Flight International

Russia expects to sell military equipment worth $11 billion in 2011, with aviation activities likely to account for up to 50% of this total.

Sergei Kornev, head of the Rosoboronexport delegation at last month's Paris air show, said deliveries of Russian-made combat aircraft and air-launched weapons are continuing to Algeria, India and Vietnam.

Algerian pilots are in Russia being trained on the Yakovlev Yak-130 advanced jet trainer (below), with the aircraft likely to be delivered in 2011-12, while Vietnam has recently received four of its 20 new Sukhoi Su-30MK2s.

China has recently ordered 154 more AL-31F engines for its Su-27/30-series fighters, and is in negotiations to buy more to power its Chengdu J-20s.

Despite the RSK MiG-35's elimination from India's medium multi-role combat aircraft competition, Kornev said Rosoboronexport will continue to offer the type for around $10 million less than the larger Su-30MK. "The Sukhoi is a huge airframe and not every country needs this," he said. "Many would rather go for a smaller platform with lower cost."

Away from the combat aircraft sector, a delayed contract to supply Jordan with two stretched-fuselage Ilyushin Il-76MF transports should be fulfilled this year. Both airframes have been completed and are at the Ramenskoye aerodrome in Zhukovsky near Moscow. One has already finished factory- and customer-acceptance trials, and both should be delivered later this year.

Deliveries to the Chinese navy of Kamov Ka-31 radar pickets and additional Ka-28 anti-submarine warfare helicopters have been completed, while Russia and the USA are close to finalising a $350 million order to buy 21 Mil Mi-17 transports for Afghanistan. Deliveries of the Kazan-built aircraft should start next year.

India tested the nuclear-capable Prithvi II short range surface-to-surface ballistic missile from a military base in Orissa on the morning of June 9, 2011. Photo: DRDO

June 9, 2011 By Noam Eshel DEFENSE UPDATE

By the end of this year India plans to test a much larger Agni-V Inter-Continental ballistic missile (ICBM), capable of hitting targets at a range of 5,000 km. Agni III intermediate range ballistic missile has already been tested and inducted into the Indian armed forces, offering extended reach (3,000 km) for its deterrent forces said DRDO chief VK Saraswat. he added that the first test of the new ICBM is scheduled for will be tested by the end of this year. “The first trial is expected to start in December this year followed by a series of modifications and further trials over the next few years. This missile would be based on the concept of re-entry vehicle capable of covering whole of Pakistan and China.” DRDO officials aded.

In addition to developing ballistic missile capability, DRDO is working on developing missile defense. The agency has carried out six tests in the last two years, of which four have been successful. The BMD program comprises a two-tiered system called Prithvi Air Defense PAD for high-altitude interception at 50-80 km and Advanced Air Defense AAD for low-altitude interception 15-30 km.

India tested the nuclear-capable Prithvi II short range surface-to-surface ballistic missile from a military base in Orissa last Thursday. The launch was carried out as part of the regular training exercise of the armed forces. “The missile reached the predefined target in the Bay of Bengal with a very high accuracy of better than 10 meters,” Indian military sources said. Prithvi is India’s first indigenously built ballistic missile. It is one of the five missiles being developed under the country’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. The missile has a range of 350 km, a flight duration of 483 seconds reaching a peak altitude of 43.5 km, has the capability to carry a 500 kg warhead. The missile uses certain countermeasures against anti-ballistic missiles (ABM). It uses an advanced inertial guidance system providing maneuvering capabilities and reaches its target with a few meters of accuracy.

09/06/11 By Craig Hoyle SOURCE:Flight International

Saab has not given up hope of winning the Indian air force's medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) contest, despite having failed to make the service's shortlist when it narrowed the field to two European models early last month.

"We were not selected - at least not yet," said Saab chief executive Håkan Buskhe. Attributing New Delhi's "rather surprising decision" to concerns over the developmental status of his company's Gripen NG, he said "what we can do is give them our explanation if we feel they have misjudged something".

Speaking in London in late May, Buskhe said: "We have a list of things that they have some questions about, and we have been looking at those."

India narrowed its MMRCA contest to the Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon, effectively eliminating the Gripen NG, Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin F-16 and RSK MiG-35 from the $10 billion-plus, 126-aircraft deal.

But with extended bids from the remaining contenders valid only until late December, Saab has decided to maintain a presence in support of the campaign in India. "We will wait and see," said Buskhe.

The Saab official also was part of a business delegation that accompanied Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt to Brazil last month. "We have a fair chance to make it," Buskhe said, referring to Saab's campaign to offer the Gripen NG to meet the nation's F-X2 fighter requirement.

"We believe we have an extremely strong offer, with the transfer of technology and co-operation with Brazilian industry." The company again faces competition from the Rafale and Super Hornet, with a decision now expected during 2012.

TEL AVIV, Israel, June 6 (UPI)

Israel's High-Tech Industry Association has signed a memorandum of understanding with its Indian counterpart to boost cooperation in advanced technology, a move that will undoubtedly increase the Jewish state's burgeoning defense sales to India.

The Jerusalem Post reports that industry executives see the accord with the Confederation of Indian Industry, signed June 1, leading to a convergence of "Israel's innovative prowess with India's huge and talented pool of human resources."

Trade between Israel and India -- one Jewish, one Hindu, both locked in conflict with Islamist terror groups -- hit $47 billion in 2010, with India moving into second place among the Jewish state's export markets.

That didn't include defense sales on more than $1 billion annually. India is engaged in a top-to-bottom upgrade and expansion of its armed forces.

This includes massive spending on combat aircraft and building up naval forces to project Indian power across the Indian Ocean, a vital energy and trade route between the Middle East and Asia.

"Increased arms spending has created a natural market for Israeli military technology such as unmanned aerial vehicles and airborne early warning radar systems," the Post said.

In recent years, Israel has consolidated defense links with India into a strategic relationship.

On April 20, 2009, India launched its 650-pound RISAT-2 satellite, built by state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries and carrying the same multi-spectral aperture radar as the Tecstar-1 satellite developed for Israel's military.

The Indians, with Israeli help, fast-tracked vital surveillance systems in the wake of the attack by Islamic extremists on Mumbai, India's commercial hub, in November 2008 in which 166 people were killed, five of them Israelis.

In January 2009, India took delivery of the first of three Phalcon all-weather AWACS, also built by IAI, the flagship of Israel's defense industry, under a $1.1 billion deal. The radar system, produced by Israel's Elta Industries, is built around the Russian-built Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft. Delivery was advanced by two months following the carnage in Mumbai.

The Phalcons made India the first state in South Asia to have advanced multi-sensor AWACs capable of providing tactical surveillance or multiple airborne and surface targets and able to gather signals intelligence.

As part of the Phalcon deal, the Israelis disclosed they would establish five factories in India to produce artillery shells, a project reportedly worth $250 million.

Ties like this will likely deepen through the high-tech accord because of an Indian requirement that local components account for 30 percent of any contract.

Israeli firms generally focus on developing cutting-edge software and worldwide exports in 2010 totaled around $29 billion.

Given the fast-growing markets emerging in India and China, the high-tech accord is tailor-made for Israel's export-heavy economy. The two countries are already discussing an agreement to remove trade barriers.

The Israelis are focusing on the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, home of the fast-growing software center at Hyderabad.

It is close to signing an agreement with Matimop of Israel, a government agency that facilitates multinational research and development projects.

Andhra Pradesh is becoming a high-tech industries powerhouse, with software exports of $8 billion in 2010.

Missiles are a key Israel-India connection, and that requires intensive high-tech cooperation.

In 2008, India signed a $4.1 billion deal to purchase a shore-based and seaborne anti-missile air-defense system based on Israel's Barak long-range naval weapon built by IAI.

In August that year, New Delhi signed a $2.5 billion contract with IAI and Israel's Rafael armaments company to jointly develop an advanced version of the Spyder surface-to-air missile.

June 03, 2011 by Shiv Aroor LIVEFIST

Indian Defence Minister AK Antony today said the country must have a ballistic missile with 5,000-km range. After presenting the DRDO awards today, Antony called upon the organisation to quickly deliver the Agni-V missile.

"DRDO must demonstrate its capability to reach the range of 5,000-km at the earliest. The interceptor missile development programme has taken India to an elite club of nations that possess the capability to demonstrate and deploy missile defence. DRDO should now work towards developing a credible ballistic missile defence for our country," Antony said.

Speaking to reporters later, DRDO chief Vijay Kumar Saraswat said that the Agni-V test launch will take place before the end of this year.

May 15, 2011, THE TIMES OF INDIA

NEW DELHI: India has started working on a network of air-defence systems which would be able to shoot down any enemy missile even at a distance of 5,000 kms, before it can enter the Indian air space.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has already developed a missile that can intercept an incoming aerial threat 2,000 kms away under the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) System and is now working on the second phase.

Under the second phase, missiles are being designed and developed in a manner that would enable them to shoot down any incoming missile at a distance of 5,000 kms, DRDO chief V K Saraswat said here.

The 5,000 kms interceptor missile is targeted to be ready by 2016, he said.

"It is well on schedule and we are already on initial design and testing stage," Saraswat said.

"Presently, our missiles are designed to engage targets within 2,000 km range. Later on, we will be making 5,000 km range class of interceptor missiles. That will be Phase-II of the BMD system," he added.

Last July, DRDO successfully tested the Phase-I of the indigenously developed interceptor missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Wheeler Island off Orissa coast.

On possibility of any tie-up with the US or any other country for development of the BMD systems, Saraswat said, "Our process of international collaboration is only to accelerate our own development process. Whenever we feel the need of a new technology, we may go for collaborations."

On the US offering India the Aegis Missile Defence Systems, he said, "These are market forces and will always remain there. There would always be market forces trying to sell the available equipment. In India this is not just a R&D effort but an actual programme, so I don't think we should worry about this."

India is also developing the Long Range Tracking Radar (LRTR) for the BMD systems. While the radars used for the Phase-I experiments were built with equal partnership from Israel, the Phase-II will have 80 per cent indigenous component.

"Only some of the equipments and consultancy would be provided by Israel," Saraswat said.

15 Apr 2011 By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI DefenseNews

NEW DELHI - Construction delays to four French-designed submarines have led India to reverse an 11-year-old decision and seek German help to upgrade four older subs. Estimated to cost about $500 million, the upgrade of the four HDW T-1500-class subs will replace their weapon control systems, data links, torpedoes and missiles. The Indian defense ministry wants the German submarines to be upgraded at Indian facilities with technical assistance from HDW Germany. The Indian Navy has seen its fleet of usable submarines shrink from 21 in the 1980s to 14 today, while the Chinese sub fleet, including nuclear boats, grows, said a Navy official. In 2000, when the Navy decided to buy the new Scorpene submarines, it shelved plans to upgrade the T-1500s, which have now been in disrepair for several years. The French-designed boats, now planned or under licensed production by Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL), are more than three years behind schedule, a senior defense ministry official said. Under the $3.9 billion contract signed in 2005 with France, construction of the first three Scorpenes began in December 2006, December 2007 and August 2008. The MDL contract said the six subs were to be delivered annually beginning in December 2012. Instead, the first one is now scheduled for delivery in 2015. Besides the Scorpene troubles, the Navy is also seeing delays in its $10 billion purchase of air-independent-propulsion submarines, the official said. The world's sub builders are expected to be invited to bid on the job, called Project 75I, in the next three months, the Navy official said. The T-1500s were built under an $89 million deal signed in 1983. HDW's shipyard in Germany built two of the T-1500s in 56 months apiece; the other two were built under license by MDL, taking 98 months and 116 months respectively. Later in the decade, New Delhi blacklisted HDW because of alleged bribery in the sub deal. The ban was lifted after an inquest by India's Central Bureau of Investigation ended without resolution.

March 28, 2011by Michael Listner THE SPACE REVIEW

Note: This essay is based on an article previously published March 8, 2011, at Examiner.com.

The March 7 edition of The Hindu reported that India performed a test of the interceptor missile portion of its ballistic missile defense system on March 6, 2011. The test, the sixth of the series, was reportedly a success and a validation of the technology to be integrated into India’s defense system.1

The target missile, a modified Prithvi, was launched at 9:32 a.m. from Launch Complex III of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Orissa. The modified Prithvi mimicked the trajectory of a ballistic missile with a 600-kilometer (324-nautical-mile) range. Radars at different locations tracked the modified Prithvi, determined its trajectory, and passed the information in real time to Mission Control Centre (MCC) to launch the interceptor. The interceptor used a directional warhead to maneuver the interceptor to the modified Prithvi before exploding. As part the announcement, V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Director-General, stated this latest success demonstrated India’s capability to effectively neutralize satellites belonging to an adversary.2

While not the primary purpose of the test of India’s ABM program, Sarawat’s statement reflects India’s interest in anti-satellite (ASAT) technology, and it has reportedly put together the necessary components to acquire such a capacity (see “India’s missile defense/anti-satellite nexus”, The Space Review, May 10, 2010). The question remains that, even with the necessary technology to acquire an ASAT capacity, does India now have a proven capability?

March 9, 2011: STRATEGY PAGE

On March 6th, India successfully tested its anti-missile system, intercepting a ballistic missile fired from a mobile launcher. The AAD missile was fired from an island 70 kilometers off the coast. This was the sixth test of the system, which uses two types of interceptors. The Prithvi Air Defense (PAD) missile is the larger of the two and is used for high altitude (50-80 kilometers) interception. The short range Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile is used for low altitude (up to 30 kilometers) intercepts. The two missiles, in conjunction with a radar system based on the Israeli Green Pine (used with the Arrow anti-missile missile), are to provide defense from ballistic missiles fired as far as 5,000 kilometers away. This will provide some protection from Pakistani and Chinese missiles. A third interceptor, the PDV, is a hypersonic missile that can take down missiles as high as 150 kilometers and is still in development.

2011-03-11 INDIA DEFENCE

Balasore (Orissa): Two indigenously developed, nuclear-capable ballistic missiles -- Dhanush and Prithvi-II -- were tested of the Orissa coast today. Both missiles have a strike range of 350 kilometers. While 'Dhanush' was flight tested from naval vessel INS SUVARNA in the Bay of Bengal, surface-to-surface 'Prithivi-II' ballistic missile was test-fired within an hour from Launch Complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-sea, about 15 km from here. "The flight tests were in text book fashion with the missiles reaching the target points with high accuracy," said ITR director S. P. Dash. "All the radars and electro-optical systems located along the coast tracked the missiles and monitored the parameters. The final event was witnessed from a ship located near the impact point," Dash said.