India�s Missile Defence Shield: DRDO Conducts a Successful Test

India is resolutely moving towards development of its own missile defence shield. On March 6, 2009, the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) ably demonstrated its capability to intercept an incoming missile threat. This was the third test in the series to improvise its system design. It may take another three to five years to operationalise the entire system.

For the purpose of the latest test, the DRDO had modified its 'Dhanush' missile to pose as a target. This ‘enemy’ missile was fired from INS Shubadhra, a naval ship, which was anchored about 100 km off Orissa coast (simulated range of about 1100 km).  The ‘enemy’ missile rose to a height of approximately 120 km and then began its downward trajectory. The incoming ‘assault’ from ‘adversary’ was picked up by the radar within two minutes and early warning was given well in time about the incoming threat. Within 40 seconds Prithvi Air Defence system (PAD) fired a missile and the incoming ballistic missile was intercepted and destroyed at an altitude of 75 km above ground.

eligible as an astronaut, hence the region above that is normally known as outer space) has now With this test, the DRDO’s PAD system could be said to have proved its ability to engage targets in outer space (technically, if an individual reaches a height 90 km above the ground then he/she becomes been renamed as ‘Pradyumna’. Interestingly, this character from Mahabarata was the son of Krishna and Rukmini. He was married to Mayavati the only one to have powers to reach outer space and she took her husband via the space route to Krishna’s palace after his battle with the demons.

This test is an important step towards fulfilling India’s aim of developing missile defence system for defending critical infrastructure and population centers from incoming ballistic missiles. Both its nuclear neighbours, China and Pakistan, have well established ballistic missile capabilities. Pakistan has Hatf, Ghauri and Shaheen series of missiles which can attack targets in the approximate range of 100 to 2300 km. China has DF (Dong Feng/East Wind) series missiles, which can take targets at much longer distances. It is expected that DRDO may conduct one or two more tests before operationalising the system. 

The first test for this interceptor was conducted in 2006 in the exo-atmospheric region (above 40 kms altitude), at 48 km and the second test was conducted at 15 km in an endo-atmospheric region (below 40 km altitude). The key features for the success of such interceptions are the quality and performance of guidance systems and radars. The latter help in recognition of the incoming threat and the former allows the interceptor to exactly run into the incoming missile. 

The third test has proved that India is capable of engaging the targets at much higher heights in the atmosphere. It is essential to have such capability because the chances of debris falling on the ground and causing damage after interception reduce significantly. At higher altitudes, the debris is destroyed much before reaching the ground. If the incoming missile is nuclear tipped, then the chances of damage by radiation depend on various other conditions too, like the atmospheric conditions at those heights, weather conditions below the stratosphere, yield of the nuclear weapon etc.

All these three successful tests demonstrate India’s policy in this arena. India proposes to establish a two-tired missile defence shield. Prithvi Air Defence (PAD) missile would cater for high altitude interception and the Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile would handle threats for lower altitude interception. As a whole, the system will be able to intercept incoming missiles launched either from Pakistan or from China.

As per the DRDO officials, the Indian system could be said to be “comparable in capability” with the US made Patriot Advanced Capability missile system (PAC-III). Scientists are of the opinion that this test has successfully demonstrated capabilities in radio proximity fuse, which ensures that the interceptor senses and explodes to cause greatest damage to the incoming missile. Apart from the US missile defence system, an Israeli system known as Arrow ABM system is also available in the market. In fact, India has already bought the Israeli Green Pine radars that are a part of this system. However, success of this test demonstrates that Indian would opt for indigenously developed missile defence shield and would not have to purchase such expensive gizmos from the either the US or Israel.

India began development of the ABM system around 1999. Today, various Indian public and private companies are involved in its development. The eventual aim for any missile defence shield is to destroy the incoming ballistic missile in its boost phase itself. However, this is an extremely difficult technological proposal. India is planning to develop a laser based weapon system for this role. As per DRDO’s estimate it may take more than a decade to achieve these capabilities. But, it is too premature to give any estimates.  Also, it needs to be noted that the current Indian investment is only looking at a single missile attack scenario and the immediate aim would be to device a system to address the threat of a multiple missile attack scenario.

One area of expertise where India needs to focus in coming days is the development of space-based early warning system to supplement the existing radar network. This is essential to cover the entire geographical landscape of Pakistan. This could allow enhancing the performance of early warning capabilities. Presently, the US DSP (Defense Support Programme) and SBIRS (Space Based Infra Red System) provide information to the NATO forces within the region. This network also makes data available to states like Israel, South Korea and Japan.  India could ask for US help in this regard as a temporary measure. But, it should invest in developing own expertise in this field, which India is technologically capable of. A pilot project may be started by utilizing existing network of satellites in the low earth orbit namely the IRS (Indian Remote Sensing) and Cartosat (I, II and IIA) series. Subsequently, India could establish a dedicated network of mini and micro satellites and near-space platforms like high altitude balloons and blimps.

For the last few years, the concept of missile defence has not received global acceptability and there are many opponents to this technology. The reasons for opposition are valid to some extent. Most importantly, this technology has not reached the level of development where foolproof protection is guaranteed. This technology does not provide protection against incoming cruise missiles. A nuclear attack also could be launched by using deep penetration strike aircrafts and BMD technology offers no resistance to it. Lastly, this is a very expensive technology and also would not be able to handle saturation raids carried out by using several missiles at the same time. India’s endo-atmospheric system may be able to address the issues related to cruise missile traveling at lower altitudes to a certain extent however; disintegrating a nuclear warhead just 10-15 km above ground may only reduce the extent of damage and would not guarantee total protection.

All technical details about this test are not known. But, the DRDO has probably validated the competence of the indigenously developed 'Swordfish' Long Range Tracking Radar (LRTR). This success of DRDO is noteworthy but the larger question for Indian defence architecture still remains unanswered. Whose inventory this system would be: the Indian army, navy or air force? Who would be in control of things in regard to missile defence shield? Can India effectively project this achievement at various forums to prove that Pakistan’s ‘first use’ nuclear doctrine loses its relevance with India in possession of this system? Could CDS be an answer?        

(Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the views either of the Editorial Committee or the Centre for Land Warfare Studies)