India update

We have not had an entry on India in the recent time. So let’s see how things developed at the subcontinent.

Back in June the Times of India reported that after basing Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets in the North-East, India is now all set to conduct another test of the 3,500-km-range Agni-III ballistic missile towards the end of this month. So let’s see whether India will stick to its schedule or there are again some turtles causing a delay. Once fully-ready by 2011-2012, the Agni-III will provide India with the capability to strike deep into China, with cities like Shanghai and Beijing well within its potent reach.

In the same Times of India article the success of the latest test-launch of the Agni-II was called into question: the trial "failed to meet the laid-down flight parameters''.

Over at Missilethreat.com they reported on India’s rapid progress on its indigenous missile defense program. In light of speculations that weapon testing could be completed by 2010 they conclude that the defensive program seriously outstrips India's development of an offensive ballistic missile force.

In addition to speed, India's program shows signs of significant sophistication, especially compared to her possible regional adversaries. A case in point is China. While China's offensive ballistic missile program is more advanced than India's, it does not possess a comparable BMD capability. China's surface-to-air missiles could intercept ballistic missiles, but only up to an altitude of 30km. Furthermore, it is thought that China's BMD program falls far behind India's in the area of research and development, particularly in the area of software development and programming, key and indispensable components of any functional missile defense system.

However, India seems not to rest on its laurels. New Delhi intends to develop defenses capable of intercepting longer-range enemy missiles with ranges as high as 6,000 km. This would triple the current capability. Back in March India succeeded in countering a 2,000-km range missile at an altitude of 80 km.

Let’s shift to missiles that are intended to hit targets that are not that far away: two decades after the homegrown Nag anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) was conceived, it has been cleared for production. The Indian Army ordered 4,000 Nags. With a current annual output of 200 and eventually 400 Nags, it will take the state-owned Bharat Dynamics, which produces these missiles, some time to deliver. The DRDO scientist said focus will now shift to the helicopter version, the Helina, which will have an extended range of seven kilometers (other sources mentioned a range of eight kilometers). DRDO scientists stated that the land version also eventually will have a range of seven kilometers.

Picture © Indianarmpics

one more catch-up

Excellencies,

here comes the last part of my latest attempt to catch up with the events of the recent days. After this post I can leave the fast-forward mode and switch back to normal blogging speed with more substance in the entries. But first, the last catch-up:

Japan is planning a ballistic missile defense test in cooperation with the United States in mid-November, a Defense Ministry spokesperson said. He continued that the Japanese navy personnel aboard the newly upgraded destroyer Chokai will use an SM-3 missile to try to shoot down a dummy ballistic missile in space over the Pacific near Hawaii. A few days ago Japan succeeded in using a PAC-3 land-based anti-ballistic missile interceptor to intercept a dummy missile at White Sands, New Mexico.

Meanwhile the United States is looking to bolster its own PAC-3 capabilities. Early next year, the Missile Defense Agency plans to begin testing its new longer-range interceptor for the PAC-3. The Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) is designed to double the range of today's PAC-3 interceptor. The new type is also supposed to engage targets at a higher altitude than it is possible today, projecting potential fallout from an intercept farther from forces on the ground or population centers. The MSE-producing company Lockheed Martin is currently also designing MSE variants for an air-launch boost-phase interceptor and a sea-based hit-to-kill terminal defense system.

USA Today has more on missile defense:

Congressional negotiators agreed Wednesday to allow some funding for construction next year on a site for missile defense interceptors in Poland but sharply reduced the Bush administration's request. […] The bill would cut the administration's 2009 funding request for the European project by almost $246 million out of $712 million. It would also cut the request for construction of the Polish site by $90 million out a total of about $133 million.

NTI reported earlier this week that the U.S. plans to tap deactivated Minuteman III missiles for tests:

The United States plans to use 50 decommissioned Minuteman III ICBMs in periodic tests aimed at lengthening the life of the remaining 450 nuclear-tipped weapons. […] The missiles would be modified and used in reliability tests that could extend the life of the operational missiles by 12 years, from 2018 to 2030.

The IAEA has shown documents and photographs suggesting that Iran secretly tried to modify a missile cone to carry a nuclear bomb, diplomats said. These are a new proof indicating that Iran tried to refit the long-distance Shahab-3 missile to carry a nuclear payload.

India’s progress in missile development is also worth dropping some lines: The Indian government has cleared the indigenous Agni-III ballistic missile for induction into the defense forces, Defense Ministry sources said. They continued that the production of the missile would begin at state-owned Bharat Dynamics. This deviates from DRDO statements made after the last test in May according to which said that two more tests would be required to prove the missile’s robustness.

It is reported further that Indian scientists are now developing an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of more than 5,000 kilometers that is expected to be tested early next year. A couple of days ago India reported its progress in extending the range of its missiles by 40% which would boost the Agni-III to a range of roughly 5,000km. However, it can be expected that the Agni-V ICBM will be tested. This would confirm earlier announcements and also this article in The Hindu.

Turkey fostered its military ties with Russia. The country decided to buy 80 Kornet E (NATO designation: AT-14) laser-guided anti-tank missile systems in a $70 million deal that is Moscow's first arms sale to the NATO member in 11 years, according to a senior Russian defense industry source.

more leftovers

Here comes the second part of the catch-up of the events of the short blogging hiatus.
On the beginning of the month, Iran denied it had bought Russia's advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. Israeli experts warned that Iran could receive such a system by the end of 2008 while U.S. officials do not expect it to happen that early. However, another news piece that came up on the very same day clearly indicates that these two countries perceive Iran as a major threat: Jane’s announced that the U.S. will provide Israel with aid to face a range of emerging threats, especially long-range guided missiles from Iran or Syria. U.S. aid to the Arrow 3 program is currently planned to include US$750 million until the system 2013, when the system is expected to become operational.

There are also some news regarding the cooperation with another partner – or one might say it is pay-day. The first cash to fund Czech research stemming from Prague's agreement to host part of a US anti-missile shield should be sent by month's end, a Czech scientist told the CTK news agency in early September. US experts are at the moment sifting through a shortlist of eight projects from publicly funded research institutions and private firms in such fields as robotics, laser technology, medicine, radio-location technology, nano science and special crystals, the news agency said.

The Russian attitude towards the Polish interceptor base is well known. Moscow already floated ideas to base Iskander missiles in Belarus and Kaliningrad and target them in direction of Poland. Now this threat reached a higher level. Russia is contemplating to aim its ICBMs at the U.S. missile defense shield in Europe. The missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic and other similar facilities in the future could "be designated as targets for our ICBMs," said the commander of Russia's Strategic Missile Forces Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov.

Should the Czech parliament reject the two agreements in the final reading in December, there might be another option for the United States to pursue: Romania wants to host a missile defense system to defend the European Union against missile attack, Romanian Defense Minister Teodor Melescanu stated. However, Romania’s offer was put strictly into a NATO-context. “In our opinion,” Melescanu said, “it would be better for the EU countries to have their own defense system”.

The Times of India reported that Bangladesh is all set to build its own missile arsenal. The caretaker government in Dhaka is in the process of clinching a deal with an integrated European company MBDA for buying OTOMAT MK-II surface-to-air missiles and five launch systems. These missiles can carry a payload of 210 kg and can hit targets 180 km away. Bangladesh conducted its maiden missile test on conducted on May 12 when it successfully test-fired land attack anti-ship cruise missile C-802A, which is a modified version of Chinese Ying Ji-802.

Indian scientists have developed path-breaking technology that has the potential to increase the range of missiles by at least 40%. This would boost the Agni-III missile to a range of 4,900km. The enhanced range is made possible by adding a special-purpose coating of chromium metal to the blunt nose cone of missiles and launch vehicles.

Aftermath of the Agni-III test

On February 26 India tested its nuclear-capable Sagarika missile. As you might remember, the SLBM had to be fired from a submerged pontoon because currently India does not possess a submarine that is capable of launching these missiles. On Monday, more than two months after the test, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said it had successfully acquired the technology to launch missiles from the ocean depths, becoming the world's fifth country to do so. It is not clear why this announcement was made now. Certainly shyness or humbleness are not the reasons. Directly after test, a Defense Ministry’s spokesperson had already confirmed the success. However, according to DRDO the performance of the missile system was "far higher" than the requirement specified by the navy. "It has already been accepted by the user and is presently under [production] for induction into the services.”

Buoyed by this success New Delhi pursues a very ambitious missile program. V.K. Saraswat, Chief Controller (R&D) of the DRDO was quoted recently confirming that “India will test indigenously built Agni [V] ballistic missile with a strike range of more than 5000 km in 2009.” Other sources refer to Avinash Chander, Project Director of Agni-III, who allegedly said that scientists were awaiting the government nod for carrying out the first test flight of a missile with 5000 km ranges which could be anytime by this year-end. The missile is expected to contain a third stage booster rocket powered by solid fuel propellant.

Once again the nomenclature: it seems India will leapfrog from the Agni-III to the Agni-V, which will be the 5,000+ km version. That means that Agni-III+ and Agni-IV were rather “working titles”. Unless I find any convincing sources that will indicate otherwise, I will from now on use this terminology and change the names accordingly to Agni-V.

Agni-I (SRBM)	700-800km	single stage
Agni-II (MRBM)	2,500km	two stages
Agni-III (IRBM)	3,500km	two stages
Agni-III SL (SLBM)	5,200-11,600km	three stages
Agni-V (IRBM/ICBM)	beyond 5,000km	three stages

India is not only working on the Agni family. The Hindu reported last Friday that DRDO is developing a hypersonic missile that could double up as a long-range cruise missile titled HSTDV (hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle). The newspaper quotes Dr. Saraswat:

“The HSTDV project, through which we want to demonstrate the performance of a scram-jet engine at an altitude of 15 km to 20 km, is on. Under this project, we are developing a hypersonic vehicle that will be powered by a scram-jet engine. This is dual-use technology, which when developed, will have multiple civilian applications. It can be used for launching satellites at low cost. It will also be available for long-range cruise missiles of the future.”

Another project also picks up steam: Avinash Chander said that the Astra, India’s first beyond-visual range air-to-air missile, which could engage and destroy maneuvering aerial targets, was now under development.

Picture: Avinash Chander (centre), with his colleagues, displays a model of Agni-V ©The Hindu

Agni-III follow-up

Here are some excerpts from the press coverage of Wednesday’s Agni-III test:

• The Agni-III ballistic missile system may be inducted into the Army by next year. (The Hindu)
• The circular error probable was in single digit, indicating the high accuracy of the system. (The Hindu)
• M. Natarajan, Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, said “We may have one more flight.” (The Hindu)
• The complex missile would require another four-five tests, series production and user trials before it can become operational. (The Times of India)
• Dr Avinash Chander, Programme Director of Agni said that the developmental flights of Agni-III are complete and the system is ready for induction (The Hindu Business Line)
• "The armed forces will be able to deploy Agni-III only by 2010-2011. The training trials of the 700-km Agni-I and 2,500-km Agni-II, for instance, are still in progress to ensure the forces can fire them on their own," said a top official. (The Times of India)
• Indian Air Marshal TS Asthana declared that the Indian armed forces still regard fighter aircraft as the only reliable delivery system for nuclear weapons. (IBNLive)
• India inched closer towards building a "minimum credible nuclear deterrent. (The Times of India)

Third Agni-III test launch

Here we go: India has tested its Agni-III for the third time.

I certainly do not have to remind the reader of this blog that there was some confusion about the date of the test-firing. It was announced for April 27 but nothing happened on that day. There was – literally - no big reason to defer the test: the tests in the last week of April could have impacted the mass nesting and breeding of Olive Ridley sea turtles along the Orissa coast. The military is indeed changing, has one already thought about nominating the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the “Ecological Conscience Award 2008”?

However, in the end the turtles did not stop the test from taking place: the missile was test fired today. Defense scientists confirmed that the test fire was successful and claimed that the missile meets all parameters. The Agni-III achieved its full range and accuracy by reaching its pre-designated target in 800 seconds. This was of special importance because a new navigation system was part of the test:

For the first time, the missile scientists flight-tested high performance indigenous Ring Laser Gyro based navigation system in the Agni range of missiles. So far the DRDO has been using Strap-down Inertial Navigation Systems.

With the revival of the Indo-Russian GLONASS project, which will be in orbit by 2010, Indian missiles are expected to have more precision.

One scientist even jubilated that “the missile achieved its target in a copy-book style” and that the missile is now ready for induction. This might be a bit early. Originally Indian defense scientists had planned only three tests of the Agni-III missile before its induction. It was test-fired first on July 9, 2006 but it failed to meet its mission objectives due to cascaded failure of booster flex nozzle controller. The second test launch, conducted on April 12, 2007, was successful and validated all mission objectives. Even though the current test was successful as well, due to the failure of the first test flight DRDO said that two more tests would be required to prove its robustness.

It is not only the Agni-III missile that will be tested in the near future. Rediff reports that a miniaturized submarine-launched version of the Agni-III called Agni-III SL is also being developed and could be test-fired shortly.

As it is always the case after a successful test launch, the confidence is (overly) bolstered and people tend to look optimistically ahead. The Indian Express writes that DRDO will be ready to test fire its next ballistic missile in the Agni series, with a range of more than 5000 km, early next year if it gets requisite clearances from the government. The clearance is not the only problem. The mentioned missile has still no clear designation: Agni-III+ and Agni-IV are both used.

Graphic: © RediffNews

Finally... (updated)

In several posts I mentioned the contradictory information about the next Agni-III test. In between April 27 was floated as a potential test date. Yesterday the Times Now came up with some information according to which India is set to test the Agni-III in the next five days, between May 5 and May 9.

India is also in another field of missile acquisition: one week ago The Hindu reported that the Indian Army has floated global tenders to acquire new range of quick reaction surface-to-air missiles to provide air cover to its rapid formations:

The missile will have a range of 8 to 9 kms to strike air targets like low flying fighters, armed helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Combat Vehicles, army sources said here.[…]

Under the acquisition programme, Army plans to buy 18 to 20 launchers of such missiles, with the Request For Proposals being sent to companies in Israel, French, European consortium MBDA and French and Russian Companies.

The new Missiles seek to replace the army's ageing shoulder fired SAM-7 missiles, Strela missiles as well as Russian acquired ZU-23 rapid firing guns.

UPDATE: Today The Hindu narrowed down the timeframe. It informs that the test is slated for May 7, although the window period was up to May 9.

Top DRDO sources told The Hindu on Sunday that the proposed launch would be a “validation test” for higher performance in terms of weight and payload capacity. Apart from new software for navigation and guidance controls to achieve better accuracy, an improved re-entry material would be tested.

High-temperature navigation antennae, developed specially for the system, are among other new features that the missile will carry on-board. “We need different materials since it will be flying at a much higher speed.”

The Hindu also reports that the upcoming test is likely to be the last developmental flight trial in the Agni-III series.

Upcoming Agni-III test- updated

India announced the next test-launch of its Agni-III for April. According to plans, it will be the third launch of Agni-III, which will take place from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) on the Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast. The first two launches were conducted from the same test range. The first launch on July 9, 2006, proved to be unsuccessful with the missile falling into the sea off the coast of Orissa, short of reaching the target. India scored better on April 12, 2007, when it declared the flight test to be a success.

There is still no reliable information available on the number and the dates of Agni-III test launches for 2008. In December last year IRNA stated wrongly that the next test would be conducted in June this year. However, there is no indication on whether IRNA only omitted the April test with another one being conducted in June, if DRDO decided to test-launch earlier or if the information was plainly wrong. In another piece on the Agni I wrote in January on the same question:

Jane’s quotes local press reports, according to which Dr V K Saraswat said that the 3,000 km-range Agni-III would make three more test flights during 2008. This information is contradictory to what his colleague M Natarajan, who is scientific advisor to the ministry of defense and chief controller at DRDO, said earlier. He spoke of two tests: “One, sometime within the first quarter of [2008], and another within nine to 12 months."

Maybe we can get additional information on this issue in April when India will be commenting the launch. The successes of the recent past made DRDO very confident. They bragged about the Agni-III and described it as not just “a missile, but a system for the future”.

Update April 2: The Times of India provided today additional information on the upcoming test. The test-firing is likely to take place between April 20 to 30, but the exact launch date will depend on technical, environmental and other parameters. The daily continues:

"If the third test is successful, then the ballistic missile will require just one or two more tests before it can go for limited series production and training trials by the armed forces. Its operational deployment should be possible by 2010-2011," said a source.

The same article contained also information on the Agni-III+ missile:

The government, however, is yet to give defence scientists the green signal for an advanced version of Agni-III, with a miniaturised third-stage to increase the strike distance to around 5,000-km. "If the political directive comes, we can test this Agni-III-plus missile in a year or so," the source said.

Agni resources

I just came across the Agni page of the Bharat Rakshak, the Consortium of Indian Military Websites. I contains a wealth of information. In between they have handy graphics like the one below.


In mid-February another test of the Agni-III was announced. The test is scheduled to "be conducted as soon as the weather clears up". This has not been the case so far.

Agnis get MIRVed

The Agni missile family will get new warheads. These warheads were touted by India’s Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) to have five cutting-edge technologies:

· They will be multiple warheads (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles, or MIRVs), with each missile delivering several warheads at the same, or even different, targets.
· Decoy warheads, which will be fired alongside the genuine warheads, so that enemy’s missiles are wasted in attacking decoys, rather than the real warheads.
· Maneuvering warheads, which will weave through the atmosphere, dodging enemy missiles that are fired at it.
· Stealth technologies to make the warheads invisible to enemy radars.
· Changing warheads’ thermal signatures, to confuse the enemy’s infrared seekers.

The head of DRDO, Dr V K Saraswat, said that the Agni-III and all future missiles will be equipped with these new warhead technologies. By 2015-2020, according to current planning, India’s missile force will consist mainly of Agni-III and Agni-IV missiles, all of them equipped with new-generation warheads. Avinash Chander, who is the director of Advanced System Laboratory (ASL), a unit of DRDO, said last year that the 5,000km variant Agni-III+ will have the capacity to carry four to 12 warheads. A generation of MIRVed missiles, hooray! Let’s see how long it will take before we can hear a similar statement from India’s western neighbor.

Jane’s quotes local press reports, according to which Dr V K Saraswat said that the 3,000 km-range Agni-III would make three more test flights during 2008. This information is contradictory to what his colleague M Natarajan, who is scientific advisor to the ministry of defense and chief controller at DRDO, said earlier. He spoke of two tests: “One, sometime within the first quarter of [2008], and another within nine to 12 months." The Agni-III+ is scheduled for trial in early 2009.

There is a certain degree of confusion about the designation of the Agni missiles: some sources claim that in addition to the 3,000 km Agni-III and the 5,000 km Agni-III+ a separate Agni-IV exists with a range of 6,000 km. Others regard the extended version of the Agni, namely the Agni-III+, to be the same as the Agni-IV. In some cases the Agni-IV is also labeled Surya-I. This is mind-boggling. I will try to find some clarification and share it with you.

Picture: © Advanced System Laboratory

Indian developments

Here comes the second and probably by far largest part of the catch-up, featuring today our special guest: India.

India achieved some major progress in the development of its nuclear-capable ballistic Agni-IV missile. The country announced in December major plans to increase its nuclear capabilities, saying it was close to testing the missile which is capable of hitting targets up to 6,000 kilometers (3,800 miles) away. Such a distance would nearly double the military’s current strike range, putting targets even in Europe within reach, and certainly the Chinese capital, Beijing. The test of this ICBM is scheduled for June 2008. This announcement came one day after neighboring Pakistan tested a nuclear capable cruise missile.

Also for the Agni-III new tests are planned before commercial production could be considered. According to the scientific advisor, M Natarajan, flight tests of Agni-III ballistic missiles would begin within months. The first test was held sometime within the first quarter of 2008, and a second test within nine to 12 months.

There is also some news on the indigenously developed Akash missile: in December India test-fired this nuclear-capable SAM in order to fine-tune it. This was the first test after the introduction of the Akash was approved in November 2007 and the last test before starting mass production. The Indian Air Force is all set to acquire a squadron-strength of the Akash, i.e. 16 to 18 batteries.

In general it can be expected that India’s missiles will be produced faster than in former times. V. K. Saraswat, the chief of India's missile development project, said the assembly lines were in place to speed up the production of the precision missiles. “The private industry has emerged as a co-developer of the sub-systems of the missiles, which is helping us in cutting down development time," he added.

Not only in the field of ballistic missile production India wants to shift gears. RIA Novosti reports that the Russian-Indian joint venture BrahMos has bought a manufacturing plant in the state of Kerala in south India to double the production of its supersonic cruise missiles. At the plant BrahMos missiles will be assembled, as well as components for Astra rockets made. The purchase of the Kerala plant allows the BrahMos company to increase its annual missile production to 50.
In an earlier post I referred to figures that plans exist to export up to 1,000 BrahMos cruise missiles. RIA Novosti provides now different data stating that experts estimate that India might purchase up to 1,000 BrahMos missiles for its Armed Forces in the next decade, and export 2,000 to third countries during the same period. If these figures are correct, several new plant acquisitions are necessary because it would take BrahMos otherwise 60 years to produce the 3,000 missiles.

The work on an improved BrahMos version has already started. Defensenews reports that:

India will put about $250 million into the joint Indo-Russia effort to develop a Mach 5 version of its BrahMos cruise missile. This scramjet version is already in advanced development and will enter service in six or seven years, said sources with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Building on the success of the first Mach 2.8 BrahMos, the program’s second phase will aim to develop faster and reusable cruise missiles with a range of 299 kilometers, the DRDO sources said.

The cooperation in the production of the BrahMos was no single case but rather something that will be standard for future missile systems. Prahalda, Chief Controller at DRDO headquarters, said that "New missile and weapons systems will be developed within a five-year time frame at low costs, with foreign partners and private industries".

The first of such ventures, Prahalda said, will be development of quick reaction missiles to counter threats from low-flying missiles and fighters and Astra, India first bid to develop a beyond-visual range air-to-air missile.

While India would be collaborating with Israel for development of surface-to-air upgraded spyder missiles, for Astra, New Delhi has roped in French and Russian collobrators [sic!].

The year 2008 will also bring some news for the Indian army which will start user trials for the sophisticated anti-tank Nag missiles in May-June in the Rajasthan desert. Design work on the missile started in 1988 and the first tests were carried out in November 1990.

But there are not only major developments on the offensive side. There is also something to report on when it comes to missile defense:
India’s genuine missile defense program started in 1998 after preliminary talks with Israel and the United States that aimed at the acquisition of the Arrow and the Patriot system, respectively, turned out to be unsuccessful. In November 2006 a first test was conducted (Prithvi Air Defence Exercise) during which Indian scientists tested an exo-atmospheric anti-missile system that could intercept targets 50-km above the atmosphere.

In December 2007 India conducted the second part of the two stage testing process. According to domain-b, India used this time supersonic interceptors to engage supersonic targets 15-km within the atmosphere. Reuters reported that V.K. Saraswat said that the tests of India's home-grown anti-ballistic missile system have been successful and the country expects it to be ready for military use in three years. The system will be capable of detecting, intercepting and destroying intermediate-range and intercontinental ballistic missiles from any country, he added.

According to Dr. Saraswat, the December tests have shown that the interceptor missiles can also be used as Surface-to-Air Missiles, e.g. to hit an aircraft, and could also be brought to bear against cruise missiles.

While highlighting the need for a missile defense system, Saraswat referred to India’s no-first-use policy, which makes it essential to have system in place which is able to take out incoming missiles that might be equipped with a nuclear warhead.

"Because we have a ballistic missile defence system ... a country which has a small arsenal will think twice before it ventures," he said in an apparent reference to old rival Pakistan.

K Subrahmanyan, a writer on defense issues, said that

"Pakistan is acquiring advanced missile technology from China. No missile defence system is perfect, but if we can knock out three out of every five warheads, it means our adversary has to fire more rockets. It is a means of deterrence."

Somehow I feel reminded of Dr. Strangelove and the “doomsday math” towards the end of the movie. However, on the Pakistani side of the border, analysts do not perceive the anti-missile system as a purely defensive measure. They take – rightfully – the position that such thinking is hastening an arms race:

"The first impulse is to ask how does Pakistan get [a missile defence system]," said Ayesha Siddiqa, a defence analyst. "The next will be to increase the number of missiles to make sure it has enough to evade the shield."

The missile defense system and its implications are not only of importance in regard to Pakistan but also for the India-Chinese relations. Indian media claims that China has put India's northern region under threat through reorganizing its missile facilities near Delingha in Qinghai province. According to this article, China is putting medium range missiles in this area which have a range of over 2500km and could put northern India, including New Delhi within range. One could once again raise the question about the egg or the hen.

BrahMos © RIA Novosti
V.K. Saraswat © AFP