Table of Contents
WHAT JUST HAPPENED
Like Washington and Moscow, Delhi too to get missile shield Defence Acquisition Council approved “acceptance of necessity” for acquisition of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System-II worth around $1 bn from US
NOTES
Simultaneously, as part of the overall Delhi Area Air Defence Plan, work is on to further realign the “VIP-89 area” over New Delhi, which includes Rashtrapati Bhawan, Parliament, North and South Blocks, as well as shorten the decision-making loop to shoot down planes that may have been hijacked or commandeered for use as “missiles against strategic targets”
NASAMS
NASAMS is owned by seven countries and has been integrated into the US’ National Capital Region’s air defense system since 2005. In addition to the US, it is in service in Norway, Finland, Spain, The Netherlands and one undisclosed country. It is also currently in production for Oman
WHAT IS NASAMS ? AND WHY INDIA IS KEEN ON ACQUIRING?
•When we have Joint, Indo-Israeli developed Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) and soon to be acquired S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft missile systems from Russia and soon to be operational Indian Ballistic Missile Defence System for Tier-1 Cities? 2+2
• The US has already approved sale of 22 Sea G NOTES
•India’s move to acquire NASAMS comes even as DRDO is in the final stages of developing its twotier ballistic missile defence (BMD) shield, which is designed to track and destroy nuclear missiles both inside (endo) and outside (exo) the earth’s atmosphere. Once the Phase-I of the BMD system is operational, it will be deployed to protect cities like Delhi and Mumbai from long-range missiles with a 2,000-km strike range. The NASAMS, in turn, is geared towards intercepting cruise missiles, aircraft and drones
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