Commercial satellite imagery has revealed an extensive nuclear missile site in central China with nearly sixty launch pads for medium-range missiles capable of striking Russia or India, a researcher said Thursday."The US government often highlights China's deployment of new mobile missiles as a concern but keeps the details secret, so the discovery of the deployment area provides the first opportunity for the public to better understand how China operates its mobile ballistic missiles," he wrote."From these launch pads DF-21 missiles would be within range of southern Russia and northern India (including New Delhi), but not Japan, Taiwan or Guam," he wrote.
India and Russia targeted by the Chicoms. These two countries better wake up and realize the US in not the threat to them.
When the time is right, China will seek to secure additional oil resources by force. This base is a deterrent from land invasion for retaliation on their Western front.
I fail to see Indian resolve in standing up to China or Muslims beyond Pakistan.
India tests ballistic missile capable of reaching China
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jczYbReIOoyEv6RTvj4ByWMFJT7A
BHUBANESWAR, India (AFP) — India successfully tested a nuclear-capable missile Wednesday that can hit targets deep inside China, joining the ranks of nations possessing intermediate-range missile capacity, the defence ministry said.
It marked the third test of the Agni-III missile -- India's longest-range ballistic missile -- and was staged "to establish the repeatability of the missile's performance," defence ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar told AFP.
The missile was fired from a mobile launcher Wednesday morning at a testing site on Wheeler Island off the coast of the eastern state of Orissa.
Kar said the launch "propelled India into a select group of countries with intermediate-range ballistic missile capabilities and added yet another dimension to national deterrence."
The missile, which has a 3,000-kilometre (1,860-mile) range, can carry conventional or nuclear payloads of 1.5 tonnes, and puts China's major cities such as Shanghai within striking distance, defence analysts say.
The surface-to-surface projectile reached its designated target in 13 minutes and 20 seconds "travelling through a peak height of 350 kilometres with a velocity of more than 4,000 metres per second," said Kar.
The Agni-III -- Agni means fire in Sanskrit -- was first tested in 2006.
But that first trial of the 1.8 metre-diameter (six-foot) missile was a flop when it rose 12 kilometres before crashing into the Bay of Bengal.
The failure was blamed on a snag with its strapped-on solid fuel booster rocket. India successfully tested the missile in April 2007.
In Wednesday's test, 180 kilometres northeast of Orissa's state capital Bhubaneswar, "all the sub-systems of the missile functioned in a copybook manner, giving an outstanding integrated performance of the missile in terms of range and accuracy," Kar said.
The missile is one of a series developed as part of India's deterrence strategy against neighbouring China and Pakistan which also have nuclear weapons, analysts say.
India has shorter-range missiles that analysts say were developed to target long-time rival Pakistan with which it has fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.
The two neighbours who launched a slow-moving peace process in 2004 aimed at resolving outstanding disputes including over disputed Kashmir often stage tit-for-tat missile tests.
But the development of the Agni III is aimed at displaying that India's deterrent reach can stretch far beyond Pakistan, analysts say.
In the last few years, however, tensions between India and China, which fought a brief border war in 1962, have eased and there is now direct trade through the Himalayas.
The Agni-III is the country's first solid fuel missile that is compact enough for easy mobility.
India's indigenously developed missile arsenal also includes the short-range Prithvi ballistic missile and the medium-range Akash.
India to test 5,000-km range, Agni-IV IRBM at year-end
Domain B ^ | 12 May, 2008 | Domain B
New Delhi: With a second successful test of the 3,500 km intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM), Agni-III, already in the bag, Indian defence scientists are planning to test a long range 5,000 km, IRBM by the end of the year.
According to Aviansh Chander, project director, the planning process for the test launch of the Agni-IV was in the final stages, now that the Agni-III had reached the stage of operationalisation. He indicated Monday that test flights could be scheduled for the end of the year, once government clearance was received.
According to Chander, an intercontinental range of 5,000-km would be achieved by strapping a solid fuel propellant-powered, third stage booster rocket on an Agni-III missile.
The second test of the Agni-III essentially tested the system's repeatability and reliability without any major technological additions as compared to the test carried out in April last year.
Apart from the longer range Agni series missiles, India will also test its ''special naval missile,'' an euphemism used by DRDO scientists for a submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM), as well as conduct a second test of an 'interceptor' missile. These tests are likely to be undertaken in the September-October period.
According to M Natarajan, director general, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), his scientists were "heavily engaged" in the special naval missile project. He, however, refused to be drawn out on when India's first nuclear submarine would roll out. "The Advance Technology Vehicle, as the nuclear submarine project is known, is not my project," Natarajan told reporters, when queried if the probable 2009 launch schedule for the submarine would be adhered to.
Agni-IV Last year December, VK Saraswat, chief controller, R&D (missiles and strategic systems), DRDO, had said that the organisation had begun work on Agni-IV, a 5,000 km range missile, to provide ''enough capability'' for a credible deterrence to the country. ''Work on the 5,000 km range missile is on and the first trial is expected to take place in early 2009,'' he said.
According to Saraswat, the Agni-IV, would have many new features, including anti-ballistic counter measures and rocket motor systems with composite materials to improve the thrust-to-weight ratio. It would also be equipped with stealth technology and be more accurate than missiles of a similar class, providing improved mobility and higher energy.
Sarawat had said then that the Agni-IV would not be an inter-continental ballistic missile, but a long range one. According to Saraswat, the Agni-III and IV were the building blocks for missiles with an intercontinental reach.
According to defence scientists, all major technologies for long range missiles have been realised with the two successful tests of the Agni-III missiles. The first successful test took place in April last year.
These technologies include high-power booster, multi-stage vehicles, re-entry technologies, which would allow aero-thermal loads to be sustained at very high Mach numbers along with a potent navigation system to maintain accuracy throughout the flight path.
According to Dr Saraswat, missiles in the range of 2,000-5,000 km would provide India ''enough capability'' to field a ''credible deterrence.''
He also said that depending on existing or emerging threats the need may arise for a 10,000 km range missile in the future. These are generally referred to as the 'Surya' class of missiles and will constitute India's inter-continental ballistic missile capability.
According to Dr Saraswat, India was also developing a ''long endurance,'' long range cruise missile that will fly at high subsonic speeds. Subsonic cruise missiles enable delivery of payloads at low cost and are generally difficult to detect because of their ability to fly at low altitudes.
1. Is India developing an ICBM?
2. (if yes) The PSLV can/can't just be tipped with nukes and used as first strike weapon.
3. consequences of developing an ICBM.
Here's my take on it.
Do we need an ICBM?
We don't need an ICBM. Not even for 'prestige' or boy toys - if you will.
An ICBM does not serve any of our security needs - in fact can add to more expense if developed in the next decade, secretly.
Our security needs can be more than adequately met by IRBM Agni-3, albeit with a slightly increased range.
Unlike other countries, all our adversaries are our neighbours - fortunately or unfortunately. Why would need an ICBM for that?
Are we developing an ICBM?
I would say no - and I'm not part of the defence establishment, so its an educated guess. Here's why:
Our current/near-term primary goal is to build a nuclear triad - and we miss a land-based missile capable of hitting all of China (the Agni-3 when produced should be able to do that), we miss an SLBM, and we miss an SLCM/Land based cruise (medium/long range) missile. And we don't have a SSBN or SSN yet - some of them are ongoing projects sucking enough money from the defence budget, why divert money into an ICBM?
An ICBM development would also serve to create a hostile relationship with both Russia and USA, after all who would we want to target an ICBM with? Timbuctoo? So an ICBM we develop would antagonise both our major weapon supplier and the world's sole superpower/our major trade partner. What do we gain? A PSLV with attitude?
Like Moscow's missile defence, it may even lead to our cities being targeted by either/both of those countries - depending on whether we use our own or their tech. I know our politicians are stupid, but not THAT stupid.
Strategic reasons maybe?
Unless India ties up into a NATO-like stance against say, Russia, or against the USA - both about as possible as China letting use Dong Fengs - what would the strategic reason be, for fielding an ICBM - in the absence of a cold war?
An argument could be made that an ICBM could be built for the same reasons the Agni-1 was - speed and ease of usage. But that's patently ridiculous. The Agni-1 is a specific second-strike weapon against Pakistan, even though its range might extend to parts of China.
The Agni's are all solid-fueled, and hence can be fired within minutes. So "replacing" them with a solid-fueled behemoth missile for speed doesn't make sense - more so when reliability might be compromised. The TOPOL-M has made a case for making existing missiles very fast, indeed. Making similar improvements to the Agni is more than adequate.
Now (Indian)Navy wants Super Hornets too
HT | May 14, 2008 | Rahul Singh
Now Navy wants Super Hornets too
It Is now sufficiently clear that the Indian Navy wants to be able to use the air force’s assets of war. In a revelation so far kept under wraps, the Navy has asked Boeing a contender for India’s $10-billion tender for 126 air force fighters if the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet can operate off the INS Vikramaditya, the rechristened Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov currently being refurbished in Russia for the Indian Navy. None of the fighters in the IAF’s existing fleet have the capability to operate from the deck of an aircraft carrier.
Boeing’s campaign manager for the Indian deal Michael E. Rietz has revealed that after detailed simulations conducted at the company’s test centres, the Super Hornet on offer to India, can in fact operate off the Gorshkov. The significance of Boeing’s finding lies in the fact that the Super Hornet – which by default is launched using a steam-powered catapult on American super-carriers – has never before been known to be able to take off from an angled ski-jump – the launch mechanism on India’s sole aircraft carrier INS Virat, as well as the Gorshkov and the under-construction indigenous aircraft carrier.
Rietz told HT at Lemoore, which holds half of the US Navy’s striking power in the Pacific, “In our simulation, we discovered that not only could the Super Hornet take-off from a ski-jump, but could do so with a significant weapons load.” Landing the Super Hornet on the Gorshkov would pose no problem since the warship comes equipped with an arrester cable. The 16 MiG-29K fighters that will come with the Gorshkov will land using this “trap” method.
A typical scenario illustrates the import of the newly identified ability. A Super Hornet flying with the air force from a shore base can fly hundreds of kilometres over the sea, then land on an aircraft carrier, refuel and proceed onward. The reach advantage it would give the aircraft is something the air force has only envisaged with mid-air refuellers so far. Aircraft carriers, by their very nature, can obviously stay out at sea for far longer.
In 2004, the Navy had sent out a request for information to another American firm Northrop Grumman about whether the latter’s carrier-based airborne early warning and control aircraft, the E-2 Hawkeye, could operate off the Gorshkov. However, plans to procure the aircraft in a ship-based role have since been shelved.
Indian rocket launches 10 satellites in rare space feat [MIRVs, anyone?]
Agence France-Presse ^ | 28 April, 2008 | Agence France-Presse
BANGALORE, India (AFP) — An Indian rocket blasted off and successfully launched a cluster of 10 satellites in a single mission Monday, marking a milestone for the country's 45-year-old space programme.
The PSLV rocket lifted off at 9:20 am (0350 GMT) from the Sriharikota space station in southern India in clear weather, leaving behind a massive trail of orange and white smoke, on its 13th flight.
"The mission was perfect," G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Bangalore-based Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said after the launch telecast live by the broadcaster Doordarshan. "Team ISRO has done it again."
"It is a historic moment for us because it is the first time that we have launched 10 satellites in a single mission," he added, congratulating Indian scientists who broke out into applause at the mission control centre.
The rocket's unprecedented payload included an Indian remote-sensing satellite known as the Cartosat-2A, a mini satellite and eight so-called nanosatellites developed by foreign research institutions, including those from Germany and Canada.
The satellites were deployed in orbit within minutes of each other in a rare space feat, with the entire mission lasting about 20 minutes.
India started its space programme in 1963, and has since developed and put several of its own satellites into space. It has also designed and built launch rockets to reduce dependence on overseas space agencies.
A rocket blasts off from the
Sriharikota space station in
southern India where ten
satellites were launched on
Monday
The solid stage of this launch vehicle, and the fact that it deployed 10 satellites simultaneously, are just about what's needed for a potent, MIRV ICBM.
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All roads lead to China border
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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080507/jsp/nation/story_9236369.jsp New Delhi, May 6: India is sprucing up its frontier with China by taking up a massive four-year project to connect villages, military posts and towns strung on the border across the Himalayas from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO), the military road builder, has asked for Rs 2,140 crore this year for the project to be completed by 2012. The identification of the connections — some of the roads will be rebuilt while others will be newly laid — began after the Centre reversed its decision in 2006 to not upgrade links along the still-disputed border with China. Since 1962, the central policy pursued by successive governments, but rarely spelt out, has been to allow the connections across the Himalayas with China to degenerate. That was the outcome of a threat perception that it would make it easier for supposedly stronger Chinese forces to roll down to India in the event of hostilities. The first effect of the reversal of the policy, however, was felt in July 2006 when India and China agreed to start limited border trade through Nathu-la in Sikkim. Now, the Centre has asked the BRO to build or rebuild 71 roads. The project involves laying fresh roads, double-laning and/or black-topping existing roads and repairing bridges in Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and, most significantly, in Arunachal. Of the links for which feasibility studies have been done, 27 are in Arunachal, the director-general of the BRO, Lt General A.K. Nanda, said today. Arunachal is disputed by China, which does not recognise it as Indian territory. He said nine roads were to be completed this year. Nanda confirmed that the Centre had sanctioned raising of additional units and the BRO would be recruiting more than 5,000 personnel, specifically for the projects on the India-China border. The BRO’s Project Hirak for building roads through Naxalite-influenced districts in central India (Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh) was being steadily wound down with no new resources being allocated to it. However, Project Hirak is also monitored by the anti-Naxalite cell of the Union home ministry and its future would be determined in consultation with that body. Central allocations for the BRO have recorded a steady increase since 2005-06 when it was granted Rs 1,638 crore. Last year, the amount was raised to Rs 2,686 crore. A special fund of Rs 550 crore was also created for the China border roads programme. The decision to upgrade the roads on the China frontier is the result of a combination of factors — a lowering of threat perception, a confidence in the Indian military that is inducting newer and better equipment and also a look-east policy that the Manmohan Singh government favours by encouraging trade through disputed borders. India has also taken stock of the active road and railway building activity on the Chinese side in Tibet. Defence minister A.K. Antony has himself admitted during visits to Sikkim and Arunchal that China’s border networks were better. However, that in itself is not worrisome enough for the Indian establishment to raise its threat perception because India’s military believes it has alternative plans if the Chinese were to be able to deploy troops faster than they could earlier. Nanda said the BRO was also resurfacing a 160km road in Myanmar from Tamu to Kalva. Its project in Afghanistan — the 219km Zaranj-Delaram Road, where BRO personnel have been attacked and killed by the Taliban — was “80 percent complete”. “We expect to pull out of Afghanistan around July-August this year,” Nanda said. He admitted that the Taliban threat was very real. Although India had sent 400 Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel for an inner security cordon for the BRO staffers, there were still worries that the 1,400 local police that the Afghan government had arranged for “could be infiltrated”.
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PHILIPPINE SEA (April 9, 2007) – U.S. and Indian Navy ships conducts a formation during Exercise Malabar 07-01. Malabar is a bilateral U.S.-Indian Navy training exercise off the coast of Okinawa, Japan. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John L. Beeman
PHILIPPINE SEA (April 9, 2007) - Indian Navy guided-missile destroyer INS Mysore (D 60) and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) transit in formation in support of Exercise Malabar 07-01. Malabar is a bilateral U.S.-Indian Navy training exercise off the coast of Okinawa, Japan. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John L. Beeman
 070905-N-5387K-012 BAY OF BENGAL (Sept. 5, 2007) - Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer JS Yuudachi (DD 103) leads a formation of ships during Exercise Malabar 2007 in the Bay of Bengal. More than 20,000 naval personnel from the navies of Australia, India, Japan, the Republic of Singapore, and the United States are taking part in the exercise, designed to increase interoperability among the navies and to develop common procedures for maritime security operations. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Juan Antoine King (RELEASED) 
070905-N-1730J-163 INDIAN OCEAN (Sept. 5, 2007) - An Indian Navy frigate takes position during Malabar 2007, an exercise involving Kitty Hawk and Nimitz Carrier Strike Group and ships of the navies of Australia, India, Japan, and the Republic of Singapore. Malabar 2007 is designed to increase interoperability among the navies and to develop common procedures for maritime security operations. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jason A. Johnston (RELEASED) 
070905-N-6106R-377 BAY OF BENGAL (Sept. 5, 2007) - Naval ships from India, Australia, Japan, Singapore, and the United States break away after a joint photo exercise during Exercise Malabar 07-2. Kitty Hawk and Nimitz Carrier Strike Groups are taking part in the multinational exercise. The formation included Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers JS Yuudachi (DD 103) and JS Oonami (DD 111), Republic of Singapore Navy frigate RSS Formidable (68), Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Adelaide (FFG 01), Indian Navy destroyers INS Ranvijay (D 55) and INS Ranjit (D 53), Indian Navy frigate INS Brahmaputra (F 31), Indian Navy aircraft carrier INS Ranjit (R 22), guided-missile destroyers USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) and USS Higgins (DDG 76), aircraft carriers USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) and USS Nimitz (CVN 68), and attack submarine USS Chicago (SSN 721). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Stephen W. Rowe (RELEASED) |
