While India and Pakistan routinely test missiles, a fear constantly lingers in the Indian defence establishment that we seem to be lagging behind our South Asian nuclear capable neighbour in the missile arena.
India?s first indigenously built short-range ballistic missile, Prithvi is one of the five missiles being developed under the country?s integrated missile development programme. The armed forces are still in the process of conducting training trials of the 700-km Agni-I and 2,000-km-plus Agni-II ballistic missiles and it will be several months for them to become fully operational.
Defence analysts feel that Pakistan has made significant progress in the missile field over India. Being heavily dependent on outside support, Pakistan?s missile programme has received technology and military support from countries like China and North Korea. And China seems to be galloping ahead in adding stealth to its missile armoury.
Not surprising, a sense of relief surrounded the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists and Army officials when they recently test-fired the nuclear capable surface-to-surface Prithvi-II missile from a test range in Orissa. The missile was tested as part of a user?s trial by the Indian Army and the test achieved near perfect accuracy. Finally it seems India is showing signs of improving its missile scorecard and taking concrete steps to build its air destruction capability.
According to DRDO officials, training trials are held to give armed forces personnel the requisite capability and confidence to fire the missiles on their own, without the help of defence scientists. Prithvi-II has a range of about 350 km and is in ?full configuration? mode. What this essentially means is that the single-stage, nine metre-long missile is ready for deployment and capable of ferrying conventional or nuclear warheads. ?Our programme is indigenous and a strategic missile needs to be tested 10 to 15 times, before it can be said to be fully-operational,? informs a DRDO official. Therefore, keeping this benchmark in mind, only Prithvi can be dubbed to be fully ready.
Nevertheless, defence analysts reckon that when it comes to range and accuracy, Prithvi is as good as any competition in its league. It is liquid-fuelled with a possible solid fuel option. ?This does not mean it is worse. What it means is that it cannot be stored for more than 5 years in a fully-fuelled state,? point out experts.
The other aspect is production?it is believed that only about 250 Prithvi missiles have been produced so far. On the other hand, China fields 600 M-11 and M-9 missiles, while the Russians field hundreds, if not thousands of SS-21 and Scuds. However, defence PSUs like Bharat Dynamics, Bharat Earth Movers and Mishra Dhatu Nigam are stepping up production of the different Prithvi variants.
For instance, the Indian Army has placed orders worth Rs 1,500 crore for 75 Prithvi-I and 62 Prithvi-II missiles, while the Indian Air Force has gone in for 63 Prithvi-II missiles for over Rs 900 crore. Indian Navy has placed orders for Dhanush missiles, the naval version of Prithvi, with a 350 km strike range, for its ?dual-tasked? warships, INS Subhadra and INS Suvarna.
Looking at the competition, the CSS-7 is a short-range, road mobile, solid propellant ballistic missile built by China and is a member of the M family of missiles developed specifically for exports. The CSS-7, designated the M-11, was developed for sale to Pakistan as an improved, solid propellant ?Scud B? missile. It can be launched from ?Scud B? transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) vehicles and was developed to directly compete with Russian Scuds. The People?s Liberation Army of China has already deployed the CSS-7 Mod 2, which was developed as an improved CSS- missile.
The tactical use of the CSS-7 is similar to the use of Iraqi ?Scuds? in the Gulf War. This involves using the missiles to strike at military targets in a large area or to bombard civilian areas outside the range of traditional ordinance.
The original system was equipped with an inaccurate inertial guidance system that was only sufficient for use against large target such as airfields, staging areas and military bases. These missiles have insufficient payload and range for use as a strategic asset, but are capable of tactical use. It is likely intended for use against targets in India and Taiwan.
Along its border with India, China has replaced its older liquid-fueled nuclear-capable CSS-3 intermediate range missiles with more sophisticated solid-fueled CSS-5 medium range missiles. Among others, Israel has currently deployed two nuclear-capable ballistic missile systems: the Jericho I and the Jericho II. It is believed that they are located in facilities somewhere between Jerusalem and the Mediterranean. Israel also possesses 130 km-range Lance missiles and Popeye air-to-surface missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Defence analysts believe that by 2020, the spread of technology and expertise could enable countries such as North Korea, Iran, and Iraq to field inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of delivering lethal payloads over a vast territory.
Meanwhile, training trials are in full swing for the Agni-I and Agni-II missiles and the 3,500-km Agni-III will be tested for the fourth time soon. This missile is expected to give India the strategic capability to hit targets deep inside China.
It will be ready for induction only by 2011-2012. Design work on India?s most ambitious strategic missile, the 5,000-km range Agni-V is also in progress with the first test planned by next year.