India’s Ballistic Missile Defense Upgraded

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India’s missile defense array has been upgraded recently. The Indian defense Ministry’s Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has selected two villages in Alwar and Pali districts for installing radars to track enemy missiles. The ballistic missile defense grid that will protect the western and northern regions of the country will help guard New Delhi and Mumbai.

India has purchased the Green Pine radar made by Elta Systems, the IAI subsidiary. This radar is part of the Israeli Arrow anti ballistic system operated by Israel.

According to defenseworld.net, these two sites in the state have been strategically chosen by DRDO and has a stealth feature. The ballistic missile defense system can be put in place at short notice.

To counter airborne threats, DRDO will put a mixture of counter-attack missiles which will be able to shoot down enemy missiles both within the earth’s atmosphere (endoatmospheric) and outside it (exo-atmospheric).

The shield, developed by DRDO, has already undergone a series of tests and can destroy an incoming ballistic missile within the range of 2,000km.

The Ballistic Missile defense (BMD) system will require minimum human intervention due to the complete automation of tracking devices and counter-measures.

During the test stage, DRDO used variants of Prithvi missiles as simulated targets and intercepted them in mid-air.

All the necessary elements such as long-range radars and tracking devices, real-time data link and mission control system required for installing the BMD missile system have been also been tested by the DRDO and was upgraded last year.