December 9, 2007: In the last month, India held two
successful tests of an anti-missile missile, using Indian Prithvi ballistic
missiles as targets. The Advanced Air Defense (AAD) system uses long-range
tracking radars based on Israeli Green Pine radars. The 22 foot long interceptor
missile is single stage, and uses solid fuel. It is equipped with an inertial
navigation system, but receives most of its flight commands from a ground
station, using data from the Green Pine radars. The interceptor can hit targets
about 50 kilometers up.
All this sounds very similar to the Israeli Arrow
anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system, and it is. But Arrow was built with a lot
of U.S. technology, that Israel is not allowed to export without permission. So
the Indians, with some Israeli help, will have to re-invent a lot of that technology. It will take at least three
years, and half a dozen more successful tests, before the Indians have
something they can deploy. If such an anti-missile system becomes operational,
Pakistan's nuclear arsenal will become a lot less potent.
