India to build a hunter-killer UAV fleet; UAVs will come from Israel
and geopolitical issues for India.
India’s new UAV procurement sets follow considerable discussion at the highest political and military levels of targeted assaults and hot pursuit’ by Indian forces in known terror zones in Pakistan - and now possibly Afghanistan.
Military officials have been impressing upon the political leadership in New Delhi that an inadequate and obsolete arsenal is at their disposal, especially in the context of latest arms supplied to Pakistan by America and China.
Officials say that over the longer term, India will look to procure or develop the next generation UCAVs (combat UAVs) that will substitute missile-fitted fighter jets for conventional attack missions. Harpy and Harop versions destruct at the target, while American Predator and Reaper drones resemble fighter-jets in that they can return to base to replenish arms for fresh missions.
Spy drones are among a clutch of “intelligent arms” being procured by India from Israel. The IAF is inducting three Israeli Phalcon airborne warning and control systems, at a cost of over $1 billion. These are capable of tracking missiles attacks and can keep an eye on neighboring nations without infringing airspace.
Another system procured from Israel last year for $600 million was aerostat radars, which can spot guerilla attacks such the Mumbai assault, where the attackers used small dinghy boats to infiltrate the city.
Pakistan has been pushing for multi-utility drones, apart from big armaments such as F-16 fighter jets, from America as part of its military aid package in exchange of taking on al Qaeda and now the Taliban in Afghanistan. Following recent talks, the United States is poised to supply state-of-the art arms, including laser-guided bomb kits, helicopter gun ships, surveillance drones and the latest version of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan.
So far, however, Washington has apparently limited the supply of tactical unarmed Shadow UAVs for intelligence-gathering purposes to its ally, while also withholding killer Predator drones.
Pakistani officials have been quoted as saying they are hopeful of procuring the killer drones in the near future. Some reports also suggest the possibility of a Predator equivalent being jointly produced by China and Pakistan.
Srivastava writes that India has held for long that American weapons provided to Pakistan can only be used against India and are ineffective against guerilla tactics adopted by militants holed in various remote regions.
The simmering conflict between India and Pakistan in South Asia and the push for strategic space between India and China in the Asian region has fueled the arms race. India’s arms acquisitions in the five years from 2004-9 were $35 billion, more than double the $15.5 billion spending from 1999 to 2004, as defense plans after the Kargil conflict were followed to fruition. In the decade after Kargil the value of India’s total arms purchases — from domestic state-owned weapons companies and abroad — has exceeded S$50 billion, with every sign the momentum will be maintained over the next decade.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in its report for 2009 that India is the world’s second-largest arms buyer from 2005 to the end of 2009, importing 7 percent of the world’s arms exports. The top spot went to China, though as India’s procurements continue to rise and China turns self-sufficient for arms, India could well become the biggest buyer of arms over the next five years.
