link : US-India alignment and convergence of strategic interests led to the sale of Guardian Drones
US-India alignment and convergence of strategic interests led to the sale of Guardian Drones
Its main armament is a battery of 16 vertically launched BrahMos supersonic long-range Anti-Ship missiles. This is by far one of the deadliest missile armament of contemporary warships. It can hit ships at ranges of around 300 km with extreme accuracy. The primary SAM is the Barak-8 Long range surface-to-air missile (LRSAM). This modern missile is lightweight, accurate and can hit targets up to 90 km away. The ship also has anti-submarine rocket launchers, torpedo tubes, 76 mm main gun, 30 mm Gatling guns and a dual helicopter hangar. Overall it is a very balanced and highly capable multi-role destroyer.
4. PHALCON AWACS
India was late in entering the Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AWACS) scene, but they did so with a bang, by procuring what is described by the FAS as the most advanced AWACS in the world. It consists of an Israeli Elta EL/W-2090 radar mounted on a Russian Il-76 aircraft. This radar is a 360 ° Active electronically Scanning Array (AESA) which is mounted inside a dome on top of the Il-76. The specialty of the radar is that it is stationary as its beams are electronically steered as well, which eliminates the need for the radar to be steered mechanically. This allows it to track targets 10 times faster when compared to well-known systems like the E-3 Sentry. It has an integrated IFF system, Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) and ECCM suites for self-protection, Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) for collecting data about enemy radars and monitoring communications and SatCom systems.
The 3 Phalcons are an invaluable asset for the Indian Air Force and act as major force multipliers. They can detect targets 500 km away and such a feature can prove to be vital in mountain and desert regions where ground based radars are not widely deployed. They can track up to 100 targets simultaneously and guide fighter jets and SAMs to intercept them. The probability of detecting cruise missiles and repelling surprise enemy air attacks is very high if such a system is employed in combat. They are frequently deployed with fighter escorts and they can be vectored to intercept long-range threats. India is planning to procure a further 2-3 such systems.
3. INS CHAKRA
After acquiring the Akula II class SSN Nerpa from Russia on a ‘lease’ for 10 years, the Indian Navy gained the ability to provide a long-range underwater escort for their carriers and destroyers. The INS Chakra is modified for Indian needs and carries a mix of 36 Torpedoes and Klub Anti-ship missiles which can be fired from the 8×533 mm torpedo tubes. There are reports that India will acquire another Akula SSN, the Iribis which is currently under construction. It may be modified to carry vertical launch tubes for BrahMos missiles.
2. BRAHMOS MISSILE
This is undoubtedly the most famous weapon that India has. It was the result of a joint venture between India and Russia to modify the Yakhont missile for Indian needs and make it into a universal missile which could be launched from any platform. This 9m long missile which weighs 3 tons has now become the backbone of the Indian Defense forces as a long-range standoff weapon. It is currently employed by the India Navy on most of their major warships. Indian Army has inducted 3 regiments and the Air Force is conducting trials for the air launched variant. The air launched variant has a reduced weight of 2.5 tons and 1 missile can be carried under the fuselage of the Su-30Mki. The current production rate is said to be 100 missiles per year.
Naval variant Army variant
The next generation of BrahMos is named as the BrahMos NG. It is basically a smaller version of the current BrahMos with similar performance and minor improvements. It will undergo a 50% weight reduction and a 30% length reduction and 0% performance reduction. So how is it possible to do such a thing? According to my sources, the current BrahMos uses large electronics circuits and heavy guidance systems and components. The casing of the missile is quite heavy as well since the missile has 25 year old technology which is excellent but heavy and big, which makes the current version so heavy. The NG will feature new gen micro-electronics and advanced composites which will drastically reduce its weight. The new smaller ramjet will also contribute to the smaller size and reduced weight. The speed will be increased from Mach 3 to Mach 3.5. All the branches of the Indian military have expressed interest in the NG variant.
1. SU-30MKI
If there is one aircraft that has defined the Indian Air Force in the 21st century, it’s the Su-30Mki. This is a long-range, multi-role, supermaneuverable 4.5+ gen fighter which is built according to Indian specifications. The baseline Su-30Mk from Russia was modified with French, Israeli and Indian avionics to create the ultimate Su-30 variant for India. It became the Su-30Mki where ‘i’ stands for India (Indiski). After realizing the combat potential and versatility of this amazing fighter, the IAF placed an order for 272 aircraft which makes India the largest Su-30 operator in the world.
The Su-30Mki is the bread and butter of the IAF as the rest of their fleet consists of legacy 4th gen fighters which have just a fraction of the capabilities of this fighter. With its 4000+ km range, 12 Hardpoints for 8000 kg of weapons, PESA Bars radar, it outclasses any other fighter in the region. It is safe to assume that 1 Su-30Mki can do the job of 2 MiG-29 and 2 Jaguar combined. It is currently used for air defense, reconnaissance and ground attack. The Su-30Mki is evolving into a cruise missile platform for the IAF. By 2016, it will be integrated with BrahMos and Nirbhay cruise missiles which would give it strike capabilities never before imagined by the IAF or its rivals. It also is integrated with several indigenous and imported electronic jamming pods and anti-radiation missiles which make it a deadly platform for Suppression/Destruction of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD/DEAD) which is the most important part of modern warfare to sanitize enemy threats.
Credits:- defencyclopedia
" data-image-meta="[]" data-image-title="TOP 10 MOST POWERFUL WEAPONS OF THE INDIAN MILITARY" data-large-file="" data-medium-file="" data-orig-file="" data-orig-size="" data-permalink="http://ift.tt/2tq1fwA" data-recalc-dims="1" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_thccK32GCX3hL8FEZKj2vx7D7dIHypcno5r4IJ7cL_vosrmVgngA56V-J28PJ0ySGZlpF9q1HgOQ=s0-d">Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington last week was clearly an effort by both Modi and United States President Donald Trump to demonstrate that India-US ties remain strong and continue to deepen. The repeated embraces — three by most counts — serve as a visual reminder the continued closeness between the two countries.
The joint statement presents a range of issues where India and the US will work more closely.
One item stood out as particularly important: The US “offered for India’s consideration the sale of Sea Guardian Unmanned Aerial Systems.” This is significant for three reasons.
First, if India and the US are able to reach an agreement on a deal for this type of an unmanned aerial system (UAS), it could mark the first transfer by the US of such a system to a non-ally country. The Sea Guardian, a large payload, long-endurance UAS platform is a variant of the Predator UAS system used by the US military and department of homeland security. The unarmed Sea Guardian is designed to provide advanced surveillance capability for maritime and littoral missions — an increasingly important mission for India as it seeks to play a larger role in securing the sea lines of communication in the Indian Ocean.
Second, in announcing this offer to India, Trump effectively signalled that the US has staked out a new policy position in India’s favour regarding potential constraints imposed under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). This voluntary arms control agreement calls for a “strong presumption of denial”, for transfers of large UAS to other member-states. The regime, of which both India and the US are members, was established to limit the proliferation of missile technology (including UAS) that could deliver weapons of mass destruction. The Sea Guardian falls into the most tightly constrained Category I under MTCR.
While there are good arguments for decoupling UAS from the MTCR, it is not clear that US policymakers has resolved that debate for exports globally, nor has the discussion been broached in a significant way across the range of the MTCR member-countries. This significant step in India’s favour should not be overlooked.
Third, in offering India Sea Guardians, the US recognises that India is a maritime partner and the interests of both nations are aligning. Should India choose the Sea Guardian for its maritime surveillance missions, it would enable even greater cooperation.
As India and the US work to deepen bilateral ties, a necessary condition will be aligned — or at least more closely aligning — interests. Over the past two Indian administrations, and now on to the third consecutive US presidential administration, we are seeing that.
Equally important, however, will be continuing to find concrete areas of cooperation where rhetorical ambitions are translated into tangible progress and both countries working more closely together on mutually beneficial efforts. In offering a large unmanned maritime patrol aircraft, the two leaders have achieved just that.
Source:- Hindustan Times
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