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India set to induct Israeli radar system

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

India is set to induct a highly efficient Israeli airborne radar system mounted on an aerostat and upgrade its existing border radar facilities in the coming few months, according to a senior official in the Ministry of Defence.

"India has concluded an agreement with Israel to acquire the Aerostat airborne early warning radar that is expected to boost India's border radar vigil drastically. We are also looking at improving border radar facilities," the official said. He said the radar would be inducted in the next "eight to ten months."

The decision to acquire the Israeli radar and upgrade the border radar systems comes at a time when strategic analysts are seriously discussing the possibility of Pakistan crossing its nuclear threshold and carrying out a tactical nuclear strike, in all probability using a missile.

India's current range of border radars and satellite intelligence cannot detect an incoming missile, which would take only between two to three minutes to reach a northern Indian city from Pakistan.

Such a paucity of intelligence and alert forced India to conclude the major radar deal, said the official. He refused to disclose the details of the deal, saying "we would be acquiring them (Aerostat Programmable radars) in fairly large numbers."

The official said the large number of unmanned aerial vehicles that were recently inducted into the three forces have been of great assistance in border vigilance.

Among the other major technological advancements that the Indian forces are looking forward to is the induction of fire finder radars, ANTPQ 37, for which recently an agreement was concluded with the United States.

The official said the delivery of fire finder radars, which would help the army locate enemy gun positions accurately, is expected in 24 months from now.

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