- NEW DELHI -- India has
started
building an aerospace command station to have nuclear weapons platforms
in space to provide an edge to its retaliatory capability in case of a
nuclear attack, Indian Air Chief S Krishnaswamy said on Monday.
-
- "Any country on the fringe of space technology like
India has to work towards such a command station because advanced countries
are already moving towards laser weapon platforms in space and killer
satellites,"
Mr Krishnaswamy said.
-
- The Indian air chief took further Defence Minister George
Fernandes earlier claims and asserted that a space platform for nuclear
weapons was no longer in the realm of science fiction. He said the Indian
Air Force (IAF) had started work on such a weapons system and its operation
command system. On the Strategic Forces command, raised recently to operate
and command the country's nuclear arsenal, Mr Krishnaswamy said it became
'operational' on the IAF's 71st anniversary last Wednesday. "Elements
that are supposed to be there are there along with a newly set up chain
of command and operation manuals," he added.
-
- While admitting that there were some 'hiccups' in efforts
to build an indigenous aerial defence missile system like the Akash and
Trishul, Mr Krishnaswamy said the problems were temporary. The IAF as an
interim measure could import limited numbers of surface-to-air missiles
besides upgrading the existing Russian Pechora Missiles, he said.
-
- In the course of a 90-minute press briefing, the air
chief said two of the six IL-78 refuellers had arrived from Uzbekistan
and had been made operational. The rest would be introduced by the end
of the year. He said the Su-30MKI and the long range Jaguar strike aircraft
had been fitted with mid-air refuelling technology, while work was on to
procure refuelling nozzles for the French Mirage 2000. "We have
already
conducted exercises with refuellers between Pune and Car Nicobar and the
deployment capability had been proven, the aircraft remaining in the air
for over ten hours," Mr Krishnaswamy said.
-
- He said two squadrons of the upgraded Mi-21 Bisons had
become operational in the frontier Punjab province and a third was going
through final flying and training tests in Ozar in Nasik, Maharashtra.
The air chief said three more Bison squadrons would be operational by March
next year and, for the first time, would take part in this year's Air Force
Day flypast.
-
- Asserting that the IAF had started a major modernisation
drive, Mr Krishnaswamy said final approval had been given for the
acquisition
of 17 kinds of simulators for the IAF, including simulators for fighters
like the Mig-27, Jaguar and the Mirage 2000. Dwelling on defence aviation,
the air chief stressed that as a cost effective measure, India would soon
have to enter into strategic alliances to build fifth-generation fighters
and transport aircraft. He said for this the country would have to go in
for disinvestment in defence aviation and the export of armament systems
to friendly countries "in a big way." The air chief did not
foresee
any increase on the 66 Hawk trainers being imported.
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