While India doesn’t have a formal anti-satellite weapon programme, the country’s top missile scientists revealed this week that they have gradually laid the groundwork for precisely this sort of weapon. In fact, Dr Avinash Chander, director of India’s Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), has revealed that if the government calls upon DRDO to deliver such a weapon, it would take less than three years to first test.
According to Dr Chander, “We have developed technology blocks that can be integrated to create an anti-satellite weapon. What we need is the technology to boost the munition into space, which we have proven very robustly with the Agni programme. And we need a kill vehicle of considerable energy and terminal phase accuracy, which our scientists have proven with the advanced air defence (AAD) interceptor tests. We can put these blocks together and finetune the weapon as an anti-satellite platform. If we are required to, we can deliver this.”
DRDO chief Dr VK Saraswat was more circumspect. “We already have a design study of such a weapon, but at this stage the country does not require such a platform in its strategic arsenal. Testing such a weapon also has a lot of repercussions which have to be taken into consideration. But testing is not an issue — we can always rely on simulations and ground test. We can see in the future if the government wants such a weapon. If so, our scientists are fully ready to deliver it.”
Any updates on MMCRA testing?
HTK warhead from AAD test will be used against, with Agni3 missile for ASAT.
GOI should give go ahead for such a test. In any future war with China satellites will play a major role, therefore if China can blind or take out our satellite, we should do the same to their satellites.
This will further act as deterrent to china.
Hope after the midcourse interceptor test by china, PM gives green signal for the ASAT.
India is so obsessed with having a "Good Boy" image in the world. GOI will probably not give this program a go ahead (India is against weaponization of space). India has voluntarily declared that the maximum range of its ballistic missile program will not be more than 5500km. Also India has agreed to close down two of its military nuclear reactors after the Nuclear Deal with Uncle Sam and further pledged not to make any new military reactors. India has also destroyed 100% of its chemical weapon stockpile last year (only the third country to do so along with South Korea and Albania). Good going GOI.
India already has this weapon ready. The mighty Madhavan Nair mentioned after the primitive Chinese anti-satellite test that India had better capability and could easily test such a weapon at any given time.
Capt. Mahe Singh
Barking Dog never bites. Prove the technology, prove the system,make a system for the satisfaction of user, demonstrate it, deliver it, re-test it..It is not a easy task. It takes years and only possible with dedicated sincere smart manpower. By dreaming and by giving speeches we cannot make the system. Work hard…
.. and further pledged not to make any new military reactors.
I doubt this, as the nuclear reactors on Arihant class and future submarines would, by definition, be military reactors.