Source : Jagran Josh
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| 5 Weapons Boosting India’s Firepower |
Five Pathbreaking Weapons to Boost India’s Firepower: The past few quarters have been eventful for India as it witnessed many changes in the security dynamics near its borders. This was amid the rising tensions between India and China.
However, this period was also marked by improvements in defence capabilities which were necessitated due to the rise in hostility between India and China.
Here is a list of five pathbreaking weapons that will be boosting India’s firepower immensely in the coming days.
Rafale Fighter Jets
Rafale is a next-generation combat aircraft manufactured by Dassault Aviation, France. India has received 32 of the 36 combat aircraft as a part of the deal between India and France, the rest of the 4 aircraft are going to be delivered in the coming days after making India-specific enhancements to the aircraft.
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| Indian Air Force Dassault Rafale during its departure from the French Dassault Aviation facility (Image Credit: Wikipedia) |
Currently, there are two active squadrons of Rafale in India operating from Hashimara Air Base, West Bengal and Ambala.
It is a 4.5th Generation aircraft with the ability to carry a wide range of short and long missions. It can carry out ground and sea attacks, reconnaissance, and high-accuracy strikes with relative ease.
It is equipped with Meteor which is a beyond visual range air-to-air missile with a range of 100 km, SCALP cruise missile and HAMMER precision guided ammunition.
The acquisition of Rafale Jets will boost air defence capabilities and help in combating threats on both sides of the borders.
S-400 Missile Defence System
India has obtained the S-400 Missile Defence System from Russia in the wake of increasing border tensions between India and China.
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| Russian S-400 Triumf Air Defence System (Image Credit: Wikipedia) |
China is known to have installed the same across the Line of Actual Control or LAC which prompted the deal.
This deal attracted the disapproval of the USA to the extent of it threatening India to implement the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) against India, which allows it to sanction any country that purchases this missile defence system from Russia.
However, the United States hasn’t implemented the same, as India maintained a fine balance between its relations with USA and Russia.
The S-400 defence system is capable of taking down UAVs, hostile aircraft, and ballistic and cruise missiles that were released by the enemy.
The ability to hit mobile targets like fighter planes is achieved by its ground-to-air missiles 9M96E and 9M96E2. These missiles can hit a moving target from a 120 km distance range with high precision.
MQ-9 Reaper Drones
The MQ-9 Reaper Drones that India has obtained from the USA is a potent surveillance drone and can also be equipped with missiles which can be used for offensive purposes. India is looking to acquire 30 MQ-9 Reaper Drones ( 10 each for Army, Navy and Air Force).
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| American MQ-9B Reaper Drone (Image Credit: Wikipedia)
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The ability to strike with precision, and perform reconnaissance and covert operations, the MQ-9 predator drones are ideal for use in battlefield operations against high-value, time-sensitive and transitory targets.
The most exciting feature of MQ-9 Reaper Drones is the addition of four hellfire missiles that are very precise and destructive. The most recent attack by a Hellfire missile was done to take down Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Tejas Light Combat Aircraft
The procurement of the homemade Tejas Light Combat Aircraft is going to boost the aerial capability of the Air Force. India has made a deal to procure 83 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft of which 73 will be Mark 1A Aircraft and 10 will be trainer planes.
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| Light Combat Aircraft Tejas |
There has been talks of equipping Tejas with HAMMER missiles in order to increase its firepower.
The strengths of Tejas lies in its less weight due to use of composites, low radar signals, supersonic speed, and role in offensive air support.
The Tejas is going to replace the Mig-21 Bisons soon.
Missiles by DRDO
DRDO has been instrumental in testing new missiles as the threat of attack looms large over the horizon.
The first of such tests was of Agni-P or Prime which is a medium-range ballistic missile that has a range of 2000 kilometres. It has improved accuracy and provides the ability to be launched from rail or road, these missiles can be stored in canisters for an extended period of time.
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| Agni-P or Agni Prime missile during test launch |
Among other missiles that were tested are Pralay, which is a surface-to-surface short-range ballistic missile. The missile has a range of 150km to 500km.
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| Pralay Short Range Tactical Quasi Ballistic Missile (Image Credit: Twitter) |
The other missiles being tested were helicopter-launched Stand-Off Anti-Tank Missile, Long Range Supersonic assisted Torpedo and Pinaka MK2 Extended range rockets.
The most notable development in the case of ICBMs is the successful launch of Agni-5 which is an Inter Continental Ballistic Missile or ICBM capable of hitting targets at a 5500 km range.
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| Agni-V SFC user trial launch, June 2018. Note cold-gas ejection from canister and operational paint scheme. (Photo: DRDO) |
