INTERCEPTOR MISSILE

     India on Sunday 6th March fired an interceptor missile at 9.37 am from Wheelen Island,off the Orissa coast. The interceptor had a specially designed directional war head,which will go towards the target, look at it and cause the maximum damage. The attacker simulated the 600 km range of a ballistic missile and the interceptor sped up at 4.5 mach.
    this is the DRDO's sixth interceptor mission, and five have been successful including a hat-trick in the first three.India's BMD  programme has matured, and it is really ready now for integration  in to the air defense assets of the country. India is next only to U.S Russia,,France and Israel, which have the BMD capability.
Dr Sarawat, who is also the DRDO  Director- General and architect of India's interceptor missile programme.
    India has all the technologies and building blocks which can be used for anti satellite missions in the low earth and polar orbits. How-ever weaponise space, and we are committed to the peaceful uses of outer space.
   Out of the six interceptor missions conducted so far by the Defence Research And Development Organisation (DRDO), five have been successful. The interceptor boasted new technologies such as directional  war head, fibre-optic gyroscopes and radio-frequency seeker that guided the interceptor to attack the incoming enemy missile' at an altitude of 16 km above the Bay of Bengal.
   The next test would be done later this year to intercept a 2000 km range incoming missile at an altitude of 150 km. India's plans for putting in place the first phase of the two-layered ballistic missile defence shield by 2012 were on course. This would be done by integrating it with the Air Defense system of the Indian Air Force and the Army. Only the U.S, Russia, France, Israel and India have the capability to put in place a ballistic missile defense shield. China is still developing it.

Prof. John Kurakar