The Missile Age: Is India Ready?

With the rapid technological advancements, missiles are now going to prove decisive in determining the outcomes of wars. And here, India’s position is weak. The missile future, therefore, has to be in the realm of collaborative efforts that lead to useable missile systems which will give India the ability to match China’s achievements in a timely manner. This means talking to the Russians, Europeans, and Israelis about joint programmes with clearly defined timeframes for development, production, and induction into the Indian armed forces, argues AMIT GUPTA

- Amit Gupta

In 1957, the then British Defence Minister, Duncan Sandys, released a report that stated that the missile age was upon us and that essentially put an end to Britain’s independent development of fighter aircraft. At that time, however, global technology did not provide the capabilities to make missiles the lethal weapon they could be. Missiles were essentially ballistic missiles taking their lineage from the German V-2 rocket. It was only in the late 1960s that electronics and guidance systems had developed to the extent that the term precision guided munitions (PGMs) could be applied—the difference was that in 1972 the USA was able to quickly take out the Long Bien bridge in Hanoi, one that they had unsuccessfully tried to destroy over the entire course of the war.

Now, however, thanks to advanced electronics, miniaturization, satellite guidance, and stealth technology we are in the age of missiles and the Indian government needs to take a more proactive approach to build up the country’s missile capabilities. When one adds the advent of hypersonic missiles, then the new battlefield is changing rapidly and India is in the danger of being left behind.

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