India may also be interested in directed energy weapons, although New Delhi probably lacks the technical expertise to develop such weapons. Nevertheless, India's Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) reportedly commissioned a study on directed energy weapons and the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) funds research on laser weapons. There are also reports that the Indian military has conducted studies on space-based lasers, as well as a "kinetic attack loitering interceptor."

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Lewis, Jeffrey. What if Space Were Weaponized? Possible Consequences for Crisis Scenarios. Washington, D.C.: Center for Defense Information, July 2004. [ 16 quotes ] [ page 29 ]

 

The pace of growth in India's ballistic missile program combined with its nuclear capabilities and Pakistan's development of nuclear weapons and acquisition of ballistic missiles elevate the South Asia subcontinent to an area of grave concern for the United States and the world community. India's potential to deploy ASAT weapons raises the possibility that India could attempt to damage or destroy the intelligence-gathering satellites of the United States and other countries to blind or severely limit the ability of those nations to monitor military activity and nuclear weapons tests in the region. India's potential to develop and deploy an ASAT system is alarming given the ongoing military confrontation between these two countries. ( More ... )

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Chun, Clayton K. S. Shooting Down a Star: Program 437, the U.S. Nuclear ASAT System and Present Day Copycat Killers. Maxwell AFB, AL: USAF Air University, April 2000. [ 11 quotes ] [ page 52 ]

 

Indian scientists believe today that, by 2025, global power will be defined by a nation's access to information, and that it will be in the national interest to develop new technologies for launching satellites (such as hypersonic missile technology). Indian air chief marshall Satish Kumar Sareen knows that "success in future wars will depend on the ability to deploy space-based resources for surveillance, battlefield management and communications." ( More ... )

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Lambakis, Steven. On the Edge of Earth: The Future of American Space Power. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2001. [ 5 quotes ] [ page 199 ]

 

India's first indigenously developed missile, the Prithvi, has provided the basic technology for further ballistic missile development. As a result of these efforts, the Indian government has several on-going ballistic missile systems in development that could launch an ASAT device. ( More ... )

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Chun, Clayton K. S. Shooting Down a Star: Program 437, the U.S. Nuclear ASAT System and Present Day Copycat Killers. Maxwell AFB, AL: USAF Air University, April 2000. [ 11 quotes ] [ page 48-9 ]

 

The Indian satellite-based Military Surveillance and Reconnaissance System that was to be operational in 2005 is now scheduled for 2007. A joint venture between ISRO and the Defence Research and Development Organization, the remote sensing satellite system would work with extensive ground-based surveillance systems to enable India to keep watch on all areas of concern within the region, including missile silos. India has also entered into discussions with the Israeli MOD and Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd. regarding the possible purchase of a TechSAR reconnaissance satellite. India has not launched any explicitly military satellites to date, though several of its civilian satellites have resolutions that would make them acceptable reconnaissance satellites: Cartosat-1, launched on 7 May 2005, has a resolution of 2.5 meters. The future Cartosat-2 will have better resolution than its predecessor. According to ISRO, Cartosat-2 will provide scene resolution that is better than one meter.

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Collard-Wexler, Simon, Thomas Graham et al. Space Security 2006. Waterloo, Ontario: Space Security Index, July 2006. [ 26 quotes ] [ page 112 ]

 

India is pushing ahead with its ambitious space programme while casting an envious eye at neighbouring China, which is on the verge of becoming the third nation to put a man into orbit, analysts say.

The two Asian giants have taken their traditional rivalry into space; India, which fought a border war with China in 1962, may be behind in terms of space technology, but is eager to catch up. ( More ... )

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"India, China Turn Traditional Rivalry Into Space Race." Spacedaily. October 12, 2003.

 

The test comes at a time when the Indian armed forces are slowly moving towards exploitation of space for purposes like "real-time" military communications and reconnaissance missions, apart from dreaming about ballistic missile defences and delivery of precision-guided munitions through satellite signals. With the launch of Cartosat-2 satellite atop the PSLV on January 10, for instance, India's satellite-based surveillance and reconnaissance (SBS) programme is now finally heading towards completion.
It will allow India to keep closer tabs on troop movements, missile silos, military installations and airbases of neighbouring countries, as well as augment surveillance over Indian airspace.

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"China Missile Worries India." Times of India. January 20, 2007.

 

Countries like US, Russia, Israel and China are, of course, leagues ahead of us. But in times of war, we too will be highly-dependent on satellites for communications and surveillance," said a senior military officer. "Though our relations with Beijing are on the upswing, we always have to factor in China as a potential threat. Moreover, there are deep military links between China and Pakistan. If China deploys ASAT weapons, then it's certainly a matter of concern," he added. Talking about the need for an Aerospace Command some time ago, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi had told TOI that space would play a major role in all future wars. "If we have assets in space, somebody will try to knock them off through hard kills or soft kills. We must be ready for all this," he had said.

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"China Missile Worries India." Times of India. January 20, 2007.

 

But Theresa Hitchens, a critic of the administration’s space arms research who is director of the Center for Defense Information, a private group in Washington that tracks military programs, said that China’s antisatellite test might be “a shot across the bow” meant to prod the Bush administration into serious negotiations. In the test, a Chinese missile pulverized an aging Chinese weather satellite more than 500 miles above Earth on Jan. 11.

Ms. Hitchens warned that an arms race in space could easily spin out of control, noting that India has been “rattling its sword” and some experts in that country are openly calling for antisatellite arms. A global competition that produced armadas of space weapons, she added, could raise the risk of accidental nuclear war if, for instance, a whirling piece of space junk knocked out a spy satellite.

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Broad, William J. "Look Up! Is It a Threat? Or a Plea for a Ban?." New York Times. January 21, 2007.

 

India is determined to take necessary steps to counter China's newly developed ability to target satellites through ballistic missiles and is assessing the reported test undertaken by China in this regard.

The country may also see the DRDO and the ISRO collaborating with each other to tackle the new threat. This was conveyed by Senior Adviser to the Defence Minister and chief of the DRDO M Natarajan, who said, “Maybe we need the DRDO to talk to the ISRO”. The DRDO has distanced itself from the ISRO publicly due to technology export constraints from the US.

Mr Natarajan said the test undertaken by China was a matter of concern for the country. He said this was more so because of the reported technology which could disable satellites in space by using the GPS navigation system.

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"India to counter China's anti-satellite test." The Tribune (India). January 21, 2007.

 

And the most worrisome question of all – beside the potential for sparking a Sino-U.S. ASAT race – is whether China's other rival nations, most specifically, India, will seek to react in kind. India's media, predictably, has been harshly denouncing the Chinese test as a threat to India. "It threatens our own expanding civilian space assets, undermines the credibility of our nuclear deterrent, and exposes New Delhi's lack of a military space strategy," the Indian Express newspaper said in an editorial on Jan. 20. M. Natarajan, science advisor to India's Defense Ministry, said the government would be especially concerned if such Chinese missiles could "disable" satellites with military and/or navigation capabilities and told reporters that the Indian government is assessing "steps we need to initiate in this direction." Unfortunately, the Chinese test comes amid a renewed push by the Indian Air Force to establish a military hold on Indian space policy and funding; a push that has been underpinned by Air Force lobbying regarding the "China threat." ( More ... )

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Hitchens, Theresa. "U.S.-Sino Relations in Space: From "War of Words" to Cold War in Space." China Security. (Winter 2007): 12-30. [ 6 quotes ] [ page 24 ]

 

In India, the establishment of a joint space weapons command was turned down by the Defence Ministry in 2006, but the country's military plans for space will be charted over the next year in a concept paper by the Defense Ministry's Integrated Defense Staff. India still intends to establish what it calls an Aerospace Command, although the planned mandate remains vague. That some experts in India are anticipating a more significant military role for space is suggested in the November 2006 publication Space: The Frontiers of Modern Defence published by India's Center for Air Power Studies. The introduction makes the following observations: "As we move forward in the 21st century it is inevitable that space will become another medium of warfare besides assuming the important role of protecting the country's commercial assets in this medium."

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Graham, Thomas and William Marshall. Space Security 2007. Waterlo, Ontario: Project Ploughshares, August 2007. [ 20 quotes ] [ page 56 ]

 

India does not operate any dedicated military satellites, but it has one of the oldest and largest space programs in the world that has developed a range of indigenous dual-use capabilities. Space launch has been the driving force behind the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). It successfully launched its Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) to LEO in 1980, followed by the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV), the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in 1994, and the Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) in 2004. During this time ISRO developed a series of civilian Indian Remote Sensing satellites and currently maintains a constellation of six satellites, several of which would be suitable for reconnaissance with resolutions up to one meter. India also maintains the joint government/military Technology Experimental Satellite, which provides images with a resolution of between one and 2.5 meters. In 2007 India plans to launch the Military Surveillance and Reconnaissance System, which will provide India with dedicated military satellite intelligence.

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Graham, Thomas and William Marshall. Space Security 2007. Waterlo, Ontario: Project Ploughshares, August 2007. [ 20 quotes ] [ page 98 ]