India TO acquire NASAMS-II missiles from US |
Indian Defence Ministry has started the process of acquiring the National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System-II from the US to fully secure its airspace against aerial threats ranging from drones to ballistic missiles. A defence ministry source said, "the US is likely to send the final draft of the `letter of acceptance` for the sale of NASAMS-II to India under its foreign military sales programme, at a cost of over 863 million dollars, by July-August." Once the deal is inked, the deliveries will take place in two to four years. The NASAMS-II will be used along with indigenous, Russian and Israeli systems to establish a multi-layered missile shield over the National Capital Territory of Delhi. As per the proposed overall air defence plan for Delhi, the innermost layer of protection will be through the NASAMS. Defence acquisitions council (DAC), chaired by India`s Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, had in 2018, approved the "acceptance of necessity (AoN) for the acquisition of NASAMS-II. NASAMS-II features new 3D mobile surveillance radars and 12 missile launchers for quicker reaction. The new air-defence system will eventually supplement the long-delayed indigenous two-tier ballistic missile defence (BMD) shield that is in an advanced stage of development by Defence Research and Development Organisation.
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