Indian army wants military space program

As always I have one eye on the far east, sure most of the hub bub is in the middle east but the annointed budding super powers from time to time sneeze, and we get stuff like this.

"India urgently needs to "optimize space applications for military purposes," Gen. Deepak Kapoor said Monday at a conference in New Delhi on using space for military purposes.

He noted that "the Chinese space program is expanding at an exponentially rapid pace in both offensive and defensive content." His remarks were first reported by The Indian Express newspaper and confirmed by the Defense Ministry's spokesman on Tuesday."

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Indian army wants military space program By GAVIN RABINOWITZ, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 28 minutes ago



India said that it needs a military space program to defend its satellites from threats like China's newly revealed ability to shoot down targets in orbit.

The comments by India's army chief raise the possibility of a regional race that could accelerate the militarization of space and heighten tensions between the Asian giants, who have been enjoying their warmest ties in decades.

India urgently needs to "optimize space applications for military purposes," Gen. Deepak Kapoor said Monday at a conference in New Delhi on using space for military purposes.

He noted that "the Chinese space program is expanding at an exponentially rapid pace in both offensive and defensive content." His remarks were first reported by The Indian Express newspaper and confirmed by the Defense Ministry's spokesman on Tuesday.

China destroyed one of its own defunct weather satellites with a ballistic missile in January, becoming the third country, after Russia and the U.S., to shoot down an object in orbit.

In February the United States shot down a satellite that it said posed a threat as it fell to Earth. Kapoor did not mention that, singling out China in a statement analysts said was designed to send a clear message to Beijing.

"In an unsubtle way this is related to China," said Ashok Mehta, a retired Indian army general and leading strategic analyst.

Kapoor said that while militarization of space by India was at "a comparatively nascent stage," there was an urgent need for a military space command for "persistent surveillance and rapid response."

Army spokesman Lt. Col. Anil Kumar Mathur said, "We are not talking about deploying weapons, but about self-defense." Neither man elaborated on their remarks.

The Indian military does not have its own dedicated spy satellites and uses civilian ones to gather imagery and other intelligence. India has an advanced civilian space program and frequently launches both types of satellites for other countries, including an Israeli spy satellite in January.

Other Indian generals speaking at the conference said a military space race was almost certain.

"With time we will get sucked into a military race to protect our space assets and inevitably there will be a military contest in space," the Indian Express newspaper quoted Lt. Gen. H.S. Lidder as saying.

"In a life-and-death scenario, space will provide the advantage," said Lidder, who heads the military department that deals with space technology.

Ties between India and China — which together have one-third of the world's population — are at their closest since China defeated India in a brief 1962 border war. Last year, trade between India and China grew to $37 billion and their two armies conducted their first joint military exercise.

However, the two nations remain sharply divided over territorial claims dating back to the war. China claims India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh and occupies a chunk of territory in Kashmir that Indian regards as its own.

Talks on the disputed border have gone nowhere, and Kapoor's "statement is in relation to what is happening on the border dispute and the Chinese taking an uncompromising position," Mehta said.

This, along with China's heavy military spending and a growing rivalry for regional influence, has alarmed the Indian military, which has been increasingly gearing up for possible conflict.

India has announced plans to have aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines at sea in the next decade and recently tested nuclear-capable missiles that put China's major cities well in range. It is also reopening air force bases near the Chinese border

Wonder if the Japanese are still contemplating changing their pacifist constitution?

Barack Obama has pledged not to militarize space.

So the question is: will we be 4 years or 8 behind the other major powers?

Sorry to relate this to the Election, Odin, if that wasn't where you wanted to take it.

The day the Indians say "we need to got Mars", I'd be really interested.

Anyhow, all the Asian interest in space could lead us to a new space era...or it could not.

Wonder if the Japanese are still contemplating changing their pacifist constitution?

They have been investing in military/space programs for years and they havn't had a pacifist constitution since MacArthur went to Korea .

Originally Posted by PanzerJaeger

Barack Obama has pledged not to militarize space.

So the question is: will we be 4 years or 8 behind the other major powers?

Sorry to relate this to the Election, Odin, if that wasn't where you wanted to take it.

China probably wouldn't be expanding their program if the US wasn't. If China doesn't expand then India doesn't. I shall revert to my second of two standard things to blame:

I blame America.

Originally Posted by CountArach

China probably wouldn't be expanding their program if the US wasn't. If China doesn't expand then India doesn't. I shall revert to my second of two standard things to blame:

I blame America.

Oh yeah? Well I blame Communism.

Better dead than Red!

Originally Posted by Mikeus Caesar

Oh yeah? Well I blame Communism.

Better dead than Red!

It would seem that I am beaten. Well played sir

Albert Einstein once said "I know not what weapons will be used to fight the third world war, but the one after that will be fought with sticks and stones"

Really, it's just a logical progression for these two emerging economic dynamos. Both are merely looking out for their interests. I find some parallels to the development of aircraft technologies both before and during WWI. The whole invention of the fighter-plane was to shoot down an enemies' observation capability, ie. observation balloons and photo-reconnaissance aircraft. After a modest beginning with pilots shooting at each other with revolvers and sling shots, it wasn't long until the fighter became a sophisticated tool of aerial warfare.

I can understand why India would want to protect it's burgeoning communications satellite capability. They are making a mint in the area of telecommunications services. Call any computer or cell phone 1-800-I need help and you are likely to be talking to a Hindi person, as so many international companies use their quite affordable services. I should take measures to protect this business worth billions if I were one in charge of such things.