US NASAMS Missile Shield For New Delhi: India Worried Over Very High Price Tag

The proposed sale of NASAMS-II air defence systems by the US to India appears to have run into trouble. The price point being cited appears to be double than what the Indian side was expecting the deal to cost, news reports say.

The proposed acquisition was part of replacing legacy Russian air defence systems currently being used to protect high security areas of New Delhi. The project is referred to as the Delhi Area Defence Project, the report says.

The NASAMS will form the innermost layer of the protection of Delhi, as per the proposed overall air defence plan of the national capital. It will reportedly be a combination of different weapons like Stinger surface-to-air missiles, gun systems and AIM-120C-7 AMRAAMs (advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles), backed by three-dimensional Sentinel radars, fire-distribution centres and command-and-control units.

The NASAMS-II along with indigenous, Russian and Israeli systems will be used to create a multi-layered missile shield over the National Capital territory of Delhi against aerial threats ranging from drones to ballistic missiles.

The indigenous Aakash area defence missile systems, with a 25-km range will form the layer over the NASAMs.

The Russian S-400 systems, scheduled for delivery in the October 2020-April 2023 timeframe, will provide the second layer of protection, followed by Barak-8 medium range surface-to-air missile systems, jointly developed by Israeli Aerospace Industries and Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO).

The indigenous two-tier ballistic missile defence (BMD), comprising of advance air defence (AAD) and Prithvi air defence (PAD) interceptor missiles, system being developed by DRDO will be the outermost layer of Delhi’s missile shield.

The issue of price and other sticking points will likely be discussed between the two sides during the upcoming visit of US President Donald Trump to India later this month.

Further, India’s highest decision making body on defence procurement, the Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS), might clear a $2.6 billion deal to procure 24 MH-60R Seahawk helicopters from the US just before Trump’s visit, reports say.