INDIA TO PURCHASE JAVELIN ATGM
By Bulbul Singh
01 Dec 09. Failing to get shoulder-mounted Anti-Tank Guided Missiles(ATGM)nearly three years after the first global tender was floated the Indian defence ministry has decided to purchase the Javelin
ATGM from United States under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route.
India and U.S. officials have discussed the sale of the Javelin ATGM on several occasions in the past six months, said a senior Indian defence ministry official, and the Indian defence ministry is open to the idea of purchasing additional Javelin ATGM for the Indian Army on a country to country basis.
The Indian Army has been pressing the Indian defence ministry
to purchase Javelin kind of advanced shoulder held ATGM after
the Spike trials of Rafael of Israel failed last year.
In 2006 the Indian Army went on a global hunt to purchase hand held ATGM and tenders were issued to MBDA of France, Raytheon of U.S. Rafael of Israel and Rosoboronoexport of Russia. While Raytheon of U.S. could not get government clearance then the competition boiled down to only Rafael emerging as the vendor. However, trials held last year by the Indian Army of Spike ATGM failed.
During technical evaluation only Rafael was short-listed. The Indian Army had short-listed Spike of Rafael, on single vendor because no other ATGM was found suitable for the special forces.
The Spike failed in trials in both the hot and cold trials said a senior Indian Army official and ever since have been asking the Indian defence ministry to buy the Javelin ATGM.
Javelin will be used against armoured vehicles and tanks and is a fire and forget ATGM.
A major reason for the purchase of Javelin ATGM on country-to-
country basis is the reluctance of Raytheon of United States not to enter into an open competitive process here, which it finds very cumbersome and expensive, added the Indian defence ministry official.
The Indian Army has also firmed up its requirements for over 3000 new generation ATGMs for T-72 tanks, T-90 tanks and BMP-II infantry combat vehicles.
The purchase of the Javelin ATGM willcome even as India has entered the production of its homegrown Nag ATGM.
The homegrown ATGM is indigenously designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation [DRDO].
The 4km-range Nag missile has been ordered from the state-owned Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), which will make around 200 Nag missiles in the first year, and thereafter the capacity will be doubled.
The development of the Nag ATGM got a big boost last year when
DRDO asked Rafael of Israel to provide the Seeker Heads and followed it up with a formal contract with the Israeli company. The Nag had earlier been developed with the Seeker Head from Thales who, however did not agree to transfer the technology.
The Nag production will lead to replacement of the existing Russian Konkours and Euro missile Milan missiles. BDL also manufactures the second-generation Russian licensed Konkurs and French licensed Milan anti-tank missiles.