Jaipur: Two places in Rajasthan will be the epicentres for launching the National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System II (NASAMS-II) which will be used to create the ambitious multi-layered shield over Delhi and Mumbai.
India is in the process of acquiring the NASAMS-II from the US along with the Israeli, Russian and home-made systems. Once the deal is signed off, the missile system would cost Rs 6000 crore.
Two places in the state will going to be important for the NASAMS-II. These locations are in two little known villages in Alwar and Pali districts will soon gain strategic importance as they have been selected by the Defence Ministry’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for setting up radars to track enemy missiles.
The forest department has cleared the acquisition of 850 hectares of land in Khoa in Kishangarhbas tehsil of Alwar district and 350 hectares in Roopnagar, near Beawar in Pali district for installing ballistic missile defence grid that will protect the western and northern parts of the country.
This was done after the union ministry of environment and forest in 2014 cleared the DRDO proposal on the conditions laid down by the ministry. The ballistic missile defence grid will help guard New Delhi and Mumbai.
The state government has also allotted 80 hectares of land in Pilani for setting up the Bramhos missile assembly line.
These two sites in Khoa and Rupnagar have been strategically chosen by UDRDO and has a stealth feature. The ballistic missile defence system can be put in place at short notice.
To counter air-borne threats, DRDO will put a mixture of counter-attack missiles which will be able to shoot down enemy missiles both within the earth''s atmosphere (endo-atmospheric) and outside it (exo-atmospheric).
By Prakash Bhandari
