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Space Militarization—India in Double Dilemma

Monotapash Mukherjee - 1/29/2008

Post nuclear situation, India is being visited by a pre-nuclear weaponization dilemma—to be or not to be a space-weapons state. The territorial warfare is not a thing of the past yet, but once again the shadow of space weaponization is looming large.

Post-Cold War the US became the sole superpower of the globe. The threat of "star wars" subsided for the time being. But new geo-political urgencies unnerved the US and it began to be concerned by the specter of "space Pearl Harbor".

America was visibly unsettled by the emergence of the "Axis of Evil" which constituted Iraq, Iran, North Korea with more states to join it. Iraq was bombed and its ruler hanged (of course, illegally and unethically). But Iran and North Korea proved to be invincible. The USA became concerned about their nuclear ICBMs hitting the US heartland and revived the "Star War" as National Missile Defence System. Again the rapid rise of China as an economic and military superpower unnerved the US strategic community. A Chinese General once threatened the US with raining nuclear bombs if it sided with Taiwan in any future confrontation with China. Furthermore the Russian rise as a Phoenix as the challenger of the US complicated the US predicament. The USA's proposed deployment of the missile defense components in Poland and Czech Republic angered the resurgent Russia so much that it declared its sophisticated system would jeopardize the missile defense system. All this became more complicated when China conducted an A-Sat test by destroying one of its ageing weather satellite by throwing a ballistic missile.

All these factors pushed the US towards space weaponization and space utilisation to influence warfare on earth. The domino effect of space weaponisation has not left India untouched. China's A-Sat test threatened Indian security too, particularly its space assets.

First of all, let us count upon us why India should use it for military means.

· India is surrounded by two declared and symbiotic nuclear powers and a nascent nuclear power. There is a visible co-ordination in the field of missiles technology among these countries. So India must build an effective missile defence system to counter any threat from these countries. A missile defence system without any military satellite network has no efficacy.

· Secondly, for reconnaissance of the ground-based and troop movement of the enemy, for tapping communication, jamming the enemy network and destroying enemy satellites, India must prepare for space applications.

· Thirdly, to monitor the launch of enemy ballistic missiles, thermal imaging satellites are a must.

· Fourthly, in modern network-centric system, all the three services—army, navy, air-force—should be integrated by linking all the radars and sensors to the satellite system for early warning and control system.

· Fifthly, our based assets might face threats from the enemy satellites and to save them we must embark upon a dedicated initiative.

· Sixthly, aerospace weapons like JDAMs can influence the war on earth heavily as the American experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan have shown. In fact, they are futuristic weapons.

In this context, the inevitable question is what the diplomatic initiatives in this regard should be. India is here in a second dilemma—between the Russian Glonass (Global Navigational Satellite System) and the US missile defense system. The NDA government supported the US NMD system. Later on a dithering in this regard is present in the present government too. India also signed the GLONASS pact which could help Indian missiles land with pinpoint accuracy. But the current rivalry between Russia and the US has it impossible for India to join the missile defense network. Besides, there are internal ideological oppositions in India too.

But India needs both the GLONASS and the US missile defence expertise and network. It has recently conducted an endospheric and an exospheric missile defense tests and is relying heavily on indigenous skills and equipments.

India must find ways to secure from both Russia and the USA the necessary technologies and equipments. Theoretical helps about the American experience in Iraq and Afghanistan with regard to space utilization should be sought too.

Japan, too, should be engaged. Japanese apprehensions about the North Korean missiles and the Chinese A-sat test coupled with Indo-Japanese bonhomie resulting from Joint Security Council permanent membership campaign and the newly-founded Quadrilateral group should be effectively utilized. We can jointly explore the ways to nullify the Chinese space threats.

France, too, is a remarkable power. We can seek their help in regard to thermal imaging satellite. The strategists should chalk out how the French expertise can be utilised. Besides joint collaboration with all the countries, we must find ways to use their satellites for our purpose.

Another country with which India is actively engaged is Israel. Their expertise in electronic warfare and sensors can help us a lot. Besides, India at present has one-metre resolution space cameras, but along with Russia and the US Israel has cameras which can take pictures of an object of a few centimeters. India must avail of these and collaborate on military space program.

Finally, India must establish a dedicated military university and an effective tri-service command. Effective collaboration between the ISRO and DRDO is in the interest of the nation. Whether weapons should be used in space has a humanitarian as well as a moral overtone. But India must be pragmatic. Above all, the fate of a billion-plus people must be decided by the government of the people.