India's air force will have its own satellite by mid-2010

[Naveed Yaseen]

BANGALORE (February 13 2009): India's air force will have its own dedicated satellite by mid-2010, enabling precise strikes against targets like terrorist training camps, Air Chief Marshal Fali Major said Thursday. "We will have our own satellite functioning by the middle of next year to enhance our surveillance and capability in this turbulent region," Major told reporters at the biennial Aero India international air show in Bangalore.

The satellite would provide images for the Indian Air Force's (IAF) integrated air command and control system being set up this year. "The command and control system will have sophisticated radars and sensors to enable us to conduct operations with high flexibility," Major said. Asked what role the IAF would have in the event of an assault against militant training camps, Major stressed the importance of accurate air strikes in support of special forces on the ground.

"In a surgical strike you take your target down in a manner where it is rendered unusable while not affecting surrounding areas at the same time," Major told AFP. The Indian military's ability to carry out precision strikes has become a topic of much debate in the wake of November's Mumbai attacks. India says the attacks were carried out by members of a Pakistan-based militant group who had been trained at camps inside Pakistan territory.

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