India gets ready for space wars

China's offensive reach to space last year by destructing one of her weather satellites using a medium-range ballistic missile while operating from earth, signalled the world that the next world war would be held for conquering space and would be termed as “space war.”

China's outstanding but threatening display of wrecking missile capabilities eventually led the Indian government to think sincerely of fortifying its boundary and countering the enhancing menace to our space assets.

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Last week while addressing a Unified Commanders' conference, Defence Minister A K Antony had said that though India wanted to utilise space for peaceful purposes and remain committed to our policy of non-weaponisation of space, we can not avoid the offensive counter space systems like anti-satellite weaponry, new classes of heavy lift and small boosters and an improved array of Military Space Systems flourishing in our neighbourhood.

An Integrated Space Cell (ISC) under the supervision of the Integrated Defence Services Head Quarters will be established to counter the enhancing menace to our space assets, he announced.

Marching one step forward against the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's advocacy to check “weapons-free outer space,” the Indian Armed Forces has sought the government's go-ahead to establish the aerospace defence command.

While inaugurating a training on ‘space applications for military use’ in New Delhi on Monday, the Army chief Deepak Kapoor cited the progress made by the Chinese in the aerospace technological field and pleaded for a quick Indian response.

"The Chinese space programme is escalating by leaps and bounds in both offensive and defensive content. There is an imperative requirement to develop joint structures in the Indian armed forces for synergising employment of space assets. The Army's agenda for exploitation of space needs to evolve dynamically" Gen Kapoor, the chief of Army said.

This is for the first time that Indian armed force has witnessed hidden threat in terms of space-at-risk and talked in public about something unconventional rather than the conventional one such as tanks, ships and aircrafts.

With ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) eventually promising to launch dedicated military satellites in the immediate future, defence scientists are also experimenting with some high-power laser weapons, say sources. Although the operational use of such star war-like weapons is still several years away, the Indian scientists, without wasting a second, should indulge in developing ASAT (anti-satellite), jamming enemy networks, and early warning technique so as to be ahead of its enemies.

India is capable of penetrating deep inside its enemy whether on earth or in space, but what it requires is a dedicated political effort and well-conceived strategic defence planning.