It neutralised a massive Iranian missile offensive in April 2024, and then, just a few days ago, on October 1, it shot down over 80% of missiles Iran launched its way.

Israel has a three-tier air defence system. The first layer, Arrow missile system, forms the outermost envelope meant to destroy the incoming enemy missiles outside earth’s atmosphere. The second, a 300 km envelope within the atmosphere, is created by David’s Sling. The innermost envelope is formed by the Iron Dome, with its Tamir interceptor missiles.

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In a world where the threat from the air is from missiles, drones and other projectiles, having a similarly comprehensive air defence system is critical.

Israel’s ally, the United States of America, too has developed its own Terminal High Altitude Area Defence System (THAAD) to cover short- and intermediate-range missile threats.India is emerging as one of the top military powers in Asia, and there should be a more detailed conversation on India having a similarly comprehensive air defence shield, more so given the nature of its neighbourhood.But to make that conversation more fruitful, there is a need to pay heed to various strategic, tactical and economic aspects, since simply mimicking the Israeli model may not be ideal for India.

Air Chief Marshal AP Singh echoed this sentiment on Friday, while answering a question about India’s air defence at a press conference. “With the systems we have already procured, and with the systems that are in the pipeline, as a combination of the two we will have fairly competent air defence systems.”

He also stressed the importance of prioritising, adding, “What is true is that we will need them in much higher numbers if we have to protect the entire country. With the numbers we have currently, we must prioritise the vital areas that we need to protect.”

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STRATEGIC FACTOR
Right off the bat, Indian requirements are clearly different from those of Israel. A simplistic comparison between India and Israel will be a gross mistake. India has two major nuclear powers as adversaries, which Israel does not. India has a vast area to defend, which Israel does not. Critically, India has its own political dynamics, which isn’t mirrored in Israel.

Israel is a small country with an area of roughly 22,000 sq km and if the occupied territories of West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights are removed, the net effective area is less than 14,000 sq km. Factor in most of the Israeli population being settled in Northern and Central Israel, and the area it needs to protect contracts further.

India’s area is 300x that of Israel and its population is 140x more. India’s air defence requirements and the quantum of protection would be much larger and significantly more diverse. India would not require the entirety of the country to be protected with anti-missile defence, and would need to prioritise vulnerable areas and cities.

Threat perception also plays an important role in designing the right air defence for India. The tactical and strategic threat arising out of India’s two hostile neighbours— China and Pakistan—are different. The threat of rockets or projectiles is ever present in Israel unlike India, where unless there is a full-fledged war, it is not a constant.

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EXPENSIVE AFFAIR
An important factor in having such a system is simply its cost.

Spoiler. It doesn’t come cheap. As per reports, the single missile interception cost of Tamir, David’s Sling and Arrow missile system comes close to $1,50,000, $8,00,000 and $3.5 million respectively. This does not include R&D expenditure, primarily borne by America.

The total interception cost of the Iron Dome defence system since October 7 last year comes to around $6 billion. In contrast, India’s entire defence budget for 2024-25 is less than $75 billion, of which the lion’s share goes towards civilian employees and pensions. India, with its vast area and diverse defence requirements, can in no way afford such expensive systems. The only solution is to develop low-cost alternatives that dovetail into India’s strategic goals.

STATUS CHECK
The good news is that it has started to happen.

Till a decade back, India’s entire air defence system was reliant on 70- to 80-year-old obsolete missile systems like S-125M Pechora, SAM8 OSA-AK, SAM-6 Kvadrat, SA-13 Strela 10M and man-portable air defense systems like Igla.

While it is disheartening to see that the country is still operating old gun systems like L-70, Zu-23mm twins and the ZSU-23mm self-propelled Shilka awaiting modernisation, there is some ray of light. The old gun systems are being phased out systematically and are being replaced by more resilient missile systems.

India has been procuring systems like Spyder, Barak and S-400, and developing Akash and QRSAM indigenously. For exo-atmospheric interceptions, it has Prithvi Air Defence (PAD). For medium- range (over 100 km), it has Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missiles, and the newly inducted S-400 range. For lower ranges and quick reaction interception, it now has missiles like Barak-8, Aakash, Spyder and a few old but effective systems integrated with new radars.

Today India is also producing, under licence, various next-generation, surface-to-air missiles like MRSAM and LRSAM under Make in India. The indigenous anti-ballistic missile system has completed all tests and is on the verge of induction into the arsenal of the country’s armed forces.

WHAT’S ON THE RADAR?
Radars and sensors form the backbone of any air defence system and ballistic missile defence. In the recent past, India has not only developed its own but has also imported several state-of-the-art radars for detection and tracking of any incoming object. These include indigenously developed long-range track radars capable of detecting an object over 1,500 km away and guiding a missile onto it.

India has established an overlapping grid of radar systems to cover long-, medium- and close-range threats across altitudes, which is achieved by integrating surveillance radars of the army, navy and the air force.

All these radars are connected to the air defence operational controls managed by the Indian Air Force for a realtime imaging of the air picture. A critical area where things could be better is the command, control and reporting system. When it comes to air defence, there is a division into the three wings of army, navy and air force, which although integrated physically, lacks true synergy. An integrated, secure data link across the services is a must to fight modern-day warfare.

Today, India is certainly capable of handling threats better, but the country cannot rest and must keep up the momentum, for which strong political will is required.