US To Offer Missile Defence Systems For Modi’s Air India One

The US has granted approval for the sale of missile defence systems to Air India One for approximately 190 million dollars. The missile defence system will boost the security of the Indian VVIP plane.

The sale of the missile defence systems will be guided by the foreign policy to strengthen the US-India defence relationship. The US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said that Trump has given approval for the acquisition of the two systems, one is Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCAM) and another Self-Protection Suites (SPS) for approximately 190 million dollars.

The US approval came amid India’s recent request for LAIRCAM SPS to cope up with the high-level threat that can affect the Indian prime minister and the president. The two Bowing 777 aircraft will be bought by India from the Air India for special needs and not for commercial usage.

The LAIRCM system will provide defence against the man-portable missiles. According to the Federation of American Scientists.  this system is loaded with multiple sensors to provide warning application, minimize the incidence of false alarming and support provide protection against intermediate-range missile systems. This will definitely minimize India’s regional threats caused by missiles usage.

The sale will also include Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suites (AIDEWS), LAIRCM CIURs, SCAs, HCCs, and UDM cards. Currently, the US is No.2 supplier of arms to India. The US defence department also considers India as its major defence partner and hence it shares its technology with India.

In 2018, India became the only South Asian country to get the tag of  Strategic Trade Authorisation-1 (STA-1) status from the USA and also signed the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement.

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