Again, have you read the entire post?
It is as I said. Saraswat confirmed the nature of the test.
https://www.aninews.in/news/former-...-his-comments-on-a-sat-testing20190331211358/
"At that time, we had said that we are going to do two experiments, one with electronically simulated satellite trajectory and launching an interceptor against that to avoid debris in the environment. On the success of this, we had planned to do a test with the real satellite trajectory"; he had stated.
Anyway, I spoke to a friend of mine at ISRO. If a test fails, the bureaucratic hurdles alone take weeks to resolve cumulatively at every step of the process. Also, even in cases of minor failures, the entire rocket is checked. And something as significant as ASAT would definitely be delayed.
So the story about an electronically simulated test followed by the real test makes more sense. Also, it makes sense to end the missile's flight before it reached space in order to maintain secrecy, which gives you a 30-second flight. Which is what was likely done during the Feb test. The article has obviously given a spin on normal stuff.
Again, it is not about exemption or a technicality. Why did Modi feel the need to order an ASAT test close to elections, make a pompous codename for the test, and then brag about it? Don't you think that the Indian military prowess is being exploited for short-term electoral gains?
Nope. As per reports, test preparations began in 2016.
DRDO claimed they had the system ready long before Modi, but the UPA did not go through with it. So Modi getting it done in his term, before the uncertainty of elections, is a huge service to the nation. If UPA came back, there was the risk of them backing out of the test again.
There is always political gain to testing strategic systems, but the political gain was obviously secondary. It's obvious the elections were not the objective, although Modi milking it is his prerogative. Blame UPA for not doing it first, which they could have done in early 2014. They could have gone nuclear in the 80s as well. If you haven't noticed, NDA gets sh!t done.
I've held the same view as many other third parties: Technically, this test had less to do with developing deployable ASATs, and more with verifying BMD's parameters in exoatmospheric domain...along-with achieving political objectives.
Depends. We don't know what's the main objective. Getting into the Space-haves is obviously the main political objective. But military? Who knows?
DRDO now has a somewhat proven seeker, capable of mid-course interception of ballistic non-maneuverable objects. What remains to be developed is a cost-effective and canisterized rocket motor for the seeker (K-4 is an overkill). Perhaps the proposed Agni-IP's motor will be used for this purpose.
Why do you think the K-4 is an overkill? If the objective is to build some for military use then whatever you see will be the production version.
I'll doubt the effectiveness of any ABM unless it is trialed against a BM with an actual RV (representative of the rival's capabilities), for example the Israeli Silver Sparrow. The day DRDO trials its BMD against Agni-I/II (or a representative system), I'll be convinced that Pakistani Shaheen-I/II/Ghauri/Ababeel are at risk. The day DRDO trials its BMD against a mid-course maneuvering RV of Agni-III (or a representative system), I'll be convinced that Shaheen-IA/Shaheen-III are at risk.
DRDO has to increase the scope of their trials. But, AFAIK, they are simulating the same on the Prithvi alone. The current target missile has been specifically designed to be a target that's meant to simulate lower end MRBMs. The last test before Feb actually simulated the Agni I.
Shaheen III's simulation will be part of Phase 2, which is set to begin very, very soon, once the Machilipatnam facility goes online. Phase 2's expected to be a big one, going all the way to IRBMs. Getting the land allotted has been the primary reason for delay in Phase 2.
