NEW DELHI, June 16 (UNI) Seeking to further consolidate bilateral defence ties, Washington has cleared the sale of the advanced Patriot Anti-Missile Defence System to New Delhi.
Seen as yet another sweetener among those already on the platter, the possible sale offer of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Anti-Missile Defence System has been conveyed through diplomatic channels to the highest levels in the Indian government including the Defence Ministry, sources here indicated.
Significantly, the offer comes barely days ahead of Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit to the United States later this month.
The sources said the Bush Administration had given the green signal to the PAC-3 manufacturers, Lockheed Martin, to give a technical presentation to India on the state-of-the-art Anti-Missile Defence System.
The PAC-3 system is a big step beyond Washington's earlier offer for sale of PAC-2.
In February earlier this year, a US team, headed by Edward Ross Director: Middle East, Asia, North Africa from the Defence Security Cooperation Agency, had briefed South Block officials on the technical details of PAC-2.
Unlike previous Patriots, which operate by getting close to targets and blasting them out of the sky, PAC-3 interceptors have no explosives, relying instead on kinetic energy (hit-to-kill concept) to eliminate short and medium-range missiles carrying nuclear, biological or chemical warheads.
A PAC-3 system carries smaller but four times more missiles than PAC-2 (16 vs 4) and has a longer range (150 km vs 70 km).
Until last year, 175 PAC-3 syste were inducted into the US Army.
Sources said the PAC-3 offer, along with possible sale of F-16 and F-18 fighters to India, was to be discussed during Defence Minister Mukherjee's trip to the US beginning June 27.
Accompanied by Defence Secretary Ajai Vikram Singh, he will meet US Vice President Dick Cheney and visit the National Aerospace Command Centre at Colorado Springs.
Meanwhile, the US has offered to sell to India F-16 fighter aircraft and its advanced versions besides entering into a co-production agreement for the warplanes.
The offer of co-production "is a big step" and shows that USA's relations with India are becoming "ever closer", US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca told the House International Relations Subcommittee for Asia and the Pacific earlier this week.
This came even as a senior State Department official met officials from the External Affairs and Defence Ministries to explain the intricacies of the American policy for exporting military hardware.
Here to "demystify" America's regulatory process, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gregory Suchan's trip was seen as familiarising Indian officials with the US defence export process before Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee visits Washington.
Officials here also viewed the meeting as a follow-up on last month's interaction between Indian Air Force officers and Jeffrey B Kohler, Chief of the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees military sales and financing programmes.
