The growth of military-technical cooperation between India and Israel testifies not only to the growing ambitions of Delhi, but also to Tel Aviv's desire to become a major player in the Asian arms and military technology market. In 2008, the Jewish state, which until then held a strong position in the second place in the supply of high-tech weapons to Indians, according to Israel, for the first time overtook Russia, single-handedly taking the leading position.
WASHINGTON "WHEEL PINS"
Cooperation between the military departments of both countries has entered a new phase of rapprochement following a visit to Delhi late last year by the former chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Gabi Ashkenazi.
As for the high-ranking Indian military, they regularly visit Jerusalem after the establishment of diplomatic relations between these countries in 1992.
There is no doubt that the entire palette of relations between Indians and Israelis is closely monitored from Washington. It cannot be otherwise, because Americans almost never bet on one horse. In this case, they position themselves as friends of Pakistan, a country that has strained relations with India. And this is putting it mildly, considering that serious armed conflicts have arisen between these two states more than once. Let us remind you that in 2003 Washington tried to disrupt the sale by Jerusalem to the Indians of Russian aircraft equipped with the Falcon system - long-range electronic reconnaissance radars (DRLR). This type of Israeli radar gained worldwide fame after the Chilean army, which adopted it, unexpectedly outplayed the American one during maneuvers, which used a similar, but "weaker" system, "Avax". Indeed, the Falcon all-weather AWACS system tracks at least sixty targets simultaneously at a distance of up to 400 kilometers.
Using political pressure, Washington succeeded in delaying Delhi's acquisition of Israeli DRLR radars for several years. It is important to note that the Indians got the Falcon only after Russia entered the game. Moscow and Jerusalem signed an agreement with the Indians to supply them with Falcon radars mounted on Russian Il-76 aircraft. The Americans had no reason to oppose Russia in supplying weapons to the Indian market. And on May 25, 2009, the first Falcon radar arrived at the Jamnagar airbase (Gujarat state in western India). Later, the Indians purchased three more Il-76 aircraft equipped with Falcon radars.
By the way, the Americans managed to torpedo the sale of Israeli AWACS radars to China, motivating their position with concern for Taiwan's security. Disrupted Washington and the supply of Israeli "Falcon" to Singapore. Therefore, the current Minister of Finance of Israel, Yuval Steinitz, who held the post of chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Commission for several years, is right, directly pointing out the White House's interest in disrupting the sale of Israeli military equipment. Thus, American leaders are using political pressure and even blackmail to advance the interests of their defense enterprises, which themselves want to receive orders for the production of Awax radars.
It is interesting that in Islamabad, which demonstrates an attitude of rejection towards the Jewish state as a whole, nonetheless, until recently, sober voices were heard, putting on the agenda the issue of buying a number of Israeli military technologies. However, these voices quickly silenced forces fearing accusations of betraying "the cause of the Palestinian people." Interestingly, Pakistan, nevertheless realizing the urgent need to acquire DRLR radars, bought these devices not from the United States, but from Sweden.
India, on the other hand, considers it necessary to strengthen the "turnover" of cooperation with the Jewish state for several reasons. First, in this way, Delhi dramatically increases the power of its armed forces precisely through the purchase of first-class Israeli military technology and weapons. Second, Indians, by demonstrating their friendly attitude towards Israel to American Jewish organizations, hope that in response, these organizations will align themselves with the Indian lobby in the United States.
NATURAL ALLY
India openly declares its ambition to rise to the level of a powerful naval power. At the same time, Delhi realizes what role the Americans and Israelis play in satisfying these ambitions. The Indians have already signed a contract with the Israel Aerospace Industry for Harop-type unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) capable of functioning as cruise missiles. In 2011, their deliveries will begin. UAV Harop has a set of sensors that provide it with a circular view in space.
This type of "drone" is suitable both for large-scale military operations and for fighting terrorists. The Indian military also bought missiles from the Israelis, capable of "hovering" in the air for some time before attacking a target. It is important to note that such missiles have switching systems that can cancel an attack or select a different target.
Hanging missiles are designed to destroy radar installations. When radars are detected, such missiles homing at them, and then turn into projectile aircraft. In August 2008, Delhi purchased 18 short-range anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) Spyder from Jerusalem for $ 430 million. These complexes are planned to replace the Soviet-made air defense systems "Pechora" (S-125), "Osa-AKM", "Strela-10M". In 2017, India will begin deliveries of the Barak-8, the Israeli air defense system. These systems are capable of hitting any "approaching" targets, including unmanned reconnaissance systems.
The Indians are raising the equipment of their navies with an eye not only to Pakistan, but also to China. Beijing's military budget is increasing by about 11.5% per year. Delhi's expenses are growing at about 12% per year. One cannot discount the fact that India, China and Pakistan are nuclear missile and space powers that are constantly increasing their potential in these areas. In fact, these three states have long been competing with each other, trying to become the sole masters of the Indian Ocean. According to the commander of the Indian Navy, Admiral Madvendra Singh, the Indian fleet will remain at a third-rate level in the 21st century, if it does not receive three aircraft carriers, more than 20 frigates, 20 destroyers with attached helicopters, corvettes and anti-submarine ships.
Delhi pays special attention to the role of underwater missile systems, including those with nuclear warheads. Apparently, the Indians have already installed two airborne radar stations purchased from Jerusalem on balloons. These stations, for which $ 600 million were paid, allow monitoring the situation within a radius of 500 km from the coast. In the modern arms market, buyers set the tone. It is clear that Moscow does not want to hand over the huge Indian arms market to the wrong hands. India has purchased several Akula and Amur submarines from Russia. Interestingly, having acquired the far from modern aircraft carrier "Admiral Gorshkov" from Moscow, Delhi has planned the construction of an aircraft carrier and an air defense ship of its own production. The Indians cite the reasons for the reduction in military supplies from Russia to the unsatisfactory organization of transactions and the not always high quality of the offered goods. So, negotiations on the purchase of the aircraft carrier "Admiral Gorshkov" were conducted for so long that Delhi almost refused the deal. India believes that Moscow has ceased to view their country as a serious partner. According to the Institute for Strategic Studies at the US Army War College in Carline, Pennsylvania, the Indian government is developing a doctrine to further strengthen cooperation with Israel.
Indians have long regarded Jerusalem as a "natural ally" of any state opposing Islamist terror. Delhi is actively cooperating with Jerusalem in launching satellites equipped with reconnaissance equipment. Israeli satellites are usually launched by an Indian launch vehicle from the Sriharikota cosmodrome, located on the island of the same name, 100 kilometers from Madras. After the terrorist attacks in Mumbai (Bombay) carried out by a group of Pakistani Islamist militants on November 26-28, 2008, India is actively using spy satellites acquired from Israel.
Moreover, Indians and Israelis have created a single creative team at the Madras Institute of Technology, which is developing the creation of multipurpose military satellites based on projects of the Indian Space Research Agency.
WEAPONS OF NATIONALITY DOES NOT HAVE
India, worried about the growth of military power, primarily China, is seeking rapprochement not only with the United States. With Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, the Indian Navy is conducting joint maneuvers and patrols to protect communications from pirates and fight drug traffickers. India conducts regular naval exercises with the United States, Russia, France, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. At the same time, India is closely monitoring China's contacts with Myanmar, Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia.
Today Israel and Russia are the main suppliers of weapons and military equipment to India. But Delhi, wishing to protect itself from surprises, seeks to diversify the list of countries - arms suppliers. Therefore, the Indians are expanding their cooperation with the UK, the United States and France. Nevertheless, military cooperation with Jerusalem is actively expanding. In 2009, the Israel Defense Industry Concern pledged to build five artillery shell factories in the state of Bihar in northeastern India. The contract value is $ 240 million.
Indians buy the latest military technology from the Israelis. The relevant Israeli services have trained 3,000 Indian special forces soldiers in the suppression of riots and in urban combat. Employees of the Mossad (Israeli Foreign Intelligence Service), AMAN (Israeli Military Intelligence), SHABAK (General Security Service; actually counterintelligence) regularly conduct trainings for their Indian colleagues.
In the mid-50s of the last century, the melodrama film “Lord 420” was released in India, in which the famous Raj Kapoor played the main role of the poor tramp. This tape was also demonstrated in the Soviet Union. In that film, I remember an episode in which the main character, in spite of the rich man, who shouted that he had all the clothes and shoes of Indian production, proclaimed the exact opposite. The hero of Raj Kapoor shouted into the crowd: "I have Japanese shoes, English trousers, a Russian hat, but my soul is Indian." Not a word was said about weapons in Mister 420. But, if such a film was being filmed now, then the following phrase could be inserted into the lips of the hero: "An Indian, of course, has an Indian soul, but the weapon is Israeli!"
