US officials brief Indian team on Patriot missile system

US officials brief Indian team on Patriot missile system

NEW DELHI: American defence officials showcased the latest version of the Patriot missile defence system at classified briefings for their Indian counterparts, offering for sale military equipment made available to an exclusive club of countries, an official said on Friday.

The US offer to sell India the Patriot Advance Capability 3 missile system, also called PAC 3, as well as F-A/18 Hornet and F-16 fighter planes is the result of a sweeping alliance emerging between the two countries, whose relations were frosty during the Cold War.

“Outside of a handful of treaty allies, a few close allies ... (in all) only eight or 10 countries have been given this briefing so far,” Lt Gen Jeffrey Kohler, director of the Pentagon’s Defence Security Cooperation Agency, told a news conference.

India is a crucial new market for the United States. Kohler said it was his third visit in 10 months. One of Russia’s biggest military customers since the Soviet days, India has also bought hardware from Israel in recent years and is now exploring business with the United States. The US-made Patriot missile systems, designed to intercept and destroy incoming ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and enemy aircraft, are pitted against Russian and Israeli systems that are also being considered by India.

“The Patriot 3 system has very many capabilities against current threats, particularly against weapons of mass destruction,” Kohler said at the end of meetings this week.

Asked about comments by officials in Pakistan, who have publicly opposed the proposed Patriot sale, saying it will trigger an arms race in South Asia, Kohler said that “in my last visit to India and Pakistan, it wasn’t an issue.”

Officials from the US Air Force and navy, as well as US aircraft-makers Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin Corp have also attended the briefings, where electronic warfare systems, radars and night vision devices were also discussed, Kohler said.

Boeing and Lockheed officials held talks with officials of India’s state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to take forward plans to jointly produce multi-role fighter planes, he said. US military officials showed to their potential buyers images of “battle-damaged aircraft hit by missiles, that had made it back safely.” ap