Chinese hacking into top army personnel's e-mails

October 19, 2007 13:20 IST

Terrorism in India is a growing concern. And while the security agencies are busy dealing with this problem, another headache has cropped up in the form of hackers hacking into sensitive information such as military data and also e-mails of key persons in the government.

Sources in the National Informatics Centre say they have been getting reports regarding this issue and are doing everything in the book to secure the system.

An official in the NIC said they had managed to track down the IP addresses of the hackers and preliminary investigations revealed that it could be the handiwork of some Chinese people.

Reports state the cyber attacks, which are being mounted from dial Internet connections, allegedly from China mainly targeted the e-mails of ministers and top army officials.

Sources say the e-mails contained sensitive material regarding national security.

Sources in the cyber crime wing say that a lot of damage could have been done as reports suggested that Indian servers were targeted at least thrice a day. Sources also add that at least 200 e-mails of ministers were targeted by the hackers.

Key information that could have been exposed: An officer in the cyber crime cell on condition of anonymity said that the information that the hackers were trying to target mainly concerned defence deals that India was entering into with other countries.

This included the purchase of weapons, future plans and also military strategy. However, only the minor deals and details have been targeted while the major ones remain secure, officials say.

This is largely because India is not as tech savvy as compared to the other nations. There is still a lot of file and paper-work going on here, when it comes to the larger deals.

There are still some in the government who consider file and paper documentation as a safer measure.

The government at present not only has the headache of rectifying the flaws, but will also have to make slight changes in previous defence deals.

Why China? Although none in the government want to officially confirm that the hackers are based in China, cyber crime cell officials say that the IP addresses has been tracked down to China.

They do not rule out the possibility of these hackers having government support as unlike in India, IP addresses are allotted to each person in China by the government itself.

China has been in the eye of storm in past too when the US, Germany [Images] and UK too blamed them for hacking.

Sources say that this could be part of a larger business strategy by the Chinese who are trying to make an entry into the software market.

It is said that China intends exposing the weak security system present in these countries so that they could pump in security based products into these markets.

However, the Indian intelligence is not taking this lightly and feels that it could be a larger design rather than just a marketing gimmick.

The IB says another motive could be to cripple the systems in the Indian government.

This almost amounts to cyber terrorism, the IB says.

It sure has come as a shock to the Indian government. Director General of NIC B K Gairola says that the situation has been brought under control and an effective mechanism is in place.

He said there was no need to panic as sensitive data had not been lost.

C K Swaminathan, an expert on the subject of cyber crime, says there is no point in playing the blame game at the moment.

India should thank its stars that no major information has gone out.

At present there is a secure system in place, claim the officials. But that does not mean that we can take matters lying down.

There is every chance of the hackers attacking our systems once again in the future.

A dedicated team ought to be put on the job to continuously monitor the security of our systems, Swaminathan also added.

Wait over, IAF’s advanced jet trainers to arrive next month

New Delhi, October 17: More than two decades after the Indian Air Force (IAF) asked for an advanced jet trainer aircraft to curb pilot losses and bridge a crucial gap in its fighter training programme, the first batch of two BAE Hawk trainer aircraft are scheduled to arrive in the country next month.

While more than 60 Indian pilots have already been trained on the Advanced Jet Trainers (AJT) at the RAF Valley in Wales, the first two aircraft to be based at the IAF Flying School at Bidar airbase will arrive next month after a 12-day ferry flight from the UK.

“A lot of things have to be organised but the target date of leaving of the first two is November 7. Depending on various factors, six aircraft should be arriving in India by the year-end,” Guy Douglas, Head of Communications, Middle East & India, BAE Systems, confirmed.

The Bidar airbase, which currently houses the Kiran Mk II trainers, has been upgraded to receive the new aircraft. “New infrastructure, like a special tarmac, a new hangar and parking bay has been set up at the airbase. The runway has also been extended to facilitate training,” an IAF officer said. He added that a formal induction ceremony would be conducted later this year at the airbase.

India had ordered 66 trainers from BAE—24 will come in a ready to fly configuration while Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will manufacture the rest at Bangalore.

The AJT’s will bridge a crucial gap in the third stage of the IAF’s fighter training programme by replacing the accident-prone MiG 21 FL aircraft that were phased out last month. The MiG 21 had the reputation of being a very unforgiving aircraft with an extremely low margin for error that was unsuitable for training.

Like most defence procurements, the AJT deal has faced numerous complications, delays and promises of indigenous development. IAF first floated its requirement for the aircraft in 1985 but the programme went into a deep freeze till 1999 when two vendors—BAE and Dassault— were short-listed.
However, the contract was finalised by the NDA Government only in 2003 after public criticism on the increasing number of accidents involving the MiG 21s that were being used in a training role.

Army wants its own air force, IAF fumes

NEW DELHI: The IAF may be fuming but the Army is hell bent on acquiring its own air force, with even attack helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, in the coming years.

Holding that the impending acquisition of 197 light helicopters to replace the ageing Cheetah and Chetak fleets in the fledgling Army Aviation Corps (AAC) is just the beginning, defence ministry sources said Army had projected "concrete" requirements for the 11th (2007-2012), 12th and 13th Five-Year Plans.

While IAF will continue to have its "strategic role", the Army wants its own air force for "tactical" roles. As per plans, AAC wants to have a mix of reconnaissance, utility, tactical battle-support, armed and attack helicopters as well as tactical airlift fixed-wing aircraft.

IAF, of course, is aghast at all this. Senior IAF officers contend that "air assets" are "scarce resources" which should not be frittered away by a force (read Army) which lacks "air mindedness".

But the 1.13-million strong Army holds that IAF does not fully understand concepts like "close air support" for its troops on the battlefield, which incidentally led to bitter arguments between the two forces during the 1999 Kargil conflict.

The Army obviously wants "full command and control" over "tactical air assets" for rapid deployment as per its needs. The plan is to have aviation brigades "integral" to its six regional commands, with at least a squadron of utility helicopters with each of the 13 corps.

The three "strike" corps, the principle offensive formations of Army with HQs at Mathura (1 Corps), Ambala (2 Corps) and Bhopal (21), will get much more.

They will each have two squadrons of attack helicopters, one utility helicopter squadron and two reconnaissance and observation squadrons.

At present, the main focus is on the induction of the 197 light helicopters, which will be procured from a foreign manufacturer at a cost of over $600 million.

Primarily meant for operations in mountains and high-altitude areas like Siachen, 67 of these helicopters will be bought off-the-shelf, while the rest will be manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd under transfer of technology.
The Army is also looking for around 80 medium-lift utility helicopters like the Russian Mi-17V-5s, which can swiftly react and transport 20-25 fully-equipped soldiers to the combat zone.

Next on the list is progressive induction of the indigenously manufactured 'Dhruv' advanced light helicopters. The AAC already has three Dhruv squadrons, with three more planned for induction in the 11th Plan and the seventh one in the 12th Plan.

The AAC is also gearing up to induct "armed" Dhruvs, with the "weaponisation" of these helicopters already underway and the delivery target being set for 2009-2010.

The aim is to induct six such squadrons for anti-tank and close air support operations. Full-fledged "attack" helicopters, in turn, are planned for the 12th Plan to provide "dedicated support" to mechanised forces with tanks and infantry combat vehicles.

timesOfIndia

" Father of all bombs "

"Father of All Bombs" is the nickname of a Russian-made air-delivered thermobaric weapon that is claimed to be four times more powerful than the U.S. military's GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb (MOAB or the "mother of all bombs"), making it the most powerful publicly-known conventional (non-nuclear) weapon in the world. It was successfully field-tested in the late evening of September 11, 2007, when it was apparently dropped from a Tupolev Tu-160 heavy bomber with a parachute and exploded. Defense analysts question both the yield of the bomb and whether it could be deployed by a Tupolev bomber. Photos and video of the bomb suggest that it is designed to be deployed out of the back of a slow moving cargo plane, and bomb-test video released by the Russians never shows both the bomb and the Tupolev bomber in the same camera shot.

Russia says the weapon yields the equivalent of 44 tons of TNT using 7.8 tons of a new type of high explosive, claimed to be created applying "nanotechnology". In comparison, the MOAB produces the equivalent of 11 tons of TNT from 8 tons of high explosive. The blast radius of 300 m is twice as large as the MOAB.

Although its effect has been compared to that of a nuclear weapon, it is comparable only to the lowest yield settings of the lowest yield nuclear weapons. The M-388 Davy Crockett, one of the smallest nuclear devices deployed, had a selectable yield between 10-20 tons of TNT (smaller than the FOAB) to up to 500 tons of TNT (over ten times larger than the FOAB). The FOAB only has around 0.3 percent of the power of the atomic bomb used against Hiroshima (a yield of 13 kilotons of TNT), which itself is considerably smaller than most modern nuclear weapons (which are usually measured in the hundreds of kilotons range, upwards into the megaton range).

Thermobaric Explosive

Volumetric weapons include thermobaric and fuel-air explosives (FAE). Both thermobaric and FAE operate on similar technical principles. In the case of FAE, when a shell or projectile containing a fuel in the form of gas, liquid or dustexplodes, the fuel or dust like material is introduced into the air to form acloud. This cloud is then detonated to create a shock wave of extended duration that produces overpressure and expands in all directions. In a thermobaric weapon, the fuel consists of a monopropellant and energetic particles. The monopropellant detonates in a manner simular to TNT while the particles burn rapidly in the surrounding air later in time, resulting an intense fireball and high blast overpressure. The term "thermobaric" is derived from the effects of temperature (the Greek word "therme" means "heat") and pressure (the Greek word "baros" means "pressure") on the target.

Thermobaric munitions have been used by many nations of the world and their proliferation is an indication of how effectively these weapons can be used in urban and complex terrain. The ability of thermobaric weapons to provide massed heat and pressure effects at a single point in time cannot be reproduced by conventional weapons without massive collateral destruction. Thermobaric weapon technologies provide the commander a new choice in protecting the force, and a new offensive weapon that can be used in a mounted or dismounted mode against complex environments.

The USAF and USN are actively pursuing conventional weapons technology to destroy Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) and support/storage facilities while retaining or destroying the agents within the structure and minimizing collateral damage including fatalities. Thermobaric weapons use high-temperature incendiaries against chemical and biological facilities. The USN is working on an Inter-Halogen Oxidizer weapon while the USAF is pursuing a solid fuel-air explosive using aluminum particles. Both of these weapons use an incineration technique to defeat and destroy the CB agents within the blast area.

The Thermobaric Weapon Demonstration is a proposed Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD). Under this program, prototype weapons are to be tested under operational conditions for their performance, and leave-behinds are to be delivered to the customer. The program aims to develop a validated means of delivery to/into a tunnel adit [entrance]. Technical risks include the extent to which candidate thermobaric payloads do not perform substantially better than existing high explosives in tunnels.

The Thermobaric [TB] Weapon Demonstration will develop a weapon concept that is based on a new class of solid fuel-air explosive thermobarics.The weapon could be used against a certain type of tunnel targets for a maximum functional kill of the tunnels.

Most of the Hard and/or Deeply Buried Targets (HDBTs), namely tunnels in rock, are so deep that the developmental and current inventory weapons cannot penetrate to sufficient depths to directly destroy critical assets. One of the warfighter's options is to attack the tunnel portals with weapons that penetrate the thinner layer of rock above the portal, or though the exterior doors, resulting in a detonation within the tunnel system. Penetrations through the door systems have the potential to place the warheads deep within the facility. Detonations within a tunnel, even only in a few diameters, have a significant increase in airblast propagation into the facility compared to external detonations. Tunnel layouts range from long, straight tunnels to various types of intersections, expansions, constrictions, chambers, rooms, alcoves, and multiple levels. All of these configurations affect the propagation of airblast.

Air blast propagation within a tunnel system has the potential to cause significant damage to critical equipment and systems. If the critical equipment within a facility can be damaged or destroyed, then the function of the facility can be degraded or destroyed, resulting in a functional kill. Depending on the purpose of the facility and the level of damage, a functional kill can be as permanent as a "structural kill," in which the facility is destroyed in a more traditional manner.

Functional kill from air blast loads is predicated on the ability to accurately determine the blast environment from an internal detonation. The response of critical equipment cannot be calculated without accurate blast loads. Unlike free-field blast loads, a detonation within a tunnel system can have a significant dynamic pressure component. This dynamic pressure component, in conjunction with the overpressure component, makes up the entire pressure-loading history necessary to predict component response.

Thermobaric compositions are fuel rich high explosives that are enhanced through aerobic combustion in the third detonation event. Performance enhancement is primarily achieved by addition of excess metals to the explosive composition. Aluminum and Magnesium are the primary metals of choice. The detonation of Composite Explosives can be viewed as three discrete events merged together. All three explosive events can be tailored to meet system performance needs:

1. The initial anaerobic detonation reaction, microseconds in duration, is primarily a redox reaction of molecular species. The initial detonation reaction defines the system’s high pressure performance characteristics: armor penetrating ability.
2. The post detonation anaerobic combustion reaction, hundreds of microseconds in duration, is primarily a combustion of fuel particles too large for combustion in the initial detonation wave. The post detonation anaerobic reaction define the system’s intermediate pressure performance characteristics: Wall/Bunker Breaching Capability.
3. The post detonation aerobic combustion reaction, milliseconds in duration, is the combustion of fuel rich species as the shock wave mixes with surrounding air. The post detonation aerobic reaction characteristics define the system’s personnel / material defeat capability: Impulse and Thermal Delivery. Aerobic combustion requires mixing with sufficient air to combust excess fuels. The shock wave pressures are less than 10 atmospheres. The majority of aerobic combustion energy is available as heat. Some low pressure shock wave enhancement can also be expected for personnel defeat. Personnel / material defeat with minimum collateral structure damage requires maximum aerobic enhancement and the highest energy practical fuel additives: Boron, Aluminum, Silicon, Titanium, Magnesium, Zirconium, Carbon, or Hydrocarbons.

Thermobaric materials can provide significantly higher total energy output than conventional high explosives. The majority of the additional energy is available as low pressure impulse and heat.

Unending terror: Old errors still repeated

AFTER the recent reprehensible twin-blasts in Hyderabad there has been a far more comprehensive and candid discussion than before on the apparently endless scourge of terrorism targeting this country. But what good would be this Niagara of words if it also goes the way of the previous outpourings of outrage following similar dastardly acts? In almost all analyses of the carnage at the Hyderabad park named after the Buddha’s birthplace, there is one common thread: investigating agencies and their political masters are “clueless” about all the numbingly vicious terrorist acts such as last year’s serial blasts on Mumbai’s suburban trains, to go no farther back than that.
Against this bleak backdrop, it is a small mercy that for the first time, the Union Government has shown a willingness, albeit gingerly and tentatively, to have a central agency to investigate federal crimes. “Let the concept floated … not be brushed aside. Let it be carefully looked into”, said Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil. For a country that, next only to Iraq, is the worst victim of terrorism, this is a rather curious approach. India remains the only country of its size and awesome internal security threats without an appropriate instrument to combat them, largely because of the states’ “sensitivities” about their “rights”. Ironically, the Group of Ministers that oversaw the implementation of the Kargil Committee’s report had, in February 2001, rooted for such an agency, but nothing happened.
The only mechanism to “coordinate” such stray counter-terrorism measures the state governments take is a committee, headed by the Union Home Secretary and consisting of Home Secretaries of all states. It meets once in a blue moon because these overworked officials can barely cope with the daily avalanche of crises in their respective domains. Why is this function not devolved on their deputies, with a duty constantly to report to the “principals”, as is customary elsewhere? No wonder the country lacks a coherent nationwide strategy to cope with a problem that is literally a matter of life and death for it. In any case, state governments cannot possibly deal with the diabolical involvement of Pakistan and Bangladesh in the vile acts of terrorism across India.
From all accounts, the Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HUJI) has been the principal perpetrator of the Hyderabad horror. At present largely based in Bangladesh and closely linked with Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Tayyba, Jaish-e-Mohammed et al, under the benign patronage of the ISI, it was born in Pakistan. The prime accused in this case, Bilal, originally belonging to Hyderabad, is known to be in Karachi. But, as in the case of the Mafia super-don, Dawood Ibrahim, Islamabad blandly denies Bilal’s presence on Pakistan soil. About the two other accused reportedly arrested in Bangladesh Dhaka remains coy.
After Andhra Chief Minister Y.S.R. Reddy’s doleful confession that the state government does not have the wherewithal to combat terrorism, especially that of foreign provenance, isn’t it time to appoint a committee of state chief ministers to recommend how best to defeat terrorism, together with accompanying crimes of smuggling of weapons, RDX and narcotics; circulation of counterfeit currency, money laundering and hawala; illegal immigration and so on?
The multiplicity of the brands of terrorism afflicting India is staggering. Apart from jihadi terrorism, there is the Naxalite terrorism that is, in fact, the most widespread and apparently the most immune from official counter-action. In the Northeast, a rash of ethnic terrorism has gone on longer than anyone can remember, and the horror of horrors is that the crimes of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), which is of relatively recent origin, hardly register themselves in the capital’s corridors of power.
However, it is the jihadi terrorism that understandably has become the most tormenting. Doubtless, the matter is delicate for it involves religion and arouses conflicting passions. Few are therefore prepared to discuss it objectively. Political correctness (or is it political calculation?) comes in the way. Polarisation of the polity worsens the situation. The BJP’s refrain of the Congress being “soft” on terror because of the “vote bank politics” is matched by the Congress’ counter-charge of the saffron party’s “communal and divisive agenda”. Each of them carries conviction only to the already converted.
Let there be no reluctance to recognise that there is some local support for foreign-inspired jihadis but only from a very small fraction of the minority community. Yet, Hindutva hotheads blandly blame almost all Indian Muslims, numbering nearly 150 million, which is not a digestible digit. Not many leaders of the Muslim community or organisations, for their part, take a strong enough stand against the merchants of terror, hate and murder. To play partisan politics with the grave problem and doing nothing even to comprehend all its ramifications is surely an invitation to disaster.
Come to think of it, in the ultimate analysis, jihadi terrorism, with its global reach, is a manifestation of the fight within Islam — between moderates on the one hand and the extremists on the other. The struggle is complicated by the bitter Shia-Sunni divide. Modernity is the only route to making any community moderate and enlightened. But how does one modernise those a huge majority of whom is abysmally poor, woefully uneducated and lives in festering ghettos?
At the same time, prompt, drastic and effective action has to be taken to prevent terrorism to the extent possible and punish it when necessary. Examples of other countries might be worth studying and following. The humongous surveillance and security measures the United States has adopted have doubtless made life difficult for visitors and citizens alike. But that country has so far averted any terror attack after 9/11. Britain has demonstrated that closed circuit TV and other advanced technology, if properly utilised, can be of great help in detecting and deterring the potential troublemakers.
Sadly, this is precisely where our worst and totally unpardonable weakness comes in. It is, to put it bluntly, the incredible incompetence and limitless corruption that have made the nearly entire Indian administrative system, not just the police, dysfunctional. At a time when indiscipline by MPs disrupts Parliament on most days, and measly cheques issued from the Prime Minister’s Rs.3,750–crore Vidarbha “package” continue to “bounce”, what else can you expect? It is unrealistic to believe that while governance in all other areas has gone to the dogs, any counter-terrorism agency to be set up on some distant date would be a paragon of efficiency, competence and integrity.

Article published in
The Tribunal
News magazine

India defence looks to ancient text

By Shaikh Azizur Rahman in Bombay

Indian scientists are turning to an ancient Hindu text in their search for the secrets of effective stealth warfare.

(We) do not for a moment think that the idea is crazy

Professor SV Bhavasar

They believe the book, the Arthashastra, written more than 2,300 years ago, will give Indian troops the edge on their enemies.

India's Defence Minister George Fernandes has approved funding for the project, and told parliament recently that experiments had begun.

The research is being carried out by experts from the Defence Research and Development Organisation and scientists from the University of Pune and National Institute of Virology in western India.

The book includes the recipe for a single meal that will keep a soldier fighting for a month, methods of inducing madness in the enemy as well as advice on chemical and biological warfare.

Powders and remedies

The book was written by military strategist Kautilya, also known as Chanakya and Vishnugupta, a prime minister in the court of India's first emperor Chandragupta Maurya, in the fourth century BC.

The author was an adviser to India's first emperor

"All of us are excited about the possibilities and do not for a moment think that the idea is crazy," said Professor SV Bhavasar, a space scientist who has spent many years researching the Arthashastra.

"Decoding ancient texts is not an easy task but we are very hopeful of success," he added.

According to a Pune University report, the book says that soldiers fed with a single meal of special herbs, milk and clarified butter can stay without food for an entire month.

Shoes made of camel skin smeared with a serum made from the flesh of owls and vultures can help soldiers walk hundreds of miles during a war without feeling tired.

A powder made from fireflies and the eyes of wild boar can endow soldiers with night vision.

Chemical warfare

Kautilya wrote in the Arthashastra that a ruler could use any means to attain his goal, and Book XIV touches on aspects of chemical and biological warfare.

Scientists say the text can help in modern warfare

The book says that smoke from burning a powder made from the skin and excreta of certain reptiles, animals and birds can cause madness and blindness in the enemy.

The book also provides the formula to create a lethal smoke by burning certain species of snakes, insects and plant seeds in makeshift laboratories.

"Our focus at present is on how humans can control hunger for longer durations and walk for longer period without experiencing fatigue,

Project leader Dr VS Ghole, head of the environmental engineering department of Pune university, said the team was now focusing on the methods of controlling hunger and increasing stamina.

"Once we have made some headway we will go into researching Kautilya's notes on night vision and other fields," he said.

Professor SV Bhavasar said the team also had plans to research other ancient Hindu texts.

These include manuscripts which "claim to provide secrets of manufacturing planes which can not be destroyed by any external force, could be motionless in the sky and even invisible to enemy planes."

RAISING THE FIRST PRITHVI MISSILE UNIT

Prithvi Missile productionisation was concurrent. Post the first flight of the Prithvi, around 1988 – 90, the customer, an Indian Army unit for Prithvi was posted to Hyderabad. The officer commanding was Colonel Kumar. As with all new projects, the first task for the Colonel was to figure out the accommodation for the unit. The Prithvi team headed by Dr. VK Saraswat, were busy accommodating the army team, from kitchen needs to the tents. The unit was next shifted to premises of Bharat Dynamics Ltd, the production agency. Saraswat was still the nodal point.

The Colonel was very demanding, training, user documentation, progress on hardware, readiness of the ground systems, workshops, maintenance and their pound of flesh, i.e., Prithvi missiles in required numbers.

India Signs 40 Su-30 MKI contract, says Russian Paper

A Russian business news sources “Vedomosti” reports that on 10 Oct, 2007 (Wednesday), Rosoboronexport and HAL signed a contract to supply India for 40 Air Force fighter aircraft Su-30MKI machinery worth more than 1.6 billion dollors, reported the newspaper “Vedomosti” with a reference to the source in the government of the Russian Federation. Vedomosti mentions that the source is close to the Ministry of Defense.

The “Rosoboronexport ” and corporation “Irkut”, at Irkutsk plant which they will manufacture these planes before their final assembling in India at plant HAL, categorically refused to comment.

Iran presents Ghadr - a 'new' ballistic missile

Iran has presented what it claims is a new medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM), dubbed Ghadr-1 (Power-1), with a declared range of 1,800 km.

However, experts examining the footage of the 22 September parade in Tehran where the missile was being displayed say that it appears identical to a previously shown Shahab 3 MRBM variant. The annual parade, which commemorates the anniversary of the beginning of Iran's 1980-88 war with Iraq, has been used to present weapons developed by Iran. The official announcer said that the new missile's range - 1,800 km - is "sufficient to put US bases in the Middle East and Israel within its reach".

Uzi Rubin, former director of Israel's Ballistic Missile Defence Organisation, said: "It appears to be the same Shahab 3, with a 'baby bottle'-shaped re-entry vehicle [RV], which appeared in the 2004 parade and was then claimed to have a range of 2,000 km. The pictures indicate no justification for announcing a new missile."

Other defence sources also affirmed that they do not recognise any new missile. The older Shahab 3 variant, with a conical, 'dunce cap'-shaped RV, was claimed this time to have a range of 1,300 km. "Since they have already claimed to have a Shahab missile with 2,000 km range, I don't see the rationale of declaring a new missile for 1,800 km," said Rubin.

India increases spending to replace old weapons

India has increased its defence spending by about 13% to Rs620 billion ($13.3 billion) for Fiscal Year 2001-02 (FY01-02) to enable it to replace obsolete weapon systems and build a credible nuclear deterrent based on a triad of aircraft, mobile-based missiles and sea-based assets.

When adjusted against inflation, the real increase in spending is about 7.9%. The defence budget is 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP). Pakistan's defence budget is 2.8% of GDP, while that of China is estimated at around 3% of GDP.

"The increased provision is to meet enhanced expenditure on pay and allowances and modernisation of defence forces," the Ministry of Finance said in its budget document.

Departing from previous budget presentations, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha made no reference to defence expenditure in his speech to parliament. Local analysts interpreted this as an effort to avoid fears of an arms race.

However, India's nuclear rival Pakistan reacted sharply to India's increased defence spending, saying it would upset South Asia's military balance. "The massive acquisition of armaments by India is a cause for concern for Pakistan as the bulk of its army is deployed along our border," said a Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman.

Indian defence officials said around a third of the budget will be spent on equipment programmes. The Indian Air Force (IAF) will receive Rs151.72 billion, or 24.% of the total budget. Officials said the increase in the IAF's capital outlay from Rs19.91 billion last year to Rs49.45 billion is for the purchase of aircraft and engines and indicates the purchase of 66 BAE Systems Hawk advanced jet trainers is likely to be finalised soon

Later this year the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is to begin upgrading its first of 125 MiG-21bis (NATO reporting name: 'Fishbed') fighters with Russian, French and Israeli help in a project expected to cost $500 million-$700 million. The IAF is also negotiating mid-life upgrades for its MiG-27M ('Flogger-J'), MiG-29 ('Fulcrum'), SEPECAT Jaguar and Dassault Aviation Mirage 2000H fighters. The Mirage will form part of India's nuclear deterrent

The army receives Rs374.98 billion in the budget - 60.4% of the funds - a minimal increase over last year, to enable it to close negotiations with Israel for unmanned air vehicles and to acquire artillery-locating radar and surveillance devices for use along the border with China and Pakistan.

The Indian Navy (IN) has been allocated Rs91.38 billion, or around 14.7% of the budget. The service is finalising the acquisition of the Admiral Gorshkov, the 44,500-tonne former Soviet carrier for the price of its refit estimated at around $700 million. More than 40 carrier-based MiG-29K fighters are expected to cost an additional $1.2 billion. The IN has also opened negotiations with France for six submarines, is planning to lease a Russian nuclear-powered submarine and is awaiting government approval to revive its own submarine-building facilities.

There is no specific indication in the budget statement of expenditure on India's nuclear deterrent, estimated to be $500 million annually in recent years. Local defence analysts said it had been "cleverly hidden". However, official sources said one indication could be the capital expenditure of Rs82.46 billion on unspecified "other equipment" for the services, with the army getting Rs47.36 billion.

In January India successfully test-fired its Agni II intermediate-range ballistic missile. Officials said the nuclear missile would likely be introduced into service later this year. India is also developing the 3,500km-range Agni III

The allocation for ordnance factories has been increased nearly five times to Rs11.82 billion, signalling a move to increase self-sufficiency and improve the output of India's sluggish defence industry. The government will spend Rs9.16 billion on research and development, an increase of Rs915 million.

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