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Recently, Russia has successfully placed into orbit a military satellite. The satellite is believed to be a Tundra Satellite, part of Russia’s early warning anti-missile system named Kupol or dome.
Important points:
- Tundra satellite system is a constellation of Missile Early Warning Satellites established by Russia between 2015 and 2020.
- It carries a secure emergency communications payload to be used in case of a nuclear war.
- It is a series of satellites that are the next generation of Russian early warning satellites to replace the early warning satellites of the Oko-1 system.
- This final Oko (Eye) satellite (missile defence early warning program) reportedly stopped operating in mid 2014, leaving Russia relying on ground-based missile detection systems.
- They are part of the EKS or Unified Space System (USS-Also sometimes referred as Kupol or dome), which will also include several satellites in geostationary orbit.
- Unveiled in 2019, Kupol is designed to detect launches of ballistic missiles and track them to their landing site, though its exact configuration is unknown.
Anti-Missile Defence Systems With India:
- India has S-400 TRIUMF, which also caters to the three threats (rockets, missiles and cruise missiles). But they have a much longer range.
- It has a much larger air defence bubble to knock off threats.
- It is a mobile, surface-to-air missile system (SAM) designed by Russia.
- The system can engage all types of aerial targets within the range of 400km, at an altitude of up to 30km.
- The system can track 100 airborne targets and engage six of them simultaneously.
Ashwin Advanced Air Defence Interceptor Missile:
- It is also an indigenously produced Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor missile developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
- It is the advanced version of the low altitude supersonic ballistic interceptor missile.
- The missile also has its own mobile launcher, secure data link for interception, independent tracking and homing capabilities and sophisticated radars.
- It uses an endo-spheric (within the Earth’s atmosphere) interceptor that knocks out ballistic missiles at a maximum altitude of 60,000 to 100,000 feet, and across a range between 90 and 125 miles.
SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT
