NEW DELHI, 28 February 2008 — India will jointly build a surface-to-air missile with its second biggest weapons supplier Israel and hopes for such collaborations with other countries, the defense minister said yesterday.

“A project has been finalized with (state-run) Israeli Aerospace Industry for the joint development of a futuristic long range surface-to-air missile,” Defense Minister A.K. Antony announced in Parliament.

He did not give details of the project but others said New Delhi earlier this month had approved the $625 million joint venture with the Jewish state to build the anti-aircraft missiles for the Indian Navy.

The announcement in Parliament came a day after India conducted its first test of a nuclear-capable missile from an undersea platform, completing its goal of having air, land and sea ballistic systems.

Antony said India’s ambitious missile development program launched in 1983 was nearing its completion following the successful trials and mass production of an array of ballistic and guided missiles.

“The country’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Program has not been abandoned, but it is now near completion,” Antony said.

“India has received a number of offers for the joint collaboration in various kinds of missiles from various countries,” Antony said without giving details.

India has co-built a supersonic cruise missile called BrahMos with its primary arms supplier Russia and is trying to export the weapon to other countries.

Antony meanwhile said India was giving up a project to locally build a short-range surface-to-air missile called Trishul (Trident). The project has been dogged by frequent failures during trials in the past few years.

The announcements came two months after India said it would test a ballistic missile with a range of 6,000 kilometers later this year.

India, which declared itself a nuclear-weapons state in 1998 following a series of atomic detonations, is also shopping for arms worth $30 billion to modernize its technology-starved military.

Defense Budget to Increase

India’s defense spending is likely to rise by between 8 and 10 percent in this year’s budget, not enough to please the armed forces, but enough for a gradual modernization of the world’s fourth-largest military, officials and analysts said.

India is emerging as one of the world’s biggest arms buyers, and is planning one of its biggest ever arms purchases, a $10 billion deal to buy 126 fighter jets. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in India trying to push American bids for that deal. But a painfully slow bureaucratic process means arms purchases will be gradual, not sudden.

Spending plans will also be tempered this year with the government expected to present a budget tomorrow with more money allocated for job creation schemes and health care ahead of elections due by next April. “We expect the defense allocation to be in line with inflation and will not be surprised if it is lower than 10 percent,” a senior defense official told Reuters yesterday. Consumer price inflation ran at 5.51 percent in 2007.

“The government seems set to present a people’s budget, but we expect it to continue the process of acquiring new weapons systems,” he said.