A government-to-government foreign military sales (FMS) request by India estimated at $1.87 billion for an Integrated Air Defense Weapon System (IADWS) has been granted approval by the U.S. State Department. A notification of the possible FMS deal was sent from the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) to Congress on February 7. The sale would involve two principal contractors: Raytheon and Norway’s Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace.
The IADWS package the State Department approved for India involves a mix of sensors, weapon systems, and support elements, including AN/MPQ-64FI Sentinel radar systems, AMRAAM AIM-120C-7/C-8 missiles, AMRAAAM Guidance Sections and Control Sections, Stinger FIM-92L missiles, and High Mobility Launchers.
JUST IN: The US @StateDept has authorised a possible $1.8 billion sale to India of an Integrated Air Defense Weapon System (IADWS) that includes AMRAAM & Stinger missiles. https://t.co/Y0xdwsox8B pic.twitter.com/lIdFF6bQ2n
— Livefist (@livefist) February 10, 2020
The proposed sale is intended to bolster India’s air defense capability while promoting greater interoperability with U.S. forces. If the proposed sale goes forward, the IADWS will form one tier of India’s larger air-defense network, with the Russian-built S-400 Triumf filling the outermost tier (high-altitude, long-range).
The IADWS – essentially a relabeled version of the NASAMS-II (National Advanced Surface to Air Missile Systems) – is intended to help provide air defense over the federal capital of New Delhi and eventually supplement the country’s indigenous two-tier ballistic missile defense (BMD) shield under development by the state-run Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). Government approval for procurement of the IADWS was granted in July 2018.
NASAMS. Image – Kongsberg
