NEW DELHI – India is working on a mega defence project to make the airspaceover almost all its major cities, including Delhi and Mumbai, virtuallyimpregnable, sources in the military establishment said.

The government is procuring a variety of air defence systems, includingmissiles, launchers and command-and-control units from the US, Russia andIsrael, besides deploying indigenously developed missiles as part of theproject, they said, NDTV has reported.

In the last few years, China has significantly ramped up its air power andsources said that the government was determined to equip the Indian AirForce with capabilities on par with its adversaries.

“Missile shield over the national capital and many other cities are beingstrengthened considering the evolving security scenario. Procurement ofmissile systems, radars and weaponry is part of the initiative,” a seniormilitary official said.

India is engaged in talks with the US for procuring components of airdefence systems, including missiles, radars and drones, and attackhelicopters. The US has already approved sale of 22 Sea Guardian drones toIndia at an estimated cost of USD 2 billion.

It is for the first time the US is selling the drones to a country which isnot a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Sources said India is also looking at the US’ National Advanced Surface toAir Missile System-II to bolster its own missile shield.

India is also procuring the S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems fromRussia at a cost of nearly Rs 40,000 crore to boost its air defencemechanism. The deal is likely to be signed by the two countries later thisyear.

“The aim of the project is to make our skyline impregnable,” the officialsaid.