Another Garuda Turn for the Better

Indonesia and India are arguing over whether India had notam'd its Agni-III missile test on Thursday 12th April. India maintains that it did, however it apparently came as quite a surprise to the captain of a Garuda 747-400 headed for Jeddah Saudi Arabia. He and his 413 pilgrims turned back to Jakarta once told by Indian ATC that they were headed into the promulgated missile impact area. After cooling their heels on the ground in Jakarta for 7 hours, the pilgrimage recommenced. However another Garuda 747, planned to Riyadh, was also held back on the ground. Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kristianto Legowo is adamant that the usual notice and proper notification of such tests had not been made to Indonesian aviation authorities via IATA, the International Air Transport Association nor ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Association. India's 1900 mile range Agni-III was fired on schedule from Wheeler Island off the Eastern Indian State of Orissa. Delhi is insistent that a Notice to Aviators and Mariners was issued a week prior to the test. Aviation officials were told "about the launch window date, danger time, zone and height," Delhi spokesman Navtej Sarna said, and had been advised to "issue notices to aviators and mariners." However Garuda Indonesia Operations Director Ari Sapari was quoted in the Jakarta Post as saying that ``there was no prior information about the test.'' An Air India Express flight bound for Chennai via Tiruchirappalli also returned to Singapore following the missile test. The flight was well on its way when defence officials advised the pilot to take a diversion for safety reasons in view of the Agni test. The pilot then contacted the air traffic authorities in Colombo, the nearest airport, but was refused permission to land.

Seemingly lost in the miasmic mania of counter-accusations are the portents of India's successful test of their two-stage solid-fuelled rocket. It is a planned step towards upgrade of their Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile System to a true 300 kiloton Intercontinental Ballistic Missile System (ICBM) and a submarine-launched ballistic missile. While Thursday's maiden test carried a 1.5 ton dummy warhead, India's current 200 kT yield thermonuclear warhead is much lighter at around 400 kg. Hence, some experts have speculated that Agni III can very well venture into the ICBM range (5000+ km) with a sub-ton warhead.