By Xinhua,
New Delhi : The Indian Air Force will soon have its independent surveillance satellite in space in a year’s time, said the Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major on Friday.
“We will launch our satellite by the end of 2010,” said Major in Bangalore city in the south Indian state of Karnataka, where an air show was being held.
The Indian Space Research Organization will help launch the satellite which will facilitate the Air Force to position its aerial and ground assets and targets, apart from gathering navigational information, said Air Force sources.
With strength of approximately 170,000 personnel, 1,130 combat and 1,700 non-combat aircraft in active service, the Indian Air Force, the air arm of the country’s armed forces, is the world’s fourth largest.