NEW DELHI – India’s defense research agency is preparing to test its ballistic interceptor missile this week, the country’s top scientist says. The Advanced Air Defense (AAD) interceptor, capable of destroying any hostile ballistic missile at low altitude, will blast off from Wheeler Island in India’s eastern state of Odisha, says Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) Director General V.K. Saraswat.

The Indian government, which to date has received more questions than serious responses to its foreign direct investment (FDI) proposal, is considering consulting airline operators about amending the two-month-old policy. While private airlines, such as Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and SpiceJet, were elated at the government’s decision to open FDI, no foreign airline has shown any genuine interest or approached the government with a proposal, a civil ministry official said.

NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) is likely to start taking delivery of 512 CBU-105 sensor fuzed weapons (SFW) made by Textron Defense Systems in the first half of 2013, a defense ministry official says. Under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales deal, Textron will deliver the SFWs to the U.S. Air Force, which in turn will give them to the IAF, the official says. The SFW will be mounted on the IAF’s Jaguar fighters, and Textron will work closely with state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. to integrate the weapons, the official says.