India has developed missile defence shield which can be put in place at short notice to protect at least two cities, bringing the country on par with an elite group of few nations.

The shield, developed by Defence Research Development Organisation has been tested successfully. With this an incoming ballistic missile with the range of up to 2,000 kms can be destroyed.

Talking to PTI in New Delhi, DRDO chief V K Saraswat said the Ballistic Missile Defence shield is now mature and are ready to put phase one in place and it can be put in very short time. He said the system is to be upgraded to the range of 5,000 kms by 2016.

The DRDO used variants of Prithvi missiles as simulated targets and successfully intercepted missiles in test-firings. Mr. Saraswat said all the elements such as long-range radars and tracking devices, real-time data link and mission control system required for the missile system have been realised successfully.

Under the phase two of the project, the premier defence research agency would upgrade the system to handle ballistic missiles with range of 5,000 km.