``Our answer to Ghauri is Prithvi,'' Sareen said of Pakistan's test-firing of an IRBM this Monday. The 250-km range of the IAF's Prithvi-2 could cover most parts of Pakistan, he said. The missile is incidentally the star attraction at the defence exhibition.

India's missilery was far ahead of Pakistan's since the Prithvi was already productionised, whereas the Ghauri had only been test-fired, he said. It would be ten years before Pakistan's IRBM would enter the production stage.

At the moment India is using satellite images from `friendly countries' to ascertain the range and capabilities of Ghauri. ``We will have a clear picture of its range and capabilities within a week,'' the Air Force Chief said.

To offset this problem in the future, wewill shortly go in for an indigenous military reconnaissance satellite, he declared.

The military satellite would be used for gathering intelligence on tactical areas, tank and troop concentrations and data for missile targeting. He implied that India's remote sensing satellites like the IRS-1 did not have the kind of resolution to make them useful for military purposes.

Though the requirement for an indigenous military satellite has existed for over a decade, defence sources feel it could take another decade for this satellite to be launched.

An anti-ballistic missile system was very much on the IAF's priority list, Sareen said. The indigenous Rajendra radar and the Akash medium range missile would hopefully be inducted in the next two years, he said. Billed the `Indian Patriot' after the USA's Gulf War anti-missile system, the combination of this missile and radar are to form a protective umbrella against enemy missiles and aircraft.Meanwhile, a Qualitative requirement (QR) specifying the parametersof the military satellite to be used by the three services has been formulated. The project would be implemented in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation, he said.

Sareen also said the long-delayed indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) would fly in the next eight months, while a decision on buying the Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) would be taken `hopefully in the next few months.'

The first two Indian MiG-21s sent to Russia for upgradation, would fly in the next four months. Kits for upgrading the Indian MiGs had already arrived and the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd would soon commence the upgradation of around 100 MiG 21s, he said.