The cost of these deals makes a one-time purchase uneconomical. The biggest possible sign of despondence about Trishul however came in January this year. The Hyderabad-based Defence R&D Laboratory (DRDL), the very establishment that has brought the Trishul this far, entered into an agreement to develop the Barak-II with Israel, with the understanding that co-development will have technological spin-offs, ironically enough, for the Indian guided missile programme.

Like DRDO, Kalam pitched for Trishul

NEW DELHI: A P J Abdul Kalam, who was then Scientific Advisor to the PM, wrote to Fernandes in June 1999 expressing reservations on the proposed Barak purchase and arguing that the Trishul would be operational soon. Post-Kargil, Barak was dovetailed with Kargil purchases.