Comments by "peabase" (@peabase) on "India aims to triple defense exports to $5 billion | DW News" video.

Million-dollar missiles? To be very exact, the Block II AIM-9X Sidewinder costs US$381,069.74. I bet the ones used against the balloons were nearing the end of their service life, so they'd been largely written off. FYI, India doesn't have any indigenous short-range air-to-air missiles. There's only the radar-homing beyond-visual-range Astra Mk 1, the price of which comes to about US$1,000,000. Hey, there's your million-dollar missile. Alas, not American, but Indian. Next time, try to know your stuff.
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@adityachauhan5781 The keyword here is indigenous, as in "Buy Indian". The I-Derby is "Buy Israeli". Moreover, it is a radar-homing BVR variant of the Python, which lands it in a higher price bracket than the IR-homing AIM-9X. You need to put more effort into your research.
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@adityachauhan5781 And I specifically mentioned "indigenous" in my comment, to which you replied. I included it because the OP suggested that there's a cheaper Indian substitute for the AIM-9X. No such luck.
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@diksh777 You may think so. In 1998, a RCAF fighter jet fired no less than 1,000 rounds at a rogue weather balloon, with no discernible effect. The balloon subsequently made its way across the Atlantic, all the way from Canada to Finland.
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You're comparing apples and oranges. It goes without saying that India's export opportunities are at the lower end of the market, which isn't of primary interest to the Western high-end manufacturers. There certainly are opportunities there for India, now that Russia struggles to replace it losses in Ukraine and finds itself cut off from machinery and components. But then again, China is targeting the same market segment. It will be dog eats dog.
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