United States missile experts on Thursday said India, like NATO and Japan, should become a development partner in the American missile defence system that was far superior to any other such system.

Peter J Mantle and Dennis Dale Cavin said Japan had become a co-producing partner in the Patriot PAC III anti-missile shield and would start receiving missile batteries by 2010.

"Our government has made a classified presentation on the system to India and we as the industry were eager to follow through on it to explore possibilities of a government-to-government agreement," Cavin told PTI.

"We look forward to India also joining as the co-partner in development of the missile shield," top missile executive of the Lockheed-Martin said.

Taking part in a Roundtable discussion on 'Making decision on missile defence' organised by the Observer Research Foundation here in which Indian defence scientists also took part, the experts said India was facing a serious threat from short-range missiles and the government would have to take a decision on anti-missile defence.

Mantle, an eminent American missile expert, said in taking a decision on a missile defence system, the government would have to choose which areas had to be covered by the anti-missile shield.

"It would have to be government and military nerve centre, nuclear power plants and centres of economic growth generations", he said.

"In US, topmost priority in missile defence is given to military command and control centres along with government seats of power," Mantle said, arguing that as the system was very expensive its installation had to be graded.

He said to counter threat from short-range missiles, which gave very little reaction time, it was essential to counter them by a very high speed anti-missile and the Patriot PAC III system has these capabilities.

Mantle said American scientists were currently working on developing a multi-purpose missile defence system that could tackle the threat not only from land-based missiles, but also ship and submarine launched missiles as well as cruise missile and salvos fired from UAVs.

The American missile experts said that to contend with threats from Pakistan and China, India would need a system combining the high speed PAC III and THAD systems.

Former Army Chief Gen V P Malik and former Director General of Artillery Lt Gen R S Nagra said notwithstanding the recent success of the DRDO interceptor missile, India would have to take a quick decision on going for the ballistic missile defence system.