Kautilya

Wing Commander Dhami, serving for 15 years now, has been flying choppers. She became the first woman flying instructor of the Air Force and is also the first woman officer to get permanent commission of the flying branch. She took charge of a Chetak helipcopter unit at the Hindon Airbase in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. Chetak is a single engine turbo shaft, light utility helicopter with capacity of 6 passengers and has maximum speed of 220 km/hour.

Key to revising, and finalizing, export of the armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is the ongoing effort by the Indian Army and Air Force to define their requirements, and the parallel work by India’s MoD to ensure that the sophisticated drone systems can work with current service platforms and systems, says Ben Schwartz of the Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-India Business Council.

The supply of these weapons from Israel will happen around the time when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to visit India for a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The IAF had signed a contract with Israel in June for acquiring more than 100 Spice 2000 bombs under the emergency procurement powers of the services given by the Narendra Modi government.

The France-based Dassault Aviation, manufacturer of Rafale fighter jets, signed an agreement with the government-run ITI Nagpur last month for starting an ”Aeronautical Structure and Equipment Fitter” course at the institute. “The students will get training in the assembly of aerostructure, cockpit fitting, wings fitting and body structure fitting of Falcon and Rafale aircraft at the DRAL unit here,” ITI’s principal Hemant Aaware told PTI.