Defense

The UAE-based small arms manufacturer Caracal on Monday stated they are committed to the ‘Make in India initiative to fast-track the supply of 93,895 CAR 816 assault rifles. The company was selected by the Indian Ministry of Defence in 2018 to supply assault rifles to Indian Army.

In yet another first in the history of Indian naval aviation, two women officers have been selected to join as “Observers” (Airborne Tacticians) in the helicopter stream. They would in effect, be the first set of women airborne combatants who would be operating from warships. Earlier, entry of women was restricted to the fixed wing aircraft that took off and landed ashore.

In a major boost for Indian armed forces, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Tuesday (September 22) conducted the successful flight test of ABHYAS–High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT). The flight test was done from the Interim Test Range, Balasore in Odisha.

Flt Lt Shivangi Singh is the woman pilot who will be soon joining the Indian Air Force’s Rafale squadron in Ambala. Flt Lt Shivangi Singh arrives in Ambala from a border base in Rajasthan where she has flown alongside Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman.

Laser Guided Anti Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) was successfully test fired from MBT Arjun Tank at KK Ranges, Armoured Corps Centre and School (ACC&S) Ahmednagar on 22nd Sep 2020. In these tests, the ATGM successfully defeated a target located at 3 km. Laser guided ATGMs lock and track the targets with the help of laser designation to ensure precision hit accuracy.

The Indian Army has set up a free of cost GSM-based PCO for the villagers of Mago-Chuna in distant areas of East Kameng district in Arunachal Pradesh.

As the stand-off between the armed forces of India and China continues at the LAC, the government has taken a slew of measures including creation of additional border outposts (BoPs), sanction of battalions, filling up of vacancies and modernising weaponry, said officials.

DRDO is rearing double-humped camels which will be deployed at DBO and Depsang in eastern Ladakh to be used by the Indian Army for patrolling and transportation.

Defence sources on Sunday said the five Rafales, which were formally inducted into service at the Ambala airbase on September 10, have conducted some “familiarization sorties” in Ladakh in recent days. “Rafale pilots have flown the jets from Ambala to Ladakh to familiarize themselves with the operational environment there,” said a source.

South Africa’s Paramount and Namibia’s Windhoeker Maschinenfabrik (WMF) are currently engaged in armoured vehicle trials in India. Bharat Forge and Paramount at the February DefExpo in India displayed the Kalyani M4/Mbombe 4 and Kalyani Maverick.