Defense

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that India is now ready for the big push to the atma nirbhar or self-dependent initiative announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Earlier his office tweeted that he will make an important announcement at 10 am today.

Lockheed Martin is pursuing plans to expand offset-related engagement with Indian industry, the US corporation has said. The effort was highlighted at the company’s seventh annual suppliers’ conference in New Delhi, which was held for five days from late July.

Besides reviewing the operational preparedness at these bases, the VCAS interacted with air warriors of the combat units currently operating at these locations. He was briefed about the operational readiness of IAF assets deployed in the area. He urged all air warriors, NCs(E), DSC personnel and Civilian staff to continue discharging their duties with utmost sincerity and ensure a high state of combat readiness at all times.

The pilots of the Air India Express plane that skidded off the runway and broke into two at Kerala’s Kozhikode were among the 18 who lost their lives on Friday evening. They were Wing Commander Deepak Vasant Sathe and Captain Akhilesh Kumar. Wing Commander Deepak V Sathe was a decorated former fighter pilot with the Indian Air Force who flew planes for Air India before he went on to Air India Express flights.

An undisclosed defence source told ANI, TATA Wheeled Armoured Protection (WhAP), American Stryker Infantry Combat Vehicle and Humvee High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle are being considered for the purchase. It is expected that preference would be given to the indigenous TATA vehicle over the foreign platforms.

Under a $181.74 million contract modification from Naval Air Systems Command, announced on 4 August, 24 sonar systems will be provided to India and 7 ALFS to Denmark, in addition to 8 ALFS for the US Navy, into MH-60R Seahawk aircraft, the U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement today.

In order to provide impetus to self-reliance in defence manufacturing, multiple announcements were made under ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Package’. In implementing such framework and to position India amongst the leading countries of the world in defence and aerospace sectors, Ministry of Defence (MoD) has formulated a draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy 2020 (DPEPP 2020).

Air Marshal VR Chaudhari AVSM VM took over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Air Command, Indian Air Force from Air Marshal B Suresh PVSM AVSM VM ADC at an event at Subroto Park in the national capital on Saturday, a statement from the Indian Air Force (IAF) said.

The PLA is the party’s and not the nation’s army. The party exercises control through the institution of the political commissar in the Chinese Army. Though a uniformed officer, he is the party’s man, responsible for ideological indoctrination of the soldiers. In fact, he carries more clout than the officers directly in command of units. Thuggish behaviour such as at Galwan can partly be ascribed to such commissars.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) in a letter written to Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has suggested that a No Objection Certificate (NOC) be required by production houses before the telecast of any film or documentary on Indian Army. The suggestion by the MoD aims to ensure that the image of the Indian Army is not distorted and has asked that the suggestion be extended to Over The Top (OTT) platforms as well.