Defense

The armed forces will express their gratitude to all “corona warriors” by conducting fly-pasts, showering petals on hospitals treating COVID-19 patients and illuminating naval vessels, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said on Friday. Addressing a special press briefing along with the three service chiefs, Gen Rawat said the nation stood together and showed resilience in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

Indian Navy’s helicopter pilot Captain P Rajkumar, who shot into the limelight with his daring act of winching 26 people up from a rooftop during the 2018 Kerala floods, retired from service on Thursday after 33 years of distinguished service, a Defence spokesman said here.

The Indian Army Chief General MM Naravane and all ranks of Indian Army have conveyed their best wishes to all ranks of Armoured Corps on the occasion of Armour Day. The Armoured Corps is one of the combat arms of the Indian Army and it currently consists of 67 armoured regiments, including the president’s bodyguards.

The lockdown and its economic toll will not impact committed liabilities that have been budgeted for the armed forces for programs like the Rafale fighter jet deal and the S400 air defence systems. India is also looking at quickly ramping up local defence production, with defence minister Rajnath Singh directing all PSUs to prepare contingency plans for resumption of operations.

The five-day aero-show (February 4 to February 7, 2021) will be conducted at the southern metropolis of Bangalore. The city has hosted 12 editions of the show, the one in 2021 will be the 13th edition of the biennial show. The announcement indicates the resolve of the MoD. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday had reviewed the functioning of the Ministtry and said “Defence Public sector undertaking and private defence industry could play a major role in the economic revival”.

As Ganga Saran, Manager – Defence of PLR Systems, explained to Army Recognition on Thursday 12 April, Punj Lloyd and Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) have jointly set up a manufacturing facility in Malanpur (India) to produce small arms and ammunition. The plant is nearly operational.

Following nod from the Centre, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has decided to keep its eight battalions (8,000 troops) in Chhattisgarh for anti-Naxal operations on a permanent basis on the lines of the Indian Army’s Rashtriya Rifles (RR) deployed in Jammu & Kashmir on a fixed basis.

According to sources, Pakistan-based intel operatives have developed an “malicious” application — “ArogyaSetu.apk” — that they allegedly sent to Indian defence personnel through Whatsapp from the United Kingdom (UK). Defence officials explained that once a malicious software is installed on a device, it has the ability to extract sensitive information about the forces and send it to the originator without the knowledge of the owner.

India was the third-biggest military spender in the world last year after the United States and China, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) said in a report released on Monday. This is the first time that India and China have featured among the top three military spenders.