Defense

From warships to transport aircraft, India now can formally take military equipment on lease from a friendly country. Ministry of Defence has come up with a new Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2020 wherein ‘leasing’ provision has been introduced as a new category for acquisition to existing ‘buy and make’ categories.

In order to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to increase participation of youth in National Cadet Corps (NCC), the home minister has taken an unprecedented decision to give NCC certificate holders bonus marks in direct entry examinations for the CAPFs, as prevalent in armed forces examinations, a home ministry statement said.

The Border Security Force (BSF) is set to soon have its own set of regulations for its air wing, after the Lok Sabha passed key amendments to the Aircraft Act, 1934. Now the BSF, like the defence forces, is set to be outside the ambit of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The Acquisition Wing of Ministry of Defence Ministry on Thursday signed the capital acquisition contract worth Rs 880 crore with Israel Weapons Industries for procurement of 16,479 Light Machine Guns (LMG) for the Indian Army. The contracted Negev 7.62X51 mm LMG is a combat-proven weapon and currently used by several countries around the globe

“The DAC has accorded approval for acquisition of indigenous Defence equipment for about INR 1,300 crore ($174 million). The proposals were for procurement of Aerial Fuses and Twin-Dome Simulators for Hawk Mk32 aircraft for the IAF,” the Indian defence ministry said in a statement.

The defence ministry on Wednesday gave a green light to the purchase of 83 Light Combat Aircraft Mk-1A advanced Tejas jets from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and the proposal would be sent to the Cabinet Committee on Security for final approval soon, a ministry spokesperson said.

The Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), which is celebrating its 219th foundation day on Wednesday, has exported its newly developed 52-calibre barrel for 155 mm artillery guns to Bofors Test Center, its chairman Hari Mohan said. “We have made a prototype which is truck-chassis mounted,” Mohan told newspersons here.

In 2017, Hanwha Defense signed a contract worth 720 billion won ($583 million) with the Indian Army to supply 100 K-9 self-propelled artillery guns. Following the delivery of the 10 K-9 Vajra guns, India’s private-sector defense contractor Larsen & Toubro has been manufacturing the remaining 90 guns in India with technical support from Hanwha Defense.

The Indian Army on Thursday issued a cyber scam alert over the deadly Coronavirus to the defence personnel. An official statement read, “Targeted campaigns on the theme of coronavirus are being undertaken by Indian adversaries with the primary aim of compromising email/ other accounts and to infect official/ personal IT assets of defence personnel.”