News , articles and essays on Indian Defense
The defence ministry has taken an in-principle decision to host the next edition of Aero India — considered Asia’s largest aerospace exhibition — in its traditional venue of Bengaluru from February 3-5 next year notwithstanding the coronavirus pandemic, official sources said on Friday.
The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has received the first order from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for supplying 1200 quintals of kacchi ghani mustard oil worth Rs 1.73 crore. The purchase order comes just weeks after the MoU signed between KVIC and ITBP on July 31, which is aligned with the Prime Minister’s call for “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” and “Vocal for Local”. As per a statement if KVIC, the order will be supplied to ITBP within 30 days from the date of order.
Sources say the headquarters of the ADC, which will bring together all the air defence (AD) weapon systems of the Army, Navy and IAF under its operational command, is likely to come alongside the Central Air Command at Allahabad (Prayagraj). It will be headed by a three-star general (Air Marshal) from the IAF.
Tests of several modifications of the Russian-Indian BrahMos cruise missiles with extended range are planned for 2020, Tactical Missiles Corporation (TMC) JSC CEO Boris Obnosov told TASS Monday. Earlier this summer, BrahMos’s air-based modification (BrahMos-A) was successfully certified in India, Obnosov noted.
A Bangalore based start-up is part of the first Indo-US technology collaboration project in the aerospace sector and will work with the US Air Force Research labs to develop future air launched drones for the armed forces. Details of the project have not been shared yet but is likely to involve drones that act as force multipliers for combat aircraft on mission.
In view of the restrictions imposed by COVID-19, training of NCC cadets has been affected adversely as it is mostly contact based training. Since schools/colleges are not likely to open in near future, a need was felt that training to NCC cadets should be imparted utilising the digital medium. Raksha Mantri also interacted with the NCC cadets via video conferencing during the launch of the App and also answered their questions. He wished them success and motivated them to excel in all spheres of life.
INS Karanj, the third submarine of the Kalvari class being prepared in India, is expected to join the Navy in four to five months. Karanja was sent for sea tests in 2018 and according to sources these tests have been successful. The fourth submarine INS Vela of the same class will also join the Navy by the end of next year.
The Union government has increased funding for border road development projects and raised the allocation for maintenance of border roads — a development that follows a military standoff with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the Eastern Ladakh sector — as it attempts to boost infrastructure in frontier areas.
Continuing the close defence partnership, Moscow is hoping that India would soon sign an agreement on the Igla S Anti-Air Missile, while New Delhi announced that it would produce spare parts of the Russian defence equipment under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission.
India is now finally going to seal the long-pending around $1 billion deal to acquire two more “Phalcon” airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft from Israel, which has been derailed at least a couple of times in the past due to the high costs involved.
