Defense

Security sources said that 50 heavily armed cadres of the group led by its chairman B Saoraigwra have surrendered a large cache of weapons and have been brought to Guwahati. The return of the last group of Bodo militants is a result of an initiative by chief administrator of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), Hagrama Mahilary and joint efforts of Indian and Myanmar authorities.

“The naval version of Tejas achieved another important milestone today by successfully undertaking the maiden ski-jump take-off from INS Vikramaditya,” a Navy spokesperson said. On Saturday, the aircraft made its first landing on the deck of INS Vikramaditya which was also a major milestone.

Both ships are 48.9 metres long and 7.5 metres wide, with a displacement of 308 tonnes. The ships are capable of achieving a maximum speed of 34 knots, powered with MTU 4000 series engines and propelled by three 71S type III Kamewa water jets by Rolls Royce. The ships are also capable of undertaking multi-faceted tasks such as surveillance, interdiction, search and rescue, and medical evacuation.

Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Saturday announced that six Army Apache attack helicopters would be deployed on the Pakistan borders to help the Indian security forces personnel stationed there. The Army chief further said that the choppers would be deployed at locations where there is a threat of armoured columns.

This is the first step towards inducting women in the Army’s rank and file. A total of 1,700 women military police will be inducted over a period of 17 years, the Ministry of Defence said here on Friday. All military police are trained at the Bengaluru CMP school.

The government is in the process of replacing the old fence in the India-Bangladesh border areas. According to sources, the new fencing is advanced and hard to cut which will make it hard for infiltrators to cross the border.

The naval utility helicopter project, being processed under the strategic partnership model, is now set to go to the next stage, with the navy shortlisting four domestic companies that would be eligible to tie up with three shortlisted foreign vendors for a competition to manufacture 111 choppers in India.

The new department, under CDS General Bipin Rawat, is an addition to the four existing verticals in the defence ministry: the departments of defence, defence production, defence research and development, and ex-service welfare. As CDS, Rawat is the principal military adviser to the defence minister on all matters related to the tri-services.

DRDO’s Defence Research Laboratory (DRL) in Tezpur has now come up with a range of devices that can be used in different situations of low intensity conflict. From chilli spray, which can be kept in a woman’s purse for self defence to grenades that can be lobbed to control crowds or manage hostage situations, there are now a range of products—a mirchi bomb for every situation.

The first batch will be delivered to the Navy soon and will be fitted onto Sindhu class submarines and other navy ships. This will make India one of the eight countries to have such indigenously-designed and built system. Varunastra is capable to destroy any target, including ships and submarines, up to the range of 40 kilometres in waters.