Defense

The Indian Air Force (IAF) announced on 17 December that it has completed the integration of the BrahMos-A (Air) supersonic cruise missile onto the Sukhoi Su-30MKI multirole fighter. The announcement was made after the service successfully launched the weapon from an Su-30MKI off the coast of Odisha against a sea-based target, achieving “a direct hit”.

The move will ensure the exploitation of the airport’s planned second runway to its full potential, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said in a statement. The air force radar operations will work side-by-side with radar controllers employed by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) at the airport.

India’s state-funded defence research body DRDO successfully tested an upgraded version of its guided Pinaka rocket on Thursday at firing ranges in Odisha state. It is mounted on a Tatra truck for mobility. It is believed that the guided version of the Pinaka system is being developed in order to deliver nuclear warheads at short ranges.

Exercise Apharan was aimed at streamlining the response mechanism and preparedness to thwart any attempt by to hijack a merchant vessel or attempt forced entry of a rogue or commandeered merchant vessel into Kochi harbour. The Exercise was conducted under the aegis of the Commander-in-Chief, Coastal Defence (Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command), Kerala.

Singh will hold bilateral discussions with Vice Admiral Piyal De Silva, Commander of Sri Lanka Navy, other service chiefs and senior Sri Lankan government officials, according to the official statement.
The visit of the Indian Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) comes a month after newly-elected Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa came to India.

The land-attack version of the missile was test-fired from a mobile autonomous launcher at Launch Complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near here at around 8.30 am, they said. The trial of the surface-to-surface missile was successful, meeting all the parameters, a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) source said.

Air Marshal Choudhury is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned into the fighter stream of the India Air Force on 22nd December 1983. The Air Marshal also an alumnus of the Royal College of Defence Studies, UK, Post Graduate in Strategy and International Security from King’s College London and also holds an M.Phil degree in Defence and Strategic Studies.

Amid reports of Indian Air Force lacking ‘operational-data link and jets going incommunicado’ during the Pakistan Air Force retaliation on February 27, former Air Chief BS Dhanoa on Sunday said Indian Air Force is a network enabled force and it has joint air defence centre. Dhanoa said any assumption that IAF lacks communication and airborne Sukhoi-30s could not establish communication with bases during retaliatory measures against Pakistan post-Balakot is wrong.

Indian Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik told parliament on 11 December that the Israeli-made, man-portable, fourth-generation system, which can engage targets in ‘fire-and-forget’ and ‘fire-observe-and-update’ modes, will “enhance operational flexibility and crew survivability”.

In a distinguished military career spanning almost four decades, he has held key appointments in active Counter Insurgency environments, both in the North East and in Jammu and Kashmir and was a part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka during Operation PAWAN.