News , articles and essays on Indian Defense
Highlighting the features of the newly developed system Lt Col V Kamal Raj said: “We don’t want any casualty to happen in terms of the number of troops during close operations. We have developed a system wherein the Army dogs act as spy dogs with a camera and a transmitter fitted with the bulletproof jacket.”
The Indian Coast Guard ship Vikram arrived at Toamasina on December 23 on a goodwill visit to Madagascar. Ambassador Abhay Kumar welcomed the officers led by Commanding officer Commandant Raj Kamal Sinha. Later the Commander of the ship and officers called on local military authorities in Tomasina.
The government is yet to announce who will be the country’s first CDS, but army chief General Bipin Rawat is widely believed to be the front-runner for the post. His term as army chief ends on December 31 and the government is likely to name the CDS before that, said two senior government officers, asking not to be named.
In a landmark decision with tremendous reform in higher defence management in the country, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved to create the post of Chief of Defence Staff in the rank of a four-star General with salary and perquisites equivalent to a Service Chief.
Of the nearly 7,200 troops de-inducted from Jammu and Kashmir , 2,400 are from the CRPF and 1,200 each from BSF SSB, CISF and ITBP. They were all deployed in the state in view of the government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 in the erstwhile state on August 5 this year.
Earlier too, some troops were withdrawn from Jammu and Kashmir for the Jharkhand assembly polls.
India’s state-funded Ordnance Board Factory (OFB) – which administers 42 armament and ammunition factories across the country – has developed a high rate of fire gun to defend strategic assets in the border region. A Defence Ministry official has informed a parliamentary panel that the trial of the OFB-developed air defence gun has already commenced.
The matter came to light in a report of the Standing Committee on Defence which was presented to the Lok Sabha Speaker on Friday. The Navy is progressing a comprehensive case for upgrading the security infrastructure of its airfields. Six naval air stations are being addressed at a projected cost of Rs 500 crore.
The Committee explained that during a visit to India’s eastern sector from November 4-9, they came across a request for state-of-the-art surveillance cameras. About 16 such cameras were required for posts there. The Committee learnt that the defence ministry received a request for these cameras not only in the eastern sector, but along the northern borders as well.
An artist, flutist, artiste and cardiologist. Colonel K Sitaram who served in the Indian Army for 28 years, is a man of many talents. His stint in the army led to him witnessing what a war could do a country and its citizens. And he himself was in the thick of it. “That was memorable,” Col Sitaram said while discussing those turbulent times at his home at Gunrock Enclave in Secunderabad.
The reconstitution of the close to 12 lakh-strong standing Army is part of the restructuring process which was started in mid-2018, under which Army, organisationally and operationally, is being prepared to face future war imperatives. The forces reassigned and reconstituted would be smaller but swifter with greater combat thrust with need-based presence of combat support, logistics and service units.
