Defense

“The first exercise codenamed ‘Smelling Field’ of the Armed Forces Special Operations Division was carried out in Naliya in Gujarat. There are important Air Force and Army bases in and around the Naliya town which is part of the Kutch district,” Defence sources said here.

Indian Air Force officials said that landing of the last MiG-29 legacy aircraft marked the end of an era. The aircraft has proved its mettle in various operations including Kargil and recent post Pulwama attacks. “It was an emotional moment for the officers as they saw the legend roaring up in the skies for the last time. Before it came back to guard the skies after getting the all-important upgrades making it more lethal a weapon in the IAF,” a senior officer said.

An official release said that the exercise will involve 100 soldiers from both Indian and Kazakhstan Army who would share their experience of counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations. It will be the fourth edition of the exercise this year which is an annual event conducted alternatively in Kazakhstan and India.

Official sources said Gen Rawat will hold wide-ranging discussions with Maldivian Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi, Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid and Chief of Defence Forces of Maldives Gen Abdulla Shamaal and explore ways to further deepen bilateral military cooperation.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation is also already working to increase Astra’s strike range from the existing 110-km to over 160-km. “Astra is one of the best BVRAAMs in the world today. We have the capability to develop it for longer ranges,” said DRDO chief Dr G Satheesh Reddy, talking to TOI.

The President’s Colours were received by the Army Air Defence Centre on the behalf of the Corps of Army Air Defence at Gopalpur Military station here. “The Indian armed forces in general and the Corps of Army Air Defence, in particular, have a glorious legacy in protecting the unity, integrity and sovereignty of the nation,” President Kovind, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces, said.

India must consider extending the canvas of aerial targeting to the entire range of terror nodes, i.e. individuals, groups, camps, safe havens and launch pads etc to deter the perpetuators of terror. Cross-border terrorism isn’t going to get dissuaded with one aerial strike of limited liability and objective, however audacious and innovative it may have been.

The commissioning was marked by the hoisting of the Indian National Flag on the flagpost of the submarine. Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh and a host of other dignitaries including senior naval officials were also present on the occasion. The Defence Minister also commissioned the first of India”s P-17 Shivalik-class frigate Nilgiri and the aircraft carrier drydock into the Indian Navy during the ceremony. The aircraft carrier drydock which was commissioned on Saturday is the largest drydock of the Indian Navy. Maintenance work on ships which cannot be carried out while it is out in the seas is undertaken after berthing it in a drydock

“We have manufactured TI- based night vision devices for the Tank Commanders night sight which will be able to pick the enemy tanks from a distance of about three kilometres,” a DRDO official told this newspaper. The DRDO has already supplied 300 TI-NVDs for T-72 tanks, and 2,000 more are to be produced. These indigenous TI-NVDs are being produced in BEL, Vijaywada and OFB Dehradun.

Shillong-based Defence PRO Ratnakar Singh said that, the Rafale aircraft will be inducted in the region soon in addition of Chinook and Apache helicopters. “In the Eastern Command region, we recently operationalized Vijaynagar ALG in Arunachal Pradesh which is now fit for fixed-wing operation. With the completion of the Vijaynagar ALG, the project to operationalize eight ALGs including Along, Walong, Mechuka has been fully successful. As per the new acquisition, the IAF is getting, a number of them are coming to the Eastern Air Command as well,” the Defence PRO said.