Defense

The head of India’s defence acquisition wing Apurva Chandra said that a high-level committee will align the procurement procedures with the aim of ensuring a seamless flow from asset acquisition to life cycle support. The defence procurement procedure stipulates the process for buying weapons and equipment with money from the defence capital budget, whereas the manual governs acquisitions from the defence revenue budget.

“India will be able to get assured logistic support when it operates in the Indo-Pacific in the ports of South Korea.” Such agreements extend the reach, presence and sustainability of Navy ships when deployed at great distances from home ports, the source added.

Kaamya Karthikeyan is a girl on a mission and she is achieving it with ease. A student of Navy Children School, Mumbai, and daughter of a Naval officer, Kaamya Karthikeyan, summited her second ‘above 6,000 m’ peak, Mt Mentok Kangri II, 6,262 meters (20,544 feet), overlooking the Tso Moriri lake in Ladakh on August 24.

INS Tarkash, commanded by Captain Sathish Vasudev, is due to dock in Lagos, Nigeria, on 5 September, and depart on 8 September. The embassy of India in Nigeria said the visit is coming at a time Nigeria and India are marking 60 years of bilateral relations. While in Nigeria, the ship will engage extensively with the Nigerian Navy including professional interactions and joint exercises, sports events and social engagements.

“Pricing of LCA, which was under discussion with the costing committee, was finalised two days back in a meeting by the secretary of Defence Production. Now discussion for the pricing of support package is on. That also should be finalised in a month or two. So we should be in a position to sign the contract for the aircraft in the next 3-4 months,” Chandra said.

The three-year-old proposal for the acquisition of the Akash missiles is being seen as the whole-hearted acceptance of the indigenous missile system among the armed forces as this clearance would increase the number of Akash systems ordered for the Air Force to 15, the sources said.

The joint military exercise, Yudh Abhyas 2019, begins on September 5, 2019, at the Joint Base Lewis Macard near Washington between India and USA. This exercise will last until 18 September. It is one of the biggest joint military exercise and defence corporation endeavours between India and the USA. Yudh Abhyas 2019 is the 15th edition of the joint military exercise hosted alternately between the two countries.

The central idea behind the reorganisation – perhaps the biggest and most far-reaching reform of the military in recent years – under Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat is to achieve the biggest victory with the smallest cost at the shortest possible time. The formation of IBGs will give India the teeth to deliver the “unpredictable” response with ease.

“The trials were carried out by test pilots from HAL, IAF and the Army from August 24 to September 2, 2019. The LUH has complied with all the requirements of the users and with the completion of hot and high altitude testing, it is close to operational clearance certification,” R Madhavan, CMD, HAL, said in a statement.

The deal, which will include a mandatory clause for at least 30% offsets to domestic companies, will add to the 12 P8I aircraft that have already been ordered by India and will help maintain strong vigil over a region that has seen increasing deployments by the Chinese Navy. The maritime patrol aircraft, which specialises in tracking and hunting down enemy submarines with lightweight torpedoes and depth charges, are also operated by the US and Australian navies.