Defense

The development was shared by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General S S Deswal on Wednesday. Deswal explained that since the last five years 25 Border Outposts (BOPs) have been created for the ITBP along the border with China. Seven out of 25 BOPs are in Ladakh and 10 more are planned to come up. A BOP has a strength of about 100 troops, meaning there has been a deployment of 2,500 soldiers. There are currently about 180 BOPs. He also said that patrolling along the LAC has increased due to this.

“We are hopeful that the ITBP will get two helicopters soon on wet leasing and the process is in the last stages of completion. This will help the force in various special requirements in remote areas,” Mr Reddy said. Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said on Thursday that the process is in the last stage.

A statement from the defence ministry said Singh approved the issuance of two open general export licences (OGELs) for the “export of certain parts and components and intra-company transfer of technology to select countries.” The OGEL is a one-time export licence to be granted to a company for a specific period – ie two years initially.

The Russian delegation, which commenced its visit on Wednesday, is headed by Captain 2nd Rank Egor Kitlyar, chief of the hydrometeorological section of the Department of Navigation and Oceanography in the Russian federation. The team visited various Indian Navy Meteorological and Oceanographic (IN METOC) operational/ training facilities here to discuss avenues for mutual cooperation in the field of METOC and consolidate the existing strong foreign cooperation between the two countries and navies, he said in a press release.

US Under Secretary of Defense Ellen Lord said the technologies being discussed include “things such as virtual augmented reality (VAR), air-launched unmanned airborne systems (UAS), networked operations, brand new weapon and light-weight ammo (ammunition) designs.”

Northern Army commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh was part of the seven-member crew, including two pilots on board the ALH Dhruv helicopter. All on board are said to be safe.The Northern Army Commander was returning from a forward location in the 16 Corps area of operations near the Line of Control (LoC) when the incident took place, reported news agency ANI.

“The AGH has been wiped out but some elements who are overground workers (OGW) are there. They suddenly crop up and join militant ranks… But, as of now, the AGH has been wiped out from Kashmir,” Singh said.
The three terrorists killed in Tral have been identified as Hameed Lone alias Hamid Lelhari, Naveed Ahmed Tak and Junaid Rashid Bhatt, all residents of Pulwama district.

In a release, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) revealed that the first two projects include the manufacturing of the third-generation anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) and the auxiliary power units (APUs) for the T-72 and T-90 Tanks. The third project involves the development of discrete electronic warfare (EW) systems for the mountain and high-altitude terrain.

This is the fifth bilateral Indo-Oman joint exercise, ”Eastern Bridge” between the Indian Air Force and the Royal Air Force of Oman. The exercise is being conducted at the Masirah Air Base in Oman. The upgraded versions of India”s MiG 29 aircraft are participating in the exercise with Eurofighter Typhoon, Hawk and F-16 of Oman.

“The timeline we had finalised to complete the medium refit and life certification (MRLC) for the submarine was 27 months. We are right on track with the work,” HSL Chairman and Managing Director Rear Admiral (retired) L.V. Sarat Babu told. Incidentally, HSL has undertaken major works like installation of indigenous sonar, indigenous fire control system and extensive renewal of mainline cabling professionally during a normal refit, for the first time in the country.