Defense

While HAL has been making the aircraft for decades, hiccups occurred for the upgraded version that was to be equipped with a digital cockpit and new avionics. Outsourcing of work orders to the private sector has been identified as a priority achievement for defence PSUs such as HAL by the government.

The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) carried out successful night-firing test of a ballistic missile off the coast of Odisha. The trial of the surface-to-surface missile, which has a strike range of 350km, was carried out from a mobile launcher from Launch Complex-III of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, near here, at around 8.30pm, sources said.

Earlier, India used the rupee-rouble route to carry out the existing defence transactions, said the report, adding that Russia’s VTB bank has agreed for the said euro transactions, that would dodge the sanctions for the military hardware purchases, which include S-400 air defence missile system.

Security sources however clarified that chilli grenades are effectively used by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir to control unruly crowd. Assam police has added about 30,000 items of different non-lethal ammunitions, including chilli grenade, recently to its armoury, security sources said.

In an exclusive interaction with the Financial Express Online, Neeraj Gupta, Managing Director, MKU Limited says “The Company has been investing a lot in R&D and product upgrades. Recently we have developed Integrated Load Distribution System (ILDS) for BPJs which make it easier for soldiers to carry more loads without discomfort.”

There has been a large-scale shift when it comes to modernisation of the Indian armed forces since the Pulwama attacks. With the financial powers having shifted to the Vice-Chiefs of the three wings of the armed forces, there are been circumstantial changes in the temper towards the forces.

After the Pulwama attack, the Narendra Modi government has given emergency powers to the three services to buy whatever equipment is required by them for safeguarding the borders with Pakistan.

SASMOS, a leading manufacturer of wiring harness, electro-mechanical assemblies and unit integration products, first started working with MBDA on MICA in 2013 and has delivered 2,000 wiring harnesses on time. Over the last decade, SASMOS has progressed from being a start-up organisation to becoming a preferred partner by Original equipment manufacturers.

Goel played a significant role in leading the Balakot Air Strikes on Jaish-e-Mohammed terror outfit deep within Pakistan in February 2019, as well as the surgical strikes conducted in 2016 following the terror attack on Uri base. Meanwhile, Kumar, appointed as the IB chief has been looking closely into combating left-wing extremism and has been an expert on Kashmir at the intelligence agency

The Indian aerospace industry is growing steadily. The international OEMs are increasingly purchasing components in India, and are undertaking R&D locally. In doing this they are responding to the call of the ‘Make in India’ campaign, which highlights opportunities in aerospace technology.