Defense

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a new, jointly-administered AK-203 production venture at the Korwa small arms production plant in Northeastern India. The AK-203, a 7.62х39 export variant of Kalashnikov new AK-12, boasts across-the-board performance improvements as compared with its INSAS counterpart.

There are no reports of violence in the Valley ever since the withdrawal of special status to Jammu and Kashmir and its bifurcation but the ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC) since the decision, according to a security assessment. According to defence officials, the hinterland of J&K has witnessed no major incident of violence over the past three days while the LoC too has remained mostly calm.

Defence sources said the exercise, an initiative under the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), is set to be held from September 10-21 at Orenburg in Russia.
The SCO is an intergovernmental organisation set up in 2001. Its main goals include promoting member-states’ cooperation in “politics, trade, the economy, research, technology and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas”.

The first stage of the competition was held on Tuesday and Wednesday which involved tactical drills of mounting in a helicopter by the scout squads to infiltrate behind enemy lines. The troops’ cross-country navigation skills by night over a distance of approximately 15km in a hostile territory were also tested in this stage, a defence spokesperson said. India secured the first position, the second position was secured by Kazakhstan and the third by Russia.

“The two mobile missile coastal batteries have to be acquired for the Navy. The Navy would deploy the Rs 1400 crore BrahMos supersonic cruise missile batteries deployed on the Tatra trucks close to major cities from where it can destroy any incoming enemy warship in case it is posing any threat,” government sources said.

The expedition team of eight professionals from Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) in Darjeeling, led by its principal GP Captain Jaikishan, plans to summit the mountain, the highest peak in European continent on August 15,” an official statement said.
The team will also perform ‘asanas’ atop the mountain in an attempt to showcase the importance of Yoga to the international community.

The Astra is designed to carry 15 kg high explosive prefragmented warhead, which is activated by a Radio Proximity Fuse. The missile has good Electronic Counter-Countermeasure (ECCM) to enable unconstrained operation in an Electronic Countermeasure (ECM) environment. The Astra Mark 1, which successfully completed the trials recently, has a maximum head-on launch range of 100 km, a speed of 4.5 Mach and is cleared for launch up to an altitude of 20 km (66,000 ft).

A video has gone viral on Facebook with the claim that Indian Army burnt down houses of Kashmiris in Bandipora district of J&K. India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that neither is the video from Bandipora, nor did the Indian Army burn down the houses.

He said microlights were popular with hobbyists but apart from adventure sport these were capable of handling serious applications like surveillance by defence, police, coastguard and forest guards, vegetation mapping, farm spraying and disaster relief. “It is capable of performing like a helicopter at fraction of the cost,”

The OFB has already got orders from the Army to supply 125mm fin-stabilized armour-piercing discarding stabot (FSAPDS) shells. The current version has a capacity to pierce into steel plates of 460mm thickness that are put on the enemy tanks. Sensing that the Army may soon demand a higher penetration, the OFB has a developed an ammunition that can rip into steel of over 500mm thickness. This comes at a time when the government is considering a case to corporatize the OFB with view to make it more competitive.