Defense

Indo-French exercise Garuda VI falls under the global framework of bilateral cooperation between the two nations and is alternately held in France and India. “We have flown close to 400 hours, out of which, 100 hours were on the Indian aircraft and 300 hours were contributed by the French aircraft,” Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria said.

ACM Dhanoa’s sortie in the YAK-130 gives the IAF a chance to get first-hand knowledge of the jet which can also be used as a light-attack aircraft. Russian defence officers point out that their pilots are trained on the YAK-130 before they fly the latest fighters including the Sukhoi Su-35 and Su-57 stealth jet. They add that YAK-130 is the perfect plane to train pilots for 4++ and 5th Generation aircraft.

A team of engineers and software experts at state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and NewSpace Research and Technologies, a Bengaluru based start-up looking at next-generation aviation technologies, is working furiously to fly the first Indian swarm drone prototypes in two years. The drones have a name – ALFA-S or Air-Launched Flexible Asset (Swarm).

India signed two contracts- $950 million (INR 6,500 crore) deal with Russia’s Yantar Shipyard for two Project 11356 frigates, and another $1.2 billion (INR 8,200 crore) contract with Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) for two more. The contract with the Russian ship-maker was lower because it has the hulls ready. Yantar had already fabricated two hulls for an abandoned Russian order that are being transferred.

The Defence Ministry tweeted saying that DRDO chairman Dr G Satheesh Reddy had called on Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to form a task force aimed at checking accidents in ammunition depots.

KRAS, a 49:51 venture between Rafael Advanced Systems and Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd, plans to develop these systems at the facility located near the international airport here. These systems would be supplied to Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) for further integration.

The Garuda VI air exercise is being held at France’s Mont-de-Marsan Air Base from July 1 to 14. IAF had earlier announced: “#Garuda-VI: Indian Air Force will be participating in its biggest joint air exercise of 2019, with the French Air Force (FAF) in France from 01-14 July 19.”The exercise will also provide a good opportunity for air warriors to operate in an international environment. The team departed from Air Force Station Bareily and Agra on 25 June 19.

Israeli defence electronics company Elbit Systems is providing the comprehensive SAR package to the IAF at a cost of $45 million under a deal signed two years ago. Apart from the ELT and ALS, Elbit Systems will also supply personal rescue beacons (PRB) to the IAF, a safety device carried by fighter pilots in their emergency vests to alert SAR teams in the event of an ejection or a crash.

The Russian R-73 missile is now in the process of being progressively replaced in the Indian Air Force. Since 2015, the Indian Air Force has been receiving heavily modified Mirage 2000s which are equipped with the French MICA air-to-air missile. Approximately one squadron or 18 Mirage 2000 jets have already been inducted by the IAF.