Defense

The FTP can be invoked in cases where “undue/unforeseen delay” in buying weapons is seen to be adversely impacting the military’s capacity and preparedness, said one of the officials cited above.

Troops from 1st Battalion the Bihar Regiment of the Indian Army and Gemunu Watch Battalion of Sri Lankan Army would be jointly undertaking the exercise, the Press Information Bureau (Defence Wing) said.

Doval, a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is believed to be the person behind the planning of the air strike on the camp of Jaish-e-Mohammad in Balakot in Pakistan, carried out by the Indian Air Force in retaliation to the Pulwama terror attack

The Indian Air Force is all set to induct four Chinook strategic heavy-lift helicopters into its fleet on March 25. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to preside over the event at Chandigarh.

The heavy-lift helicopters will be used for transporting troops, artillery and other heavy equipment along with fuel, to far flung areas along the border. These four helicopters will join the IAF base at Chandigarh, which has transport and helicopter fleet that caters to the high altitude operations of the armed forces.

The first batch of four Chinook helicopters arrived by sea at Mundra Port in Gujarat on February 10. The Indian Air Force currently has 15 Chinook helicopters on order. Chinook will join IAF’s 126 Helicopter Flight unit that operates the last batch of Russian made Mi-26 choppers, which would be phased out soon.

India had, in September 2015, signed a $3 billion contract for the purchase of 15 Chinook and 22 Apache attack helicopters. Additionally, six Apaches were cleared for purchase for the Indian Army in 2017. Fuselages for this Army order will be produced by Tata Boeing Aerospace Limited, the joint venture between Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems in Hyderabad.

“Four Chinook has been delivered. First lot of Apache attack helicopter will also arrive in India soon in a couple of months,” said a defence official.

Acquisition of Chinook heavy-lift helicopter is set to give a significant boost to infrastructure development along the borders, as the helicopter has the capability to ferry heavy cargo like road construction equipment over difficult terrain.

The CH-47F (I) Chinook is an advanced multi-mission helicopter that will provide the Indian armed forces with unmatched strategic airlift capability across the full spectrum of combat and humanitarian missions.

“The ahead-of-schedule arrival of the Chinooks validates Boeing’s commitment to delivering on its promise of modernising India’s defense forces. Through its current partnerships with Indian Air Force and Indian Navy, Boeing has ensured high rate of mission readiness and increased operational capabilities,” Boeing said in its statement.

After Chinook, Apache attack helicopter will be the major induction for the IAF. Called ‘flying tanks’, Apache attack helicopters could play a major role in tank battles for India Army, especially on western front with Pakistan. Fitted with air-to-air missiles, Apache helicopters are capable of detecting 256 moving targets and engaging them.

Apache, a twin-engine helicopter is operated by two pilots. With its array of modern electronics, Apache is considered to be one of the most advanced combat helicopters. Apaches were involved in missions during the 1991 Gulf War between the US and Iraq and then in Afghanistan. And Indian army will be the 14th country to operate these attack helicopters.

A news report indicates that while the defence forces were relying on interpretation of satellite imagery which had so far played a pivotal role in identifying terrorists camps, the armed forces are mulling launching a AI engine that can further analyse satellite photos and video feeds from drones to identify images and patterns in real-time.

For long, the Army has been working to modernise its Special Forces which have been very effective in counter-terrorist operations and were also used to carry out cross border raids on Pakistan two years ago.

Officials said that OFT has taken up Research and Development (R&D) projects of 12.7mm lightweight AMR (Anti Material Rifle), 40mm under barrel grenade launcher (UBGL) for AK47/Trichy assault rifle (TAR), and 30mm automatic grenade launcher (AGS30).

“The DRDO AIP is in an advanced stage of experimental trials. Once proven on shore, it has to be tested on a marine platform,” Vice-Admiral Srikanth said, speaking at the launch of a four-part series by the Discovery channel on Indian submariners to commemorate 50 years of the Navy’s underwater arm.

Last year, when six women officers from the Indian Navy left to circumnavigate the globe on INSV Tarini, little did they know that the journey would help them charter a new course in the Indian Naval history.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Indonesia in May 2018, India and Indonesia arrived at a shared vision of maritime cooperation in the strategic Indo-Pacific to deepen economic and people-to-people exchanges.