Defense

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh and Minister of Defence of Republic of Korea (RoK) Mr Suh Wook successfully concluded their bilateral talks on defence cooperation in New Delhi on March 26, 2021. The defence and security engagements between India and RoK have grown exponentially over the last few years. Latest talks explored new domains of bilateral defence cooperation and avenues to strengthen the long-standing bilateral defence partnership.

The Milan-2T ATGM, produced under licence from MBDA Missile Systems, France, by BDL is a man-portable (Infantry) second-generation ATGM, which boasts the ability to destroy battle tanks fitted with explosive reactive armour, and moving and stationary targets. It is a tandem warhead ATGM that has a range of around 1,850 metres. The missiles can be fired from the ground and from vehicle-based launchers. The Milan system was developed for the French and German armies, and over 360,000 missiles and 10,000 launch units have been produced since 1972. The ATGM is in service in 41 countries.

India is going ahead with an indigenous light utility helicopter (LUH) after it proved it worth during high altitude operations, including at the Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) airstrip on the China border. The defence ministry has given the go ahead for placing an order for 12 of the choppers, with developer and manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics NSE -1.37 % Limited (HAL) expected to deliver the first by August next year.

During the past 3 years, 79 projects amounting to Rs.8201 Crores directly pertaining to development of new defence equipments i.e. Cruise Missile, Anti-Ship Missile, Surface-to-Air Missile, Air-to-Air Missile, Extended Range Anti-Submarine Rocket, Mounted Gun System, Ammunitions, Electronic Warfare System, Radars, Torpedoes, High Endurance Autonomous Underwater Vehicle etc. have been undertaken.

Providing further boost to ‘Make in India’, Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a contract with Mahindra Defence Systems Ltd (MDSL) for supply of 1,300 Light Specialist Vehicles to the Indian Army, at a cost of Rs 1,056 crore, in New Delhi on March 22, 2021. The induction of vehicles is planned to be completed in four years.

Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP)-2020 envisages the basic tenets of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ and encourages indigenous designing and manufacturing of defence items. The proposals for indigenous design and manufacturing are considered under ‘Make’ Procedure of DAP-2020.

Last year, the IAF assigned Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh to its first Rafale squadron based in Ambala. Ten women have been commissioned as fighter pilots after the experimental scheme for their induction into the IAF’s combat stream was introduced in 2015, a watershed in the air force’s history. Most of them started off with the MiG-21.

Indian Army facing Chinese aggression at the borders will soon be fortified with all new mine-proof Futuristic Infantry Combat Vehicles (FICV) and special high altitude vehicles. The military hardware is being manufactured at Ordnance Factory Medak, at Yeddumailaram in Sangareddy district. The FICV will be equipped with Instant Fire Detection and Suppression system (IFDSS).

As part of Mission Sagar – IV, Indian Naval Ship Jalashwa arrived at Port Ehoala, Madagascar on 22 March 2021. The ship will deliver a consignment of 1,000 Metric Tonne of rice and 100,000 Hydroxychloroquine tablets in response to an appeal made by Madagascar for assistance to deal with natural calamities.