India, Israel discuss counter-terrorism, homeland security
New Delhi: India and Israel on Friday discussed the implementation of agreement on counter-terrorism and homeland security between the two countries. Israel's Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon met Home Minister Rajnath Singh here. The ambassador told the Home Minister that Israel is looking forward to a meaningful cooperation with India in the area of homeland security. He said that the recently signed agreement is a step further in this direction. The Home Minister welcomed the ceasefire in Gaza and hoped that it would usher in p…
India nears $2.5 billion deal for Boeing military helicopters
New Delhi: India has decided to acquire Boeing's Chinook and Apache helicopters, a defence ministry official said on Saturday, in a deal valued at $2.5 billion that could ease strained ties between New Delhi and Washington. The new nationalist-led government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has grand plans to vastly strengthen India's military capability, in order to play its role as a regional power and meet challenges posed by a rising China and arch rival Pakistan. "The defence acquisition council has cleared the last h…
India to Take Part in Aviadarts-2015 Flight Skills Competition
MOSCOW, August 29 (RIA Novosti) - India has confirmed its participation in the Aviadarts flight-skills competition hosted by Russia, Deputy Chief of the Main Staff of Russian Air Force Major General Alexander Lyapkin told RIA Novosti. “In 2015, another flight skills competition will take place, and an Indian crew plans to take part in it. As you can remember, this year China and Belarus participated in the contest,” Lyapkin said. Indian pilot Adzhai Rakhtor confirmed Lyapkin’s statement. Friday was the official opening ceremony for th…
India-Japan Talks To Focus on Strategic Ties, Possible Aircraft Deal
NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Japan will include talks on possible joint production of amphibious aircraft and other matters related to strategic and defense ties between the two countries. Modi, who leads a new government here, personally extended his stay in Japan from a planned four days to five, beginning Aug. 30. He will be accompanied by a 20 high-ranking officials of all Indian industry, signaling the importance the new government places on ties with Japan, a source in India’s External Affa…
DAC to Take up Big Ticket Defence Purchases
The Centre is likely to take up big ticket defence purchases, worth over `20,000 crore, including Chinook heavy lift helicopters and Apache attack helicopters for the Indian Air Force (IAF) during the meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on Friday. Sources said the DAC, headed by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, may also discuss the `7,000 crore Arjun MK-II procurement case of the Army along with several other projects of the Navy. “The DAC may also discuss the role of agents in the defence procurement procedure in the wake …
Terrorists waiting to cross into Rajasthan from Pakistan, alert issued
Jaipur: The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS )of Rajasthan Police has issued an alert over the possibility of a group of terrorists looking to enter Rajasthan from across the international border with Pakistan. The alert has put the number of possible intruders at 15. Following the alert, the Border Security Force (BSF) has intensified patrolling in border areas, especially in Bikaner, Jodhpur, Barmer. Strict vigil is being maintained to thwart any attempt to push in terrorists into India. The ATS has also written to all SPs and IGs, warning t…
India not revisiting its nuclear doctrine, Modi assures Japan
NEW DELHI: Keeping in view Tokyo's nuclear sensitivities on the eve of his visit to Japan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stressed that India is not revising its nuclear doctrine. In an interview to Japanese journalists here, Modi said, "While every government naturally takes into account the latest assessment of strategic scenarios and makes adjustments as necessary, there is a tradition of national consensus and continuity on such issues. I can tell you that currently, we are not taking any initiative for a review of our …
Navy to deploy MiG 29Ks in Vishakhapatnam
India is planning to deploy the MiG-29K naval combat aircraft in Vishakhapatnam to strengthen the security of the country's eastern coast. The MiG 29Ks are being deployed in INS Degha near Vishakhapatnam and would be also stationed on the INS Vikrant or the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier being built at Kochi, Navy spokesperson Captain D K Sharma said. India has signed a deal worth over Rs 10,000 crore for procuring 45 MiG 29K naval fighters from Russia and is the sole operator of these type of aircraft in the world. The Navy will ha…
High-end Defence Technology Cooperation Possible with Japan: PM
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said India sees possibility of a new era of cooperation with Japan in high-end defence technology and equipment and noted that progress has been made in parleys on civil nuclear agreement and amphibious aircraft deal between them. "In the field of defence and security, I feel time has come for us to upgrade our relations. I see in the recent changes in Japan's defence export policies and regulations a possibility to engage in a new era of cooperation in high-end defence technology…
Defence Min orders 118 Arjun MK-II Tanks, scraps deal for 197 LCH
Within 15 days of Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealing to the industries to make in India, his government has scrapped the deal for a 197 Light Utility Helicopters (LUH) and instead opened it for the Indian industry under the Buy and Make Indian category. This opens the doors for the Indian private sector industry to team up with a foreign manufacturer and make these helicopters within India, thus ensuring a transfer of critical technology. Defence ministry sources said that the decision will bring in business worth Rs 40,000 crore…
Russia-India Indra 2014 tactical drills to be held in Volgograd region in September
VOLGOGRAD, August 27./ITAR-TASS/. Russian-Indian tactical exercises, Indra 2014, will be conducted at the Prudboy firing ground, Russia’s southern Volgograd Region, on September 23, the Southern Military District’s press service told ITAR-TASS on Wednesday. “The exercises are being held in Russia and India since 2003. These are the first manoeuvres on the territory of the Southern Military District,” the press service said. “Units of Russia’s 20th motor-rifle brigade and India’s mechanised infantry brigade will take part in the manoe…
5th generation AMCA on backburner
The Aeronautical Development Agency's concept Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), a stealth fifth generation concept, could be placed on the backburner with the Indian Air Force, HAL and DRDO deciding to bring to bear the full might of their resources on the LCA Mk.2, the variant of the indigenous aircraft that will see combat service, unlike the 40 Mk.1s. It has become increasingly clear that two squadrons of LCA Mk.1s will be employed as advanced/lead-in jet trainers, a psychological blow to the programme, but a practical one…
INS Sahyadri reaches Philippines to enhance naval ties
The Indian Navy's INS Sahyadri arrived in Manila, Philippines Wednesday and made a courtesy port call to reinforce naval ties, a defence ministry statement said. Navy officials said the indigenously built stealth frigate went to Manila after participating in RIMPAC 14 -- the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise -- and covering a distance of about 5,000 nautical miles (9,000 km). The ship had sailed from Hawaii in the US Aug 2. The frigate's arsenal includes long range anti-ship missiles, medium and shor…
New defensive aids for MBT Arjun proven in trials
An advanced laser warning countermeasure system and a mobile camouflage system have recently been tested and proven on the Arjun MBT Mk.II in the Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan. Both capabilities will be strong survivability factors on the new improved tanks as it heads into a crucial phase of user trials. The new camouflage system has been developed to provide multi-spectral signature management for Arjun Mk.II, in order to protect the vehicle against all enemy sensors and smart munitions. According to the CVRDE, “the perf…
MODI Effect : Indian Co's bet on Defence sector; pour in billions to manufacture Guns, Ships & Tanks
NEW DELHI: Some of India's biggest companies are pouring billions of dollars into manufacturing guns, ships and tanks for the country's military, buoyed by the new government's commitment to upgrade its armed forces using domestic factories. India, the world's largest arms importer, will spend $250 billion in the next decade on kit, analysts estimate, to upgrade its Soviet-era military and narrow the gap with China, which spends $120 billion a year on defence. Unde…
India and the US Re-balance to the Asia-Pacific
The much touted US pivot/re-balance to the Asia-Pacific has drawn considerable flak of late. From the Syrian chemical weapons use to Russia’s revanchism, the questioning of America’s leadership has seen the pivot naysayers become louder. President Obama has firmly recognized the limits of American power. The Commander of the US Pacific Air Forces has admitted that the resources for the pivot haven’t come his way even as the head of the US Pacific Command has made clear America’s inability to conduct amphibious assaults. To top these of…
India lost 340 defence personnel in 3 years: Govt
India, without going to war, has lost over 340 military personnel in the last three years. Counter-insurgency operations and cross-border firings, road accidents and warship mishaps, have all contributed to the numbers. Defence minister Arun Jaitley, in a written reply to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday said the Army had lost 217 soldiers inside the country and 14 outside (in UN peace-keeping operations) from 2011 to 2013. The Navy suffered 90 casualties and IAF 19 in the same time period. In a separate answer, Jaitley said 27 soldiers had bee…
India: Diversifying Arms Purchases
India needs to diversify its arms imports. Although it is one of the world’s largest arms importers, most of India’s weapons come from Russia. Over the last five years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Russia accounted for about $15 billion of the $20 billion in arms that India imported, or about three-quarters. That level of dependence is unhealthy: One of the reasons why India bought the Jaguar Bomber from a European consortium in the 1970s was the concern that India was becoming dependent o…
Another ASW Aircraft Tupolev TU-142ME Handed Over to Indian Navy
On August 06, 2014 another India Navy’s long-range ASW aircraft TU-142ME (IN 317) was handed over to the Customer after an overhaul at Beriev premises. The aircraft successfully passed all tests and was finally handed over to the Indian navy. Eight Taganrog-built Tupolev TU-142MEs were handed over to Indian Navy in the late 1980s. In total, the Tupolev TU-142MEs flew 28 thousand hours in over 25 years without any incidents or accidents, and thus gained a good reputation with Indian crews. Indian pilots call this aircraft ‘Albatross’ f…
US Army's JMR Program Kicks Off; Two Contracts Awarded
WASHINGTON — Less than two weeks after announcing that it was pushing back the initial selection of the technology demonstrator phase of the Joint Multi-Role (JMR) helicopter program and working to forge a closer relationship with industry, the US Army awarded two development contracts for the effort on Tuesday. The winning bidders were the team of Sikorsky and Boeing with their SB>1 Defiant medium-lift helicopter, and Textron’s Bell Helicopter, which submitted its V-280 Valor tiltrotor design to the Army. In October, the Army prov…
BrahMos: The Brahmastra of India
It has been my good fortune to have been associated with the Ministry of Defence in the early eighties as spokesperson for the Ministry, the Armed Forces and the Defence Research and Development Organisation. The Defence Research and Development Organisation was then headed by Dr. Raja Ramanna, He was followed by Dr Arunachalam and Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam. Those were the days when leading arms manufacturing countries in the West were reluctant to sell defence equipment to India, which was a non-aligned country. The Government of India w…
US overtakes all to become India's largest defence supplier
Stunning new figures on Indian defence imports by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament on Tuesday have revealed that for the first time, the United States has overtaken all competitors to become India's largest defence supplier in the past three financial years. The statistics revealed by Jaitley, who holds dual charge of defence and finance ministries, show that almost 40 per cent of the money spent by India on defence imports in the past three years have gone to the Americans, followed by the Russians (30 per cent) and th…
Indian missiles languish in South Korea due to Gaza conflict
The eponymously named Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR-SAM), being co-developed by the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), is already two years late. Now, because of Israel's invasion of Gaza, the delay will get longer. Business Standard has learnt that four LR-SAM rocket motors, built in India and despatched to Tel Aviv for trials, have been lying in Seoul, South Korea, for close to a month. The DRDO confirms that the rockets, filled with highly combustible propellant…
Why is India offering to buy more US helicopters
(Reuters) - India has offered to significantly increase an order for U.S. attack helicopters, Indian officials said, as U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel began a visit to New Delhi on Thursday aimed at boosting defence and strategic ties. The Apache gunships and a deal for Chinook helicopters, both built by Boeing, will top the agenda in Hagel's talks on Friday with the new administration led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India has offered a follow-on order of 39 AH-64D Apache helicopters in addition to the 22 now being negot…
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