China concerned over India’s naval prowess, says US expert

   China wants to establish posts in Indian Ocean Region(IOR) preferably in countries like Sri Lanka and Seychelles due to the growing influence of India in the region, said Dr. Lora Saalman, an American expert on arms control. 
      Dr. Saalman is an associate at the Nuclear Policy Program of the Carnegie Endowment  at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, Beijing. Her research focuses on Chinese arms control policies, and Sino-Indian and Sino-Russian strategic relations. In an interaction with media persons in Hyderabad,India, she said some of the experts in China felt India was either on par with China or even surpassed it on naval power. Referring to strengthening of Indian Navy in recent years, she said the Chinese felt India might use its policy to control the Indian Ocean. “It is the first and foremost on their mind.” 
       Observing that this posts could be used by the Chinese as refuelling points , Dr. Saalman however added that not all engagement was negative as military could also be used to shore up economic interests in the region. Dr. Saalman said China was also increasingly focusing on India and looking at where India was heading in the wake of the latter’s defence modernisation programme.

MoD grounds Medium Combat Aircraft project for LCA

Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft(AMCA)

HAL LCA Tejas

       Troubles in India’s ambitious Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project has inflicted gaping wounds where it would hurt the Indian Air Force (IAF) the most—the future plans for an Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). 

       The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has “put on hold” the AMCA project that is being spearheaded by Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA).
       The reason for the sudden decision to send the AMCA project—which began in right earnest in 2006 as the Medium Combat Aircraft (MCA) development in 2006—to cold storage is to help ADA to focus all its energies to first work on completing the much-delayed LCA project. “The AMCA has been put on hold for the moment. This decision was taken recently to let the ADA focus on the LCA project,” top Defence Ministry sources told The Sunday Standard. The AMCA project, for which the IAF provided the final Air Staff Qualitative Requirements (ASQR) in April 2010, may be taken up at a later date, sources said. But that will still be far away in the future.
Source:TheSundayStandard

IAF to hold exercise with UK and France in 2014

Indian Air Force will conduct two joint air exercises , christened “Indradhanush” with the UK and “Garuda” with France, in 2014 with a gap of six months, sources said. The last exercise was held in 2010.    

       While the “Garuda” exercise with the French Air Force is likely to take place in the IAF base in Gwalior, the exercise with the Royal Air Force may happen in the RAF base in Waddington. Venue of the 2010 edition of “Indradhanush” was Kalaikunda, while “Garuda” was held in Istres, France.
         The exercises assume additional significance in the IAF training schedule after the last minute cancellation of “Exercise Red Flag” in July at the US Air Force (USAF) base in Nevada, sources said. The USAF has abandoned plans of holding the exercise citing budgetary constraints. Conceived after the Vietnam war, “Red Flag” is the world’s most challenging air-exercise that provides air force pilots with realistic combat experience. Participation in the exercise was earlier restricted to close US allies, but was extended to India after bilateral relations between New Delhi and Washington improved in the last decade.

Indian Navy to acquire five self-propelled Fleet Support Ships

To further bolster its blue water capabilities, the Indian Navy plans to acquire five self-propelled Fleet Support Ships (FSS) that should be capable of transferring all types of stores, ammunition, fuel and personnel to naval units while underway at sea. 
        According to the Request for Proposal (RFP) issued recently, the Navy wants the FSS to be able to perform a 60-day mission with the capability to operate for an extended mission on requirement and be able to endure a trip of 12,000 nautical miles at a speed of 16 knots. The FSS should have a service life of 30 years, be capable of operating helicopters in extremely rough and cyclonic sea conditions and should possess ballast capability. Sources said the RFP, issued under the “Buy Global” category, is expected to elicit responses from some of the large shipyards around the world. Indian shipyards like Mazagon Dockyard, Garden Reach and the Cochin Shipyard have their hands full and need expertise to undertake such ventures. Sources said the process to acquire five FSS could take another three years to reach a final stage after negotiations, and extensive field trials.
           Larger blue water navies tend to have large auxiliary fleets comprising longer-range fleet support vessels designed to provide support far beyond territorial waters. Smaller navies tend to have smaller auxiliary vessels, focussing primarily on littoral and training support roles.
Source:TheHindu

IAF practices for twin-front contingency against China, Pak in biggest wargame

To make the forces ready for the twin-threat posed by China and Pakistan, the largest-ever combat exercise was undertaken by IAF. The main objective of the was to test its capability for a two-front contingency by deploying "swing forces'' from the western theatre right across to the eastern one.
       IAF did "extremely well'' during the 'Live-Wire' exercise, conducted from March 18 to April 4 with over 8,000 hours of flying sorties, to maintain the "high-tempo surge operations'' to "validate its two-front deployment capability''. Frontline Sukhoi-30MKIs even flew long-range missions from Chabua (Assam) to the western front, with mid-air refuelling, for bombing missions, sources said.
       

Indian Army for new Short Range UAVs

Indian Army is considering the procurement of unspecified number of Short Range Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(SR-UAV).
       This procurement is to augment the small fleet of IAI Searcher Mk 2 Sr-UAVs which the Army has already deployed.
       It is also expected that the first lot of the indigenous Nishant UAVs, currently undergoing its final trail with the Army, will be inducted by the end of the year.   

Indo-French naval exercise off Goa coast on April 17

            India and France will be conducting a joint naval exercise off the Goa coast on April 17, which is mainly aimed at honing the skills of Indian Navy in tackling anti-piracy and anti-submarine operations.
           "The 30-hour exercise would begin on April 17 ", said Commander Guillaume Fontarensky, commanding the anti-submarine Destroyer 'FNS Montcalm', currently docked at Goa's Mormugao Port Trust (MPT), before initiating exercises with the Indian Navy. 
             The exercise is the part of a larger naval drill held annually between the French and Indian navies. "Such kind of smaller exercises are held to increase the understanding between the two navies in between the larger drill", said Fontarensky. "The exercise, scheduled off the Goa coast, would hone the skills of Indian Navy in anti-submarine and anti-piracy operations", the commander said, adding a common procedure would be developed by both the navies to fight against submarines of hostile nations. He said the details about participation from Indian counterpart would be known only after the session on Monday.
              Meanwhile, Francois Richier, French Ambassador in India, told reporters that such an exchange was crucial for ensuring safety of the Indian Ocean. "The threat can come from anywhere, even from under the sea. This is very important for ensuring safety of the Indian Ocean", the Ambassador said, adding the threat of piracy in Indian Ocean has diminished to a great extent on the back of crackdown on the sea brigands by various navies. "The number of attacks by pirates has decreased of late, compared to the past", Richier said.

First Scorpene submarine to be delivered in 2014

        After hitting rough waters for several years with bribery allegations, the first of the six Scorpene submarines, ordered by the Indian Navy as part of technology transfer from France, is to be delivered in 2014, French ambassador Francois Richier said on Saturday. The rest five submarines are to be delivered every year.
         "The first submarine would be ready by 2014, heralding an important and strategic tie-up between both the nations on the defence front", said Richier told mediapersons on board French naval destroyer FNS Montcalm, anchored at Goa's Mormugao harbour for a naval exercise. 'Project-75' is under way at Mazagon Docks Ltd (MDL) in cooperation with French company DCNS.
          "It is a full transfer of technology, something we don't do with everybody. Defence component of India-French relations is very important to us," said Richier. 
            The Scorpene deal has been under a cloud of controversy with the government conducting an inquiry into financial irregularities committed by a former director in-charge of the whopping Rs 23,562-crore project, which has been dogged by huge time and cost overruns. Defence minister AK Antony told the Lok Sabha last month that a complaint was received alleging financial irregularities against the then director in-charge of the Scorpene submarine project in a defence shipyard (MDL) and the complaint is under inquiry.

Two-day Sagar Kavach drill begins today

            In order to test the maritime security capabilities of Indian Armed forces , a two-day extensive multi-agency drill code-named 'Sagar Kavach (Sea Shield) ', will begin on April 11 off the coast of Goa. "The objective of this exercise is to provide seamless seaward defensive cover along the Goa coast and is exercised jointly by all security agencies including Indian Navy, Coast Guard, state marine police, customs, fisheries, port authorities and other central and state departments from the coastal belt area line to the limit of territorial waters, that is 12 nautical miles," stated a press note issued by the police. The major exercise will also involve Lifeguards of Drishti agency on Goa's beaches .
             In the exercise, intelligence and infiltration will be induced and the alertness and preparedness of all the stake holders, including the general public, will be tested. "The exercise will also assess the effectiveness of coastal fishing community in serving as 'eyes and ears' for early warning of a seaward threat," the police said.

Pakistan tests nuclear-capable Hatf-IV missile

       

 Pakistan on Wednesday successfully test-fired nuclear-capable Hatf-IV ballistic missile with a range of 900 km that can hit targets in India. 
        Officials said the launch of the Hatf-IV, also known as the Shaheen-1, would strengthen the country's deterrence capabilities "manifold". The launch of was described by the military as successful. 
        "The missile incorporates a series of improvements in range and technical parameters of the existing missile," the military said in a statement. The Hatf-IV is capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads to a range of 900 km. The "impact point" of the launch was at sea, the statement said.
          The launch was witnessed by Strategic Plans Division chief Lt Gen (retired) Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, who said the improved version of the Hatf-IV "has consolidated and strengthened Pakistan's deterrence abilities manifold". Senior military officers, scientists and engineers were also present at the launch.
           Since last year, Pakistan has tested a wide array of missiles, from the Hatf-IX tactical missile with a range of 60 km to the Hatf-V ballistic missile with a reach of 1,300 km.

Israel set to bag another mega Indian defence deal

Israel is all set to bag a Rs 15,000-crore Indian mega defence deal to equip all 356 infantry battalions of the Indian Army with third-generation anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) which is currently under a strong challenge from the US to remain the second largest arms supplier to India after Russia.
     The project will involve an initial direct acquisition of the man-portable "tank killers", with a strike range of 2.5-km, followed by transfer of technology to defence PSU, Bharat Dynamics Ltd , for large-scale indigenous manufacturing. 
       The Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC) of India, led by the Union defence minister, Mr. A K Antony, took up the procurement of the fire-and-forget Israeli "Spike" ATGMs for clearance on April 2. But the case was kept "pending" after being referred for "a technology scan" since it was "a single vendor situation" without any competition, said sources. The DAC can approve acquisition of a state-of-the-art weapon system, aimed to gain a qualitative edge over adversaries, in a single-vendor situation only after "a technology scan" is conducted by HQ IDS (integrated defence staff) in consultation with DRDO. "The scan basically certifies it's not possible to get the weapon system from anywhere else. The DAC will consider the case after the scan," said a source.
         The 1.13-million Army is pushing the "critical" project since it has a huge shortfall of 44,000 ATGMs of different types, half its authorised inventory at present. Moreover, both Pakistan and China — the latter with third-generation ATGMs — have zoomed ahead in this capability of stemming enemy armoured attacks.
         The "buy global" project for the shoulder-fired ATGMs had begun — after DRDO failed to deliver an indigenous system — with the Israeli Spike being pitted against the American FGM-148 Javelin missiles. But the US could not assure India of providing full ToT to allow indigenous production. Consequently, only the Spike ATGMs underwent extensive field trials conducted by the Army. The force is keen to begin inducting the new ATGMs soon to ensure each infantry battalion deployed in the plains has eight ATGM launchers (each with 12 missiles), and those in the mountains have at least two, by the end of the 12th Plan (2017). "Even mechanised infantry battalions will get them later," said the source.
          At present, the Army is making do with second-generation Milan (2-km range) and Konkurs (4-km) ATGMs, produced by BDL under licence from French and Russian companies, which are wire-guided and do not have fire-and-forget capabilities. 
          A part of the deficiency will be met by the induction of the long-delayed indigenous third-generation Nag ATGMs, which are vehicle and helicopter-mounted, with a 4-km strike range. The Army has already placed an initial order for 443 Nag missiles and 13 Namicas (Nag missile tracked carriers).

Bodies of soldiers killed in South Sudan reach India

The bodies of five Indian UN peacekeepers killed in South Sudan reached India early Thursday. "The bodies of the five martyrs have been brought back. The bodies will be sent to the respective villages," Major Gen SL Narasimhan, the additional director general (public information) at army headquarters, told the media here. 

The five peacekeepers - Lt Col Mahipal Singh, Naib Subedar Shiv Kumar Pal, Lance Naik Nand Kishore Joshi, Havaldar Bharat Sasmal and Havaldar Hira Lal were killed - and four others were injured when their convoy was ambushed by a rebel group in Jonglei in South Sudan early Tuesday. The five soldiers belonged to the Mechanized Infantry and Mahar regiments.

Indian Navy submarine force to be weakest by 2015

      The Indian Navy's submarine force levels will be lowest in the history by 2015 as per a confidential defence ministry report.
    While China is scaling up its underwater capabilities by introduction of more submarines, the Indian Navy is speculated to have merely six or seven submarines in 2015 including the indigenous nuclear powered, nuclear armed ballistic missile submarine, INS Arihant as it will start phasing out the the Russian Kilo class and German HDW Type 209 class submarines.
   The Indian Navy currently operates 14 submarines in the above submarine classes and also a single nuclear powered attack submarine leased from Russia, INS Chakra while China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) operates close to 45 submarines including nuclear powered attack and ballistic missile submarines. It also has plans to construct 14 Yuan class diesel electric submarines probably with Air Independent Propulsion (AIP).
     On the other hand, the six French Scorpene submarines (Project 75) currently under construction in Marzagon Dock limited at a cost of 23,562 crores will not be launched until 2016-17.

Indian Coast Guard activates 'air enclave' in Bhubaneswar

         The Coast Guard on Wednesday activated the first 'air enclave' here to provide security to Odisha's coast and the exclusive economic zones.
         An offshore patrol vessel has been based at Paradip and two interceptor crafts will join the fleet in the future to ensure increased operational capability in the coastal areas of West Bengal and Odisha.
        The enclave will provide support to recently inducted Coast Guard surveillance Dornier aircrafts equipped with advanced and sophisticated navigational and communication sensors and equipment for response to pollution, search and rescue, maritime reconnaissance and for coastal security.
        "The current month is a very special one. The Coast Guard is going to commission seven ships including an offshore patrol vessel, two fast patrol vessels, three interceptor boats and one air cushion vessel in addition to the activation of the air enclave," financial advisor, indian defence accounts service, Priti Mohanty, said. 
          Stating that Indian Coast Guard has embarked on a major expansion plan and is undergoing exponential growth, Mohanty said the activation of air enclave Bhubaneswar, the first Coast Guard air establishment in Odisha, is one more step in this direction. 
        The Coast Guard has identified Odisha as an important maritime state with a long coastline and rich maritime traditions and history of such trade with south-east Asia. 
        "To further this tradition we are developing ports like Dhamra and Gopalpur in accordance with the government's 'Look East' policy," she said, adding that Odisha has the potential of becoming one of the most important trade destinations on the country's east coast. 
          The activation of this air enclave is also a part of Coast Guard's plan to strengthen and modernise its infrastructure to support operations which includes commissioning of ICGS Gopalpur recently.                    
          Setting up the air enclave will fulfill the requirement of air surveillance off the Odisha coast right up to the limits of the exclusive economic zone, she said.

INS Viraat-India's sole aircraft carrier

       INS Viraat is a Centaur class aircraft carrier in service with the Indian Navy. It is the flagship and also the second largest ship of the Indian Navy (second to INS Jyoti). It is also the oldest aircraft carrier in service in the world and is one of the two carriers based in Indian Ocean Region(IOR).
         It was initially in service with Royal Navy as HMS Hermes from 1959 to 1985 and was transferred to India in 1987 which will keep it in service until 2020.By then, the warship would have completed 60 years of service, over twice its initially estimated sailing life of 25 years having undergone four mid-life refits and a short refit. At that time the two Indigenous Aircraft Carriers (INS Vikrant and INS Vishal) seemed likely to be fully operational, which was the reason to keep Viraat operational until then,according to unnamed Navy officers.

Structure:

Viraat is fitted with a 12° ski jump to operate the Sea Harrier jump jets , a reinforced flight deck, and 1.2 inch armour over the magazines and machinery spaces. The magazine capacity includes at least 80 lightweight torpedoes. The vessel retains commando transport capability for up to 750 troops and carries four LCVP landing craft (Higgins Boat)  in the aft section.  In a wartime scenario, the INS Viraat can embark up to 30 combat aircraft (Sea Harrier) or helicopters. INS Viraat is suited for two missions:

•    Supporting amphibious operations . 
•    Conducting ASW operations.

Aircrafts carried:

• Fleet Defence - Sea Harrier FRS51
• Airborne Early Warning (AEW) - Kamov Ka-31 Helix-B
• ASW (Anti Submarine Warfare)/ASV (Anti Surface Vessel)-                                                                 SeaKing Mk. 42B & Kamov Ka-28 Helix-A
• Commando Assault and Vertical Replenishment - Sea King Mk. 42C

Sea Harrier lands on INS Viraat

Westland Sea King

Kamov 28

Kamov 31

Combat Data Systems On board:

• Italian SELEX (former ELMER) communication suites
• CAAIS action data automation; Link 10
• SATCOM systems

DRDO faces four critical 'tests' in coming months

India may have again successfully test-fired the 2,000-km range Agni-II missile on Sunday but the actual mettle of defence scientists will be on trial in four critical tests slated over the next few months.
As per the presentation given to the Cabinet Committee on Security last Thursday, these will be the sea trials of nuclear submarine INS Arihant and the test-firing of its K-15 missile, another test of the two-tier ballistic missile defence (BMD) system and, to cap it all, the second firing of the over 5,000-km Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), say sources.
None of these weapon systems, however, is anywhere close to actually being inducted into the armed forces. Yes, the scientists have done well in developing such extremely complex systems. But all the big talk of India gate-crashing into "super-exclusive'' clubs of nuclear submarines, SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles), ICBMs or BMD systems is meaningless at this stage. 
       As per the fresh timelines, the country's first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine, the 6,000-tonne INS Arihant, is now finally getting ready to begin its long-awaited sea trials next month. Since it was "launched'' at Visakhapatnam in July 2009, the submarine has been undergoing harbour-acceptance trials on "shore-based steam'' till now. Now, after its miniature 83 mw pressurized light-water reactor goes "critical'', INS Arihant will have to undergo extensive "sea-acceptance trials'' for well over a year, as also test-fire the 750-km range K-15 SLBMs. India's long-elusive nuclear weapon triad will be completed only after INS Arihant becomes fully-operational around end-2014.
         Then, DRDO plans to test the three-stage Agni-V, which will bring the whole of China within its strike envelope, around June. Tested for the first time in April 2012, Agni-V will require at least three more "repeatable'' tests before it can glide into the production phase for eventual induction by 2015-2016. "An over 6,000-km range Agni-VI is also being planned,'' said a source. 
          DRDO is also hoping for the eighth "successful'' test of its BMD system, designed to track and destroy incoming ballistic missiles both inside (endo) and outside (exo) the earth's atmosphere, "within the next 30-40 days''. This missile shield has not been tested in an integrated mode, with both endo and exo interceptors together, till now. But DRDO is confident the BMD Phase-I system, which is supposed to intercept enemy missiles with a 2,000-km range, can be ready for deployment by 2014-2015. The Phase-II will tackle 5,000-km range missiles.

IAF flies double sorties and commandos to Naxalite areas

The Indian Air Force (IAF), which faced flak after its personnel abandoned an injured policeman in a chopper crippled in Naxalite firing, has now begun flying double sorties to many areas and more commandos for its air support missions in anti-naxalism operations to prevent such incidents.The sortie routes of the IAF helicopters are being sanitized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in advance and it has doubled the strength of on-board 'Garuda' commandos to four every time its Mi-17 choppers fly in remote and forested areas of Naxalite violence affected states, official sources said.

AgustaWestland submits bids for two military chopper tenders amid fear of being blacklisted.

      Notwithstanding the prospect of being blacklisted over the VVIP chopper scam, Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland has submitted its bid for two military tenders to supply helicopters to the Navy and the Coast Guard. The firm has submitted its response to Indian Navy's tender for procuring 56 naval utility helicopters and Coast Guard's Request for Proposal (RFP) for buying 14 medium-lift choppers, defence sources said.
      The Navy is planning to procure these twin-engine light choppers to replace its fleet of vintage Cheetah/Chetak helicopters which are operated from warships and air bases of the force.
       In the Coast Guard tender, two other companies, including American Sikorsky and Eurocopter, have also submitted their bids along the Anglo-Italian firm in response to the RFP last week. The Coast guard, which has a fleet of Cheetah/Chetak and ALH Dhruv helicopters, is strengthening its rotary wing aerial surveillance capabilities after the 2008 Mumbai attacks and is in the process of acquiring several light and medium weight surveillance choppers.

US aircraft maker Textron eyes India's defence space

         American aircraft and rotorcraft maker Textron, known for its Bell range of helicopters, is looking to broaden its India footprint by entering the lucrative defence space, which could see an investment of $100 billion over the next decade on military hardware. 
        
          According to Connor, rotorcraft that fits the needs of Indian military, state governments and paramilitary forces are the new Bell 407 armed version and Bell 429 twin-engine. "Bell-525, currently under development, is a potential product for the military and state government needs it later." Bell helicopters are mostly used for civil and commercial flying purposes in the country.

LCA Tejas LSP 8 takes on the skies!

The last aircraft in the Limited Series Production program of LCA-Tejas (LSP-08) took off on its maiden flight here today from HAL airport.  The performance of the aircraft was flawless, said Dr. R. K.Tyagi, Chairman, HAL. The aircraft was flown covering a flight envelope at supersonic speeds and at an angle of attack of 20 degrees which is the current maximum limit cleared by design. With this, the Initial Operation Clearance (IOC) for the aircraft can be expected soon. Air Cmde K.A. Muthana, VSM, Program Director (Flight Test) piloted the aircraft on its maiden flight.

Agni II successfully launched by the Strategic Forces Command.

India successfully test fired its nuclear-capable medium range ballistic missile (MRBM) Agni II missile for the on Sunday, from Balasore, a strategically located city in Odisha.. The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) fired the 16-ton Agni-2 missile propelled by solid rocket propellant system, with a range capability of over 1700 kms utilizing the range facility at Wheelers Island, off the Odisha coast.

     

     

India's submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) - K-15 Sagarika Final Development Trial

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