Indian Government gives go-ahead to 4 strategic rail lines along China border

The Indian government has kick-started the process of building four top-priority strategic railway lines along the China border — a project that had been stuck in deliberations for years for want of a political decision at the highest level. 

Last week, at a high-level meeting with officials from the Planning Commission, Defence, Railways and Finance ministries, the PMO finally asked the Railways to carry out detailed engineering survey of the 1,000-odd kilometres of lines identified by the Defence Ministry as strategically crucial. They are in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, and J&K.

The Railways has been given time till next month to come up with a cost of the detailed survey, which will be borne by the government (Defence/Finance). Sources said the cost of the engineering survey could be around Rs 200 crore.


The identified lines are Missamari-Tawang (378 km) in Assam-Arunachal Pradesh; North Lakhimpur-Along-Silapathar (248 km) in Assam, Murkongselek-Pasighat-Tezu-Parashuram Kund-Rupai (256 km) in Assam-Arunachal Pradesh; and Bilaspur-Mandi-Manali-Leh (498 km) in Himachal Pradesh-Jammu and Kashmir. The detailed engineering survey, kind of detailed project report, is the blueprint based on which work is commissioned.

The Railways has informed the PMO that the topography and the geology is such that most of the lines are in the fault and folds of the Himalayan range, which involves stupendous engineering challenges. This means boring railway tunnels through geologically treacherous terrain.

“We had quite a few geological surprises holding up the numerous tunnel works in the Kashmir line many years ago. From that experience, we are sure that these lines will also throw up such surprises. So the detailed engineering survey has to be thorough,” said a Railway Board source. 

The survey will take around two years to complete but sources in the Railways said given the priority attached to it, they might be asked to expedite as well. But a detailed engineering exercise like this cannot be needlessly rushed as well, officials said. 

These four lines are part of the 14 strategically important lines of the armed forces to be used presumably for supplies for the Army and troops movement in times of need. The list was drawn up by the Services based on inputs from the operational commands and validated from an operational and logistics perspective. All these years, the government had been indecisive about who would fund the lines. 

Railways had been telling the government that it would make the lines but cannot fund it because of financial difficulties and also citing the fact that the lines were not part of its operational needs. The matter had been stuck at that. Soon after coming to power, the new government has been holding meetings at the Cabinet Secretariat level to arrive at the decision on this. The lines are part of the government programme of building permanent transport infrastructure along the India China border.

India to ground its entire Sukhoi Su-30MKI fleet after crash

Two Sukhoi Su-30 MKIs refuelling from IL-78 tanker

India has grounded its entire Sukhoi-30 fleet after a recent crash because it doesn’t want to put its pilots in harm’s way.

The fighters have not flown for a week after a Su-30 MKI of the Indian Air Force crashed near Pune, raising questions about the safety record of the fighter.

With the IAF operating close to 200 twin-engine Su-30s, the grounded planes represent almost a third of the country’s fighter fleet. India is due to get 72 more of these planes, each worth over Rs. 200 crore.

The IAF is down to 34 combat squadrons, as against an authorised strength of 44. Each squadron has up to 18 fighter planes.


An IAF official said safety checks with “special focus on ejection seats” were being conducted and flight operations would resume only after each plane was cleared. A highly-placed source said the pilots of the plane that crashed on October 14 near Pune had reported “automatic seat ejection.” One of the two pilots was involved in a previous Su-30 crash too.

Five Su-30 fighters have crashed during the last five years, setting off alarm bells in the IAF. The Su-30 fleet has been grounded at least twice in the past.

Former IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Major told HT, “A fleet is grounded when you have no clue as to what brought the plane down. It’s serious.”

Asked if buying Su-30s was a doubtful choice, Major said the planes were splendid but IAF needed to get to the bottom of the problem. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited assembles and repairs these planes in India.

IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha had told reporters on October 4 that the Su-30 fleet was facing certain problems, but he refused to elaborate. The IAF’s Su-30 fleet has faced a high number of mid-air engine failures during the last two years, said another official.

Taiwan building own Aegis fleet to take on China: report

Taiwan intends to build its own fleet of warships and frigates equipped with the powerful Aegis Combat System over the next 15 years, reports Hong Kong-magazine Yazhou Zhoukan.

The fleet, which will be developed domestically, will include four 6,000-tonne Aegis-equipped warships and another 10-15 2,000-tonne Aegis-equipped guided missile frigates, the report said.

The project, which was initially abandoned back in 1995, has reportedly been reactivated due to lower costs and concerns over the the significant improvements made to the People's Liberation Army Navy, including the introduction of its own aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, as well as larger, heavier and more powerful vessels. As a result, the ROC Navy is said to be determined to be become more flexible and make strides in speed, technology, stealth capabilities, missile launch capabilities and reconnaisance speed.


According to the report, the ROC Navy invested US$100 million with the United States around 20 years ago to develop a frigate similar to Spain's F-100 class, and another US$300 million to jointly develop the Aegis Combat System, now produced by American defense company Lockheed Martin. But Taiwan decided to suspend the project in 1995 following repeated calls from the US side to increase the investment, though several vessel designs are reportedly still in the hands of the Taiwanese government.

Taiwan began reconsidering the project after Spain commissioned its F-100 class frigate and received orders from Australia and Norway. Taiwan's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology also experienced success in phased array radar-based combat system integration tests and secured breakthroughs in procuring vertical missile launching systems from the US.

The current plan is to use the old blueprints to commence building the four 6,000-tonne Aegis ships by 2020. The Tuo River class or Hsun Hai-class corvette, currently udnergoing sea trials and is expected to be deployed in the first half of 2015, is also said to be one of the 10-15 2,000-tonne frigates under the project.

PLA may transfer 100,000 soldiers to Xinjiang: report

The Chinese government may transfer 100,000 People's Liberation Army soldiers to northwestern China's restive Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region to prevent ongoing violence from spiraling out of control, claims the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights & Democracy.

Analysts at the center predict that ethnic violence in Xinjiang will be one of the focal points of the ongoing fourth plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party later this month.China's state media has so far only stated that the central theme of the plenum is rule of law, though there are reports that other major issues are the status of former security and oil tsar Zhou Yongkang, who was officially nabbed for corruption in July, as well as a potential personnel reshuffle at the top levels of the Central Military Commission.
Rumors that the plenum is also discussing whether to transform 100,000 PLA ground troops into an armed police force to maintain order in Xinjiang have come amid claims that more than 50 people were killed and another 100 or so were injured in violent incidents in the province over the last two weeks.The center cites a recent report by Radio Free Asia that four ethnic minority Uyghur men armed with knives and explosives attacked a farmers' market in Bachu county in Kashgar prefecture on Oct. 12, as well as three other separate incidents in the Bachu regions of Akesake Marelexiang, Selibuyazhen and Anakulexiang.Uyghurs, who have long accused the Chinese government of suppressing their religious and cultural freedoms, have largely been blamed for multiple terror attacks in and out of Xinjiang in recent years. High profile incidents include a deadly jeep crash in Beijing's Tiananmen Square last October that killed five people and a mass stabbing at Kunming train station in southwestern China's Yunnan province in March that killed 33, as well as several attacks on police stations in Kashgar.

New-generation nuclear-powered missile destroyer under development in Russia

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/. Russia’s Defense Ministry has approved the technical design specification for the Leader class destroyers, a high-ranking source in the ministry told TASS on Tuesday.

The destroyer’s nuclear-powered and gas turbine versions are planned. He said there was no clarity yet concerning the weapons, but the new ship will be most likely equipped with the Caliber high-precision cruise missile system and the S-500 antiaircraft defense system.

“The Leader technical design specification prepared by the Navy command has been signed by the Defense Ministry leadership that approved the engineering design for two versions of the destroyer — nuclear-powered and gas turbine,” the source said.

The Severnoye (Northern) Design Bureau has been given the engineering design preparation assignment; it plans to launch the work in 2015, he added.

According to the source, the Russian Navy is going to place orders for 12 Leader class destroyers — 6 for the Northern Fleet and 6 for the Pacific Fleet.

“In any case, given the complexity, novelty of the project and huge work amount, the first Leader — either its nuclear-powered or conventional version — is expected to be competed no earlier than 2023-2025,” he said. According to him, the Leader building project is not included in the state armaments program for the period until 2020, so "the construction will be carried out under the shipbuilding program until 2050."

US, Japan to bolster space cooperation over Chinese threat

The US and Japan will boost military cooperation in space to counteract China’s growing capability to shoot down satellites, a leading Japanese daily reports. The plan follows recent moves to increase space-based intelligence sharing between the states.

The plan comes as part of the revised Guidelines for Japan-US Defense Cooperation, due to be published by the end of the year, Asahi Shimbun reported on Wednesday.

The plan will fundamentally alter Japan’s previous commitment to the peaceful utilization of space, and put an end to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) only monitoring Japanese space satellites.

The space surveillance functions will be conducted by a special unit to be created within Japan’s Self-Defense Forces after 2018. JAXA’s surveillance functions will be relegated to the new unit in phases.

In May, Japan agreed to pass on data gathered by JAXA to the US.

Strategic Command’s Joint Space Operations Center. The US military has likewise provided Tokyo with classified information on space security since last year.

The news follows an announced made by US deputy assistant secretary of state for space and defense policy, Frank Rose, who said China had conducted a weapons test for an attack on a satellite in July.

In an earlier interview with Asahi Shimbun, Rose said Washington is "very concerned about development of China’s anti-satellite capabilities."

His comments echoed those made by US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper earlier this year.

“Threats to US space services will increase during 2014 and beyond, as potential adversaries pursue disruptive and destructive counter-space capabilities,” Clapper told the Senate Armed Services Committee in February.

He noted that Chinese and Russian military leaders understand “the unique information advantages” space systems afforded states, saying both are “developing capabilities to disrupt the United States’ use of space in a conflict.”

In 2007, a Chinese test to destroy a space satellite create 3,500 pieces of space junk. The experiment highlighted the double threat of anti-satellite missiles; they both destroy their target and send out a spray of debris which can strike other satellites.

On Monday, China launched the Yaogan 22 satellite into space, the country’s seventh space launch this year.

Chinese media report the satellite was deployed for scientific experiments and other civilian purposes, but Western analysts believe it will be used to conduct global surveillance.

The United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) Space Control and Space Surveillance Network maintains a worldwide network of 30 space surveillance sensors (radar and optical telescopes, both military and civilian) to observe around 16,000 objects orbiting Earth.

Since the launch of Sputnik in 1957, the agency has cataloged 39,000 such objects, with many of them already reentering the atmosphere.

IAF aircraft C-130J Super Hercules crashes near Gwalior, 5 killed

IAF LM C-130J Super Hercules

NEW DELHI: A recently acquired C-130J transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed 72 miles west of Gwalior airbase on Friday morning, killing at least five personnel on board.

The IAF has no official word yet on how many personnel were aboard the aircraft.

The crash of the four-engine US made aircraft has baffled experienced pilots, given its safety records and extreme agility. One senior air force pilot said the accident was "bizarre", and speculated that either the crew was incapacitated or a fire broke out aboard the plane.


Rescue operations are underway at the crash site, air force sources said. "The aircraft was airborne from Agra at 10am for a routine flying training mission. A court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate into the cause of the accident," the IAF said in a statement.

The crash took place in Karauli district in Rajasthan, some 72 miles from Gwalior, where it was due to land.

The IAF started inducting C-130J in February 2011 and has half a dozen of them in service. It is also set to induct another six of them.

The C-130J is among the most agile aircraft in service today, and has an impressive safety record. The transport aircraft is meant for an array of operations including movement of Special Forces, and difficult landings. It was highly effective in rescue operations in Uttarakhand after the flash floods, and has proven its capability to carry out landings on remote airstrips close to China border. Both these have exhibited the flexibility and capability of the American aircraft, manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
Starting its history sometime in the 1950s with the US military, C-130 is among the world's most recognizable military aircraft that has participated in numerous military campaigns and in service with several militaries.

Though several C-130s have crashed during Vietnam war, the aircraft is reputed for its reliability. Last time South Asia saw a C-130 crash was when a C-130 aircraft of the Pakistan air force carrying Pakistani dictator General Zia-ul-Haq and the US ambassador Arnold Lewis Raphel were killed when it crashed on August 17, 1988.