India eyes safer skies with Russian S-400 Triumf

In what could be a game-changing arms acquisition, India is planning to acquire the new-generation Russian S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems that can destroy incoming hostile aircraft, stealth fighters, missiles and drones at ranges of up to 400-km.

Sources say the defence acquisitions council (DAC), chaired by Manohar Parrikar, will "soon" take up the proposal moved by the IAF to purchase around a dozen S-400 long-range systems from Russia.

"The project is at an initial stage at present. But it will be a government-to-government contract when it is finalized, with the S-400 systems being inducted over several years," said a defence ministry source.

The procurement proposal comes ahead of Parrikar's impending visit to Russia, which will be followed by the Modi-Putin summit in Moscow in December. It also comes around a year after China sealed a $3 billion deal with Russia for acquisition of six S-400 batteries.

China is slated to get the S-400 batteries, which is designated `SA-21 Growler' by NATO and rivals the anti-ballistic missile capabilities of the US Patriot PAC-3 system, from 2017 onwards.

Countries locked in territorial disputes with China in the East and South China Seas, ranging from Japan and Taiwan to Vietnam and the Philippines, are all worried at the prospect of the People's Liberation Army getting such a force-multiplier to dominate the airspace. India obviously is also wary of China acquiring such a military capability, even if it is defensive in nature, since it can make all the difference during a conflict.

The S-400 basically has three kinds of missiles, with different capabilities, that can fly at supersonic and hypersonic speeds to intercept all kinds of targets at ranges from 120 to 400-km. Russian experts even proclaim the S-400 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system can "radar lock and shoot down" stealth fifth-generation fighters like the American F-35 jets.

India, on its part, is now belatedly trying to plug the gaping holes in its airspace surveillance and defence network with progressive induction of a wide array of sensors and weapons.

With both IAF, tasked with the country's air defence, and Army saddled with increasingly obsolete air defence weapons, the ongoing induction of the indigenous 25-km range Akash area defence system has come as a major relief for them.

Induction of the Israeli Spyder low-level quick-reaction missile systems, with a 15-km range, is now planned from 2016-2017 onwards. The project was stuck since the Tatra trucks -- on which the missile systems were to be mounted - had got enmeshed in corruption scandals. The contract was recently amended to replace the Tatra trucks with Tata trucks.

Deliveries of the medium-range SAM systems jointly developed by Israeli Aerospace Industries and DRDO, with an interception range of 70-km, will also begin from 2016-2017.

Along with induction of these weapons, IAF is also now expanding its fully-automated surveillance network called IACCS (integrated air command and control system) to the entire country, with the cabinet committee on security recently approving another Rs 8,000 crore for the project. Eventually, the Army and Navy's Akash Teer and Triguna air defence networks will be integrated with the IACCS.

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India's Next Guided Missile Destroyer to be commissioned on Sept 30

NEW DELHI: India's latest stealth destroyer, INS Kochi, will be commissioned into Navy later this month by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Built by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL), the new ship is part of the Kolkata-class (Project 15A) guided missile destroyers. The first ship of the class, INS Kolkata, was commissioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.

Parrikar is scheduled to commission the ship on September 30. Another ship, INS Chennai, is currently under production. These are the largest indigenously-built destroyer warships. The government had approved the construction of three Kolkata-class destroyers in May 2000.
Conceptualised by Indian Navy, Kolkata-class is a follow-on model of the Delhi-class and is fitted with modern weapons and sensor systems. The propulsion system of Delhi-class was also retained with minor upgrades. Most of the systems integrated in the ships are designed and built in India.
The destroyers are equipped with action information system and atmospheric control system. The modern stealth destroyers will demonstrate superior anti-surface warfare capabilities and anti-submarine capabilities.
The Navy had in February this year successfully test-fired the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from INS Kolkata during Tropex exercise conducted in the Arabian Sea.
The 290-km range conventional missile hit its target with pinpoint accuracy during this first-ever vertical launch.
INS Kolkata is also scheduled to fire a long-range surface-to-air missile (LR-SAM) later this year. Called Barak 8, the missile is being jointly developed by India and Israel.

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India has asked Russia for FGFA test flight

Ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow in December, India has asked Russia to allow IAF test pilots to fly its fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) to evaluate its capabilities.

“Flight-testing will help decide the way forward on the collaboration between the two countries on the FGFA. All options, ranging from an off-the-shelf purchase of 60-65 jets to joint production, are on the table,” said a top defence ministry official on Friday.
The fact that India needs an FGFA, which combines stealth, super-cruise capability, super-maneuverability, data fusion and multi-sensor integration on a single fighter, in the years ahead cannot be disputed.
For a country that is yet to even make its first indige- IAF down to 34 squadrons (includes 14 squadrons of obsolete MiG-21s & MiG-27s)

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India to buy 10 armored UAV from Israel

Government approves $400-million plan to purchase Armed Heron TP drones for Indian Air Forc. 

The government has quietly approved the purchase of 10 missile-armed drones from Israel — a crucial acquisition that will enhance India's cross-border military strike capability. The $400-million proposal for buying armed Heron TP drones from Israel was cleared last week and these drones may join service within a year.
These drones will be operated by the Indian Air Force, which has a fleet of reconnaissance drones. IAF also has a fleet of Harpy UAVs from Israel, which are self-destructing systems primarily tasked with taking out enemy radar positions.
Heron drones can carry a payload of over 1,000 kg and will be equipped with air-to-ground missiles that detect, track and take down targets deep in enemy territory.

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Desi Bofors aka Dhanush Howitzers to be inducted soon

JABALPUR: In what would be a shot in the arm for a force that has not had a new 155mm artillery gun inducted since the Bofors, the Indian Army is set to soon be handed over the indigenously-developed howitzer 'Dhanush', also known as 'desi bofors'.

"Dhanush, the indigenously-developed 155mm gun with 45 calibre having advanced features, is likely to be handed over to the army in November this year," Senior General Manager of Jabalpur's Gun Carriage Factory (GCF), NK Sinha, said.
The gun, a towed howitzer with a strike range of 38 km, has been developed by Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), Kolkata, after going through the design and voluminous documents running into more than 12,000 pages which were delivered to India under the first phase of Transfer of Technology (ToT) as part of the Bofors gun deal in late 80s, an official said.
Costing about Rs 14 crore apiece, Dhanush is comparable to most current generation weapons systems which are in use by different countries, the official added.
Along with electronic gun-laying and sighting systems and other features, the indigenously-developed gun has an enhanced 11 km range as against the gun range of 27 km of the imported Bofors.
Indian Army had stationed a special team of officers at GCF to help monitor the progress, coordinate proof resources and provide guidance regarding the qualitative requirements vis-a-vis the gun system from the user's perspective, the official said.
"A team from the 506 Army Base Workshop, close to CGF, was constantly providing technical inputs which it acquired for the project for over more than two decades," he added.
The Swedish Bofors company (now owned by Britain's BAE System) could not complete the ToT for the 155mm howitzer with 39 caliber to India as the deal got embroiled in a major political row over alleged kickbacks in 80s.
Subsequently, OFB struggled for a long time to produce the howitzer indigenously despite the fact that it has manufactured and supplied several components or spare parts to keep the Bofors howitzers operational in India, especially during Kargil war.

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BSF starts using sand scooters in sandy areas

JAISALMER: For the first time in the country Border Security Force (BSF) is using sand scooters along with camels. The jawans have started patrolling the border area in Shahgarh Bulj using sand scooters. Two sand scooters of American company Polaris have been deployed here.

The jawans face new challenges everyday that threaten the security of the nation. To deal with such challenges, the Centre, three years ago, had planned to provide all terrain vehicles (ATVs) to BSF. Several companies from China, America and other countries sent their ATVs which were tried by BSF at Shahgarh Bulj. After all the trials of various sand scooters, a report was sent by BSF special committee to the Centre. The committee had recommended American company Polaris's sand scooters.
In the first phase these scooters will be used along with camels on the sand dunes. The BSF is planning to gradually reduce the use of camels, but has refused to completely remove them from the area.
Sources said that initially Chinese company's Nebula Jaguar 500cc ATV scooter trial was held between May 17 and 19 some years ago.
Sources said that BSF headquarters in New Delhi had formed a committee led by a DIG to witness the trial of these ATVs. BSF special DG Singla said that under the pilot project, two scooters will be used for guarding the border. It will be seen how successful these scooters are and how they are utilized. After assessing all the factors, a decision will be taken to buy new scooters.

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Pakistan's lies exposed by S. Zaidi about 1965 War

Historian and political economist Akbar S. Zaidi has dismissed “the victory myth” regarding the 1965 Pakistan-India war, saying that can be no a bigger lie, as Pakistan lost terribly. According to the Dawn, Zaidi’s comments came during his thought-provoking lecture titled ‘Questioning Pakistan’s history’, just two days away from observing Defence Day and marking the 50th anniversary of the 1965 war in the country.

He said that the history that is taught in Pakistan is not focused on the people of the country, but rather on the making of Pakistan.
Zaidi began the lecture by thought provoking questions such as “what is Pakistan’s history and is there a need to question Pakistan’s history. And when was Pakistan formed? Aug 14, 1947 or Aug 15, 1947”.
Zaidi read out an excerpt from a Pakistan Studies textbook in which it was claimed Pakistan came into being in 712 A D when the Arabs came to Sindh and Multan. He exclaimed “This is utter rubbish!”
He said the first interaction with Muslims and Arabs occurred in Kerala in South India for trading purposes.
Zaidi also said that the 1940 Pakistan Resolution called for the recognition of Muslims within Hindustan and not for a separate entity.
He also criticised how history in Pakistan is taught to students.
It is focused on rulers and generals and not on social history, he said.
The event was organised by the Faculty of Social Sciences, Karachi University.

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INS Dega to have Mig 29 squadron

Naval Air Station INS Dega that presently has the only Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) squadron in the country will also have a MiG-29 K squadron. “We intend to have it in place in the next two years and the creation of infrastructure has begun,” says Commanding Officer of INS Dega Capt. D Bhattacharya. Once it happens besides AJTs, pilots would also be trained on MiGs.

The Hawk Mk-132 craft were inducted forming the AJT squadron in November, 2013. It is the Hawks flying that accounts for the morning roar over the skies in the city.
The MiG squadron is expected to be launched once aircraft carrier Vikrant to be based at the Eastern Naval Command is commissioned in 2018. There are also plans to develop a sister airfield at Bobbili where a World War II airfield with two abandoned runways exists.
It will be developed as a diversifying airfield to meet contingencies like bad weather or runway-related problems in Vizag, says Capt Bhattacharya. The additional back-up is required with the number of assets increasing while Dega will remain the main base. Besides, INS Dega is a joint user airfield with civilian aircraft operating and the Navy offering operational support.
INS Dega presently has about 40 craft training pilots.
The Dega air station was abuzz with activity on Thursday with Kamov, Dornier, Chetak, UH 3H, Hawk Mk 132 and the pilot-less target Lakshya on display.

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OROP announcement: Key Points

NEW DELHI: Defence minister Manohar Parrikar said on Saturday that the government has decided to implement the "one rank, one pension" scheme.
Here is the highlights of Parrikar's announcement on the OROP:

1. OROP will be implemented from July 1, 2014 and the base year would be 2013.
2. The estimated cost to implement OROP would be between Rs 8,000 crore to Rs 10,000.
3. Pension of ex-servicemen will be revised every five years.
4. Re-fixed pension will be the average of minimum and maximum pension in 2013.
5. OROP arrears to be paid in 4 half-yearly installments.
6. Those drawing pensions above the average will be protected.
7. A one-member judicial committee will be constituted. It will give reports on equalisation period in 6 months.
8. Personnel who retire voluntarily will not be covered under OROP scheme.

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India is celebrating VICTORY of 1965 war with pakistan

India has begun more than three weeks of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of what it claims was victory in the 1965 war with Pakistan.
President Pranab Mukherjee laid a wreath at the martyr's memorial at Delhi's India Gate monument on Friday. Meanwhile, eight civilians have been reportedly killed as India and Pakistan exchanged fire in the Kashmir region.
Kashmir, claimed by both countries in its entirety, has been a flashpoint for more than 60 years.

Major Waheed Bukhari, a spokesman for Pakistani Rangers, told Reuters news agency that five civilians had been killed and 48 others treated for injuries after firing from the Indian side in the Sialkot area.
And across the border, India's Border Security Force said three civilians had died and 22 were wounded in firing across the border in the Jammu region.
Both said the other side had opened fire first, and their accounts could not be independently verified.
The South Asian rivals have fought two wars and a limited conflict over the region.
'Victory Carnival' ::
The 1965 conflict began when Pakistan sent up to 30,000 troops into Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
Indian soldiers invaded Pakistan in retaliation.
Over the years, both sides have claimed victory. Pakistan celebrates 6 September every year as "Defence of Pakistan Day" with a 21-gun salute and a victory parade. Indians meanwhile believe that their forces had the clear upper hand in the war.
The war was fought on the western front where for over three weeks more than 100,000 Indian soldiers fought against Pakistan's 60,000 troops.
The fighting killed more than 8,000 men, most of them Pakistanis.
On Friday morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi "praised the courage & bravery of our Armed Forces" on Twitter ::
As we mark the 50th anniversary of 1965 war, I bow to all brave soldiers who fought for our Motherland in the war.
The celebrations began on 28 August, the day Indian troops captured the strategic Haji Pir Pass in Pakistan. They will go on until 22 September - the day India and Pakistan agreed to a UN-sponsored ceasefire.
The main event - a "victory carnival" with a show of military might, song and dance - is planned for 20 September on Rajpath - the wide boulevard in the city centre where the annual Republic Day parade is held and where India recently organised a record-breaking yoga event.
The celebrations will also include seminars, photo exhibitions and a concert. Many Indians support Mr Modi's decision to hold the commemorative events - but critics say holding a carnival is in bad taste.
The 1965 war was one of four between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947.

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Pakistani captured terrorist saying he is better trained then Indian Army

Pakistani terrorist of Lashkar-e-Toiba Sajjad @ Abu Ubaidullah told the interrogators that he is better trained to fight with Indian Army. He also said that he has done arms training (Darua Aaam) in Mansera and Daura Khas (Special training) in Muzaffarabad before he infiltrated into Kashmir eight days ago through Bijhama Uri sector of the Line of Control along with 4 others who were killed.

He said that three other groups were also ready to infiltrate after we left to cross the Line of Control in Uri sector.
Twenty two year old Pakistani terrorist was captured alive by Major Mishra of 32 RR of Indian Army after army fired tear smoke and chilly grenades inside the cave in which he had taken shelter when Army encircled the group.
Sajjad was brought to Srinagar tonight in an Army chopper and landed at Sharifabad where from he was taken for interrogation.
The arrested Pakistani terrorist is extensively questioned by the sleuths of intelligence agencies and Jammu and Kashmir Police.
Meanwhile, Surveillance is being maintained at all sensitive places in Line of Control after the report of Pakistan army is desperately assisting highly trained terrorists to infiltrate into this side of LoC causing surge in ceasefire violations in the past one month.
“Terrorists are desperate to infiltrate before these passes close, hence the increase in the incidents of cross border firing,” top police offical told Mirror.
” We have successfully eliminated a large number of terrorists in the Valley. Some of the terror outfits have been rendered leaderless, so to fill in the gap they want to push in more terrorists into our side,” he said.

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Captured Paki terrorist Sajjad Ahmed begged for mercy after Army used ‘Chilly Grenades’ to flush them Out

He panicked and begged for mercy after army commandos fired ‘chilly grenades’ and teargas shells into a cave to flush out the terrorists who were holed up there since last night. Sajjad Ahmed was subsequently arrested and he identified himself as a resident of Muzzafargarh in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

                                         

                                             
The 22-year-old was one of the five terrorists who had crossed over from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and hid in the cave after army detected the infiltration and was hunting for them in Rafiabad area of Kashmir. After crossing over from PoK in a place over 100 kms north of here, the five Lashker-e-Taiba militants made several attempts to breach the tight cordon placed along the LoC, army officials said.

The realignment of security layers along the LoC was the brainchild of outgoing Corps Commander of 15 Corps Lt Gen Subrata Saha, who moved on to Army Headquarters for a new assignment. Giving details, senior officials said Army’s technical intelligence had picked up signals about a group trying to infiltrate through this area during the night of August 25-26.

A cordon was laid and one of the militant was killed yesterday in an encounter. However, there was no whereabouts of the remaining terrorists, the officials said. When the operation was being called off, a reluctant Army Major insisted that the terrorists were still on the Indian territory and a crack team of various units was formed for a search operation. During the operation, a natural cave was found on the heights in Rafiabad, they said.

When the forces approached it, they were fired upon and in the ensuing encounter, three Lashker militants were killed. Apprehending that there could be some more terrorists inside the cave, the troops then fired several rounds of tear gas shells and ‘chilly grenades’ inside to flush them out. After sometime, troops entered the cave and found Sajjad weeping bitterly — one because of panic and secondly because of the effect of chilly grenades. He was immediately arrested and sent to Joint Interrogation Centre in Srinagar for thorough questioning.

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India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, will be undocked on May 28

India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, will be undocked on completion of structural work at the Cochin Shipyard on May 28.

 

 

India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, will be undocked on completion of structural work at the Cochin Shipyard on May 28.

“All major equipment has gone into the vessel, which has now acquired the shape of an aircraft carrier, with a finished hull. Barring a bit of ongoing work on the super structure, structural work is all over and the internal compartments have all been welded in,” said a yard official.

Outfitting is steadily progressing at the moment, but a major part of it — including piping, electrical cabling, control system wiring — will be carried out after the vessel is launched, marking the culmination of the third stage of work in the second phase of carrier construction for which a contract was signed between Cochin Shipyard and the Navy in December last year.

The extended first phase of work on the carrier was completed in August 2013 when the carrier had its official launch, but there was a delay in the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) sanctioning money for the second phase, which as per a schedule prepared in 2010 should be over in 2016.

The CCS sanction for the first phase was Rs. 3,261 crore, while the allocation for the critical second phase is Rs. 2,840 crore. The equipment already fitted in will be set to work towards the end of the ongoing phase after which basin trials will commence in 2017 to be on time for delivery in end-2018. The aircraft carrier will displace over 40,000 tonnes at the time of its induction into the Navy.

Contract with Rosoboronexport
While some 14 contracts have been signed with the Russian Rosoboronexport for the carrier’s aviation complex, delivery of major aviation equipment has not begun yet.

The aviation complex is designed by the Nevskoye Design Bureau, as Vikrant will have a complement of Russian-origin MiG 29 K fighter planes operating from its flight deck alongside the indigenously developed Naval LCA (when it receives operational clearance).

Meanwhile, the yard is awaiting clearances from the Directorate of Naval Design (DND) to start installation of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

“Ironically, obsolescence of equipment already delivered and stacked for sometime could pose a problem towards the end of the second phase when they are set to work,” said an official.

Equipment such as the massive gas turbines, for instance, would have outlived its guarantee period by the time the pre-delivery trials begin, he pointed out.

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Features of Indian Latest Warship : A stealth Destroyer

Indian Navy’s new destroyer, Visakhapatnam, with enhanced capability to operate in nuclear, biological and chemical atmosphere, will be launched in Mumbai on Sunday. Indian Navy’s new destroyer, Visakhapatnam, with enhanced capability to operate in nuclear, biological and chemical atmosphere, will be launched in Mumbai on Sunday. The ship is the first of the four follow follow-up order of the Kolkata class warships and will give a major flip to India’s maritime capabilities when it is inducted in 2018. Ahead of its launch, here are a few facts about the stealth destroyer. 1) The ship, named Visakhapatnam (Project 15 B), a stealth destroyer, is 65 per cent indigenous and has a number of weapon systems which have been made at home. 2) At 7,300 tonnes, Visakhapatnam will be the largest destroyer commissioned by the Indian Navy and will be equipped with the Israeli Multi Function Surveillance Threat Alert Radar. 3) The ship will be carrying 8 BrahMos missiles. 4) Navy officials said the Visakhapatnam is likely to be inducted in the Indian Navy by 2018. 5) The Visakhapatnam will be armed with a 127 mm main gun while the INS Kolkata has a 76mm Super Rapid Gun Mount. 6) She is equipped with a Ship Data Network, an Automatic Power Management System and a Combat Management System. Essentially, all information critical for the operation of the warship during all operations is available to key officers through the SDN which the Navy describes as a data information highway. 7) These ships are amongst the most technologically advanced Guided Missile Destroyers of the world, with state of the art weapon/sensor package, advanced stealth features and a high degree of automation. 8) With a displacement of 7,300 tonnes, each ship will be spanning 163 metres in length and 17.4 meters at the beam. It will be propelled by four gas turbines in Combined Gas and Gas configuration. 9) The ships are capable of achieving speeds in excess of 30 knots and have maximum endurance of 4000 nm at economical speed of 14 knots. 10) The destroyers incorporate new design concepts for improved survivability, sea keeping, stealth and ship manoeuvrability. These ships will be equipped to carry and operate two multiple role helicopters. 11) These ships have been designed for a complement of 50 officers and 250 sailors. 12) The ship’s fire power consists of sophisticated weapons-sensor suite including vertically launch capable Surface to Air and Surface-to-Surface Missiles for long distance engagement of shore and sea based targets.

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