Glimpses from Vayu Shakti 2026 highlight India's aerial might and combat readiness. From sonic booms to precision strikes, the Indian Air Force showcased its full-spectrum capabilities over Rajasthan skies.
The Indian military will showcase an Operation Sindoor-themed tableau for the Republic Day parade, highlighting the jointness of the three services and India's military capabilities.
After the Chinese People's Liberation Army troop buildup at the Line of Actual Control, the border separating India and China, the Indian Army has beefed up the 1,300 km-long LAC in the eastern sector in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.
The China threat continues to resonate in the strategic partnership between India and the USA, points out Rup Narayan Das.
This would be the first time that the Indian artillery would have these types of 105 mm mounted howitzers and would add to the strength of the formations deployed in forward positions, they said.
Two super high altitude firing ranges were made available to the armed forces for the practice of various kinds of weapons and surveillance equipment in Arunachal Pradesh within an aerial distance of 50 kilometres from the highly sensitive Line of Actual Control, sources said.
The Indian Army has deployed a significant number of easily transportable M-777 ultra-light howitzers in mountainous regions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh, military officials said on Thursday.
"The Letter of Request (LoR) for procuring 145 Ultra Light Howitzers for the Indian Army through the Foreign Military Sales route would be issued in October," a Defence Ministry official told PTI on Friday.
Complaints of alleged irregularities have been received in connection with Army's plan to procure ultra light howitzers worth over Rs 3,000 crore and a committee has been formed to probe these charges, the government has told Lok Sabha.
There has been no fresh induction of artillery guns since the infamous Rs 1,437-crore Bofors deal, under which 410 155mm 39-calibre field Howitzers were bought in 1986.
'The real issue between India and China is that the Chinese have transgressed along the Line of Actual Control at multiple points.'
Three M777 Ultra Light Howitzers, ten K9 Vajra tracked self propelled guns and field artillery tractors were inducted into the Indian Army.
India has told the United States that in view of the price increase, it cannot go ahead with the procurement of 145 ultra-light howitzers for the Army, which plans to deploy such artillery guns in mountainous terrain.
In August, the Pentagon re-notified the United States Congress of sale of howitzers to India for up to $885 million. A 2010 notification had stated a maximum cost of $647 million
Speeding up the military modernisation process, the defence ministry on Friday cleared procurement projects worth over Rs 7,000 crore including the long-pending acquisition of 145 Ultra Light Howitzers from the United States under a Rs 3,000-crore deal.
Over 68,000 Army soldiers, around 90 tanks and other weapon systems were airlifted by the Indian Air Force to eastern Ladakh from across the country for rapid deployment along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) after the deadly clashes in the Galwan Valley, top sources in defence and security establishment said.
The defence ministry has cleared the acquisition of 145 Ultra Light Howitzers from the United States under a Rs 3,000 crore deal, according to sources. This is the first such agreement to procure artillery guns in over 25 years after the scam-ridden Bofors deal.
A preliminary inquiry has found that the explosion took place due to faulty ammunition supplied by the Ordnance Factory Board and a further probe into the matter was on, the sources said.
The Defence Ministry has launched an inquiry after receiving an anonymous envelope containing four pages of leaked draft field trial report of 145 M777 Ultra-Light Howitzers to be procured for the army, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
As Indian Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane inducted the last of the 100 K-9 Vajra guns ordered, three of these howitzers have been deployed for trials in high altitude mountainous area of Ladakh.
The 145 M-777 guns, manufactured by the BAE Systems, are being taken to Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan for test firing.
A worried army chief, General Deepak Kapoor, has protested to Defence Minister A K Antony about the derailing of vital defence purchases by allegations of corruption. On June 10, General Kapoor complained about the cancellation of army trials on the Pegasus ultra-light howitzer, after the manufacturer, Singapore Technologies Kinetics (STK), was suspended on suspicion of links with a discredited Ministry of Defence official.
The exercise 'Yudh Abhyas' started on September 5 and will continue till September 18.
It is believed that the signing of BECA and the follow-up arrangements between the sides will allow India to use American inputs on geospatial intelligence and to enhance military accuracy of automated hardware systems and weapons like cruise, ballistic missiles and drones.
The commander said the situation in the region has been stable and no major "changes or palpable shift of stance has been noted" even as the Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a stand-off in Demchok and Depsang in eastern Ladakh.
This is the first deal for artillery guns since the Bofors scandal in 1980s.
The Excalibur ammunition was developed in the US for improving the accuracy of the artillery shells in the war in Afghanistan which the Americans have been fighting for almost two decades now.
Indian and United States Army soldiers were trained jointly during their Yudh Abhyas 2019 exercise at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. The exercise "Yudh Abhyas" started on September 5 and continueed till September 18. It is a part of the ongoing Indo-US defence cooperation. This is the 15th edition of the joint exercise hosted alternately between the two countries. Both armies are jointly training, planning and executing a series of well-developed operations for neutralisation of threats of varied nature. Here is a glimpse of what both the armies were up to.
In a major boost to its fire power, the Indian Army has deployed a sizeable number of upgraded L70 anti-aircraft guns in the high mountains along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh in addition to its existing M-777 howitzers and Swedish Bofors guns, officials said on Wednesday.
'The equipment that you make for us must be the best in the world so that it complements the Indian soldier who is without doubt the very best in the world.'
Flexible, maneuverable, mobile and swift, the M-777A2 Ultra-Light Howitzers are just what India needed to replace its aging battle-tested Bofors guns, says Debalina Ghoshal.
'Why wouldn't so strategically-minded an adversary, such as China, not militarily exploit to the maximum Indian timidity, stupidity, and cupidity all along the LAC and legitimate, as it has done so often in the past, the fait accompli of incremental territorial grabs which, by the way, is its strategy and policy as implemented on the ground?'
The barrel of the US-manufactured gun exploded during field trial in Pokhran.
Four veterans of the Indian National Army, an all-women contingent of the 183-year-old Assam Rifles marching down Rajpath and an Indian Air Force aircraft flying using a mix of traditional and biofuel.
General M M Naravane attended the Army Day parade for the first time as the Army chief. The Army Day is celebrated on January 15 every year to mark Lieutenant General K M Cariappa taking over as commander-in-chief of the Indian Army in 1949 from General Francis Butcher, the last British commander-in-chief of India.
Boosting the army's war fighting capabilities along the Line of Actual Control, the government on Wednesday given a go ahead to the creation of a corps including deployment of 50,000 additional troops along the China border at a cost of around Rs 65,000 crore.
The elephant in the room will permeate the conversations, predicts Rup Narayan Das.
The government has cleared the lone bid of Airbus-TATA consortium for replacing Indian Air Force's fleet of ageing Avro transport aircraft for Rs 11,930 crore besides approving Russia's offer to build Kamov Ka-226T helicopters under 'Make in India' initiative.
'Landmark developments herald the end of two decades of stagnation in the army's modernisation plans,' notes Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
However, flow of funds, would naturally rest on economic growth, reports Ajai Shukla.
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