Yudh Abhyas 2009 will impart a different trajectory to the military-to-military relationship. This is no longer about raids on insurgent hideouts or terrorist camps; strike corps training is for fighting a full-scale war together. This year, American and Indian mechanised forces will synchronise operations, planning, manoeuvring and firing together to capture a simulated objective.
This weekend, two Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters will land in Bengaluru for flight trials by the Indian Air Force, an eight-month-long selection process, involving six different aircrafts, to zero in on a multi-role medium fighter for the IAF.
Eurofighter boss Bernhard Gerwert will fly into Delhi to offer a new sweetener to the ministry of defence.
In the hot Kolkata sun, on the banks of the Hooghly river, craftsmen from Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) swarm over what will be the Indian Navy's most high-tech stealth warship. For GRSE, the navy's order for four anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvettes is its flagship project. But Project 28, as it is termed, is two years behind schedule.The first corvette was to join the fleet early next year. However, it will be delivered only in June 2012.
India's largest warship builders -- Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai; and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers, Kolkata - have prevailed over the Indian Navy's objections. MDL and GRSE will divide between them the entire order for seven improved stealth frigates, code-named Project 17A.The Navy was insisting that the first two frigates of Project 17A be built abroad, so that MDL and GRSE could learn how to build ships using new modular methods that are preferred by European shipyard
On the tenth anniversary of the Kargil conflict, the gun that did so much to facilitate that victory -- the 155 mm Bofors FH-77B -- could be staring at a major setback. With India's artillery modernisation programme already stalled, the plan to refurbish and upgrade India's old 155 mm FH-77B Bofors guns also seems headed for failure.
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.
During the Second World War, Field Marshall William Slim, commander of the 14th Army in Burma, discovered that the anopheles mosquito was causing more casualties to his men than the Japanese. Ruthlessly practical, he decreed that catching malaria was a disciplinary offence, punishable by imprisonment in a military prison.
DRL, Tezpur is harnessing all this spice into military applications, such as high-effectiveness tear gas. Meanwhile, the World Wildlife Fund asked DRL to explore the possibility of using Naga chilli to keep wild elephants away from villages and fields.
Interestingly, the decision to develop an indigenous MCA comes alongside the overseas procurement of 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for an estimated Rs 50,000 crore.
The Indian Navy's firepower is going to be significantly boosted with the addition of four heavy warships. The navy's design chief, Rear Admiral MK Badhwar, has confirmed for the first time, to Business Standard, that the Defence Acquisition Council --the top procurement body in the Ministry of Defence --has cleared Project 15-B, the construction of four 6800-tonne destroyers by Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai.
Top Indian policymakers tell Business Standard that the Obama administration's goal is clear: rather than trying to win the war in Afghanistan, simply aim at bottling terrorism inside the Pakistan-Afghanistan area, and monitor the borders electronically to prevent any "leakage" of jihadis.
With Aero India 2009 around the corner -- India's biggest-ever air expo, scheduled from February 11 to 15 -- HAL is readying to hand over, ahead of schedule, its first-ever export order won in a competitive contract, run last year by Ecuador for seven helicopters.
The Defence Procurement Policy of 2008, unveiled on August 1 by Defence Minister AK Antony, tries for the first time to lay down a list of defence products. A single page annexure specifies 13 generic categories that will be treated as defence products for offset purposes. The list confines itself to broad categories like 'vessels of war, special naval systems, equipment and accessories' and 'high velocity kinetic energetic weapons systems and related equipment.'
The most important changes in DPP-2008 relate to the new offset policy, which will immediately impact offset proposals for India's Rs 47,000-crore purchase of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA).
The PM and his entourage will fly in far more luxurious, safe and functional conditions. The US government has cleared the delivery to India of the first of three custom-built, high-security VIP aircraft.
If attendance is any yardstick, the Jeddah meet was a resounding success
The UAV project will be an important test for the DRDO's new thinking, it will, equally be a test for the concept of bringing a private sector company into a major project as the DRDO's industry partner.
This is the first of a four-part series on the DRDO, which has instituted fundamental changes in the way it will approach equipment development.
The DRDO has clearly decided that developing technologies is at least as important as developing weapons systems. V K Aatre, DRDO chief from 2000-04, had said, "Weapons programmes and technologies have to maintain equal pace." Only now is the DRDO heeding his advice.
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