India also went on an overdrive in expanding its military engagement with like-minded countries in its neighbourhood and beyond in the face of China's relentless attempts to become a regional hegemon and establish its primacy in South Asia.
Two B-1B Lancer supersonic heavy bomber jets of the US Air Force on Tuesday joined the American exhibits at Aero India at the Yelahanka air base, in a reflection of the deeper strategic ties between the two countries.
The United States Air Force is testing 'weapons of tomorrow' including space weapons and an experimental microsatellite with the capability to disrupt other nations' military satellites.
The US Air Force's (USAF) two newest fifth-generation supersonic multirole F-35A aircraft made a historic debut at Aero-India here on Monday, drawing strong interest and adding lustre to the five-day marquee event.
The United States air force nuclear command has been rocked by the worst cheating scandal in proficiency exam involving 34 officers at the inter-continental missile launch of the global strike command, the Pentagon has said.
The American platforms at the exercise 'Cope India' that started off Kalaikunda will also include a fleet of F-15 E fighter jets, C-130 and C-17 transport aircraft.
After the third unidentified object was shot down in the US on Sunday, speculations were made that they could be alien or terrestrial activities.
On March 14, a Russian Su-27 jet collided with a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea.
The exercise was aimed at validating joint plans for strategic airlift of specialised forces employing IAF's fixed and rotary wing platforms by landing and dropping in designated areas for undertaking kinetic actions, they said.
Biden, in his call with Netanyahu, updated him on US military support and reiterated his warning against anyone seeking to expand the conflict, according to a readout of the call.
A Chinese fighter jet performed an unsafe manoeuvre after it came as close as 20 feet within a United States military aircraft over the South China sea, The Hill reported on Thursday citing the US Indo-Pacific Command.
It said the acceptance of necessity accorded to the procurement by the Defence Acquisition Council noted the estimated cost of $3,072 million as provided by the US government, adding the price will be negotiated once policy approval from Washington is received.
A senior government functionary claimed on Thursday that the average estimated cost of MQ-9B long endurance drones for India would be 27 per cent lower than the price incurred by other countries which have bought it from the US, asserting that it will most likely go further down during negotiations unless India seeks additional features.
India remained the world's top arms importer, but its imports declined by 11 per cent between 2013-17 and 2018-22, according to a report released on Monday by Stockholm-based defence think-tank SIPRI.
During these seven decades, the IAF has lost 2,374 aircraft to crashes. They include 1,126 fighters and 1,248 non-combat aircraft. In addition, 229 trainers and 196 helicopters have crashed. These crashes have resulted in the deaths of 1,305 skilled pilots, note Ajai Shukla and Devesh Kapur.
Another major announcement that came was an MoU signed between GE and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to jointly produce fighter jet engines for the Indian Air Force.
The defence ministry on Thursday accorded its approval to procure 30 MQ-9B Predator drones from the US to crank up the surveillance apparatus of the armed forces, especially along the frontier with China, people familiar with the development said.
Taliban also blamed the US for encouraging the Afghan elite to leave the country, Tolo News reported.
The US drone strike that killed Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri on the balcony of a safe house in downtown Kabul points to the use of secret Hellfire missiles by the CIA as there was no explosion and, according to American President Joe Biden, "no civilian casualties" either.
Britain on Thursday warned that there was a 'very credible' report of an 'imminent' terrorist attack by the Islamic State terrorists targeting those gathering at Kabul airport in an attempt to flee war-torn Afghanistan.
After gaining access to the airfield, the unarmed intruder then entered a C-40 aircraft from the 89th Airlift Wing, known as the "presidential wing," officials said.
United States fighter jets on Saturday shot down an unidentified, unmanned high-altitude airborne object over northern Canada that had entered its airspace from Alaska, President Joe Biden said.
The US has said it will go ahead with its plan to conclude its Afghanistan mission by August 31, even as the evacuation effort, which is now in its "retrograde period", is facing an "ongoing and acute threat" from ISIS-K.
The United States officials in Afghanistan naively handed the Taliban a 'kill list' to target Afghans who aided American forces in the country, according to a media report.
The MQ-9B predator armed drones -- 10 each for three services -- is seen to be a key part of India's national security and defense needs.
The Orion capsule returns to earth after a 26 day mission orbiting the Moon and back.
At least seven people, including three Afghan nationals who clung to a US Air Force plane to escape Taliban rule, died on Monday in a melee at the Kabul airport, as hundreds of people scrambled to board flights in a desperate bid to get out of Afghanistan, following the toppling of the government led by President Ashraf Ghani.
Earlier, the Taliban took control over Jawzjan province's capital Sheberghan and Nimroz province's capital Zaranj.
On Wednesday, November 10, night, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The US drone strike that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri has raised questions over Pakistan's possible role in the raid amid reports suggesting that the country's airspace could have been used for carrying out the precision strike on the Al Qaeda chief's safe house in Kabul.
The sources said the talks are focused on sorting out certain issues relating to cost component, weapons package and technology sharing.
Afghans, who fled their homes in Afghanistan for fear of the dreaded Taliban, seek refuge in hopefully a friendlier world.
China's official media reported air and ground movement of troops in Taiwan Straits -- the waters that separate China and Taiwan -- as US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taipei on Tuesday disregarding Beijing's stern warnings.
Codenamed Red Flag Alaska 16-1, the exercises are being conducted in the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex, the largest instrumented air, ground and electronic combat training range in the world at more than 65,000 square miles.
China on Wednesday said it will take "strong and effective" countermeasures against the US and Taiwan for violating the "One-China policy", as the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi successfully completed her visit to Taipei disregarding Beijing's vociferous threats.
'The future is about autonomy and tanking.'
Some individuals or small families were still 'being pulled through the gates somehow' as of Saturday, CNN reported citing a source familiar with the situation.
The medical equipment and other supplies were brought to Delhi in a C-5M Super Galaxy, one of the largest strategic airlift aircraft of the US Air Force.
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