With the latest AgustaWestland helicopter import scandal, it is time to re-examine the role of the ubiquitous but ostensibly banned defence agents, middlemen, intermediaries, brokers, consultants, weapon merchants or reps as they are variously known, says Rahul Bedi
Asked whether the IAF can play a role in smashing terrorist training camps across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, he did not rule out such a possibility.
Lieutenant Divya Sharma, Lt Shubhangi Swaroop and Lt Shivangi are now ready to take on all MR missions on Dornier aircraft, a defence spokesman said on Thursday.
Members of the search operation are yet to reach the spot.
Flt Lt Kanth who is from the first batch of woman fighter pilots of the IAF joined the fighter squadron in November 2017.
Burnt remains of the pilot of the ill-fated MiG-29 fighter aircraft have been found by Indian Air Force search teams, 19 days after the plane crashed in Lahaul Valley in Himachal Pradesh.
An Indian Air Force MiG-21 'Bison' fighter aircraft crashed on Friday, apparently due to an engine problem, while on a routine sortie in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district, but the pilot ejected safely.The plane went down at 11.25 am near Bela-Bhimlat village, at approximately 150 km south-west of Gwalior air base after taking off from there. A rescue helicopter was sent to fetch the pilot, the spokesman said, adding that a court of inquiry has been ordered into the incident.
The Rafale maritime fighter aircraft on Monday demonstrated its operational capability at a naval facility in Goa as the Navy plans to acquire a fleet of combat jets for its indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) Vikrant, people familiar with the development said.
The IAF is down to 34 squadrons. This will dip to 30 squadrons by the end of this decade, as nine squadrons of MiG-21 and MiG-27s retire.
If the new request for 18 more fighters translates into a contract, the Sukhoi-30MKI fleet size will go up to 14 squadrons, or 290 fighters.
HAL will build each Su-30 at just Rs 4.25 billion. The IAF is paying Rs 11.25 billion per Rafale, excluding the price of weapons and logistics.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday visited the Palam airbase in New Delhi and paid his last respects to Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and other 11 armed force personnel who lost their lives in a chopper crash in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.
There is little appetite among combat aircraft engine makers to share the IP that results from a co-creation project. But Rolls-Royce is willing to walk the Aatmanirbhar talk.
Territorial Army Honorary Lieutenant Colonel Mahendra Singh Dhoni couldn't hide his excitement after five Rafale fighter jets were formally inducted into the Indian Air Force.
'I have never seen such a large parade being commanded with such precision just by a vocal word of command.' 'I would like to import this technology to England.' Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd), then a final year cadet at the National Defence Academy remembers Queen Elizabeth II's visit to NDA in November 1983.
'Windows shook and rattled, and the thunderous growl of the engines doused even the sound of our noisy helicopter till such time the plane had lifted itself into the skies and disappeared from view.'
Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others were killed when an Indian Air Force helicopter carrying them crashed on Wednesday near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu in apparently foggy conditions, killing 13 people on board, the IAF and other officials said.
"They probably ran the Defence Ministry with a lot of brokers and 'dalals' in between," she said.
Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer on Friday said it has signed an agreement with the Indian government for the sale of five 'Legacy' executive jets for VVIP use.
'Those 10 years in the IAF has made me what I am today.'
Joginder Tuteja looks at upcoming movies featuring stars in uniform.
'The government has belied the hope that many harboured of change, efficiency and dismantling old practices as the defence ministry continues to pursue the same well trodden and wasteful path.'
'My relationship with the Pataudi family was to help me to survive in 1971.'
So far, only the US, Russia, Israel, China, United Kingdom, France and Australia have the system operational in their air forces, and its induction has propelled IAF into that major league.
He was the lone survivor of the crash in which Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika and 11 armed forces personnel were killed.
The retirement of the Jaguar would create a six squadron gap in the IAF's combat fleet which would cost $20 billion-$30 billion to fill.
The armed forces personnel whose bodies were identified in the last few hours are Junior Warrant Officer (JWO) Pradeep, Wing Commander P S Chauhan, JWO Rana Pratap Das, Lance Naik B Sai Teja and Lance Naik Vivek Kumar.
The Indian Air Force is planning to procure more Embraer business jets for its Delhi-based communication Squadron for ferrying VIPs.
Assistant Sub-Inspector Babu Ram and Constable Altaf Hussain Bhat of Jammu and Kashmir Police were on Saturday posthumously conferred with the Ashoka Chakra and the Kirti Chakra awards respectively on the eve of the 75th Independence Day. While the Ashoka Chakra is India's highest peacetime gallantry honour, Kirti Chakra is the second in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards.
In a heart-warming gesture, the Indian Air Force made an 11-year-old boy suffering from Thalassemia the "youngest honorary pilot" for its Sulur-based squadron in Coimbatore, fulfilling his wish.
The real value of the Tejas Mark 1 is the role it will now play in the development of India's next generation of fighter aircraft that will be more technologically advanced and lethal.
The trials for the MMRCA deal are on in Bengaluru at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited airport. The Boeing F/A-18IN Super Hornet is the first aircraft among the six global contenders to be put on flight evaluation and performance trials.
Basil George led an amazing rescue mission so that a helicopter could land and rescue people. In an admirable community effort, his team swam through strong currents, broken walls and floating snakes to help those who needed it most.
The government has recently turned down Indian Air Force's request to take part in the India-United States bilateral naval exercise Malabar.
Air Chief Marshal said his force is ready for a full spectrum operation but added that any decision on surgical strike involving the IAF has to be taken by the government.
'Me and my boys had never ever thought in our wildest dreams that we would be taking part in a rescue mission of this kind.' IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe, a helicopter pilot himself, reports on how the air force rescued those trapped in the Deoghar cable cars disaster last fortnight.
Two aircraft carried out the attacks on oil storage facilities near Colombo.
The issue between the Army and the Indian Air Force for controlling attack helicopters was a "family problem" and the government was in the final stages of finding a solution for it, Defence Minister A K Antony said in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The political row had erupted after the National Democratic Alliance government inked the Rs 59,000-crore deal on September 23, 2016 to procure 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation after a nearly seven-year exercise to procure 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft for the Indian Air Force did not fructify during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance regime.
More than nine months after a MiG-29 crashed in the mountainous Lahaul-Spiti area of Himachal Pradesh, the Indian Air Force has found some body parts, believed to be of its pilot, in glaciers.
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