The Indian Air Force will carry out a mega exercise covering the Northeastern region early next month to check its combat readiness, amid a fresh spike in tension with China along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed that the country's airspace had been violated by "a huge number of Russian drones" which were shot down by its military.
Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Tuesday made his first visit to the Eastern Command after taking over the office and also went to the forward areas at the international borders with China.
Amid tensions over build-up by the Chinese across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh and reluctance to resolve remaining issues between the two countries, Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari is visiting forward areas in Ladakh to review the operational preparedness of troops deployed there.
The US would deploy its F-16s and other sophisticated combat aircraft for the exercise christened 'Cope India'
The commanders' conclave in a forward area in Sikkim, which is close to the Line of Actual Control, comes amid the lingering border row in eastern Ladakh.
Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria asked the air warriors to maintain a very high-level of alertness considering the evolving situation in Pangong lake region in eastern Ladakh following China's unsuccessful attempts to occupy certain strategic points in the area, the officials said on Thursday.
Wing Commander Raveendran and flight steward Sargeant Iyer, though shaken and injured, managed to open the rear door of the aircraft and shouted for Prime Minister Morarji Desai and the passengers in the forward cabin to exit in haste since they suspected that fire would engulf the aircraft.
In a bid to promote archery among its ranks and groom the unharnessed talent within the region, the Eastern Air Command has come up with the first Centre of Excellence for the sport in IAF.
The Chinese see no need to fight directly. They have an able and willing proxy in Pakistan, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The two-day mega exercise is involving almost all its frontline fighter jets and other assets deployed in the region, people familiar with the drill said.
Activation of this advanced landing ground would not only improve the response time for various operational situations but also the efficacy of the air operations in the eastern frontier.
Giving an account of India's overall military modernisation, Lt Gen Pande also said that an in-principle approval has been given to new combat formations called the Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs) which can mobilise fast with a more effective approach.
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.
Normal flight services at Manipur's Imphal International Airport were affected on Sunday afternoon over sighting of an unidentified flying object (UFO), officials said.
Trump has played throughout his career as a deal-maker who could deliver where others could not, and Ukraine represents the ultimate test of that image, notes Manish Dabhade.
The mission was originally scheduled for lift-off on May 29 but was put off multiple times when engineers detected a liquid oxygen leak in the boosters of the Falcon-9 rocket and NASA also detected leaks in the ageing Russian module of the ISS.
Under the direction of the ministry of external affairs, the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) efforts are being progressed in conjunction with Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff, the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force and the National Disaster Response Force, the defence ministry stated.
The Indian Air Force has evacuated over 400 flood-affected people across Assam in the past 20 days as relief helicopters and transport planes are on round-the-clock standby. Air Commodore P E Patange of the Eastern Air Command said besides airlifting 400 marooned persons from various parts of the state, the IAF also airlifted dozens of tonnes of relief material for distribution.
An Indian Air Force advanced landing ground at Vijaynagar, country's easternmost tip in Arunachal Pradesh, was re-opened on Friday by Governor General (Retd) J J Singh in presence of Air Marshal S Varthaman, air officer commanding-in-chief, eastern air command, Lieutenant General Rameshwar Roy, director general Assam Rifles, Air Vice Marshal KS Gill among other senior officials from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam Rifles and the IAF.
The Sukhoi-30 Mki was formally inducted at the Air Force Station at Chabua base in Assam on Tuesday. The induction was done through a ceremony with the inaugural flight of the SU 30 MKI taking off which also performed a overshoot before landing, according to a defence source.
Top commanders of the Indian Army on Monday carried out a comprehensive review of the country's security challenges, including in eastern Ladakh and other sensitive areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, on the opening day of a four-day conference, people familiar with the developments said.
'The IAF has flown more than 100 hours in search operations. No effort is being spared to locate the missing aircraft,' the statement added.
>The Indian Army still uses old British-era names and recruits soldiers based on caste or region, which hurts national unity, argues Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
With alertness very high post the surgical strikes on terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the Uri attack, Indian Air Force is aggressively upgrading infrastructure in the eastern sector specially in Arunachal Pradesh.
"A number of older generation aircraft like MiG-21 are operating since early sixties. We have problems with the ageing fleets and their maintenance," Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Indian Air Force's (IAF) Eastern Air Command, Air Marshal Kishan Kumar Nohwar told a press conference in Shillong.
Major Khathing was the first man to hoist the Indian flag in Tawang. He also brought Bum La under Indian control.
Conceding that people in the bordering areas do move into the neighbouring nation's territory at times, he termed it a common phenomenon on borders and said, "There is no danger from such movement."
He became the first helicopter pilot to be named chief of the Indian Air Force.
The Chinese aircraft have been regularly flying close to the LAC in the last three to four weeks which is seen as an attempt to probe the Indian defence mechanism in the area.
Tezpur is the last of the IAF bases in the country to phase out the MiG 21.
The indigenously developed light combat aircraft 'Tejas' would officially replace the MiG-21 FL fighter jet, Chief of Air Staff of the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne said on Thursday.
Mere shuffling of resources or cosmetic changes to prove a point would be counterproductive in the long run, observes Commodore Venugoptal Menon (retd).
The commanders present in Delhi gathered at the South Block in Raisina Hills area, while many others joined the deliberations virtually.
The Air Force official from Nagaland had gone to Coimbatore in the first week of October from Mohanbari Air Force Base in Dibrugarh district of Assam to participate in a 21-day training course at the IAF administrative college in the textile city of western Tamil Nadu.
The Indian Air Force has now decided to deploy its additional six C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft at Panagarh in West Bengal-- the likely location of a proposed Army Mountain Corps headquarter--, and not in Odisha.
An inconclusive end to this war will pose high risk for Netanyahu of a cascading demand for a regime change in Israel, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The radar will help in monitoring movement of low-flying aircraft.
'The government has to explain (to the army, air force and navy chiefs) whether they want a punitive strike, a deep punitive strike, or whether they want limited war or an all-out war, will it be a circumscribed war or will it be a shallow attack along the border.'
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