One hopes the new Lok Sabha will mark a break from a dismal tradition -- lack of interest in defence and security policies, argues Colonel Anil A Athale.
The company wants to make F 16-Block 70 "for India, from India and export to the world".
Bullets fly, the noise becomes unbearable and the plot finally ends with the hero doing an unbelievable leap on to the ski of the helicopter aka Schwarzenegger, flown by our pretty heroine. UFF UFF! Squirming in my seat, I ponder over what I have been through, sighs Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
Slogans for his long afterlife rented the air, as coffin of Flight Lieutenant Advitiya Bal arrived at his home in Jinder Mehlu hamlet of border belt of R S Pura, where thousands of people gathered to pay their last respects to the fighter pilot.
The Indian Air Force on Wednesday blamed a 'technical malfunction' of the weapon system, for its Mirage-2000 fighter jet dropping a bomb 15 km outside the Pokhran firing range, in Rajasthan on Monday night. "The court of inquiry into the technical malfunction of the weapon system on-board the aircraft has already begun," an IAF officer said. The IAF also stated that the 100-pound bomb had exploded, but did not damage any civilian or government property.
The massive search and rescue operation carried out in the Bay of Bengal for close to two months failed to yield any substantial breakthrough.
Chabua is a key base of the IAF and it has the latest airplanes including the Sukhoi-30 MKi and Chetak helicopters.
The percentage of women in the Army and the Indian Air Force is 0.56 and 1.08 respectively.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday handed over to the Army a raft of home-grown military hardware including unmanned aerial systems, quick reaction fighting vehicles, patrol boats and surveillance equipment for boosting its overall combat capability in eastern Ladakh.
Lt Gen Bakshi announced 'full support' to the new chief and made it clear that he won't resign.
The Indian Air Force is planning to procure more Embraer business jets for its Delhi-based communication Squadron for ferrying VIPs.
A MiG-21 Bison aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed during a routine sortie near the Naliya Airbase in Kutch on Saturday, with the pilot ejecting safely. The fighter plane crash-landed 30 kilometres from the air base in an open forest area, IAF officials said. There were no casualties in the mishap.
Business Standard has learned that the ministry of defence (MoD) has already received letters from all four inquiring why their fighters were found unfit.
Prior to the start of the World Cup final, Indian Air Force's aerobatic team Surya Kirans put up a grand show at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
SU-30 MKI is a twin-engine, twin-seater aircraft, which can simultaneously be operated as interceptor, bomber and trainer, sources said.
'Having been an air warrior myself for three decades, I am sure the IAF has all the info in place to be divulged at the right time,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
Air Chief NAK Browne on Saturday said the IAF has identified a "design flaw" with the Russian-made supersonic fighter aircraft Sukhoi-30 though nothing is wrong with its "airworthiness".
A MiG-27 aircraft of the Indian Air Force on Monday crashed in a residential area of the city, with the pilot ejecting safely.
The aircraft had taken off from the Srinagar airfield and was on a "routine" training sortie.
His demise marks an end of a glorious era of the Indian Air Force.
The Kalaikunda airbase on Wednesday witnessed three MiG-27 aircraft perform the Trishul Break Manoeuvre as a salute to the MiG-21 type 77 aircraft that was towed out and into the Hangar for the last time. The Kalaikunda based Operational Conversion Unit bid a final farewell to its oldest workhorse.
India plans to sign the $11 billion Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft deal with French Rafale by the end of August and September, a senior Indian Air Force official said on Saturday. "I find no reason why it shouldn't be signed by the end of this month or next month", said Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command, IAF, Air Marshal Rajinder Singh.
It is learnt that the Chinese JF-17 was cheaper but could not match the technical parameters of the Tejas Mk-IA variant and the offer of maintenance of the Su-30 fleet as proposed by India.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defence Forces said they have killed some 1,500 terrorists in Israeli territory after Hamas launched an attack on Israeli border communities, The Times of Israel reported.
Here is a timeline of what happened to the Indian Air Force helicopter carrying Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat and others that crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday:
'I have only one life and that is enough.'
Flight Lieutenant Tejaswi Ranga Rao -- the Indian Air Force's first woman Sukhoi Su-30 Weapon System Operator -- has been posted at the IAF's Tezpur airbase in Sonitpur, Assam.
The J-20 fighter prototype, a 5th generation combat aircraft built by China's Chengdu Aircraft Industry, made its first flight on January 11, 2011. This necessitates a re-evaluation of the IAF's procurement of 4th generation medium fighters, which is close to being finalised. Ajai Shukla reports
The tri-services chiefs while addressing the media also said that the forces were in a state of heightened readiness to deal with any eventuality.
The Indian Air Force on Friday lost a Jaguar combat aircraft in a crash near Bibber village in Kutch district of Gujarat while on a routine sortie from Bhuj air base.
Amid fears of delay in the 126 combat aircraft deal, defence ministry and French Dassault Rafale will hold talks on Friday to iron out differences between them over the responsibilities to be given to the state-run HAL in the contract estimated to be worth USD 15 billion.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday accused the previous governments in Uttar Pradesh of letting poverty and the mafia take over the state's eastern part, saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party government is now writing a new chapter of development there.
The flight was diverted to the Jamnagar airport following a bomb threat and made a safe emergency landing there at 9.49 pm on Monday, officials had said.
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.
Of the 14 people aboard the plane, including the pilot, eight sustained minor injuries and were treated in a local health centre.
>The Indian Navy wants 'day and night capable, all weather multi-role deck based combat aircraft which can be used for air defence, air-to-surface operations, buddy refuelling, reconnaissance, electronic warfare missions' from its aircraft carriers.
A powerful American Senator has welcomed the C-17 aircraft deal announced by the Indian Air Force (IAF), a development which is expected to create more than 22,000 jobs in the United States.
To strengthen its capabilities in Ladakh along the borders with China and Pakistan, Indian Air Force is going to upgrade its airfields at Kargil and Nyoma for fighter and heavy transport aircraft operations. "Defence ministry has given its clearance for expanding Nyoma airbase, the proposal is awaiting clearance from Cabinet Committee on Security," IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne said in New Delhi on Monday.
The Indian Air Force on Thursday celebrated its 77th anniversary with a breathtaking display of air power by its frontline fighter aircrafts, followed by a thrilling aerobatics performance by its Surya Kiran and Sarang teams.
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