Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria flew a Tejas single-seater light combat aircraft MK1 FOC fighter during his visit to IAF and flight test establishments and facilities of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru.
The Indian Air Force will soon place orders for the first batch of 20 Light Combat Aircraft with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday. \n\n
The key platforms that India has been exporting are Dornier-228 aircraft, 155 mm Advanced Towed Artillery Guns (ATAGs), Brahmos missiles, Akash missile system, radars, mine protected vehicles, armoured vehicles, Pinaka rockets and launchers, ammunition, thermal imagers and various components of avionics and small arms.
Ajai Shukla spends a day with Tejas test pilots to find out what drives them.
The development contract calls for GE Aircraft Engines to provide 17 F40 4-GE-IN20 engines, as well as logistics support, the company announced from Lynn, Massachusetts.
At a press conference ahead of Air Force Day on October 8, he also said that India needs to catch up with China on technology and speed in production of military equipment, holding that "we are way behind" the neighbour. Air Chief Marshal Singh, at the same time, said the Indian military is way ahead in terms of personnel including those operating various machines and platforms. "I am very confident that as far as human angle is concerned, as far as our people behind the machine are concerned, we are way ahead of them," he said.
Europe has an edge over the US in the tightly-fought contest to sell India a next-generation engine for the homegrown Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA).
Here are some of the glimpses from the celebration.
Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday said that cross-border terrorism continues unabated and Pakistan has not done much to stop it. He was speaking to media personnel in Bengaluru where the first Naval prototype of the Light Combat Aircraft was rolled out today.Antony stated that while the situation in Kashmir was improving, terror camps continued to operate from across the border. But he added that bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan was imperative.
In a key step towards attaining final operational clearance from the Indian Air Force, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas is undergoing weapons trials, including firing air-to-air missiles to test its capability to bring down enemy planes.
'There is no independently verified imagery or battlefield evidence to support Pakistan's claim.'
In a feat that came a decade after the multi-role LCA took to the skies, Defence Minister A K Antony handed over the IOC certificate to Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik at the HAL Airport in Bengaluru.
The navy expects the MiG-29s and the naval variant of Light Combat Aircraft to be operational by then.
India's Republic Day parade featured a tri-services tableau showcasing the country's increasing focus on enhancing synergy among its armed forces. The tableau, themed "Shashakt aur Surakshit Bharat" (strong and secure India), displayed a battlefield scenario with indigenous military equipment, including the Arjun main battle tank, Tejas MKII fighter aircraft, and the destroyer INS Visakhapatnam. The display highlighted the Ministry of Defence's commitment to boosting tri-services synergy and jointness in preparation for future conflicts.
While the Army will be getting around 100 light utility helicopters, it is also looking at the option of taking choppers on lease to meet its requirement.
Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha on Wednesday expressed concerns over the delays in delivery schedules of 'Tejas' Light Combat Aircraft and intermediate jet trainer 'Sitara', both being developed indigenously, and their impact on operational capability.
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.
Tactical systems such as main battle tank Arjun, light combat aircraft Tejas, a family of radars, electronic warfare systems, sonars, torpedoes, armaments and missiles have been successfully developed in the country and many of them are being delivered to the armed forces. The recent success of the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) in the launch of interceptor missile and Agni-III has taken our country into the elite club of a few developed nations.
Why this indifference towards the Tejas, the alert citizen would ask?
Regarding cross-border terrorism, Mukherjee agreed that in spite of the fencing, infiltration of terrorists from across the border had shown a sharp upswing in the last two months. \n
Pakistan's decision to talk to India on May 10 stemmed from realisation that it will suffer more if its operation continues, Gen Chauhan said.
The first launch of the missile last year was a failure.
India is also likely to sign a deal to buy MQ-9B Predator armed drones from US manufacturer General Atomics.
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.
The test flight lasted 24 minutes.
China has announced a 7.2 percent increase in its national defence budget, bringing the total to USD 249 billion for the year. This rise comes amidst China's ongoing efforts to modernize its armed forces, including the development of new warships and fighter jets. The budget increase, exceeding last year's 7.2 percent rise, reflects China's commitment to bolstering its military capabilities. Chinese Premier Li Qiang emphasized the importance of the Communist Party's leadership in guiding the military, with President Xi Jinping at the helm of the Central Military Commission. China's defence spending is now three times that of India's and is viewed by critics as a sign of the country's growing military ambitions.
It is the first mega exercise involving the two aircraft carriers after induction of the indigenously-built INS Vikrant in September.
The triennial exercise will take place for two hours and fifteen minutes during the day, dusk and night, he said.
The comments came a day after Indian Air Force Chief Arup Raha said the air force has moved a proposal for inducting women as fighter aircraft pilots.
SAAB's Sea Gripen constitutes a new option as the INS Vikrant's light fighter
The chief of air staff said Chinese actions along the frontier including in the Ladakh sector are being monitored constantly and the IAF's overall preparations are part of continuing efforts irrespective of challenges from China.
In its report tabled in Parliament, the national auditor said the Dassault Aviation and the MBDA proposed in September 2015 to discharge 30 per cent of their offset obligations by offering high technology to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), but the two firms are yet to do it.
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