In a precarious mission, Wing Commander Charles Simon and Squadron Leader S Venkatramanan and crew rescued a woman in labour from atop a water tank in Chennai. She delivered twins! Archana Masih/Rediff.com spoke to the pilots about that dramatic day.
A collection of oddball, amazing moments from the world!
It took one bomb to change the course of the Second World War. It took one bomb to obliterate and entire city and its residents. It took one bomb to redefine the meaning of the term super power.
The DARIN-III navigation attack system allows a Jaguar pilot to feed in the coordinates of targets deep inside enemy territory.
India's home-built Arjun tank has emerged a conclusive winner from its showdown with the Russian T-90.
Pakistan on Monday rolled out its first indigenously assembled version of the JF-17 combat jet developed jointly with China.The JF-17 Thunder jet was rolled out at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra, the country's main facility for building and maintaining combat aircraft. The Pakistani air force plans to make the first JF-17 squadron which will officially become operational between 2010 and 2012.
'Everybody spies on their friends as well as their enemies. That's the way the world works these days'
A Sukhoi fighter plane used for the training purpose crashed at Kolwadi near Pune in the Tuesday evening.
Major Taher Hussain Khan was laid to rest with full military honours
It is equipped with new air defence, anti-missile, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons.
The sophisticated Russian-made MiG-29K maritime fighter aircraft, which will be based on under-construction aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, were formally inducted into the Navy by Defence Minister A K Antony on Friday.Four MiG 29Ks of the 'Black Panthers' squadron were inducted at a ceremony that was also attended by Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma.
The Pakistani Air Force inducted the first squadron of JF-17 Thunder multi-role combat aircraft it jointly developed with China as part of its efforts to maintain a "balance" of conventional forces in the region.
'China would rather tie us down; and bleed us as much as it can so that we aren't able to lift our heads to face them.'
The Indian Navy will formally induct the Russian-made MiG-29K naval fighter jets for deployment on Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier on February 19 in Goa.
'Till date there have been 482 accidents on account of failure of this aircraft and 171 IAF pilots have lost their lives.'
Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa calling the FOC a 'major milestone'.
Terrorists are attempting to shoot down helicopters over the jungles of Doda in Jammu and higher reaches of North Kashmir, prompting the Union Home Ministry to advise on the appropriate height to maintain during a flight and securing the landing area at the helipad.
Sitharaman said keeping morale of forces at the highest level was among the priorities of the government.
Members of the search operation are yet to reach the spot.
Pakistan seems to have donned the role of a guinea pig-cum-promotion agent for China's arsenal experiments, as it is all set to buy at least 36 advanced fighter jets from China in a landmark deal for about $ 1.4 billion (RS 65,000 million), reported the Financial Times.
Commander Kasutubh Gosavi was given the honour for saving 15 lives.
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.
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.
An induction ceremony was organised in the hangar of the Tezpur airbase in Assam in the presence of Eastern Air Commander Air Marshal S K Bhan, sources in IAF headquarters in New Delhi said.
'No aeroplane in the world has been designed to switch off its engines above 14,500 feet.' 'Thanks to a lot of practice, we were able to execute a flawless landing at DBO at 0900 hours on 31st May, creating history.'
'We spent Rs 59,000 crore on acquiring 36 Rafales and we do not know if we will ever use them. The chances are that we never will,' argues Aakar Patel.
The government is also planning to replace the current ageing Air India One or Boeing 747 with Boeing 777s. Arup Roychoudhury and Archis Mohan report.
The United States military has conducted a humanitarian air drop in the besieged Iraqi town of Amrili, home to thousands of Shia Turkomen who have been cut off from receiving food, water, and medical supplies for two months by the militants of the Islamic State, the Pentagon said.
France has offered to upgrade India's 51 frontline Mirage 2000 fighters in a "compressed delivery time-frame", which could prove a boon to New Delhi in the backdrop of Indian Air Forces' force levels depleting to an alarming all time low of 32 Squadrons.
The maharajas may no longer occupy these gracious palaces, but guests who stay in them enjoy enough comforts and amenities to feel like royalty.
The Indian Air Force's plans to induct upgraded MiG-29 by March next year has been hit due to delay at the Russian end with the first lot of six aircraft likely to come in only by early 2011.
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.
Airline officials contend that following the recent air-raids by the LTTE, Sri Lanka's air traffic controllers were no longer in full control of the country's airspace.
In rebranding the F-16 into the F-21, Lockheed Martin appears to have accepted what many have warned it for years: That the IAF would never buy a fighter whose very name is associated across India with the Pakistan Air Force which has operated the F-16 since the 1980s.
A proposal for new Air Force Aerospace Museum was cleared by defence ministry and a final financial sanction on the Detailed Project Report is awaited.
On a journey to recreate history, and to script a new one, British aviator Tracey Curtis Taylor, on a stopover in Delhi on her way to Australia to relive a flight made 85 years ago, said her mission is to inspire young girls to strive to achieve their dreams.
The successful test will result in huge savings of replacement cost of missiles held in the inventory of the Indian Armed Forces.
The IAF has paid French aerospace firms Dassault and Thales about Euro 350 million for 'performance-based logistics'. This requires the vendors to ensure that 75 per cent of the Rafale fleet is combat-ready at all times, notes Ajai Shukla.
Two training ships of the 1st Training Squadron of the Indian Navy -- INS Krishna, a frigate, and INS Tir, with about 300 cadets, sailors and officers onboard were participating in the exercise. Capt N N Rao, the Commander of INS Tir, will be the overall supervisor on the Indian side. On the German side, three visiting warships belonging to the 2nd Flotilla -- with Captain Michael Budde as the Commander Task Force -- are taking part.
Lt Col S D Goswami said the helicopter with two pilots -- Major Padmanabhan and Major S Ganapathy of the Army Aviation Squadron at Leh -- had taken off on Friday to evacuate an injured jawan. The helicopter lost contact with the air traffic control while returning to Leh in bad weather. The wreckage was found near a mountain pass in the eastern Ladakh.
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