'I was a young pilot in the IAF and Tom Cruise (with his genuine Ray-Bans) was now an icon with his sensational performance in Top Gun.' 'The IAF, maybe influenced by the movie, decided to 'issue' pilots Ray-Bans as part of their flying kit,' remembers IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe.
Sources said of the 13,700 crore, Rs 8,300 crore will be for procuring 118 Arjun (Mk-1A).
With the arrival of the three jets, the size of the Rafale fleet has increased to 14.
The Xi Jinping regime might try to quell internal distress by directing nationalism and militarism against India, warn Ajay Shah and Gautam Bambawale.
Modi first mentioned about his vision for an 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliant India) in his address to the nation on May 12 while announcing a Rs 20 lakh-crore stimulus package to boost the economy hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, various ministries and departments have announced a series of measures.
The defence ministry took the decision to hold the biennial event as scheduled following inputs from major stakeholders including the domestic defence industry and global aerospace majors, official sources said.
The missile will allow combat pilots to engage ground targets from a standoff range of up to 60 km.
'Putin is just flexing his muscles. He is not going to do anything. He is not that crazy.'
A genuine attempt was made to reset relations in a positive way, signalling a stepping back from the brink of conflict, much to the relief of the world, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Videos from the scene, shot by locals in Morena, showed debris of the aircraft on the ground.
Raising slogans, members of the BRS, Left parties and some members of the Congress walked out of Lok Sabha in protest as the prime minister was speaking.
It is baffling how the PM chose the LCH as an indigenous product to celebrate on Rashtriya Raksha Samarpan Parv, even while his Cabinet holds up manufacturing clearance for 15 LCHs on the grounds that they are not Indian enough.
Shah Rukh Khan's weathered intensity, grizzly charisma and trademark wit lends Pathaan's all-out, devil-may-care antics a sense of purpose that evades mindless acts of mayhem, cheers Sukanya Verma.
'Russia has got inherent military strength, they have a very good military equipment manufacturing infrastructure and by and large they are self-sufficient in their production capabilities'
To threaten China and Pakistan, and then to sharply cut back on military funding, bespeaks a remarkable trust in Beijing and Islamabad that is not borne out by anything they say or do, notes Ajai Shukla.
New Delhi is vulnerable to US sanctions under a 2017 law called CAATSA.
'Rafale is much more advanced and lethal than the current fighter aircraft available with China. The timing of the arrival of the jets is perfect'
The decision to procure the fleet was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said.
'Landmark developments herald the end of two decades of stagnation in the army's modernisation plans,' notes Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'The greatest loss from replacing the 126 Rafale proposal with the 2016 contract for 36 Rafales might not be the extra money paid, but the opportunity that India's aerospace industry lost of obtaining access to critical aviation technologies and manufacturing skills.'
'... To ensure that the vast Indian Ocean Region remain peaceful.'
According to HAL, "this is the biggest ever order that HAL has placed on any Indian company boosting 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' campaign."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday handed over to the armed forces indigenously-developed light combat helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and electronic warfare systems for the warships, in reflection of India's focus to boost its domestic defence industry.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has spooked financial markets globally, will set the tone for Dalal Street this week amid concerns over energy prices and foreign fund outflows, analysts said. Participants will also track key macroeconomic signals like GDP estimates and PMI data for manufacturing and services sectors to be announced this week, they added. "With earnings season behind us and given the overall sentiments, markets are expected to move in sync with global peers in the coming week. "A close eye will be kept on the developments concerning the Russia - Ukraine crisis and considering the inflation overhang, market participants will also observe movements in energy prices," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has officially acknowledged that the defence deal between the two countries was signed on February 27 under which Israel will develop and manufacture sea borne and shore-based systems against missile attack on India, business daily Globes reported.
HAL is poised to sell the Philippines at least seven Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters and eight Dornier 228 aircraft for Rs 30 billion, reports Ajai Shukla.
Like the Shourya and Prahar missiles, the Pralay is powered by conventional solid fuel, and its payload is designed to carry only a conventional warhead.
'His emphasis on self-reliance is essentially due to the fact he wanted India to be a nuclear weapons country.' Dr P K Iyengar remembers the father of India's nuclear programme.
Will the low cost Israeli Athos gun scuttle India's ATAGS gun?
The sources said the talks are focused on sorting out certain issues relating to cost component, weapons package and technology sharing.
Nirmala Sitharaman's messaging was clear when she presented a well-balanced Budget with an eye on state elections in nine states followed by a general election next year, observes Ramesh Menon.
"The HAMMER missiles are in the process of being integrated with the LCA Tejas and it will significantly enhance its capability to take out hardened targets from stand-off distances," government sources told ANI.
Like most army combat uniforms, this one has been designed to serve two requirements: First, protection against harsh climatic conditions, including extreme heat and cold. Second, the need to provide soldiers' outfits with field camouflage, so as to increase his battlefield survivability.
Asserting that preventing a possible Covid third wave is the biggest issue now, the Bharatiya Janata Party hit out at Opposition parties on Wednesday for disrupting Parliament proceedings over "manufactured" matters like the Pegasus issue and claimed it was "anti-national" to not discuss the pandemic in both the Houses.
The IAC would serve to bolster India's position in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and its quest for a blue water Navy
'We've never really been in the situation of having a difficult time with the Chinese and an increasingly difficult time with the Russians along with a relationship with the Americans which is important.'
Some of the key fighter jet acquisitions over the years and the combat capabilities they possess that made India's airmen a force to reckon with are.
INS Karanj is the third Kalavari-class submarine to be commissioned into the Navy. The diesel-electric submarines based on the Scorpene design are also referred as Scorpene class submarines.
The 15 choppers that met with accidents included four Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), four Cheetah, two ALH (weapon system integrated) versions, three Mi-17V5, an Mi-17 and a Chetak.
As a debate raged over sensitivity of leaked Scorpene data, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday played down the leak, saying it is "not a big worry" as weapon system details were not included, a remark challenged by the publisher who asserted these will be made public on Monday.
