SOURCE: NDTV

In a decade from now, Indian Air Force (IAF) fighters deployed deep inside Pakistani or Chinese air space could be accompanied by three or more ”unmanned wingmen”, armed stealth drones which will fight alongside IAF fighters to hit high-value enemy targets. ”These platforms will be the first line of offense in operations against heavily defended, integrated air defence networks” says one of the key designers involved in the project being led by Hindustan Aeronautics. An Indian defence startup is also a part of the mission team.

Each drone will initially be armed with a single precision-guided weapon, such as an air-to-surface missile or a laser-guided bomb. Future versions of the platform will also be able to fire air-to-air missiles to target enemy fighters. Continue reading →

SOURCE: FE

Aero India 2019, Yelahanka Air Force Station: BrahMos NG, joint venture of India and Russia, due to its shorter dimensions has promising export potential because of its compatibility with most platforms available with the armed forces of export friendly nation to both India and Russia. This new system opens new possibilities in terms of different platform options which earlier were not been considered due to weight and size limitations.According to officials, “looking at the interest from Latin American countries, this new version can be good choice for their services.”

Brahmos Aerospace is already registered with Chilean Armed Forces, which is mandatory requirement for any company to export defence equipment or weapons system to Chile. “There has been lot of interest for ship and shore based platforms. With its reduced size BrahMos NG can be accommodated in number of sea and air platforms,” sources informed Financial Express Online. Continue reading →

SOURCE: ZEE MEDIA

Former Vice Chief of Indian Air Force, Air Marshal SB Deo (retd), on Wednesday offered four missiles of different types to Indian armed forces. The retired Air Marshal offered these missiles during the ongoing Aero India 2019 in Bengaluru. ANI reported that the missiles are personally designed and developed by Air Marshal Deo. Among the missiles is a 297-km strike range cruise missile named Vel and a stand-off missile named Khagantak.

“This epitomizes Make in India, foreign exchange content is less than 10%. We have 2 glide bombs of different caliber and a light-weight cruise missile with a range of 297 km that carries a small warhead. They could be inducted in less than 6 months,” said Air Marshal (retd) Deo. Continue reading →

SOURCE: TASS

Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30MKI will be capable of carrying five new BrahMos missiles, which the Indian-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace is developing, JV Chief Manager for Marketing and Exports Praveen Pathak told TASS on the sidelines of the Aero India 2019 air show on Wednesday.

Currently, Su-30MKI fighters can carry one BrahMos missile under the fuselage.”We proceed from the fact that it will be possible to furnish Su-30MKI fighters with as many as five new BrahMos NG missiles, which are being developed for light fighter jets. We are planning that a Su-30MKI plane will be capable of carrying two missiles under each wing and one missile under the fuselage,” Pathak said. Continue reading →

SOURCE: NDTV

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will fly two small defence satellites in July or August this year on its new rocket– now known as Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV).”We are planning to fly two defence satellites, each weighing about 120 kg in our new rocket SSLV this July or August. The rocket design recently underwent a detailed integrated technical review,” K Sivan, ISRO Chairman, told news agency IANS on Wednesday.

He said the total weight of the payload that will be carried by the SSLV on its first flight will be about 500 kg. While the two satellites would weight about 120 kg each, there will be adaptors and others that would weigh about 300 kg. Continue reading →

SOURCE: THE HINDU

Airbus is in talks with the Indian Air Force for sale of its military transport aircraft, C295. If Airbus wins the order, India will be the sole manufacturing base for the C295, the aircraft-maker’s President and Managing Director for India and South Asia Anand Stanley told a news conference here. Airbus has bid along with the Tatas for the replacement of the Indian Air Force’ ageing Avro Hawker Siddeley HS748 fleet. The IAF wants to buy 50 such aircraft and sources say that the Defence Ministry may be keen on shortlisting the C295.

The Airbus C295 is a new generation tactical airlifter in the light and medium segment. It conducts multi-role operations under all weather conditions and can operate day and night in combat missions It has a total order book of 208 aircraft, of which 169 have been delivered so far. Continue reading →

SOURCE: ANI

Ambassador of France to India Alexandre Ziegler on Wednesday rejected charges of corruption in the multi-billion USD Rafale jet deal and said the “very good” aircraft is expected to join the Indian Air Force within six months.Speaking to ANI in Bengaluru, he said, “I do not see any scandal. What I see is a very good aircraft which has been purchased by the Government of India. The aircraft will probably come here (Bengaluru) first and will join the Indian Air Force within six months.”

The Narendra Modi government had signed an inter-governmental agreement with France in 2016 for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets.The fighter jet is a twin-engine Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft, which security analysts believe can be a ‘game-changer’ for India’s defence system.
Continue reading →

SOURCE: PTI

Six jawans of the Army’s JK Rifles unit were feared dead in an avalanche on the Sino-India border in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district on Wednesday, officials said.The body of one of the jawans was recovered, but there was no trace of five others, Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner Gopal Chand said.The avalanche occurred at around 11 am near Shipki La on the Sino-India border, he added. Several jawans of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) were also trapped in the avalanche.

However, they had been rescued, Chand said. According to Army officials, 16 jawans were patrolling the Sino-India border area when the avalanche struck, burying six of them alive. Continue reading →

SOURCE: PTI

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have condemned the Pulwama terror attack by JeM while “complicity” of Pakistan was underlined during the meeting between the two leaders, external affairs ministry officials said on Wednesday. Briefing reporters on the crown prince’s visit and on the issues discussed during the talks, T S Tirumurti, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the MEA, said the two leaders also called upon countries to renounce the use of terrorism as a state policy.

The complicity of Pakistan in the Pulwama attack was underlined during the talks, he said, adding both Modi and Salman condemned the Pulwama attack. Earlier at a joint press event, Modi called the Pulwama attack a “cruel symbol” of the scourge of terrorism and sought punishment for the terrorists and their backers. Continue reading →

SOURCE: ENS

India on Wednesday strongly objected to the abusive language used by Pakistan’s counsel in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), urging the UN court to draw a redline. Harish Salve, the former solicitor general of India while presenting India’s case before the ICJ, drew the court’s attention to the abusive language used by Pakistan through its counsel Khawar Qureshi on the second day of the hearing.

“The language echoed in this court, perhaps this Court may lay down some redlines. The transcript is peppered with words such as shameless, nonsense, disgraceful. India takes exception to being addressed in this fashion in an international court. India strongly objects to abusive language of Pakistan’s counsel,” Salve said as the International Court of Justice began the second round of public hearing in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. Continue reading →

SOURCE: ENS

The Pakistani army has asked Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and Lashkar boss Hafiz Saeed to limit their public appearances in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack, according to intelligence reports.

The reports said that the army has told them to maintain a low profile till the pressure of the international community over Pakistan on the Pulwama attack ceases. The report also added that the RDX used during the Pulwama bombing on the CRPF jawans was handed over by the Pakistani army to the JeM terrorists in Rawalpindi. Continue reading →

SOURCE: THE NEWS PK

Pakistan on Tuesday summoned Acting Indian High Commissioner Gaurav Ahluwalia today to lodge a strong protest against the anti-Pakistan demonstration on 18 February 2019, where protesters were allowed to reach and jolt the gate of the Pakistan House despite presence of Indian security officials.

The Indian Acting High Commissioner was summoned by Special Secretary (Asia Pacific) Imtiaz Ahmad. Continue reading →

SOURCE: MANORAMA ONLINE

India’s desi fighter jet Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk1 today jettisoned into one of the most-awaited moments in its turbulent yet inspiring history, by bagging the Final Operational Clearance (FOC) on Wednesday.

At a simple event at Air Force Station Yelahanka, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Chairman Dr Satheesh Reddy and HAL Chairman R Madhavan handed over the ‘release to service’ documents to Indian Air Force Chief (IAF) Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa. The IAF Chief termed the event as a significant milestone for the programme and said the fighter performed exceedingly well during ‘Gagan Shakti’ military exercise in April 2018 and during the just-concluded ‘Vayu Shakthi’ this month. Continue reading →