SOURCE: MyNation

The problems faced by the MiG-29K maritime combat aircraft in carrying out operations and the related to the maintenance of the fleet were discussed by India and Russia during the meeting of the two defence ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Sergei Shoigu at the south block here.

The Indian Navy’s only fighter aircraft MiG-29K continues to face problems as the maritime force feels that the fighter jet needs to be further ruggedised for carrying out operations from aircraft carriers which are supposed to be its main role. “The maintenance and other issues related to the plane have been improved in the recent past but it is felt that the plane needs to be ruggedised further. The problems need to be addressed as the aircraft are under warranty period and the Russians have to help in addressing them,” senior sources in the Navy told MyNation. Continue reading →

SOURCE: THE PRINT

By 2030, India’s doorstep adversaries will be a hi-tech, world-dominating China and its toxic cat’s paw Pakistan. Let’s face it. Militarily, India’s import dependence for defence equipment will not reduce by then because Make in India has already missed its mark. For reasons well-known, indigenous defence industry has not delivered. Now, after the controversy over the Rafale fighter jet deal, our defence import and procurement procedures will inevitably decelerate.

Need outcome-oriented efforts

Continue reading →

SOURCE: THE HINDU

A Parliamentary panel has recommended that the Centre urgently take steps to ensure that the National Security Guard (NSG) — the country’s premier counter-terrorist and contingency force — is equipped with its own dedicated air wing.The committee headed by Congress leader P. Chidambaram observed with anguish that the two Mi-17 helicopters procured by the NSG in 1988-99, were grounded and unavailable. While one of the helicopters met with an accident on February 22, 2002, and got damaged extensively; the second one was unserviceable due to want of spare parts.

The 215th Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on Home Affairs tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday recommended that the “Ministry of Home Affairs should make urgent and sincere efforts to commission a dedicated Air Wing of NSG and provide requisite types and number of air assets to strengthen the aviation capability of the force.” Continue reading →

SOURCE: ENS

THE FIRST of the two non-tethered Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicles (DSRVs) was inducted into the Indian Navy on Wednesday at the western naval dockyard here by the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba.With this, India joins a select league of navies with the sovereign capability in fly away configuration to search, locate and rescue crew from a disabled submarine.

The second vehicle that is out for delivery, is expected to reach Visakhapatnam soon. It will be operational by April next year, the Navy said.At the occasion, Admiral Lanba said: “The event marks the culmination of years of focused efforts of the Navy in acquiring niche submarine rescue capability. With these capabilities, the Indian Navy has joined the select league of navies that operate such assets.” Continue reading →

SOURCE: FLIGHTGLOBAL.COM

Russian Helicopters has plans for the indigenisation of Kamov Ka-226T components in India, but awaits a signed contract before moving to the next stage of the 197 rotorcraft acquisition for the country’s army and air force.

“Right now we are in the stage of selecting [these partners],” says Russian Helicopters director general Andrey Boginsky.“Since this contract isn’t yet signed, we have not yet concluded contracts with either our Russian or Indian partners.”The company’s joint venture partners for the project will be Hindustan Aeronautics and Rosoboronexport. In addition, other companies will be contracted for component work. Continue reading →

SOURCE: TASS

he sea phase of the bilateral Russian-Indian maritime exercise Indra Navy-2018, which involves Russia’s Pacific Fleet ships, starts in the Bay of Bengal today near the Indian port of Visakhapatnam, the Pacific Fleet press service reported on Thursday.

“The Pacific Fleet’s flagship, the Order of Nakhimov Guards missile cruiser Varyag; the large-antisubmarine ship Admiral Panteleyev; and the large sea tanker Boris Butoma left Visakhapatnam, where they arrived on December 9, and set off for the area of the exercise,” the fleet said. Continue reading →

SOURCE:  ET

If India is an important part of the new Indo-Pacific strategy of the United States, why has the Pentagon moved the India office out of the iconic building to a secondary address? Not only has the India Rapid Reaction Cell, which was launched with much fanfare in 2015, been shunted out of the Pentagon, its strength has reportedly been reduced from six officers to just two.

It doesn’t make sense if the idea is to strengthen the defence partnership and make it a crucial to the future of a “free and open Indo-Pacific”. The downgrade is significant – from being right next door to the US defence secretary, the India office is now housed in a largely administrative building six miles away. The move was made on Nov. 1, according to insiders. Continue reading →

SOURCE: TNN

India is now stepping-up efforts for a concrete military outreach to Africa after a diplomatic one to counter the deep strategic inroads made by China in the world’s second largest continent, even as the two Asian rivals continue with their shadow-boxing for influence in the Indian Ocean Region.

India will conduct an “India-Africa Field Training Exercise (IAFTX)” in Pune from March 18 to 27 next year, which will see the participation of over a dozen countries ranging from Tanzania and Kenya to Ghana and South Africa, said defence ministry sources on Wednesday.
“Though Indian armed forces do train some military personnel from a few African nations, the IAFTX will be the first-ever such exercise with several armies from Africa. The initial planning conference for IAFTX was held a few days ago, with the final one slated for end-January,” said a source. Continue reading →

SOURCE:  Hindustan Times

He was a theatre artist and had even done a brief role in a Bollywood movie. That was before he disappeared along with another boy in August. Saqib Bilal and another boy, a Class 9 student from Hajin Bandipora, were killed along with a Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba militant in an 18-hour gun battle with security forces in Mujgund on the outskirts of Srinagar on December 9.

Both the boys had left their homes on August 31 and Bilal’s family is at a loss to understand why he joined militancy. They looked everywhere and his mother even brought an amulet from a faith healer for her son’s safety. Continue reading →

SOURCE: Times Now Digital

A gunfight broke out between militants and security forces in Sopore, Baramulla district of North Kashmir on Wednesday evening and went on till Thursday morning. At least two militants have been killed, a police officer told PTI.

After the Sopore encounter got over, a joint team of the Army’s 22 RR, SOG and CRPF launched a ‘cordon and search’ operation in the area. Internet connections have been suspended as a safety measure by the security forces. The operation took place after the forces got information about a group of militants hiding at a suspected house in Sopore. The suspicion was confirmed when the militants in hiding fired upon the security forces. The number and the identity of militants are still unknown. Security was beefed up after this incident in the area.  Continue reading →

SOURCE: News18.com

The Indian and Chinese Armies met for a series of wars games at the 7th Sino-India joint exercise Hand-in-Hand 2018 at Chengdu in China, which ended up what being what practically amounted to a love fest.

Despite the recent tensions between the two countries over the Doklam corridor crisis and other Chinese excursions into Indian-held territories, soldiers and officers from two of the largest military forces in the world came together in a rare display of amity and mutual respect. Continue reading →

SOURCE: NDTV

Ten people from Kannur in Kerala, who were missing since November, are suspected to have joined ISIS, police sources have told NDTV on Thursday. Among the ten, at least five are minors, say sources. “They told their family that they were going to Mysore but never returned. The police, based on initial probe, suspect that they travelled to Dubai and then to Tehran. They may have moved to Afghanistan now,” said police sources.

The suspects, according to the police, personally knew TV Shameer, a resident of Kerala, who was radicalised and later killed in Syria.
Police sources have also confirmed to NDTV that the suspects “knew each other well” and worked together in Dubai earlier. “We suspect that their radicalisation began when they were in Dubai. The men also knew few others in the state, who had allegedly joined ISIS previously. They largely remained to themselves and did not socialise much,” said police sources. Continue reading →

SOURCE: PTI

India will develop 4 km stretch of Kartarpur Sahib Corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district of Punjab to International Border with Pakistan, Parliament was informed Thursday. The much-awaited corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Kartarpur – the final resting place of first Sikh guru Guru Nanak Dev – with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India.

“The government of India has decided to develop the corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district up to the International Border (with Pakistan),” Minister of State for Highways Mansukh L Mandaviya said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. Continue reading →