SOURCE: ET

The Indian Air Force’s pan-India exercise Gagan Shakti-2018, for practising war-time drills witnessed the IAF pushing the limits of its every fighter aircraft, including the Tejas, which entailed conducting six sorties per day on all of them, totalling to about 9,000 sorties. For the Tejas, this is a good development as the IAF usually sticks to around three sorties per day on every Tejas.

However, the Tejas was not without problems and had developed snags during the exercise, top IAF officials said on Tuesday.  Continue reading →

SOURCE: ANI

Pakistan is well on its way to amassing the world’s third largest nuclear weapons stockpile and its decision to deploy low-yield (5 to 10 kiloton) battlefield weapons, represents a dangerous new strategy that could have a telling impact on South Asia’s future stability, claims a military history and world affairs expert.

In an article written for the www.military.com website, Joseph V. Micallef, a best-selling military history and world affairs author and a keynote speaker, warns that if Islamabad continues in this vein, there is every possibility of nuclear device or devices falling into the hands of militant jihadist organisations, both in Pakistan and in other parts of the world. Continue reading →

SOURCE: DNA INDIA

With a skewed squadron strength and a limited number of fighter jets, the Indian Air force would be taking close to two days in shifting focus from Pakistan to China in case of an emergency two-front war situation. However, with a squadron strength of 42, the IAF can smoothly shift its focus from the northern frontier to the western frontier.

This lessons came after the recent Gagan Shakti exercise testing the Air Force’s capability. Continue reading →

SOURCE: NDTV

Russia said today that it expects to sign a mega deal with India this year on the sale of S-400 surface-to-air missiles, the Interfax news agency reported.It cited Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation as saying that all the technical aspects of the contract have been agreed upon and a price just needed to be decided.

“I think that in the current year we will sign the corresponding contract document,” Interfax quoted Dmitry Shugaev, the head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, as saying. On October 15, 2016 India had announced a deal with Russia to purchase the S-400 Triumf air defence system. Continue reading →

SOURCE: SHEPHERD MEDIA

The Indian military’s seemingly endless pursuit of new helicopters is a sorry tale of woe for both the armed forces and for foreign OEMs wanting to cash in on this large market. Attempting to make sense of where current requirements are at, Shephard spoke to a number of helicopter companies at DefExpo 2018 earlier this month and was told of five major requirements.

First is the Naval Utility Helicopter (NUH) project, where 111 aircraft to be built under the ‘Make in India’ policy are needed for the Indian Navy (IN). The NUH is a 4.5-5t intermediate-class helicopter, and an RfI was issued on 22 August 2017. Continue reading →

SOURCE: IANS

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday discussed terrorism with her Mongolian counterpart Damdin Tsogtbaatar and the two agreed to collaborate to confront those who design and support terror outfits.

Sushma Swaraj, who arrived in the Mongolian capital here on Tuesday after wrapping up her China visit, also called upon the country’s business community to seize economic opportunities from India’s growth. Continue reading →

SOURCE: NEWS18

Canadian authorities arrested Hardip Singh Nijjar to interrogate him for allegedly running training camps for terrorists in Canada and his alleged links with the ISI in Pakistan.

Nijjar, who is one of the most wanted Khalistani terrorists by Punjab police, was rounded up on the basis of some crucial intelligence input provided by the Indian Government and later released after questioning. He has been put under strict surveillance for his anti-India activities. Punjab police had earlier alleged that Nijjar was organising training camps in British Columbia at the behest of the Pakistani spy agency ISI and has made several attempts to book him in the past. Continue reading →

SOURCE: ENS

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Patel was shot dead by militants in South Kashmir’s Rajpora area on Wednesday, ANI reported. Patel was travelling in his car when he was attacked by the militants. Two of his Personal Security Officers (PSO) were also injured in the attack. The militants fled with their service rifles after shooting Patel.

A police official said Patel, a resident of Shadimarg area, succumbed to injuries while being taken to a hospital. He added that both the injured policemen are being treated at the hospital and their condition is stated to be stable. Continue reading →

SOURCE: ENS

John Abraham and Diana Penty starrer Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran has got a new release date. The Dishoom actor took to his Twitter handle to make the announcement about the development. Along with the date, John, who is co-producing the film, shared a new poster of it as well. “The road to becoming a nuclear state is full of challenges. Making history is never easy! Here’s the new poster of #Parmanu. Film releases May 25th #1Month2Parmanu ,” tweeted John.

The film, which has been making news due to the tussle between its co-producers JA Entertainment and KriArj Entertainment, was earlier scheduled to hit screens on May 4, 2018. But with the latest announcement, it seems like the two production houses have decided to bury the hatchet. Continue reading →

SOURCE: PTI

Security forces have nabbed two militants of different factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland during separate operations in Arunachal Pradesh, a defence spokesman said. Arms and ammunition were found from their possession and the cadre confessed their plans of extortion from the locals, the spokesman said.

The Assam Rifles personnel nabbed NSCN(IM) cadre Wangphai Wangsu from Longding district yesterday and NSCN (K) militant Wangphiak Lowang from Muktwa village in Tirap district on Monday. Continue reading →

SOURCE: Hindustan Times

The Maoists had called Sunday’s secret meeting in the Rela-Kasnasur jungle in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra to discuss raising the target for collection of protection money from tendu leaf (beedi) contractors and lift the drooping morale of the cadre following the surrender and killing of several activists in recent months.

A special commando unit of Maharashtra police stormed the site of the meeting, sparking a gun battle in which 16 were killed; the bodies of 15 more Maoists have since been found, taking the death toll in the encounter to 31. Continue reading →

SOURCE: DH NEWS

Notwithstanding few snags they developed during Indian Air Force (IAF) combat exercise Gagan Shakti, a fleet of eight indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft convinced the top brass of the IAF that the homemade combat jet is ready for operation.

Tejas LCA undertook 6 sorties a day. Each mission, lasting for 45 minutes on the lower side to one and half hours, proved the indigenous fighter jet’s efficiency in an operational role. Continue reading →

SOURCE: PTI

The Indian Air Force (IAF) tested its capability in dealing with a possible scenario of nuclear and biological warfare during a 13-day-long mega military exercise whose aim was to sharpen its war waging capability in the wake of fast evolving regional security situation.

Official sources said the focus of the Gagan Shakti exercise from April 8-20 was to check the viability of IAF’s operational plans to deal with any kind of challenge including nuclear warfare and a possible situation of a two-front war with China and Pakistan. Continue reading →

SOURCE: UNI

The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Tuesday said that the home-made Light Combat Aircraft (LAC) Tejas have performed well in the recently concluded 14-day ‘Gaganshakti’ exercise and also have ability to intercept and engage hostile fighter jets.

“We have done trials and validation of operational efficiency of LCA Tejas. We were able to generate six sorties per platform per day. In this exercise, we had deployed eight platforms,” said an IAF official who was associated with this exercise. Continue reading →

SOURCE: Reuters

US sanctions on Russian military exports have put the brakes on a $6 billion deal with India and may derail the arms purchases of other US allies around Asia, experts say. Under a law that US President Donald Trump signed in August, any country trading with Russia’s defence and intelligence sectors will face sanctions.

The law is designed to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for the 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, involvement in the Syrian civil war and meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. But American allies who buy weapons and equipment from Russia, the world’s second-largest arms exporter, could suffer as well. Continue reading →