SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

India’s Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) program is heading towards Preliminary Design Review (PDR) after which it will be presented for approval to India’s Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), where the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) is seeking 13000 crores as investment cost to develop the 4 aircraft after getting clearance from the CCS.

ADA and Navy have already come up with a developmental flight regime that will be for 5 years from the first flight planned in 2027 and will involve 1000 flights of which four pre-production prototypes will be used to accomplish this task.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

According to a report in Economic Times, the Defence Ministry has extended the deadline for responding to the Request For Proposal (RFP) in the over 40,000 crore contract for six advanced submarines under Project-75(I) from December 2022 to August 2023.

The Russian Rubin Design Bureau and the French Naval Group both withdrawn from the tender, citing the lack of an operational Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) module as required by the Indian Navy, leaving only Germany and South Korea technically meeting this criterion.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

India’s upcoming Zorawar Light Tank will be getting a Belgian Cockerill 105mm high-pressure gun that fires all NATO-standard 105mm types and also supports Gun Launched Anti Tank Guided Missile, a variant of which DRDO is working for the Arjun Mk1A program.

Cockerill 105mm high-pressure guns are designed as fully-stabilized two low-recoil force guns that can be fitted into light or medium class of tanks and are specialized anti-armor requirements.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

DRDO has completed the fabrication of an 8×2 Truck mounted for the vertical Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) system that was designed for use by the Indian Air Force. VL-SRSAM system is a low-level, quick-reaction surface-to-air missile system capable of engaging aircraft, helicopters, unmanned air vehicles, drones, and precision-guided munitions.

VL-SRSAM was primarily developed for the Indian Navy to be used on frontline warships to provide an inner air defense shield to the ship to replace the older Barak 1 surface-to-air missile system onboard Indian Navy warships.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

India has been negotiating with the US for the procurement of 30 MQ-9B Predator armed drones for $3 billion which will see 10 drones each for the Indian Army, Indian Air Force, and Indian Navy that already operates on lease two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones from General Atomics for one year for surveillance in the Indian Ocean.

While the Navy has been super impressed with the performance of the MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones that are on the lease, idrw.org has been told that both Army and Air force are not so impressed with the $100 million per unit cost of these drones, and instead favor procuring the more Heron TP drones from Israel.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) which showcased a 155mm/52 calibre mounted gun system (MGS) that is based on the ATAGS Gun at Defence Expo 2022 plans to hold further trials of the system before it commences user trials of the MGS that will involve testing of the Gun in the filed range.

MGS is based on the BEML-developed 8×8 Tatra Truck that also features an armored cabin that already has undergone factory trials that included mobility and system check trials of the system before it was cleared for cross-country trials where it will be deployed in the desert and mountainous and high altitude conditions.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Indian Air Force (IAF) will be receiving its third S-400 operational squadron of air defense systems from Russia this month and two more completely by 2023. India signed a contract in 2018 to purchase five S-400 squadrons worth Rs 35,000 crores.

Initially, IAF had planned to procure two more squadrons of S-400 from Russia but has now dropped this plan considering this can trigger sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) 2017 and also due to local alternatives that are going to come online soon.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

India’s Second Arihant-class nuclear-powered missile submarine will be inducted into the Indian Navy by mid of 2023 after clearing multiple sea trials. The addition of INS Arighat will improve India’s strategic deterrence posture by strengthening the country’s nuclear triad.

6,000-tonne SSBN is the same as its lead ship Arihant in terms of displacement and dimensions but the submarine is a vastly improved variant with the incorporation of more advanced systems than its predecessor including many improvements in its ingenious content.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has commenced work to develop a 4.2kN class turbojet engine which is an upgraded PTAE-7 turbojet engine that the company claims will be powering upgraded remotely piloted high-speed target drone system that Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) is developing.

PTAE-7 turbofan engine is a 3.43 kN single spool turbojet developed in the 1980s that weighs 65 kg. Upgraded PTAE-7 turbojet engine that will be getting new turbine blades and an improved digital electronic fuel control system, hardened compressor sections, and most important things of all a full authority digital engine control (FADEC) system to provide optimized performance and control that is expected from a modern turbojet engine.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

The Ministry of Defence, Government of India, intends to procure 375 (Three Hundred and Seventy-Five) Light Bullet Proof Vehicle through the Fast Track Procedure under Emergency Procurement and seeks participation in the procurement process from prospective Bidders.

The Ministry of Defence, Government of India, intends to procure quantity 375 (Three Hundred and Seventy-Five) Light Bullet Proof Vehicle through Fast Track Procedure under Emergency Procurement and seeks participation in the procurement process from prospective Bidders. Light Bullet Proof Vehicle is required to be procured for the Indian Army to minimize the vulnerability of its troops to terrorist small arms fire while carrying out the daily basic operations like the establishment of Mobile Check Posts, Convoy Protection Duty, and actions by Quick Reaction Teams.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Warship Design Bureau (WDB), India’s nodal design agency when it comes to warships and submarines is in charge of India’s 1st gen Nuclear Attack submarine program and one of the technologies it wants to incorporate is the Pumpjet propulsion technology that comes with unique advantages of its own but is also costlier and more complex than a traditional propeller.

While the final configuration of India’s Nuclear Attack submarine program is yet to be finalized, the Navy and WDB have started testing small-scale models of the Pumpjet propulsion technology for research and development purposes that might eventually lead to manufacturing of the full-scale Pumpjet propulsion for the submarines.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Konkurs-M, anti-tank guided missiles, manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Hyderabad are being restocked by the Armenia army as part of its replenishment drive to rebuild its inventory.

Armenia like many former Soviet-union countries also operates large quantities of Soviet-era weapons like anti-tank guided missiles and in recent times also procured some of them from India that continues to manufacture them under license from Russia. Konkurs-M is a second-generation, mechanized infantry anti-tank guided missile, to destroy armored vehicles equipped with explosive reactive armor.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

India has issued Notices to Airmen (NOTAM) for a launch of an experimental flight vehicle in the Bay of Bengal for the period from 15-16 Dec 2022 as per information provided by Twitter user Damien Symon@detresfa_.

The designated area for the NOTAM is 5400 km in length which indicates it might be a test of the Agni-5 Ballistic Missile Missile. speculation is also that it might be a test of the new K5 SLBM that has a range of 5500km, but it is most likely the case.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

The elite fighter pilots of the Indian Navy after a gap of two years will commence aviation flight trials onboard the newly commissioned INS Vikrant after Russian manufactured INS Vikramaditya was out of service for maintenance work. INS Vikrant has left for the deep sea to commence trials that will include Deck-based fighter jets like Mig-29K and LCA-Navy Mk1.

INS Vikrant already has been incorporated with the Indo-Israeli LR-SAM Air Defence interceptor missile and soon will also be getting the MRSAM, along with the MF-Star radar by early 2023. INS Vikrant already has incorporated RAN-40L 3D air surveillance radar, DRDO-developed Shakti Electronic Warfare suite.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh co-chaired the 4th India-France Annual Defence Dialogue with French Minister for Armed Forces Sebastien Lecorn. Singh reportedly has told its French counterpart to come up with a final offer so that India can finalize a joint venture to co-develop a 110-130kN Class of jet engine for its AMCA program.

idrw.org has been told that the Defence Ministry has told Indian GTRE and DRDO to fast-track talks with prospective bidders in the program so that once CCS clearance for the AMCA program is granted it can take up CCS Clearance for joint development of the new engine by end of 2023 or in 2024.