Cavalier India Defence Training Academy

The 13th edition of Aero India, the defence ministry’s biannual air show, will see heightened government pitch for indigenous aircraft designs. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will formally sign India’s largest defence orders for Indian industry, a Rs 48,000 crore contract for 83 LCA Tejas Mark 1 aircraft on February 3. The contract--73 combat jets in the Mark 1A configuration and 10 Mark 1 trainers--will be signed on the inaugural day of the three-day Aero India 2021 air show beginning in Bengaluru on February 3. This contract, the single-largest order for an indigenously produced defence platform after the indigenous nuclear submarine project, was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on January 13. HAL is also poised to get a Rs 3,000 crore order for 15 Light Combat Helicopters, two of which have already been produced. It is not clear, however, whether this order will be inked at Aero India. The HAL-built Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), currently in development trials, w...

Army's infantry school in Mhow and the DRDO's Armament Research and Development Establishment in Pune have designed and developed the weapon. India's first indigenous 9 mm machine pistol has been jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Army, the Defence Ministry said on January 14. It said the Army's infantry school in Mhow and the DRDO's Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) in Pune have designed and developed the weapon. The Ministry said the weapon has been developed in a record time of four months. "The machine pistol fires the in-service 9mm ammunition and sports an upper receiver made from aircraft grade aluminium and lower receiver from carbon fibre. 3 dimensional printing process has been used in designing and prototyping of various parts," the Ministry said in a statement. It said the weapon has huge potential in armed forces as personal weapon for various missions, including ...

The Defence Ministry in a statement said that this weapon has been indigenously designed and developed for the first time, and it also "dazzles and distracts aircraft/UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles)". The Bharat Electronics Limited signed a contract with the Indian Navy on Thursday to supply 20 laser dazzlers, a non-lethal weapon for warning and stopping suspicious vehicles, boats and aircraft. The Defence Ministry in a statement said that this weapon has been indigenously designed and developed for the first time, and it also "dazzles and distracts aircraft/UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles)". It stated that the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) had earlier in December won the contract to supply the laser dazzlers to the Indian Navy. "It (laser dazzlers) is capable of dazzle and thereby, suppress the person's/optical sensor's action with disability glare in case of non-compliance to orders. It disorients/ confuses/blinds a person temporarily. It also daz...

The export version of Akash will be different from the weapon system currently deployed by the Indian armed forces, the defence ministry statement said without specifying the differences in configuration. Akash Missile The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday gave its go-ahead to the sale of Akash surface-to-air missile systems to friendly foreign countries and created a high-powered panel for swifter approval to export of military hardware at a time India has set a target of clocking defence exports worth $5 billion by 2024 , officials said. “So far, Indian defence exports included parts/components etc. The export of big platforms was minimal. This initiative of the Cabinet would help the country to improve its defence products and make them globally competitive,” the defence ministry said in a statement announcing the decision. The committee set up to speed up exports will have the defence minister, external affairs minister and the national security ...

DAYS after successfully testing the Quantum Key Distribution technology, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has achieved another milestone in quantum technology by successfully developing a Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG), the Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)  The DRDO Young Scientist Laboratory for Quantum Technologies (DYSL-QT), a DRDO facility based in Mumbai, has developed a QRNG which has the ability to detect random quantum events and convert those into a stream of binary digits. The facility has developed a fiber-optic branch path based QRNG. Branch path-based QRNG relies on the principle that if a single photon falls on a balanced beam splitter, it will take either of the beam-splitter output paths randomly. As the path chosen by the photon is random, the randomness is translated to a sequence of binary digits, also called bits. Random numbers have essential roles in various fields ranging...

UAE's state-owned arms manufacturer firm keen to set up facilities. The CAR family CQBs displayed at Idex 2019 The deal for 93,895 Close Quarter Carbines (CQBs) for the Indian Army, for which United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s government-owned small arms manufacturer "Caracal"  was shortlisted, is like a “benchmark” for UAE industry and they are watching closely on further investments in the Indian market, said Hamad Salem Alameri, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Caracal. “Once this first contract moves, lot of sister companies within the group will see this as a success story and people will have the confidence to come and invest in India,” Mr. Alameri said. He said this was the most important message that everyone is looking at and people are willing to come and invest in India and create jobs with the blessings of the two governments. However, while Caracal was shortlisted two years back, the final deal has been delayed and recently an in-principle decision was taken in th...

Amid the ongoing dispute with China over boundary issue, the Indian Army is going to place another order of 72,000 Sig 716 assault rifles from the United States. Sig Sauer Assault Rifle The order for the second batch of the assault rifles would be coming after the first lot of 72,000 rifles, has already been delivered to the Army for use by troops in Northern Command and other operational areas. "We are going to place an order for 72,000 more of these rifles under the financial powers granted to the armed forces," Defence sources told ANI. The Indian Army had received the first lot of Sig Sauer assault rifles to boost its counter-terrorism operations. India had acquired the rifles under the fast-track procurement (FTP) programme. The new rifles will replace the existing Indian Small Arms System (INSAS) 5.56x45mm rifles used by the forces and manufactured locally by the Ordnance Factories Board. As per the plan, around 1.5 lakh imported rifles were to be used by the troops in ...

Centre gets one more month to give permanent commission to women officers in Army. Defence Ministry sought six months time in view of pandemic, said decision making at final stage.   Supreme Court The Supreme Court has granted one more month to the Union Defence Ministry to comply with its February order and grant permanent commission to women officers in the Indian Army. Ministry of Defence had moved the top court seeking six more months to implement court's February verdict in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Centre said that decision making was at a final stage and only formal orders were awaited. On February 17 this year, the apex court had upheld Delhi High Court's 2010 order which allowed permanent commission for women officers in Indian Army, and had asked Centre to comply with the order by May 2020. Centre has agreed to implement court's verdict in letter and spirit. While delivering its verdict in February, the top court had questioned non-implementation of the high ...

The Indian Navy has also been asked to raise its alert-level in the  Indian Ocean Region where Chinese Navy has been making regular forays.   Army has rushed in more troops, weaponry to bases along Line of Actual Control (Representational) Frontline bases of the Indian army and the air force along the nearly 3,500 km border with China were put on high alert on Wednesday in view of the worst border clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley that left 20 Army personnel dead and several injured, government sources said. The Indian Navy has also been asked to raise its alert-level in the Indian Ocean Region where Chinese Navy has been making regular forays. The Indian Army has already rushed in additional troops and weaponry to all its key frontline bases and formations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, they said.   "The rules of engagement will be different from now onwards. The prime minist...

Indian Air Force's Sukhoi 30 fighter aircraft  (File picture) Two helicopters of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army hovered close to the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh on May 5 and Indian Air Force fighter jets had also been airborne at the same time during a face-off between soldiers near the Pangong lake, sources in the army headquarters said on Tuesday. The latest revelations come at a time there has been an escalation in tension in pockets of the disputed frontier. “The Indian Air Force is regularly carrying out sorties of its Sukhoi 30 fighter aircraft in the Ladakh sector amid the simmering tension with China in the region. During the face-off last week, two Chinese choppers had come close to the border but there was no air space violation. The IAF’s Sukhoi 30 fighter jets were also airborne at the same time but it was routine flying and not in response to Chinese helicopters,” a source said. Chinese PLA Choppers Spotted Near LAC; IAF Rushes Fighter Jets To Ladakh...

Indian Army : Dhruv - Advanced Light Helicopter HAL may enter as government revisits Navy chopper plan. The Rs 21,000-crore plan to manufacture naval utility helicopters in partnership with a foreign vendor has been in the works for over a year and important decisions on going to the next step of technical evaluation have to be taken shortly.   The defence ministry is re-evaluating its big ‘Make in India’ plan to manufacture naval utility helicopters. The companies have been asked to explain if the programme has export potential and the Centre is also looking at giving Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) a chance to enter the competition.  The Rs 21,000-crore plan to manufacture naval utility helicopters in partnership with a foreign vendor has been in the works for over a year and important decisions on going to the next step of technical evaluation have to be taken shortly.  #WATCH Uttarakhand:4 highly trained mountaineers of ITBP to be heli-dropped by IAF chopper...