Cavalier India Defence Training Academy

The contract is pegged ar $200 million and is reportedly valid for three years. The Indian Army has leased four Heron TP medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Israel as a part of its emergency procurement programme. The development comes at a time when India and China have just begun disengagement from one of the most prolonged stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).  This is the second significant contract under the provisions of the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 (DAP 2020). The Indian Navy had, under the same provisions, contracted SeaGuardian MALE UAVs from the United States. According to a report in Janes, the contract is pegged at $200 million. The report cited that the lease is valid for three years and extendable up to two years.  Contract signed at a time when tensions along LAC were still ongoing The lease for the UAVs was granted in mid-January when the LAC standoff was still ongoing. The standoff ended just l...

China’s upstream activities along the Brahmaputra River have impacts on countries downstream and the ecology surrounding. CONTEXT Amid simmering border tension with India along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh, China is planning to build a major hydro-power project on Brahmaputra River in Tibet and a proposal for this has been clearly put forward in the 14th Five-Year Plan to be implemented from next year. Response from India and Bangladesh Proposals for dams on the Brahmaputra have evoked concerns in India and Bangladesh, the riparian states, and China has downplayed such anxieties saying it would keep their interests in mind. What are India’s concerns? China’s dam building overdrive is a concern because there are no bilateral or multilateral treaties on the water. China believes dam building on the Brahmaputra helps it assert claim over Arunachal Pradesh. India believes China’s projects in the Tibetan plateau t hreaten to reduce river flows into India. Dams, canals...

The two US Predator drones are operating out of the Indian Navy's INS Rajali airbase and were inducted under a lease agreement with the American vendor in the third week of November. File photo of a US Predator drone. Indian Navy has inducted two American Predator drones on lease from the US to carry out surveillance in the Indian Ocean region. Capable of carrying out surveillance for more than 30 hours, the drones are operating out of Indian Navy's INS Rajali airbase. These drones have been inducted under a lease agreement with the American vendor. As part of the deal, the vendor has deployed a team to guide the personnel operating the Predator drones. In fact, the American Predator drones could also be made available to Indian forces deployed along the LAC in eastern Ladakh where India and China are engaged in a military standoff. Over the past few months, India and the US have been working closely in opposition to Chinese aggression in eastern Ladakh. Under this partnership...

On Saturday, the festival of Diwali was widely celebrated in India and many other parts of the world. While the controversies over the use of firecrackers and pollution remained the highlight over social media, a contrasting battle raged on at the Line of Actual Control which led to heavy casualties on both sides. Indian Navy releases a video titled 'Fireworks At Sea' on Diwali eve (@indiannavy) The bunker-busting videos by the Indian Army along the LOC emerged on social media, but it was the Indian Navy which drew a lot of attention. In the morning hours of the day, the Indian Navy released a video named “Fireworks at Sea”, flaunting the service’s way of celebrating Diwali with the customary firecrackers. The video showcased the firing of various weapons platforms, including naval guns, anti-submarine rockets, torpedoes, surface-to-surface missiles, and the service’s venerable MiG-29Ks- along with precise cinematic shots of various warships. The most notable systems shown firi...

India had earmarked 200 military personnel, including 180 soldiers from an infantry battalion and observers from the IAF and the Navy, to take part in the exercise, Kavkaz-2020.    ( Representative image | Zee News) India on Saturday withdrew from a multilateral military exercise — Kavkaz-2020 — that was scheduled to be held in southern Russia next month as it did not want to perform drills with Chinese soldiers amid tensions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), ThePrint has learnt. The decision was taken after a high-level military and diplomatic meeting, sources in the defence and security establishment said.  India had planned to send 200 military personnel, including 180 soldiers from an infantry battalion and observers from the IAF and the Navy, to take part in the exercise, also known as Caucasus-20.   The exercise is to be held in the Astrakhan province of southern Russia between 15 and 27 September, and other participants include Pakistan, among other me...

Representative image | Livemint Around 150 Indian Army soldiers, 45 Indian Air Force personnel and a number of Navy officers are expected to form the Indian contingent that will participate in the exercise scheduled to be held in the Astrakhan region in southern Russia from 15-26 Sep. India is expected to send personnel from its Army, Navy and Air Force to take part in a multilateral war game in Russia next month, the first such participation in a military drill after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, two people familiar with the matter said. China, Pakistan and a number of other member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) are also expected to participate in the Kavkaz 2020 strategic command-post exercise, one of the two people cited above said. Around 150 Indian Army soldiers, 45 Indian Air Force personnel and a number of Navy officers are expected to form the Indian contingent that will participate in the exercise scheduled to be held in the Astrakhan regio...

Representative Image With Chinese Navy positioning itself for dominance in the Indian Ocean through strings of ports in Myanmar, Pakistan and Iran, India is planning rapid infrastructure upgrade in its Island territories to ensure that there is no restriction on navigation or a replay of the South China Sea in Indian backyard. According to top military officials, India will upgrade the airstrip at INS Kohassa, Shibpur in north Andamans and at the Campbell strip at Nicobar into full-fledged fighter bases. The airstrip at Agatti, in Lakshadweep will also be upgraded for military operations to secure both the Bay of Bengal upto Malacca Straits and Arabian Sea up to Gulf of Aden. “The two Island territories will be like the new aircraft carriers for India, extending the navy’s reach in the region far from the mainland. Both the Islands sit on the busiest sea lanes of the world with more than half the world trade going through this route,” said a tri-service commander. Lakshadweep sits on t...

In a message to China, India has made it clear that it is not going to lower its guard in the region. India will not reduce its number of troops deployed at LAC amid the ongoing border issues in eastern Ladakh. Represent ative   In a strong message to China, India has made it clear that it is not going to lower its guard in the region. India will not reduce its number of troops deployed at LAC amid the ongoing border issues in eastern Ladakh. On Saturday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the overall security scenario in eastern Ladakh. The meeting was attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Army Chief Gen MM Naravane, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria. All aspects of the dispute were discussed in the meeting and the future course of approach in dealing with the situation was also deliberated upon. All aspects of the dispute were discussed in the meeting and the future course of approac...

India, once a counter to China's military clout, now finds itself unable to garner support from the very countries it signed agreements with. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits India's Himalayan desert region of Ladakh, India, July 3, 2020, in this still image taken from video. Photo: ANI Numerous strategic partnerships and security arrangements that India had recently built up to counter China’s growing hegemony and territorial ambitions, have proved futile in all attempts at settling the enduring crisis posed by its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) along the line of actual control (LAC) in Ladakh. Senior military officers claimed that all these stridently proclaimed regional pacts, agreed 2014 onwards and confined largely to the maritime domain, have failed in providing New Delhi any leverage in ‘pressuring’ Beijing into vacating large tracts of its territory occupied by the PLA since early May. “The clout these much publicised alliances had promised, and which cou...

As India faces challenges from 'LoC to LAC', Indian Army is preparing to give a befitting reply to any misadventures carried out by neighbouring countries. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched NAG Missile Carrier (NAMICA) on August 14. It may be fitting that India sought to boost its firepower on the Independence Day of Pakistan. NAG Missile Carrier NAMICA boosts Indian Army muscle NAMICA has been made by Ordnance Factory in collaboration with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The entire project costs about Rs 3 thousand crore. NAMICA can fire missiles at a target located 7.5 kilometres away. The missiles carrier can be manned by 4 jawans of the Indian Army. NAMICA has hunter-killer capability. Another feature of NAMICA is that its equally effective at night as it is during the day. The missile carrier has amphibious capability. This boosts its manoeuvrability greatly. NAMICA can be used at night as well While NAMICA will be manned by 4 armymen, the co...

The decision to fly Chinook over DBO advance landing ground during night time was taken to test the Indian Army’s capability of rapid insertion of special forces and infantry combat vehicles in case the situation deteriorates. The Chinook helicopters were flown after the deployment and road building activity of China’s military increased across the LAC. The Indian Air Force’s rapid deployment Chinook helicopters have flown in the night over 16,000 feet Daulet Beg Oldi, Indian Army’s last outpost near Karakoram Pass, after the deployment and road building activity of China’s People’s Liberation Army deployment increased in the area across the Line of Actual Control (LAC). According to authoritative sources, the divisional commander level meeting at Teinweindien (TWD) post in occupied Aksai Chin was to lower the temperatures in the DBO sector with the Indian Army demanding that patrolling in Depsang Plains should be allowed unhindered. The DBO dialogue is separate from the military comma...

Representative Image The Army is now undertaking a major study headed by a senior Lt-General on advanced "niche and disruptive warfare technologies", which range from drone swarms, robotics, lasers and loiter munitions to artificial intelligence, big data analysis and algorithmic warfare. Sources on Friday said the aim of the "holistic study", which comes amidst the ongoing military confrontation in eastern Ladakh with China, is to bolster the conventional war-fighting capabilities of the 13-lakh strong Army as well as prepare for "non-kinetic and non-combat" warfare in the years ahead. China, of course, has been assiduously working to develop futuristic warfare technologies, like artificial intelligence (AI)-powered lethal autonomous weapon systems, towards its overall endeavor to usher in a major "revolution in military affairs (RMA) with Chinese characteristics". Indian Army's new land warfare doctrine in 2018 had stressed the need to shar...