Cavalier India Defence Training Academy

The navy’s new plan, inspired by a similar cabinet authorisation for 42 squadrons of the Indian Air Force, will seek approvals for six nuclear-powered attack submarines and 18 diesel attack submarines, a South Block. The Indian Navy intends to approach the government for authorised force levels of nuclear-powered and diesel-electric attack submarines in addition to the ballistic missile submarines with Strategic Force Command (SFC) , people familiar with the matter. The authorisation for the diesel subs would include those with an air-independent propulsion system, or AIP, which ensures these submarines can remain under surface for a longer period and are quieter than the nuclear-powered submarine. The proposed move comes at a time the Navy is finalising plans to seek approval from the Defence Acquisition Committee to build six nuclear-powered attack submarines, or SSNs, as part of the defence establishment’s continuing focus on expanding the Navy’s capabilities to counter the rise of...

Indian Air Force set to raise second Squadron of Rafale Jets in Hasimara The Indian Air Force is set to raise a second squadron of the Rafale combat aircraft in mid-April and it will be based in Hasimara air base in West Bengal, official sources said on Thursday.  The first squadron of the Rafale jets is stationed at Ambala Air Force station. The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29 last, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 of the aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore. The formal induction ceremony of the fleet had taken place at Ambala on September 10 last.  A second batch of three Rafale jets arrived in India on November 3, while a third batch of three more jets joined the IAF on January 27.

Six Indian Air Force (IAF) Su-30-MKI fighters will take off for United Arab Emirates (UAE) on March 3 to participate in the multinational exercise 'Desert Flag' to be held there over three weeks. Six Indian Air Force (IAF) Su-30-MKI fighters will take off for United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday to participate in the multinational exercise 'Desert Flag' to be held there over three weeks this month. Ten countries, including the US, France and Saudi Arabia will take part in the high profile exercise. Two C-17s of the Indian Air Force will also be joining the Indian team for the exercise, IAF officials said. Sukhoi-30 MKIs were part of the squadron that carried out a  long-range precision strike against a practice target  to mark the  second anniversary  of the Balakot airstrike on Saturday. Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Saturday flew a multi-aircraft sortie with the units to commemorate the occasion along with the squadron pilots. The sortie ...

Coming from a family of servicemen, Group Captain Singh was back in 2009 honoured with the Shaurya Chakra, the third-most peacetime gallantry award after Ashok Chakra and Kirti Chakra. Rafale Fighter Jet It took the then Wing Commander Harkirat Singh barely eight years after being commissioned into the Indian Air Force in 2001 to make India stand up and take note of the steel he was made of. Now, 19 years after donning the blue uniform of the Indian armed forces, Group Captain Harkirat Singh is set to script history as the first Commanding Officer of the 17 Squadron of the Rafale fighter jet when the first batch of the French machine lands in Ambala on Wednesday. It is not only a matter of pride for India, but also a sense of achievement that the IAF officer is leading the group of fighter pilots to India with the mean machines after over a decade-long wait. The others in the the 17 Golden Arrows accompanying Singh are Wing Commanders MK Singh, R Kataria, Sidhu and Arun. Group Captain ...

Tomorrow, Dalip Singh Majithia , who retired as a Squadron Leader in the Indian Air Force in August 1947, the year of our independence, turns 100. Dalip Singh Majithia retired as a Squadron Leader in the Indian Air Force in August 1947. On August 5, 1940, a young Sikh pilot took off on his first training flight in a Tiger Moth aircraft from the Walton airfield in Lahore with his two British instructors. 17 days later, Dalip Singh Majithia, then just 20, flew his first solo flight, a flight that paved the way for a lifetime in aviation - first in the Air Force and then as a private pilot. Along the way, Majithia had his share of adventures as a fighter pilot flying the legendary Hawker Hurricane on the Burma front during the Second World War to becoming the first person to land a plane in the Kathmandu Valley several decades later.   Tomorrow, Dalip Singh Majithia, who retired as a Squadron Leader in the Indian Air Force in August 1947, the year of our independence, turns 100. On 23...