Indian Army: News and Discussion

[nitesh]

this is not good news:

http://ajaishukla.blogspot.com/2010/02/russia-objects-to-t-72t-90-simulators.html

Tata Advanced Systems, partnering Canadian giant, CAE; is competing with Indian simulator developer, Zen Technologies, to provide India’s T-72 and T-90 tank regiments with 80 containerised simulators that could be transported anywhere, including to a border launch pad. The MoD will soon announce the winner.

No plan survives contact with the enemy, it is said. But this one has run into problems with a friend! Russian officials have told Business Standard that the T-72 and T-90 are their tanks and nobody other than the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) could produce a simulator without infringing Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).

Viktor Komardin, the chief of Russian export controller, Rosoboronexport, pointed out that nobody had consulted Russia. Komardin said, “Is this legal? Is this ethical? Is this proper? If India wants a real simulator, it should be asked for from Russia itself. A quality simulator cannot be created without information from the designer on issues like ballistics and fire control computation.”

Indian officials are either unaware of the Russian objection, or are choosing to ignore it. Komardin says no Indian official has approached Russia for a tank simulator, even though Russia has one available.

CAE, however, denies infringing Russian IPR. CAE India President, H J Kamath, told Business Standard, “No proprietary or OEM software or equipment is needed for the simulator. No original equipment has been used, nor do we need any data or source codes from Russia. Everything has been simulated.”

Zen Technologies is equally emphatic. The company’s President, Kishore Dutt Atluri, says, “We don’t need any information from Russia. The physics of the T-72 and T-90 tanks are well known.”

Interestingly, CAE is also engaged in developing a full-crew simulator for the Arjun tank, which is made by the Defence R&D Organisation, for which the DRDO has given permission.

 

[RAM]

Govt approves induction of 30,000 more personnel for BSF

NEW DELHI: In its efforts to augment the strength of the Border Security Force (BSF), the Centre has approved raising of 29 battalions, comprising around 30,000 personnel, for the country's frontier guarding force. Of the 29 battalions, 16 would be deployed in riverine areas along Indo-Bangladesh border while 13 would serve as additional reserve battalions to be deployed on a rotational basis to ensure sufficient training, rest and recuperation for the personnel. Minister of state for home Ajay Maken said the new battalions would go a long way in increasing the efficiency and service conditions of BSF personnel.

Attending the Passing-Out-Parade of a fresh batch of 129 BSF officers at Takenpur in Madhya Pradesh on Saturay, Maken said the exercise had began late last year. Two battalions have already been raised and seven are to be raised during 2010-2011. With a view to enhance infrastructure to support the additional battalions, three frontier head quarters and seven sector head quarters will be created for control and command purposes, he said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ore-personnel-for-BSF/articleshow/5600193.cms

 

[Armand2REP]

India and Poland will take the development of light tank

The Indian company BEML and Polish OBRUM signed a memorandum of understanding on the basis of which is expected to create a joint venture for the production of military equipment, reported The Hindu. First, the company will develop a new light tank for the Indian Army.

According to the head BEML V.R.S. Natarajan (VRS Natarajan), the new tank will be made easier, so it can be delivered to any desired point on the helicopter. No other details about the long-term project Natarajan not reported. Meanwhile, a joint venture and OBRUM BEML will also manufacture tow vehicles and technical assistance, which will form the basis of Indian Tank Arjun.

Indo-Polish joint venture also plans to modernize the Soviet T-72 tanks and infantry fighting vehicles BMP-2, standing in the Indian military arsenal. BEML has already agreed to obtain financing of promising projects of the Organization of Defense Research and Development (DRDO) of India.

BEML has also announced an agreement with the Slovak company Tanax on joint development of armored vehicles, which can be used in the fight against insurgents and terrorists. Under the agreement, the Slovak company will supply the cannons, while the chassis will create BEML. Final assembly will be carried out in India.

February 17, 2010 it became known that the U.S. company Raytheon and India's Larsen & Toubro did the Army of India proposed joint modernization of tanks T-72. In particular, the American company will supply the infra-red sights and electronic components, and L & T will install them on the tanks. In addition, the Indian company will install new electronic guidance system on the T-72.

http://lenta.ru/news/2010/02/19/light/

 

[nandu]

US wants India to raise foreign equity cap in defence
Washington, Feb 25 Calling India a "rising global power", Washington has asked New Delhi to undertake new reforms and raise the cap on foreign equity in Indian defence firms to give more opportunities to US companies interested in defence sales in India.
"India is a rising global power, soon to be the world's most populous country, with a trillion dollar-plus economy," Robert O. Blake, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs, told the Washington International Business Council here Wednesday.
Noting that President Barack Obama had called India an "indispensable" nation during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's state visit, he said: "The strength of India's economy makes it the powerhouse of South and Central Asian regional growth."
"The Indian economy has been one of the fastest growing economies in the world since 2003, averaging 8 to 9 percent growth in recent years," Blake said and suggested: "If India can sustain its economic reforms, it has the potential to sustain close to double digit growth rates for many years to come".
"Reforms to date have made Indian companies leaders in areas such as information technology, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, and now increasingly, in manufacturing as well as in clean energy," he said.
Blake also hoped "the Indian government will seize the opportunity to undertake new reforms that will both attract new investment and propel higher growth.
"We are also urging the Indian government to raise the cap on foreign equity in Indian defence firms from 26 percent to 49 percent to provide more opportunities for US companies interested in defence sales in India."
The US had "some important recent sales with the C-17s, C-130Js, and the P8 maritime patrol aircraft", Blake said, adding: "But there are significant new sales on the horizon, up to $18 billion worth of contracts, for which American companies are competing".
The most notable of these is the multi-role combat aircraft purchase which by itself is a $10 billion sale in which two American companies -- Boeing and Lockheed Martin -- are competing against European and Russian firms.
"Obviously that would be an extremely important contract for American suppliers and something that we in the government will be advocating and following very closely," Blake said.
The landmark civil nuclear deal "has also opened up new possibilities that did not exist for US firms several years ago", he said, while noting: "The Indian government has already designated for US firms two sites in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh -- two of the most business-friendly states in India."
The Energy and Global Climate Change pillar of the India-US strategic Dialogue also offers potentially significant opportunities, Blake said, observing "India is a rapidly emerging technological and entrepreneurial power".
Citing a McKinsey & Company study suggesting "80 percent of the India of 2030 has yet to be built", Blake said: "India has acknowledged that it stands to be seriously affected by the impacts of climate change and has begun taking important steps to transform to a low-carbon growth model".
Turning to the importance of the private sector, the official noted the US-India CEO Forum had been expanded "to focus on how government can work with the private sector to really capitalise on the energies, ideas, and practical experience of the private sector".
The US also wanted to strengthen the private sector's role throughout its dialogues with India -- in agriculture, information and communication technology, health, and education, to name just a few, Blake said.

SOURCE: PROKERELA.COM

 

[sandeepdg]

No more jawans as sahayaks in Army too?
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: This could probably end the “humiliation” jawans go through in the Army if the government implements the recommendations of a parliamentary committee on defence which has sought an end to employing jawans as sahayaks of officers.
In an action taken report tabled in both the Houses of Parliament, the standing committee on defence reiterated its earlier recommendation that the Army should follow the examples set by their counterparts Air Force and Navy and stop the colonial practice with immediate effect.
The panel said it failed to understand the necessity to continue with the sahayak system that “lowers the self-esteem of a jawan” when the Navy and Air force have abandoned it. The committee had in its earlier report noted that the sahayak system had been prevalent in the Army in one form or the other since the British days and that numerous jawans were engaged at the residence of senior officers for domestic work and to serve the family members of officers. The panel had said jawans were recruited for serving the nation and not to serve the families of officers in household work, adding that there was no place for such a “shameful” practice in independent India.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Defa...eLabel=18&EntityId=Ar01804&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

 

[NSG_Blackcats]

Army opts for Nag missile as it enters final trials​

By Ajai Shukla

In Rajasthan, this May, the indigenously developed Nag (Cobra) missile will undergo a final round of trials before entering service in the Indian Army’s arsenal. Developed by the Defence R&D Laboratory (DRDL) in Hyderabad, the army is delighted with how the Nag has performed in a series of earlier trials. A senior army officer calls it “the world’s deadliest anti-tank guided missile (ATGM)”.

Indian infantry formations urgently want a potent ATGM to handle Pakistani tank forces that now bristle with capable Ukrainian T-80 and Chinese T-85 tanks. So confident is the army about the Nag that, even before trails are completed, it has budgeted Rs 335 crores for buying 443 Nag missiles, which will be manufactured at the public sector Bharat Dynamics Limited. The missiles will equip Reconnaissance and Support Battalions, mechanised units that locate and destroy enemy tanks.

In trials last summer six Nag missiles were fired at tanks 3-4 km away; each of them hit their target precisely. Next month the Nag must demonstrate its capability at its minimum range of 500 metres. “Since the Nag travels at 230 metres per second, it has just 2 seconds to align itself to a target that is 500 metres away. But we are confident that the Nag will meet this requirement during the forthcoming trials”, the DRDL’s Officiating Director, Amal Chakrabarti, told Business Standard during a visit to the Hyderabad missile complex.

The Nag is a third-generation (Gen-3), “fire-and-forget” missile; once it is fired, its seeker automatically guides the missile to even a fast-moving tank. In earlier-generation missiles an operator had to guide it all the way, often exposing himself to enemy fire. The world has just a handful of “fire-and-forget” missiles, such as the American Javelin, and the Israeli Spike. The Javelin and the Spike are lighter missiles that can be carried by a soldier; the Nag is a heavier and more powerful missile designed to operate from vehicles and helicopters.

While the infrared seekers of the Javelin and the Spike can be jammed, the Nag’s optical guidance system makes it virtually jam-proof. The indigenous development of an imaging seeker, a highly complex and closely guarded technology, is the Nag’s greatest triumph.

Here’s how it works. Nag missile operators search for enemy tanks through thermal imaging telescopes, which see as well by night as they do by day. Picking up a tank, the operator locks the Nag’s seeker onto the target. A digital snapshot of the target is automatically taken, which serves as a reference image. As the Nag streaks towards the target, at 230 metres per second, the seeker takes repeated snapshots of the target; each one is compared with the reference image, and deviations are translated through on-board algorithms into corrections to the Nag’s control fins, which steer the missile precisely at the target.

This method of firing is termed “lock-on before launch” or LOBL. In the pipeline is an even more sophisticated method —- “lock-on after launch” or LOAL —- for the helicopter-mounted Nag, or HELINA, which can target a tank 7 kilometres away. Since the target will seldom be visible at such a distance, the missile operator launches the HELINA in the general direction of the target. As it flies towards the target, the Nag’s seeker downlinks to the missile operator images of the area ahead; after travelling 3-4 kilometres, i.e. after about 12-16 seconds, the operator will be able to identify enemy tanks. He will lock the seeker onto the tank he wishes to destroy, and the command will be uplinked to the missile in mid-flight. After that, the missile homes in onto the target and destroys it.

The Nag provides its operator with another important tactical advantage. The plume of burning propellant from the tail of most missiles gives away its flight path and allows the target to get behind cover. The Nag, in contrast, is visible only during the first one second of flight, when the missile’s booster imparts 90% of the momentum; after that, a sustainer maintains the missile’s speed, burning a smokeless propellant that is practically invisible.

Acceptance of the Nag missile into service will be a triumphant conclusion to the Defence R&D Organisation’s (DRDO’s) long-delayed, but eventually successful, Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). Initiated in 1983 by then DRDO boss, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, the IGMDP set out to develop five missiles: the Agni and Prithvi ballistic missiles; the Akash and Trishul anti-aircraft missiles; and the Nag ATGM. Only the Trishul will have failed to be accepted into service.

Source - Business Standard

 

[nandu]

Indian Army mutes camping at Seppa
March 6th, 2010

SEPPA, Mar 5: The Indian Army is planning to start a camp at Seppa. A meeting was organized today to take suitable steps for the early settlement of the army in the area.
The Indian Army had written to the Deputy Commissioner, asking allotment of 1100 Acres of land at Seppa for the Key location plan of Infantry Brigade, artillery Regiment and allied unit/detachment. The letter also mentioned that a Gazette notification in respect of land identification to be acquired by the Army, be issued at earliest possible. The Army also proposes for the field firing range of about 17 KM at Lada.
In the meeting, a committee comprising of officials from the District Administration and the public leaders from the concerned area, was constituted for the fixation of the rates of the land. It was also resolved that a sub committee would be formed for the actual assessment of the land and other relevant work like compensation to the owners.
However, it was decided that compensation would be fixed as per the report of the committee and shall be subject to final approval by the state Government.
East Kameng Deputy commissioner Pige Ligu told the Army led by Col S.P Tiwari, CO, 59 Field firing, that the establishment of the Indian Army shall benefit the people in manifold including security. He further assured that he would expedite the work for the early materialization of the proposal.
SP Tumme Ammo, District planning officer Vijay Sonam spoke on the occasion. (DIPRO)

Source : Arunachal News.

 

[Rage]

No more jawans as sahayaks in Army too?
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: This could probably end the “humiliation” jawans go through in the Army if the government implements the recommendations of a parliamentary committee on defence which has sought an end to employing jawans as sahayaks of officers.
In an action taken report tabled in both the Houses of Parliament, the standing committee on defence reiterated its earlier recommendation that the Army should follow the examples set by their counterparts Air Force and Navy and stop the colonial practice with immediate effect.
The panel said it failed to understand the necessity to continue with the sahayak system that “lowers the self-esteem of a jawan” when the Navy and Air force have abandoned it. The committee had in its earlier report noted that the sahayak system had been prevalent in the Army in one form or the other since the British days and that numerous jawans were engaged at the residence of senior officers for domestic work and to serve the family members of officers. The panel had said jawans were recruited for serving the nation and not to serve the families of officers in household work, adding that there was no place for such a “shameful” practice in independent India.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Defa...eLabel=18&EntityId=Ar01804&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

'bout time we end this sh!t. The "humiliation" JCO's and NCO's go through serving as 'batmen' for commissioned officers is humiliation indeed. From being shortchanged on promotions to not being indulged on overtime allowance to at times, doing menial work for their Superior officers, the Army may find them 'indispensable' but it does do their 'dignity' no world of good. It'll make the Army a lot less hierarchical where it shouldn't be and contribute to a greater sense of fraternity among PBOR.

 

[RPK]

India may hand Swiss Army Knife to its 1.3m troops


http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/article7054696.ece

Victorinox, the maker of the Swiss Army Knife, is returning to its roots by focusing on supplying knives to armies.

The company, which supplied the original knife to the Swiss Army in 1891, has produced a prototype, built according to specifications supplied by the Indian Army, that it hopes will lead to an order to supply the 1.3 million-strong force.

Constructed from matte-black steel, it contains 12 tools, many of which perform two or three functions. The Indian Army, which has to operate from the freezing peaks of the Himalayas to the deserts of Rajasthan, insisted on two: a saw to cut metal and a marlinspike, used to untangle knots.

The company, though, would rather you did not call it a knife. “ ‘Knife’ is not really the correct term,” Anish Goel, managing director of Victorinox India, a subsidiary of the Swiss parent company, said. “It’s not a bayonet or a dagger. It’s a little toolkit.”


Victorinox has diversified in a quest to become a “lifestyle brand”. It started making wristwatches two decades ago. Luggage and clothing followed. Last year it unveiled an aftershave.

All the while, the privately held group had produced knives for military clients, from Germany to Nigeria, but the proportion of revenues accounted for by army sales had shrunk dramatically. The Swiss Army, for example, recruits 40,000 soldiers a year: each gets a knife, but that is enough to account for only half a day’s output at Victorinox.

The situation changed radically after 9/11. Victorinox was no longer able to sell its pocket knives at duty-free shops in airports or on aircraft, previously two of its most important earners. Nor were travellers allowed to carry them on flights. Overnight, sales slumped by a third. Wenger, the only other company licensed to produce Swiss Army Knives, went bankrupt and was bought by Victorinox. The credit crunch and cheap Far Eastern fakes delivered further blows.

A retail version of the real thing would cost about £60, but the Indian Army can expect a substantial bulk-order discount. Mr Goel is waiting for feedback – and to learn whether he will win the contract of a lifetime.

The little toolkit

• Victorinox makes at least 100 versions of the original do-anything tool

• One recent model includes a USB drive and a Bluetooth connection, plus a fingerprint scanner that allows only the owner to access data

• There is also a special equestrian version — for getting the stones out of horses’ hooves

 

[gogbot]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

they could of just made it at home.

But its just a omi-tool, so it doesn't really matter either way. But i would assume it would be cheaper to make in India

Only hope they have a contract to supply the Indian army for a number of years, Ensuring every new recruit will get the tool.

As well as other paramilitary and axillary units

 

[RPK]

http://indiadefenceonline.com/1725/mod-plans-to-nominate-bel-for-tcs-project/

MoD Plans to Nominate BEL for TCS Project

The Indian Ministry of Defence is scheduled to give yet another discouraging sign to the private firms trying to enter the defence sector, by scrapping competitive bidding for the $2 billion project for developing the Indian Army’s futuristic Tactical Communications System (TCS).

The Indian Ministry of Defence has decided to hand over the crucial project to the state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) due to the crucial nature of the project and the secrecy needed. Sadly, it was the Ministry of Defence who had invited bids from the private sector in the first place. The India Defence Ministry has declared that the turnaround was caused after reviewing the new cyber policy formulated by the apex National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) – a secretive body that functions under the Cabinet Secretariat, which oversees electronic intelligence.
The TCS project also falls under the purview of this body. The TCS project involves the Indian government funding 80 per cent of the research and development cost, with the remaining 20 per cent to be funded by the chosen vendor for the project.

As for the TCS, it functions like a cellular phone network, the TCS’s exchanges and switches will be installed in high-mobility vehicles which will enable them to be transported and set up anywhere. The messages sent out over the TCS cannot be easily intercepted or jammed since they will not remain on a single frequency. The TCS will be configured in such a way that the transmissions will hop frequencies dozens of times every second in a pre-programmed sequence. This sequence is called a “hopping algorithm”.

The Indian Defence Ministry has declared that in order to maintain the secrecy of this “hopping algorithm”, or the sequence in which the TCS hops frequencies, the state-owned BEL is being handed over the TCS project.

The NTRO has also mandated that the “hopping algorithm” must remain the exclusive preserve of the government. Added to this, a special defence ministry committee is about to recommend that the TCS procurement be categorised as “Make – Strategic, Complex and Security Sensitive Systems”, as opposed to the prior “Make – High Tech”, wherein the private sector was invited. Under the Defence Procurement Policy and the NTRO’s guidelines and its mandate, the TCS project will automatically go to the state-owned firms Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and BEL.

The private sector firms who are left groping in the dark are Wipro, Mahindra Defence Systems, Tata Power, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Rolta and HCL.

These private sector players have blamed the Indian Defence Ministry for belittling their competence in the area of Information Technology, software and communications by making these unfair moves against them. The private players have warned that the current turnaround of events in the TCS project, and a host of others which the Indian government dangles and then snatches away, will only drive away the private sector players as well as shareholders investments in the defence sector.

While the private sector players have been involved in highly crucial projects involving secrecy, the current blow has come as a shock to them. In the TCS project, last year it was decided that top-secret algorithms in the TCS would be developed by the DRDO’s Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), but the private sector could develop the rest of the project. Even the Kelkar Committee had recommended that companies with a history and proven potential in defence production should be designated Raksha Udyog Ratnas (RURs) and treated at par with DPSUs in the award of projects like the TCS. But, the Indian defence ministry decided against nominating RURs as well.

The private sector players claim that the secrecy can be fully preserved by reserving the ‘hopping algorithm’ for DRDO and BEL, and it seems unfair that just to safeguard the secrecy of the microchip which contains the ‘hopping algorithm’, the defence ministry is handing them an entire $2 billion project.

This will only lead to future crucial projects finding their way in to the laps of the state-owned companies.

The private sector has also cited the false notion of indigenisation that the state-owned firms are fronting in these projects and said that the BEL, which has been awarded the TCS project, builds systems that are built mainly from foreign components. BEL’s Artillery Combat Command and Control System (ACCCS), a system similar to the TCS, has computers and software from Israeli company, Elbit.

In the past, Indian private companies have played important and responsible roles in some of India’s most secret defence projects. Larsen & Toubro, built most of India’s nuclear submarine, INS Arihant, and will have a similar role in building successors to the Arihant. Another private company, Tata Power, which built crucial command systems for the Arihant, also designed the core of the top secret Samyukta Electronic Warfare system. However, they have been unfairly sidelined in the TCS project.

Even the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence, has raised concerns over the false indigenisation where Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) have allegedly fronted for foreign companies. Last year, the Standing Committee’s report noted that a large proportion of procurement takes place through the ordnance factories and DPSUs, which are indigenous sources, but have to depend on imports for manufacturing the finished product.

 

[nandu]

3 kids die as abandoned ammunition explodes

Shimla, Mar 10: Ammunition abandoned near a firing range used by the Indian Army and Border Security force exploded killing three children on Tuesday, Mar 9 in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district.
The three children, identified as Shail, Rahul and Chandan, were killed on the spot when they tried to break the ammunition to recover scrap and lead, leading to the explosion, the police said on Wednesday, Mar 10.


“Three children, aged 10 to 12 years, were killed Tuesday when they tried to break the used shells of mortars near the army firing range,” an official said.

“A team of police’s bomb disposal squad has cordoned off the area and is conducting a search to find out more about the abandoned shells, if any,” he added.

Source: One India News

 

[Anshu Attri]

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/putin-to-push-arms-energy-in-india/401283.html

Putin to Push Arms, Energy in India

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will push India to double its payment for renovations on a long-delayed aircraft carrier, while also trying to conclude other deals for arms, nuclear energy and communications during a two-day visit beginning Thursday.

New Delhi is the largest foreign buyer of Russian defense equipment, particularly aircraft, and Putin will be looking to shore up that cooperation in talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his first visit to India since January 2007.

He is also slated to meet Indian President Pratibha Patil, the government press service said in a statement Tuesday.

But the biggest issue on the agenda are cost overruns and delays to refit and deliver the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier, as the Soviet-built Admiral Gorshkov is now known. Problems with the project have been a regular thorn in generally solid bilateral ties.

A source close to state arms export monopoly Rosoboronexport told The Moscow Times that Putin would push India to sign a $2.3 billion deal to finish upgrades, which were originally expected to cost just $970 million.

The initial $1.6 billion contract, signed in 2004, would have seen the renovated carrier delivered to India in 2008 along with fighter jets that are now part of a separate contract. After years of wrangling over delays, India agreed in 2008 to another $1.2 billion in work on the carrier, with delivery pushed back to 2012.

The final price of $2.3 billion is less than the $2.7 billion total for renovations that Russia had been seeking.

Work on the Vikramaditya took so long to agree on because the Russian side did not realize how long it would take or what the costs would be, the source close to Rosoboronexport said.

"The agreement was signed in a rush. It wasn't quite clear what the weapon was and in what condition it was being sold," the source said. "Then the Russian side realized it would take longer and would cost more to finish it, and it took them more than a year to explain to the Indians why exactly they should pay twice the agreed amount."

Vladimir Pastukhov, head of the state-run Sevmash shipyard doing the work, resigned in 2007 when the underestimates and possible mismanagement of funds had already become clear.

President Dmitry Medvedev visited the shipyard in July and ordered current CEO Nikolai Kalistratov to complete the project, warning that there could be "grave consequences" for further delays. Problems at Sevmash have forced "everyone to make excuses, you to me and I to our Indian partners," Medvedev said at the time.

The source close to Rosoboronexport said three other defense deals may be discussed during the visit, although he declined to speculate on whether they would be signed. The talks could include the sale of 126 MiG-35 fighters, which are being tested as part of an Indian defense tender; development of the Russian-Indian fifth generation PAK FA fighter; and modernization of Su-30 MKI fighters.

Additionally, India is expected to complete a tender to buy patrol ships for its navy later this year, and Russia could participate in their construction, the source said. "It is most likely that an Indian company would win it, but they will build vessels in cooperation with Russia because they wouldn't be able to do it on their own."

Putin is most likely to sign deals to finish the aircraft carrier, sell 29 MiG-29 fighters that would be based on the carrier for $1.2 billion and jointly develop the MTA transport aircraft, Vedomosti reported last week, citing sources close to Rosoboronexport's management.

Rosoboronexport spokesman Vyacheslav Davydenko confirmed that the three agreements would be discussed, but he declined to comment on the terms of possible agreements.

"We never link our contracts to official visits, so I can't say which of them may be signed during the visit and which may not," he said.

The government's press office was not immediately available for comment.

In a promising prelude to Putin's trip, the Indian Defense Ministry on Tuesday said it approved Rosoboronexport as a helicopter supplier.

"In 2008, we agreed to supply 80 MI-17-V-5 helicopters to India, and we will start delivering them by the year's end. Now the Indians want to buy another 60 helicopters of the same model," the source said, without commenting on the possible terms.

Experts said India was likely to stick with Russian-made arms, despite expressing concern about the quality of some aircraft and the problems with the aircraft carrier. In 2009 alone, India lost two Su-30 MKI, three MiG-27s and three MiG-21s in noncombat crashes.

"The Indian army is equipped with Soviet arms, and switching to Western analogues takes a long time," said Alexander Pikayev, a senior research fellow at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations. "Also, Russia was the only country so far that agreed to sell India an aircraft carrier, so it looks like India has no other choice."

Moscow and New Delhi have been expanding economic ties beyond arms exports. During Singh's visit to Moscow in December, Russia was given the green light to build nuclear plants in India and work on satellite cooperation.

The countries may sign off on a joint venture in India to produce navigation equipment that would work with both the Russian Glonass system and its U.S. equivalent, GPS, Alexander Gurko, CEO of network operator Navigation and Information Systems, said Tuesday.

India would be able to use the system's civilian signal, which offers precision within 15 meters, while the use of the more precise military signal is being negotiated, Gurko said, RIA-Novosti reported.

Putin is also expected to sign an agreement on boosting cooperation in nuclear energy. India has 4.1 gigawatts of nuclear capacity now, a figure it is trying to raise fivefold by 2020.

India will build five nuclear plants in Gujarat, Andhra-Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Orissa states, and Russia and France are welcome to participate, Srikumar Banergi, chairman of the Indian commission on nuclear energy, said Tuesday.

Russian firms are working on the first phase of the Kudankulam plant in Tamilnad state, which will become India's most powerful. Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko said last year that nuclear work in India is "not just billions [of dollars]. It's about tens of billions."

Putin is also expected to sign an agreement that would make it easier for Indian businessmen to travel to Russia, Interfax reported Tuesday, citing a high-ranking source in India.

 

[RPK]

MI-17, Dhruv to be mounted with multi-barrel guns

http://www.brahmand.com/news/MI-17-Dhruv-to-be-mounted-with-multi-barrel-guns/3361/1/12.html

NEW DELHI (PTI): The government has invited proposals for procuring multi-barrel gatlin guns which can be mounted on MI-17 and 'Dhruv' helicopters for use by security forces like the NSG and para-military commandos.

A Quality Requirements (QRs) specification has been floated by the Home Ministry to procure six-barrel guns also known as Dillon Aero Guns, presently used by NATO forces.

The weapon is mounted on helicopters to launch devastating aerial attacks on enemy positions on the ground and also protect troops on-board from fires and rocket attacks emanating from the surface.

The gun will be able to hit a target in the range of 1000 metres including areas inside dense jungles and hideouts and is enabled with night vision capabilities.

The QRs have specified that the gun, to be operated by two people, with an operating system which can be electric or gas run, should be capable to be mounted on the MI-17 and Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) 'Dhruv' which have been recently deployed for anti-Naxal operations in the country with bases at Ranchi (Jharkhand) and Raipur (Chhattisgarh).

It has been specifically stated that the 7.62mm calibre gun should have the compatibility to run on country-made ammunition.

 

[nandu]

‘China’s opaque military budgeting a concern for India’

China has almost shocked the international community by announcing its smallest increase in defence spending in over two decades. It can, however, not be ignored that the Red Dragon’s defence spending is by no means transparent. In 2008, China had budgeted its defence spending at USD 60 billion and increased it sharply to around USD 73 billion the following year. However China has proposed a mere 7.5 percent increase in its defence spending for the current year.

The planned 7.5 percent increase follows at least 20 years of double-digit rise in the budget for the world's largest standing military - People's Liberation Army (PLA). According to Li Zhaoxing, spokesman for China's Parliament, this year's defence budget of CNY 532.11 billion (USD 77.9 billion) remained relatively low.

China's military spending is second only to that of the US, and is more than double India's budget of USD 32.1 billion.


In an exclusive interview with Kamna Arora of Zeenews.com, Jagannath P Panda, an expert on China’s affairs, discusses the reasons behind the slow expansion in China’s defence budget this year and its effect on India.

Jagannath P Panda is an Associate Fellow at Institute for Defence Studies, New Delhi.

Kamna: Why has China decided to boost defence spending by just 7.5 percent this year, the slowest pace of expansion in a decade?

Panda: Right now, China is going through a rough patch internally. After the 2008 Tibet protests and the 2009 Urumqi crisis, China is on the back foot. It perhaps wants to consolidate its image a little right now. Added to this, after the financial crisis, China has cut its budget expenditure in almost all branches. However, it is still not a small figure compared to its total revenue and budget allocation.

Kamna: Can the actual spending be higher than official budget?

Panda: There is no doubt that the actual spending will be much higher. The world is well aware of the fact that China's military expenditure and budget allocation are not at all transparent. Beijing doesn't give the details of its budget expenditure in areas like military research and development, arms imports, budget spending for People's Armed Police etc. So, definitely, China will spend more than what actually it states.

Kamna: Should India be concerned about this budget?

Panda: It is natural to be concerned about this opaque Chinese military budget and about its bearings. India, as a neighbour, has more concerns in security terms than any other country in the region. China's purchase of advanced military equipment from Russia and some other advanced military powers is a matter of concern for India.

Kamna: Will a decrease in defence spending positively add to China’s claim of ‘peaceful rise’?

Panda: Not necessarily. The 'peaceful rise' theory of China is a much more complex entity. It contains both passive and active elements of China's state building approach and foreign policy expansion, whereas the decrease in defence spending doesn't mean that China's military advancement and strategy remain passive and without a purpose.

Kamna: Can the Chinese figures be interpreted as a political statement, since the international community has long debated that the official budget for the PLA hugely understates real expenditure?

Panda: To some extent yes. It is a political statement. Moreover, China wants to become more transparent in its system. At the same time, it will be a challenge for China to build a 'responsive and responsible' power image. That may not be easy. Military budget and the intention of the PLA are some of the issues, which are bound to create suspicion among the neighbouring countries.



Source:zee news.com

 

[nandu]

Major hunt for Maoists in Jharkhand, West Bengal
Kolkata, March 11 Backed by air cover, security forces Thursday pursued Maoists in eight districts of West Bengal and Jharkhand in a major crackdown, seizing a huge quantity of arms and destroying concealed rebel camps in thick forests.
Director General of Police Neyaz Ahmad told IANS: 'Yes, operations have been launched in many places in Jharkhand. West Bengal has also joined the inter-state operation against Maoists.'
Officials said the drive against the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) was on in West Singhbhum, East Singhbhum, Bokaro, Hazaribagh and Seraikela districts in Jharkhand as well as Purulia, West Midnapore and Bankura districts in nearby West Bengal.
An unspecified number of police and paramilitary personnel were involved in the coordinated operation that one Jharkhand police officer said began three days ago.
'Initially, the operation was kept a secret,' the officer told IANS on the condition of anonymity.
'The paramilitary forces and state police are sanitising the jungle areas. Some landmines have been recovered and four Maoist camps destroyed.
'The operation has air surveillance. Security forces have made a makeshift helipad in Saranda jungle area (in Jharkhand),' the officer added.
According to police sources, at least two helicopters, one each belonging to the Indian Air Force and the Border Security Force were providing aerial support to the security forces.
Ahmed added that the results of the operation were 'very good'. 'We have recovered a huge cache of weapons while security forces have entered deep into jungle areas.'
In Kolkata, however, Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Husan told IANS that the offensive started only Thursday. He said three helicopters were used for aerial/ surveillance.
Said another official: 'The move is to zero in on Maoists in bordering areas.'
West Bengal and Jharkhand are among half a dozen states most acutely affected by Maoist violence that have claimed thousands of lives. The four other states are Bihar, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
Orissa could join the campaign soon, a police source added.
The offensive follows a surge in violent attacks blamed on the increasingly aggressive Maoists, who have repeatedly rejected appeals from the government to give up violence.
Vijay Raman, the special director general of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Wednesday met the Jharkhand police chief here to reportedly discuss the inter-state operations against Maoists.
On Feb 9, Home Minister P. Chidamabram met the chief ministers and top officials of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa, reportedly to give a final shape to the anti-Maoist drive.

Source:sifynews

 

[nandu]

Indo-US war game in April

New Delhi: India and the US will hold a joint military exercise in April near California, focusing on counter-terrorism operations.
The exercise, Shatrujeet, will come just six months after the two armies conducted their largest joint wargame ever, YudhAbhyas, in Babina in Uttar Pradesh last October.
Around 150 to 200 men from the Indian Army will leave for the joint exercise between April 1 and 19 in which simulated terrorism scenarios would be played out and practiced.
The two countries have held over 50 joint military exercises in the last seven years, indicating the extent of growth in their military ties.
Last October, India had hosted the US troops for YudhAbyas, in which the Americans showcased their Stryker infantry armoured vehicles and Javelin anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) during the exercise, in a bid to convince the Indians of their potential and a possible sale.
The US is also eyeing the lucrative defence market and India's armed forces plans to acquire military equipment and weapons worth $50 billion in the next five years.
The Americans have sold six C-130J transport aircraft at $962 million for India's special forces in 2007 and eight P-8I maritime patrol aircraft for the Navy at $2.1 billion in 2009.
Another deal for 10 C-17 Globemaster-III giant strategic airlift aircraft at a cost of $2.2 billion for the IAF is expected soon.

SourceTI

 

[nandu]

Bangladesh Army chief to visit India

Dhaka, Mar 12:
Bangladesh's army chief General Mohammed Abdul Mubeen will pay a visit to India next week to boost military ties between the two nations. On an invitation by his Indian counterpart General Deepak Kapoor, Mubeen will visit the country on a five-day goodwill tour.
He will be accompanied by his wife and a four-member army delegation. During the tour he will call on Kapoor and discuss on the matters of professional interests, bilateral military issues and visit Indian Army establishments, an ISPR statement said here.
This would be Mubeen's maiden India tour after his appointment as the chief of army staff last year.
Kapoor had visited Dhaka on a six-day tour in July 2008, five months after his the then counterpart and Mubeen's predecessor General Moeen U Ahmed visited India on a weeklong tour.

Source:Central Chronicle

 

[nandu]

Lieutenant General SN Handa takes over as Director General of Infantry

Lieutenant General SN Handa would assume the appointment of Director General of Infantry at Army Headquarters on 12 Mar 2010.
Commissioned on 14 Nov 71 into the 5th Battalion of the 3rd Gorkha Rifles on the eve of Indo – Pak War 1971. He has served along the borders of the country from Rajasthan and Punjab in the West to J&K in North, Himachal – Tibet Border in the Centre and Sikkim, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh in the East in different environments. He commanded his battalion at Dera Baba Nanak (Punjab) at the peak of Punjab militancy from 1990 – 1993, an Infantry Brigade during Op Parakram and Op Aman (Gujarat Riots) and was later Deputy General Officer Commanding of an infantry division in Op Parakaram.

He has also commanded the Ahmedabad based Golden Katar division in 2005 – 06 and was Chief of Staff of Strategic15 Corps in the Srinagar Valley in 2007 and commanded Jodhpur based 12 Corps after which he assumed the appointment of the Chief of Staff, HQ South Western Command. Gen S N Handa is the President of the Gorkha Brigade Fraternity and the Colonel of the Third Gorkha Rifles Regiment. As Director General Infantry he will play a pivotal role in the ongoing transformation of the Infantry soldier to a modern net centric subunit.

Source: Frontier India

 

[Anshu Attri]

http://livefist.blogspot.com/2010/03/photos-veterans-continue-to-bleed_14.html


PHOTOS: Veterans Continue To Bleed

what a shame.....