First Woman Pilot Of Indian Navy To Join Operations On December 2

First woman pilot of Indian Navy will join Naval operations in Kochi on December 2, two days ahead of Navy Day on December 4, a Defence source told PTI on Thursday.

The first woman pilot, Lieutenant Shivangi, will join naval operations on completion of operational training here on December 2.

"Shivangi will graduate to become the First female Pilot of Indian Navy. She hails from Muzzafarpur, Bihar and completed her schooling from DAV Public school, Muzzafarpur," the source told PTI.

She was inducted into Indian Navy as SSC (Pilot) as part of 27 NOC course in Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala and got formally commissioned by Vice Admiral AK Chawla, in June last year.


The Navy's Aviation branch has had women officers operating as air traffic control officers and as ''observers'' in the aircraft who are responsible for communication and weapons, the source said.

Lieutenant Shivangi, who had been undergoing training at the Southern Naval Command, will get authorisation on December 2 to fly dornier aircrafts.

The Navy will have its first woman pilot trained by it to make first cockpit entry on December 2, the source said without elaborating.

ISRO all set to launch one of the world's best high-resolution Military Imaging Satellite

As ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C47 gets ready to launch Cartosat-3 and 13 commercial nanosatellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota on November 27th, it is expected to be a great addition to the high-resolution image capability of the country. Cartosat-3 satellite is a third-generation agile advanced satellite having high-resolution imaging capability and will be placed in an orbit of 509 km at an inclination of 97.5 degrees. The PSLV-C47 will also carry 13 commercial nanosatellites from the United States as part of a commercial arrangement with the recently formed New Space India Limited (NSIL), Department of Space.

“Cartosat 3 with 0.25 m PAN and 1m multi-spectral imagery is a great addition to the high-resolution capabilities of India. While the capacity to build such satellites has a great track record within ISRO, there is a need to build increasing capabilities in machine learning and data analytics within ISRO to leverage such data sets for a large number of applications within the country. This will allow integration of different data sets from all the earth observation and meteorological capabilities of India to be used in it's fullest extent,” Narayan Prasad, co-founder and chief operations officer of Satsearch told THE WEEK.

The expert further said that from a strategic perspective the US uses 2.5m optics to generate imagery of ~10cm from space whereas the Cartosat 3 uses 1.2m optics. “We clearly have more to do in terms of catching up with the current generation of military satellites. This could be something of interest to the upcoming Defence Space Agency in the coming days,” added Prasad.

Experts such as Rajendra Prasad, the Chief Business Officer of Satellize (formerly Exseed Space) feel that Cartosat 3 is quite a versatile satellite and has a panchromatic resolution of 0.25 m which is better than the best commercial satellite. “In a multispectral mode, it has a 1-meter resolution. Panchromatic resolves objects in the only scale and one gets higher resolution by combining multiple spectra into one single image. By panchromatic, we can make out shapes like a black and white photo with far higher resolution. It is indeed a cutting edge technology if the best commercial satellites are taken as a standard and will help us to have a far better observation of the earth,” observed Prasad.

As per research reports, the Cartosat-3 is a very high resolution panchromatic, multispectral and hyperspectral earth observation mission and has been designed as a follow-up to the Cartosat 2 series. The satellite has an imaging payload with a ground resolution of 0.25 m with 16 km swath in panchromatic mode, a resolution of 1.13 m with 16 km swath in 4 bands multispectral mode and a resolution of 12 m with 5 km in hyperspectral mode. It also features an MWIR Camera with 5.7 m resolution. Many new technologies and elements have been developed in the system such as highly agile structural platform, payload platform, higher rate data handling and transmission systems, advanced onboard computer and new power electronics etc.

Kashmir: 2 Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists killed in Pulwama

Two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists have been killed in an encounter in Pulwama district in South Kashmir.

The encounter began on Monday evening in Drabgam village, which had been cordoned off by security forces.

Both terrorists were locals.

A search operation was still ongoing this morning.

In June, the Union Home Ministry told Parliament that 133 terrorists had been killed in Jammu and Kashmir in the first half of the year.

It said as many as 733 had been killed since 2016.

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said last week that no civilians had been killed since the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status in August, but "on the other hand, our security forces have killed a number of terrorists and normalcy is returning there."

Southern Army Strike Formation 'Sudarshan Chakra Corps' to start massive exercise this Friday

Southern Army, with its key strike formation Sudarshan Chakra Corps, will conduct “Sindhu Sudarshan-II” military exercise from November 29 to December 4 in Pokhran firing range of Jaisalmer. The drill aims to assess capability of striking enemy’s territory during an integrated air-land battle.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh and Army chief would be present in the exercise. It underscores Indian Army’s resolve to implement the integrated launch of Strike Corps in developed and desert terrain in consonance with its enunciated pro-active strategy using Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs) along the Western Front. Army’s para-commanding team will participate in the event where paratroopers will do para-trooping in the front of defence minister.

Official sources said, “The exercise will witness more than 40,000 troops and various types of 450 Battle Tanks including T-90 Tanks and various gun and all arms battle array of divisions and brigades carrying out offensive operations in deserts. This will provide the unique opportunity to employ entire mechanized formations consisting of tanks and Infantry Combat Vehicles in order to evaluate the capability to strike deep along Western Borders. The indigenously manufactured Pinaka MBRL, Smerch rocket system and 155mm K-9 Vajra will also showcase their shoot and scoot capability.”

The two month long exercise will witness the Army assessing the operational efficiency of the strike corps to fight in the desert terrain and the Indian Air Force to provide intimate support in terms of destruction of targets and air lifting troops. Unique in scope and scale, the drill will simulate battlefield conditions and focus on fine tuning surveillance and destruction mechanisms to support precision strikes and manoeuvres by network enabled forces.

A high degree of synergy between the Army and the IAF will be reviewed by Lieutenant General S K Saini, sources added.

Nuclear capable Prithvi-2 missile successfully testfired at night

India successfully testfired on Wednesday night its indigenously developed nuclear capable surface-to-surface Prithvi-2 missile as part of a user trial by the Army from a test range off Odisha coast, an official of the ITR said.

"Two Prithvi-2 missiles were test fired consecutively and both tests met all parameters," the official said from the Interim Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur.

The trial of the missile, which has a strike range of 350 km, was carried out from a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the ITR between 7 pm to 7.15 pm, he said.

It was a routine trial, he said adding "The missile trajectory was tracked by radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations by the DRDO along the coast of Odisha".

The missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the entire launch activity was carried out by Strategic Force Command (SFC) of the Army and monitored by scientists of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as part of the training exercise, official sources said.

The downrange teams on board a ship deployed near the designated impact point in the Bay of Bengal monitored the terminal events and splashdown.

The last night time testfire of Prithvi-2 was conducted successfully from the ITR on February 21, 2018. Two missiles were successfully test fired in quick succession from the same base in salvo mode on November 21, 2016, they said.

Prithvi-2 is capable of carrying 500-1,000 kg of warheads and is powered by liquid propulsion twin engines, the sources said.

The state-of-the-art missile uses advanced inertial guidance system with maneuvering trajectory to hit its target, they said.

Already inducted into the armory of Indian defence forces in 2003, nine-metre tall 'Prithvi' was the first missile to have been developed by DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).

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ISRO to launch Cartosat-3 Earth Observation and 2 Military Satellites to boost space surveillance

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is gearing up to launch three earth observation or surveillance satellites — one on November 25 and two in December — to beef up the country’s border security through more “eyes in the sky”. Besides three primary satellites, the three PSLV rockets will also carry over two dozen foreign nano and micro satellites.

PSLV C-47 rocket, to be launched from Sriharikota at 9.28 am on November 25, will carry third-generation earth-imaging satellite Cartosat-3 as the primary payload and 13 commercial nanosatellites from the US. The commercial deal for the launch of 13 US nanosatellites was earlier signed by newly formed commercial arm NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), according to Isro. Cartosat-3 will be placed in an orbit of 509 km at an inclination of 97.5 degree.

Thereafter, Isro will launch two more surveillance satellites— Risat-2BR1 and Risat-2BR2 —with the help of PSLVC48 and C49 rockets to be set off from Sriharikota in December, according to spaceflight. The agency had earlier launched surveillance satellite Risat-2B on May 22 and EMISAT (electronic intelligence satellite to help DRDO keep an eye on enemy radars) on April 1. The six-month hiatus in the launch of operational satellites happened due to the Chandrayaan-2 mission in that period. This will be for the first time in Isro’s history that all satellites launched from Sriharikota in a year are meant for military purpose.

Cartosat-3 is highly advanced than its predecessor Cartosat-2 as it will have a powerful resolution of 0.25 metre or 25 cm (meaning it can distinguish two objects separated by a distance of 25cm) and a wider spatial range (16 km swath in panchromatic mode). All other surveillance satellites launched before Cartosat-3 did not have so powerful resolution.

Cartosat-3, which will also have multi-spectral (captures light within specific ranges in the electromagnetic spectrum) and hyperspectral (captures light from across the electromagnetic spectrum) capabilities, will help the military zoom in on enemy hideouts and terror hubs.

Risat-2BR1 and Risat-2BR2 will also increase the military’s surveillance power as these satellites will have the capability to see through clouds and take images at night. They will also help keep an eye on border infiltration and terror activities. Images from older series of Risat were earlier used to launch surgical strikes on terror launchpads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

In December, PSLV-C48 will launch primary satellite Risat-2BR1 and QPS-SAR microsatellite developed by iQPS, a Japanese company, and four Lemur 2 CubeSats for Spire Global. Thereafter in the same month, PSLV C49 will carry surveillance satellite Risat-2BR2 and four Kleos Scouting Mission radio surveillance nano-satellites for Kleos Space, a Luxembourg company, and multiple Lemur 2 CubeSats for Spire Global, says Spaceflight. All but Spire will be a new user of Isro’s most-reliable rocket PSLV.

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Made in India Fast Patrol Vessels: FPVs patrolling Indian Coastline post 26/11

To ensure that 26/11 type terror incidents never happen again, several measures have been put in place by various agencies including the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and other Central and State agencies.

The Naval Commanders at a recently concluded Commander discussed reviewing procedures to strengthen the Coastal Security framework.

With a 7516.6 km coastline, 12 major ports, 184 minor ports involving 13 coastal States/UTs and 1197 island territories, these need protection at all times by Indian Navy with support from Indian Coast Guard. As part of the coastal defence against attack from the seaward side, a new strategy has been adopted with the shipbuilding programme focussed at smaller but faster, highly manoeuvrable agile crafts with better designed capability to operate in littoral waters.

Specialised boats — Fast Attack Crafts (FACs) or Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs) for sea-based engagement of threats in coordination with facilities like Coastal Surveillance Radars are being built in India at various state-owned shipyards are being inducted in the services to protect the Indian coastline.


What exactly are Fast Attack Vessels (FAVs)?

These were first introduced into naval service with the import of two XFACs (Super Devora Class Extra Fast Attack Crafts) project from Israel in 1998-1999, followed by five more FAVs constructed by Goa Shipyard Ltd. in 2003-2005 under a collaborative contract with Israel. Having found increased operational relevance in various roles like Harbour defence and coastal protection led to the further building of ten more FAVs under ‘Car Nicobar Class’ programme by GRSE (Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd.) bin 2009-2011 period. After the 26/11 Mumbai attack, the delivery time frame of these vessels was reduced to meet the operational deployment and the technology further enhanced using Water jet propulsion technology and fourteen FAVS (called WJFAVs) have since been constructed and delivered by GRSE.

Last week, GRSE handed over Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) ICGS Annie Basent, the second in the series of five such ships, to the Indian Coast Guard. This has a medium-range vessel with a length of 50 metres, the width of 7.5 metres and displacement of around 308 tonnes, and is capable of operations in the maritime zones of the country. Designed to perform multipurpose operations like patrolling, anti-smuggling, anti-poaching and rescue operations, these are powerful, fuel-efficient platforms.

Explaining the technology behind these, Milind Kulshreshtha, C4I expert says, “These are high-speed patrol boats with the capability to undertake day-night coastal surveillance/reconnaissance and Search & Rescue missions. The speed ranges above 35 knots and high manoeuvrability are achieved through an advance propulsion system and design is for high-speed interception of vessels in territorial waters with the use of low draft for shallow water operations. With displacement of only a few hundreds of ton and unique propulsion package, these can do high speeds and are the fastest moving sea vessels of the Indian Navy.”

Naval LCA successfully conducts nigh landing with arrested gear - Next landing on Aircraft Carrier

The Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully carried out a night-time 'arrested landing' of the naval variant of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas. LCA Tejas is an indigenously-developed aircraft.

The DRDO wrote on Twitter along with a video that the landing was carried out on Tuesday to demonstrate ease of handling and confidence.

"First night time arrested landing of LCA Navy carried out successfully at SBTF Goa on 12 Nov at 1845 hrs to demonstrate ease of handling and confidence achieved in arrested landing technologies. Hon'ble Raksha Mantri congratulated DRDO, Indian Navy and HAL for the achievement," the PSU tweeted.

Just two months ago, the DRDO had carried out the first "arrested landing" of the two-seater LCA (Navy) Tejas at a shore-based facility in Goa. That was a "textbook landing", the agency had said in September.

"A normal LCA needs a runway spanning about 1-km for take-off and landing. But, for the naval variant, the take-off stretch is about 200 m and landing needs 100 m. Today, the NP-1 made its maiden arrested landing, and it was a textbook landing," a DRDO source had said.

An arrested landing is basically one wherein an aircraft is made to decelerate while landing with the assistance of wires on the runway.

As per sources, LCA (Navy) Tejas is now likely to undergo an aircraft carrier compatibility test.

The DRDO, Aeronautical Development Agency, Aircraft Research and Design Centre of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and CSIR are among the several agencies involved in the development of the naval variant of Tejas.

While the naval variant of LCA Tejas is under development, the Indian Air Force has already inducted the Tejas aircraft.

War games begin in Pokhran Today

War game exercise Sudharshan Shakti by Indian Army’s Southern Command will be organised at Jaisalmer-Barmer desert from November 13 to 18. Indian Air Force will also take part in this exercise.

Over 40,000 army jawans will participate in this exercise to develop combat skills and deep strike capacity. General officer commanding of 21st Core, Lieutenant Yogendra Dimri, on November 15 will review the exercise. The culmination of this exercise will be at Pokhran Field Firing Range, Jaisalmer between November 29 and December 4. It will be attended by defence minister Rajnath Singh, army chief and other senior officers of the Indian Army and IAF.

Defence spokesperson Lt Col Sambit Ghosh said, “A massive military exercise of Indian Army is currently underway in Barmer. The exercise aims to validate battle readiness and operational effectiveness of Sudarshan Chakra Corps in an integrated air-land battle scenario.

The exercise will showcase tanks and armoured vehicles duly supported by overwhelming land and air-based fire power conducting fully integrated operational manoeuvres.