Defence Ministry orders light-specialist vehicles from Mahindra Defence for Army...

Providing further boost to ‘Make in India’, Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a contract with Mahindra Defence Systems Ltd (MDSL) for supply of 1,300 Light Specialist Vehicles to the Indian Army, at a cost of Rs 1,056 crore, in New Delhi on March 22, 2021. The induction of vehicles is planned to be completed in four years.

The Light Specialist Vehicle is a modern fighting vehicle and will be authorised to various fighting units for carriage of Medium Machine Guns, Automatic Grenade Launchers as well as Anti-tank Guided Missiles.

The Mahindra Armored Light Specialist Vehicle (ALSV) is a light armoured specialist vehicle built for use by military and defence forces. It’s designed to be a modular type vehicle allowing for efficient maintenance and it can be upgraded or configured in the field for a wide variety of operational roles. The ALSV offers ballistic protection up to B7, STANAG Level II.

Features :-

Counter-Terrorist Operations

Patrolling in High Intensity Areas

Special Forces Operations

Quick Reaction Teams

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Conventional Operations

Weapon carrier

Raids in Open/ Desert Terrain

Reconnaissance

Border Security

 The Light Specialist Vehicle is indigenously designed and developed by MDSL. These combat vehicles are extremely agile with all round protection against small arms fire and will assist small independent detachments which are required to operate this weapon platform in the operational area.

 This is a flagship project showcasing the indigenous manufacturing capabilities of the defence industry and will add another milestone to the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan’ and ‘Make in India’ initiative. 

Navy, Army and IAF finally agree to procure armed drones from US as MQ-9 Reaper in $3 bn deal....

Impressed with the performance of the two leased Sea Guardian drones, the Navy, Army and the Air Force will finally jointly procure 30 armed versions of the American unmanned aerial system in what could be a $3 billion deal, ThePrint has learnt.

The decision comes just before US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s visit to India later this month. Austin’s visit could be a precursor to the impending meet of the ‘Quad’ leaders — US, India, Australia and Japan. 

According to sources in the defence and security establishment, initially one of the three services were not clear about procuring the armed predator drones but now all three are finally on the same way. 

They added that the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh-led Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) could take a final decision on this “soon”.

If approved, this would be the first tri-service procurement since Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat was appointed to steer the Indian armed forces into a more united force, both in terms of operational doctrine and procurement.

According to the deal, India will be acquiring 30 MQ-9 Reaper or Predator B, 10 each for the three services.

The MQ-9B has an endurance of 48 hours and a range of over 6,000 nautical miles. It comes with nine hard-points, capable of carrying sensors and laser-guided bombs besides air-to-ground missiles, with a maximum payload of two tonnes.

The Navy, which is the lead agency for procurement of HALE (High Altitude Long Endurance) UAVs, will seek the Acceptance of Necessity (AON) from the DAC.

PM Modi Dedicate MBT Arjun tank Mk1-A to Indian Army

In yet another boost for Make in India in defence Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate the Main Battle Tank Arjun Mark1A to the nation on Sunday in Chennai. 

In a high-level meeting, the defence ministry recently cleared the induction of 118 Arjun Mark1A tanks into the Indian Army which would be worth around Rs 8,400 crore and would add to the strength of the force in land warfare.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be dedicating the latest version of the Arjun tank to the nation on February 14 in Chennai at the tank production facility in Avadi," Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) officials told ANI.

The tank has been fully designed and developed by the DRDO in close coordination with the Indian Army. The 118 tanks would be joining the fleet of the first batch of 124 Arjun tanks which have already been inducted into the Army and are deployed in the western desert along the Pakistan front.

The 118 Arjun tanks would also form two regiments in the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army like the first 124 tanks.

Officials said the Army has reduced the number of tanks required for the formation of a tank regiment and that is the why the present order has six lesser tanks than the previous order for two regiments.

The DRDO has been developing the Arjun Mark 1A for quite some time now and the project was hastened by both Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and DRDO chief Dr G Satheesh Reddy to increase the level of indigenous weapon systems in the armed forces.

The Arjun has been designed by the DRDO's Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) and DRDO Chairman Satheesh Reddy will hand the first Arjun Mark 1A to Prime Minister Modi.

The tanks will be produced by the Ordnance Factory Board's (OFB) Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) Avadi. 

The first batch of five main battle tanks will be handed over to the army within two-and-a-half years of the signing of the contract.