Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh Meets with Veterans in Leh during visit to Ladakh...

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh interacted with 300 veterans, including Ashok Chakra winner Naib Subedar (Honorary) Chhering Mutup (Retd) and Maha Vir Chakra winner Colonel Sonam Wangchuk (Retd), at Leh, Ladakh on June 27, 2021. In his address, Shri Rajnath Singh lauded the unparalleled dedication of the veterans in ensuring safety and security of the nation, reiterating the Government’s commitment towards the welfare of the ex-servicemen. He said Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s decision to roll out ‘One Rank One Pension’ scheme, ending a decades long wait, was a testimony to the Government’s unwavering commitment towards the welfare and satisfaction of the veterans. “Our aim is to take care of you in the same way as you all have taken care of the security of the country,”.

Lt Governor of Ladakh Shri RK Mathur, MP from Ladakh Shri Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane and General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command Lt Gen YK Joshi were present on the occasion. 

Later, Shri Rajnath Singh met the elected representatives of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils, Leh, Kargil and officials in Leh. 

Earlier in the day, the Raksha Mantri reached Leh on a three-day visit to Ladakh. During his stay, he will inaugurate infrastructure projects constructed by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and interact with troops deployed in the region.

INS TABAR Deployed to Africa, Europe to Participate in Joint Exercise With Friendly Navies...

Towards enhancing military cooperation with friendly nations, Indian Naval Ship INS Tabar commenced her prolonged deployment on 13 June and will visit a number of ports in Africa and Europe till end September. During port visits, Tabar will conduct professional, social and sporting interactions. The ship will also participate in a number of joint exercises with friendly navies.

During the deployment, INS Tabar will transit across the Gulf of Aden, Red Sea, Suez Canal, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea and Baltic Sea while making port calls at Djibouti, Egypt, Italy, France, UK, Russia, Netherlands, Morocco, and Arctic Council  countries like Sweden and Norway. In addition to PASSEX with host navies of countries being visited, the ship is also scheduled to participate in bilateral exercises like Ex Konkan with Royal Navy, Ex Varuna with  French Navy and Ex Indra with Russian Federation Navy. 

The deployment will also see participation by the ship in the Russian Navy Day celebrations from 22 to 27 July.  

The ship will operate in conjunction with the friendly navies, so as to build military relations, develop interoperability and project long range sustenance. IN undertakes regular overseas deployments particularly in the maritime areas of primary interest. These engagements are aimed to further strengthen maritime security in the region and to consolidate combined operations against maritime threats. These interactions will also offer an opportunity to navies to observe and imbibe the ‘Best Practices’ followed in each other’s Navy. 

INS Tabar, is a Talwar-class stealth Frigate built for Indian Navy in Russia. The ship is commanded by Captain M Mahesh and has a complement of 300 personnel. The ship is equipped with a versatile range of weapons and sensors and is among the earliest stealth frigates of the Indian Navy. The ship is part of the Indian Navy’s Western Fleet which is based at Mumbai under Western Naval Command.

DRDO successfully test New Agni P Ballistic Missile...

DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) successfully flight tested a New Generation Nuclear Capable Ballistic Missile Agni P from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam island off the coast of Odisha, Balasore at 1055 hrs on June 28, 2021. Various telemetry and radar stations positioned along the eastern coast tracked and monitored the missile. The missile followed text book trajectory, meeting all mission objectives with high level of accuracy. 

Agni P is a new generation advanced variant of Agni class of missiles. It is a canisterised missile with range capability between 1,000 and 2,000 kms.

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

---

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.

Successful Launches of VL-SRSAM Missile System

                                                                                                                                         

Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted two successful launches of Vertical Launch Short Range Surface to Air Missile (VL-SRSAM). 

The launches were carried out today from a static vertical launcher from Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha. Indigenously designed and developed by DRDO for Indian Navy, VL-SRSAM is meant for neutralizing various aerial threats at close ranges including sea-skimming targets. The current launches were carried out for demonstration of vertical launch capability as part of its maiden launch campaign. On both occasions, the missiles intercepted the simulated targets with pinpoint accuracy. The missiles were tested for minimum and maximum range. VL-SRSAM with Weapon Control System (WCS) were deployed during the trials. 

The present trials have proved the effectiveness of the weapon system and few more trials will be conducted shortly before deployment on Indian Naval ships. Once deployed, the VL-SRSAM system will prove to be a force multiplier for the Indian Navy.