http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/mi-17s-to-get-gunfire-sensors/182092.html
Mi-17s to get
gunfire sensors
IAF needs
light-weight systems with ‘strap-on’ capability | Process on to identify
vendors
Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January
10
The IAF plans to
equip its Mi-17 helicopters with small arms fire detection systems (SAFDS) that
will warn aircrew about the range, angle and direction of incoming hostile
gunfire from the ground during combat operations.
The system will be
an added advantage during operations undertaken in close support of ground
troops during war, heli-borne insertion of troops, special missions as well as
counter-terrorist operations, where helicopters operate in close proximity to
the ground.
The SAFDS will also
be useful in situations like the terror strike at the Pathankot air base
earlier this month, where Mi-17s were also deployed for aerial surveillance and
there was a possibility of them being fired upon.
The Indian Air Force
has also been providing logistic support to paramilitary forces deployed in
anti-Maoist operations and there have been several instances of these being
fired upon. At least two Mi-17s are reported to have suffered damaged in such
incidents.
The Air Headquarters
is in the process of identifying suitable vendors for the equipment and a
request for information in this regard has recently been issued by the Ministry
of Defence.
The systems will be
retrofitted on the Indian Air Force’s M-17 fleet by Kazan Helicopters, the Russian
company that manufactures the Mi series of helicopters, rather than the
aircraft being modified in India.
The Indian Air Force
is looking for SAFDS that are light-weight with a “strap-on” capability so that
one system can be deployed on more than one particular helicopter airframe.
These will be ruggedised, have day-night and all-weather operation capability
and function effectively in all phases of flight like take-off, climb, cruise,
hover, descent and landing.
Apart from the
Indian Air Force, the Army and the Border Security Force are also evaluating
ground-based SAFDS for deployment along the Line of Control and some stretches
of the International Border that have witnessed regular ceasefire violations.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/bsf-awaits-mha-nod-for-21-new-battalions/182089.html
BSF awaits MHA nod
for 21 new battalions
Shaurya Karanbir
Gurung
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January
10
A Border Security
Force (BSF) proposal for raising 21 Reserve Battalions is pending with the
Ministry of Home Affairs since October 2014.
A Reserve Battalion
is meant for training, rest and relief of operationally committed troops and
can be deployed for a short duration during an exigency. “The proposal to have
21 Reserve or operational turn over battalions, which can meet all these
requirements, has been gathering dust at the MHA,” said a source.
Currently, one of
the biggest problems in the BSF is manpower shortage, said a BSF officer. The
present system of deployment along the International Border with Pakistan is
single-tier or thin line deployment. “Each man is on duty for about 19 hours a
day and does not usually get to sleep at a single stretch, which means no one
can be alert 24X7,” said the officer.
Seventy-one BSF
battalions are deployed along the IB, including 13 in Punjab. Each battalion
has nearly 1,200 men. In the past, the BSF was not so overburdened in Punjab.
It had 23 battalions there until around 2006, said a source. With this much
strength, the BSF had implemented the “nakka system”, which is placing a nakka
(fixed ambush points) at every 200 metres behind the fence along the IB. “This
system is manpower intensive and the possibility of infiltrating through it is
minimal,” said an officer who has served in Punjab.
After 2006, the BSF
implemented the Ambush-Cum-Patrolling (ACP) system in Punjab and reduced the
number of its battalions to 13. In the ACP, for example, if the area of responsibility
of a company is 6 km, then patrolling will be done at every 600-800 metres long
stretches.
“But if the patrol is at one end
of the stretch, the other end is vulnerable to infiltration. If infiltrators
are detected, it would take a long time for the patrol to apprehend them. And
as has been demonstrated by drug smugglers, it takes 21 seconds to cross the
fencing, mainly by placing gunny sacks over the fence,” said the officer.
There is currently no
second-tier deployment along the IB, except in Jammu. This deployment consists
of ambushes laid behind the first-tier to apprehend infiltrators who slip
through it. The BSF has said it has not found evidence to suggest the
terrorists who attacked the Pathankot air base had infiltrated through the IB.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/defence-council-set-to-list-purchase-rules/182090.html
Defence council set
to list purchase rules
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January
10
Almost 20 months
into its tenure, the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government
is set to change the all-important defence procurement procedure (DPP), the
policy document for defence equipment purchases, local production and imports.
The amendments to
the DPP-2013 are on the agenda of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) slated
to meet in New Delhi on January 12, sources told The Tribune. Headed by Defence
Minister Manohar Parrikar, the DAC is the apex decision making body on defence
matters and its decision will need ratification from the Cabinet Committee on
Security. The new DPP is likely to incorporate most recommendations made by the
Dhirendra Singh-headed panel of experts, which gave its report in July. It will
lay down benchmarks for selection of private strategic partners from among
Indian or foreign firms.
The strategic
partners are mandated to undertake design and development projects under the
“Make in India” procedure. These firms will tie up with Indian private or
public sector companies for making top-of-the-line military equipment.
The new procedure
will address policy issues to attract investment, build local confidence and
allow indigenous manufacturing. The DPP is likely to disallow any bans against
equipment for misdeeds of company employees; will seek to appoint an ombudsman
to remove subjectivity in deals and have a panel of experts on cost
negotiations to prevent delays.
The DPP may set in
clause to have the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to do pre-audit of
deals rather than raise objections later.
It will increase the
level of indigenisation and the method of calculating the local content in each
defence equipment and lay down the indigenous threshold for categories “buy
Indian” and “buy & make Indian” at 40 per cent and 60 per cent,
respectively.
A lower local content
threshold could be considered by the DAC, based on technology and its
availability. Globally, India is the largest buyer of weapons and military
equipment, accounting for 15 per cent of all such international imports, said a
report by Sweden-based think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute in March. The DPP will also address the issue of banning firms. The
misdeeds of an entity or its employees may not have any bearing on the
equipment or system. This will ensure that the supply of equipment is not
blocked in case a bribery charge emerges.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/reliance-to-build-naval-ships-in-ap/182095.html
Reliance to build
naval ships in AP
Suresh Dharur
Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, January
10
Reliance Group will set
up a naval ship building facility along the east coast near Visakhapatnam in
Andhra Pradesh with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore.
This was announced
today by Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani at the Andhra Pradesh Partnership
Summit held in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam, the headquarters of Eastern
Naval Command.
The facility at
Rambilli, about 70 km from Visakhapatnam, will build ships for the Indian Navy.
On the sidelines of the Partnership Summit, the group signed a memorandum of
understanding with the state government for setting up of the facility, which
will create direct and indirect jobs for thousands of people in several defence
ancillary units likely to come up in the region.
Reliance Defence, a
unit of Reliance Infrastructure, plans to build submarines and aircraft
carriers as well as to provide services, including maintenance and refitting of
ships at the facility. Once completed, the Visakhapatnam facility will be the
single-largest investment at one location anywhere in Andhra Pradesh.
“The new world class facility
will complement our facility at Pipavav in Gujarat with a clear vision of
building strategic assets for the Indian Navy,” Ambani said.
“This will be Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ mission in the defence sector,” Ambani said.
India, he said, had the potential to emerge as a regional superpower if it
could strengthen its fleet above the sea and under the sea.
“It is estimated that Indian
Navy will spend over Rs 3 lakh crore or Rs 20,000 crore a year on acquisitions
and fleet modernisation of submarines and aircraft carriers over the next 15
years, creating a huge opportunity for the proposed world-class naval
facility,” he said.
The facility, he said, would
help translate “Make in India” into “Make in Andhra Pradesh” and leapfrog the
state to the top of the manufacturing revolution in India's defence sector, the
billionaire industrialist said.
“The US today has 10 aircraft
carriers operating around the world to project its power and protect its
interests and was on course to add another three, while India had barely one.
Similarly, while the US has 72 submarines and China 69, India has a small fleet
of 17 submarines.
“It is the same story in other
key areas of naval preparedness. The Indian Navy has just one nuclear submarine
on lease as compared to China's dozen. Further, nearly 90 per cent of the
conventional fleet in the Indian Navy is over 20 years old and due for urgent
upgrade and refit. There is a projected requirement of an additional 23
submarines,” Ambani said.
The three-day CII Partnership
Summit is aimed at showcasing the investment opportunities in ‘Sunrise Andhra
Pradesh’.
The state government is
expecting to sign at least 100 MOUs worth Rs 2 lakh crore during the summit.
Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, P Ashok Gajapati Raju, Nirmala Sitharaman and YS
Choudhary and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu were present at the event.
Box
Rs 5,000-cr facility near Vizag
* Reliance Group will invest Rs
5,000 cr to set up a naval ship building facility at Rambilli, near
Visakhapatnam, in Andhra Pradesh
* The group plans to build subs
and aircraft carriers as well as provide services, including maintenance and
refitting of ships at the facility
* Once ready, the facility will
be the single-largest investment at one location anywhere in the state
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/us-flies-b-52-bomber-over-s-korea-after-north-s-n-test/182000.html
US flies B-52 bomber
over _S Korea after North’s N-test
Demonstrates
strength of alliance between Washington and Seoul
Washington/Seoul,
Jan 10
In a display of
military might, the US today flew a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber along with
F-16s and South Korean F-15s close to a defiant North Korea, days after
Pyongyang claimed it had successfully tested its first hydrogen bomb and
ratcheted up regional tensions.
“This was a demonstration of the
ironclad US commitment to our allies in South Korea, in Japan, and to the
defence of the American homeland,” said Admiral Harry B Harris, commander of
the US Pacific Command.
“North Korea’s nuclear test is a
blatant violation of its international obligations. US joint military forces in
the Indo-Asia-Pacific will continue to work with all of our regional allies and
partners to maintain stability and security,” he said after the flyover.
The bilateral flight mission
over Osan Air Base, some 100-km from the North Korean border, demonstrates the strength
of the alliance between the United States and South Korea and the resolve of
both nations to maintain stability and security on the Korean Peninsula, PACOM
said in a statement.
The B-52, capable of carrying
nuclear weapons and part of the US Pacific Command’s continuous bomber presence
in the Indo-Asia-Pacific, was flanked by a US F-16 and a South Korean F-15.
Upon completion of the flight, it returned to Guam.
“The flight demonstrates the
strength and capabilities of the Alliance,” said Gen Curtis M Scaparrotti,
United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, US Forces Korea commander.
“The close military cooperation
between the US and the Republic of Korea ensures we are ready to respond at any
time to those who would threaten stability and security,” he said.
There was no immediate reaction
from North Korea to the B-52 fly-over, which also took place after Pyongyang’s
third nuclear test in 2013. — Reuters
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/army-to-get-k9-vajra-t-howitzers/
Army to get K9
Vajra-T howitzers
100-gun deal
estimated to cost between Rs 4,500 crore and Rs 5,000 crore
- See more at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/army-to-get-k9-vajra-t-howitzers/#sthash.qFyAXWS4.dpuf
The Army is likely
to get the K9 Vajra-T, the 155-mm/52-caliber self-propelled howitzer, after the
artillery gun co-developed by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Samsung Techwin
cleared the evaluation trials of the defence ministry in a global competition.
Although the bids
were made under the ‘Buy Global’ provision of the defence procurement
procedure, the K9 Vajra-T gun will be made at its Talegaon plant near Pune by
the L&T.
Defence ministry
sources told The Indian Express that the evaluation process was completed in
September last year, when L&T was informed of the ministry’s decision.
After completing the benchmarking process, the ministry, on December 22, opened
the price bid of L&T as it was the only gun to qualify in the trials.
Ministry sources
said that the price negotiations with L&T will commence this month and are
likely to be concluded in this financial year. The deal for 100 guns is
estimated to cost between Rs 4,500 to Rs 5,000 crore. The contract will also
have a follow-up option clause of 50 additional K9 Vajra-T guns.
The first 10 guns
are to be supplied by L&T to the Army within 18 months of signing, with the
balance 90 guns to be supplied in the next two years. These will be the first
howitzers to be inducted in the Army after the procurement of controversial Bofors
155mm guns nearly three decades ago.
Four companies,
including the Tatas, the OFB and the BEML, bid for the RFP (request for
proposal) issued in January 2011. Along with L&T’s K9 Vajra-T, an upgraded
version of OFB’s Russian MSTA-S SP gun participated in the field evaluation
trial held from March to August 2013 at the Pokharan Field Firing Range in
Rajasthan.
Industry sources
said that L&T has modified Samsung’s K9 to create the K9 Vajra-T. About 50
per cent of the gun is planned to be indigenised by L&T in India, including
the fabrication and machining of the hull and turret structure and 14
indigenously developed sub-systems.
- See more at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/army-to-get-k9-vajra-t-howitzers/#sthash.qFyAXWS4.dpuf
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