India’s Procurement of Artillery Guns and Modernization of Armed Forces

The artillery equipment procured / upgraded in the past two decades includes Pinaka Rocket System; Smerch Rocket System; BrahMos Missile System and Upgradation of 130mm gun to 155mm/45 calibre.

Procurement of new-generation artillery is in consonance with Artillery Profile 2027. This profile has a mix of 155mm/39 calibre, 155mm/45 calibre and 155mm/52 calibre gun system.

Modernization of Armed Forces is an ongoing process. Chief of Army Staff apprises the status to the Government from time to time. The Army follows a philosophy of having a mix of legacy equipment, equipment with matured technology and state-of-art equipment. The guns presently held with Air Defence are not of World War II vintage nor the ammunition levels are low to the levels reported in media. However, some deficiencies do exist in some categories of ammunition. Divulging further details would not be in the interest of national security.

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India to Sign Mirage Upgrade Deal

The Indian Airforce today said it was hoping to sign the long-stuck USD 2.1 billion deal to upgrade around 50 Mirage 2000s with France by March this year.

The deal has been awaiting clearance from the government after differences emerged between the two sides over price and legal issues.

Su30MKI At Aero-India 2011

Indian LCA Fighter Aircraft Aerial Display At Aero-India 2011

Indian navy probes warship collision

Indian Defense officials began a probe Monday into a collision between a warship and a merchant vessel near Mumbai, in the latest incident in the busy waters outside the city, an officer said.

The INS Vindhyagiri suffered damage and a fire broke out near the engine room as she returned to the city's naval dockyard on Sunday with the families of navy personnel on board."The cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained. That will only happen subsequent to the naval board of inquiry that will be set up," defence ministry spokesman Captain M. Nambiar told AFP.

India Unveils First Ever Defence Production Policy

With a view to achieve substantive self reliance in design, development and production of defense equipment, weapon systems and platforms, the Defence Minister Shri AK Antony unveiled the first ever Defense Production Policy (DPrP) here today.

The policy also aims at creating conditions conducive for the private industries to play an active role to achieve the objective. DPrP will act as a catalyst to enhance potential of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for indigenisation as also for broadening the defense research and development base of the country.

Releasing the document, Shri Antony said the Policy aims to achieve maximum synergy among the Armed Forces, DPSUs, OFBs, Indian Industry and Research and Development institutions. The function was attended among others by the Minister of State for Defence Shri MM Pallam Raju, Defence Secretary, Shri Pradeep Kumar, Secretary Defense Production, Shri Raj Kumar Singh and the DG Acquisition Shri Vivek Rae.

The Defense Production Policy has been prepared after extensive consultations with various stakeholders such as the three Services, Coast Guard, Integrated Defense Staff, DRDO and Indian Industry Associations – CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, etc.

IAF To Get 42 More HAL-Produced Su-30MKIs Fighters

Hindustan Aeronautics expects the indian air force to order an additional 42 locally produced Sukhoi Su-30 MKIs.

The possible order would come on top of the 180 Su-30MKIs HAL is already producing for the air force, says company chairman Ashok Nayak.

About 105  aircraft from the 180-strong order have been delivered so far, Nayak says. In addition, in mid-2010, India ordered 40 Su-30MKIs as flyaways from Russia's Sukhoi.

India to intercept

Defence scientists in the country are set to raise the bar for excellence by trying to shoot down a missile at an altitude of 150 kilometres later this year.

Defence scientists have been able to intercept a missile at an altitude of 80 km and are now planning to aim higher.

"The trials are expected later this year," VK Saraswat, Director General, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) told reporters on the sidelines of the 98th Indian Science Congress in Chennai.

Indian Navy: 2010 Year-End-Review

• The Indian Navy, being the nodal agency for Coastal Security among all maritime stakeholders, established four Joint Operations Centres, - at Mumbai, Kochi, Visakhapatnam and Port Blair. Besides the Coast Guard and the state Marine Police, other agencies including the Customs, Intelligence Bureau and Ports Authorities are all networked with these centres. Also, each coastal district has been placed under an Area Operations Centre for coordinating coastal security activities.
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• The Navy conducted 26 coastal exercises during the year involving other agencies to achieve better synergy. In all 12 exercises were conducted on the West coast, ten on the East, two in Lakshadweep & Minicoy Islands and two in Andaman & Nicobar archipelago. Besides, 89 Awareness Campaigns were conducted throughout the year in a bid to involve the large fishing community into the coastal security matrix.
• The Indian Navy also played a key role in obtaining approval of the National Committee for Strengthening Maritime and Coastal Security (NCSMCS), in April, 2010 for the National Maritime Domain awareness (MDA) Grid. The Navy later formulated a Detailed Project Report for implementing it as a project of national importance. When the common information grid would be created, it will synergise and enable effective sharing of maritime related information among all stakeholders, thereby leading to faster response by security agencies.

ANTI-PIRACY OPERATIONS

Indian Navy has deployed 23 ships by rotation in the piracy-infested Gulf of Aden since October 23, 2008. To date over 1,400 merchant vessels have been escorted safely, over 1200 of them from about 50 other countries, and 26 piracy attempts foiled. The Indian Navy is constantly engaged with other countries on capacity building and coordination in efforts aimed at keeping open one of the busiest shipping channels around the world and avoid choking of international trade, particularly Oil.

INDUCTIONS

• Defence Minister Shri AK Antony inducted the air dominance fighter Mig-29K into the Indian Navy at INS Hansa, Vasco da Gama, Goa on 19th February. The 4+ Generation multirole fighter jet, equipped with Beyond Visual Range (BVR) and guided anti-ship Missiles and smart bombs, will eventually berth on the INS Vikramaditya, the Gorshkov aircraft carrier, when it is likely to be delivered in 2012.

India seeks Indian Ocean supremacy with warship research

India launched a new naval research centre for warships on Tuesday, part of efforts by the South Asian giant to build its sea defences and counter the perceived threat of China in the Indian Ocean.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony laid the foundation stone for the National Institute for Research and Development in Shipbuilding (NIRDESH) in the southern state of Kerala, which will be built at a cost of six billion rupees (133 million dollars).

The facility, which will be up and running in two years, will help develop technology for "drawing board to delivery" of warships for India, a naval official said.

The Kerala unit will work independently of the national Defence Research and Development Organisation, with the aim of reducing India's dependence on military imports, which mostly come from Russia.

The 136-vessel navy said in a statement that NIRDESH would ensure India's maritime security.

"This would empower Indian navy, coastguard and other maritime security agencies in a manner befitting the country's stature and influence in the region," it said.

The facility would "ensure that the country would be self-reliant in this crucial area of defence technology," Antony added.

INDIA LAUNCH OF GSAT-5P TELECOMMUNICATION SATELLITE FAILS