Russia, India agree to jointly produce BMP-3

The Indian train manufacturer, Texmaco Rail & Engineering Company, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Rosoboronexport. This document concerns an agreement on the licensed production of Russian armoured vehicles by the Indian company, according to various news reports.

The agreement was signed to facilitate the transfer of Russian technology during implementation of joint projects. This involves the repair and modernization of armoured vehicles, currently being used in the Indian Army, launch of the co-production of the BMP-3 and the “development and production of futuristic models” of armoured technologies.

Russia proposed in 2012 that India purchase the BMP-3, but the Indian side rejected this offer. The new agreement indicates that India has in fact accepted the earlier Russian proposal.

In December 2013, the media reported that India had refused to purchase the infantry combat vehicles being proposed by Russia (this also involved licenced production), having decided to build its own armoured vehicle – the FICV (Futuristic Infantry Combat Vehicle). However, the task of building its own armoured vehicles posed difficulties for Indian industry, with no clear ideas as to when this could be accomplished.

Currently, the Indian armed forces operate Soviet-made BMP-1 and BMP-2 infantry combat vehicles, but Indian military commanders are no longer satisfied with this old technology. Reports have also appeared that India was planning to conduct large-scale modernization of its BMP-2 fleet.

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India Finalizing Naval Guns Deal With Israel's Elbit Systems

India's Ministry of Defence (MoD) is finalising price negotiations with Israel's Elbit Systems for 747 12.7 mm naval remote weapon stations (RWSs), worth an estimated INR19 billion (USD282 million), for the Indian Navy (IN) and Indian Coast Guard (ICG).

Industry sources said the MoD is expected to complete the RWS deal, which it quoted was "substantially lower" than that of British rival EMDigital.

The deal includes importing 136 RWSs with electro-optic modules off the shelf and the remaining 611 systems in kit form for assembly by the state-run Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) unit at Tiruchirappalli, southern India. Ammunition for the 12.7 mm RWSs would be manufactured at the OFB plant in Kolkata.

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First Batch Of Women Fighter Pilots To Be Inducted Into Indian Air Force

The first batch of women fighter pilots, comprising three cadets, will be inducted in the Indian Air Force on June 18.

The three women pilots will be commissioned into the fighter stream on June 18 this year after successful completion of the initial training, official sources said. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is also expected to attend the event.

Thereafter, they would undergo advanced training for one year and would enter a fighter cockpit by June 2017.

Bhawana Kanth, Mohana Singh and Avani Chaturvedi are the trainees who qualified for the fighter stream after it was thrown open to women in October 2015.

They will go to Bidar in Karnataka in June 2016 for their stage-III training for a year on Hawk advanced jet trainers, before they get to fly supersonic warplanes.

Six female cadets were competing to become fighter pilots after the government, in a landmark move, approved an IAF plan in October to induct them as fighter pilots.

However, only three female trainees were selected for the fighter stream.

Centre orders complete sealing of Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam by June 2017

The BJP-led NDA government today ordered complete sealing of Assam's border with Bangladesh by June next year, fulfilling an electoral pledge of BJP within a week of assuming power in Assam to check illegal immigration from the neighbouring country.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh issued the order at a high-level meeting attended by top Home Ministry officials here.


During the meeting, the Home Minister directed that the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam should be sealed completely," a Home Ministry official said.


In the run up to recent Assam Assembly elections, BJP had promised to seal the Indo-Bangladesh border in the state completely to check illegal immigration from the neighbouring country.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has said that sealing of the borders with Bangladesh in two years is one of his two top priorities.


The Home Minister also directed that full use of technological solutions be made to secure sensitive areas along the borders.


This will involve networking of equipments like high resolution cameras, radars, unattended ground sensors, optical fibres, infra red sensors, aerostats, hand-held thermal imagers etc. and integration of these with command and control architecture.


The total length of the Indo-Bangladesh border is 4,096 km of which 284 km falls in Assam.

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India Aims To Supply BrahMos Cruise Missiles To Vietnam

India plans to provide Vietnam with varied defence equipment, including BrahMos cruise missiles, in a bid to counter Chinese armament companies equipping several militaries in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region, according to Indian defence industry officials.

To further this offer and strengthen bilateral strategic ties, Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is travelling to Hanoi in early June accompanied by a 15-20 member team comprising private and public sector defence manufacturers.

"The Indian defence delegation to Vietnam will further the joint development and production of a range of military equipment such as small arms, missile and naval systems as well as assorted ammunition," an industry official told IHS Jane's.

Foremost among the proposed materiel is the joint India-Russia-developed BrahMos anti-ship cruise missile featuring a 292 km strike range that New Delhi had offered Hanoi two years ago. India had been unable to supply the missile at the time due to unresolved issues with Russia regarding export and intellectual property rights, which were only recently resolved, officials said.

Configured on Russia's 3M55 Oniks/Yakhont system (NATO designation SS-NZX-26) and named after the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers in India and Russia, the BrahMos is a two-stage vehicle with a solid propellant booster and a liquid propellant ram-jet system.

The radar-guided missile is 8.4 m long, weighs 3.9 tonnes and is capable of being fired from ships. Its variants can be launched from mobile land-based platforms. India is also readying the BrahMos to be fired from a submarine and a Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter.

Since 2008 India has supplied Vietnam with some 5,000 spare parts for its Soviet Petya-class frigates and provided assistance in overhauling the Southeast Asian nation's MiG-21 fighters and T-55 tanks. In October 2014 India pledged to supply Vietnam with four locally built offshore patrol vessels under a USD100 million credit line.

Admiral Sunil Lanba Takes Over As Chief of Naval Staff

Admiral Sunil Lanba today took over as the new Chief of Naval Staff and vowed to ensure that the maritime domain of the country is safe and secure.

58-year-old Lanba, a specialist in Navigation and Direction, will have the full three-year tenure as the Navy Chief.

He succeeded Admiral R K Dhowan who retired.

"It is indeed an honour and a privilege for me to take over the command of the Indian Navy , one of the finest in the world," he said, adding that over the years, the Navy has turned into a modern and combat ready force capable of operating in all three dimensions.

"The men and women who man the Navy are professionally trained, committed and patriotic and are committed to ensuring that our national interest are safeguarded anywhere, anytime and everywhere," he said.

An alumnus of Defence Services Staff College, Lanba is the 21st Indian to be the Navy Chief. The first two were British. Coming in with rich operational and staff experience in a career spanning more than three decades, Lanba has served as Navigating Officer of corvette INS Sindhudurg and frigate INS Dunagiri.

He has commanded four frontline warships -- INS Kakinada (minesweeper), INS Himgiri (frigate) and INS Ranvijay and INS Mumbai , both destroyers. He is also an alumnus of the College of Defence Management, Secunderabad, where he has served as a faculty.

Lanba has also held key staff assignments such as Fleet Operations Officer of the Western Fleet and the Chief of Staff, Southern and Eastern Naval Commands.

He was also the Flag Officer Sea Training, Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra and Gujarat Naval Area and Commandant, National Defence College.

He was the Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Naval Command at Kochi, prior to being appointed to head the Western Naval Command. He took over as the Vice Chief on June 2, 2014.

Admiral Lanba is a recipient of the Param Vishist Seva Medal and the Athi Vishist Seva Medal for distinguished service.

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ISRO To Launch 22 Satellites In One Mission Next Month

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday said that it will launch a record 22 satellites in a single mission next month

“After the current reusable launch vehicle, the next experiment that we have to do, we have to worry about that. Other than that, next month we have a launch where we will be launching about 22 satellites. Also, one of a cartographic series satellite will be launched,” ISRO Chairman Kiran Kumar said.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event organised by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), Kumar said that of the 22 satellites, three are Indian and the rest are commercial. “The launch is scheduled during the end of next month,” he said.

Earlier, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre director K Sivan had said that ISRO’s workhorse, the Polar rocket PSLV C34, will be used for the launch, which will have satellites from US, Canada, Indonesia and Germany as co-passengers.

The space agency had earlier sent 10 satellites into orbit in a single mission in 2008.

Kumar said that “immediately after that (launch), we have a scatterometer that is going to get launched, then INSAT 3DR we call — it is to provide vertical temperature and humidity profile from geostationary satellite”

Taking a step in the development of reusable rocket that will drastically cut down the cost of access to space, ISRO on Monday had successfully flight-tested an indigenous winged Reusable Launch Vehicle, dubbed “swadeshi” space shuttle, from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh.

The first in a series of experimental flights for Reusable Launch Vehicle-technology development is the hypersonic flight experiment (HEX) followed by the landing experiment (LEX), return flight experiment (REX) and scramjet propulsion experiment (SPEX).

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13,000 Army troops carry out massive exercise

The Indian Army launched a massive summer exercise with troops over the complete month of May in the riverine terrain of Punjab, involving over 13,000 troops and several components of artillery guns, tanks and infantry combat vehicles as a part of its efforts to project its battle supremacy on the Western Front, said a spokesperson of Vajra Corps Headquarters, Jalandhar.

Under the aegis of Vajra Corps, all ranks of the Panther Division commenced collective training by honing up basic battle procedures and drills at tactical and operational levels. The troops built the momentum of training gradually with increased combat tempo involving rapid mobilisation and execution of battle plans in conjunction with the Air Force, said the spokesperson.

A large number of innovations and modifications carried out by units and formations to enhance combat power were validated in the field. During the exercise, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and communication systems were put to test in a network- centric battlefield environment supported by required operational logistics.

“The exercise entered its culmination phase in May end and was witnessed by Western Army Commander Lt Gen KJ Singh. Beside interacting with soldiers and officers involved in the exercise, the Army Commander witnessed various battle maneuvers by infantry troops, mechanised infantry, tanks, artillery, special forces troops and surveillance detachments,” the spokesperson further added.

The focus of the exercise was to validate operational and transformational effectiveness of various formations of Panther Division and achieving joint and seamless coordination among all the forces in the Indian Army in a NBC Warfare scenario so as to deliver the enemy a lethal punch with full might at a lightning speed, he further added.

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