Defence 360

Aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya backed by nuclear submarine INS Chakra besides fighting assets of the Indian Navy and Coast Guard have come together in the country's biggest inter-service 'Tropex' exercise along the western seaboard.  The navy's annual Theatre Readiness Operational Exercise (TROPEX) got underway on January 24. The month-long exercise will have ships and aircraft of both the Western and Eastern Naval Commands, as also assets from the Indian Air Force, Indian Army and the Indian Coast Guard exercising together.  The last edition of the exercise was conducted in January 2015.  Tropex has grown in scale and complexity over the years and will see participation of major surface combatants and air assets of the Indian Navy including INS Vikramaditya, INS Chakra, Landing Platform Dock (LPD) Jalashwa, the recently commissioned destroyer INS Chennai, P-8I long range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft operating alongside SU-30 MKI, ...

Over a hundred Pakistani websites including official government portals such as pakistan.gov.pk, president.gov.pk, pakistani airport websites and cabinet.gov.pk. have been hacked in the past. Later, a group called "Mallu Cyber Soldiers" took the credit for the feat, saying that it was a payback for crashing the official portal of the Kerala Government. Just like the world-famous Anonymous hacktivists, "Mallu Cyber Soldiers" is also an online gathering of security experts. The vigilantes work toward protecting Indian websites like fellow defence page  www.DefenceNews.in from getting hacked. There is a big cyber war going on between India and Pakistan and the primary goal of these South Indian Cyber Warriors is to secure Indian websites from getting hacked by Pakistani techies. They not only hack but also help recover defaced portals and inform the admins of those sites about the vulnerability and how they can be fixed. These are the members of Mallu Cy...

The US government had thought that the then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi might order an attack on West Pakistan to capture Pakistan-Occupied- Kashmir (PoK) after India's operation to create Bangladesh got over, recently declassified CIA documents say.  As per CIA reports and minutes of high-level meetings in Washington on Indo-Pak tensions, it was clear that the US government was readying a strategy should India smash military power of West Pakistan.  US President Richard Nixon's National Security Adviser Henry A Kissinger discussed various possibilities due to deteriorating Indo-Pak ties in the wake of India's military offensive in East Pakistan.  However, some top security officials in Washington felt the possibility of India launching a strike on West Pakistan was remote.  At one of the meetings of Washington's Special Action Group, the then CIA Director Richard Holmes said, "It is reported that prior to terminating the present hostilities, Mrs Gandh...

China has bullied its so called 'All-Weather Friend' Pakistan to scale back up a coal-fired power project in Balochistan, Dawn reported. In November, Pakistan had scaled down its Hub power project - that was to be run on imported coal -from 1,320MW plant to 660MW. This was as part of an overall decision to restrict power plants based on imported fuels. The project is being developed by a consortium of Hub Power Company and China Power International Holding Company at an estimated cost of $2.5 billion, Dawn said. The companies were not happy with that and "took up the matter at the highest level", Dawn said. "The Chinese side is reported to have told Pakistan that commercial viability of the Hub power project on supercritical technology was possible only with 1,320MW for which it had also been given tariff by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority on the request of the government of Pakistan," the newspaper said. The companies also said that a ...

In a major fillip, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has rolled out the first indigenously upgraded Hawk Mk132, named as Hawk-i trainer aircraft. “This is the 100th Hawk aircraft produced at HAL and we are proud that it has the "Make in India" mark. HAL had conceived a programme for indigenous upgradation of the Hawk Mk132 for achieving self-reliance and has successfully accomplished it”, says T. Suvarna Raju, CMD, HAL.  This aircraft would be on the flying display in the forthcoming Aero-India 2017 at Bengaluru. The upgrade of HAWK Aircraft was taken up at HAL so as to be independent in matters such as integration of new sub-systems or modifications, obsolescence management of avionics systems and to enhance the aircraft operational and training capabilities. HAL has rolled out its own aircraft with the upgrade features in a record time. According to HAL, in the Hawk upgradation programme, imported Mission Computer and Data Transfer Units have been substituted with HAL...

It was about 2 am on 31 July, 2002. Flight Lieutenant Rajiv Mishra, a 29-year-old fighter pilot, was woken up at his living quarters at the Ambala Air Force Station. Leave for Srinagar immediately with laser designation equipment, he was told. A transport aircraft was ready and waiting at the base. He didn't know it then, but he had been drafted for one of the most sensitive missions carried out by the Indian Air Force, the details of which had never been revealed to the outside world, until now. Mishra flew the Jaguar fighter jet of the Indian Air Force. But that night he had not been woken up to fly. The IAF had recently acquired laser guidance systems from Israel. The technology helped fighter pilots to hit targets accurately once the target has been designated on the system. Mishra was regarded a wizard with the new technology. On board the transporter, Mishra and his two colleagues were briefed by the members of the IAF Strike Cell, the elite frontline strike unit of the...

Imran Hussain, the Delhi Environment Minister and AAP leader, has written a letter to the Centre asking for a standardised policy on green crematoria as “ cremation alone accounts considerably to air pollution “. In his letter, Hussain said that banning the use of wood in crematoria and switching to electric or CNG mode does not appear to be a tenable solution because of religious beliefs, and mentioned that his Government has tasked CSIR National Environment Engineering Research Institute with the work of creating engineering designs for creating non-polluting crematoria. While steps for controlling environmental pollution are generally laudable,  what is interesting is the Minister’s assertion that Hindu cremation using wood pyres contributes ‘considerably’ to air pollution . Most studies on Delhi’s air pollution problem conducted in recent years paint a different picture – A 2011 study commissioned by Union Government found road dust (...

The Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) in a joint operation with Military Intelligence on Tuesday busted an ISI supported spying network and arrested 11 people from Delhi and other parts of UP. The spy network was tracked by Military Intelligence Unit in Jammu and Kashmir. The kingpin of the spy network was arrested from Mehrauli and rest other were arrested by ATS from different parts of UP. According to ATS sources, the spy ring was running parallel telephone exchange. The network was being hired by ISI to gather information regarding vital army installations, troop movement and deployments, the source said. The spying was done conducted using mobile numbers with Direct Inward Dialling Network) to route calls. The accused made calls to various army stations posing as government officials.

India is not just interested in enhancing trade with the UAE, but is also looking at selling defence equipment during the visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to the country. The Brahmos missile, which was jointly developed between India and Russia, could be offered to the UAE later, Indian External Affairs Ministry officials said. "There have been talks on the Brahmos missiles, but India will immediately offer only the equipment for which it holds IPR rights," confirmed ministry secretary Amar Sinha. Joint production of aircraft, arms and armoured vehicles is what the Indian side has in mind. New Delhi is opening up its arms industry to private players under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make in India initiative. India and the UAE will sign agreements on defence and maritime transport. India is keen to drive its cruise tourism sector and hopes to increase flow to th...

Pakistan on Tuesday announced first successful test firing of its new surface-to-surface, nuclear-capable missile Ababeel, with a range of 2,200km. Pakistan military claimed that its new missile can deliver multiple warheads, using Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology. Ababeel Weapon System is aimed at ensuring survivability of Pakistan’s ballistic missiles in the growing regional Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) environment. Ababeel test came, just two weeks after Pakistan claimed of conducting the successful test of Submarine Launch Cruise Missile. So what do these rapid missile tests mean for India? Is India prepared to take on these threats? How true are claims made by Pakistan? At least Indian scientific community gives an assuring answer and missile experts take Pakistan's claims with a pinch of salt. Dr Avinash Chander, former Chief of DRDO and longtime head of India's Ballistic Missile Systems including Agni, in conversation with News18, said th...

Reigniting the 70-year-old controversy over recognition of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's Azad Hind Fauj or Indian National Army for their contributions to the final leg of the independence movement, West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi on Tuesday forwarded a proposal to defence minister Manohar Parikkar for creation of a new 'Azad Hind' regiment in the Indian Army. The proposal was handed over to the West Bengal Governor by a state BJP leader. "I share the feeling that an Azad Hind regiment should be created in the Indian Army to honour the contributions of Netaji Subhash to the independence movement. Creation of Azad Hind regiment will boost the morale of our jawans. I will forward the proposal along with my approval to the defence minister," the Governor told the press. The country celebrated the freedom fighter's 120th birth anniversary on Monday. There are 31 regiments in the Indian Army. The youngest regiment Sikkim Scouts was formed in 2013 and...

Pakistan and India are on the brink of nuclear war following India’s plans to deploy 460 high-tech battle tanks along its border with Pakistan. The deployment of the tanks is said to mark the start of implementation of India’s long-hyped Cold Start military strategy. Pakistan is threatening to use “all of its weapons,” including nuclear weapons, to defend itself against India, according to an anonymous Pakistani official cited by the Financial Times. “If ever our national security is threatened by advancing foreign forces, Pakistan will use all of its weapons — and I mean all of our weapons — to defend our country.” Deploying 460 advanced battle tanks along its border with Pakistan would allow India to launch an attack against Pakistan almost immediately. The Cold Start strategy has been discussed for years, but India has denied its existence at different times. While many of the strategy’s details remain top secret, the main objective is to make India capable of carrying out ligh...