1. Maritime Partnership Exercise between Ships of Indian Navy and JMSDF
Tags: Defence
Indian Naval Ships Shivalik and Kadmatt undertook Maritime Partnership Exercise with Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force(JMSDF) Ships Uraga and Hirado in the Bay of Bengal on 13 Jan 22.
- The Japanese Navy is called the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force.
- The exercise was aimed at strengthening bilateral relations, promoting defence cooperation, enhancing mutual understanding and interoperability between the two navies and sharing best practices.
2. LCA MK-1A to take flight in June
Tags: Defence
The Chief Managing Director of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) R. Madhavan said that HAL expects to deliver all Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas in the Final Operational Clearance (FOC) variant to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in 2022 while the LCA MK-1A, with specific enhancements, will take flight by middle of this year.
- “By June this year(2022) we should start flying the LCA MK-1A configuration. Once flying starts, we have about 20 to 24 months of testing. Once that is done, we will be ready for deliveries as expected”, said Mr. Madhavan.
- He then added that the design for LCA MK-2, a much bigger aircraft, has been frozen and some of the manufacturing activities have started. Hopefully by this year(2022) end or early 2023 we should have the first roll out of the aircraft, and one year after that it will be taking to the skies.
3. Indian Army Establishes Quantum Laboratory at Mhow (MP)
Tags: Defence
The Indian Army, with support from the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) has established the Quantum Lab at Military College of Telecommunication Engineering, Mhow (MP) MCTE to spearhead research and training in this key developing field.
- The Army has also established an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Centre at the MCTE, by making more than 140 deployments in forward areas and with active support of academia and industry.
Significance:
- Research undertaken by the Indian Army in the field of Quantum Technology will help leapfrog into next generation communication and transform the current system of cryptography in the Indian Armed Forces to Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC).
- Key thrust areas are Quantum Key Distribution, Quantum Communication, Quantum Computing and Post Quantum Cryptography.
4. Defence minister lays the foundation of new Brahmos manufacturing center in Lucknow
Tags: Defence
- Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh laid the foundation stone for Defence Technology & Test Centre and BRAHMOS Manufacturing Centre, established by Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh in the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UP DIC).
- It will cover over 200 acres and produce the new BRAHMOS-NG (Next Generation) variant, which carries forward the lineage of the BRAHMOS weapons system.
- This new centre would be ready over the next two to three years and will commence production at a rate of 80-100 BRAHMOS-NG missiles per year.
Brahmos Aerospace Limited
- It is a joint venture of DRDO and NPO Mashinostroyenia of Russia.
- The Company is named after the river Brahmaputra and Moskva.
- It has developed the world's first supersonic cruise missile Brahmos with a range of 290 Km with a speed of 2.8 to 3 Mach.
- At present Brahmos Aerospace ltd has manufacturing centres at Hyderabad, Nagpur and Bilani (Madhya [Pradesh).
The new Generation Brahmos missile BrahMos-NG (Next Generation) is a mini version based on the existing BrahMos, will have same 290 km range and speed but it will weigh around 1.5 tons, 5 metres in length and 50 cm in diameter, making BrahMos-NG 50 percent lighter and three metres shorter than its predecessor.
5. DRDO successfully test Abhyas
Tags: Defence
- Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO) has successfully conducted the flight test of Indigenously developed High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) Abhyas on 23 December from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast, Odisha.
- Abhyas is an unmanned aerial vehicle which is used by the armed forces for target practice .
6. India’s quasi ballistic missile “Pralay” successfully conducted the second flight-test
Tags: Defence
To the Point:
- Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on December 23, 2021, successfully conducted the second flight-test of indigenously developed conventional Surface-to-Surface missile ‘Pralay’ from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha.
- For the first time, two consecutive flight tests of a ballistic missile have been conducted successfully on two consecutive days.
- In today’s launch, the ‘Pralay’ missile was tested for heavier payload and different range to prove the precision and lethality of the weapon.
Pralay, the short-range solid fuel surface-to-surface ballistic missile can hit the target at a range of 150 to 500 kilometres with an accuracy of less than 10 metres and can be launched by Mobile Launcher.
- The missile guidance system includes the latest navigation system and integrated avionics.
7. Exercise PANEx-2021
Tags: Defence National News
Exercise PANEx-2021 is a multi-nation Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief exercise
Participants: BIMSTEC Countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, and India.
Date and Location - December 20 to 22, 2021 in Pune, Maharashtra
Aim: To promote joint planning and building regional cooperation for responding to natural disasters.
Importance:
To bring transformative changes in Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to combat contingencies like the Pandemic in the future.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC):
- It is a regional organization comprising seven Member States lying in the areas of the Bay of Bengal.
- This organization came into being in 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
- Member States: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.
- Secretariat - Dhaka Bangladesh
- Current Chair - Sri Lanka
8. Defence News
Tags: Defence
1. DRDO successfully test Stand Off Anti-Tank missile
- Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Air Force (IAF) flight-tested the indigenously designed and developed Helicopter launched Stand-off Anti-tank (SANT) Missile from Pokhran ranges in Rajasthan.
- The SANT missile has been designed and developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad in coordination with other DRDO labs and participation from industries.
The target range of the SANT missile is upto 10 KM.
2. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh hands over DRDO developed products to Armed Forces
- Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh handed over five Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) developed products to the Armed forces and other security agencies at an event held at DRDO Bhawan, New Delhi on December 14, 2021, as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations and iconic week of Ministry of Defence.
- He also handed over six Transfer of Technology (ToT) agreements to seven public and private sector companies. Earlier DRDO organised a Seminar on “Preparing For The Future''.
3. Successful Launch of supersonic missile Assisted-Torpedo (SMART)
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully launched Supersonic Missile Assisted-Torpedo System (SMART) from Abdul Kalam Island (formerly known as Wheeler Island), Orissa on 13th December 2021.
- It is a missile assisted release of the lightweight Anti-Submarine Torpedo System for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations far beyond torpedo range.
- It is a canister based missile system, consisting of advanced technologies viz. two stage solid propulsion, electro-mechanical actuators and precision inertial navigation. The missile is launched from a ground mobile launcher and it can cover a range of distances.
- The system is a next-generation missile-based standoff torpedo delivery system.
- The missile is set to enhance anti-submarine warfare capability of the Indian navy.
4. Defence export from India
- The government of India has informed the Parliament that in 2020-21 total defence export was Rs 8,434.84 crore.
- Raksha Mantri: Mr. Rajnath Singh
- Minister of State for Defence: Mr Ajay Bhatt
9. New generation ballistic missile ‘Agni P’ successfully test-fired by DRDO
Tags: Defence
- Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully tested the new generation nuclear capable medium range surface to surface ballistic missile ‘Agni P’ from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam island off the coast of Odisha on December 18, 2021.
- The Agni P is a two-stage canisterised solid propellant ballistic missile with a dual redundant navigation and guidance system that can be launched from rail and road and stored for a longer period.
- The range of the New Generation Agni P missile is 1000KM to 2000 Km.
DRDO head Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy.
10. Defence export from India
Tags: Defence
- The government of India has informed the Parliament that in 2020-21 total defence export was Rs 8,434.84 crore.
- Minister of Defence: Mr. Rajnath Singh
- Minister of State for Defence : Mr Ajay Bhatt
