1. Gallantry Award and other Military Honours 2022
On the eve of Republic Day 2022 (i.e. 25th January 2022) the President and the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Ram Nath Kovind approved award of 317 Gallantry and other Defence decorations to Armed forces personnels.
- The President honours the country’s military personnel for their show of gallantry and valour with a total of six awards: Param Vir Chakra, Mahavir Chakra, Vir Chakra, Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra, Shaurya Chakra.
- This year’s list of Gallantry and Distinguished awards being conferred on the occasion of Republic Day- 2022:
- Param Vishisht Seva Medal: 19
- Uttam Yudh Seva Medal: 4
- Ati Vishisht Seva Medal: 33
- Shaurya Chakra: 6
- Yudh Seva Medal: 10
- Bar to Sena Medal (Gallantry): 3
- Sena Medal (Gallantry): 81
- Sena Medal (Distinguished): 40
- Bar to Vishisht Seva Medal: 3
- Vishisht Seva Medal: 74
- Mention-in-dispatches (Various military operations): 44
The President will also honour the winners of :
- The 3 President’s Police Medals for meritorious service, for distinguished service, and for gallantry to law enforcement personnel in the country.
- Correctional Services Medal under two categories “Distinguished Service- 5”, and “Meritorious Service- 37” for their duties in the country’s correctional facilities.
- The 42 President’s Fire Medals which are similar to the President’s Police Medals. Out of these, the President’s Fire Service Medal for Gallantry is awarded to one personnel and the Fire Service Medal for Gallantry is awarded to two personnel for their respective acts of valour and gallantry.
- 25 Civil Defence & Home Guards Medals
- 51 Jeevan Raksha Padak awards to the civilians for saving lives from drowning, fire, or natural calamities. It is divided into three categories: Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak and Jeevan Raksha Padak.
2. Virat, Darmi, and Heena awarded the Chief of the Army Staff Commendation
Tags: Defence
Virat, Darmi, and Heena were awarded the Chief of the Army Staff Commendation on the eve of Army Day on January 15 for their exemplary service. Virat is a horse with the President’s Bodyguard (PBG), while Darmi and Heena are Army dogs.
3. Indian Navy PASSEX with Russian Navy
Tags: Defence
Indian Navy’s indigenously designed and built guided missile destroyer, INS Kochi, exercised with Russian Federation Navy’s RFS Admiral Tributs on 14 January 2022 in the Arabian Sea.
- PASSEX or Passing Exercise is done between two navies.
- The exercise showcased cohesiveness and interoperability between the two navies and included tactical manoeuvres, cross-deck helicopter operations and seamanship activities.
4. Indian Army to introduce climate-friendly combat uniform on Indian Army Day
Tags: Defence
Army Day in India is celebrated on 15th January, every year to pay homage to our gallant soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice to protect the sovereignty of our Motherland. This year’s Army Day celebration has a new element. The Indian Army is all set to introduce a light and more climate-friendly combat uniform for its personnel.
All you need to know about the new Combat Uniform:
- The Indian Army has developed its new combat uniform with the help of the National Institute of Fashion and Technology (NIFT).
- The new uniform's digital disruptive pattern will provide Army personnel with increased field camouflage.
- Some modifications have been done in order to make the new combat uniform more comfortable for women.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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 .
10. 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.
