Archive for April, 2007
Thursday, April 26th, 2007
26 April, 2007 (FIDSNS)
The Indian Army is adding a BrahMos Missile Group to handle the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. The new unit will be manned by the same team of Indian Army personnel who carried out the April 22, 2007 test. This was the 3rd test of Land Attack version of the supersonic Cruise Missile adapted for Indian Army. The Brahmos missile group will report to the army headquarters and also in coordination with the tri-service Strategic Forces Command.
India already has missile groups 333 and 444, raised for Prithvi and Agni II missiles respectively.
The April 22, 2007 validated the Brahmos Cruise Missiles ability to maneuver in the final trajectory. “The possibility of maneuvering rocket with the deviation from the calculated trajectory of target approach makes it possible to deliver impact on the outlined object from the direction unexpected for the enemy,” said S Pillai,Director of Brahmos.
Mr. Pillai also said that this was last test for Indian Army Version before commencing production.
Posted in Defence Research and Development, Indian Army News | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
24 April, 2007 (FIDSNS)
The guided missile destroyer INS Mysore and the guided missile corvette INS Kultar will participate in IMDEX ASIA 2007 to showcase India’s shipbuilding capabilities. Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and his navy chiefs from 22 nations will attend IMDEX-2007.
In addition Indian Coast Guard is sending ICGS SANGRAM which is SAMAR Class Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel (WPSOH) to the event.
IMDEX (International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference) is a biennial event. The Event is scheduled from 15 to 18 May 2007.
Posted in Indian Navy News, Military News - Asia | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
April 24, 2007 (FIDSNS)
INS Tarangini which departed from Kochi in India on January 10, 2007 and transiting through the Suez Canal it will reach the Atlantic Coast of North America in early May 2007 to participate in the “Tall Ships Challenge Series 07” organized by American Sail Training Association.
The ship will also participate in a series of Tall Ship events such as The World Peace Cup, Sail Virginia, Sail Rhode Island and Sail Boston.
A total of 7 officers, 43 sailors, 270 Indian Naval Cadets and 30 foreign officer trainees will be participating in this ambitious voyage.
The ship will arrive in Grand Turk, the Turks & Caicos Islands from Antigua on April 30, 2007. The ship will be open to visitors on May 2, 2007 during selected hours and will depart on May 3, 2007 for Port Canaveral.
She will be calling at 24 ports in 16 countries on this adventure, and return to Kochi, India on October 31, 2007.
Posted in Indian Navy News | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
April 24, 2007 (FIDSNS)
3 Corps of Indian Army based in Rangapahar,Assam was visited by a 18 member Myanmar Army delegation led by Brig Gen Tin Maung Ohn, in connection with the 30th Indo-Myanmar biannual liasion meeting.
Indian Army delegation headed by Maj Gen Mahavir Singh, chief of staff, 3 Corps discussed various issues during the meeting which included border management, cross border insurgency and arms smuggling.
The liasion meetings are held twice a year to review and further strenghten the friendly relations and discussion on issues of mutual interest between the two armies and the next meeting between the two sides will be held in Myanmar.
Posted in Indian Army News, Military News - Asia | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007
24 April, 2007 (FIDSNS)
Russia and India have begun the three-day joint naval counter terrorism exercise in the Sea of Japan as reported by the press service of Russia’s Pacific Fleet.
The Excercise will end on April 26, 2007. As reported by FIDSNS on 18 April, the exercises will include surface live ammunition firing, air defense and anti-submarine warfare maneuvers. The naval groups will also practice operations related to maintaining maritime order and countering piracy, terrorism, and drug smuggling.
INDRA Excercises are a biennial joint exercise between the Russian and Indian navies. Last time INDRA excercise were conducted on 10 - 20 October, 2005, in Indian eastern Seaboard, off the coast of Visakhapatnam. The exercises at sea will include various surface firing, air defence and anti-submarine warfare exercises.
Posted in Counter Terrorism, Indian Navy News, Military News - Russia | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007
24 April, 2007 (FIDSNS)
Indian Air Force will attend Air Mobility Rodeo 2007, asans observer. The event is sponsored by the Air Mobility Command, is the Mobility Air Force’s (MAF) readiness competition. This competition focuses on improving our worldwide air mobility forces’ professional core abilities. RODEO 2007 will be held at McChord Air Force Base, Washington, July 22-28, 2007.
Registration for Air Mobility Expeditionary RODEO 2007 began Jan. 1 and officials expect more than 100 teams to participate in this year’s event. The last biennial competition took place in June 2005 at McChord AFB after a five-year hiatus due to the increase in the operations tempo in support of the Global War on Terror.
An important long-term benefit is increased cooperation between air mobility forces from several nations. Collectively, the ultimate goal of the competition is to develop and improve techniques and procedures that enhance air mobility operations. Spirited competition furthers that aim, while strengthening the mutual goals and bonds of friendship developed between competing teams.
Posted in Indian Air Force News | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007
24 April, 2007 (FIDSNS)
Indian Army Chief General J J Singh’s has left for a three day visit to Japan. He will hold talks with Japanese Defence Minister Fumio Kuma and Joint Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Takashi Saito.
General J J Singh will visit Japanese self-defence agencies field and airborne formations. He will also discuss with his Japanese counterpart Gen Ryoichi Oriki on issues like counter-terrorism, joint training of personnel, diasaster management, defence research and development and participation in the UN Peacekeeping mission.
Posted in Indian Army News | No Comments »
Monday, April 23rd, 2007
April 23, 2007 (FIDSNS)
Vice Admiral Anup Singh will be taking over as the Indian Navy’s new Deputy Chief on 26 Apr 07. He relieves Vice Admiral RP Suthan who is proceeding to Vishakhapatnam as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command.
Vice Admiral Anup Singh was commissioned in the Indian Navy on 01 Jul 1973. A specialist in Navigation and Direction, he has held a mix of operational and staff appointments. He has recently reported at New Delhi, on promotion, after relinquishing his appointment as the Flag Officer Commanding, Western Fleet. As the Fleet Commander, he had led Operation Sukoon, the evacuation of civilians from war torn Lebanon in July 2006 in what came to be the largest post-Independence civilian-evacuation operation undertaken by the Indian Navy.
He has also held command and staff appointments afloat and ashore including Assistant Controller of Carrier Projects and Warship Production and Acquisition at Naval Headquarters, Chief Instructor (Navy), Defence Services staff College, Wellington and Chief of Staff, Western Naval Command. The Flag Officer is a recipient of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and the Nao Sena Medal.
A keen sportsman and adventurer, he was the Sailing Master of the first ever square-rigged Sail Training vessel ‘Varuna’ in 1981-82. He also skippered the Naval Yacht ‘Samudra’ for the Pacific Crossing during her round the world voyage in 1989.
As the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff, he will be heading the ‘Operations’ branch of the Navy, including foreign cooperation.
Posted in Indian Navy News | No Comments »
Monday, April 23rd, 2007
April 22, 2007 (FIDSNS)
The land version of the Supersonic Cruise Missile BrahMos- the fourteenth one to be precise, has been successful. The trial of the 290 Km range of the missile was carried out at Chandipur- on- Sea, Balasore in Orissa.
The complete test was carried out by Army personnel in the presence of Lt Gen BS Pawar, Commandant, School of Artillery, Major General VK Chaturvedi, Additional Director General Artillery, and a host of other senior Army officers. Emphasis was laid on the ability of the supersonic missile to carry out a number of exacting maneuvers during its flight towards a pre-determined target-point. Lt Gen Pawar expressed complete satisfaction at the missile’s performance especially in its display of additional capabilities and meeting all other mission objectives.
The flight trajectory was tracked with a special radar equipment. Indian Defence Ministry spokes man says “the testing passed successfully, and the appraisal of the mission will be prepared after an examination of all data received”.
A Sivathanu Pillai, who heads the BrahMos project, said that “We are going to deliver the missile to the army this year as orders have been placed with us.”
The missile is expected to be inducted into the army from August after two more validation trials. Sunday’s launch from the Interim Test Range in Chandipur, 15 km from Balasore, established the missile’s precision, long- range capabilities and high level of operational features required by the army in a theatre of war, said Pillai, the CEO of BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd.
BrahMos blasted off in the presence of Pillai, some 30 Russian scientists and experts from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from the ITR at 11.21 am.
The missile has already been inducted into the Indian Navy.
Posted in Defence Research and Development, Indian Army News | No Comments »
Monday, April 23rd, 2007
April 20, 2007 (FIDSNS)
In a significant change in the insurgency doctrine of Indian Army in Jammu and Kashmir, the Army is gunning for militants who are being made commanders of a particular area. “The idea is to instill fear among the militant cadre that whosoever becomes a district commander or above will be immediately targeted,” says a senior Army official in the ministry of defence.
Around 20 terrorist commanders, of terrorist outfits like Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) have been killed since the beginning of this year. “At least 5 of them had just been made district or battalion commanders,” says the Army official.
Terrorist organisations are turning to the ‘local boys’ to make them area commanders. This is a marked shift from their earlier strategy of making foreign commanders. “The militant leadership wants to portray the insurgency in Kashmir as indigenous,” said a senior Army official.
Posted in Counter Terrorism, Indian Army News | No Comments »
Saturday, April 21st, 2007
April 20 , 2007 (FIDSNS)
At a press conference, the GOC 4 Corps, Lt Gen RK Chhabra, said “By spilling the blood of innocent civilians, the so-called freedom fighters have completed their transition to a pure terrorist organization.The ULFA has suffered a serious setback with the neutralization of a large number of important commanders and busting of their camps in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.”
The GOC also exposed the ongoing strikes and fasts by the wives of the missing ULFA leaders and the PCPIA as a ploy on the outfit’s part to divert public attention from the “main cause and malaise of violence and extortion” and get people’s sympathy. “However, the people have seen through the evil designs of the ULFA, and these gimmicks indulged in by the outfit are not yielding any results,” he asserted, adding that even the outfit’s mouthpiece Freedom had bemoaned the “inadequate media publicity” about the strikes.
Praising Myanmar he said “The Myanmar Army has been extending its full cooperation to us in our drive against the ultras. The Arunachal-Myanmar border being mountainous and densely-forested, it is an arduous task to put a total stop to cross-border movement.”
ISI, the intelligence agency of Pakistan which is the worlds terrorist training factory, is behind the bloodshed. The GOC said “The ISI is calling the shots and telling the ULFA what it should be doing.”
On the growing activities of jehadi elements in the State, Chhabra said that they were a potent threat for the future even though at the moment they were like “backroom boys.” “We are intensifying operations in char and chapori (riverine) areas, the possible hideouts of jehadis,” he added.
Chhabra said that the jehadi elements were basically involved in things like gunrunning, fake currency rackets, drugs pedalling and other anti-national activities.
Posted in Counter Terrorism, Indian Army News | Comments Off
Saturday, April 21st, 2007
20 April, 2007 (FIDSNS)
India and China today began another round of high-level negotiations on the vexed issue that has been nagging the relations for decades.The Indian cabinet committee on security (CCS) on Thursday cleared the agenda for the two-day India-China talks starting today.
Special Representatives of the two countries — National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo — held brief discussions here on the first day of the 10th round of talks between them. The ten-member Chinese delegation, led by Vice Minister Forgein Affairs Dai Bingguo, includes the Chinese Ambassador to India. The Indian side will comprise higher officials from External Affairs Ministry and the Indian Ambassador in China.
Detailed talks between them will be held in the holiday resort of Udhagamandalam (Ooty) in Tamil Nadu tomorrow. The delegates will be arriving in Coimbatore by flight and flying to Coonoor by helicopter. Also included in the itinerary is a sight-seeing trip to Coonoor and Ooty.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made to prevent any untoward incidents in view of the meet. They have also intensified vigil on Tibetan refugees living in the area who might stage protest against the visit of the Chinese.
The nine rounds of high-level negotiations, that began in 2003, have made progress and the two sides are now discussing issues related to demarcation of the border.
This round of negotiations takes place three months after the last meeting of the special representatives here indicating speeding up of efforts to resolve the boundary dispute. The two special representatives last met in New Delhi in January 2007.
Posted in Strategic Issues | Comments Off
Saturday, April 21st, 2007
April 20, 2007 (FIDSNS)
India and Germany today agreed to increase defence cooperation in a number of areas including exchange of expertise in peace-keeping operations, exchange of experience in disaster management, etc. In the first Indo-German High Defence Committee meeting held in New Delhi today, the Federal State Secretary for Defence of Germany Dr. Peter Eickenboom assured India to provide transfer of technology in armament procurement and joint development of armament platforms wherever possible. He also said that Germany shares India’s security perspectives and recognizes the growing importance of India in regional stability and peace. Germany has also assured India that it will be an open and reliable partner in all areas of defence cooperation.
The Indian side at the talks was led by Shri Shekhar Dutt, Defence Secretary. This was the first meeting at the level of defence secretary after the signing of bilateral defence agreement between the two sides in September last year.
Posted in General Indian Armed Forces News, Military News - Europe | Comments Off
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