Archive for July, 2007
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007
Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) will be participating in Exercise Malabar 07-2. Ex Malabar is a naval exercise held annually by the Indian Navy (IN) and the United States Navy (USN). The RSN accepted an invitation in October last year to participate in a multi-lateral exercise in the Indian Ocean with the USN and the IN. We were informed subsequently that the USN and the IN had also separately invited the Royal Australian Navy and the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force to participate in Ex Malabar 07-2. The RSN frigate, RSS Formidable, will be taking part in the exercise, which will be conducted in the Bay of Bengal from 4 to 9 Sep 07.
Meanwhile Australia has decided to send will be sending one of our FFGs – one of our frigates – HMAS Adelaide for Ex Malabar 07.
Posted in Military News - Asia | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007
To understand the evolution of the Indian Intelligence Bureau, the oldest surviving intelligence agency of the world, it is necessary to peep into the process of evolution it passed through.
The Imperial British government felt the need for organising a strong military and civil intelligence outfit soon after its victory over the rebellious Indian forces in 1857. The victory had reposed multifaceted responsibility on the burgeoning British Crown and its ever-expanding empire in India. It had to effectively suppress the Muslim and Hindu rulers to consolidate and expand its territories; ensure law and order in the directly controlled and administered territories; maintain vigil on the territories ruled by native princes and to gather intelligence about friendly and
hostile preparations of regimes in China, Afghanistan and the expanding empire of Russia. Defeat of the Mughal power had also brought about cascading political turmoil in other parts of the Muslim world in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia.
There is a popular belief amongst the intelligence community that the Intelligence Bureau was conceived and set up as the “Central Special Branch’ by an order of the Secretary of State for India in London, on December 23, 1887.
Some authors surmised that the first intelligence outfit in India was started in 1885 when Major General Sir Charles Metcalfe MacGregor was appointed Quartermaster General and head of the Intelligence Department of the Indian Army.
It was yet claimed that the Intelligence Bureau should trace its origins to the ‘Anti-Thuggee and Dacoity Department’ since its inception in 1835. This claim made by certain quarters in the intelligence fraternity is also not accurate.
The British Thuggee concerns dated back to 1828, due largely to the efforts of Lord William Bentinck, Governor General of India, who had started an extensive campaign involving profiling, intelligence gathering, and executions of the Thuggee groups. The campaign was heavily based on informants recruited from captured thugs who were offered protection on the condition that they told everything they knew. By the 1870’s, the Thuggee cult was extinct, but the concept of ‘criminal tribes’ and ‘criminal castes’ is still in the mindset of India.
A police organisation known as the ‘Thuggee and Dacoity Department’ was established within the Government of India, with Colonel William Sleeman as superintendent of the department in 1835. The Department remained in existence until 1904 when it was replaced by the Central Criminal Intelligence Department. It would, therefore, be seen that the Intelligence Bureau had only partially inherited its origins to the Thuggee and Dacoity Department and to the ‘Central Specail Branch’ established in London in December 1887. The MI unit started in 1885 had evolved into a separate Military Intelligence outfit.
While on the question of the Thuggees it should be stated that even Ziauddin Barni’s History of Firoz Shah (written about 1356) had mentioned about the Thuggee problem and creation of a special force in Delhi that had rounded up over 200 Thuggeees and were banished to the political kalapani of Lakhnauti (Laxmanabati-Gaur) in modern Bengal. The Emperor had not christened his special force as a Thuggee Department, nonetheless, he used more or less the same tactics as the British did centuries later.
In fact, very minor strand of Indian Intelligence fraternity was born in the womb of the Thuggee Department. It was given criminal investigation, military utility and political mandates from day one, soon after the the British Crown set to the mission of consolidating and expamnding ite Empire in India and territories around the first Colony in world history that showered manna on the entire western world. Intelligence was one of the arms used by the British to run their writs in India and other parts of global colonies. In this venture Indian intelligence and army helped the British more than the original sons of the Albion.
The need for the creation of this Central Special Branch was realised for procuring early and authentic information by the Central Government regarding the political, economic and social conditions of the people in British India. It was also to monitor the growth and development of popular feeling on issues concerned with security and keeping a watchful control over the inter-provincial activities and movements of criminals and the conditions that predisposed to crime. The tasks assigned to the Central Special Branch were to coordinate the working of the Special Branches of the provincial governments in British India, created under the same order of the Secretary of State, and to guide the new units set up directly under its own charge in the various princely states.
The new organisation started functioning as a wing of ‘Anti-Thuggi and Dacoity Department’, which had attained notable success and renown since its inception in 1835 as an all India outfit to contain the incipient terrorism of that period and subsequently took over its infrastructure. Since then, the nomenclature of the organisation underwent several changes.
As a result of the recommendation of the Police Commission of 1902-03, the Central Special Branch was remodeled and rechristened as the ‘Central Criminal Intelligence Department’, which was made responsible for all matters pertaining to national security in addition to its role in prevention of inter-provincial crime, and was designated as the nodal agency of the Government of India.
The word ‘Criminal’ was dropped from the name of the organisation by 1918 as its burgeoning security tasks started to far overshadow its criminal responsibilities. The present name, the Intelligence Bureau, came to be adopted by the organisation in the year 1920.
With the advent of the provincial governments run by Indian politicians in 1935, the Government of India decided that the Intelligence Bureau should have its own apparatus and arrangements for the collection of strategic intelligence in the provinces, to augment the information supplied by the Provincial CIDs and Special Branches.
Field units of the IB were thus organised in 1935, initially at six centres in the country, each under a Central Intelligence Officer, and subsequently elsewhere. The growth of national security problems and their increasing complexities led to the concept of setting up of Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau in the field, under the charge of Deputy Directors, in the fifties, to organise more scientific and systematic intelligence gathering.
The analytical and directional setup at the Bureau’s headquarters at Delhi also gradually grew, with newer and newer challenges and sources of threat to national security being identified over the years.
From its inception in the year 1887, the organisation has constantly striven to pursue the goal of maintaining the unity and integrity of the country thwart the machinations of subversive elements, and defeat the forces of disruption and de-stabilisation. In the years prior to Independence, a good deal of the IB’s effort was devoted to tackling problems of securing the boundaries of the country, preserving the basic essential services against disruption, and dealing with sustained militancy of organised groups. It was in this period that much of the formal shape was given to law enforcement on a countrywide scale and the IB played a significant role throughout this process.
As the specter of Communism began to haunt Europe and other parts of the world after 1921, the attention of the Intelligence Bureau was also diverted to meeting this imminent threat to the reigning forces in the country. Utilisation of the professional operators and agents of the IB against USSR designs in the Central Asian Countries and Afghanistan would require a separate volume to account for.
It was after 1947 that the IB really came into its own as the intelligence arm of new India. It had inherited the imperial traditions and expected to imbibe the democratic aspirations of modern India.
Half of the bifurcated IB went to Pakistan as Pakistan IB with Mohammad Ali as the chief.
The Indian part of the Intelligence Bureau was taken over by T.G. Sanjeevi Pillai. Besides the inherent strength of the organisation, the calibers of its first two Directors in the post Independence period-Shri Pillai and his successor, the legendary ‘Father of Intelligence’ in modem India; Shri B. N. Mullik- largely enabled the IB to measure up to these new and unprecedented challenges. Between them these two pioneers laid the foundations of a vibrant intelligence organisation giving a new dimension and dynamism to the newer thrust areas of its tasks and responsibilities. The IB was thus able to address itself to the complex security needs of a modern, democratic and forward looking nation, successfully withstanding the vicissitudes of the system and time. The groundwork laid by them has enabled a string of their dedicated successors to build up the IB into a sophisticated intelligence apparatus in the succeeding decades. Some of the stalwarts who built up the IB brick by brick are: M. M. L. Hooja, R. K. Kapoor, H. A. Barari, M. K. Narayanan, R. P. Joshi and V. G. Vaidya etc.
Today, the Intelligence Bureau has to deal with a myriad of challenges such as terrorism, subversion and insurgency on the one hand, and espionage and subliminal attempts to undermine the democratic fabric of the country by external agencies, on the other. The organisation carries out forward and counterintelligence operations against any incursion from hostile neighbouring countries or any of their client states. It maintains a lonely vigil through penny-packet posts on the Sino-Indian, Indo-Pak and Indo-Burma land borders, and also keeps track of developments and movements on the eastern and western sea borders of the country in the field or counter-intelligence, the IB has to deal with a far greater, number of hostile intelligence agencies than any of its counterparts in other countries. There are no East-West or North-South divides in the area of spying and espionage, and while the nation sleeps, the operatives of the IB have to remain vigilant as a substantial part of espionage activity takes place in the hours of darkness. As for its successes in this sphere, despite the liberal traditions of the country and other handicaps the organisation’s record of busting spy rings and capture of espionage agents has indeed been gratifying.
The responsibility of collection of foreign intelligence was given to the IB during the Second World War period. However, the organisation made tremendous strides within a few years and by the mid-1950s concrete intelligence about Pakistan’s intentions and capabilities for instance, had achieved a sophisticated dimension. With India developing into a major nation-State, strategic intelligence collection outside the country was handed over to a new organisation carved out from the IB, as a whole-time responsibility, in September 1968. It is known as Research and Analysis Wing of the cabinet secretariat.
In the sphere of combating insurgency, notwithstanding the initial lack of sufficient experience, the IB had been able to devise, by the late 1950s and more so from the mid-1960s, a counter-insurgency doctrine of its own. It is substantially different from the conventional wisdom based on the Malaysian or Vietnamese experience and has enabled the IB to play a significant role in containing insurgent movements in several parts of the country. In the arena of counterterrorism, another relatively new field of action, the IB again displayed quick adaptability. Despite major handicaps including its rather thin organisational spread on the ground, the Bureau has striven hard to make its contribution in this major war of the nation against the most serious threat to the country’s stability and peace.
The security functions of the IB are perhaps one of the less publicised areas of its tasks. Personnel and document security are today among the most important responsibilities of a security agency in any modern nation-state. In this sphere of its tasks, the security checks and vetting procedures of the Bureau and the countermeasures evolved by it have been acknowledged by several foreign agencies as amongst the best in the world, excepting perhaps those possible in a totalitarian or authoritarian society. Security of key industries and vital installations is also an important charge of the IB. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) was born out of the industrial security wing of the IB. Besides its responsibilities relating to conceptualisation of threats and devising of counter measures to protect these national assets against sabotage and other disruptive attempts, the Bureau has a built-in provision for an early warning system whenever portents of serious industrial unrest are present.
Similarly the border security duties of the IB, especially along Pakistan border were taken over by the newly created Border Security Force. The Indo-Tibet Border Police and the Special Services Bureau also owe their birth out of IB’s existing wings concerning these areas of national security. The IB is, therefore, naturally described as the mother of all intelligence and security agencies of India.
In the sphere of VIP security, the IB is responsible not only for the perception and conceptualisation of all threats to important personages including the Prime Minister, President and other Indian dignitaries as well as other internationally protected personalities, but also for drawing up the ‘Blue Books’ and other guidelines for ensuring their security. Later a specialist VIP security agency, the Special Protection Group was created to cater to security needs of listed VIPs.
In its role as the premier intelligence-cum-security agency of the country, the IB has to service the various Ministries and Departments of the union Government with timely intelligence inputs and advice on all aspects of national security. Ever since their inception in 1935 the IB’s field units have sought to play a somewhat similar role vis-a-vis the state governments. However, IB’s cooperation with state intelligence units mainly concerned security matters and activities of the main political parties like the Indian national Congress, Communist Party of India, Muslim League, and Hindu Mahasabha etc. After independence when Congress governments ruled everywhere exchanges between the IB and state intelligence units appeared to be smooth. However, with the advent of non-Congress government in various states such cooperation has remain limited to national security concerns and for other matters the central and state intelligence units functioned (still functioning) independently. Even in internal security areas degree of cooperation depends on the colours of the state governments (such as communal parties, sectarian parties etc). Over the period, threat of jihad and violent activities by Pakistani and Bangladeshi jihadi tanzeems have paved the ways for better liaison between the state and central intelligence units. This will be emphasized later.
Such efforts, aimed at an interchange of information to effectively meet any grave threat to public peace and internal security, take place at several levels-regular interactions with Chief Ministers and Governors, maintaining regular liaison with the Chief and Home Secretaries, and direct involvement with the DG Police and State Intelligence and police officials.
On its part, the IB has also been receiving qualified cooperation and support in the performance of its national security tasks, from various state governments. Differences in political ideology and attitude towards various segments of the population often modulate the degree of cooperation. The help provided by the State police and intelligence outfits to the IB constitutes a very vital link in the national security chain.
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The Intelligence Bureau is a pyramidal organisation. The Director, IB is supported at his headquarters by Special Directors, Additional Directors, Joint Directors, Deputy Directors and Assistant Directors. The cascading ranks flow down to Deputy Central Intelligence Officer, Assistant Central Intelligence Officer (Gr. 1 and 2). Basically the structural formation follows the police formations with the Security Assistant (constable) at the lowest ladder. The staffing pattern is divided into two broad divisions: Intelligence Generation cadre and Technical cadre.
In the central core the structural layout is divided on functional, territorial and operational basis. For example a particular Additional Director/Special Director can be responsible for supervising certain geographical areas and subject-desks. Desks cover the entire gamut of national life, right from political parties to student unions, trade unions, NGOs, to communal and other disruptive activities. The numerous desks are clubbed under common denominative hierarchical lines applied to interrelated subjects. Subjects like ethnic insurgency, religious terrorism, ideological terrorism (Naxal) are dealt with by subject desk as well as Operations Desks. The details are so innumerable that it would confuse a common reader. Suffice it to say that all spheres of human activities inside and in the neighbourhood of the country are allocated to the charter of duties of the Intelligence Bureau.
It must be added that newer dimensions of coverage are added from time to time keeping in view the windows of threat to national security. For example in recent times the unpleasant task of monitoring of VHF, HF communications (mobile phones etc), Internet communications and Website activities have been added to the domain of coverage. These are done to keep vigil on the forces which use these electronic communication methodologies to carry out subversive activities.
The Sky is not the limit as far as growing charters of duties of the IB are redefined from time to time. It keeps on expanding the Universe does.
In the States IB units are designated as Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau. These units are headed mostly by a zonal Additional Director with Joint Directors, Deputy Directors and Assistant Directors manning different states. It is the age of top heavy administrative work philosophy. The work earlier done by a Joint Assistant Director is now being done by a Joint Director or Deputy Director. Pyramidal upgradation of ranks has put the IB hierarchy at par with the State police and other administrative services of the Union and the States. However, it is difficult to asses if such upgradation has added better cutting edges to the grassroots level functionaries, who remain responsible for producing the uncut diamonds of intelligence inputs.
The Intelligence Bureau gathers intelligence on given subjects and from allocated target areas through applications of Tradecraft. Tradecrafts are both general and technical. The General Intelligence generation depends on intensive training of the grassroots level operators in the technology of intelligence generation mainly through Human Intelligence (HumInt), which uses human agents for collection of intelligence. The tradecraft matters are very complicated and are as harder nuts to crack as the equation of a physical or chemical scientist.
Tradecraft also include Technical Intelligence(TechInt).It is a vast universe of intelligence tools, which include Signal Intelligence (SigInt), Electronic Intelligence (ElecInt), Photo Intelligence, Satellite Intelligence, Remote Sensing Intelligence etc. Specially trained officers are grilled over fires over years to shapeup good TechInt officers. In short TechInt is an important accessory to HumInt; in some cases TechInt can superceded the authenticity of HumInt.
Internal intelligence generation, as stated earlier encompass all conceivable state, political, group and organised activities of the nation. Coverage of communal conflagration and simmering discontents are covered with as much alacrity as possible.
While intelligence generation is an important aspect of the IB, it is also responsible for denying intelligence to the intelligence agencies of other countries which are constantly engaged in stealing intelligence from India and in carrying out sabotage and subversion. This is in the domain of Counterintelligence. Specially designed Tradecrafts are used in Counterintelligence works of the IB. This is as vast a field as intelligence generation is. The IB is solely responsible for Counterintelligence on Indian soil, though the R&AW has taken over limited CI works in Indian domain basically to protect its own assets and operations.
The other important aspect in which the IB specialises is the field of counterinsurgency, counterterrorism and counter-sabotage and subversion related operations. This vast area include ethnic problems like the Naga insurgency, separatist movements of ULFA and the not so old terror regime let loose by the a group of misdirected and misguided Sikhs.
Intelligence operations in Kashmir combine intelligence generation, counterintelligence, and counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations. Besides Kashmir, such combination of operations is often demanded of the IB in other insurgency prone areas.
Another major area of operation is border intelligence. With vast borders with China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Pakistan India are very vulnerable. It is not known to countrymen that young IB officers have to compulsorily spend several years on inaccessible and dangerous border posts to gather border intelligence. These officers are grilled over ice in the IB’s in-house mountaineering institute. Three IB officers had earned the distinction of climbing the Everest Peak.
The other important task that is the spin off of worldwide Islamic resurgence and Jihad sponsored by inimical forces in Pakistan and Bangladesh has challenged the intrinsic efficiency of the IB. This new dimension of national security has brought with it several complications which require a separate volume to narrate. However, the IB has risen up to the new challenges and has started encompassing the roots, branches and twigs of such movements. It must be understood that Jihad in Indian soil is the spin off of Jihad movements in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Problems with roots in neighbouring countries are tougher to tackle. If one asks me to give a rating to the IB as an old operative I should give it Three Stars; not bad for the handicaps with which the agency has to work.
It is often alleged that IB generally fails in catering advance information about Islamic jihadist operations, schemes and operations. It must be remembered that in most cases the operations are conceived by the ISI of Pakistan and DGFI of Bangladesh (in some cases groups draw direct inspiration from Al Qaeda). Once the operations are conceived and targets are selected the ISI and the DGFI confer franchise to the jihadi tanjeems like the Lashkar-e-Tayeba, Harkat-ul-Jiahd-al Islami along with resources and often with assistance of ‘sleeper cells’ in the target areas of the targeted operations. The ‘sleeper cells’ might belong to the foreign intelligence agencies and the tanzeems.
Therefore, it is difficult for the IB to generate intelligence from neighbouring countries. Moreover, the jihadis belong to Muslim community, especially Sunni Muslims owing allegiance to Wahhabi and Salafi ideologies. Brutally speaking the IB has very limited access to the Muslim community. Despite best efforts it has not been possible to attract Muslim candidates to the cutting edge level of the Intelligence Bureau.
Despite all these handicaps the IB has been vastly successful in infiltrating the jihadi ‘sleeper cells.’
The faceless operators of the IB are now faced with serious internal security challenges. Some of these challenges are rooted in the history of the country, which it inherited from the British rulers. India was divided on the basis of religion. India was reorganized on the basis of language. However, India’s ethnic geographic maps were not researched and redrawn with imagination and political vision. The Naga insurgency was a spin off British legacy and ethnic and Christian exclusivism introduced by the British. Very little attention was paid to the tribal aspirations of the Mizo, Bodo-Kachari, Tripuri, Khasi-Garo and Meitei-non-Naga tribals of Manipur. The ambience of insurgency erupted due to such political shortsightedness, which was expeditiously exploited by Pakistan and China and assorted rebellious Burmese tribes. India is still suffering from these wounds. It can be said to the credit of the IB that its faceless officers rendered exemplary services to the nation in these ethnic-resurgent areas.
Again in the Northeast Assam was pushed to the path of insurgency/terrorism due to failure of the consecutive state and central governments to prevent the milling waves of illegal immigration of Pakistani/Bangladeshi Muslim population to Assam (West Bengal included). Added factors were severe economic imbalance, economic and administrative neglect and general unconcern of the people of the Hindi heartland and Southern peninsula about the people of the Northeast. To the people of the Northeast Indian officers, police forces and army were tokens of foreign occupation. Never the heartbeats of the people of the Northeast and the rest of the country pulsated together. The IB has given good account of its presence in Assam despite several built in deficiencies.
Other areas of national fault lines that threw serious challenges to the IB are Punjab terrorism and the present phase of Maoist movement in several states. Punjab problem was a self-inflicted injury, caused by unholy political competition by the Congress and the Akali Dals. Pakistan took advantage of the disastrous approaches adopted by he political forces and the governments and supported the terrorists for nearly ten years. It must be added to the credit of the IB that its functionaries gave excellent coverage and helped both in the peace-making process and operational intelligences.
The present phases of Maoist movements, though treated as a police problem, are basically and intrinsically connected to lack of practical and equitable land reforms, rural job generation, promotion of rural-home-based traditional industries, failure to transmit the urban developmental benefits to the rural areas and political malfeasance. Centuries of exploitation and post-independence neglect and unimaginative economic programming and implementation have created economic void, social imbalance and lack of basic state infrastructures. Rural poors are becoming poorer, whatever the government data might project. The IB has no other option but to work within the given system and socio-economic-political ambience. Under these tough circumstances the IB has not been successful to generate expected level of intelligence. There are several reasons for these limitations.
It is often alleged that IB is misused for political purposes. I have revealed some of these allegations in my book Open Secrets. Yes. All ruling parties misuse the IB for political intelligence, for mere political survival and for stymieing political opposition. Political horse trading is an integral part of our fledgling democracy. Institutions like IB are also used for these purposes. Such misuses take place because agencies like IB, R&AW, CBI etc are not regulated by any Act of the Parliament. These important tools of governance are not accountable to anyone except their controlling ministries, the Home and the Prime Minister. Agencies like the CIA, FBI and MI5 are regulated by Acts of the highest lawmaking bodies. In spite of that the CIA and the MI6 were misused by the USA and UK for waging war on Iraq. However Watchdog bodies of the Congress, Senate and the Parliament had exposed the misdeeds of the governments of the USA and UK and rectifiable measures were adopted. It is high time for India to make these agencies accountable and provide them with protective armours of the Law. Democracy without Accountability is worse than military dictatorship.
The intelligence Bureau does not work in isolation. The Director Intelligence Bureau is regarded as the topmost police officer of the country. The IB maintains regular liaison with the state police intelligence branches and internal intelligence units of the Para Military Forces and the three wings of the Military Intelligence. It has regular interaction with the R&AW on matters of national security aspects.
The level and degree of cooperation between the state police intelligence and the IB waxes and wanes with the political colour of the governments. Certain states ruled by certain ideological parties, caste based parties and regional parties do not always cooperate to the fullest extent, wherever their turfs of special interests are concerned.
However, since 1993 continuous are being made to bring about perfect coordination and smooth exchange of intelligence. The annual conference of DGPs/IGPs and CPOs try to iron out areas of differences and bring about smoother coordination. A multi-agency coordination body has been established to ensure smooth exchange of intelligence and operational coordination. The National Security Council also coordinates all efforts to develop healthier bridges between the IB and the state police intelligence units and other central intelligence agencies. In that sense, the IB has become the important focal point of internal security parameters of the country.
Following spectacular terrorist strikes the media and general public often lay allegations of intelligence failure. The word ‘failure’ is limited to a particular incident. It must be remembered that the jihadi tanjeems from the neighbouring countries have set up extensive networks inside India. It is not possible for IB alone, without parallel inputs from the R&AW and the state police intelligence units locate, identify and neutralise these jihadi terrorist modules set up in India. Inputs about planning and execution schemes originating from Pakistan and Bangladesh are expected from the R&AW. There is a big coverage gap on this front. Moreover, it must be understood that in terrorist warfare intelligence agencies remain ahead of the terrorist outfits in nearly 50% of cases. In rest 50% cases the terrorists succeed in evading timely detection. An average of fifty percent success is rated very high in guerrilla and urban terror warfare.
The IB suffers from several drawbacks: lack of ground spread, manpower, resource crunch and hesitant support from political system of the country. In a scale of 100, threat to internal security has increased by 80%. Compared to that IB’s resource bases have increased only by 15%. How can a country fight jihadist thrusts from in and outside without the political government equipping it with required levels of resources? Lack of political will, for whatever reasons it might be, is at the root of weakness of our intelligence mechanism. The Intelligence Bureau is doing a fine job within the limitations of the system and resource constraints.
The same criteria are applicable to the state police intelligence agencies also. Some painful and hesitant steps have been initiated for some sorts of police reforms. Hopefully some reforms measures for state intelligence branches would be considered.
It is high time that the government of India considers initiating Acts of Parliament for the agencies like IB, R&AW and CBI, carry out internal reforms, provide better sinews of operations and make these institutions accountable to the people’s forum. Finally these agencies should also be freed from political interference.
This is a special article for marking the occasion of Indian “Intelligence Bureau” completing 120 years of service.
Copy Right @ Maloy K Dhar. Email: maloy_d@hotmail.com
Maloy Krishna Dhar is the former joint director of the Intelligence Bureau and author of many books on on Indian intelligence.
Posted in Intelligence, Opinions and Articles | 9 Comments »
Sunday, July 29th, 2007
In an exclusive to Frontier India (FIDSNS), Gas Turbine Research Engine (GTRE) has described its future plans with Kaveri engine project. The Kaveri project has progressed significantly over last few years. The project has now been conceived on two different platforms: K9+ Program and the K 10 Program.
K9 + Program
This program has been conceptualized with a view to prove the concept of complete design and gain hand-on experience of aircraft engine integration and flight trials to cover a defined truncated flight envelope prior to the launch of production version of K10 Std. engine. This exercise would generate a great deal of confidence in the minds of entire scientific community of GTRE and associated work centers. The PDC for K9+ is June 2008. As compared to final Kaveri Engine, K9+ engine has more weight, slightly lower After Burner thrust as compared to the design intent. At the moment, GTRE has been able to achieve and demonstrate the required dry thrust at Bangalore condition consistently. The various prototypes of the engine are undergoing various engine level tests, safety related tests, component level tests, endurance tests which are mandatory before first flight of the K9 + engine with PV1 of LCA. The core engine (Kabini engine) has been planned to be sent to CIAM Russia for altitude tests by end Aug 2007. The official Altitude Test and Flying Test Bed for K9+ engines is planned for Nov 2007. All this will culminate in integrating the Kaveri K9 + engine with PV1 followed by first interim flight by June 2008.
Kaveri Engine Under Testing at GTRE (Click to expand)
K 10 program
This programme has been planned now to be progressed embedding Joint Venture (JV) partnership with one of the selected engine houses ie. either NPO Saturn, Russia or SNECMA, France. Presently, Technical Evaluation of the proposals are on-going. After completion of Technical Evaluation, Price Negotiation Committee Meeting is to be organized for selecting the JV partner. The engine which will be developed under Joint Partnership will be the engine for its fitment in the ‘LCA’.
K-10 programme is for the final production standard Kaveri engine. Compared to K9 + engine, this will have less weight and more reheat thrust along with certain other changes to meet the original design intent.
The Kaveri Marine Gas Turbine Project
Kaveri Marine Gas Turbine is a derivative of Aero version of Kaveri Engine. This derived engine will be used for Ship Propulsion. The technology demonstration for KMGT has already been completed and 1st phase of testing was also completed at user’s place i.e. Indian Navy at Naval Dockyard, Vishakhapatnam ND (V), where GTRE demonstrated the shaft power generation of 3.2 MW (limited power generation due to non-availability of power turbine blades of required material). However at GTRE test bed, the Kaveri Marine Gas Generator has already been tested generating power to the extent of 10.6 MW. This will be further ascertained during 2nd Phase of testing of Gas Generator along with Power Turbine (i.e. full KMGT) after the power turbine blades of required material are available in Aug 2007. The 2nd Phase of testing will be completed at ND (V) in Dec 2007.
KMGT Engine under testing at Naval Dockyard, Vishakhapatnam (Click to expand)
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Saturday, July 28th, 2007
In 1970’s, having gone through 2 successful exercises for developing navigational system for aircrafts and because of their confidence in developing Digital computer hardware and software, the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), conducted a feasibility study for a 45 kilometer surface to surface missile. Using the Devil missile (Indian Surface to Air missile program in same period) in surface mode with strap down inertial navigation system (SDINS) supported by computer that would implement control, guidance and navigation.
The computer for the SS-45 was built in Special Purpose Computer Division (SPCD) using off the shelf LSIV03 (PDP equivalent) processor module and other interfaces for Gyros, Accelerometers, Telemetry, Launch control etc. using in house using PCB facilities in the country.
This was the first missile borne computer in the country. The launch was planned from SHAR, after going through strenuous exercise of proving the news sub systems in environmental testing labs followed by electronically and mechanical integration to the missile.
A few hours and check out before launch, the core team realized that one more additional transformation was required in the algorithm. So the team worked throughout the night in the blockhouse, implemented the software in the computer and got ready to launch at 0800 hrs in the morning.
When the system was powered next day for the launch, the leveling errors seen on the launch computer in the pre-launch preparation were unbelievably low and this had created a little confusion and thus the system was on for more 2 hours. Finally, they convinced each other that the lower error is because of updates made in the previous night and went ahead with the launch.
At about 1030 hrs., SS-45 took off from the inclined launcher. But within 2 seconds after the closure of the guidance loop, an abort mechanism (provided as an alternative to command destruction system) took over, sensing mal function and dipped the missile into the sea.
Telemetry results that were received for 13 seconds were good and it was found later that the crystal oscillator appeared to have failed stopping the computer. Though there was a lot of discontentment in the core team, they just made the first step into the guided surface to surface missile development in the country.
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Thursday, July 26th, 2007
Lt Gen Deepak Kapoor, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC, presently Vice Chief of Army Staff will be the next Chief of Army Staff. The present Chief of Army Staff Gen JJ Singh, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC retires from government service on September 30, 2007.
Born in 1948, Lt Gen Deepak Kapoor was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery on June 11, 1967. During his long and distinguished service spanning over 40 years, he has worked in a variety of command, staff and instructional appointments. An alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, he has done the higher command and National Defence College courses. He is Masters in Business Administration, Political Science and Military Science. He had taken active part in the 1971 operations in Bangladesh. He served as Chief Operations Officer of the UN Peacekeeping Mission deployed in Somalia during 1994-95.
During his service as a Brigade Commander, deployed on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, Gen Kapoor was awarded the Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty) in January 1998. He commanded one of the most prestigious Divisions of the Indian Army – the RAM Division as part of a Strike Corps, during OP PARAKRAM. He has been the Chief of Staff of 4 Corps in the North East, fighting insurgency in Assam and thereafter commanded 33 Corps, deployed on the India-China border. For his excellent command of the Corps, the General Officer was awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in January 2006. On promotion as Army Commander, he commanded the Army Training Command at Shimla. Thereafter, he commanded the largest and the most sensitive command of the Indian Army, i.e. the Northern Command from 05 September 2005 to 31 December 2006. The General Officer was awarded Param Vishist Seva Medal in January 2007.
Gen Kapoor is married to Smt Kirti Kapoor and has a son and a daughter; both are married.
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Thursday, July 26th, 2007
Vice Admiral DK Dewan AVSM, takes over as Chief of Personnel at IHQ MoD (Navy) on July 26, 2007. A Gunnery specialist, graduate of the Joint Staff course Paris and the Royal College of Defence Studies London, he is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla.
The officer was promoted to Flag rank in Nov 03 and has held the appointments of Senior Directing Staff (Navy) at National Defence College and Flag Officer Commanding Maharastra Area (FOMA). The Flag Officer was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral on 20 Mar 07 and was presently posted as Controller of Personnel Services (CPS) at IHQ MOD (Navy).
The Flag Officer has had wide national and international exposure and has experience in various fields such as operations, international relations and defence planning. Having done his sea service in seven different ships, took up duties of Deputy Director Naval Plans at the Naval Headquarters and managed naval budget for four years. After promotion to Captain in 1994, he served as Captain LWT (East), Command Gunnery Officer (WNC), Naval Assistant to Chief of the Naval Staff and Senior Instructor (Navy) at National Defence Academy, Pune. In Dec 2002, he was appointed Principal Director Naval Plans at Naval Headquarters and was responsible for plans, foreign cooperation and budget.
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Sunday, July 22nd, 2007
In the late 1970’s, the importance of ramjet propulsion was recognized. In fact aerodynamics team led by Shri RN Agrawal, were the first to generate flight trajectories using ramjet propulsion. Those days Acoustic Test Facility (ATF), Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), did not have computational facilities. Hence the scientists used to go to ECIL and CMC, working in night shift to run the trajectories.
When it was considered vital to set up a ramjet facility, ATF was the best choice in view of the large air supply available and also the basic work already done by the RN Agrawal team.
An open test bed was established near the 2D tunnel area and separate air supply line was taken from the manifold through a common pressure regulating valve. The test bed was designed for SAM-6 class of ramjet propulsion motor.
The very first test during 1982-83, using a SAM-6 motor was a resounding success. The necessary instrumentation was supplied by GID and Strategic Plans Division (SPD) scientists participated too.
This facility was thoroughly redesigned to 300 MM integral rocket ramjet facility for Akash SAM. Baring one test due to manual error, 15 successful tests took placein a row. The facility has been fully computerized – single handedly by MVKV Prasad a Scientist “E” at ATF.
This facility now produces ramjet engines for most purposes.
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Saturday, July 21st, 2007
Chinese had tried to create diversion to aid their beleaguered allies Pakistan during the India-Pakistan war in 1965. Frontier India had an exclusive interview with Major General (Retd) Eustace D’Souza PVSM, who was the Brigade Commander at Nathu La during the time.
Here is the narration verbatim:
In old days when Tibet was under Dalai Lama, there were two ways to enter Tibet. The main one was Sikkim route, which was the old silk route of Gangtok- Nathu La-Lhasa via Gyantse and Ya-tung through the Chumbi Valley. The other route was Jelep La – Chumbi Valley. The Sikkim route was the shortest and Nathu La was preferred route. Those days the tarmac Gangtok -Nathu La road ended at “Mile Five.” Then there was a mule track. I once walked up the mule track right up to Nathu La and back, to return a Chinese prisoner of war (POW) in early1956, in winter with no snow clothing. I was the detachment commander in Gangtok then and was instructed not to go my self. But I did not wanted to miss a chance like that, so I removed my badges of rank, carried a rifle. The Chinese POW was put on a pony and I walked. I had to meet this Chinese commissar. We were supposed to meet at 8.00 am in the morning, but I made him wait till 12.00 in the afternoon. He was furious.
Maj Gen (Retd) Eustace D’Souza PVSM
The class nine tarmac Gangtok- Nathula road, right up to Indian side of the border, which replaced the mule track, was opened in early 1960’s. Till 1962, except for one Indian Army detachment at Gangtok, there were no troops in Sikkim. After 1962 Chinese aggression, Indian Army moved 20th Division under Gen Satarwala, to Sikkim. Gen Satarwala was responsible for all high altitude passes in Sikkim, including Nathu La Pass. In1963, the 20th Div was moved out and we were moved in. My battalion,i.e, 17th Maratha, raised by me, was only one year old when we arrived in Gangtok.
In early 1965, we were ordered to move to by foot to Changu. Anyone holding Changu will prevent enemy movement to Gangtok. As luck would have it, although we were the youngest battalion there, I was ordered to take up the high altitude passes. The passes that were held by our brigade was Chola Pass which was just short of 16000 ft, then along the ridge Yak La Pass which is 15000 ft, then Cebu which was 15000 ft, Nathu La pass which was 14000 ft, the ridge went up to Jelep La which was under some other unit.
We were told that we can establish only “Border Outpost” (BP). So I had a platoon at Nathu La and a platoon at Yak La. An army company was deployed in Theguk, which was also called the screen company. There were no Chinese that time in these places. The only movement was the postman, once a week. Then the Pakistan making noises in 1965. We were not put on warning on the eastern borders. In September 1965, I had two young officers at the Nathu La pass with their platoon. One was Captain V N Thapar, whose son was killed in Kargil war. Captain Thapar has just 2 years service. The other was Second Lieutenant Satpute, who had a year’s service, eventually became my ADC and then a Lt. General. We had built “Observation Posts” (OP’s) across the border which was not very far, but served as good observation points. One fateful day, I get a call from the border that we can see a large group of Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) moving towards the pass. The tactics they employed was, starting from Chumbi Valley, they moved few 100 feets and then stopped, and then they moved again and stopped and so on. We could see Chumbi valley. Those days there were no roads on the Chinese side, but only the mule tracks. When I reported to higher authorities, they instructed that all the OP’s on the Tibetian side should be withdrawn.
The topography of Nathu La, was that the pass was along the ridge. One side of the ridge was the north shoulder and other was the south shoulder. On the south shoulder, towards the left hand side, there was an area was called “unth pahad” (Camel mountain), but, when I went there, I called it “camels Back,” which was towards Jelep La. There you could dominate the Nathu La, therefore you could fire at the Chinese from behind their backs. Capt Thapar told me about this area. So along with some of our men, we went to see it. We couldn’t climb it, hence we had to send up the men who were trained in mountain climbing, they put a rope and we pulled ourselves up. When I saw that you could see Nathu La from behind, so I decided to make my bid. I called up my boss Gen Sagat Singh, he spoke to corps commander Lt Gen GG Bewoor, who gave his consent. So we put 10 men there, who were well hidden. The Chinese had no clue about it. The Chinese reached the Tibetan side of the pass and probably expected us to run like in 1962, but we stood to our grounds. There after the Chinese PLA launched an attack on Yak La. Their tactics was to grab our personnel, take them to the Tibetan side and then call up the Indian external affairs ministry, asking them to take back the Indian prisoner of war. This is the same tactics they used before 1962 attack. I had one platoon in Yak La, the PLA killed one of our boys during the fire fight and then tried to recover the body from our side. One of Indian Army soldier, Naik Bhosle, all by himself, took up position behind a rock, continuously fired for 2 hours at Chinese, so that we could recover our soldier’s body. On Chinese radio, they mentioned that two of Chinese soldiers had been killed by Indian Army. We also collected lot of Chinese shells and sent to Lt Gen GG Bewoor and Eastern commander Sam Manekshaw as proof of the attack.
Then they launched two attacks on Nathu La. One on the south shoulder of Nathu La. Captain Thapar and his Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), were able to push them back. One night just after that, the Chinese opened up fire. They fired around 800 rounds and hit nothing. I had ordered my boys not to fire till they see “whites of their eyes.” Probably they realized that they are wasting ammunition, so they stopped.
In November 1965, one night, they continuously fired Para flares at us. The corps commander commented in jest “are Chinese were celebrating Diwali?” Many shells fell on our side. We did not bother to react, they must have been puzzled. Like last time, we collected the Para shells and sent them to Lt. Gen Bewoor and Gen Manekshaw as proof.
Then news media world wide came to Nathu La. Time magazine, Life, ITV, The Argentineans, the Italians, the Japanese… every day I got visitors and I showed them around. They were assured that they were well defended from the Chinese. I had taken two 37 mm anti tank recoilless guns; one gun was placed in Cebu La in aimed at their command post. We had also taken a medium machine gun detachment to Camels Back.
We had other psychological warfare incidents. I will narrate some of them. I used to take off my belt with the pistols and stand in front of the Chinese to show them that we are not scared. Once the Chinese brought a huge speaker, a Mao’s picture and belted out some atonal tunes to us, which made our boys rolling out with laughter. It was a huge insult to them. Once Nimi, the famous Indian actress, song writer Ramachandran and Mohd Rafi came to visit us. I asked Nimi to wear an attractive Saree and stand on our side of the border and sing “e mere vatan ke logon” song. Early next morning, the sentries told us that the Chinese PLA had brought some Chinese comfort girls to parade them in front of our soldiers. We used to get fresh meat on hoof all the way from Rajasthan. We were aware that the Chinese PLA did not get fresh food. So, we used to unload the meat in their full view and then take it to our cook houses. This went on for one month. So, once the Chinese brought pigs and tried to do the same, they did not know that the Marathas did not eat domesticated pigs. Our boys had a good laugh.
Apart from all that, the Chinese political commissar was with them. Whenever we went up to the border, he would start taking photographs.
By January 1967, I was posted out. By that time the Chinese had built a road from Chumbi Valley to Nathu La.
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Friday, July 20th, 2007
Even as the Su-30 MKIs, F3 Tornadoes and Eurofighter Typhoons of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Royal Air Force (RAF), battle it out in the sky during – Indradhanush 2007, elsewhere discreetly and unseen at the ‘Control and Reporting Centre’ (CRC) of RAF Scampton, a team of ‘fighter controllers’ (FC) from both Air Forces remain closeted and deeply engrossed on computer screens, albeit keeping a close watch on the proceedings.
Of a marked significance during the exercise is the role of FCs accompanying the IAF contingent. In an airspace that is normally bereft of any liberties, fighter pilots invariably depend on them for manouevring tactically when engaging enemy targets in the air. “It is a team work,” informs Wing Commander Jaswinder Singh, a Master Fighter Controller (MFC) on the IAF side. FCs undertake the crucial job of airspace management by coordinating and controlling the conduct of missions while providing regular updates on target information.
IAF FCs hone their ‘controlling skills’ while their winged colleagues manouevre in all the dimensions in air. Their exposure to the Airborne Warning and Control (AWAC) systems is expected to go a long way since the IAF, with its modernization plans of inducting new radars, aerostats and AWACs in place, is all set to enhance further its existing surveillance and control capabilities. Some of the MFCs had some prior exposure to the scenario during the last Indradhanush exercise held in India. They keenly observed the E3D Sentry’s controlling prowess from the air during the current exercise also.
“Since they have been at it for more than 20 years, we have a great deal to learn from their experience,” echoes Squadron Leader Achin Pillai, an MFC. “The RAF controllers have been very forthcoming in sharing their experience and we are coping very well too,” he further added on the quick assimilation, adaptation and professional acumen of the IAF FCs, a fact acknowledged by the RAF FCs too.
The missions being undertaken in the current exercise mostly conform to the NATO/RAF methods of operations. The missions are vastly diverse and include the conventional 1vs1 to large force engagements, involving several aircraft of different types. This increases the challenge for the FCs and requires skills extraordinaire. And significantly, they also enhance flight safety.
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Friday, July 20th, 2007
In 1960’s a lot of advancements in Liquid propulsion (LP) engine made it most suitable for rocket applications. Solid propelled engines had a long way to go. Composite propulsion was at its infancy. Gas turbines were beyond practicality in India those times. Ram-jet engines along with liquid propelled engine had found uses in missile applications, around the world.
With this background, the Special Weapons Development Team (SWDT), Delhi, later merged with Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad, plunged into creating a host of missile development related including rocket motor development.
Some work on propulsion had been carried out by DRDL on the Anti Tank Missile project of 1960’s, with success.
In 1964, Flying Officer Gopalaswamy from IAF joined DRDL due to his interest in liquid propulsion. A dedicated scientist V Gopalan joined him in the pursuit.
100 Pound Engine
Their first experimental engine was a small LOX – Kerosene motor with a 100 pound thrust. In process they created a host of infrastructure for development and testing liquid engines.
In early 1970’s DRDL developed first liquid propulsion engine of about 900 kg thrust. Another sophisticated 3 – tonne liquid propelled engine was successfully designed and flight tested in a period on 1971 to 1976. This engine had 150 seconds flight duration.
The experiences gained proved invaluable when a project eventually came up for the development of a 30000 kg thrust engine under “Project Valiant.”
Valiant Engine
A project to develop a multistage vehicle with intercontinental ranges came up. Having converged on a liquid propulsion system from system preliminary consideration, it appeared that a 30 – tonne Valiant engine will be for staging needs. The engine would have tubular wall engine chamber with turbine feed. The engine would be powered by Nitrogen tetraoxide and UDMH propellant combination, though the later was not available in India.
The Valiant engine tasks were taken on a project basis. A large “Vertical Engine Test” (VTF) facility was created by M/s Engineering India Limited. In 1974, the first Valiant Engine was tested in the facility to prove the entire infrastructure.
Project Devil
Project Devil was first serious attempt to make a Surface to Air missile. The sustainer engine was propelled by a liquid engine. This was a sophisticated piece of engineering during its time as it was regeneratively cooled by the propellant. The propellant was fed into combustion chamber by power driven turbine pumps. This turbo pump itself was driven by a separate monopropellant gas generator. The construction of the engine was entirely by stainless steel corresponding to AISI 304.
UDMH Plant
In 1960’s Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) propellant developments in Germany attracted attention interest of Dr. B Venkatramani at DSL. At that point of time none of the LP engines used UDMH. After grand success of Valiant engine test firings, even Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) approached DRDL for the UDMH. Andhra Sugar Tanuku produces UDMH for DRDL and ISRO today.
All these achievements helped India to develop various missiles under Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP).
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Tuesday, July 17th, 2007
An International Seminar and Exhibition on Naval Armament ‘NAVARMS-07′ is being jointly organised by the Integrated Headquarters, MOD (Navy) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) from 19 Jul 07 to 20 Jul 07 at Hotel Intercontinental, New Delhi. Hon’ble Raksha Mantri will be the Chief Guest for the event.
The focus of NAVARMS - 07 will primarily be to create awareness about the emerging opportunities for greater participation of Indian and foreign industries in the Indian defence production. The seminar is expected to provide a platform for substantive deliberations towards evolving policies for future selection, sourcing and product support apart from harnessing the potential of public and private partnership for production of Naval Armament. The discussions will also dwell upon evolving maintenance and quality assurance philosophies.
The seminar will comprise five plenary sessions. The first session will focus on advances made in armament technology as well as future trends. The second session is structured to appraise the armament manufacturers of the user’s concerns and to lay down the basic ‘ground rules’ for development of a weapon system.
The third session on ‘Role of Industry - Opportunity and Insight’ aims at marketing the possibilities for a manufacturer, be it a small-scale industry or an MNC for armament production. This will be followed by session on “Infrastructure Requirements of the Users and Industry”. The synergy that could be brought about by pooling of the technical expertise and resources available with the DRDO and private industry, the infrastructure that would need to be built to promote indigenous production as well as product support are some of the issues that will be deliberated upon.
Foreign armament manufacturers from USA, UK, Germany, Italy, Israel and France are also expected to participate in the exhibition and seminar. It is hoped that this maiden attempt would help in bridging the gap between perception of the industry towards armament production and the Navy’s expectations from the Industry.
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Monday, July 16th, 2007
Defence Minister (DM) has called for aggressive Indigenisation in Defence Production. Addressing the Defence Ministry Consultative Committee Meeting on Defence Shipyards in Delhi today, DM said this will not only include Defence PSUs but also the private sector. DM said to achieve this both public and private sector must invest more on research and development. The Minister said the stress on Indigenisation is required because of delay in supplies from foreign vendors which sometimes happens due to change in policy. He said sometimes we find the quality of imported equipment is also not upto the mark. While advocating more and more cooperation between public and private sector Defence industry, the Minister cautioned that this will not be done at the cost of Defence PSUs.
The DM also directed the Defence Ministry officials to explore the possibility of setting up an institution to cater to the design needs of the Armed Forces related to ships, submarines, aircraft and other equipment. He said “I must also state that the design capabilities of Indian Defence Shipyards leave much to be desired. One of the major challenges, facing the shipyards is the lack of design capabilities.” DM said, shipyards and Navy should take immediate measures to upgrade their design house or tie up with well known global majors.
DM said the Defence shipyards constitute an important element of India’s indigenous Defence production capabilities. The Minister informed the members that the total value of production of the three Defence shipyards during the year 2005-06 was Rs. 1430.33 crore, which rose to Rs 2557.51 in 2006-07. He said unlike other DPSUs, the Defence shipyard share a very close relationship with their customer i.e. Indian Navy. The Defence Minister said, the Navy has prepared a maritime perspective plan that outlines the total requirement of ships, submarines, etc. upto the year 2022. DM also informed the members that the three shipyards i.e. Mazagon Dock Limited, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd and Goa Shipyard Ltd are Miniratna category I and have shown consistent profits during the last three years. He said today the ‘order-book’ position of the three shipyards is comfortable. “The shipyards have embarked on major modernization projects and their focus is on reducing build times and keeping abreast of various technological developments in shipbuilding. Thus, in future a holistic approach on shipbuilding is proposed to be followed by the shipyards”, the Minister added.
The members while appreciating the performance of the three shipyards made various suggestions to further improve their working. Many members were of the view that the shipyards should seriously look into the problem of time and cost overrun. A member suggested that instead of going for outsourcing the shipyard should try to develop required capabilities, indigenously. A suggestion was also made to send the engineers and technicians from these shipyards to abroad for higher training instead of going for outsourcing. A member suggested the need for benchmarking the products for shipyards so that it could be compared with the best in the world. Another member suggested that salary structure of technicians in the shipyards to prevent them from quitting the job in large numbers. Another member suggested that Government should explore the possibility for securing order for these shipyards from abroad.
Earlier, Addl Secretary Defence Production gave a detailed power point presentation about the three shipyards.
It is not just the Ship yards that share close relationship with Indian Navy even the Defence research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) projects with Navy has high success rates.
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Monday, July 16th, 2007
Winning ways come easily to the young ‘Rhinos’ of No. 30 Squadron. It was not just friends they were winning over from air arms around the world at the ‘Royal International Air Tattoo’ (RIAT), held over the weekend at Fairford. They also won the challenging - BAE Systems “The Graviner Spirit of the Meet Trophy”. Wing Commander AK Bharti, Commanding Officer of the Squadron received the trophy at a special gala dinner hosted at RIAT. It was presented by Mr. Nigel Whitehead, Group Managing Director, Military Air Solutions, BAE Systems. The glittering trophy comes close on the heels of the ‘best static display’ award, won by the IAF contingent at the ‘Waddington International Air Show’, held a fortnight earlier in UK.
The youthful quartet of Squadron Leader PK Garg (Team Leader) and Flight Lieutenants, S Mishra, M Gera and R Panwar, Su-30 MKI pilots all from the Pune-based, No. 30 Squadron, were winners of the trophy awarded to the crew making the most outstanding contribution to the success of ‘The Meet’, states their citation emblazoned on the silver trophy.
Squadron Leader Garg explained that the daylong competition comprised 12 groups with four members each, who had to participate in a series of challenging physical competitions such as an obstacle course, group tasks, walk-in-the-water, shooting competition, first-aid treatment and aircraft recognition. “Apart from our peak fitness levels and competitive spirit, perhaps what really appealed to all others and the organizers was our camaraderie with all participants, who found the spirit of us Indians very nice and endearing,” said Garg. “We made good friends with the French Air Force team who are thoroughly impressed with our IAF. They are aware of our other joint operations with USAF and their very own. We are very friendly and highly professional, they say” - he stated after having competed at the meet with aircrews from France, RAF, Jordan, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Netherland, Belgium, Italy to name a few.
The Indian Air Force (IAF), currently celebrating its 75th anniversary, displayed an IL-78 MKI and two Sukhoi-30 MKI fighters at the ’static display’. A single Su-30 MKI flown by Wing Commander H Assudani and Squadron Leader SK Sharma briefly, kept the shutterbugs asking for more. In more ways than one, the continued presence of the IAF at two major military air shows in a row in Europe couldn’t have been timed any better, as the IAF is at the threshold of reaching yet another historic milestone this year on October 8.
Coming close on the heels of IAF’s maiden participation at the Waddington International Air Show in which the IAF display was adjudged the best ’static display’, the trio of IL-78 MKI flanked by two formidable Su-30 MKIs simply took off from where it left at Waddington, and continued to draw huge fans at their spot.
Significantly, a single Hawk aircraft, complete with IAF markings and tricolour roundel, that are set to arrive in India later in September this year, also made a silent static debut at the RIAT. A prize for guessing the right answer as to which Air Force the aircraft belonged, entitled winners to get a RIAT aircraft checklist.
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