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India’s military might is expected to take a big leap early next year when it test-fires the over 5,000-km-range nuclear-capable Agni-V missile. Agni-V is the country’s most ambitious strategic missile project, and a successful culmination of the test stage will propel the country into an elite club of ICBM-capable nations. ``Work is progressing satisfactorily on the development of Agni-V, which is expected to become a reality next year. With this, the DRDO would have given India a comprehensive indigenous strategic capability, available with only a few nations of the world,’’ DRDO chief V K Saraswat remarked while speaking at the...

For a nation that is increasingly outsourcing its defense needs to the United States, India is warning of the serious pitfalls in such a relations. Local media report that Indian army chief Gen. V.K. Singh has written to Defense Minister A.K. Antony cautioning the government about foreign military sales purchases from the United States. The Indian government has been sourcing all its defense deals with Washington through foreign military sales programs, carrying out major defense acquisitions. According to these non-tender purchases, the U.S. government procures the equipment on behalf of the Indian government from its military companies, making a commission...

India and the United States, both have volunteer armed forces of about the same size. But India, with more than three times the population, has a hard time attracting sufficient new recruits. The U.S. has more recruits than it needs, while India has shortages. The reasons are partly economic, and partly due to a high number of illiterates (about 39 percent of the population) in India. In the United States, the military pay is competitive with the civilian economy. In India it is not, at least for the kind of people (literate and healthy) the military is looking for. In...

a hat-trick for missile technologists and the armed forces in the last two days, Agni-I, which can carry nuclear weapons and has range of 700 km, was flight-tested successfully from the Wheeler's Island, off the Orissa coast, on Sunday. The ship-based Dhanush and Prithvi-II were test-fired in a salvo mode on Saturday. The medium range surface-to-surface Agni-I, fired at 1.07 hours from a mobile launcher, homed in on the target within a few metres of accuracy as it splashed down in the Bay of Bengal. The launch was carried out by Army personnel as part of a training exercise. Best-ever...

): With an eye to develop a full fledged multi-layer Ballistic Missile Defence system, India is likely to test-fire its indigenously designed and developed Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) off Orissa coast today. The AAD missile is capable of destroying any hostile ballistic missile at low altitude situation, defence sources said on Saturday. Range integration work at the ITR for the proposed trial is complete and the test is likely to be conducted today, they said. The target missile, a modified indigenously built 'Prithvi' posing as an enemy missile, would first be lifted off...

India and US will hold another joint military exercise called “Shatrujeet” focusing on counter-terrorism, in California next month, a media report said. Indian soldiers numbering around 150-200 will soon be leaving for US to take part in the exercise from April 1 to 19; the Times of India quoted defence ministry sources as saying on Thursday. India had hosted the largest-ever ground combat exercise with US, called `Yudh Abhyas', at Babina last October, where US had showcased its Stryker infantry armoured vehicles and Javelin anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) during the combat manoeuvres. The deployment of the Stryker armoured fighting alongside...

The Defence Minister Shri AK Antony today said the private sector will be allowed to play an increasingly greater role in the modernisation of the Armed Forces. Speaking at a meeting of the Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry on the subject ‘Ordnance Factories’, Shri Antony said Defence Public Sector Undertakings alone will not be able to meet all the requirements of the Armed Forces at the pace and time – frame envisaged by the Government. He however, ruled out corporatisation of the Defence arms industry saying “minus corporatisation, we will give more room to the private sector”. The Defence...

When I heard the India Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik admitting last year that India lacks the air power to meet the myriad terror threats facing the country, I didn't blame him. He was and is still right. When you have identified adversaries in all geographical directions and just 29 operational squadrons in your air force, how can you claim to be a strong and sovereign nation? Can you protect all of your borders let alone airspace, cities and strategic installations? Can you even contemplate using the air force to launch a counter strike and a...

With Sukhoi-30 MKI fighters generating sonic booms over the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago on Sunday, even as the 3,500-km Agni-III missile created fireworks off the Orissa coast, India sent a strong strategic message across Bay of Bengal that it is ready to play the role of a security facilitator in the larger Indian Ocean Region (IOR). India might not want to be seen as a regional supercop in the IOR, nor as the prime mover of a naval military bloc in the Asia-Pacific region . But yes, it has legitimate security concerns in the IOR, which falls in its strategic...

NEW DELHI: India on Sunday successfully test-fired its indigenous Agni-III ballistic missile, which has a range of over 3,500 km and can even strike targets deep inside China. This paves the way for induction of the nuclear-capable missile into the armed forces and consolidates India’s position among a select group of nations having intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) capability. The missile, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is capable of carrying warheads weighing up to 1.5 tonne, is 17 metres tall and has a launch weight of 50 tonne with a two-metre diameter. It was tested on Sunday...

Taking note of India's 'growing influence' in global affairs, the United States has said the country will be a net provider of security in the Indian Ocean and beyond with the growth of its military capabilities. "The distribution of global political, economic and military power is shifting and becoming more diffuse. The rise of China, the world's most populous country, and India, the world's largest democracy, will continue to reshape the international system," said the Quadrennial Defence Review report released by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates. The once-in-a-four year report, which shapes the policy of the Pentagon for the next...

India has introduced into its Armed forces the new BrahMos missile, the head of the BrahMos Aerospace company, Sivathanu Pillai, told RIA Novosti news agency today. Established in 1998, BrahMos Aerospace, a joint Indian-Russian venture, produces and markets BrahMos supersonic missiles. The sea-based and land-based versions have been successfully tested and put into service with the Indian Army and Navy. Earlier in the day, Russia's security chief, Nikolai Patrushev, visited the BrahMos plant in Hyderabad, where the new missile is produced. The missile, known as BrahMos Block-2, has a top speed of over Mach 5, which makes it virtually impossible...

At least half of the country's defence equipment is obsolete and needs urgent upgrade, a report said on Wednesday, underlining gaps in its defence preparedness in a region roiled by Islamist militancy and military rivalries. Only 15 per cent of India's equipment is "state of the art", according to the first comprehensive report on the country's defence sector prepared by global consultancy firm KPMG and the Confederation of Indian Industry. New Delhi changed its defence procurement policy last year to further open its defence sector to the world and local companies after the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, in which...

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Jan. 22 of a possible Foreign Military Sale to India of 145 M777 155mm Light-Weight Towed Howitzers with Laser Inertial Artillery Pointing Systems (LINAPS) and associated parts, equipment, training and logistical support for a complete package worth approximately $647 million. The Government of India has requested a possible sale of 145 M777 155mm Light-Weight Towed Howitzers with Laser Inertial Artillery Pointing Systems (LINAPS), warranty, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, publications and technical documentation, maintenance, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor representatives’ technical assistance, engineering and logistics support...

Memories in New Delhi run deep about how India's relative tardiness in developing strategic offensive systems [nuclear weapons] redounded in its relegation on 'judgment day' [when the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was signed in 1968] to the formal category of non-nuclear weapons state," said Sourabh Gupta, senior research associate at Samuels International Associates in Washington, DC. "With its early support of the former US president George W Bush's ballistic missile defense program and its current drive to develop anti-ballistic missile/anti-satellite capability, New Delhi is determined not to make the same mistake twice," added Gupta. "If and when globally negotiated restraints are...

The U.S. media suspects China and India of developing anti-satellite weapons. An article to this effect has been published the New Scientist magazine. Until recently, only the Soviet Union, its legal successor Russia and the United States were capable of developing anti-satellite weapons. U.S. analysts now think that China and India are acquiring similar capabilities. To what extent are such fears justified? It is hard to overestimate the role played by military satellite systems. Since the 1970s, an increasingly greater number of troop-control, telecommunications, target-acquisition, navigation and other processes depend on spacecraft which are therefore becoming more important. At this...

India has begun development of lasers and an exoatmospheric kill vehicle that could be combined to produce a weapon to destroy enemy satellites in orbit, the director-general of India’s defense research organization said Jan. 3. “The kill vehicle, which is needed for intercepting the satellite, needs to be developed, and that work is going on as part of the ballistic missile defense program,” said V.K. Saraswat, director-general of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, which is part of India’s Ministry of Defence. In a televised press briefing during the 97th Indian Science Congress in Thiruvananthapuram, Saraswat said the program includes...

The secret undersea weapon Sandeep Unnithan January 17, 2008 Located up the winding shipping channel in Visakhapatnam harbour is a secret, completely enclosed facility known only as the Shipbuilding Centre (SBC). Inside this dry dock, nearly 50m below ground level, is a cylindrical black shape, which is as tall as a two-storey building and at 104 m in length, is longer than the Qutub Minar lying on its side. Technicians working on it confess to a surge of national pride: India’s first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine or SSBN is arguably its greatest engineering project. For over a quarter of a...

NEW DELHI: In what will be the biggest defence deal with US till now, India is now firmly moving ahead to seal the contract for acquiring six C-130J 'Super Hercules' military transport planes for "special operations" at a cost of around $1 billion. Defence ministry sources said the FMS (foreign military sale) contract — a government-to-government arrangement — for the C-130Js will be concluded "soon" since it had been catered for in the ongoing defence budget. "We are closely studying the offer after the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency notified the American Congress in May. The contract will be signed...

Nuclear submarine not a distant dream Josy Joseph Saturday, September 22, 2007 12:29 IST Two-decade project should be ready for sea trial in 2009 NEW DELHI: The defence establishment is making stunning progress in developing its underwater ability to launch nuclear missiles, the most assured means of launching weapons without enemy detection. The development of a nuclear submarine and nuclear-capable missile would result in India joining an exclusive club of five countries. The most potent ability in the nuclear triad — the other two being land and air based nuclear capability — the underwater capability is much closer to realisation...

Russia aims to sell India 40 fighters in Sept -Ifax MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia hopes to sign a contract next month to sell India 40 Sukhoi fighters, the president of the Irkut warplane maker said on Friday, Interfax news agency reported. "We hope to sign a contract in September to deliver another 40 Su-30MKI fighters to India," Irkut president Oleg Demchenko told Interfax. The Su-30MKI is a long-haul Sukhoi fighter specially modified for the Indian air force. Indian officials had said they planned to sign a deal to buy 40 Sukhoi fighters by the end of March. India's air force,...

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the biggest naval wargame to be hosted by India in the Bay of Bengal, a top American military official on Thursday scotched China's fears that the exercise involving US, Australia and Japan was aimed at isolating the communist country. US Navy's Pacific Commander Timothy J Keating observed that Indo-US military ties had become "more robust" but side stepped questions about opposition from the Left parties to the upcoming Malabar exercise, merely saying, "It is what democracy is all about." The four-day Malabar exercise beginning on September 4, which will see the biggest congregation of warships in...

Russia showcases fighter jet developed for Indian Navy 21 Aug, 2007, 1815 hrs IST, PTI ZHUKOVSKY: Russia for the first time showcased the MiG-29K deck-based fighter specially developed for the Indian Navy at the 8th international aerospace show 'MAKS-2007', inaugurated by President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. MiG-29K and its fighter-trainer variant MiG-29KUB, showcased here at the local airbase near Moscow, is part of the USD 1.5 billion Gorshkov aircraft carrier deal and India is also expected to deploy them on the indigenous aircraft carriers under Advanced Air Defence Ship (ADS) project currently at an advanced development stage. MiG-29K is equipped...

According to Subhra Jain, a freelance reporter in New Delhi, she bumped into a very senior Indian Military official in a nightclub in New Delhi. While talking what she came to know will make the rest of the world sit up all night. According to her, Extra Terrestrials have been visiting India and the rest of the world for thousands of years. In recent days most of the super powers have been formally contacted. India is no exception in recent days. ’They always contact through the ground radar stations of the military’, she says. Indian Himalayas and Ladakh (China-India) border...

Monday India celebrates Republic Day - and worries neighbors, especially Pakistan. NEW DELHI – Every Republic Day, India struts its military stuff, dragging out the latest ballistic missiles and tanks and parading the finest soldiers on the subcontinent. But Monday, on this year's anniversary, India has a bit more to strut about. Just five years after US-imposed sanctions turned India and Pakistan into virtual pariah states for their nuclear-weapons tests in 1998, India has emerged as America's "strategic partner" in South Asia. Far more than its alliance with Pakistan to hunt down Al Qaeda and Taliban remnants, America's new relationship...

India to display military might at Republic Day IANS Thursday, January 22, 2004 NEW DELHI: Missiles like the long-range, nuclear-capable Agni-II and sophisticated weapon systems like T-90 tanks and Il-78 air-to-air refuelling aircraft will be among the attractions at this year's Republic Day parade. The parade, held every January 26 to mark India's emergence as a republic in 1950, will also feature the BrahMos, a missile jointly developed by India and Russia, the home-grown Windy 505 fast attack vehicle and a flypast by the indigenously developed advanced light helicopter. "The whole parade is a highlight as it showcases the might...