DEFENCE AND GEOPOLITICAL NEWS

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday launched Fleet Support Ship 1 (FSS 1), laid the keel of FSS-5 and also inaugurated the upgraded Slipway-4 and a 300-tonne Goliath Crane at the Hindustan Shipyard Ltd here. These milestones demonstrate India's indigenous shipbuilding competencies, a PIB press release said. The upgraded Slipway-4, with its extended length and enhanced load-bearing capability, supported by the goliath crane will enable the shipyard to build and launch vessels of up to 45,000 DWT. This is a prominent expansion of the shipyard's capacity to undertake large and complex platforms. Likewise, FSS-1, the first of five fleet support ships being built for the Indian Navy, entered the waters of the Bay of Bengal just 18 months after steel cutting, said the press release. "These 43,500-tonne vessels will replenish warships at sea, extending the Navy's endurance and reach across the Indian Ocean Region. The keel laying of FSS-5 will mark the programme's steady march ..

Private defence firms are gaining ground in government tenders, with their share of tender value rising to 56 per cent in 2026 from 3 per cent in 2019

CDS also asserted that "speed of learning and adaptability" is a very important combat capability today, and whoever learns faster and adapts faster to the circumstances is going to win.

Jasper Wieck says Germany is ready to sign the $8 billion submarine pact and seeks closer defence cooperation with India amid a worsening strategic environment

He underlined that the public and private sectors should not be viewed as competitors but as organisations that complement each other.

The world is deeply divided and the UN's most powerful body is paralysed when it comes to ending conflicts. But there's a way forward. So says the United Nations' top official. On his way out of office at year's end after nearly a decade, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres - known for doom-and-gloom speeches about the state of the planet - said Thursday he finds hope and possibility in the coming years. But that, he says, is only if the world's governments can finally cooperate on curtailing conflict, upending inequality and grappling with the arriving juggernaut of artificial intelligence. "I believe in a number of fundamental things that need to be done, and need to happen for the world to be better - and I'm determined to fight to make those things happen," Guterres told The Associated Press in a sit-down interview four days before world leaders convene for their annual meeting at the UN General Assembly. His message to leaders and ministers from the UN's 193 member nations .

Rising defence orders and policy support point to strong growth for domestic manufacturers, but supply-chain gaps, lumpy spending and execution remain key risks.

Initial nod accorded for proposed procurement of recce vehicles, indigenous helicopters, radars and electronic warfare systems across the three services

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said India's domestic defence production has nearly quadrupled over the last decade to around Rs 1.80 lakh crore, while exports have surged to nearly Rs 39,000 crore, as the country moves steadily towards self-reliance in the defence sector. Singh made the remarks after laying the foundation stone of a Rs 472-crore facility for the overhaul of T-series battle tanks at the 57-year-old Vehicle Factory Jabalpur (VFJ), an ordnance unit here. "Domestic defence (arms and ammunition) production, which stood at Rs 46,000 crore in 2014, has now reached approximately Rs 1.80 lakh crore. Similarly, defence exports have increased from around Rs 1,000 crore in 2014 to nearly Rs 39,000 crore," he said. The government has set a target of achieving defence exports worth Rs 50,000 crore by 2028-29, the defence minister said. "India's defence sector has now taken firm steps towards complete self-reliance. The world's perception of India is changing, and the

Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Sunday said the convergence of streams like space technology, AI, quantum technologies, robotics, semiconductors and high-performance computing will determine a nation's geopolitical positioning. Speaking here on the 3rd National Space Day, the Union culture and tourism minister also said private participation in the space sector does not mean reducing the importance of entities like ISRO. Privatisation of space is the "democratisation of space opportunities," Shekhawat asserted at the event, organised by the Space Applications Centre (SAC), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Department of Science. Today is the age of space technology, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, robotics, humanoids, advanced materials, semiconductors and high-performance computing, he said, adding that life will certainly be transformed in the coming years. "Just as science is ultimately integrating in the form of a pyramid, in the coming

Defence production has risen 140% since FY17, while private-sector output has grown 198%, as policy reforms increasingly open strategic programmes to industry.

The identification of industries and products to apply chokes on China merits attention and greater focus on execution