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Defence Plan
India has signed up to procure additional satellite-linked Heron MK II drones under emergency provisions, aiming to significantly enhance its defence capabilities following their effective use during Operation Sindoor, according to an Israeli defence industry source. The Heron MK II Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), already in service with the Indian Army and Air Force, will now be incorporated into the Indian Navy, said the source working with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). In September, the defence ministry issued the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the acquisition of 87 MALE drones, with a focus on an indigenous Make in India programme that allows foreign collaboration. "For us, India is a major customer," the unnamed IAI official said. "Our partnership spans over three decades and generations of systems." After Operation Sindoor, all three branches of the Indian Armed Forces have selected the Heron MK II for emergency procurement, the official stated, but did not disclose the
Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi on Friday said warfare is increasingly becoming "non-kinetic and non-contact" and therefore demands a response that requires military strength, intellectual prowess and moral preparedness. In his address at an event held here at Manekshaw Centre to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, he also said that youths need to have a role in various fields, including think-tanks, laboratories and the battlefield. Union minister Kiren Rijiju also addressed the gathering of army officials, students and defence experts at the Chanakya Defence Dialogue: Young Leaders Forum hosted by the Army and defence think-tank Centre for Land Warfare Studies. In his keynote address, the Army chief emphasised the evolving nature of warfare and the responses needed in this scenario. He said, "Warfare is increasingly becoming non-kinetic and non-contact," and, therefore, the response demands military strength, intellectual prowess and moral preparedness.
India's proposed air defence system Sudarshan Chakra will be the "mother of all air defence systems combined together" and will include counter-drone, counter-UAV and counter-hypersonic systems among others, a top military official said on Tuesday. In his address at a conference 'Counter UAVs & Air Defence Systems: Future of Modern Warfare' here, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CISC) Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit also said that the adversary has learnt from Operation Sindoor and so "we will have to be two steps ahead" of them in military thinking and planning. The event saw participation of senior military officers, representatives of various firms in the defence industry and domain experts. Air Marshal Dixit gave references to the recent Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict, the Russia-Ukraine war and how relatively much cheaper drones have played a critical role in inflicting huge damage to expensive military assets of the other side. They have created an "innovation adaption cycle" and .
The entry of other Arab countries in the mutual defence deal between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is not ruled out, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said, adding that doors are not closed for such developments. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday signed a "strategic mutual defence" agreement, which declares that any attack on either country will be considered "an aggression against both". The deal was signed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the Pakistani leader's day-long visit to the Gulf Kingdom, according to a joint statement. The deal comes days after an Israeli attack on the Hamas leadership in Qatar, a key US ally in the Gulf region. Responding to a question whether more Arab nations could become part of the deal, Asif said: I cannot prematurely answer this, but I will definitely say the doors are not closed. Asif, during an interview to Geo News on Tuesday, said he had always called for a similar arrangement like NATO since