Page 20 - Defence Sector

Defence deals boost India-US ties, marks new era in relations, say experts

Defence deals signed between India and US during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's US visit not only enhance India's defence capabilities, but also show growing proximity between the two countries, experts said on Friday. India and US inked a $3 billion deal for 31 High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) UAVs, of which the Navy will get 15 SeaGuardian drones. while the Army and the Indian Air Force (IAF) will get eight each of the land version - SkyGuardian. Another major announcement that came was an MoU signed between GE and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to jointly produce fighter jet engines for the Indian Air Force. Former Deputy National Security Advisor Pankaj Saran called it a "new era" in India-US relationships. "This marks a new era in relationships. The key takeaway is the focus on two sectors - defence and technology. The third element is the boldness of ambition shown by both sides," Saran told PTI. "In the past also we have had summits, but in this particular summit th

Why General Electric's plan to make jet engines in India is big deal

The announcement was timed to coincide with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landmark visit to the United States this week

INDUS-X launch: India, US startups to focus on co-developing technology

The government has called for co-development and co-production of advanced technologies by Indian and American startups as the India-United States Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) was launched at an event in Washington, the defence ministry said on Thursday. At the launch of INDUS-X, Joint Secretary (Defence Industries Promotion) Anurag Bajpai asked the participants to develop mechanisms for future collaborations across industries, academia and investors. He also gave an overview of the "Make in India" initiative, focussing on "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" (self-reliant India) and the philosophy of "Make in India, for the world", the ministry said in a statement. Bajpai led the Indian delegation at the two-day INDUS-X event that was co-organised by Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), the Ministry of Defence and the US Department of Defence (DoD), and hosted by the US-India Business Council (USIBC) on June 20-21. A reception for Indian and US government representatives, defenc

Both cases are different: Pentagon on treatment meted out to India, Turkey

Pentagon's Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh explained the different treatment being meted out to Turkey and India for getting delivery of Russia's S-400 missile system

Defence industry fulfilling security needs of friendly countries: Rajnath

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday that irrespective of the ideology, there has always been consensus from all quarters towards attaining the goal of complete self-reliance, and India's defence industry is also fulfilling the security needs of friendly countries.. The Minister chaired a meeting of the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on 'Self-reliance in Defence Manufacturing' here, an official release said. During the meeting, the members of the committee from both the Houses of Parliament were apprised about the initiatives taken by the MoD to achieve 'Aatmanirbharta' in defence and the progress achieved, so far, due to the decisions. The Minister highlighted the Government's constant endeavour to enhance the security of the country and make the Armed Forces technologically advanced to deal with "challenges emanating out of the ever-evolving global scenario." Terming "demand assurance" as one of the most important aspects to ensure self-reliance

Belarus starts taking delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons

Deployment is Moscow's first move of such warheads - shorter-range less powerful nuclear weapons that could potentially be used on the battlefield - outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union

India successfully test-fires night lauch of ballistic missile 'Agni Prime'

India has successfully carried out a night launch of new generation nuclear capable ballistic missile 'Agni Prime' from the Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha, marking a boost to the country's strategic weaponry. The first pre-induction night launch of the missile with a strike range of 1,000 to 2,000 km was carried out on Wednesday by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the elite strategic forces command, officials said. The defence ministry said the test-firing met all the desired objectives and that it paved the way for induction of the system into the armed forces. The test-firing of the missile came amid India's lingering border row with China. "New generation ballistic missile 'Agni Prime' was successfully flight-tested by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha on June 7," the ministry said. "This was the first pre-induction night launch conducted by the users after three ..

Arunachal CM holds 26th e-Pragati meet, seeks timeline on pending issues

He directed the DCs to take legal action against people who are indulging in construction or any other activity on lands after notification has been issued

German, Indian defence majors near deal to build submarine in India

Thyssenkrupp AG's marine arm and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited are likely to jointly bid for an approximate $5.2 billion project to build six submarines for the Indian navy

Allow Indians to work on US defence projects, says venture capitalist

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the US, an eminent Indian-American venture capitalist has said Indians should be allowed to work on US defense projects as it would give a big boost to the bilateral ties and reduce the cost of innovation in the US defense sector. Prime Minister Modi, when he comes here, should ask for that, said Venkatesh Shukla, general partner, Monta Vista Capital, and former TiE Global chairperson. Opening up of the US defense sector for Indian software companies would help reduce the security vulnerabilities of the US defense sector, would give a big boost to bilateral ties, boost the innovation ecosystem in India and reduce the cost of innovation in the US defense sector, he asserted. "One area that is huge here. It's completely untapped by India, and that area is ..it's software for the Department of Defense and all the critical infrastructure," Shukla told PTI in an interview. The former chairman of TiE Global said the critical ...

Russian arms for India not in German interests: Germany Defence Minister

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in early 2022, India has relied on Russia for its defence needs and has also become a significant customer of discounted Russian crude oil

US Defence Secretary arrives in India, to hold talks with Rajnath Singh

Rajnath and Austin are set to discuss in their talks on Monday General Electric's proposal to share technology with India for fighter jet engines and New Delhi's plan to procure 30 MQ-9B armed drones

Solid order book, indigenisation to keep defence stocks in demand: Analysts

Shares of Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, MTAR Technologies, Bharat Electronics (BEL), and Bharat Dynamics (BDL) have skyrocketed up to 160 per cent in a year

In a first, defence production crosses Rs 1 trillion-mark this year

"The current value of defence production in FY 2022-23 is a rise of more than 12 per cent over FY 2021-22, when the figure was Rs 95,000 crore," the MoD stated

Indian Navy successfully test fires BrahMos supersonic cruise missile

A BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully test-fired from the Indian Navy's frontline guided missile destroyer INS Mormugao, officials said on Sunday. The missile firing demonstrated the Indian Navy's firepower at sea, they said. "INS Mormugao, the latest guided-missile destroyer, successfully hit 'bulls eye' during her maiden BrahMos supersonic cruise missile firing," a Navy official said. "The ship and her potent weapon, both indigenous, mark another shining symbol of 'AatmaNirbharta' and Indian Navy's firepower at sea," the official added. The location of the test-firing of the missile is not immediately known. BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd, an India-Russian joint venture, produces the supersonic cruise missiles that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land platforms. BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound. India is also exporting the BrahMos missiles. In January last year, India sealed a USD 375 million d

B S Dhanoa highlights necessity of indigenous tech base for defence needs

Former Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa (retd) on Friday highlighted the evolving warfare scenario and emphasised the necessity of an indigenous technology base for the defence needs of the country. He was invited as a chief guest at the National Technology Day celebrations at the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) Range Ramgarh in Panchkula. The evolving conflict scenario would require networking of assets and resources with precise targeting and minimum collateral damage, said Dhanoa, according to an official statement here on Friday. TBRL is a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) which comes under the Ministry of Defence. TBRL Director Prof Parteek Kishore brought out the requirement for the synergetic development of next-generation technologies in collaboration with academia and industry. He said TBRL technology development roadmap as well as for enhancing the test and evaluation capabilities to support indigenous development of comple

Defence sector was like a 'club' for Congress to 'plunder nation': PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday took a swipe at Congress leaders, who allegedly tried to mislead employees of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited employees a few years ago when the Indian Army was deployed on the border, and said they are not even talking about the public sector company now. He also claimed that the defence sector was like "a club for the Congress which their close relatives could plunder". In an apparent reference to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi's allegations of irregularities in the Rafale deal and taking away jobs from HAL, Modi said: "Remember the lies they had spread four-five years ago. They tried to mislead the HAL workers. It was done at a time when our Army was deployed on the border. In this election, the Congress leaders are not at all spelling out the name of HAL." According to him, the reason behind the Congress' silence on HAL was that this was for the first time since its inception, the HAL made a record profit. The Prime Minister said ...

India world's fourth largest defence spender in 2022, says SIPRI report

India was the world's fourth largest military spender in 2022, with its defence spending increasing by around six percent as compared to 2021, a report by Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said. The military expenditure report said around 23 percent of the total spending by India was towards funding equipment and infrastructure, including that along the China border where tension continues. However, a major part of the spending was on expenditures like salaries and pensions. With military expenditure of USD 81.4 billion (one billion=100 crore), India's spending was up by six per cent from 2021 and by 47 per cent as compared 2013. "The increase in India's spending shows the effects of its border tensions with China and Pakistan," the report released on Monday said. Expenditure on capital outlays, which funds equipment upgrades for the armed forces and to the military infrastructure along its disputed border with China, amounted to 23 per cen

Competitive bidding must be followed in defence procurement: Rajnath Singh

"Of course, there would be some rare cases when it may not be possible to go for an open tender process. However, such instances should come under exceptions and exceptions should not become the rule"

Guns vs Butter-5: 'India can make do with defence spend of 2% of GDP'

The last of a 5-part series points out that the Standing Committee on Defence report says India will not be able to absorb much more on defence