Current Affairs May 2017 - Defence
News 1 - Indian Army test-fired Brahmos Cruise Missile block III
Indian Army successfully test-fired advanced Block-III version of Brahmos cruise missile in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The Brahmos is a supersonic cruise missile developed jointly by Russia’s Mashinostroyenia and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation. The Block-III version is a land attack variant of the weapon system was tested in steep-dive mode.
Apart from land, the weapon system can also be fired from sea, submarine and air. The missile can be fired on three different targets.
News 2 - Surface-to-surface Agni-II ballistic missile successfully test-fired
India’s nuclear-capable, surface-to-surface Agni-II ballistic missile, was test-fired from the Wheeler Island, off Odisha coast. It has a strike range of 2000 kms.
The test was aimed at re-establishing the operational effectiveness of the weapon system. The successful launch proved reliability of the medium range surface to surface missile.
The missile can carry a nuclear payload of 1000kgs. Agni missile series being developed by DRDO as a deterrent against nuclear armed neighbours are among India’s most sophisticated weapons.
News 3 - INS Karwar and INS Kakinada decommissioned
Indian Naval Ships Karwar and Kakinada were decommissioned on 09 May 2017.
INS Karwar (M67), was the first of the ‘Natya’ class minesweepers acquired from Russia. She was commissioned on 14 Jul 1986. The ship operated from Vishakhapatnam till 2013 after which she was based at Mumbai.
INS Kakinada (M70), was the second of the class and also commissioned at Riga, Russia on 23 Dec 1986. Both the ships have undertaken countless mine-sweeping missions.
News 4 - Tejas Successfully Test Fired Derby Air-to-Air
Tejas, the Light Combat Aircraft successfully demonstrated an Air-to-Air beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile firing capability by releasing Derby Air-to-Air BVR missile in RADAR guided mode.
The objective of the test was to assess the Derby integration with aircraft systems on-board Tejas including the aircraft avionics, fire-control radar, launchers and Missile Weapon Delivery System and to verify its performance.
The test was conducted on a Manoeuvrable Aerial Target at the Interim Test Range (ITR), Chandipur. The sensors at ITR also tracked the target and missile.
News 5 - INS Rajput on a 3-day visit to Yangon
INS Rajput, Indian Navy's front line guided missile destroyer entered Yangon, Myanmar for an Operational Turn around (OTR) from 11-13 May 17.
The ship was given a traditional welcome and received by Commodore Thant Sin Lay Deputy Commander Naval Dockyard.
During the visit, 35 Indian Naval officers visited the Myanmar Naval Training Command and 35 Myanmar Navy officers and 160 under trainee sea cadets visited the ship and were given a guided tour of the ship. A friendly volleyball match was also with Myanmar navy personnel.
News 6 - INS Darshak completes hydrographic surveys in Sri Lanka
INS Darshak of the Eastern Naval Command which has been on a two-month deployment to Sri Lanka successfully completed surveys of Weligama Bay and Southern coast of Sri Lanka. The survey operations were undertaken in three phases and ship also visited Colombo and Galle harbour.
The ship and ship’s survey motor boats fitted with multi beam systems were extensively deployed and the hydrographic survey data for more than 7000 nautical miles was collected. INS Darshak has the unique distinction of having surveyed in Mauritius.
News 7 - India test-fired ‘Spyder’ surface-to-air missile from Odisha test range
India test fired a surface-to-air missile ‘Spyder’ from a mobile launcher at launch complex 3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha.
Spyder (Surface-to-air PYthon and DERby) is an acquired missile system from Israel which is a short-range, quick reaction surface-to-air missile to neutralise enemy targets up to a distance of 15 km and at heights between 20-and-9,000 metres. Spyder deal was inked by the IAF with Rafael and Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) in 2008.
News 8 - BSF to use Invisible Laser Wall Kavach to Secure Border
The Border Security Force (BSF) will make use of a newly developed technology, called Kavach (KVx) series laser walls, to guard the the 198 km India-Pakistan international border. The laser walls can detect intrusions and relay information immediately to the nearest post for action.
The new technology has been developed by Delhi-based defence IoT firm, CRON Systems. It is based on infrared array, which is invisible. Kavach walls can also work in transparent water and glass.
News 9 - Joint HADR Exercise held at Naval Station Karwar
The Annual Joint Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Exercise involving multiple agencies and conducted by Indian Navy’s Western Naval Command was held at Naval Station Karwar.
The exercise is named as "KARAVALI KARUNYA". It involves both professional exchange and actual disaster response mechanisms and is set on a Tsunami disaster scenario.
Naval Ship Repair Yard (Karwar) has been set up as a repair and refit organisation, on the Western Coast, as part of truncated Phase-1 of Project Seabird.
News 10 - Indian Navy and Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad Sign Memorandum of Understanding
The Indian Navy and Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad signed a ‘Memorandum of Understanding on Data Sharing and Scientific cooperation in the field of Meteorology and Oceanology’.
The broad areas of cooperation include, sharing of non-confidential observational data for pre-launch sensor calibration and post launch satellite data validation, operational use of SAC generated weather products, provisioning expertise for installation of various satellite data processing modules at Naval METOC organisations and sharing of subject matter experts between the organisations for effective knowledge transfer.
News 11 - Indian Army gets its first modern artillery gun after 30 years
Two of the 145 M-777 ultra-light howitzers artillery guns will be received by Indian Army from US, after the Bofors scandal broke out nearly 30 years ago. These artillery guns are of benefit to Indian Army as they will be deployed along the India-China border.
India and US has entered into an agreement where India will buy first 25 guns from the US and the rest 120 guns will be assembled in India at a cost of around $700 million.
News 12 - India-Singapore joint naval exercise concluded
The Indian Navy and the Singapore Navy concluded bilateral military exercise in the South China Sea, during which they conducted a series of advanced naval warfare drills, including air defence exercises and gunnery live-firings. The Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise 2017displayed the maiden participation of Singapore's F-15SG fighter jets.
"SIMBEX-17’, is the bilateral naval exercise between Navies of the Republic of Singapore and India. SIMBEX is an acronym for “Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercises”. 2017 bilateral exercise is the 24th iteration of the annual bilateral exercise held since 1994.
News 13 - Air Marshal PN Pradhan Appointed as Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff
Air Marshal PN Pradhan took over as the Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Operations). Pradhan has held several key positions including Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Transport and Helicopters) at Air Headquarters and Senior Air Staff Officer at the Southern Air Command.
For his distinguished service, Pradhan was awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2014.
The IDS is a key platform to ensure a high degree of synergy between the armed forces and was created in 2001.
14 - 3rd Defence – ITTA Joint Seminar and Exhibition: 2017
The 3rd Defence – ITTA (Indian Technical Textile Association) Joint Seminar cum Exhibition was inaugurated by Smt Smriti Zubin Irani, Hon’ble Minister of Textiles, Govt of India, on 22 May at Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi.
The exhibition included topics related to developments in personal and protective clothing as also building, medical and geo textiles. Items like Special Snow Socks, HAPO Chambers, Snow Goggles, Thermal Insoles and Ruck Sacks being used in Siachen Glacier and other super high altitude areas which were being imported till recently will now be manufactured in India of matching quality and at a much cheaper price.
15 - $630 million deal inked between Israel aerospace and India
Israel Aerospace Industries signed $630 million deal with India for providing better and advanced long range air and missile defence systems for four ships of the Indian Navy. The deal is mainly done for supplying Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LRSAM) systems.
The deal gives major boost to India’s DRDO, IAI and the defence forces of both countries. The LRSAM is a joint collaboration of IAI and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation.
