Government

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has called upon defence scientists to strive for developing cutting-edge technologies indigenously to make India not only self-reliant in defence manufacturing but also global leader in the field.

BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile featuring Indian propulsion system, airframe, power supply and other major indigenous components, was successfully test fired at 10.20 AM today from ITR, Chandipur in Odisha. The missile was successfully test-fired for its full range of 290-km during the launch jointly conducted by DRDO and BrahMos Aerospace.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh launched the website of 11th edition of DefEXpo, to be held in Lucknow from 05 - 08 February, 2020, here today. The website, www.defexpo.gov.in, provides online services to exhibitors, besides hosting informative content about the product profile of DPSUs and Ordnance Factories.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has called for a proactive coordination among all agencies and stakeholders involved in coastal security to achieve the common goal of national security.

Government has decided to appoint Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria, PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC, presently Vice Chief of Air Staff as the next Chief of the Air Staff after the retirement of Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VM, ADC on 30th September 2019.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight tested the Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) ‘Astra’ from Su-30 MKI platform off the coast of Chandipur, Odisha. The trials were held from 16th to 19th September 2019.

Shri Rajnath Singh has scripted history by becoming the first Raksha Mantri to fly the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) ‘Tejas’.

During his day-long visit to Bengaluru, Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh visited Centre for Airborne Systems, DRDO, where he was shown several indigenous products of various DRDO labs.

Air-to-Air missile, ASTRA, has been successfully flight tested on 16 September 2019 off the coast of Odisha. The missile was launched from Su-30 MKI as a part of User trials.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has joined hands with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for development of human centric systems for the Human Space Mission to demonstrate its human space flight capabilities.

Institute for Systems Studies and Analysis (ISSA) Delhi, a premier DRDO laboratory, has designed and developed a new generation Wargaming Software in collaboration with Maritime Warfare Centre, Visakhapatnam to meet the contemporary operational and tactical level wargaming requirement for the Indian Navy.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh here today and accorded approval for Capital Procurement for the Services amounting to approximately Rs 2,000 crores.

Today is a golden letter day in the history of Indian Naval Aviation.

In a major boost for Indian Army, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) today successfully flight tested indigenously developed low weight, fire and forget Man Portable Antitank Guided Missile (MPATGM) in the ranges of Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. The missile was launched from a man portable Tripod launcher and the target was mimicking a functional tank.

 Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh chaired the first meeting of the Apex Committee for DefExpo 2020 here today, in the presence of Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri Yogi Adityanath.

Bringing an end to the speculation on the S-400 payment issue, Russia has confirmed that the two sides have worked out the mechanism for payment and the first system is expected to arrive in 2023, according to Russian media reports.

The delivery will follow the delivery schedule of the contract signed between the two sides in 2018. India is purchasing five regiments of the long-range-surface-to-air-missile systems for over $5.4 billion.

The Fifteenth Finance Commission, headed by Shri N.K. Singh, held a meeting with the Ministry of Defence led by the Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh here today. During the meeting, MoD gave its Fund Projections for the period 2020-2025 which is also the award period of the 15th Finance Commission.

Dr Ajay Kumar, a 1985-batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, has been appointed as Defence Secretary in the Ministry of Defence. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Dr Kumar who will replace Shri Sanjay Mitra, a 1982-batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre, upon the completion of his term.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address, announced that India will soon get its first Chief of Defence Staff. Within a week, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh suggested a change in India’s nuclear doctrine and approved restructuring of Army headquarter. In the meantime, the defence circle began discussing the impending approval of the draft National Security Strategy (NSS).

Two weeks after the historic bill to change the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir, Union government is all set to give India its first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). This is going to be the most important reform in the defence sector. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has voiced government’s desire to encourage private industry investment in defence sector while also strengthening defence PSUs and Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).

To give a boost to indigenisation, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh, accorded approval for procurement of indigenous Software Defined Radio (SDR Tactical) and Next Generation Maritime Mobile Coastal Batteries (Long Range) for the Indian Navy here today.

Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) today successfully flight-tested its state-of-the-art Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missiles (QRSAM) against live aerial targets from Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh said modernisation of the Armed forces is the top priority of the government to enhance the defence capability and preparedness of the country. He visited Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) in Hyderabad today on the occasion of Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Defence PSU.

Mr Rakesh Asthaana, Director General, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), Government of Indiatoday said that the Ministry of Civil Aviation is working on finding solutions to counter rogue drones in the country.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh paid homage to the martyrs at the National War Memorial (NWM) on the occasion of 20th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas here today.

Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy today said that there is enough headroom in mercantile marine sector for India to attain the critical mass and become a hub for defence shipbuilding.

Speaking at the ‘International Seminar on Nation Building through Shipbuilding’, organised by FICCI, Admiral Singh said that shipbuilding can contribute immensely to the vision of making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024.

Godrej Aerospace, a business of Godrej & Boyce, today announced that they played a critical role in ISRO’s most complex mission so far – the launch of Chandrayaan-2.

The 11th biennial edition of DefExpo India- 2020 is scheduled to be held for the first time in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow.  It offers an excellent opportunity for the Indian defence industry to showcase its capabilities and promote its export potential. Main theme of the DefExpo India- 2020 will be ‘India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub’ and focus will be on ‘Digital Transformation of Defence’.

The Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh visited the Kargil War Memorial at Dras in Jammu and Kashmir today. The Raksha Mantri commenced his visit by laying a wreath in memory of the gallant martyrs of Operation VIJAY at the iconic Kargil War Memorial, which was followed by observing of one minute silence as a mark of respect for the fallen heroes.

Indian Army has successfully carried out summer user trials of third Generation Anti-Tank Guided Missile NAG at Pokhran Field Firing Ranges. The trials of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) developed Missile were conducted between July 7-18, 2019.

The newly elected Union Government at New Delhi, in its first budget, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on July 5, allocated over 15 per cent of the funds to defence. She also announced exemption from the basic customs duty to defence equipment not manufactured in India.

In a significant development in the indigenous shipbuilding, Ministry of Defence has issued four shipbuilding Requests for Proposal (RFP) amounting to Rs 15,000 crore for the acquisition of various ships and craft for the Navy and the Coast Guard.  While the RFP for 06 nos Next Generation Missile Vessels (NGMVs) has been issued to seven shipyards, RFPs for 08 nos Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs) and 12

India’s quest to successfully design and develop an indigenous gas turbine engine that can meaningfully power military and civilian aircraft has been on for well over half a century. And indications are that this quest is still a bridge that isn’t going to be crossed too soon. A day-long seminar held in Bengaluru - India’s aerospace capital - highlighted the many failures, the inadequacies and the various steps that have been taken to cobble together an engine programme.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh today reviewed the progress of research and development activities in the area of defence technologies at Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Headquarters.

Hon'ble Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh met General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Army Staff, Lieutenant General Devraj Anbu, Vice Chief of the Army Staff and all the GOC-in-Cs today.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh took a meeting of senior officers of   Ministry of Defence to review operational matters and procurement issues of the Armed Forces. He discussed important revenue procurement cases regarding maintenance of platforms and assets with the Armed Forces. He was briefed by the officers regarding ongoing infrastructure projects and plans for future upgradation.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh reviewed activities of the Ministry of Defence. The RM was briefed regarding Defence Cooperation activities with Friendly Foreign Countries (FFCs). He was also briefed about planning activities of the Armed Forces including Tri-Services agencies viz. HQ IDS and Defence Cyber Agency, Defence Space Agency and Armed Forces Special Forces Division which were approved by the CCS in 2019.

In an epic event in the glorious history of Siachen Glacier, Honourable Raksha Mantri (RM) Shri Rajnath Singh made his maiden visit to the world’s highest battle field today. The RM accompanied by General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Army Staff  arrived at the Thoise air field and was received by Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, GOC-in-C, Northern Command.

Shri Rajnath Singh took over the responsibility as the Defence Minister, today. On his arrival at the Ministry of Defence in South Block, Shri Rajnath Singh was received by the Minister of State for Defence Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, three Services’ Chiefs, Defence Secretary Shri Sanjay Mitra,  Chairman DRDO Dr G. Satheesh Reddy,  Secretary (Defence Production) Dr. Ajay Kumar and Mrs S Kutty, Secretary ESW.

Shri Shripad Yesso Naik took over charge as Minister of State for Defence, here today. On his arrival at the Ministry of Defence in South Block, Shri Yesso Naik was received by Defence Secretary Shri Sanjay Mitra and other senior officials of the Ministry. Apart from Ministry of Defence, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik will also serve as Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of AYUSH.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully test fired AKASH-MK-1S missile from ITR , Chandipur, Odhisa on 25 and 27 May 2019. Akash Mk1S is an upgrade of existing AKASH missile with indigenous Seeker. AKASH Mk1S is a surface to air missile which can neutralize advanced aerial targets. The Akash weapon system has combination of both command guidance and active terminal seeker guidance. Seeker and guidance performance have been consistently established in both the missions. All the mission objectives have been met.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted successful flight test of ABHYAS - High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) from Interim Test Range, Chandipur in Odisha today.

The Defence Acquisition Council, the apex procurement body of the Ministry of Defence, on Friday, approved a proposal to buy 10 airborne early warning (AEW) helicopters for Rs 3600 crore ($500million) from Russia. The Ka-31s are expected to be deployed on the aircraft carrier and the Grigorovich-class frigates.

The Ka-31 is an upgraded version of the Ka-28, operational with the Navy. Since 2003, India has purchased 14 Ka-31 helicopters.

Continuing with the trend of showing confidence in Russian weapons, India, reportedly, on Monday agreed to procure 464 T-90MS tanks. The new batch is expected to be manufactured in India through the extension of the production license, Russian news agency TASS reported.

Supreme Court has passed an order dated 10 April 2019 on 36 Rafale Procurement Case.

A special interaction session was organized by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), here today to present first-hand account of the mission details, development milestones including technological aspects of Mission Shakti.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) today successfully conducted an Anti-Satellite (A-SAT) missile test ‘Mission Shakti’ from the Dr AP J Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha. A DRDO-developed Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) Interceptor Missile successfully engaged an Indian orbiting target satellite in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in a ‘Hit to Kill’ mode. The interceptor missile was a three-stage missile with two solid rocket boosters. Tracking data from range sensors has confirmed that the mission met all its objectives.

In a major boost for Army, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test fired indigenously developed, low weight, fire and forget Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) for the second time today in the ranges of Rajasthan desert. MPATGM is incorporated with advanced features including state-of-the-art Imaging Infrared Radar (IIR) Seeker with integrated avionics. The first test was conducted on 13th March 2019. In both the missions, the missiles hit the designated targets precisely at different ranges. All the mission objectives have been met.

Defence Research and Defence Organisation (DRDO) today successfully test fired the Guided PINAKA from Pokhran ranges. The weapon system is equipped with state-of-the-art guidance kit comprising of an advanced navigation and control system. In both the missions, the weapon systems impacted the intended targets with high precision and achieved desired accuracies. Telemetry Systems tracked and monitored the vehicle all through the flight path.

The Secretary Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Shekar C. Mande, February 21, visited the CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories stall at Aero India 2019 and expressed satisfaction at the development of Saras aircraft for military and civilian purposes and also on the regional transport aircraft (RTA) which it has been talking about for quite some time.

20th February 2019 is a significant day in the journey of Light Combat Aircraft Tejas MK I for Indian Air Force (IAF), when the formal declaration of Final Operational Clearance (FOC) of the aircraft was made by Secretary Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy.

With elections round the corner, the Minister of Defence, Nirmala Sitharaman used the platform of the 12th edition of Aero India, which got underway in Bengaluru, to make a point on how in these past four years, the government had made enormous strides in aerospace and defence sectors. In line with tagline of Aero India, ‘The Runway to a billion opportunities’, she indicated how thousands of crores of contracts in defence had been signed between 2014-15 till 2018.

The stealthy Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) project which the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) is working on ‘definitely needs a new engine’ for the features the aircraft is likely to have, announced Dr Satheesh Reddy, Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri and Chairman, DRDO. 

Speaking on the sidelines of the DRDO International Conference on future of aerospace here in Bengaluru, Dr Reddy said till the new engine is developed ‘we will have to look for an existing engine.’ He did not mention any engine. 

In the background of the Pulwama terrorist strike, the former Scientific Adviser to Minister of Defence and presently a member of NITI Aayog, Dr V.K.Saraswat, urgently called for a major push to manufacture and equip the armed forces with ‘low-intensity conflict equipment’. In non-contact warfare, we need to deploy directed energy weapons for which there has to be a substantial contribution from industry, national laboratories and academia.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight tested the second indigenously developed ‘Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR)’ propulsion based missile system from ITR, Chandipur, Odisha today. Ground booster, separation of ground booster and Nozzle-less-booster performance were found satisfactory. Missile was guided to high altitude to simulate aircraft release conditions and subsequently nozzle-less-booster was ignited. SFDR based missile accelerated to achieve ramjet Mach number successfully. The trajectory was tracked by telemetry and radar stations till touchdown.

Union Government, on February 1, in its budget for the current financial year 2019-20, has allocated over Rs 3, 18, 000 crore for the defence needs excluding the defence pension. This is for the first time that the allocation for the defence has exceeded three lakh crore mark.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), in a landmark decision today, also approved indigenous construction of six submarines for the Indian Navy at a cost of over Rs. 40,000 crores. This is the second project under the MoD’s ambitious Strategic Partnership (SP) model that aims at providing a significant fillip to the Government’s ‘Make in India’ programme. SP model envisages indigenous manufacturing of major defence platforms by an Indian Strategic Partner, who will collaborate with foreign OEM to set up production facilities in the country.

“Russian SU-30 and indigenously manufactured SU-30MKI are not the same. Hence, one to one comparison of cost may not be appropriate,” said Union Minister of State Dr Subhash Ramrao Bhamre in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on January 2.

It was an eventful year for Ministry of Defence. Government of India took policy decision to set up two Defence Production Corridors, one each in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Tamil Nadu. These would go a long way in making India self-reliant in defence production through ‘Make in India’ initiatives. It was also a year of another milestone for women empowerment in the country when the first-ever all-women crew circumnavigated the globe in an indigenously built 56-foot Indian Navy Sailing Vessel, ‘INSV Tarini’.

Government is pursuing initiatives to achieve higher levels of indigenization and self-reliance in the defence sector by harnessing the capabilities of the public and private sector industries in the countries.  These measures include according priority and preference to procurement from Indian vendors and liberalization of the licensing regime.  Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) accords the highest priority to Buy Indian (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured) (IDDM).  The ‘Make’ procedure has been simplified with provisions for earmarking projects not exceeding development c

The recently concluded 18th India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC), chaired by the defence ministers of the two countries,  discussed various ongoing projects including the joint manufacturing of the Kamov-226 helicopters.

The 18th meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) was held here today. The meeting was co-chaired by Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation General Sergei Shoigu.

For the next two days, the Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission is going to sit together to discuss various bilateral issues including strategic, military and payment related challenges. Post-CAATSA India is facing tremendous challenges in making payment to Russia for the import of weapon systems. To solve this problem, the two sides, reportedly, are exploring various options including Rupee-Ruble route.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman met today and accorded approval for acquisition of defence equipment for about Rs 3,000 crore.

As a follow up of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) decision in October 2018 for procurement of four P1135.6 Follow-on Ships, the DAC granted approval for procurement of indigenous BrahMos Missile for two Indian Navy ships to be built in Russia. The indigenously designed BrahMos Missile is a tested and proven supersonic cruise missile and will form the primary weapon on-board these Ships.

A series of flight trials of Astra Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVR-AAM) was conducted by Indian Air Force during September 26 to October 03, 2018 at Integrated Test Range (ITR), Balasore as part of final development trials of the missile.

India is hosting the 12th edition of “Aero India 2019” at Air Force Station, Yelahanka, Bengaluru, (Karnataka) from 20 to 24 February, 2019

Prahar, a novel, highly manoeuvrable precision strike, Surface-to-Surface tactical missile capable of being fired in salvo mode is all set to extend the reach of our artillery fire to over 150 Km. The totally indigenous state of the art weapon system will enhance the potential of our artillery punch by supplementing the gun systems like Dhanush, K9, ultralight howitzers, the indigenous ATAGS and the indigenous PINAKA rocket systems (MkI and MkII) and replacing Prithvi-I, the very first indigenous 150 km range tactical ballistic missile. 

As expected, India and Russia, during the ongoing Russian President’s visit to India for the Annual Bilateral Summit October 4-5, signed the S-400 long-range-surface-to-air-missile deal for $5.43 billion. India is purchasing 5 squadrons of the missiles system which will begin arriving in 24 months.

The deal which saw last moment to and fro was clinched by the personal decision of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Astra, the indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM), was successfully test fired by the Indian Air Force from Su-30 aircraft, today from Air Force Station, Kalaikunda. The missile successfully engaged a manoeuvring target with high precision meeting the mission objectives. In the series of trials held to date, Astra has been launched in the complete Su-30 flight envelope. The flight test assumes significance as it was part of the series of final pre-induction trials.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight tested the indigenously developed surface-to-surface tactical missile ‘Prahar’, from Launch Complex-III, ITR, Balasore, today. Range stations and electro optical systems tracked the missile throughout its flight. ‘Prahar’ is a contemporary weapon system capable of carrying multiple types of warheads and neutralizing a wide variety of targets.

Indigenously developed Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM), was successfully flight tested for the second time from the Ahmednagar range today. All the mission objectives have been met. The two missions on 15 and 16 September 2018 have been successfully flight tested for different ranges including the maximum range capability.

Raksha Mantri Nirmala Sitharaman congratulated the team DRDO, Indian Army and associated Industries for the twin success of MPATGM weapon system.

Pic - PIB

In the Budget Speech 2018, Government has announced that it will bring out an industry friendly Defence Production Policy 2018 to promote domestic production by public sector, private sector and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Consequent to this, a draft Defence Production Policy 2018 has been prepared which provides a focused, structured and significant thrust to development of defence design and production capabilities in the country. The draft policy has been shared with all concerned stakeholders for their views before notification.