INS Sandhayak (Yard 3025), the first Survey Vessel Large (SVL) ship, was commissioned into the Indian Navy in the presence of defence minister Rajnath Singh at an impressive ceremony held at the Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam on February 03, 2024. The primary role of the ship is to carry out full scale hydrographic surveys of ports, harbours, navigational channels/routes, coastal areas and deep seas, towards enabling safe marine navigation.
United States Government, on Thursday, notified US Congress on possible sales of 31 MQ-9B, remotely piloted aircraft, through Foreign Military Sales route for $3.99 billion. The RPAs will come with a weapons package including 170 AGM-114R Hellfire missiles and GBU-39B/B Laser Small Diameter Bombs (LSDB), said Defense Security Cooperation Agency in a statement.
In a major boost to ‘Make in India’, Airbus Helicopters has announced that it is partnering with the Tata Group to establish a Final Assembly Line (FAL) for helicopters in the country. The FAL will produce Airbus’ best-selling H125 helicopter from its civil range for India and export to some of the neighbouring countries.
On December 28, 2023, DGA awarded Naval Group a framework agreement for the design, production and testing of an Unmanned Combat Underwater Vehicle (UCUV) demonstrator. A first follow-on contract was also signed for the design and development of Naval Group’s Autonomous Decision-Making Process (ADMP) and secure autonomous navigation.
The DGA announced the order for 109 CAESAR 6x6 MkII, a new version currently under development. Thanks to this order planned in the 2024-2030 defence programming law (LPM), the CAESAR 6x6 MkII will first replace the AUF1 self-propelled howitzer at the end of its operational service and gradually phase out the CAESAR 6x6 MkI of the army. The French artillery will thus have an unprecedented capability since the introduction of the CAESAR 6x6 system in 2008. This order also includes support for the CAESAR MkII during their first two years of use.
In the current geopolitical scenario and with the twin objective of promoting self reliance and exports, the Defence Budget has touched Rs 6,21,540.85 crore in the Financial Year 2024-25. This comes out to be 13.04% of total Union Budget, which was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on February 01, 2024.
A Green Propulsion System, developed under the Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme of DRDO, has successfully demonstrated in-orbit functionality on a payload launched by PSLV C-58 mission. This project - 1N Class Green Monopropellant thruster for altitude control and orbit keeping of micro satellite - was sanctioned to a Bengaluru-based start-up Bellatrix Aerospace Pvt Ltd (Development Agency).
JSC ROSOBORONEXPORT (part of Rostec State Corporation) is the organizer of Russia’s single exhibit at the World Defense Show 2024, which will be held from February 4 to 8, 2024 in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
