Ministry of Defence

In October 2018, the Cabinet Committee on Security gave approval to the formation of three agencies for the armed forces namely, Defence Cyber Agency, Defence Space Agency (DSA) and Special Operations Division. These agencies would directly serve under the command of the Chairman, Chief of Staff Committee. All three agencies would be headed by a two-star officer (Major General equivalent). Service personnel from the Army, Air Force and Navy would be posted in these agencies based on the requirement and qualifications.

In May 2017, Ministry of Defence (MoD) introduced a new chapter in the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) – 2016 titled as ‘Revitalising Defence Industrial Ecosystem through Strategic Partnerships’. It is better known as SP Model. Through this groundbreaking policy initiative, MoD aims to develop “the defence industrial eco-system in the country through the involvement of both the major Indian corporate as well as the MSME sector.”

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.

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.

Recently, a news piece on NDTV's website suggests that the Indian Air Force (IAF) is planning to procure a longer range non-Russia air-to-air missile for its Su-30 fleet. The report claims that post-Balakot strike India is planning to procure Israel made I-Derby ER, an air-to-air missile with 100 km range. This is 20 km more than the range of R-77, a Russian medium-range air-to-air missile which is part of Indian Su-30 MKI arsenal. 

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.

HAL (standalone) achieved an all-time high turnover of Rs. 19,705 crores, registering a growth of 7.8% for FY 2018-19 over the turnover of Rs 18,284 crores in the corresponding previous year.

Since 2014, ‘Make in India’ is the buzz word in defence. The Narendra Modi led NDA government, in its tenure, has made some very significant policy changes in the defence sector to give more avenues to private players, provide level playing field between the public and private sector. Some of these changes have created some new challenges for the government of one of them is a reduction in the capital budget due to the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Vela, the fourth Scorpene class submarine being constructed by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited for the Indian Navy, was launched today, on 06 May 2019, by Mrs Veena Ajay Kumar, wife of Dr Ajay Kumar, IAS, Secretary Defence Production, who was the Chief Guest on the occasion. VAdm AK Saxena, CWP&A was also present during the launching ceremony.

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.

Mission Shakti, the historic event held on March 27 that made India the fourth nation in the world after US, Russia and China to successfully demonstrate an indigenous A-SAT weapon employing a "Hit to kill" technology. A matter of great Pride for every citizen, in addition to boosting the public moral and enhancing India's status in the world, it has rattled anti-India forces.

Ministry of Defence (MoD), on Monday, awarded a contract to build eight anti-submarine vessels to public sector shipyard Garden Reach Shipyard and Engineers. The Kolkata based shipyard will deliver the boats within 84 months.

According to an MoD statement, “The 1st ship is to be delivered within 42 months from contract signing date and subsequent balance ships delivery schedule will be two ships per year.”

Leading an Indian delegation, Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra, on Friday, visited the Russian shipyard to overview the manufacturing of the Project 11356 Frigates. The Kaliningrad based shipyard is currently manufacturing the hull and the body of the ship. The Shipyard is also involved in the capability enhancement of the Ministry of Defence owned Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) in building the other ships of the project.

Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC the Chief of the Naval Staff, inaugurated the maiden ‘state-of-the-art’ Virtual Reality Centre (VRC) at the Directorate of Naval Design (Surface Ship Group), today.

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.

The Sixth edition of the joint military training exercise between the Indian Army and the Sri Lankan Army, Exercise Mitra Shakti concluded today at Diyatalawa in Badulla district of Sri Lanka. The two week long training that had commenced on 26th March, came to an end with a grand Closing Ceremony that witnessed a smart and scintillating joint parade by the two contingents. It was reviewed by the Indian Army Contingent Commander that also had the trooping in of the national flags of the two friendly nations and a rousing display by the Sri Lankan Army band.  

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.

The Indian Navy and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) today inked a MoU to undertake joint research and development of advanced technologies for the Indian Navy. This will be a collaborative arrangement between labs of CSIR, the Indian Navy and Indian industry.

The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to India of twenty-four (24) MH-60R Multi-Mission helicopters for an estimated cost of $2.6 billion.  The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today.

General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Army Staff is scheduled to visit United States of America from 02 April to 05 April 2019 on an official visit. During the visit, General Bipin Rawat led delegation will interact with senior military hierarchy of the US Armed Forces with an aim to take forward the military to military cooperation.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited recorded a turnover of over Rs. 19,400 crores (provisional and unaudited) for the financial year ended on March 31, 2019 (corresponding figure for the previous year was Rs.

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.

Yard 2097 (LCU L 56), the sixth of the class of LCU MK IV ships, have been built and delivered by M/s GRSE Ltd today, on 30 March 19 at Kolkata. This is the 100th ship delivered by the DPSU in Kolkata. The construction of the ship was overseen by Warship Overseeing Team, Kolkata. 

The Government have appointed Vice Admiral Karambir Singh, presently Flag Officer Commander-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) Eastern Naval Command as next Chief of the Naval Staff with effect from afternoon of May 31, 2019. The present Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba retires on the same day. 

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.

Ministry of Defence has taken steps to ensure implementation of announcement by the Prime Minister on 15th August, 2018 regarding grant of Permanent Commission to Women officers in the Armed Forces.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday, inaugurated Indo-Russian joint venture to manufacture AK-203 assault rifle. The Indo-Russian Rifles Pvt Ltd, a partnership between Indian Ordnance Factory Board and Russian Kalashnikov Concern, will manufacture around 7.5 lakh rifles which will go on to replace the INSAS rifle, the current standard issue to Indian soldiers. These guns are also expected to equip other Indian forces.

Rafale controversy, though not new to high profile defence procurements, has generated unprecedented and avoidable acrimony and bitterness among various stakeholders, be it political parties or different wings of the same Government! later is far more damaging for the nation; while politicians are what they are and will be politicians, any persistent disharmony within various wings of the government can have far-reaching and damaging consequences for the nation! Before attempting to find a solution, it is pertinent to analyse and understand the problem. 

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.

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.

At a time when Indian Air Force (IAF) is facing a rapid decrease in its fighter strength, the trusted old friend of India, Russia has once again came up to its rescue with the offer of 21 MiG-29, enough to populate one fighter squadron. The offer was made when last month when an IAF delegation was on a visit to Russia. 

In a first of its kind, Ministry of Defence has issued Expression of Interest (s) for shortlisting of potential Indian Strategic Partners and foreign OEMs for the ‘Procurement of 111 Naval Utility Helicopters (NUH) for the Indian Navy on 12 Feb 19. These helicopters will replace Chetak Helicopters and will be utilised for albeit SAR, CASEVAC, LIMO, passenger roles and torpedo drops. 95 helicopters out of 111 will be manufactured in India by the selected Indian Strategic Partner.  The case was approved by DAC on 25 Aug 18.

The intent of the government at the Centre has been very clear – to aggressively indigenise the Indian defence industrial sector. But from ‘intent’ to ‘delivery’ there is a huge mismatch, primarily because the bureaucracy has been playing spoilsport.

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 Land Warfare Doctrine -2018 of the Indian Army is a comprehensive document that covers national threat perception in its entirety and offers a detailed outline of the vision to address the same. It speaks of safeguarding the “sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of India against external threats and internal subversion by deterrence or by waging war.” By and large, it covers all challenges that would be posed in meeting the stated objective.

  State-owned aerospace and defence major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has recorded the highest ever turnover of Rs 18,28,386 lakh in 2017-18, stated the government in the Lower House on January 2. In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State Dr Subhash Ramrao Bhamre gave details of revenues and profits of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) from 2015- September 2018.

“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’.

An Engineers’ Conclave was held for three days, October 5 – 7, at Lonavala. It was heartening that one of the themes adopted by the Industry was “Defense Manufacturing”. I addressed the participants on the shifts required in defence research and development (R&D) from the users’ perspective. I interacted with defence scientists and industrialists. A major issue which struck me was that many tend to see research or manufacturing as an end to itself.

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