Indian Navy validates military satellite Rukmini or GSAT-7's network in Bay of Bengal during recently concluded Tropex Exercise

The exercise saw the western and eastern fleets amassing across the Bay for the intensive combat manoeuvres in all the three dimensions of “surface, air and underwater.

(China can take out satellites http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Chinese_anti-satellite_missile_test)

ISRO photos via: www.isro.org

Rukmini or GSAT-7

Indian navy used India’s first-ever dedicated military satellite, Rukmini or GSAT-7, to seamlessly network around 60 warships ,75 aircraft and unspecified number of submarines during a massive month-long naval combat exercise in the Bay of Bengal that ended last week.

The location of the exercise “Tropex,” or the theatre-level readiness and operational exercise, was significant since India is steadily bolstering military force-levels on the eastern coast and Andaman and Nicobar archipelago to counter China’s strategic moves in the critical Indian Ocean region (IOR).The geostationary naval communication and surveillance satellite, which has a 2,000-nautical mile footprint over the IOR, beams signals from its UHF, S, Ku and C-band transponders to network all warships and aircraft with operational centres ashore through high-speed encrypted data-links.Tropex exercises of the Indian navy provided with an opportunity to validate its network-centric warfare capabilities with the effective utilization of GSAT-7 satellite, which was launched last year.

TROPEX 2014 - Theatre Level Readiness and Operational Exercise

Exercise Tropex (Theatre Level Readiness and Operational Exercise) involved combination of both the Eastern and the Western Fleets engaged in a month-long exercise.

India's DRDO develops Corner Shot rifle

India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a corner-shot rifle for the special forces that provides greater safety during counter-insurgency operations as its user is not in the direct line of fire, a top official has said.

The lightweight rifle is made of composite materials and is multi-calibre, capable of firing both 5.56 and 7.62 rounds. It is at present undergoing final tests at its small arms unit at Armament Research and Development Establishment in Pune.

Once the evaluation trials are over, the rifle design would be offered to a public or private sector industry for manufacture as per the government’s decision, and then made available to special forces like the National Security Guard (NSG), Indian Army and police units.

Second test of Nirbhay cruise missile in February

The director-general of Defence Research and Development Organisation also confirms the existence of India’s second nuclear-powered submarine

Info about the first test of Nirbhay cruise missile


A year after India’s own Tomahawk class cruise missile Nirbhay test failed, scientists are ready for the second trial by the end of this month.

“We plan to launch Nirbhay by February end. It is a Tomahawk class missile but I will not disclose the range,” Avinash Chander, scientific advisor to the Defence Minister told Deccan Herald on the sidelines of the Indian Science Congress here. The long-range all weather subsonic cruise missile is India’s answer to the US Tomahawk, which was introduced first in the 1970 but underwent several modifications later. Used by the US Navy and Royal Navy, the missile reportedly has a range between 1,300 and 1,700 km.

Nirbhay is understood to have a range of 1,000 km, though there is no official confirmation. Once ready, the Navy would be the first user of this missile. Asked the reasons for delay in the project, which is in the developmental phase for many years, Chander said, “Nirbhay is a typical model of how we should not do project R&D. Earlier it was piecemeal work, but new thrust has been provided to this project.”

The missiles maiden test in March failed as it deviated from its pre-determined path after a few minutes, threatening the east coast. Subsequently, scientists at the control room of Interim Test Range, Chandipur, had to terminate its course forcing the surface-hugging cruise missile to explode midair over Bay of Bengal.

“Scientists have identified that inertial navigation system has malfunctioned and corrective design and modifications are being implemented,” Defence Minister A K Antony informed Parliament in May.

The director-general of Defence Research and Development Organisation also confirmed the existence of India’s second nuclear-powered submarine, which is under construction at a military dockyard in Visakhapatnam for several years now. “The first submarine (Arihant) took 18 years. We hope to have the second submarine, which is under development, in 12 years,” he said.

The submarine launched ballistic missile (K-15) for Arihant is fully ready after several successful trials from underwater pontoons. When the Arihant goes for a sea trial shortly, it will carry the ballistic missile completing India’s nuclear triad or second-strike capability from the land, air and sea in case of a nuclear attack.

Indian Navy's new aircraft carrier - INS Vikramaditya comes out with flying colours during exhaustive sea trials

 

 

Aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (also Gorshkov), the Indian Navy's last remaining vessel to be delivered by a foreign shipyard, came out with flying colours when it was operated on full throttle during exhaustive sea trials in Barents Sea in Russia on Saturday.

The trial feedback helped in overcoming anxiety in New Delhi about the performance of the ship which had faltered during high speed runs last year when its boilers faulted resulting in engines failing to produce adequate power to propel the 45,000-ton vessel.

It was a major setback as the delivery of the ship, India's second aircraft carrier, was pushed by a year. After extensive repairs, the ship was back in the sea earlier this month for final delivery trials.

Navy personnel are onboard the vessel, keeping a hawk eye on the performance of the carrier which is going to be the flagship of its fleet in the coming decades.

Sources said the carrier touched top speed of around 32 knots in wind and tide condition and the trials will continue to test capability of the retrofitted ship that will cost India around $ 2.3 billion.

The high speed trials will continue for some more days to ensure that performance is stable. It will be followed by trial landings by the Mig-29K fighters. The deck landings and take-offs were performed by the Russian pilots last year as well.

The navy hopes that its floating airbase would be ready for commissioning by the end of this year and its formal induction will take place in the early months of 2014.

INS Vikramaditya is now the only naval warship in a foreign shipyard. All the remaining 41 warships are being constructed in domestic shipyards in a major boost to the local shipbuilding industry.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/ins-vikramaditya-aircraft-carrier-gorshkov-indian-navy-barents-sea-russia/1/296833.html

Indo-Russian - BrahMos set to become a “Super Rocket”

The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile is all set to become a “super rocket” soon, which would beef up India’s tactical defence capability significantly. However, the test launches of the air variant of the BrahMos II hyper-sonic missile, which were supposed to be completed by 2012, are experiencing delays. The realistic date for completion of these tests is now believed to be 2015.
 Sources in the Indian strategic establishment said India has upgraded its BrahMos missiles by “wedding” these with Russia’s advanced satellite navigation systems. The “marriage” of the BrahMos’s navigation systems with Russia's Kh-555 and Kh-101 strategic long-range cruise missiles has made BrahMos a “super rocket”. The word “rocket” here is used in context of a weapon, not a space rocket.

The new avatar of BrahMos will have to undergo tests and field trials before it becomes operational with the Indian defence services. However, this would not take unduly long.
The improved version of BrahMos will be endowed with a sub-strategic capability and would increase its tactical range too. The new version would also be capable of carrying nuclear warheads and can be launched from sea, land and air, like the old version. Its range of hitting targets would now be over 180-300 miles (300-500 km).


The new air-launched version of BrahMos will be carried by Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft. The Indian Air Force is set to be a far more potent force by 2020 when it is scheduled to deploy 200 advanced Sukhoi fighters, equipped with the new version of BrahMos “super rockets.” This will be a lethal combination and will make the Sukhois strategic bombers.

Another important feature of the upgraded BrahMos missile is that it has added GPS-GLONASS technology to it. This is of vital strategic importance as GLONASS, Russia’s navigation service provider, gives India access to military signals, while the American GPS does not.
BrahMos missile is jointly developed by India and Russia and is named after two major rivers – Brahmaputra of India and Muscova of Russia. The missile is capable of flying at a very high speed at tree-top levels which adds to its tactical utility.

BrahMos is a two-stage missile with a solid propellant booster engine as its first stage which brings it to supersonic speed and then gets separated. BrahMos is the first supersonic cruise missile known to be in service and is deployed on INS Rajput since 2005. The missile has 'fire and forget' principle, adopting varieties of flights on its way to the target. Its destructive power is enhanced due to large kinetic energy on impact. Its cruising altitude could be up to 15 km (9.3 miles) and terminal altitude is as low as 10 meters.
Compared to existing state-of-the-art subsonic cruise missiles, BrahMos has three times more velocity, 2.5 to 3 times more flight range, 3 to 4 times more seeker range and 9 times more kinetic energy. The missile has identical configuration for land, sea and sub-sea platforms and uses a Transport Launch Canister (TLC) for transportation, storage and launch. The missile is universal for multiple platforms and can pin point accuracy with high lethal power aided by large kinetic energy on impact. It has shorter flight times leading to lower target dispersion and quicker engagement.
 So far India has deployed BrahMos missile in the western sector only against Pakistan. However, since the missile is fitted on a mobile launcher it can be transported anywhere in the country and deployed within a short time. The Indian Army is planning to deploy it against China as well in near future. India started a massive war preparedness drill in Arunachal Pradesh in the north-eastern sector codenamed “Pralaya” on February 29, 2012.
BrahMos is a stealth supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. It is about three-and-a-half times faster than the USA's subsonic Harpoon cruise missile and three times faster than USA's subsonic Tomahawk missile. India has also planned an air-launched variant which is expected to come out in 2012 and will make India the only country with supersonic missiles in all the defence forces. However, the 2012 deadline is unlikely to be met.
A hypersonic version of the missile, which is also presently under development with speed of Mach 7 to boost aerial fast strike capability, is expected to be ready by 2016. BrahMos has the capability of attacking surface targets by flying as low as 10 meters.

The air launch version and the submarine launch version of the missile system are in progress. The Indian Army has so far placed orders for the BrahMos missile to be deployed by three regiments of the Army and two of them have already been inducted operationally. A hypersonic version of the missile, which is also presently under development with speed of Mach 7 to boost aerial fast strike capability, is expected to be ready by 2016.

The army and navy versions of the BrahMos missile weigh three tons or more. The missile is also available for exports whosoever is interested in it as long as they are ready to shell out about $2-3 million apiece. The cost depends on the version. The BrahMos has been developed as a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India and the Federal State Unitary Enterprise NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM) of Russia under BrahMos Aerospace. The missile is named after two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.

First Indian Air Force C-17A CB-8001 Globemaster

The first Indian Air Force C-17A (F-253/IAF-1) CB-8001 is bathed in the bright white light of the flight ramp flood lites on December 7, 2012 just hours after emerging from the production hanger at Long Beach Airport (LGB/KLGB)

India's light combat aircraft - Tejas

India Plans Robots To Replace Soldiers

http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/asd_12_15_2011_p04-03-405438.xml

NEW DELHI — Indian scientists are in the process of developing robots to replace human soldiers in the near future as part of the country’s unmanned warfare system.
A new research facility has been set up by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and BEML Ltd., the state-run heavy engineering and defense equipment major, in Avadi, a suburb of Chennai in south India, to make robot soldiers and cargo-transporting robots for the country’s army.

“Whatever a soldier will do in warfare, a robot soldier should be able to do. If the human is doing a search in warfare, the robot soldier will also do that. If a human is doing firefighting, the robot soldier will do that,” says V.K. Saraswat, DRDO’s director general and scientific adviser to India’s defense minister. “The DRDO is working on the project to have robot soldiers by 2020 or 2030,” he says.
The robot soldiers will be able to perform duties including carrying loads of ammunition and payloads for mine detection and surveillance. Saraswat says they can be controlled from remote locations, which would help the country’s armed forces by not having to deploy people in areas which are difficult to access. “Such a robot needs a database and artificial intelligence to carry out its activities,” Saraswat says. “A lot of effort and coordination among various agencies in the defense sector [will be] needed to develop these robots.”

The new robot soldiers are likely to replace at least some of India’s 100,000 soldiers.
In a separate project, DRDO is planning to design robotic mules that can replace the animals used by Indian soldiers to carry heavy loads in mountainous terrain.

India gets hawk eye over Strait of Malacca - INS Baaz

India will on Tuesday formally open a key naval station, aptly named INS Baaz (Hawk), in the southern part of Andaman and Nicobar Islands that will boost its ability to keep an eagle eye on the critical maritime choke-point: the Strait of Malacca.
With navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma declaring the base open, the nation’s southeastern-most fringe, which is closer to Indonesia than the Indian mainland, India will gain strategic supremacy in the area, an Indian Navy officer said in New Delhi.
The new base, which will also include an upgraded air base, will soon be operating heavier military planes from the Indian Air Force fleet like the just-inducted Hercules C-130J Super Hercules meant for special forces’ operations.
Campbell Bay straddles a strategically key location in the Indian Ocean/Bay of Bengal overlooking the mouth of the Strait of Malacca, from across Aceh in Indonesia. With this, the Indian military will be sitting pretty at a location from where it can kickstart operations if maritime activities in the region are threatened.
Once a piracy-affected region, Indian and Indonesian navies continue to monitor it for criminal activities by jointly patrolling their maritime borders.
India’s move comes even as the US has spelt out its future military strategy to focus on the Asia-Pacific by “re-balancing” its force levels from the Atlantic.
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta had said at the Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore last month – and in New Delhi earlier – that the US will base at least 60 per cent of its naval assets in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Strait of Malacca acts as a key link between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, connecting East Asia, Australia and the US with Asia and Africa.
At least a quarter of the world’s trade – and more importantly, at least 80 per cent of China’s oil requirements – passes through the Strait of Malacca.
India already operates naval bases at Port Blair and Car Nicobar in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands chain.
It also has at least three air strips at Diglipur in the north Andamans, Port Blair and Car Nicobar.
The new base will significantly increase India’s strategic reach in the region, considering that Campbell Bay is about 300 nautical miles south of Car Nicobar, till now the navy’s major forward operating base in the area.

Indian Navy Submarine hunter Poseidon-8I takes shape in Seattle, Washington

Boeing internal projections see India signing on for up to 30 or more aircraft, keeping in mind the Indian Navy's "tremendous maritime domain awareness needs".

Boeing P-8I For India Begins Flight Test Program

Click to enlarge

Boeing P-8I For Indian Navy to detect noisy Chinese Subs

Boeing's first P-8I aircraft for the Indian Navy began its official flight test program July 7, taking off from Boeing Field in Seattle at 9:15 a.m. and landing three hours and 49 minutes later after demonstrating flying qualities and handling characteristics. The flight went as planned with all test objectives met.

The P-8I is one of eight long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft Boeing is building for India as part of a contract awarded in January 2009. During the coming months, Boeing test pilots will put the P-8I, a Next-Generation 737-800 derivative, through its paces over a U.S. Navy test range west of Neah Bay, Wash., and a joint U.S./Canadian test range in the Strait of Georgia. P-8I flight and weapons testing follows on the heels of similar testing for the U.S. Navy's P-8A Poseidon. 

 P-8I is a variant of the Poseidon. In order to efficiently design and build the P-8I and the P-8A, the Boeing-led team is using a first-in-industry, in-line production process that draws on the company's Next-Generation 737 production system. Assembly is complete on the second P-8I aircraft and it will make its first flight in the coming weeks.The P-8I features open system architecture, advanced sensor and display technologies, and a worldwide base of suppliers, parts and support equipment.

Russia completes India’s submarine modernisation programme

The INS Sindhurakshak submarine came off the slips at the Zvezdochka shipyard in Severodvinsk on Saturday, marking the completion of a mid-life refit programme for the Indian Navy’s Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines in Russia.

During a two-year in-depth modernisation the torpedo-firing INS Sindhurakshak, built in 1997, has been equipped with the tube-launched Club-S cruise missiles effective against surface vessels and submarines at a range of about 200 km. It has also been provided with some Indian-made systems, including a hydro-acoustic "USHUS" complex, a CCS-MK radio-communication system and Porpoise Electronic Support Measures. After going through sea trials and firing tests the submarine will be handed over to the Indian Navy later this year. 

The INS Sindhurakshak is the seventh and the last of the 10 Kilo-class submarines that India bought from Russia between 1986 and 2000 to have undergone mid-term repairs and modernisation in Russia. Of the remaining three submarines one was repaired in India and the two others are currently under repair in India. 

Even as Russia prepares to deliver the last retrofitted submarine to India, Russia’s top shipbuilding official has come up with the idea of a second mid-life repair of the Indian Navy’s Kilo-class submarines. “A second repair will add another 5 to 7 or even 10 years to the submarines’ scheduled 20-year service life,” said Andrei Dyachkov, Director General of Sevmash shipyard, who is expected to take over as the head of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, which controls 70 per cent of Russia’s s shipbuilding assets, next month. “This will help the Indian Navy maintain its submarine strength in view of delays in the induction of French-built Scorpene subs and in floating a tender for six more diesel-electric submarines,” he said.

First satellite for Indian Navy to be launched in a month

India venturing on a path of weaponize space and also working on Anti-Satellite weapons




NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy is finally set to get their first-ever dedicated military satellite, a naval surveillance and communications one, as part of their long-standing quest to effectively harness the final frontier of space. The geo-stationary naval satellite has "already been shipped out'' for its launch that will take place "within a month or so", government sources said.

A not-too-subtle indicator of the space event in the offing was also the creation of a new post of assistant chief of naval staff (communications, space and network-centric operations) at the Navy head-quarters over the weekend.Though tight-lipped about the "over-the-sea" satellite's launch, the Navy said a communications and electronic warfare specialist, had taken over as the new ACNS (CSNCO) in keeping with its endeavour to transform from a "platform-centric Navy'' to a "network-enabled Navy''.

The satellite, with an over 1,000 nautical mile footprint over the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) stretching from Africa's east coast right till Malacca Strait, will enable the Navy to network all its warships, submarines and aircraft with operational centres ashore through high-speed data-links.
There is an urgent need to keep real-time tabs over the rapidly-militarizing IOR, where China is increasingly expanding its strategic footprint, as well as on troop movements, missile silos, military installations and airbases across land borders.

The long-delayed naval satellite is to be followed by ones for the Army and IAF for "over-the-land use''. In absence of dedicated satellites, the armed forces have so far depended on "dual-use'' Indian satellites as well as lease of transponders on foreign ones for their navigation, communication, surveillance and reconnaissance purposes.

India Air Forces - LCH - Light combat helicopter

Indian Air Force in action during war games

After success of 3,200- 3,700 km range Agni IV , India to test 5000 km range Agni V shortly

This can reach all targets in China

Will it be the or Eurofighter Typhoon or Dassault Rafale

Results of the Indian Airforce - IAF - $ 10 Billion deal likely this week

First Look at India's Indigenous Aircraft Carrier

Indian Air Force - Hindustan Aeronautics - Light Combat Helicopter Pix

Indian Air Force Aviation's new work horse

Courtesy Livefist

Courtesy Livefist

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