The IAF’s airlift capability has been extended, with an AN-32 landing at Nyoma airfield in Eastern Ladakh, close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The AN-32 can carry up to 50 passengers.
Category: News
MMRCA trials: Chance to match highest take-off record
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The flight trials currently underway are not only a test for the selection of aircraft for the IAF, but also an opportunity for the six contenders to set records for a take-off from the highest altitude in the world, from the runway at Leh.
Brazilian U-Turn: Relief and Confusion for Rivals
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The news of the reprieve is greeted with honest bewilderment. “We don’t know what’s happening,” said one official from the Swedish vendor, a rival to Dassault’s Rafale of France for the Brazilian order. Indications are also being drawn from the absence of the Brazilian Air Force chief at the announcement of the deal.
Gripen hardsells new AESA radar, low cost for MMRCA
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Saab claims this radar to be unique for its ‘Swashplate’, which allows the face of the radar to be swiveled around allowing for radar coverage up to an angle of a hundred degrees, sideways, also tagging the Gripen with a price that is half of the F-16 and a quarter of the twin-engine contenders in the race.
Rafale wins Brazilian order
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This may be significant for the Indian MMRCA contest as five of the original six contenders for the Brazilian order are also vying for Indian Air Force order. “We came up on top in the technical evaluation,” said a source from Dassault, who also indicated the parameters of the two contests to be similar.
F-16 at the MMRCA proving grounds tomorrow
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So far, the aircraft was in the week long first phase of trials which consisted of training on the aircraft for Indian Air Force (IAF) test pilots comprising academic exercises, cockpit familiarization as well ‘a bit of flying’, as one insider put it.
US End Use Monitoring, tech transfer laws to affect third country sales to India
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The End Use Monitoring pact between the US and India agreed during the visit of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US laws governing transfer of technology will apply to any military purchase containing US components by India from a third country.
MMRCA bids liable to change before selection
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The bids are subject to be changed or revised because the terms of the bids are valid only for two years and could lead to cost escalations, even before the winner is selected.
Lockheed Martin cool about defense budget cuts
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Calling the MMRCA important for the company, Orville Prins of Lockheed Martin indicated some of the other contenders in the race to be fighting to survive.
F-16 innovates for MMRCA contest
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Lockheed Martin has engineered its F-16 fighter to enable it to meet the air-to-air refueling requirements with the ‘Probe and Drogue’ system, a demonstrator of which was displayed at the Paris Air Show recently.
India’s security interest in the Maldives
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The proximity of the country to the Indian island cluster of Lakshadweep makes it important for coastal security. The Maldives can also offer India logistics support and extend the Indian naval footprint and significantly, by offering their facilities, can extend the Indian maritime airspace surveillance capability.
Caution advised for anti-Naxal Ops: COIN expert
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The planned offensive against Naxals in the next few months has been a long time coming and is finally a sign of the government taking the problem seriously. But a COIN expert spoke to StratPost and advised caution and calculation, to prevent the operation from becoming counter-productive.
Rashtriya Rifles against Naxals: Army wary
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The idea of deploying the Rashtriya Rifles in anti-Naxal operations has the army feeling uncomfortable. While so far, the army has been training paramilitary forces in defusing Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), tactics and field medical aid and also preparing to set up a sub-area in the region, it has been wary of deploying its own troops for combating Naxals.
Lockheed Martin appoints India CEO
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Roger Rose, a former submariner in the US Navy, has succeeded Douglas Hartwick taking over the responsibility for coordinating the company’s relationship and ongoing program execution in India.
India-China military gap ‘too wide to bridge’: Navy chief
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Admiral Sureesh Mehta, while dismissing the idea of matching China militarily, ‘force for force’, saying the gap was ‘too wide to bridge’, called for ‘harnessing modern technology for developing high situational awareness and creating a reliable stand-off deterrent’ keeping in mind China’s space weapons and cyber warfare capability. At the same time he called for engagement as ‘cooperation with China was preferable to competition or conflict’.
