India’s Supreme Court gives the army a month to offer women officers permanent commissions, Taiwan says the Dalai Lama is welcome to visit the island, Social media giants suspend cooperation with authorities in Hong Kong and the US clears arms sales worth USD 7.5 billion.
Troop withdrawals have been reported in the Ladakh region that might be the beginning of a reduction in tensions between India and China and two US aircraft carrier battle groups decided to go exercise their freedom of navigation in the South China Sea over the weekend.
No word from India-China corps commanders meet
China passes an authoritarian security law for Hong Kong
Airbus to cut 15,000 jobs
Boeing suffers a 97 aircraft order cancellation
Rude morale patch gets US Navy aviators a scolding
Boris’s ride is back from the body shop
As China menaces India’s access to the Karakoram Pass, Sujan Dutta explains that Delhi needs to defend its ground or end up papering over the changed reality.
Brigadier Rajiv Williams (retired) explains the problems with the recently floated idea of a three-year Tour of Duty in the army and recommends, instead, a greater focus on increasing the flexibility and attractiveness of existing entry channels into the Indian Army.
Angad Singh, military author and Project Coordinator at the Observer Research Foundation examines the response of the Indian armed forces to the Covid 19 contagion, its impact on operational availability, defence supplies and defence budgets.
According to the company, “We’re establishing a supply chain footprint that could do a minimum of forty percent of a future buy,” adding, “BAE Systems would like a request for a proposal for more Ultra-Lightweight Howitzers but we’d like to see a minimum of forty percent made in India.”
Even after two decades since the acquisition case, the Very Short Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) search has seen a system absent from trials and failing trials, being passed as technically compliant and ending up as, apparently, the cheapest. Also problematic is the difficulty its purchase could pose by provoking U.S. sanctions under their CAATSA.
General Rawat’s comments were critical of OFB’s products and were made with reference to a recent controversy over changes in rules for the supply of uniforms to troops.
Chief Procurement Officer Paul Smith told StratPost that identifying suppliers for offsets for the Indian M777 artillery order is only a small part of their USD 12 billion global supply chain requirement.
India’s defence procurement continues to raise more questions than answers, points out Hemant Shivakumar, with the uncertainty over the order of Spike Anti Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs) appearing to be the latest casualty to the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
The RFIs issued by the Indian Navy for submarines and helicopters have created a model for the implementation of Make in India in defence, which will become the standard for future programs.
The eventual order for six aircraft is expected to be worth USD 650 million and a follow-on exercise of an option on an earlier IAF order for 22 helicopters.
The Indian Air Force has requested information on armored vehicles, 9mm pistols, 7.62mm rifles with UBGLs, submachine guns and Night Vision Devices.
Russian Helicopters is setting up a new facility to manufacture 60 Ka-226T utility helicopters for the Indian Army and Indian Air Force.
