Indian Military

New Delhi — The Indian Navy continues to suffer delays in acquiring multi-role helicopters (MRH) as bids from international manufacturers have expired. The Indian Defence Ministry has indicated that the commercial bids from US firm Sikorsky and British-Italian firm Agusta Westland for the MRH have expired last month.

The Request for Proposal (RFP) for the 16 MRH worth $1 billion was issued in August 2008 and since the commercial bids are valid for two years only, they stand expired. The Indian Defence Ministry now intends to request the firms to revise their offers. While the technical evaluation has been wrapped up, Indian Navy is yet to pursue the Flight Evaluation Trials for the two contenders.

The two contenders for the MRH for the Indian Navy are the US firm Sikorsky’s S-70B Sea Hawk and British-Italian Agusta Westland’s NH-90 helicopters. Once the contract is decided and awarded, the Indian Navy would get the delivery of the MRH within 46 months in three phases and the RFP provides an option of placing follow-on orders for another 44 helicopters.

New Delhi — Indo-Russian military ties are set to grow stronger as India will soon order an additional 59 Russian Mi-17 helicopters from Russia. This decision to acquire 59 helicopters on top of the 80 helicopters ordered earlier has been taken by the Indian Air Force (IAF). The defence acquisition council has cleared the proposal and the request will be forwarded to the cabinet committee on security clearance soon.

The IAF has been trying to augment its fleet of medium-lift helicopters and the acquisition of an additional 59 Mi-17 helicopters aims to fulfil that mission. The existing fleet of medium-lift helicopters will be phased out soon. The Mi-17 helicopters will enhance the IAFs capability to carry out missions in high-altitude areas and relief operations. India had signed a deal with Russia in 2008 to supply 80 Mi-17s to augment its existing fleet of around 150 Mi-8 and Mi-17 medium-lift choppers. These helicopters have over five tonne load carrying capability and are also used to ferry troops.

New Delhi — The Indian Navy is currently participating in a trilateral naval exercise as part of the India-Brazil-South Africa Maritime (IBSAMAR 2010) exercise being conducted in the Indian Ocean region off Durban. IBSAMAR is conceptualised by the Joint Work Group for Defence, which is one of 16 Joint Working Groups of the three nations looking into various cooperation initiatives.

This second edition of the IBSAMAR is a two-week nautical exercise which will conclude on September 27th. IBSAMAR is being held around the South African coast and there would be visits to Durban, Cape Town, Simon’s Town and Port Elizabeth as part of the nautical exercise. This maritime exercise involves 11 ships of the navies of South Africa, which is the host country, India which is the lead country and Brazil which is the support country. Four warships including a destroyer and two frigates from the Indian Navy’s Western Fleet are participating in the biennial India-Brazil-South Africa Maritime (IBSAMAR) exercise.

SEOUL, South Korea: A South Korean navy ship sank after colliding with a larger fishing boat, leaving one sailor dead and two missing, the military said Thursday.

The 150-ton navy vessel was returning to its base following a routine patrol mission Wednesday when it collided with a 270-ton South Korean fishing boat in waters northwest of the southern resort island of Jeju, a spokesman at the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The cause of the collision wasn't immediately known.

Twenty-eight navy sailors were rescued, but one of them died while being treated at a hospital on the island. Two others were missing, the spokesman said on condition of anonymity citing department policy.

Some of the injured sailors were being treated at a hospital, while others were to be sent back to their base, he said. Navy vessels and helicopters were searching for the missing crew.

Damage to the fishing boat wasn't severe, the spokesman said. It was not immediately known how many crew were aboard the fishing boat, but another Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman said his office has not received any reports that any of them were injured.

New Delhi — VARUNA 10, the bilateral naval exercise between the Indian Navy and the French Navy is scheduled to commence from 07 Jan 11 with aircraft carriers, destroyers/frigates, tankers and submarines from both sides participating.

A press release issued by the Indian Navy said for VARUNA 10, the French Navy will be represented by ships from the French Carrier Strike Group, designated Task Force 473 and mainly based at Toulon, France. The Task Force includes the aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle, destroyers FNS Forbin and FNS Tourville, supply ship FNS Meuse and nuclear powered submarine FNS Amethyste. Aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle will be carrying its complement of fighter aircraft, Rafale and Super Etendard, airborne early warning aircraft E2C Hawkeye and integral helicopters.

The release further stated that the Indian Navy will be represented by aircraft carrier INS Viraat, two indigenous frigates INS Godavari and INS Ganga and one Shishumar class submarine, INS Shalki.

NEW DELHI: Colourful tableaux depicting the myriad hues of country's diversity, a vibrant performance by students and armed forces in full battle regalia -- the Republic Day parade on Wednesday had 'mini-India' in itself.
Marching down from the Raisina Hills to Red Fort, the parade showcased India's 'unity in diversity' and the military might as thousands of spectators along the 8km long route cheered the marching contingents and the mechanised columns.
The well turned out and synchronised military and police contingents led by General Officer Commanding ( Delhi) Maj Gen Manvendra Singh marched proudly to the lilting tunes of bands through the Rajpath where President and Supreme Commander of Armed Forces Pratibha Patil took the salute.
The march-past was watched by the Republic Day chief guest Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, defence minister A K Antony and the country's top political and military brass.

New Delhi – The Indian Army can finally boast a stronger helicopter in its fleet with an upgraded version of the ‘Dhruv’ Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) which was handed over to them recently. These new helicopters incorporate a new powerful engine which will enable take-off and landing at a high altitude with ease and help to carry operations in the mountainous terrains of Jammu and Kashmir.

According to state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), five new ‘Dhruv’ ALH developed by them were handed over to the Indian Army. The upgraded ‘Dhruv’ ALH Mark III have a stronger ‘Shakti’ engine developed by HAL and the French firm Turbomeca. The five new helicopters will be used for varied operations in the Siachen area of Jammu and Kashmir. Since the current fleet of Chetak and Cheetah helicopters are being overworked and cannot withstand the altitude and weather posed by Siachen, the ‘Dhruv’ ALH Mark III is the need of the hour for the Indian Army.

The Dhruv ALH is a multi-role helicopter developed and manufactured by HAL and has also been exported to Nepal, Peru, Ecuador and Israel, and is on order by several other countries for both military and commercial uses.

New Delhi – In the Indian Union Budget for the year 2011-2012, the Indian Finance Ministry has given special attention to defence by increasing the defence outlay whilst keeping India’s strategic goals at par by facilitating capital for the big-ticket purchases in the current fiscal year.

As per the defence budget for the fiscal 2011-12, the Indian Finance Ministry has given a 11.6 per cent hike which amounts to $34 billion. The hike of 11.6 per cent in defence budgetary allocations is a positive step compared to a mere 4 per cent last year. There has been 9 per cent jump in revenue expenditure and the Finance Ministry has also scaled up capital expenditure by providing more impetus to the modernization plans of the Indian Armed Forces. The defence capital acquisition for the financial year 2011-12 has been hiked to $12.22 billion, while capital expenditure for the same has been raised by about 12 percent to $15.38 billion.

As for the break-up of the total budgetary allocation, the Indian Army has been granted $14.

SENDAI: Thousands of people fled the vicinity of an earthquake-crippled Japanese nuclear plant after a radiation leak and authorities faced a fresh threat on Sunday with the failure of the cooling system in a second reactor.
Operator TEPCO said it was preparing to vent some steam to relieve pressure in the No.3 reactor at the plant 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo -- which would release a small amount of radiation -- following an explosion and leak on Saturday from the facility's No. 1 reactor.
As strong aftershocks continued to shake Japan's main island, the desperate search for survivors from Friday massive earthquake and tsunami pressed on and the death toll was expected to rise.
Thousands spent another freezing night huddled over heaters in emergency shelters along the northeastern coast, a scene of devastation after the 8.9 magnitude quake sent a 10-metre (33-foot) wave surging through towns and cities.
Kyodo news agency said the number of dead or unaccounted was expected to exceed 1,800.

TOKYO: Japan turned down a US offer to provide technical support for cooling fuel rods at nuclear reactors hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami, a newspaper reported on Friday.
The United States made the offer immediately after the disaster caused damage to Fukushima No.1 nuclear plant, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, quoting a senior official of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan.
According to the unnamed senior official, US support was based on dismantling the troubled reactors run by Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) some 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of Tokyo, the mass-circulation daily said.
The government and TEPCO, both having first thought the cooling system could be restored by themselves, rejected the offer as they believed "it was too early to take," Yomiuri said.
Some ruling party and government officials pointed that the country could have avoided the current crisis if Prime Minister Naoto Kan's government had accepted the offer, it said.
On Thursday, the Japanese military used trucks and helicopters to dump tonnes of water onto the plant in efforts to douse fuel rods and prevent a disastrous radiation release.