General Awareness

DEFENCE - December 2018

Dec 2018

May 30, 2022

Russia Conducts Test-launch of Tsirkon hypersonic Cruise Missile

Russian successfully test-fired a Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile from the Barents Sea. The missile hit a naval target about 1,000 km away in the White Sea and the flight of the projectile corresponded to the designed parameters. The Tsirkon missile was test-fired several times from the Admiral Gorshkov frigate and a nuclear-powered submarine.
President Vladimir Putin said the Tsirkon missile is capable of flying at Mach 9 or nine times the speed of sound and striking a target over 1,000 km away.

GRSE Launches Indian Navy Survey Vessel 'INS Nirdeshak'

Nirdeshak, the second of the four Survey Vessels (Large) (SVL) projects being built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) in collaboration with L&T shipbuilding for the Indian Navy was launched, at Kattupalli, Chennai. The ship has taken its name from erstwhile Nirdeshak which was also an Indian Naval Survey ship and was decommissioned after 32 years of glorious service in December 2014.
Part construction of three out of four ships of SVL is being undertaken at L&T, Kattupalli as part of a collaborative approach between GRSE and L&T shipbuilding. This model of Public-Private Partnership shall be a harbinger of future successful collaboration for Warship construction in India. The contract for building four SVL ships was signed between MoD and GRSE, Kolkata on October 30, 2018. The first of class ship 'Sandhayak' was launched in December 2021 at GRSE, Kolkata.

India's First Drone-detection Dog Deployed at Attari

To thwart smuggling of arms and narcotics through drones from across the fencing, the Border Security Force (Punjab Frontier) added a dog to assist troops in detecting the drone infiltration at Attari-Wagah joint check post. Christened as "Frooti", the dog (German Shepherd) was deployed after undergoing special training at the BSF's National Dog Training Centre at Tekanpur, Gwalior. Since this breed has undisputed hearing ability to capture sound waves from a distance, it was selected and put under training and introduced to a particular sound generated by drones. With its deployment, "Frooti" secured the title of being India's first trained dog in drone detection.
Ironically, the highest number of drone sightings and smuggling of arms and narcotics were reported along the Punjab border only. The drone detection dog squad would be introduced at this border in the first phase. Punjab shares an approximately 553 km of International Border with Pakistan.

May 28, 2022

IAF Trumps Chinese Air Force in Air Power Index; Ranks 3rd after US and Russia

World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft (WDMMA) released the World Air Powers Ranking of 2022. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has been placed at the third position on the World Air Power Index in terms of the total fighting strength of the various air services of different nations of the world. This report has placed the Indian Air Force (IAF) above the Chinese Aviation based armed forces (PLAAF), Japan Air Self-Preservation Power (JASDF), Israeli Aviation based armed forces, and French Air and Space Power. According to yhe report, the Indian Air Force (IAF) currently counts 1,645 total units in its active aircraft inventory.
While preparing the report, factors like modernization, logistical support, attack and defence capabilities are also considered. Thus, the military air power of a country is not ranked only on the basis of its total quantity of aircraft but it also considers its quality and components of inventory.

May 27, 2022

India- Bangladesh Bilateral Exercise 'Bongosagar' Commences

The third edition of Indian Navy (IN) – Bangladesh Navy (BN) Bilateral Exercise 'Bongosagar' was held at Port Mongla, Bangladesh. The Harbour Phase of the exercise was followed by a Sea Phase in the Northern Bay of Bengal. Exercise Bongosagar is aimed at developing a high degree of interoperability and joint operational skills through the conduct of a wide spectrum of maritime exercises and operations between the two navies.
Indian Naval Ships Kora, an indigenously built Guided Missile Corvette, and Sumedha, an indigenously built Offshore Patrol Vessel participated in the Exercise. Bangladesh Navy was represented by BNS Abu Ubaidah and Ali Haider, both Guided Missile Frigates.
The harbour phase of the exercise included professional and social interactions, and friendly sporting fixtures, in addition to the tactical level planning discussions on the conduct of the exercises at sea. The sea phase of the exercise would facilitate ships from both the navies to participate in intensive surface warfare drills, weapon firing drills, seamanship evolutions and coordinated air operations in a tactical scenario.

May 26, 2022

Captain Abhilasha Barak is Army's First Woman Combat Aviator

Thirty years after India began inducting women as officers in the armed forces, Captain Abhilasha Barak became the first woman to join the Army Aviation Corps as a helicopter pilot after completing a year-long course at the Combat Army Aviation Training School at Nashik in Maharashtra. Barak hails from Haryana and is the daughter of a retired colonel. She was commissioned in the Army Air Defence Corps in September 2018.
She was awarded 'wings' along with 36 army pilots by Army Aviation director general Lieutenant General Ajay Kumar Suri during a valedictory ceremony at the Nashik-based training school.
Barak became the army's first woman combat aviator at a time when the National Defence Academy is set to induct its first batch of women cadets in June 2022. The Supreme Court opened the doors of the academy to women in a landmark order in October 2021. They are now eligible for permanent commission too.

May 25, 2022

India, US to Expand Defence Ties in Cyber, Space Domains; New Delhi to Join West-led Bahrain-base...

India crossed a Rubicon by agreeing to join the Combined Military Forces-Bahrain (CMF–Bahrain) as an associate member following a summit meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden, who said he is committed to making India-US ties the "closest on the planet". They also committed to deepen their 'Major Defence Partnership' by expanding cooperation in new domains, including space and cyber, and launching a dialogue on Artificial Intelligence.
The two leaders touched in detail on cooperation in critical technologies, an area of acute interest to India. Both sides have acknowledged its importance with the launch of a US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) which plans to join six of India's technology innovation hubs to support at least 25 joint research projects in 2022. The areas, to begin with, are AI and data science.

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