BY : Indian Express Newspapers

The defence ministry appears to be harping on making the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) designed and manufactured, Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), ‘Dhruv’ a lethal platform for the military services, despite a reported shrug from the very own country’s Navy, citing lack of basic operational requirements.

The silent endorsement of the ALH Dhruv came during the recent two day visit of defence minister AK Antony, accompanied by a high-level delegation including the chief of army staff general Deepak Kapoor, defence secretary Vijay Singh and senior defence and home ministry officials to the line of control (LoC). The minister flew in the special helicopter ‘Dhruv’ to Balbir Post, in Baramulla sector along the LoC.

Sources in the defence ministry told FE that “the efficacy of the ALH `Dhruv’ too was discussed by the high-level delegation, which found the ‘Dhruv’ a `very good’ helicopter and how it should be inducted in the services.”

“We are committed to encourage our defence establishments in the indigenous production of aircraft, helicopters, and other equipment to achieve self-reliance and face challenges in defending the country,” sources added.

This assumes significance in the backdrop of the Indian Navy reportedly writing off the naval version of the ALH, saying it has failed to meet basic operational

BY : IANS

India’s indigenously developed combat jet Tejas has made its maiden flight with an improved engine, it was announced here Thursday. “During the 44-minute flight, the F404-GE-IN20 engine demonstrated full aircraft system and instrumentation functionality, climbed to numerous mission altitudes, achieved Mach 1.1 speed and established the engine performance baseline for future flight-testing,” a GE statement here said.

“The engine has performed extremely well during all phases of testing, and we look forward to delivering the benefits of -IN20 power throughout the remainder of the

BY : IANS

Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor will pay a five-day visit to Russia from June 23 to discuss ways of ramping military cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the sphere of counter-terrorism.

"The visit will further the defence cooperation between the two nations and cement India's ties with the Russian Federation that are time tested and based on continuity, trust and mutual understanding," a defence ministry statement Wednesday said.

During the visit, Kapoor will meet Russian defence officials and senior military officials. He will also visit the Russian land forces tank division, the Mikhailovskaya

BY : TNN

'Pilot error', not mechanical failure, was primarily responsible for the crash of a spanking new Hawk AJT (advanced jet trainer) at Bidar airbase in Karnataka on April 29.

The IAF court of inquiry has held that the crash of the two-seater Hawk — the two pilots, fortunately, escaped alive — was mainly due to 'pilot error' and 'miscommunication' between the two AJTs which were taking off together during the episode.

"The pilot of the Hawk which crashed overcorrected when he saw the other Hawk

BY : TNN

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni entertained Indian Air Force officers and jawans by racing an IAF fighter plane — Jaguar — on his mobike on the runway on Wednesday.

Dhoni was flown in on a special IAF aircraft. His racer bike too was flown in with him.

On the first day of his three-day visit, Dhoni raced a taxiing Jaguar. In no time, the

BY : RIA Novosti



The Indonesian Armed Forces will soon receive a delivery of six Russian Mi-35 Hind attack helicopters, the Antara national news said on Wednesday.

Nikolai Kireyev, head of the state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport's office in Jakarta, said 15 Indonesian pilots and technical specialists have been undergoing training at the Kazan helicopter manufacturing plant in R

BY : Forbes

France is negotiating deals for the first foreign sales of some 100 Rafale combat jets, President Nicolas Sarkozy's chief of staff said Wednesday.

'Finally, after 23 years, we are going to sell some Rafale,' Claude Gueant, the secretary general of the Elysee Palace, told Europe 1 radio.

'France is in negotiations and we have strong hopes of selling about one hundred Rafale,' he said.

Gueant did not name countries involved in talks but the United Arab Emirates and

BY: PTI

With India openly expressing its displeasure over Russia inordinately delaying delivery of INS Vikramaditya, a top Russian official on Tuesday was hopeful the price escalation talks for the aircraft carrier will soon end to the mutual satisfaction of both countries.

The deal for INS Vikramaditya (formerly Admiral Gorshkov) was signed in 2004, at a time when Russia was going through difficult times and was badly in need of money to support its industry, Russian Ambassador Vyacheslav Trubnikov told reporters here.

"The Indian side used the opportunity to get the aircraft carrier at the cheapest

BY : PTI

The BrahMos Aerospace unit here has signed an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for taking up engineering and integration of the space agency's launch vehicles PSLV and GSLV.

The Rs 25-crore pact involves work on ISRO's tankages, special aluminium work and all titanium work, a senior BrahMos official said here today.

The Brahmos facility will also take up space-tech related infrastructure work for ISRO's future missions.

Brahmos Aerospace established its unit here early this year by taking over the

BY : HT Media

India is yet to begin work on a futuristic technology demonstrator plane, a single-seat, fifth-generation fighter it is jointly developing with Russia’s Sukhoi Design Bureau, that will take to the skies for the first time in 2009.
Some analysts are questioning the contribution of Indian aerospace research and development (R&D) engineers to the programme, given that the aircraft’s design specifications have already been decided and the first flight is set for next year.In October, India and Russia signed an agreement for the joint development and production of the fifth-generation fighter aircraft, or FGFA, making a commitment to sharing resources and work equally. A team of officials from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, or HAL, the country’s military plane maker, was in Moscow in late May fo