Besides getting intrigued by the skills and prowess of Indian Air Force’s (IAF’s) fighter jets, the US Air Force warriors got hooked on Indian rajma-chawal (kidney beans and rice) during the latest multinational war games held in the US.The US Air Force personnel got a taste of Indian cuisine during the multinational exercise the Red Flag-08 at US air force base Nellis, in which the IAF participated for the first time.
“The IAF hosted a small lunch for the US Air Force and South Korean Air Force personnel on Aug 15 with Indian food, like Hyderabadi biryani, rajma chawal and shahi paneer on the menu,” a senior IAF official in the contingent participating in the exercise told IANS.
India's first indigenously-developed Light Combat Helicopter will be test flown later this year, in a major step aimed at giving a boost to the country's fighting capabilities in the Himalayas. State-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has completed development of the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and it will test fly the chopper by the year-end.
If the test flight goes smoothly, the LCH, built on the platform of a Cheetah body would be the second big feather in HAL's cap after the Advanced Light Helicopter. The LCH is expected to fill vital gaps in India's security as the armed forces lack a helicopter gunship which can operate in extreme high altitude above 9,000 feet.
MRF Ltd on Thursday announced that it has become the first domestic company to introduce tyres for helicopters and aircraft targeted particularly at the defence sector. The defence ministry has been importing these tyres so far, said KM Mammen, chairman, MRF. The tyre-maker seeks to garner a sizeable chunk of the Union defence ministry’s expenditure on tyres for helicopters and aircraft.
“We had been asked by the defence ministry to develop a unique tyre for aircraft and helicopters. It took us three years to come out ‘Aero Muscle’,” he said, adding that the new tyre has undergone rigorous testing under international standards.
The Indian Navy, poised to acquire its biggest aircraft carrier with the Admiral Gorshkov, will soon position its men on the French Navy’s aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to get exposure to big vessels and how they function, a senior official said.
‘We will position our men on the French naval ship to study large ships. This would also be an exposure for them in terms of how large carriers work,’ said the naval official.
‘The nuclear powered Charles de Gaulle would be good exposure for the Indian naval officials as there are many issues, like nuclear propulsion, involved in operating a large aircraft carrier at sea,’ the official added.
Further delays are likely in the development of the Korea Aerospace Industries F/A-50 fighter, with the company unable to get its preferred radar and the South Korean government balking at the projected cost of the programme.
The design and production details of the aircraft - a combat version of KAI's T-50 advanced jet trainer - are almost complete and the company has lined up most of its suppliers. However, sources in South Korea say there are two impediments that
A Georgian unmanned reconnaissance plane was shot down early on Thursday over the South Ossetian capital, a local Interior Ministry official said.
"A Georgian drone was flying from south to north over Tskhinvali at 00.10 Moscow time (20.10 GMT). South Ossetian military units opened fire at the UAV and shot it down," said acting Interior Minister Mikhail Mindzayev.
The Brazilian air force is "very shortly" expected to narrow the competitive field for its F-X2 fighter requirement from six bidders to only two or three, ahead of a scheduled contract award next year.
The current field is understood to cover the Boeing F/A-18E/F Block II Super Hornet, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed Martin F-16BR, Saab Gripen NG and Sukhoi Su-30.
Lockheed confirms that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will not be offered for the Brazilian order, which requires the selec
AgustaWestland's EH101 is the final contestant for the Indian Air Force's $300 million contract for 12 VIP helicopters after Sikorsky's S-92 was judged lacking.
In trials that began earlier this year, the S-92 could not fulfill the Air Force's rate-of-climb requirement and engine and technical specifications, a senior Indian Defence Ministry official said.Air Force officials said the EH101, also called the AW101, is fully compliant. Price negotiations are expected to take about a year.
The Italian helicopter also has a larger volume and higher tail
The Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday that in the face of rapid technological advancements and induction of new generation equipment in Indian Air Force, indigenisation and modernisation of maintenance infrastructure has assumed a very significant role.
IAF is on look out for modern repair facilities right from tools, testers, automation in repairs to material handling equipment for keeping it a highly vibrant and agile force.
Indigenisation of weapon system and modernisation of maintenance facilities are closely inter-related and form the guiding principle for self reliance, self sufficiency and reduction of dependency on sources abroad. The industry has a very significant role to play in this regard.
NATO member Turkey has quietly decided to buy variants of three different S-300 missile systems from Belarus and Ukraine to test them at the Konya training center with the Electronic Warfare Training Field (EHTS) system built by local firm Havelsan.
"These missile systems are intended to be used for testing and training purposes to simulate threats that may come from countries with ex-Soviet systems in their inventories," a local defense industry source told Today's Zaman. The decision to buy former Soviet-designated SA-12 (300V version) and SA-10 (S-300) missile systems, as well as SA-15 short and medium-range TOR systems, at a cost of
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