BY : ANI

Union Defence Minister A K Antony today said that the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) would be delivered to the Indian Air Force by 2011.

Talking to media during his visit at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Antony said, "The final operational clearances for the indigenously developed aircraft will be given by 2010."

Antony, who also witnessed an air show in which latest aircraft including LCA, Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and SARAS showed their capabilities and strength, said that LCA and ALH 'Dhruv' would be the prized induction in Air Force.

BY : BBC




RAF pilot Andy Green made history in 1997 when he drove the Thrust SSC jet-powered vehicle at 763mph (1,228km/h).

Now he intends to get behind the wheel of a car that is capable of reaching 1,000mph (1,610km/h).

Known as Bloodhound, the new car will be powered by a rocket bolted to a Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine.

The team-members have been working on the concept for the past 18 months and expect to be ready to make their new record attempt in 2011.

BY : satnews



China is reported to be developing a new UAV that's similar to the U.S.' RQ-4 Global Hawk. The Chinese aircraft is the Xianglong (Soaring Dragon) and is about half the size of the Global Hawk. The Xianglong weighs 7.5 tons and has a 45 foot wingspan as well as a .65 ton payload. The craft's maximum altitude will be 57,000 feet and it's range will be 7,000 kilometers with a faster cruising speed than the RQ-4.

BY : Express News Service

The Indian Air Force (IAF) would get its own version of Brahmos — a supersonic cruise missile — by 2012, A Sivanthu Pillai, chief executive officer and managing director, Brahmos Airspace, said on Wednesday.

Pillai was addressing media persons after inaugurating IWAPS 2008, a two-day international workshop on ‘Advances in processing of solid propellant rocket motors’ at High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) here as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and centenary celebrations of HEMRL.

BY : EXPRESS BUZZ

The DRDO and Indian Air Force have successfully conducted a missile target simulation exercise.

The Russian-manufactured missile reportedly locked onto and destroyed a tow body suspended from a micro-light aircraft (MCLA).

"First the MCLA, also known as unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was flown from the launching complex-II of the ITR. After making two laps it released a tow body, which was targeted by the missile fired from a Sukhoi-30 lifted up from Kalaikunda airbase in West Bengal," explained an anonymous defence official.

BY : TNN

Despite the recent chill in bilateral relations with Beijing after it tried to derail New Delhi's case for civil nuclear commerce at th
e Nuclear Suppliers Group, India is all set to host Chinese soldiers for the first time on its territory after the bitter 1962 war.

Defence ministry sources on Wednesday said the first-ever Sino-Indian military combat exercise on Indian soil — with counter-terrorism as its primary thrust area — is likely to be held at Belgaum towards December-end.

"A top Indian Army delegation is currently in Beijing for the initial planning conference to decide the exact theme, setting and level of participation for the exercise," said a source.

BY: Air force Times

In the end, 68 percent of eligible pilots signed up for the $125,000 retention bonus in fiscal 2008 — more than the goal of 66 percent — but the final numbers show troublesome trends among fighter pilots.

Fifty-nine percent of the 290 eligible fighter pilots chose to stay another five years beyond the end of their eight-year service commitment. The loss of these pilots, typically new majors on their third or fourth assignment, adds to ongoing concerns about having enough experienced pilots on hand to teach new pilots arriving at operational squadrons.

The fighters with the lowest retention rates were A-10s at 53 percent, F-16s at 51 percent

BY : SAKAAL TIMES

Indian defence scientists have embarked on Project Agni-V to develop a long-range missile by the year 2010, which can strike targets over 5,000 km, programme director of Agni weapon systems, Avinash Chander said on Wednesday.

“After the success of Agni-III, which is ready for induction, we have started working on Agni-V. It will be a three-stage, all composite, solid propellant fuelled and advanced version in the Agni class of ballistic missiles with a range of over 5,000 km. The development process has already begun and in the next two years, the weapon system should be ready,” Chander said.

BY : ZEE NEWS

In the wake of reports that the Indian Navy had rejected Dhruv as a rotary wing platform for its operations, the government today denied any such refusal to accept the Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH).

"The Indian Navy has not rejected the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv, developed indigenously by Bangalore-based bluechip Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)" Defence Minister A K Antony told Parliament.

BY : PTI

After the successful launch of India’s first unmanned mission to moon, Chandrayaan-1, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to send its second lunar odyssey, Chandrayaan-2, an Indo-Russian joint venture, likely by the end of next year or early 2010.
The work on this project would be taken up after Chandrayaan-1 starts its task of researching the moon, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told reporters here after the PSLV-C11 launched the spacecraft.
“One of the two GSLV missions next year could carry Chandrayaan-2,” he said.
The team behind the success of the first mission would work on Chandrayaan-2 also, he added.