Defence News Updates

• Defence Ministry NirmalaSitharaman approved Indian Navy’s proposal to acquire 10 Kamov-31 choppers from Russia at a cost of around Rs. 3,600 crores to strengthen its capability against aerial threats to its aircraft carriers and large warships. They cleared the Rs. 3,600 crore proposal for buying around 10 Kamov-31 Airborne Early Warning and Control choppers for the aircraft carrier operations and deployment on future warships. Indian Navy already has a fleet of 12 of these Kamov-31 choppers which sanitize the air space around the aircraft carriers and destroyers operating in open seas.
• The official Twitter account of the Indian Army’s Additional Directorate General of Public Information tweeted that an Indian Army mountaineering expedition team sited mysterious footprints of mythical Himalayan beast “Yeti” measuring 32×15 inches (81 centimeters by 38 centimeters)  close to Makalu Base Camp, located in North-Eastern Himalayas on 09 April 2019. The Yeti also are known as Abominable Snowman or Asian   Bigfoot is a giant ape-like creature often figures in South Asian folklore. Yetis are believed to weigh anywhere between 91 to 181 kilograms with a height of above 6 feet. According to a report in the National Geographic, British explorer Eric Shipton captured the footprints of the Yeti in 1951 for the first time.
• Pakistan Air Force announced that they will observe its retaliatory action against India against the Balakot strike of Indian Air Force as ‘Operation Swift Retort’. The Indian air strikes at Balakot terror camp on February 26 was the response of Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) attack by a suicide bomber in Pulwama that killed 40 CRPF jawans. In response to Indian attack, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) retaliated and captured IAF Wing Commander AbhinandanVarthaman who was released by Pakistan on March
• The Indian Army is in the process of procuring Spike-LR Anti-Tank Missiles from Israel and Igla-S Very Short Range Air Defence Systems (VSHORAD) from Russia through a set of new financial powers for emergency procurements sanctioned by the Defence Ministry. The Request For Proposal (RFP) for the two deals have been issued and negotiations are ongoing. Under the latest emergency financial powers, armed forces have been given a free hand to procure equipment worth up to Rs.300 crore on a priority basis.  Under the emergency route, the Army is looking to procure about 12 launchers and around 250 missiles for each system.
• Indian Army signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Limited. The agreement is to build four underground tunnels along China and Pakistan borders for storage of ammunition and other war-related equipment. Three tunnels will be built along the Chinese border and one tunnel will be built along the Pakistan border. The tunnel can store 175-200 metric tonnes of ammunition and the cost of this pilot project is around Rs 15 crore.
• Indian Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba launched the third ship of Project 15B, a guided missile destroyer Imphal, at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, Mumbai. The launch weighs 3,037 tonnes. Project 15B ships have been designed indigenously by the Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design. Each ship spans 163 meters in length and 17.4 meters at beam and displaces 7,300 tonnes.
• Indian Coast Guard vessel Veera commissioned by General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Army Staff in the presence of Director General of Indian Coast Guard Rajendra Singh, Chief of Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral Karambir Singh and other senior dignitaries of the central and state government in a ceremony organised at Eastern Naval Command in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Veera, the third in the series of the new generation Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) is under the administrative and operational command of the coast guard regional headquarters.
• The Indian Navy undertook the second edition of the bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and Vietnam Peoples’ Navy, (IN – VPN BILAT EX) at/ off Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. The exercise was undertaken as a part of the ongoing Overseas Deployment of Eastern Fleet ships to South East Asian countries.
• Marine Lizard was built by Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group under China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC). It could be used in land and sea assault operations. The amphibious Marine Lizard can possibly form an unmanned sea-land-air integrated combat system with aerial armed reconnaissance drones and other drone ships.
• Indian Naval Ship Kozhikode was decommissioned in a ceremony held at Naval Jetty, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh on 13th April. Vice Admiral S.N. Ghormade, Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command, was the chief guest on the occasion. INS Kozhikode gracefully retired as an operational ship after three decades of service in the Indian Navy.