Mighty India Power

Russia’s new fifth-generation stealth fighter (FGFA), a joint project with India which is set to form the backbone of the two nations’ air power till the mid-21st century, made a successful maiden test flight on Friday. The plane performed “very well” during a 47-minute flight at an airfield in the far eastern city of Komsomoslk-on-Amur and met “all our expectations,” a spokesman for the Sukhoi Corporation, which designed the FGFA, said. The flight marked a breakthrough for Russia, making it the second country in the world after the U.S. to have built a fifth-generation fighter plane. The FGFA will also be a quantum jump for India as the first joint project with Russia where the Indian aviation industry will be a full-fledged partner. Under a 2007 inter-governmental agreement, the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited took a 50 per cent investment stake in the $8-billion project and will contribute 25 per cent of design and development work. The two countries will shortly sign commerci...

After beginning to base Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets in the North-East, India is now finally gearing up to conduct another test of the China-specific 3,500-km-range Agni-III ballistic missile in February-March. DRDO scientists are also on course to shortly test their fledgling two-tier ballistic missile defence (BMD), which has been tested three times till now and is designed to track and destroy hostile missiles both inside (endo) and outside (exo) the earth's atmosphere. As reported earlier, the ongoing Phase-I BMD system is geared towards tackling enemy missiles with a 2,000-km range, Phase-II is being designed to intercept incoming missiles in the 5,000-km class range. But it will take some years for the BMD system to become fully operational. Similarly, Agni-III will be ready only by 2012-2013. The first test of the rail-mobile missile, which is 16.7-metre tall and has a lift-off weight of 50 tonnes, in July 2006 had flopped miserably. But the subsequent two tests, in Apr...

Two more fast breeder reactors of 500 MWe capacity each would be set up here by 2020, a top official of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) said on Tuesday. “In addition to the prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR), work on which is nearing completion, we have planned to construct two more reactors of this kind,” IGCAR Director Dr Baldev Raj told reporters here. He said the work on the two reactors was expected to start by 2014. On the ongoing work on the Rs 3,500-crore first FBR, Raj said the physical and civil construction was almost complete and it would be commissioned by October 2011. The safety vessel and main vessel had already been placed in the reactor vault while the inner vessel would be installed before the reactor was closed, he said. Other works, including primary piping and electrical, would be completed very soon, Raj said. The testing of indigenously developed fission chamber would be carried out for three months from February end. Stating...

  A multi-barrel rocket launcher Nuclear-capable Agni III missile rolls past Arjun Army tanks The Multiple Launch Rocket System The Rohini Radar

MARCHING AT 60 Paramilitary soldiers march during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi, India on January 26, 2010. WITH CHIEF INVITEES President Pratibha Patil along with chief guest Korean President Lee Myung-bak leaving after the 61st Republic Day function at Rajpath in New Delhi on Tuesday. MANY SOLDIERS ONE GROUND Paramilitary jawans march amids fog during the 61st Republic Day function at Rajpath in New Delhi on Tuesday. PERFORMING STUNTS A Jammu and Kashmir state police daredevil performs stunts during the Republic Day celebrations in Jammu, India. R-DAY PARADE A marching contingent during the 61st Republic Day celebrations at Marina beach in Chennai on Tuesday. DISPLAYING SKILLS Daredevils presenting a show during the 61st Republic Day function at Rajpath in New Delhi on Tuesday. HANDS TOGETHER A marching contingent during the 61st Republic Day celebrations at Marina beach, in Chennai on January 26, 2010. IN A RYTHUM Indi...

India is making the "building blocks" of the technology to develop anti-satellite capabilities as part of its space security measures. "We are making the building blocks of technology for the space security measures and they are of two types, active and passive. So, we are developing both these elements in this programme," DRDO chief V K Saraswat told reporters. He was responding to queries on India's plans to develop capabilities to destroy satellites in space while speaking on the sidelines of a function to sign MoUs between DRDO laboratories and private industries to commercialise technologies developed by the defence research organisation. Asked about the developments in the indigenous Ballistic Missile Defence programme, he said, "the (BMD) test is going to be conducted in February.

India is getting ready to launch Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with indigenously developed cryogenic engine, said Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman. Dr. Radhakrishnan was talking to reporters at Sabarimala Sannidhanam during his 47th pilgrimage to Lord Ayyappa Temple there on Sunday. He said ISRO is planning to test GSLV-D3 carrying the communication satellite GSAT-4 with a two tonne payload at Sriharikottah on January 24. Dr. Radhakrishnan said achieving self-reliance in cryogenic propulsion technology would boost India’s image, besides taking it to the league of select countries having the technology. So far, India has been using Russian-made cryogenic engines in its launching vehicles. He said ISRO was also planning to undertake a space mission to take man to space and bring him back safe after conducting studies for a few days there.

Following a meeting of the Russian-Indian intergovernmental commission on military cooperation, Indian Defense Minister A. K. Antony is moving ahead with the two countries cooperation agreement for 2011-2020. The cooperation include the modernization of the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier (formerly the Admiral Gorshkov) for the Indian navy, the transfer of technology for the licensed assembly of T-90 tanks in India, the production of BrahMos missiles and the purchase of Smerch MLRS by India. It also includes modernizing MiG-27 Flogger ground support aircraft, Su-30MKI fighter jets, T-72M1 and T-90S tanks and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles currently in service with the Indian Armed Forces.

According to souurces close to Indian military defense reserach institute (it is no longer DRDO at Pune, the secret advanced organization is fully classified), India is ahead of Chinese missile technologies in stealth, target precision management, and algorithmic evasion. The recent ABM test in China was closely followed by Indian top military space scientists. It actually exposed China's weakness and vulnerability. It also brought smiles among the Indian scientists and engineers because if this is what Chinese could perform to scare the Americans, then China has really to worry about Indian capabilities. India has two sets of program. One is open and the other is secret. The open specs are far behind the real specs. The open program boasts Prithvi Air Defense anti-ballistic missile interceptor. Last year, India showed the world how Prithvi Air Defense anti-ballistic missile interceptor achieved all the mission objectives. The two-stage interceptor missile fitted with advanced sy...

Thiruvananthapuram: Breaking News! The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched 10 Rohini series indigenous sounding rockets from the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Thursday and Friday to study solar eclipse. Yesterday, on January 15, the longest annular solar eclipse of the century occurred and was visible in almost all parts of India. The VSSC launched two sounding rockets each of the type RH 300 Mk II and RH 200 on Thursday and and three sounding rockets of the type RH 300 Mk II and two sounding rockets of RH 200 on Friday from Thumba. The VSSC also launched a larger Rohini rocket of the RH 560 Mk II series from Sriharikota on Friday. The annular solar eclipse occurred over Thumba at 11.15 PM yesterday. It achieved an obscuration of 91 per cent and lasted for about 11 minutes. The rockets will collect relevant data on atmospheric structure and dynamics at differe...

After floating out INS Teg – the first Talwar class guided missile frigate in November last, Russia now aims to float out the other two vessels it is building for Indian Navy by the end of this year. The Yantar shipyard, which is constructing the new frigates, will float out INS Tarkash and INS Trikand by 2010-end, a shipyard spokesperson was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying on Monday. Russia is building the vessels for India as per a $1.6 billion contract signed in July 2006. INS Teg became waterborne on November 27, 2009. Its sea trials are expected to start this year after which it will be handed over to Indian Navy by 2011-12. The new class of missile frigates is designed to accomplish a wide range of maritime missions, primarily hunting down and destroying large surface ships and submarines. They would be equipped with BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missiles. Each new vessel would feature a 100-mm gun, a Shtil air defense system, two Kashtan air defense gun/missile systems...

India on Monday testfired two rounds of country’s first beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAM) Astra back-to-back from integrated test range (ITR) off Orissa coast. The missile was flight-tested in fully operational stage between 9.45 am and 12.15 pm from the launching complex-II. Once operational, this futuristic weapon will propel India into an elite club of countries such as the US, Russia, France and Israel. Defence sources said the missile was launched from a specially-built ground launcher and both the flight tests turned out to be huge success for the DRDO. “The missile covered the desired distance as coordinated. It hit two simulated targets and met all the mission objectives. The tests were aimed at checking the control system and its stability,” ITR director S P Dash said. The indigenously developed Astra is designed for an 80-km range in head-on mode and 20 km-range in tail-chase mode. As an anti-aircraft missile, it can be fired after receiving a signal from...

With ocean scientists reporting a nine mm rise in sea levels in four years, India will launch an exclusive satellite later this year to study the changes in the environment. The SARAL-Altika satellite will complement the current observations of the sea made by current satellites like Jason-2 of the French Space Agency and NASA. “The SARAL-Altika to be launched by this year-end will have a high-resolution altimeter in the Ka-band,” Marc Pircher, Director of the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency said on the sidelines of the 97th Indian Science Congress here. He said the satellite would be useful in studying the sea state, light rainfall climatalogy, mean sea level and coastal altimetry. Shailesh Nayak, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, said that SARAL-Altika would help ocean scientists gather accurate data on the rise in the sea level which could threaten the low lying and coastal areas of the country. “SARAL-Altika will have a Ka-band alti...

The country's prestigious 'BRAHMOS' missile would be inducted into the Air Force in 2012 that would ensure all the three wings of the military are equipped with the supersonic cruise missile, a top Defence official said on Tuesday. "We have developed the airborne missile part, and process of integrating it with the Aircraft 'Sukhoi' was progressing', BrahMos Aerospace Ltd CMD A Shivathanu Pillai told PTI at the BrahMos Aerospace's facility here. Trial run of Airborne BRAHMOS missile would be held next year and the target was to integrate it with the Aircraft in 2012, he said. As far as integration of the missile was concerned, the original designers of the aircraft were also involved, he said. "We are working with them (Sukhoi). Some changes are necessary and once the alteration is identified, we will introduce the same in the aircraft," Pillai said. With that, all the three wings of Indian military -- Air Force, Navy and Army --...

India is ready to test fly a prototype of the indigenously developed Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) by end of December. “The first prototype of LCH is expected to take to the skies between December 26 and December 29,” PTI quoted a senior HAL official as saying. The light combat helicopter, designed and developed by the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), is currently undergoing functional tests and is expected to be ready for ground run by December 24. LCH is expected to get the initial operational clearance (IOC) by December 2010 and the final operational clearance (FOC) in 2011. The delivery of the machines expected to begin from 2014 will augment the Indian Air Force (IAF) fleet of small and highly manoeuvrable rotary flying machines. LCH would also have a weaponised version, similar to ALH. “There will be rocket pods, a machine gun and also air-to-air missiles in the combat version of LCH. But in the first prototype all these features will not be there,” the of...

The CMD of the Cochin International Airport Ltd, Dr CG Krishnadas Nair said that India would soon make a headway in the areospace industry by producing a light helicopter which would fly at a level of 6 km. He urged the government for a proactive aeronautic policy and setting up of adequate institutes for aeronautic study.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch Cartosat series 'Cartosat-2B' remote sensing satellite in March this year, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said here today. The testing of Cryogenic engine system for GSLV will also be held soon, Radhakrishnan said on the sidelines of the inauguration of 'IIST@Schools', an initiative of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology to introduce to schoolchildren, space activities and its social implications. Inputs received through Cartosat are mainly used to plan development activities in rural and urban areas of the country. Earlier, speaking on the occasion, he said India has outlined a series of challenging and exciting space programmes, including Chandrayan-2 and man-mission to space. "India is capable of sending a man to space and bringing him back with our GSLV technology," the ISRO chief said.

Indian defence scientists are readying a weapons system to neutralise enemy satellites operating in low-earth orbit, a top defence scientist said here on Sunday. "India is putting together building blocks of technology that could be used to neutralise enemy satellites," Defence Research and Development Organisation Director General V K Saraswat told reporters on the sidelines of the 97th Indian Science Congress. However, he added that the defence scientists have not planned any tests but have started planning such technology which could be used to leapfrog to build a weapon in case the country needed it. Saraswat, who is also the Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister, said the scientists were planning to build the weapon which would have the capacity to hit and destroy satellites in low-earth orbit and polar orbit. Usually, satellites in such orbits are used for network centric warfare and neutralising such spacecraft would deny enemy access to its space assets.