India Armed Forces Gallery and Discussion

BeachBoys

Russian Army Officers Train in Indian Army Mountain Warfare Centers


A delegation of Russian Ground Forces officers will learn abouttraining troops for mountain warfare during a two-week trip to Indiathat started on Monday, a spokesman for the Russian military said.

Deputycommander Lt. Gen. Valery Yevnevich, along with officers from Russia'smountain brigades and the Far Eastern Military Command officer trainingschool, will visit a training center in Jammu and Kashmir, India'snorthernmost state, "to see how the Indian troops train for mountainousoperations," Col. Igor Konashenkov said.

The visit, which runsuntil July 30, was agreed in Moscow on June 24 by India's Chief of ArmyStaff, General Deepak Kapoor, and Russia's Ground Forces commander,Gen. Alexei Maslov, as part of an extensive military cooperationprogram. Russia began deploying two mountain brigades in the NorthCaucasus last year, near the mountainous border with Georgia. The twobrigades are made up of contract soldiers, totaling about 4,500personnel.

The Indian Army has 10 divisions dedicated tomountain warfare and another infantry division earmarked forhigh-altitude operations. They are deployed in strategically importantareas along the borders with its traditional rivals, Pakistan andChina. India and Russia have a long history of military cooperation,which goes back almost half a century. The existing Russian-Indianmilitary-technical cooperation program, which lasts until 2010,includes up to 200 projects worth about $18 billion in all, accordingto Russia's Defense Ministry.

http://www.india-defence.com/reports-3905

BeachBoys

Indian Army Will Not Order More Than 124 Arjun MBT

The Indian Army has indicated it would place no more orders than 124already made to Heavy Vehicles Factory, Avadi, sounding the death knellof the DRDO project. "Army will no more place orders for Arjun beyond124 that was already contracted. That is because Army is now looking 20years ahead and wants a futuristic MBT," Lt Gen Dalip Bharadwaj, ArmyDirector General (Mechanised Infantry), said here.

ThoughBharadwaj discounted suggestions that it would mean the end of DRDO'sArjun project that began in 1972, he did point out induction of moreArjun MBTs at this stage would only mean India lagging behind in thetechnological race in armored fighting vehicles. "Arjun is acontemporary tank and may be used in the next decade or so, but not fora technologically advanced, next generation warfare some two decadeshence," Bhardwaj said on the sidelines of an interactive session withdefence private industry at CII.

After 36 years into its designand development, Arjun had as recently as in December 2007 failedwinter trials, as stated in a Parliamentary report. It is yet to gothrough crucial comparative trials with Russian tanks, a mandatoryprocess before induction into Army. With uncertainty looming over Arjuntanks, Army has already increased its orders for Russian T-90 tanks byanother 330 last year, over and above the 1000 it had ordered, clearlyindicating T-90s would be the MBT of Indian Army for the next decade.

Chennai-basedCombat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) had lastyear handed over 14 Arjuns to the Army for trials, but they werereturned with a list of defects in its fire control systems, inaccuracyof guns, low speeds in tactical areas such as deserts and inability tooperate in temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius. This summer too Armyand the DRDO took out Arjun MBTs for trials, but the results were yetto be made public. Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry claimed it suspectedan effort at "sabotaging" Arjun tanks, though reasons for the suspicionwere not spelt out by Minister of State for Defence Production RaoInderjit Singh.
The DRDO's new project 'Tank-X' too did not findfavor with the Army. "Tank-X is a hybrid of T-90 and T-72, which areboth contemporary technology tanks. There is no point in havingtechnologically obsolete tanks for warfare two decades hence," the DG(Mechanized Forces) said.

Bharadwaj also announced that theArmy, along with CII, would organize a two-day international technologyseminar on Future Main Battle Tank (FMBT) and Future Infantry CombatVehicle (FICV) here on July 22 and 23 to discuss global challenges indesigning, developing and producing FMBT and FICV. To be inaugurated byDefence Minister A K Antony and Rao Inderjit Singh, Bhardwaj said theseminar would debate the kind of MBT Army needed, considering thatmight of the military was judged by both deterrent and offensivecapabilities of Mechanized Forces and on the quality and quantity ofequipment.

"Time has come to reassess our requirements. We areat the threshold of formulating qualitative requirements of FMBT andFICV. This is the future, as it takes about a decade for completing theprocess of designing and being ready with a prototype of FMBT and FICV.It could take another 5 to 10 years to finally induct futuristic MBTsand ICVs into the forces," he said. The meeting would also providedefence planners, end-users, scientists and both private and publicdefence manufacturers a holistic view of applicability of tanks, bethey heavy, medium or light, and wheeled or tracked in modern warfare.

"ConsideringIndia's expanding strategic reach and widening global standing as amilitary power, future armored vehicles should be capable of performingroles during out-of-area contingencies beyond its territorialboundaries," Bharadwaj said. The meet would also try to provide defenceindustry an insight into Mechanized Forces' aspirations and try togauge their capability to meet Army's future requirements.

Apartfrom looking at varying global perceptions on use of armored vehicles,the seminar would identify critical emerging technologies in the fieldto meet Army's requirements of FMBT and FICV. Already, seven foreigncountries have confirmed their participation in the seminar includingUS, Israel, Russia, Germany, UK and France.

http://www.india-defence.com/reports-3894

BeachBoys

India army chief wary of growing China military

India needs to be wary of a rapidly modernising Chinese military as itcould affect the country's security in the long run, India's army chiefsaid on Thursday. The world's two most populous nations are forging newties amid soaring trade and business links, though serious differencesover their Himalayan border, the cause of a 1962 war, fester.

Indiahas also been pursuing closer relations with the United States,something that worries China. "We need to take note of likelyimplications of China's military modernisation, improvement ofinfrastructure in the Tibet Autonomous Region, which could impact oursecurity in the long-term," General Deepak Kapoor said in New Delhi.

AlthoughIndia and China have signed a treaty to maintain "peace andtranquility" along the disputed frontier and agreed to find a politicalsolution to the row, talks over a 3,500-km disputed frontier havehardly made progress. Kapoor said growing trade ties augured well forboth countries and there was peace along the border.

"Our mutualeconomic engagements and continued efforts to amicably resolved thisboundary issue have ensured peace along the border," he said.

http://www.india-defence.com/reports-3892

BeachBoys

Indian Army Conducts Successful User Trials For Prithvi 2 Missiles

India successfully tested its nuclear-capable surface-to-surfacePrithvi missile from a test range in eastern Orissa state on Friday,defense officials said. Prithvi, which means the earth in Hindi, isIndia's most sophisticated medium-range missile that can cover a rangeof between 150 to 350 kilometers.

Itwas launched from the Integrated Test Range of Chandipore in Orissa, aDefence Ministry spokesman said in New Delhi. 'The Prithvi II missilewas tested as part of a user's trial by the Indian Army and the testachieved near perfect accuracy. It took off from the base and reachedthe designated target in the Bay of Bengal,' he said.

Versionsof the Prithvi have already been inducted into the Indian army and airforce and Friday's test involved one of the products picked randomlyfrom the assembly line, a statement issued by the Defence Ministrysaid. While the Prithvi I, which has a range of 150 kilometres, wasinducted in the army in 1994, the Prithvi II has an extended range of350 kilometres and has been inducted in the army as well as the airforce.

The PTI news agency reported that the user's trial onFriday was aimed at further fine-tuning the sophisticated missile'sdelivery, control and guidance system. 'All parameters of the missileare now being analysed after the successful test fire,' unnamed defenceofficials told the news agency.

The 8.56 metre-long and 1-metrethick Prithvi missile can carry a payload of 1,000 kilogrammes ofexplosives. Powered by liquid propellant, Prithvi can operate with bothliquid as well as solid fuel and takes about 300 seconds to reach atarget located at a distance of 150 kilometres.

Prithvi is oneof five missiles under various stages of development by the DRDO underIndia's integrated missile development programme. South Asiannuclear-capable neighbours India and Pakistan routinely test missiles.They have an arrangement by which they give each other priorinformation on such tests.

http://www.india-defence.com/reports-3853

BeachBoys

Arjun Main Battle Tanks Fail Winter Trials 2007: Indian Army

An indigenous main battle tank (MBT) that has been in the developmentfor nearly 36 years has failed to deliver at the just-concluded wintertrials, the Indian Army has told a key parliamentary panel.

'Wehave just carried out the trial in winter. The tank performed verypoorly. There have been four engine failures so far,' parliament'sStanding Committee on Defence quotes an Indian Army officer as saying.Defence Minister A.K. Antony tabled the committee's 29th report in bothhouses of parliament Wednesday. 'The defence ministry has beenapprised. A lot of improvements have to be done before the army issatisfied with the tank,' the report quotes the army officer as tellingthe committee at its meeting here last month.

The report couldprove to be the last nail in the MBT project, analysts said. Ahead ofthe winter trials, conducted in the deserts of Rajasthan, an armyofficer had told IANS: 'We are currently re-evaluating the Arjun (asthe MBT is named) to find out if the defects we had pointed out havetruly been rectified.' 'In any case, even if the defects are removed,the army is unlikely to go beyond the figure of 124 that it hasinitially contracted to purchase,' the officer said, speaking oncondition of anonymity.

Fourteen Arjun tanks had been handedover to the Indian Army for user trials last year but were returned tothe manufacturer - the Combat Vehicles Development Establishment - witha list of defects. These included a deficient fire control system,inaccuracy of its guns, low speeds in tactical areas - principally thedeserts - and the tank's inability to operate in temperatures over 50degrees Celsius. Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor and hispredecessor, General J.J. Singh, had on separate occasions expressedtheir unhappiness with the tank.

'What we have today is amid-level technology. What we need is a tank of international quality,'Kapoor said last November. Singh had spoken in much in the same veinduring a major Indian Army exercise in the desert of Rajasthan inApril-May, 2007. 'We have to make sure the troops are not exposed toany disadvantage,' Singh replied cryptically when asked about Arjun'sperformance during the five-day Exercise 'Ashwamedh' for which asquadron of 14 Arjun tanks was deployed.

The Indian Army laiddown its qualitative requirement (QR) for the Arjun in 1972. In 1982,it was announced that the prototype was ready for field trials.However, the tank was publicly unveiled for the first time only in1995. Arjun was originally meant to be a 40-tonne tank with a 105 mmgun. It has now grown to a 50-tonne tank with a 120 mm gun. The tankwas meant to supplement and eventually replace the Soviet-era T-72 MBTthat was first inducted in the early 1980s.

However, delays inthe Arjun project, and Pakistan's decision to purchase the T-80 fromUkraine, prompted India to order 310 T-90s, an upgraded version of theT-72, in 2001. Of these, 186 were assembled from kits at the HeavyVehicles Factory at Avadi in Tamil Nadu. An agreement was also signedfor the licensed production of another 1,000 T-90s. With the Arjundevelopment delayed further, India last year signed a fresh contractwith Russia to buy another 330 T-90s.

http://www.india-defence.com/reports-3812

BeachBoys

BeachBoys

lepas ni TUDM kena wat peta malaysia pulak masa persembahan aerobatik udara..

BeachBoys

Tejas LCA projected to achieve limited initial operational clearance (IOC) with the Indian Air Force (IAF) by 2008.

Full operational clearance (FOC) by the end of 2010.

IAF dikatakan memerlukan sehingga 200 buah pesawat ni.xtaulah btul ke tidak...

BeachBoys

C-130J Super Hercules. (Type: STOL military transport aircraft).Manufacturer: Lockheed Corporation, USA. later merged with MartinMarietta in 1995 to form Lockheed Martin. C-130J Super Hercules is thenewest version of the Hercules and the only model still produced. Indiasigned the agreement for purchase of 6 C-130J aircrafts on January 30,2008 at a cost of $ 1.059 Billion. It's a package deal with the USgovernment under its Foreign Military Sales Programme (FMS), and Indiahas retained options to buy six more of these aircraft for its specialforces for combined army-air force operations. Deliveries will start 36months from the date of sign of agreement i.e. 2011. Powerplant: 4 xRolls-Royce Allison AE2100 turboprops. Capacity: 92 passengers or 64airborne troops or 74 litter patients with 2 medical personnel.Payload: 45,000 lb (20,000 kg)

BeachBoys

30.09.2008

Russia to start MiG fighter deliveries to India in spring 2009

Russia will start deliveries of MiG-29K Fulcrum-D carrier fighters to India in the spring of 2009, the aircraft manufacturer's marketing director said Monday.

Russia and India signed a contract on January 20, 2004, stipulating thedelivery of 12 single-seat MiG-29K and four two-seat MiG-29KUB by 2009,to be deployed on the Admiral Gorshkov, currently being retrofitted in Russia for the Indian Navy.

"The first four MiG-29K aircraft will be delivered to India in thespring of 2009," Mikhail Globenko said, adding that the remaining 12jets would be delivered "by the fall."

The MiG official said there was an option in the contract to supply anadditional 30 fighters by 2015 and the company was in talks with theIndian navy on exercising this option.

"We are ready [to exercise this option] and it all now depends on the Indian side," Globenko said.

He also said that Indian pilots started Monday a five-month trainingcourse for MiG-29K in Russia and technical personnel had already beentraining in Russia for two months.

"By the time the first aircraft arrive in India, their pilots and technicians will be ready," the Russian official said.                

http://rusnavy.com/news/navy/index.php?ELEMENT_ID=5770

BeachBoys

30.09.2008

Russia, India to develop new BrahMos cruise missile

Russia and India will jointly develop a new BrahMos-2 hypersonic cruise missile, the head of the BrahMos company said on Monday.

"Today, at a meeting of the Russian-Indian intergovernmental commissionon military-technical cooperation, we decided to set up a working groupon the development of the BrahMos-2 missile," the company's CEO, Sivathanu Pillai said.

"The new hypersonic missile will have a top speed of over Mach 5, which would make it impossible to intercept," he added.

Established in 1998, BrahMos Aerospace, a joint Indian-Russian venture, produces and markets BrahMossupersonic missiles, whose sea-based and land-based versions have beensuccessfully tested and put into service with the Indian army and navy.

Pillai said that the company had finished the development of the airborne version of the BrahMos missile and the Indian air force had chosen the SU-30 MKI Flanker-H multirole fighter as a trial platform for the missile.

The BrahMos missile has a range of 290 km (180 miles)and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kg (660 pounds). Itcan hit ground targets flying at an altitude as low as 10 meters (30feet) and has a top speed of Mach 2.8, which is about three timesfaster than the U.S.-made subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile.

The head of BrahMos Aerospace earlier said that therecent acquisition of an assembly plant in the state of Kerala fromKerala Hightech Industries Ltd, in addition to the main plant inHyderabad, would allow the company to increase production to 50 BrahMos missiles a year and fulfill orders from the army on schedule.

Analysts estimate that India could purchase up to 1,000 BrahMos missiles for its armed forces in the next decade, and export 2,000 to other countries during the same period.                

http://rusnavy.com/news/navy/index.php?ELEMENT_ID=5773

BeachBoys

06.10.2008

Russia's UAC may join India in development of BrahMos-2 missile

Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) will participate in thejoint development of a new cruise missile with India only if a decisionis made to adopt it for service with the Russian Air Force, the companysaid on Friday.

UAC was formed last yearfrom leading domestic plane producers to streamline the country'saircraft-building industry, and includes Ilyushin, Tupolev, Sukhoi,Antonov and Mikoyan, as well as companies involved in distribution.

"Ourparticipation will be certain only if we receive an official request toequip Russian fighters, the Su-MKI in particular, with these missiles.So far we have not received such a request," said UAC president AlexeyFyodorov.

Russia and India announced in September plans to jointly develop a new BrahMos hypersonic cruise missile.

The new missile will have a top speed of over Mach 5, which would make it virtually impossible to intercept.

Atpresent, BrahMosAerospace, a joint Indian-Russianventure, produces and markets BrahMos supersonicmissiles, whose sea-based and land-based versions have beensuccessfully tested and put into service with the Indian army and navy.

The head of BrahMosAerospace, Sivathanu Pillai, earlier said that the companyhad finished the development of the airborne version of the BrahMos missile and the Indian air force had chosenthe SU-30 MKI Flanker-H multirole fighter as a trialplatform for the missile.

The BrahMos missile has a range of 290 km (180 miles)and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kg (660 pounds). Itcan hit ground targets flying at an altitude as low as 10 meters (30feet) and has a top speed of Mach 2.8, which is about three timesfaster than the U.S.-made subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile.

Analystsestimate that India could purchase up to 1,000 BrahMos missiles for itsarmed forces in the next decade, and export 2,000 to other countriesduring the same period.        

http://rusnavy.com/news/navy/index.php?ELEMENT_ID=5783

BeachBoys

17.10.2008

Russia to build second missile frigate for Indian Navy by March

A Russian shipyard said on Thursday it would complete theconstruction of the second of three missile frigates for the IndianNavy by March 2009.

The Yantar shipyard in Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad said the second Project 11356 frigate was more than 50% complete.

India and Russia signed a $1.6 billion contract for the construction of an additional three Project 11356 Krivak IV-class guided missile frigates for the Indian Navy in July, 2006. Russia previously built three Krivak-class frigates - INS Talwar, INS Trishul and INS Tabar - for India, and delivered them all in late 2004.

The final vessel is due to be delivered to India by 2011-12. All of the frigates will be armed with the BrahMos supersonic anti-ship cruise missile system instead of the Club-N/3M54TE missile system, which was installed on previous frigates.

The Krivak-class frigate has deadweight of 4,000metric tons and a speed of 30 knots, and is capable of accomplishing awide range of maritime missions, primarily hunting down and destroyinglarge surface ships and submarines.

http://rusnavy.com/news/navy/index.php?ELEMENT_ID=5793

BeachBoys

Indian MiG-21s Too Fragile

    November 14,2008: India has lost three more MiG-21fighters this year, and three other aircraft at well. That's the good news,sort of. The Indian Air Force has made its MiG-21s safe, or at least safer, tofly. It hasn't been easy, or cheap. But for a long time, India lost at leastten MiG-21s a year.

    Six yearsago, the poor safety record of the MiG-21 reached crises proportions. TheIndian Air Force lost 102 of its Russian-made MiG-21 fighters and 39 pilots tocrashes, between 1 April 1992 to 31 March 2002. The defense ministry insistedthat the losses were due to human error, bird hits and technical defects. Butpilots had been quite blunt in pointing out that the 1950s era MiG-21 designhad never been a safe aircraft to fly.

    Back then,the Indian Air Force still had over 700 MiG-21s, with the most modern variantbeing the MiG 21bis. This was an upgrade of older MiG-21s, costing over $5million per aircraft, which replaced electronic and mechanical items that hadbeen identified as responsible for many accidents. This reduced the loss rateto about one crash for every 20,000 flight hours. The upgrade also made theaircraft viable for another decade.

    The 125MiG-21 Bis aircraft, have a good safety record. But the other, older, models are what produced the nearly twocrashes per 10,000 flight hours. The Bis model is good for another 15 years orso. By then, India expects to have replaced all the MiG-21 aircraft with moremodern fighters.

    The Indianshave become quite expert in making MiG-21s safer to fly. They found, andreplaced components (like fuel pumps) that were responsible for many accidents.A major problem, however, was that the MiG-21 was not built to be flown as muchas Western fighters. In other words, the Russians purposely did not let theirpilots fly as much as their Western counterparts.

Partly, this was to savemoney (even for a MiG-21, it cost several thousand dollars per flight hour),and partly to have more aircraft if a war came. The Russians were, when theMiG-21 was designed, more into quantity than quality. They have since changedtheir minds, but the MiG-21s still around are the product of another era.Meanwhile, India has been trying to make those MiG-21s fly as frequently asWestern warplanes, with disastrous results.

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htatrit/articles/20081114.aspx
  

BeachBoys

Indian Government News | Nov 13, 2008

Russia on Tuesday saidthe delivery of Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier to the Indian Navywould be delayed till 2012 as the vessel could be refitted onlysometime in 2010.

Russia also said thatsince last year New Delhi has not made any payments although the extrawork to the tune of USD 1.7 billion has been done by the shipyard.

The 44.5-thousand tonneKiev-class aircraft carrier was to be initially commissioned as INSVikramaditya in August this year under the USD 1.5 billion deal signedin January 2004, which included the refit of the vessel and supply of16 MiG-29K fighters.

According to an unnamedrepresentative of Severodvinsk-based Sevmash shipyard, Gorshkov will belaunched in early December, probably to coincide with Russian PresidentDmitry Medvedev's maiden visit to India. After launching it would bemoored to the assembly wall for the completion of its refit.

"At this juncture, thecompletion of work in 2010 would be realistic. Two more years would berequired to complete the vessel's sailing trials, including testing itsaircraft in the severe conditions of Barents Sea," the shipyard'representative' was quoted as saying by ITAR-TASS.

Sea-going and flyingtrials of the refitted aircraft carrier will be conducted by theRussian crew trained on the "Admiral Kuznetsov" aircraft carrier inservice with the Russian Navy.

"Keeping in view thevolume of work over and above the contract, the shortage of funds hasreached USD 1.7 billion mark. From 2007 the Indians have practicallynot allocated funds for the repair and refit of the vessel, forcingSevmash to carry on the refit through attracting credits," it saidquoting experts' opinion.

Earlier this yearDefence Secretary Vijay Singh and Chief of Naval Staff Admiral SureeshMehta had visited Severodvinsk-based Sevmash shipyard to take the stockof situation and the problems faced in the Gorshkov modernisationincluding cost-escalation.

According to local mediareports, Sevmash is asking for USD one billion extra, while India isreported to be ready to pay not more than USD 600 million.

The negotiations arestill underway, diplomatic sources said without disclosing the amountIndia would be ready to pay over and above the original contract.


http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/navy/Gorshkov_s_Delivery_to_Indian_Navy_Delayed_Till_2012120016696.php


[ Last edited by  BeachBoys at 15-11-2008 11:16 PM ]

BeachBoys

Indian Government News | Nov 13, 2008

India has successfullytest fired 'Shaurya', a medium-range surface-to-surface ballisticmissile on Wednesday, to be used by its Army.
With a 600-km range, the missile is capable of hitting targets deep inside Pakistan and China.

The indigenous missilewas launched from an underground facility with an in-built canister at11.25 am from Complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, DRDOsources said here.

The sleek missile, witha flight duration of 485 seconds, roared into the sky leaving behind athick yellow and white smoke on a clear sunny day, they added.
The sophisticated tactical missile is capable of carrying conventional warheads with a payload of about one tonne.

"With longer shelf-life,as it is stored in a canister just like the BrahMos supersonic cruisemissile, the Shaurya is easily transportable and user-friendly. This isa technology development project," DRDO sources said.

Though there wasspeculation that the missile was a land version of the underdevelopment K-15 submarine-launched ballistic missile, DRDO sourcessaid the surface-to-surface missile had nothing to do with K-15'Sagarika' project.

"The missile was testfired from a 30-40 feet deep pit with in-built canister speciallydesigned for the purpose. There was no water in the pit," the sourcessaid.

http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/missiles/India_Successfully_Test-Fires_Shaurya_Missile160016694.php

gancity

cool MIG-29k simulator....





















all photo from: http://pilot.strizhi.info/2008/12/16/5957

HangPC2

INS Vikramaditya (Under Construction)





























































Sources : http://pilot.strizhi.info/

jofizo

NEW DELHI: Two Indian Air Force (IAF) Sukhoi-30MKI combat jets have been sent to Russia for a retrofit that would enable them launch the aerial version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile that India and Russia have jointly developed, an official said.

"The aerial version of the BrahMos missiles will be delivered from the Su-30MKI platform. We were in talks with Sukhoi and the IAF for it. Finally two Su-30MKIs of the IAF have been sent to Russia for retrofitting," a senior official of BrahMos Aerospace that manufactures the missile, told IANS, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The aerial version of BrahMos is coming along very well. After being programmed, the missile will be released from the aircraft and will auto-launch towards its target when it reaches an altitude of 50 metres," the official explained.

"The aerial version is nearly nine metres long and this requires modifications of the aircraft's fuselage. Since the Sukhoi company is busy with designing a fifth generation fighter, (India's) DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) scientists, along with Russian experts, will carry out the necessary modifications," the official said.

The modifications will be completed by early 2010.

Once this happens, BrahMos will become a "universal cruise missile" due to its ability to be launched from land, sea - from both ships and submarines - and the air.

The land and naval versions have already been inducted into service with the Indian Army and the Indian Navy.

The navy has integrated anti-ship versions of the BrahMos on its warships, including INS Rajput, and is integrating it on to two other ships of the same class. The missiles will also be mounted on the three 7,000-tonne Kolkata class destroyers currently being constructed at Mumbai's Mazagon Docks.

The navy had Dec 18 last year test-fired the missile from a vertical launcher on a ship in the Bay of Bengal. All earlier launches had been carried out from inclined launchers.

The missile, which takes its name from the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, has a range of nearly 300 km and carries a 300 kg conventional warhead. It can achieve speeds of up to 2.8 Mach or nearly three times the speed of sound.

BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited was established in India as a joint venture through an inter-governmental agreement signed between India and Russia in February 1998.

HangPC2

Second phase of weapon testing on Tejas is underway



Submitted by Mohit Joshi on Wed, 03/04/2009



New Delhi, Mar 4 : The second phase of weapon testing on Tejas, Indian indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), is currently underway from an Air Force base in the north-western sector.

The focus of the current phase of two-week testing is safe separation and also accuracy of weapon delivery, a Defence Research and Development Organisation statement said.

The results from the tests would validate aerodynamic interference data as well as complex weapon release algorithms in different modes of release, it said.

A composite test team comprising of specialists from ADA, IAF, HAL, NAL, ADE, DGAQA and CEMILAC had been put in place at the trial location where the flight test is being conducted by the National Flight Test Centre.

Arrangements are in place for directly linking the trial location with the base telemetry station at Bangalore via INSAT and also through a secluded fiber optic channel.

With this arrangement, designers and other specialists are able to monitor in real time the activities in general and vital parameters in particular, as the trial is going on thousands of kilometers away.

Specifically for this trial, accurate upper air data is gathered at the trial location using GPS Radiosonde supplied by ISRO, it said.

The mood at ADA and other organizations involved in the trial is upbeat as the information has just come in that Tejas has scored a direct hit on the target in the first test sortie itself.

The trials are planned for two weeks duration. (ANI)