Oh really??? inducting duds again
2009 saw Chinese incursions, Sukhoi mishaps, Agni-II failure
It was not happy tidings in 2009 for the defence ministry which was stung by the alleged role of four generals in the Darjeeling land scam and the
failure of BrahMos and Agni-II missile tests.
The ministry came under pressure to punish the generals after an army probe held them responsible for the sale of the 70-acre estate in Darjeeling to a private realtor.
The army headquarters is now considering the report. The generals may face summary dismissal, court martial or punitive administrative action.
Repeated incursions and airspace violations by Chinese military in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir too engaged the defence top brass's minds during the year.
To boost their defence preparedness, India floated a Request for Information (RFI) for lightweight tanks to deploy them along the Chinese border and also based a Sukhoi fighter squadron of IAF in Tezpur in Assam.
It also activated the Nyoma advanced landing ground in Ladakh during September for operating AN-32 transport aircraft, enabling faster troops movement. The failure of BrahMos and Agni-II missile tests bruised the image of DRDO.
But the silver lining was India joining an elite group of nations like the US, Russia, the UK, China and France when it laid the keel of a 40,000-tonne indigenous aircraft carrier and a 6,000-tonne nuclear-powered submarine for the navy.
President Pratibha Patil created history by becoming the first Indian woman to ride as a co-pilot on a Sukhoi and later capped it by boarding aircraft carrier INS Viraat.
The year was marred by
13 IAF plane crashes, including two Sukhois' that shattered the front line fighter jet's mishap-free record since induction in 1996, and a Naval Sea Harrier jet crash that brought down the already depleting naval aviation's fleet.
The year began with high-level political and military meets to ideate on the defence of the 7,500-km-long coastline, culminating in the navy getting charge of coastal security and setting up of Coastal Command under the Coast Guard chief.
In its anti-piracy efforts in the Indian Ocean, the navy won accolades for nabbing nine pirates off Seychelles, apart from warding off attacks on merchant ships in the Gulf.
It also had two North Korean ships intercepted near Andaman and Nicobar in August and off Kochi in November, both sailing suspiciously and anchoring off Indian coasts. Naval ships rescued two Coast Guard men, who were abducted by Sri Lankan fishermen in December.
India also got its sole aircraft carrier INS Viraat, which turned 50 on November 18, repaired and refitted at Kochi this year. The Navy floated RFI for carrier-borne aircraft as a back-up if naval LCA project was delayed beyond 2015, and also got delivery of the first four of the 16 MiG-29Ks jets from Russia for Admiral Gorshkov, though the warship is scheduled to arrive only by 2012.
India and Russia also completed their protracted talks for a revised price for Gorshkov when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Moscow in December. The new price could be anywhere between USD 2.3 billion and 2.9 billion.
To weed out corruption in defence deals, the ministry blacklisted seven firms including foreign ones from Israel, Singapore and Poland after the CBI filed a case against former Ordnance Factory Board chief Sudipto Gosh.
The Israeli and Singapore companies were later provided a reprieve to join trials of their products in "multi-vendor" bids such as 155mm towed artillery guns, specialised vehicles for special forces and ancillary systems.
The DRDO, on its part, had a mixed bag. While the test of an upgraded BrahMos supersonic cruise missile failed twice in the first couple of months of the year after which the army refused to accept the weapon unless proved, the third test in March hit the bull's eye.
The DRDO did carry out a text-book trial of the Ballistic Missile Interceptor in March, showcasing the robustness of India's indigenous efforts at building a missile shield over its skies.
In another failure for DRDO, its two tests of the nuclear-capable intermediate range Agni-II missile system failed in May and again in November during a night trial.
A woman broke the gender barrier when Tessy Thomas, a senior scientist, was made the director of the Agni-V project. The government also integrated 15 departments having maritime role such as petroleum, shipping and customs into the coastal security grid, set up joint operations centre for coordinated action during Mumbai-type terror attempts.
In a boost to naval shipbuilding, the Cabinet cleared the transfer of Vishakapatnam-based Hindustan Shipyard to defence ministry to meet its submarine construction requirements.
First test them properly !!!
statement ..
