Cheetah786
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2 countries in the world singing the same song over and over again india and israel
Indian Army News & Discussions
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R.A.W.
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And still some country is not able to understand the lyrics that it will be catastrophe for them if they did not change their attitude and infiltration.......
Spring Onion
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Pakistan has defeated anti-Pakistan terrorists. Still if we take this above line about Pakistan from Bhartya friends, a question arisis "Is India going to attack Pakistan? or send its army infantry" as the news item had used the words ""expeditionary force" in case of an "out of area contingency".]Or is it that India is sending its army to Afghanistan as was asked by US and agreed upon India sometimes back???
bandit
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What, when did that happen, last time I heard PA was still busy trying to capture some radio mullah and bombs were still going off in Pakistani markets.
DaRk WaVe
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ToI 
Come on ppl India is India not USA, if u ppl are thinking about sending Troops to Afgh then that will be one big mistake... I really don;t understand what Indians want, Power projection? Come on ppl ur time has not come yet...
This term "out of area contingency" is a bit fuuny it Dont suits India, u think ISI has got no contacts in Afgh, Indians are new in Afgh & ISI has been dealing with these ppl since the era of Soviets...
@ bandit...
Boy ur late, go thru some threads u will know what we have achieved
gubbi
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You really think India cannot send troops to Afghanistan? You do understand the far reaching implications for the subcontinent if that happens, but for now, we dont have a proper framework for such an action. Rest assured, one day the IA will be there in Afghanistan to help our Afghan brothers, Inshallah!
Come on ppl India is India not USA, if u ppl are thinking about sending Troops to Afgh then that will be one big mistake... I really don;t understand what Indians want, Power projection? Come on ppl ur time ahs not come yet...
This term "out of area contingency", u think ISI has got no contacts in Afgh, Indians are new in Afgh & ISI has been dealing with these ppl since the era of Soviets...
The important point here is the evolution of this idea in the usually complacent babudom of the Indian armed forces. Now its only a matter of time before this will be implemented and we will have a working expeditionary force. Though not on the scale of what US has, but initially enough for our immediate surroundings. Btw, Indian forces do have experience of intervention and amphibious assault in the Indian Ocean (Operation Cactus). Extrapolation wouldnt necessarily be that difficult.
No offense meant, PAK forces are doing a great job fighting the very taliban/militants they themselves once helped create. But reports indicate its going to be a long drawn out war! What you achieved is just a beginning, theres a long way to go!
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Screaming Skull
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Friday, September 18, 2009
The Indian Army has put out a request for information (RFI) for new semi-automatic 9mm (9x19) pistols for its Special Forces and Parachute units. According to the RFI document, the Army has detailed that it is looking for a weapon that has "the option of fixing on a laser and a high intensity flash light. It should be light weight, easy to carry and operate, robust pistol with which a Para Trooper should be able to carry out static line and free fall parachute jumps with the weapon on person/packed in the rucksack/weapon container."
The SF and Para units currently have Austrian Glock 17 and and Belgian firm Fabrique Nationale de Herstal's (FN) FN-35 9mm pistols. According to sources, the Army is expecting responses from a lot of companies which include Israeli Military Industries (SP-21 Barak) and German firm Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen (Walther P99).
Courtesy: LiveFist
Born In The USA
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Territorial Army to raise, deploy all-women wing in northeast, J&K
RAJOURI: The Territorial Army, a reserve force of trained civilians for the Indian Army, proposes to raise two all-women battalions, and deploy
one each in insurgency-hit areas of northeast and Jammu and Kashmir.
The project has the defence ministry's nod and is being given a final shape, sources said. At present, women can only join as doctors and nurses in the Territorial Army, which has a strength of 40,000.
The decision to deploy these battalions, around 300-women force, in counter-insurgency areas has been taken in view of an increasing number of women in militancy operations and to help deflect any kind of allegations of sexual abuse of local women by male soldiers, Rajouri-based spokesperson for TA unit of 38 Rashtriya Rifles said.
These battalions would primarily be used to investigate and interrogate women militants and female residents during counter-insurgency operations. They would also be deployed at the gates of fencing near the Line of Control for checking the movement of local residents, especially women.
There are incidents when a lot of hue and cry is raised and allegations of human rights violations levelled against officers carrying out search operations in insurgency-hit villages, the officer added. There have been instances when suspected women militants have managed to escape when such ruckus is kicked up, the spokesman said.
With the deployment of women battalion, we would not only be able to curb militancy but our operational procedure would also become more transparent. The necessity to set up all-women TA battalion was felt when the security agencies observed that terror outfits were using women against them, he said. They have clear instructions from their mentors that once across the border, they are to rely heavily on women ground workers to hit out at security officials involved in counter-insurgency operations, he added. Many women have been arrested in the past, who worked as couriers and overground workers of militants.
The Territorial Army is a voluntary, part-time Citizens Army, consisting of people who are not professional soldiers but civilians eager to do their bit for the country's defence. It acts as a reserve for the regular Army in times of need and draws men from the 18-42 age group.
On joining the TA, officers have to undergo mandatory training of arms handling and crisis management. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Army guards around 740 km of Line of Control (LoC) and the Border Security Force (BSF) 216km of international border. The BSF has now inducted women battalions and deployed them along the border.
Territorial Army to raise, deploy all-women wing in northeast, J&K - India - NEWS - The Times of India
RAJOURI: The Territorial Army, a reserve force of trained civilians for the Indian Army, proposes to raise two all-women battalions, and deploy
one each in insurgency-hit areas of northeast and Jammu and Kashmir.
The project has the defence ministry's nod and is being given a final shape, sources said. At present, women can only join as doctors and nurses in the Territorial Army, which has a strength of 40,000.
The decision to deploy these battalions, around 300-women force, in counter-insurgency areas has been taken in view of an increasing number of women in militancy operations and to help deflect any kind of allegations of sexual abuse of local women by male soldiers, Rajouri-based spokesperson for TA unit of 38 Rashtriya Rifles said.
These battalions would primarily be used to investigate and interrogate women militants and female residents during counter-insurgency operations. They would also be deployed at the gates of fencing near the Line of Control for checking the movement of local residents, especially women.
There are incidents when a lot of hue and cry is raised and allegations of human rights violations levelled against officers carrying out search operations in insurgency-hit villages, the officer added. There have been instances when suspected women militants have managed to escape when such ruckus is kicked up, the spokesman said.
With the deployment of women battalion, we would not only be able to curb militancy but our operational procedure would also become more transparent. The necessity to set up all-women TA battalion was felt when the security agencies observed that terror outfits were using women against them, he said. They have clear instructions from their mentors that once across the border, they are to rely heavily on women ground workers to hit out at security officials involved in counter-insurgency operations, he added. Many women have been arrested in the past, who worked as couriers and overground workers of militants.
The Territorial Army is a voluntary, part-time Citizens Army, consisting of people who are not professional soldiers but civilians eager to do their bit for the country's defence. It acts as a reserve for the regular Army in times of need and draws men from the 18-42 age group.
On joining the TA, officers have to undergo mandatory training of arms handling and crisis management. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Army guards around 740 km of Line of Control (LoC) and the Border Security Force (BSF) 216km of international border. The BSF has now inducted women battalions and deployed them along the border.
Territorial Army to raise, deploy all-women wing in northeast, J&K - India - NEWS - The Times of India
sudhir007
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Even as the Indian Army continues to rectify problems that cropped up with its recently inducted T-90 main battle tanks, it has drawn up plans to procure about 300 light tanks.
A request for information issued to prospective vendors has pegged the requirement at about 200 wheeled light tanks (armoured cars) and about 100 tracked light tanks.
The Army wants tanks for effective employability in the high-altitude areas and mountainous terrain as well as in the deserts and urban and semi-urban terrains in the western sector. The numbers and type of tanks and the projected areas of deployment is indicative of the Army’s threat perceptions and operational requirements in various theaters and its doctrinal approach.
Defence sources say the numbers could rise. The army, at present, has 63 armoured regiments out of which about half a dozen have been re-equipped with the T-90
Russian T-90s, procured a few years ago, faced problems while operating at high temperatures in the desert, affecting the tanks’ electronics, fire control system and thermal imagers.
According to sources, trials are on in desert to evaluate ratifications and modifications to overcome the problems. About a dozen Russian experts are assisting the Army in the Rajasthan ranges. The Army initially bought 310 T-90s and placed an order for another 330 in 2007 besides license producing another 1,000 by 2020.
Military experts say that light tanks would primarily be used for reconnaissance, where speed and stealth are preferred over firepower. Wheeled tanks have a much lower audio signature and are more manoeuverable than tracked tanks.
Maj Gen Raj Mehta, a cavalry officer, said light tanks are more effective in areas like paddy field, water-logged terrain, sand and marshy ground, where the ground pressure is very low.
Then there is the issue of logistics and cross-country transportation. A light tank weighs up to 14 tonnes while the T-90 or the Arjun weigh 45 and 58 tonnes, respectively. This makes it easier to transport them to the high-altitude areas in Ladakh or North-East by road or air.
Indian Army to procure 300 light tanks IDRW.ORG
A request for information issued to prospective vendors has pegged the requirement at about 200 wheeled light tanks (armoured cars) and about 100 tracked light tanks.
The Army wants tanks for effective employability in the high-altitude areas and mountainous terrain as well as in the deserts and urban and semi-urban terrains in the western sector. The numbers and type of tanks and the projected areas of deployment is indicative of the Army’s threat perceptions and operational requirements in various theaters and its doctrinal approach.
Defence sources say the numbers could rise. The army, at present, has 63 armoured regiments out of which about half a dozen have been re-equipped with the T-90
Russian T-90s, procured a few years ago, faced problems while operating at high temperatures in the desert, affecting the tanks’ electronics, fire control system and thermal imagers.
According to sources, trials are on in desert to evaluate ratifications and modifications to overcome the problems. About a dozen Russian experts are assisting the Army in the Rajasthan ranges. The Army initially bought 310 T-90s and placed an order for another 330 in 2007 besides license producing another 1,000 by 2020.
Military experts say that light tanks would primarily be used for reconnaissance, where speed and stealth are preferred over firepower. Wheeled tanks have a much lower audio signature and are more manoeuverable than tracked tanks.
Maj Gen Raj Mehta, a cavalry officer, said light tanks are more effective in areas like paddy field, water-logged terrain, sand and marshy ground, where the ground pressure is very low.
Then there is the issue of logistics and cross-country transportation. A light tank weighs up to 14 tonnes while the T-90 or the Arjun weigh 45 and 58 tonnes, respectively. This makes it easier to transport them to the high-altitude areas in Ladakh or North-East by road or air.
Indian Army to procure 300 light tanks IDRW.ORG
ejaz007
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India increases number of battalions along Pak borders
Updated at: 0350 PST, Tuesday, October 06, 2009
WAGAH: BSF (Indian Border security Force) Director General Raman Srivastava during his first visit to Punjab Frontier said that BSF would give befitted reply to each Pakistans anti Indian acts.
Addressing the media persons at Indo-Pak JCP (Joint Check Post) in Attari border Srivastava talked about recent rocket attacks on Indian borer villages by Pakistans side said that yet it was not established that who were behind the attack whether some fundamentalist group or any terrorist outfit, since enquiry was still pending.
Adding further Srivastava cautioned Pakistan saying that in future such attacks from Pakistan would be replied in a befitted manner as BSF would never tolerate such things for the larger interest of security and safety of inhabitants living on border villages on Indian side.
He said that BSF was always with the border inhabitants in all the circumstances and to provide all kind of secured atmospheres was the accountability of BSF. Moreover security in all the villages having close proximity with the International border was enhanced after rocket attacks.
Talking about the security of international border he informed that 29 more BSF battalions would be enhanced with in a year.
He said that presently 139 BOP (BORDER OUT POST) were lacking satellite and electric facilities which be completed with in year on war footing level.
He ruled out any possibility to discontinue daily beating Retreat Ceremony at Attari border in view of recent rockets attacks on Indian border villages by Pakistan, since this was not the remedy.
Talking about to curb smuggling of narcotics and fake Indian currency, he said there were some gaps on agriculture fields which were adjoining to Pakistan, required to be filled and thereafter this step would strongly be enough to stop infiltration from Pakistan, he said adding that for this purpose with in week period a special team of Union Home Ministry would visit the international border.
During his first visit at Attari border, commandant of Pakistans Rangers Mohhammad Akbar Ali Butt also extended welcome to Srivastava at JCP by shaking hands with each others.
During his visit at Attari he keenly watched the beating Retreat Ceremony jointly performed by BSF and Pakistan rangers during the flag lowering ceremony on sun set at their respective territories.
India increases number of battalions along Pak borders
Updated at: 0350 PST, Tuesday, October 06, 2009
WAGAH: BSF (Indian Border security Force) Director General Raman Srivastava during his first visit to Punjab Frontier said that BSF would give befitted reply to each Pakistans anti Indian acts.
Addressing the media persons at Indo-Pak JCP (Joint Check Post) in Attari border Srivastava talked about recent rocket attacks on Indian borer villages by Pakistans side said that yet it was not established that who were behind the attack whether some fundamentalist group or any terrorist outfit, since enquiry was still pending.
Adding further Srivastava cautioned Pakistan saying that in future such attacks from Pakistan would be replied in a befitted manner as BSF would never tolerate such things for the larger interest of security and safety of inhabitants living on border villages on Indian side.
He said that BSF was always with the border inhabitants in all the circumstances and to provide all kind of secured atmospheres was the accountability of BSF. Moreover security in all the villages having close proximity with the International border was enhanced after rocket attacks.
Talking about the security of international border he informed that 29 more BSF battalions would be enhanced with in a year.
He said that presently 139 BOP (BORDER OUT POST) were lacking satellite and electric facilities which be completed with in year on war footing level.
He ruled out any possibility to discontinue daily beating Retreat Ceremony at Attari border in view of recent rockets attacks on Indian border villages by Pakistan, since this was not the remedy.
Talking about to curb smuggling of narcotics and fake Indian currency, he said there were some gaps on agriculture fields which were adjoining to Pakistan, required to be filled and thereafter this step would strongly be enough to stop infiltration from Pakistan, he said adding that for this purpose with in week period a special team of Union Home Ministry would visit the international border.
During his first visit at Attari border, commandant of Pakistans Rangers Mohhammad Akbar Ali Butt also extended welcome to Srivastava at JCP by shaking hands with each others.
During his visit at Attari he keenly watched the beating Retreat Ceremony jointly performed by BSF and Pakistan rangers during the flag lowering ceremony on sun set at their respective territories.
India increases number of battalions along Pak borders
Born In The USA
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Australian army chief in India
New Delhi, Oct 5 (PTI) In a bid to strengthen Indo-Australian defence cooperation, Australian Army Chief General K J Gillespie arrived here on a five-day visit starting today.
During the visit, the Australian Army Chief will meet senior officials including Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar, Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor, Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma and Air Chief Marshal P V Naik.
At the meetings, the two sides will hold discussions on enhancing cooperation in the fields of training, UN peacekeeping and sports and adventure activities, Army officials said here.
Gillespie will visit a number of army installations across the country including Northern Command headquarters in Udhampur, Infantry School in Mhow, South-western Command headquarters in Jaipur and Agra-based 50 Para Brigade before returning home on October 9.
fullstory
New Delhi, Oct 5 (PTI) In a bid to strengthen Indo-Australian defence cooperation, Australian Army Chief General K J Gillespie arrived here on a five-day visit starting today.
During the visit, the Australian Army Chief will meet senior officials including Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar, Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor, Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma and Air Chief Marshal P V Naik.
At the meetings, the two sides will hold discussions on enhancing cooperation in the fields of training, UN peacekeeping and sports and adventure activities, Army officials said here.
Gillespie will visit a number of army installations across the country including Northern Command headquarters in Udhampur, Infantry School in Mhow, South-western Command headquarters in Jaipur and Agra-based 50 Para Brigade before returning home on October 9.
fullstory
sudhir007
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Defence engine
ENORMOUS machines are lined up on a maidan. One of them, painted in olive green, looks like a huge stack of massive boxes piled up on wheels. But as the engine revs up, the boxes open and buoys balloon out. In no time, the Amphibious Floating Bridge and Ferry System (AFFS) is ready to carry battle tanks and trucks across rivers.
Some distance away stands an enormous Tatra truck with platforms behind the driver’s cabin. At the touch of a button, five such platforms, each 15 metres long, open out and form a 75-m-long bridge on telescopic legs in 90 minutes. This bridge, Sarvatra, can withstand 10,000 passes of battle tanks.
Nearby is what looks like a modified battle tank, with massive hammers at the end of flails. As the machine erupts to life, the hammers smash mines buried up to a depth of 25 cm in the ground, tossing them out and clearing a 4-metre-wide safe lane for vehicles to pass. This is the Counter Mine Flail T-72.
“We are a multifaceted organisation,” said B. Rajagopalan, Director, Research and Development Establishment (Engineers), of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in Pune. “Our forte is innovative engineering. All our products are 100 per cent indigenous.”
Pune, along with Ambernath and Ahmednagar, all in Maharashtra, is one of the hubs of the DRDO, which provides a broad array of technologies to the Indian armed forces. With 52 laboratories across the country, the DRDO is one of the biggest defence R&D organisations in the world.
W. Selvamurthy, Chief Controller (Life Sciences and Human Resources), DRDO, summed it up: “No country has an organisation like DRDO, which delivers a broad spectrum of technologies and systems such as battle tanks, families of missiles, radars, torpedoes and sonars, electronic warfare systems, arms and ammunition including the INSAS [Indian Small Arms System], the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher, shelters for protection against nuclear, chemical and biological warfare, bio-digesters, cream to fight frostbite, and so on.”
Pune has four DRDO centres: the R&DE(E), the Armaments Research and Development Establishment, the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory and the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, which offers M.Tech and Ph.D programmes. R&DE(E)’s engineers built the Dakshin Gangotri and Maitri, India’s research stations at Antarctica. Work on the third research station at Antarctica is set to begin.
The work done by the R&DE(E) in re-engineering the Tatra truck into the Sarvatra is awesome. With the help of telescopic legs, the height of the bridge can be adjusted from 2.5 m to 6 m so that it is not easily visible to the enemy. The spans are made of a light but strong alloy of aluminium, magnesium and zinc.
India’s main battle tank, Arjun, has taken the “avatar” of a bridge laying tank (BLT). The R&DE(E) did this by replacing the tank’s gun and turret with the bridge launcher. The bridge is cantilevered over chasms or across rivers to cover a distance of 26 m with a width of 4 m. The BLT-Arjun carries two halves of a bridge. At a wet or dry gap, the launcher slides the two parts and docks them to each other in such a way that the far end of the second half touches the other bank. The BLT then crosses the bridge, turns around, retrieves the bridge after undocking its two halves, folds it and is ready to move with the armoured column. U.R. Gautam, Joint Director R&DE(E), called it “a great piece of engineering”.
The laboratory has also modified the T-72 battle tank into a BLT, which can launch a bridge 20-m long and 4-m wide in just five minutes. The tank loses its gun and turret, but the driver’s compartments remain to provide a clear view to manoeuvre it. The system has an anti-aircraft gun to guard against aerial attacks and a smoke discharger to lay the bridge under a smoke-screen. It has beta-light markers to guide the traffic at night. The Heavy Vehicles Factory at Avadi in Chennai produces the BLT T-72s. The Army has bought 12 of them and is likely to place orders for more.
The Combat Engineering Group led by N.B. Vijayakumar came up with the Counter Mine Flail by fitting flails and hammers to the T-72 tank. “No other country except Germany has done this on a tank,” said Gautam.
The Counter Mine Flail has a series of 10-kg hammers that pulverise mines by beating them at 400 revolutions a minute, said Naresh Kumar, a scientist. “The Counter Mine Flail T-72 has a separate power source and does not tap the T-72 main engine power,” he added.
BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Sarvatra, developed by R&DE(E), can lay a 75-metre-long and 15-metre-wide bridge in 90 minutes.
Another innovation is a machine that lays mats made of aluminium alloy to help vehicles in marshy terrain. The AFFS metamorphoses from a 10-m-long box-on-wheels into bridge-cum-ferry, which is 28.4-m long and 3.6-m wide in just nine minutes. “The whole body is watertight. It can also be used as a ramp,” said Gautam.
The R&DE(E) personnel have also built a series of launchers (platforms with power and air supply) for firing missiles such as Agni, Akash, Prithvi and Trishul. Rajagopalan is particularly proud of the launcher plus control system built for the K-15 missile that will be fired from INS Arihant, the nuclear-powered submarine.
In a brilliant piece of engineering, the teams headed by V.V. Parlikar and P.M. Kurulkar, both Joint Directors, modified the T-72 battle tank’s chassis into a launcher system for firing surface-to-air Akash missiles. The Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) at Avadi helped them modify the T-72 for this role. The launcher’s electrical systems are servo-driven. The swivelling launcher has a 360-degree firing freedom. “The launcher has proved its worth with 60 flights of Akash taking off from it. The IAF has placed orders for 16 launcher systems on trailers,” Parlikar and Kurulkar said.
Daksh speaks for the ingenuity of the R&DE(E). It is a battery-operated robot on wheels and its primary role is to recover improvised explosive devices (IEDs). It locates IEDs with an X-ray machine, picks them up with a gripper-arm and defuses them with a jet of water. It has a shotgun, which can break open locked doors, and it can scan cars for explosives. Daksh can also climb staircases, negotiate steep slopes, navigate narrow corridors and tow vehicles. Alok Mukherjee, a scientist, said: “With a master control station (MCS), it can be remotely controlled over a range of 500 m in line of sight or within buildings. Ninety per cent of the robot’s components are indigenous. The Army has placed orders for 20 Dakshs.”
Research is under way at the Composites Research Centre (CRC) of the laboratory on light-weight structures. According to Kiran Akella, a scientist, the centre has developed a bridge made of carbon-epoxy composites. This is 30 per cent lighter than the ones made of aluminium. The 5-m-long bridge weighs just 1.2 tonnes, but it can carry a 70-tonne battle tank. Fibre-optic sensors embedded in the bridge help it monitor itself.
According to Rajagopalan, the R&DE(E), with support from the Navy, has ventured into building the superstructure of Corvette-class warships with carbon-epoxy composites. Next would be the development of ship hulls with fibre-reinforced plastic. The centre is developing hulls made of composites and ceramic armour for infantry combat vehicles.
An offshoot of composites research is the development of hip implants. Makarand Joshi, who conceived it, explains that imported hip transplants, made of steel, are expensive and are suited only for the European body structure.
“We have customised the implant for individuals,” Joshi said. It has been tested on 40 cadavers. Clinical trials will start soon after the Ethics Committee of the Medical Council of India clears it.
ENORMOUS machines are lined up on a maidan. One of them, painted in olive green, looks like a huge stack of massive boxes piled up on wheels. But as the engine revs up, the boxes open and buoys balloon out. In no time, the Amphibious Floating Bridge and Ferry System (AFFS) is ready to carry battle tanks and trucks across rivers.
Some distance away stands an enormous Tatra truck with platforms behind the driver’s cabin. At the touch of a button, five such platforms, each 15 metres long, open out and form a 75-m-long bridge on telescopic legs in 90 minutes. This bridge, Sarvatra, can withstand 10,000 passes of battle tanks.
Nearby is what looks like a modified battle tank, with massive hammers at the end of flails. As the machine erupts to life, the hammers smash mines buried up to a depth of 25 cm in the ground, tossing them out and clearing a 4-metre-wide safe lane for vehicles to pass. This is the Counter Mine Flail T-72.
“We are a multifaceted organisation,” said B. Rajagopalan, Director, Research and Development Establishment (Engineers), of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in Pune. “Our forte is innovative engineering. All our products are 100 per cent indigenous.”
Pune, along with Ambernath and Ahmednagar, all in Maharashtra, is one of the hubs of the DRDO, which provides a broad array of technologies to the Indian armed forces. With 52 laboratories across the country, the DRDO is one of the biggest defence R&D organisations in the world.
W. Selvamurthy, Chief Controller (Life Sciences and Human Resources), DRDO, summed it up: “No country has an organisation like DRDO, which delivers a broad spectrum of technologies and systems such as battle tanks, families of missiles, radars, torpedoes and sonars, electronic warfare systems, arms and ammunition including the INSAS [Indian Small Arms System], the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher, shelters for protection against nuclear, chemical and biological warfare, bio-digesters, cream to fight frostbite, and so on.”
Pune has four DRDO centres: the R&DE(E), the Armaments Research and Development Establishment, the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory and the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, which offers M.Tech and Ph.D programmes. R&DE(E)’s engineers built the Dakshin Gangotri and Maitri, India’s research stations at Antarctica. Work on the third research station at Antarctica is set to begin.
The work done by the R&DE(E) in re-engineering the Tatra truck into the Sarvatra is awesome. With the help of telescopic legs, the height of the bridge can be adjusted from 2.5 m to 6 m so that it is not easily visible to the enemy. The spans are made of a light but strong alloy of aluminium, magnesium and zinc.
India’s main battle tank, Arjun, has taken the “avatar” of a bridge laying tank (BLT). The R&DE(E) did this by replacing the tank’s gun and turret with the bridge launcher. The bridge is cantilevered over chasms or across rivers to cover a distance of 26 m with a width of 4 m. The BLT-Arjun carries two halves of a bridge. At a wet or dry gap, the launcher slides the two parts and docks them to each other in such a way that the far end of the second half touches the other bank. The BLT then crosses the bridge, turns around, retrieves the bridge after undocking its two halves, folds it and is ready to move with the armoured column. U.R. Gautam, Joint Director R&DE(E), called it “a great piece of engineering”.
The laboratory has also modified the T-72 battle tank into a BLT, which can launch a bridge 20-m long and 4-m wide in just five minutes. The tank loses its gun and turret, but the driver’s compartments remain to provide a clear view to manoeuvre it. The system has an anti-aircraft gun to guard against aerial attacks and a smoke discharger to lay the bridge under a smoke-screen. It has beta-light markers to guide the traffic at night. The Heavy Vehicles Factory at Avadi in Chennai produces the BLT T-72s. The Army has bought 12 of them and is likely to place orders for more.
The Combat Engineering Group led by N.B. Vijayakumar came up with the Counter Mine Flail by fitting flails and hammers to the T-72 tank. “No other country except Germany has done this on a tank,” said Gautam.
The Counter Mine Flail has a series of 10-kg hammers that pulverise mines by beating them at 400 revolutions a minute, said Naresh Kumar, a scientist. “The Counter Mine Flail T-72 has a separate power source and does not tap the T-72 main engine power,” he added.
BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Sarvatra, developed by R&DE(E), can lay a 75-metre-long and 15-metre-wide bridge in 90 minutes.
Another innovation is a machine that lays mats made of aluminium alloy to help vehicles in marshy terrain. The AFFS metamorphoses from a 10-m-long box-on-wheels into bridge-cum-ferry, which is 28.4-m long and 3.6-m wide in just nine minutes. “The whole body is watertight. It can also be used as a ramp,” said Gautam.
The R&DE(E) personnel have also built a series of launchers (platforms with power and air supply) for firing missiles such as Agni, Akash, Prithvi and Trishul. Rajagopalan is particularly proud of the launcher plus control system built for the K-15 missile that will be fired from INS Arihant, the nuclear-powered submarine.
In a brilliant piece of engineering, the teams headed by V.V. Parlikar and P.M. Kurulkar, both Joint Directors, modified the T-72 battle tank’s chassis into a launcher system for firing surface-to-air Akash missiles. The Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) at Avadi helped them modify the T-72 for this role. The launcher’s electrical systems are servo-driven. The swivelling launcher has a 360-degree firing freedom. “The launcher has proved its worth with 60 flights of Akash taking off from it. The IAF has placed orders for 16 launcher systems on trailers,” Parlikar and Kurulkar said.
Daksh speaks for the ingenuity of the R&DE(E). It is a battery-operated robot on wheels and its primary role is to recover improvised explosive devices (IEDs). It locates IEDs with an X-ray machine, picks them up with a gripper-arm and defuses them with a jet of water. It has a shotgun, which can break open locked doors, and it can scan cars for explosives. Daksh can also climb staircases, negotiate steep slopes, navigate narrow corridors and tow vehicles. Alok Mukherjee, a scientist, said: “With a master control station (MCS), it can be remotely controlled over a range of 500 m in line of sight or within buildings. Ninety per cent of the robot’s components are indigenous. The Army has placed orders for 20 Dakshs.”
Research is under way at the Composites Research Centre (CRC) of the laboratory on light-weight structures. According to Kiran Akella, a scientist, the centre has developed a bridge made of carbon-epoxy composites. This is 30 per cent lighter than the ones made of aluminium. The 5-m-long bridge weighs just 1.2 tonnes, but it can carry a 70-tonne battle tank. Fibre-optic sensors embedded in the bridge help it monitor itself.
According to Rajagopalan, the R&DE(E), with support from the Navy, has ventured into building the superstructure of Corvette-class warships with carbon-epoxy composites. Next would be the development of ship hulls with fibre-reinforced plastic. The centre is developing hulls made of composites and ceramic armour for infantry combat vehicles.
An offshoot of composites research is the development of hip implants. Makarand Joshi, who conceived it, explains that imported hip transplants, made of steel, are expensive and are suited only for the European body structure.
“We have customised the implant for individuals,” Joshi said. It has been tested on 40 cadavers. Clinical trials will start soon after the Ethics Committee of the Medical Council of India clears it.
sudhir007
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Artillery upgrade still under Bofors shadow
The government may have decided to let Ottavio Quattrocchi off the hook, but the Bofors ghost continues to haunt the armed forces, with several key artillery modernisation programmes put in the limbo due to wrongdoing charges levelled against three major international manufacturers.
While no new artillery guns have been purchased since the Bofors scandal, the latest victim of ‘ban’ are two crucial contracts to procure 155 mm towed artillery guns and 155 mm light ‘mountain’ howitzers to maintain the Army’s conventional edge in the region.
Ironically, out of the major global artillery systems, only the Bofors gun, which has changed ownership several times and is now part of the BAE group, can be bought by the Army no questions asked.
The towed guns are urgently required to match Pakistan, which has recently acquired modern self-propelled ones from the US under the “fight against terror” aid while the light howitzers are required for deployment in the mountains, mainly along the Chinese border where they can be airdropped to inaccessible areas.
In the works for almost a decade, the two contracts have been delayed due to the ban on South African Denel, Israeli Soltam and Singapore Technologies, which are under the scanner for alleged bribery in several different cases.
Trials for the towed guns — the Army requires 400 of them at the earliest — were set to take place later this month but sources say they have now been put off due to the charges levelled against one of the competitors, Singapore Technologies, in connection with the Ordnance Factory Board scam. The only other gun that made it was the Bofors, but to prevent a single vendor situation, the trials have been put off. This has effectively pushed back the acquisition by at least a year.
Another manufacturer that could have made it to the competition, Soltam, was kicked out of the race as it is partially owned by arms agent Sudhir Choudhary, who is wanted by the CBI in several armament procurement cases.
The other contract, for 155 mm light ‘mountain’ howitzers, is also on hold as the only company that met the requirements was again Singapore Technologies. The ST gun, which was under shipment for trials, is awaiting clearances from the Defence Ministry.
There are indications now that the contract may swing in favour of BAE Systems Bofors, which manufactures the M 777 ultra light howitzer, that is being used by the American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sources say that the contract is being pursued through the foreign military sales route from the US, which has bought several thousand guns from BAE.
The delays in the two main artillery modernisation programmes come even as neighbouring countries threaten to blunt India’s conventional edge in the region.
The government may have decided to let Ottavio Quattrocchi off the hook, but the Bofors ghost continues to haunt the armed forces, with several key artillery modernisation programmes put in the limbo due to wrongdoing charges levelled against three major international manufacturers.
While no new artillery guns have been purchased since the Bofors scandal, the latest victim of ‘ban’ are two crucial contracts to procure 155 mm towed artillery guns and 155 mm light ‘mountain’ howitzers to maintain the Army’s conventional edge in the region.
Ironically, out of the major global artillery systems, only the Bofors gun, which has changed ownership several times and is now part of the BAE group, can be bought by the Army no questions asked.
The towed guns are urgently required to match Pakistan, which has recently acquired modern self-propelled ones from the US under the “fight against terror” aid while the light howitzers are required for deployment in the mountains, mainly along the Chinese border where they can be airdropped to inaccessible areas.
In the works for almost a decade, the two contracts have been delayed due to the ban on South African Denel, Israeli Soltam and Singapore Technologies, which are under the scanner for alleged bribery in several different cases.
Trials for the towed guns — the Army requires 400 of them at the earliest — were set to take place later this month but sources say they have now been put off due to the charges levelled against one of the competitors, Singapore Technologies, in connection with the Ordnance Factory Board scam. The only other gun that made it was the Bofors, but to prevent a single vendor situation, the trials have been put off. This has effectively pushed back the acquisition by at least a year.
Another manufacturer that could have made it to the competition, Soltam, was kicked out of the race as it is partially owned by arms agent Sudhir Choudhary, who is wanted by the CBI in several armament procurement cases.
The other contract, for 155 mm light ‘mountain’ howitzers, is also on hold as the only company that met the requirements was again Singapore Technologies. The ST gun, which was under shipment for trials, is awaiting clearances from the Defence Ministry.
There are indications now that the contract may swing in favour of BAE Systems Bofors, which manufactures the M 777 ultra light howitzer, that is being used by the American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sources say that the contract is being pursued through the foreign military sales route from the US, which has bought several thousand guns from BAE.
The delays in the two main artillery modernisation programmes come even as neighbouring countries threaten to blunt India’s conventional edge in the region.
blueoval79
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India follows China track, plans rail link along border
On Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs advice, the Indian Railways has completed a reconnaissance survey of the ambitious 497-km Bilaspur-Manali-Leh rail link stretching from Himachal Pradesh to Jammu and Kashmir. Strategic link
The link has been conceived as a measure to neutralise Chinas strategic advantage along the Sino-Indian border. China has completed its 3,900-km Beijing-Lhasa rail link and is pushing ahead with seven other railroad projects adjoining the Indian border.
China has announced plans to extend rail connectivity to its last outpost at Ruili, adjoining its border with Myanmar, news reports from Beijing said.
In next three years, China proposes to build 5,000 km of rail links, with emphasis on establishing connectivity in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The country has also proposed to build a rail network in Nepal.
The proposal of the Indian Railways, submitted last week, indicates a 10-year construction timeframe for the Bilaspur-Manali-Leh project at an estimated cost of Rs 22,500 crore (Rs 225 billion). Bilaspur and Manali are in Himachal Pradesh while Leh is the capital of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Railways have spent Rs 72 lakh (Rs 7.2 million) to conduct the five-month-long survey for the project. The exercise was carried out in March this year.
Last February, the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) sent us a reference for conducting the survey. The Railways will forward the survey findings to the PMO and will seek funding of the scheme as a national project, a senior railway ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
The army top brass has approved of the proposal. The Bilaspur-Manali-Leh rail link can act as a vital alternative route for combat equipment transit on the eastern borders, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Shimla-based Army Training Command, Lt. Gen. A.S. Lamba told mediapersons on October 2.
Chief of the Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor is also reported to have endorsed the scheme for an all-weather rail link to Indias eastern frontier.
Trans-Himalayan Railway Private Limited, a subsidiary of the Delhi-based ICC Holdings, has pitched in with an alternative proposal to implement the scheme under the Public-Private Partnership mode at a cost of Rs 1.15 lakh crore (Rs 1.15 trillion) over eight years.
India follows China track, plans rail link along border- Hindustan Times
On Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs advice, the Indian Railways has completed a reconnaissance survey of the ambitious 497-km Bilaspur-Manali-Leh rail link stretching from Himachal Pradesh to Jammu and Kashmir. Strategic link
The link has been conceived as a measure to neutralise Chinas strategic advantage along the Sino-Indian border. China has completed its 3,900-km Beijing-Lhasa rail link and is pushing ahead with seven other railroad projects adjoining the Indian border.
China has announced plans to extend rail connectivity to its last outpost at Ruili, adjoining its border with Myanmar, news reports from Beijing said.
In next three years, China proposes to build 5,000 km of rail links, with emphasis on establishing connectivity in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The country has also proposed to build a rail network in Nepal.
The proposal of the Indian Railways, submitted last week, indicates a 10-year construction timeframe for the Bilaspur-Manali-Leh project at an estimated cost of Rs 22,500 crore (Rs 225 billion). Bilaspur and Manali are in Himachal Pradesh while Leh is the capital of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Railways have spent Rs 72 lakh (Rs 7.2 million) to conduct the five-month-long survey for the project. The exercise was carried out in March this year.
Last February, the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) sent us a reference for conducting the survey. The Railways will forward the survey findings to the PMO and will seek funding of the scheme as a national project, a senior railway ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
The army top brass has approved of the proposal. The Bilaspur-Manali-Leh rail link can act as a vital alternative route for combat equipment transit on the eastern borders, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Shimla-based Army Training Command, Lt. Gen. A.S. Lamba told mediapersons on October 2.
Chief of the Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor is also reported to have endorsed the scheme for an all-weather rail link to Indias eastern frontier.
Trans-Himalayan Railway Private Limited, a subsidiary of the Delhi-based ICC Holdings, has pitched in with an alternative proposal to implement the scheme under the Public-Private Partnership mode at a cost of Rs 1.15 lakh crore (Rs 1.15 trillion) over eight years.
India follows China track, plans rail link along border- Hindustan Times
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