News Analysis India

Tag: IAF

  • IAF airlifts medical equipment to Ladakh to augment COVID-19 testing capacity

    By PTI
    JAMMU: The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Saturday airlifted to Ladakh medical equipment weighing 1,700 kg, including bio-safety cabinets and centrifuges, which will help augment COVID-19 testing facilities in the union territory, officials said.

    The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM) in Jammu provided the equipment.

    “The IAF’s Chinook and AN-32 helicopters airlifted a payload of 850 kgs each, comprising a total of four bio-safety cabinets, two centrifuges and two stabilizers to Leh and Kargil.

    The items worth over Rs one crore were handed over by CSIR-IIIM Jammu for the UT of Ladakh,” Jammu-based Defence PRO Lt Col Devender Anand said.

    Last year, CSIR-IIIM director D S Reddy had promised the equipment to Ladakh in collaboration with Sun Pharma as part of its corporate social responsibility to augment COVID-19 testing capacity in the union territory’s two districts — Leh and Kargil.

    The Union Territory of Ladakh has recorded 152 new CVOID-19 cases, taking the infection count to 13,089, according to an official bulletin on Saturday.

    Ladakh had recorded a total of 135 COVID-related deaths — 91 in Leh district and 44 in Kargil district — since the outbreak of the pandemic last year.

  • Uttarakhand forest fires: HC summons officer; IAF douses blaze at three places

    Express News Service
    DEHRADUN:  The Uttarakhand High Court took suo moto cognizance of raging forest fires in the state and directed the forest department chief to be present today for explaining the situation.

    Dushyant Mainali, a practising advocate in the HC, said he informed the court about the situation along with laxaties of authorities and the government. 

    Wildfires have engulfed total 1,793.48hectares of forest area this year | express“The court took the matter seriously and directed the principal chief conservator of forests to be present before the court on Wednesday.”

    Mainali had mentioned the matter before the division bench comprising Chief Justice R S Chauhan and Justice Alok Verma on Monday.

    The lawyer also submitted media reports and documents which the bench took on record.

    He informed the bench that the government and the officials treat the matter as seasonal phenomenon rather than working around the year to prevent the disaster. 

    “The court remarked that it was the state’s detachment from community and attachment to technique which is bound to  result in failure when it comes to dealing with wildfires,” said Mainali. 

    Wildfires have engulfed total 1,793.48 hectares forest area in 1,288 incidents this year in Uttarakhand. Four people have been killed while two injured, so far.

    Meanwhile, IAF helicopters doused forest fires at three places in Uttarakhand on Tuesday, even as more broke out at 75 new spots, destroying 105.85 hectares of green cover in the state, officials said.

    The Indian Air Force’s (IAF) MI-17 helicopters moved to the Kirti Nagar forest division of Tehri district to control the fires by spraying water collected from Shri Kot dam in buckets with a capacity of 5,000 litres, they said.

    Forest fires were doused in Bariargadh and Sarkyana in Kirti Nagar range and Khirsu in Pauri district on Tuesday, Chief Conservator of Forest Garhwal S K Patnaik, under whose supervision the exercise was carried out, said.

    The firefighting operation lasted three-and-a-half hours, he said.

    However, in the Kumaon region, IAF helicopters could not be utilised as bad weather prevented them from taking off, the officials said.

    Seventy-five new forest fires were reported from across the state in which 105.85 hectares of green cover was gutted, they said.

    As many as 414 forest fires have been reported from Uttarakhand in April so far and 645.3 hectares of forests destroyed, they said.

    Nainital, Almora, Tehri and Pauri districts are the worst hit by forest fires.

     (With PTI Inputs)

  • More boost for IAF as three more Rafale jets arrive in India from France

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A fourth batch of three Rafale fighter jets landed in India on Wednesday evening after flying non-stop from France, in a further boost to the strike capability of the Indian Air Force.

    The jets were provided mid-air refuelling by air force tankers of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the IAF said.

    “The 4th batch of three IAF #Rafales landed on Indian soil after a direct ferry from #IstresAirBase France,” it tweeted.

    The IAF also thanked the UAE air force for refuelling the Rafale jets, describing it as yet another milestone in the strong relationship between the two air forces.

    The IAF did not disclose the base where the Rafale jets landed.

    “Another batch of #Rafale take to the skies on non stop flight to India with mid air refueling by UAE. Indian Air power grows further,” the Indian Embassy in France tweeted earlier. With the arrival of the three jets, the size of the Rafale fleet has increased to 14.

    The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 of the aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.

    The formal induction ceremony of the fleet had taken place at Ambala on September 10 last.

    A second batch of three Rafale jets arrived in India on November 3, while a third batch of another three jets joined the IAF on January 27.

    The first Rafale squadron is based in Ambala air force station.

    The Indian Air Force is set to raise the second squadron of the Rafale combat jets in mid-April and it will be based in Hasimara air base in West Bengal, according to military officials.

    India is expected to get more Rafale jets from France in the next few months.

    The Rafale jets, manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, are India’s first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia.

    The Rafale jets are capable of carrying a range of potent weapons.

    European missile maker MBDA’s Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile, Scalp cruise missile and MICA weapons system will be the mainstay of the weapons package of the Rafale jets.

  • Snowfall: IAF airlifts 381 stranded passengers in Jammu & Kashmir

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has airlifted 381 stranded passengers from Jammu and Srinagar to Leh using a C-17 heavy lift transport aircraft, officials said on Sunday.

    They were airlifted on Saturday.

    The passengers were stranded after the Srinagar-Leh national highway was closed due to heavy snowfall, the officials said.

    The IAF regularly provides airlift to the civilian population of the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh in times of distress utilising its C-17, C-130 and An-32 transport aircraft.

  • HAL, Indian Air Force get integrated portal to speed up projects while ensuring quality

    By Express News Service
    BENGALURU: Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Friday operationalized a unique real-time information-sharing portal that would make the work processes of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s (HAL) projects for the Indian Air Force (IAF) transparent and quicker while ensuring higher quality as per IAF’s combat requirements.

    The operationalizing of this portal, called HAL-Vayusena Inventory (HAVAI), comes just two days after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh formally handed over the Rs 48,000 crore project for producing and delivering 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircraft to the Indian Air Force by 2030. However, this portal would be relevant for all projects of the HAL for the IAF from here onwards.

    The proof of concept for the newly operationalized portal had been cleared for development in September 2015 by then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar under the Digital India initiative and the project had the active involvement of Air Headquarters in New Delhi and Director of IAF’s enterprise resource planning platform, Integrated Materials Management Online System (IMMOLS).

    Interestingly, while HAL and IAF each had their respective enterprise resource planning platforms – Industrial Financial System and IMMOLS – the two organisations never had an integrated portal that could provide each data on the requirements, project status and supply needs of the other.

    HAVAI has integrated elements of the IMMOLS and the IFS to now provide real-time data of processes, which is likely to cut delays in deliveries of HAL products to meet IAF requirements.

    Air Marshal M Baladitya, Senior Maintenance Staff Officer, Maintenance Command, IAF, said, “The operationalization of HAVAI portal will provide the much-needed visibility in terms of serviceability and decision-making. This Digital India initiative marks a new era that will enable transparency and synergy between the two government organisations. In the days to come, this platform will expand and absorb AI (Artificial Intelligence) and blockchain and make it more potent.”

    Air Chief Bhadauria said, “The E-portal will bolster the competencies of the IAF and HAL and lead to increased serviceability of IAF weapon systems. This would facilitate secure information sharing between IAF and HAL for better coordination, improved transparency and faster decision-making.”

    HAL Chairman and Managing Director R Madhavan, said, “The customer-centric portal would go a long way in leveraging the benefits of information sharing in real time. It will also enable the visibility of HAL repair milestones, provide instantaneous budgetary quotations against IAF orders and give information on status of supply against aircraft on ground and repair tasks undertaken by HAL divisions.”

  • Made adequate deployments near border, Rafale has caused worries in China’s camp: IAF Chief

    By ANI
    BENGALURU: Asserting that India has made adequate deployments at the China border to deal with the ongoing conflict with Beijing, IAF Chief RKS Bhadauria on Thursday said that the induction of Rafale aircraft has caused worries in the Chinese camp as they had deployed J-20 fighter jets close to Indian territory as soon as the French-origin jets joined the Indian air fleet.

    “The situation there currently is that talks are going on. We have deployed our forces which are required. All depends on how the talks go. A lot of attention is being given to that and if de-escalation and disengagement start, it would be good. If it does not happen or some new situation happens, we are fully prepared for that,” IAF Chief Bhadauria told ANI.

    Over the reports of a pullback by the Chinese side in the Ladakh sector, Bhadauria said, “From China’s side, there have been some pullbacks from air deployment view and changes in deployment. But there have some other actions which have been contrary like strengthening their air defence capability. These deployments have not reduced and are being strengthened.”

    “We alter our deployments or readiness level as per what we see on the ground.”

    Noting the actions and capabilities of the Chinese side, the IAF chief said, “They had brought their J-20 fighter aircraft (to areas close to Eastern Ladakh) and they go off from there but that is the flexibility of airpower. The moment Indian Rafales were brought in, their J-20 was there. We know their actions and capabilities and we are taking the required steps.”

    Whether the induction of Rafale aircraft has caused worries in the Chinese camp, he said, “Of course, it will.”

    On how LCA Tejas induction will help squadron strength of Air Force, he said, “With LCA induction, we have arrested the slide of the number of squadrons depleting and we’ve now reversed it to start increasing back. We are going to start upwards 30 squadrons now.”

    Furthermore, the IAF chief called the increase in the capital outlay of Defence budget “a huge step”, which will provide adequate budgetary support amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “We all know the pandemic effect and its impact on the economic scenario. To get this level (Rs 20,000 crores) increase in capital outlay, it is a huge step by the government to provide that kind of budgetary support,” he told ANI on whether budget hike for modernisation would meet IAF requirements.

    “Last year also, additional funds of Rs 20,000 crores were provided. That helped the emergent procurement plans of the three forces and that really helped us. I think it is adequate for our capability building,” he added.

    This statement comes after defence forces received an overall hike of around 7.4 per cent over last year as Rs 3.62 lakh crores were provided to them excluding pensions amid the China military standoff.

    Additionally, the defence forces received more than 18 per cent hike over last year in capital outlay meant for acquisition of new weapon systems as Rs 1.35 lakh crores have been provided over the Rs 1.13 lakh crores last year.

  • Increase in capital outlay of Defence amid pandemic is huge step, says IAF Chief

    By ANI
    BENGALURU: Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Thursday called the increase in the capital outlay of Defence budget “a huge step”, which will provide adequate budgetary support amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “We all know the pandemic effect and its impact on the economic scenario. To get this level (Rs 20,000 cr) increase in capital outlay, it’s a huge step by government to provide that kind of budgetary support,” IAF Chief told ANI on whether budget hike for modernisation would meet IAF requirements.

    “Last year also, additional funds of Rs 20,000 crores were provided. That helped the emergent procurement plans of the three forces and that really helped us. I think it is adequate for our capability building,” said IAF chief.

    This statement comes after defence forces received an overall hike of around 7.4 per cent over last year as Rs 3.62 lakh crore were provided to them excluding pensions amid the China military standoff.

    Additionally, the defence forces received more than 18 per cent hike over last year in capital outlay meant for acquisition of new weapon systems as Rs 1.35 lakh crore have been provided over the Rs 1.13 lakh crores last year.

    However, the budget documents also revealed that the Defence Ministry spent an extra amount of Rs 20,776 crore for buying new weapon systems and spares for the armed forces in the present fiscal over and above the funds allocated for the purpose.

    The additional Rs 20,776 crore has been spent on buying weapons and other spares under the special financial powers given to services under emergency and other provisions.

    The money has been used to acquire equipment like the Spice-2000 bombs, Spike anti-tank guided missiles, SiG Sauer assault rifles, Excalibur ammunition, multiple types of aircraft spares from Russia along with the ammunition for tanks and fighter jets.

    In the 2021-22 Union Budget, the Defence Ministry has been allocated Rs 4,78,195.62 crore. Rs 1.15 lakh crore have also been allocated for defence pensions which are disbursed to both military and civilians who have worked for defence Ministry.

  • Deal done: Government formally seals Rs 48,000 crore pact to procure 83 Tejas LCA from HAL

    By PTI
    BENGALURU: The government on Wednesday formally sealed the Rs 48,000 crore deal to procure 83 Tejas LCA from state-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, a deal described by the government as the ‘biggest’ Make in India defence contract.

    The contract was handed over by Director General (Acquisition), Ministry of Defence, V L Kantha Rao to Chairman and Managing Director of HAL, R Madhavan, at the inaugural ceremony of Aero India-2021, the country’s premier Defence and Aerospace show, here, in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

    “I am very happy that HAL has got the orders for development of 83 new indigenous LCA (light combat aircraft) Tejas MK1A from Indian Air Force valued at more than Rs 48,000 crore.”

    “It is probably the biggest Make in India Defence contract till date,” Singh said.

    Tejas, manufactured by the HAL, is a single engine and highly agile multi-role supersonic fighter aircraft capable of operating in high-threat air environments.

    The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month approved the procurement of 73 Tejas Mk-IA variant and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-I trainer aircraft from the HAL to boost IAF’s combat prowess.

    Singh had on Tuesday inaugurated HAL’s second LCA-Tejas production plant here, and said Tejas is not only indigenous, but it is also better than its foreign equivalents on several parameters, besides being comparatively cheaper.

    According to Madhavan, the delivery of the Tejas LCA to the IAF under the Rs 48,000-crore deal will begin from March 2024 and around 16 aircraft will be rolled out annually till the completion of the total supply of 83 jets.

    He has also said that a number of countries have shown keen interest in procurement of Tejas and that the first export order is likely to come by in the next couple of years.

    Madhavan had on Tuesday said the phase-1 of the facility getting ready on 35 acres of land here will enable HAL to enhance its production capacity to 16 from the current eight aircraft every year.

    HAL said the 83 LCA Mk1A aircraft will be produced in two production lines here with over 500 plus production partners across India.

  • India honours Galwan Valley heroes with gallantry awards, Maha Vir Chakra for Col B Santosh Babu

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Acknowledging the bravery of the Indian Army soldiers who fought with the Chinese PLA in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley, the bravehearts have been conferred with the highest awards given only in ‘warlike situation’.

    Col Bikumalla Santosh Babu (16 BIHAR) has been awarded the Maha Vir Chakra (Posthumously) and six others who were part of the same operation in Galwan have been given the Vir Chakra. While the Vir Chakras are awarded for acts of gallantry in the presence of the enemy on the battlefield, never have an Indian soldier received the Maha Vir Chakra after the Kargil conflict in 1999.

    Wing Commander Abhinanadan Varthaman was awarded the Vir Chakra in 2019 for his fortitude while in the enemy territory.

    The five who have been given the Vir Chakra are Nb Sub Nuduram Soren (16 BIHAR), Hav K Palani (81 Field), Hav Tejinder Singh (3 Medium), Nk Deepak Singh (16 Bihar), Sep Gurtej Singh (3 Punjab). Except for Tejinder Singh, all have been given the award posthumously.

    The Vir Chakra series of awards are given for action in the face of the enemy across the Line of Actual Control and Line of Control whereas the Chakra series of awards are given for actions within and internal security.

    ALSO, READ | SP Balasubramaniam, Shinzo Abe among seven Padma Vibhushan awardees, here is full list

    Colonel Babu and his Unit was deployed in Galwan (Eastern Ladakh) and were tasked to establish an Observation Post when attacked by the Chinese soldiers. Colonel Babu and his men fought till their last breath. A total of 20 Indian soldiers were killed in action and all have been conferred with gallantry awards which include the 14 Mention in Despatches.

    Subedar Sanjiv Kumar (4 PARA (SF)) was awarded the Kirti Chakra posthumously while three soldiers received Shaurya Chakras. A total of 134 Sena Medals for gallantry were announced of which four personnel received it for the second time.

    The Indian Navy honoured Commander Gaurav Kumar Saini with Nau Sena Medal for his service in a classified operation.

    Four officers of the Indian Air force — Squadron leader Vivek Gairola, Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt) Preji Raju, Wg Cdr BDSK Jena and Flt Lt Anand Singh– were conferred with the gallantry medals for their bravery shown during operations.

  • Objective is to win future conflicts with home-made weapons: Gen Rawat on LCA Tejas order

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: After the government on Wednesday approved a deal to procure 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas fighter jets for the Indian Air Force, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said that it is a boost for the Centre’s Make in India initiative and that the ultimate objective is to reach a stage where the country can win conflicts with home-made weapon systems.

    “Our ultimate objective is to engage in and win future conflicts with home-made solutions,” Rawat said.

    “Our focus will remain on indigenisation and efforts to progressively support Atmanirbhar Bharat is our mission. We hope to see our Air Force touch the sky with glory with aircraft that has major components including engines that are Made in India,” Gen Bipin Rawat said.

    READ HERE: Biggest indigenous procurement, CCS approves procurement of 83 HAL manufactured fighters costing Rs 45,000 crore

    The Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the largest indigenous defence procurement deal worth about Rs 48,000 crores to buy 83 LCA Tejas Mark1A fighter jets.

    The deal to be signed in the next few days with HAL would strengthen the Indian Air Force’s fleet of homegrown fighter jet ‘LCA-Tejas’ and overall combat capability.”

    This deal will be a game-changer for self-reliance in the Indian defence manufacturing,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted to announce the final approval given to the mega-deal.

    Singh said that the indigenous content of the LCA-Tejas was 50 per cent in the MK1A variant and it would be enhanced to 60 per cent by the end of the programme.

    The deal would be a major boost for the IAF and help it to arrest the fall in the number of its fighter aircraft squadrons.

    Light Combat Aircraft Mk-1A variant is an indigenously designed, developed and manufactured state-of-the-art modern 4+ generation fighter aircraft. This aircraft, which is equipped with critical operational capabilities of Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar, Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Missile, Electronic Warfare (EW) Suite and Air to Air Refuelling (AAR), would be a potent platform to meet the operational requirements of Indian Air Force.