Quote:New Delhi, Jan. 1: The government has authorised an outright purchase of 145 ultra-light howitzers from the US, a highly-placed defence ministry source said today.



The ultra-light howitzers are for the mountain artillery divisions of the Indian Army to be used in high-altitude frontiers opposite Pakistan and China. They can be transported slung from some helicopters.



The defence acquisitions committee has decided to take the foreign military sales route. Foreign military sales is a US programme of government-to-government sales of military hardware bypassing a lengthy system of competitive bidding. But bidders who lose out to foreign military sales orders allege that the system lacks transparency.



“We will also look at other options,” defence secretary Pradeep Kumar said.



The Indian Air Force has taken the foreign military sales route to contract six Lockheed Martin-made Hercules C130J air lifters and the army did the same to buy artillery fire-finding radars.



Two brands of ultra-light howitzers were initially in contention for the Indian Army’s estimated $2.5-billion artillery modernisation programme — ST Kinetics’ Pegasus and BAE Land Systems’ M777 made in the US.

Quote:New Delhi: Major Mohit Sharma from 1 Para (Special Forces), killed in a battle with terrorists in the Hafruda forest in Jammu and Kashmir this March, has been honoured with Ashok Chakra, the country’s highest peace time gallantry award on the occasion of Independence Day.



Major D. Sreeram Kumar, who killed 12 terrorists in counter-insurgency operations in the northeast, will also be honoured with Ashok Chakra.



Apart from the two Ashok Chakras, President Pratibha Patil has approved 146 gallantry medals, including four Kirti Chakras, 26 Shaurya Chakras, two Bar to Sena Medals, 100 Sena Medals, four Nao Sena Medals, five Vayu Sena Medals and three Tatrakshak Medals, a Defence Ministry release said here on Friday.



Major Mohit Sharma was born in Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh and was commissioned into 90 Medium Regiment (Artillery) in March 2004. His family is now settled in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.



Major Sreeram Kumar is serving with 30 Assam Rifles, to which he was deputed in March 2007 in Arunachal Pradesh during ‘Operation Orchid’.



He receives the medal for creating an effective and vibrant intelligence network, delivering hard blows to activities of terrorists and making it difficult for them to operate in his area of responsibility during ‘Operation Hifazat’ in Manipur.



Among the four Kirti Chakra awardees is Major Amit Oscar Fernandes of 7 Maratha Light Infantry, at present posted in Kashmir for counter-insurgency operations. He has served with 27 Rashtriya Rifles there.



In an operation in Baramulla district in November last, Major Fernandes overpowered one of the terrorists, snatched his weapon which was directing fire at the Army, and shot him dead.



Joining him in the Kirti Chakra awardees’ list is Major Deepak Tewari of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers Corps serving with 14 Rashtriya Rifles in Kashmir.



Major Tewari came under fire from five Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists during a night operation in Jammu and Kashmir in November last. Braving the bullets, the Army officer eliminated three terrorists in a close-range battle and critically injured the fourth. The operation led to the killing of all five terrorists.



Paratrooper Shabir Ahmed Malik is being awarded Kirti Chakra posthumously, for rescuing an injured team member during an operation in Jammu and Kashmir.



The fourth Kirti Chakra awardee is Naik Rishikesh Gurjar of 10 Rashtriya Rifles (Rajput), who is now the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) in charge of a ghatak platoon in the unit. He made two LeT terrorists surrender before him in ‘Operation Rakshak’ in Jammu and Kashmir.



Shaurya Chakra

Of the 26 personnel named for Shaurya Chakra medal, 12 will receive it posthumously. They include Havaldar Rakesh Kumar of 1 Para (SF); Havaldar Vipan Thakur of 9 Para (SF); Naik Chandrabhan Bhikan Pawar of 7 Maratha LI; Naik Manoj Singh of 1 Para (SF); Lance Naik Sujith Babu V of Corps of Engineers; Sepoy Rupom Gogoi of Assam Regiment; Rifleman Mohammed Amin Bhatt of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry; Sergeant Mustafa Ali from the Indian Air Force; inspector Manoj Kumar Singh and constable Desha Singh from the Indo-Tibetan Border police; and Lance Naik David Kerketta of the Orissa Special Armed Police.



Other Shaurya Chakra awardees are Major Dinesh Singh Parmar of 2 Sikh Light Infantry, Major Manu Shukla of Regiment of Artillery, Major Saurabh Dutt Kholia of Armoured Corps, Major Ratnesh Kumar Singh of Rajput Regiment, Major Subramaniam Anand of 4 Sikh Light Infantry, Major Ankur Garg of Corps of Engineers, Squadron Leaders Tarun Kumar Chaudhari and Harkirat Singh, Lieutenant Prashant Singh Chundawat of 16 Jat, Naib Subedar Ganesh Nath of Assam Rifles, Lance Havaldar Luis Peryera Nayagam of the Madras Regiment, Satish Kumar of the Border Roads Organisation and constable Onkar Nath of the ITBP. — PTI

Quote:WASHINGTON --- The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Jan. 22 of a possible Foreign Military Sale to India of 145 M777 155mm Light-Weight Towed Howitzers with Laser Inertial Artillery Pointing Systems (LINAPS) and associated parts, equipment, training and logistical support for a complete package worth approximately $647 million.



The Government of India has requested a possible sale of 145 M777 155mm Light-Weight Towed Howitzers with Laser Inertial Artillery Pointing Systems (LINAPS), warranty, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, publications and technical documentation, maintenance, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor representatives’ technical assistance, engineering and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistics support.



The estimated cost is $647 million.



This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to strengthen the U.S.-India strategic relationship and to improve the security of an important partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in South Asia.



India intends to use the howitzers to modernize its armed forces and enhance its ability to operate in hazardous conditions. The howitzers will assist the Indian Army to develop and enhance standardization and to improve interoperability with U.S. Soldiers and Marines who use the M777 as their primary means of indirect fire. India will have no difficulty absorbing these weapons into its armed forces.

Quote:15 Feb 2010

NEW DELHI: India is set to spend a whopping US$ 200 billion on defence acquisitions over the next 12 years to replace its outdated Soviet-vintage inventory.



According to a study by the India Strategic defence magazine, nearly half of this funding, or $100 billion, will go to the Indian Air Force (IAF) which would need to replace more than half of its combat jet fleet as well as the entire transport aircraft and helicopter fleet.



The army needs new guns, tanks, rocket launchers, multi-terrain vehicles while the navy needs ships, aircraft carriers, an entire new range of submarines including nuclear-propelled and nuclear-armed.



The army has the largest requirement of helicopters while the navy needs both combat jets, helicopters, and a fleet of nearly 100 carrier-borne combat jets.



The details of the study will be published in March but according to a brief report in India Strategic's DefExpo show daily being published Monday, it is not that India has military ambitions but just that more than 70 percent of the inventory of the Indian Armed Forces is 20-plus years old, and needs to be replaced as well as augmented with the sophistication of modern technology.



There have been few defence deals after the allegations over the acquisition of Bofors in the 1980s, and Russia, which inherited the Soviet military infrastructure, is unable to meet all the requirements.



According to official Russian reports, only 10 percent of the Russian weapons could be described as modern.



All the three services as well as the Coast Guard and paramilitary organisations also need satellites and net centricity.



Plans to acquire surveillance aircraft, lesser in capability though the IAF's Phalcon AWACs and the navy's P8-I Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) are also being worked out.



Pilotless intelligence aircraft (drones) generally called UAVs, including those armed, are also on the top of the list of the three arms of the forces.



The report says that the Pakistani 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai, in which scores were brutally killed and wounded, has given a wake up call to India and that the authorities had realized that 24-hour, 360-degree eyes and ears and preparedness to meet any attack were a necessity.



That also meant increased diplomatic and security cooperation with other countries.



It may be noted that the only major aircraft to be acquired by the IAF is the Su-30 MKI, some 280 of which have already been ordered in successive follow-on deals that do not involve fresh tendering and are easy to go through procedurally.



IAF has a plan to build 45 combat squadrons (about 900 aircraft), up from its maximum effective strength of 39.5 squadrons a few years ago. Many of its aircraft have been phased out due to simple ageing.

Quote:Feb 15, 2010 at 1606 hrs IST

New Delhi Defence Minister A K Antony on Monday said the Army was raising two new mountain divisions in the North-East, along the borders with China, but dismissed suggestions that the move was against the neighbour. "We are raising two mountain divisions in the North-East. I must tell you it is not against China. But these are being raised under the overall policies to strengthen presence of the armed forces in the North-East," Antony told a press conference on the occasion of the Sixth DefExpo in New Delhi.



The Defence Minister asserted that India is not a "war-mongering" country and has "not invaded even an inch of soil of any other country ever" but added that "we will defend every inch of our territory."



"We have to be on guard. So we have to strengthen our armed forces to act as a deterrent. That is our policy. That is why we are modernising all their equipment," Antony said.



He said India had embarked on a modernisation programme for its armed forces that included securing the 7,500-km long coastline where the Navy and the Coast Guard were being strengthened.



For air defence, the IAF was being equipped with modern systems and for security of the land mass from Kutch in the West to North East, Jammu and Kashmir in the north to the southern most party of the country, the Army was being strengthened, he said.