Defence Scan by Air Mshl PK Roy (Retd)

Government of India has cleared the procurement of 464 T-90 tanks for the Indian Army at a cost of over Rs 13,500 crore. This would increase the approximate number of different types of tanks to over 2000. Reports indicate that these tanks would be brought to India in a knocked down state and assembled at the Heavy Vehicles Factory, Avadi.

An Indian Defence Ministry delegation led by the Defence Secretary Shri Sanjay Mitra, Lt Gen PS Rajeshwar, CISC visited Sri Lanka on April 8, 2019 for Indo-Sri Lanka Defence dialogue. During the visit the delegation called on the President of Sri Lanka Shri Maitripala Sirisena. Lt Gen PS Rajeshwar, CISC also called on Chief of Defence Staff of Sri Lanka Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne and Chiefs of Staff of Sri Lanka Army, Air Force and Navy as part of this India-Sri Lanka Defence Dialogue.

The biannual Army Commanders’ Conference commenced April 8, 2019. The opening address was delivered by the Raksha Mantri Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman. The conference, chaired by General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Army Staff will deliberate on important security issues such as management of the extant security dynamics, mitigation of future security threats and enhancement of combat edge over potential adversaries. The commanders would also discuss issues like infrastructure development for capacity enhancement along the Northern borders, review of strategic railway lines, optimization of limited budget to ensure making up of critical deficiency, issues related to Border Road Organisation project and ECHS etc. Army Commanders’ Conference, chaired by Chief of the Army Staff is held biannually for formulating important policy decisions through collegiate deliberations. It is an important event for planning and execution process of the Indian Army.

Two ships of the Indian Navy—INS ‘Kolkata’ and INS ‘Shakti’ will be taking part in the Chinese Navy’s 70th Anniversary Celebrations from April 21, 2019 to April 26, 2019. As per the China’s defence spokesman Col Wu Qian, over 60 countries would be participating in the commemorative event for the PLA Navy’s 70th founding anniversary. Apart from participating in an International Fleet Review, the Commanding Officer of INS Kolkata, Captain Aditya Hara and the Shri Vikram Misri will host an on-board reception for the public. INS Kolkata is a guided-missile destroyer of the Indian Navy whereas INS Shakti is tanker and supply ship.

The Indian Army inducted the first Made in India 155/45 calibre towed Gun System ‘Dhanush’ on April 8, 2019. Induction of this weapon system in the Indian Army, will considerably enhance its firepower. Dhanush has been produced at the Ordnance Factory Board, Gun Carriage Factory located at Jabalpur with the active support of the Indian Army. The handing over ceremony was held with the rollout of six-gun systems at the Gun Carriage Factory. Reports indicate that the Army has placed orders for over 110 Dhanush systems.

A 12 member Indian Army patrol along with a police representative recovered wreckage of a World War II vintage US Air Force aircraft in Roing district of Arunachal Pradesh on March 30, 2019. The patrol located the aircraft debris covered by thick undergrowth and buried under five feet of snow. Based on the information received from local trekkers of Lower Dibang district through the police, a special patrol of Army was sent to locate the wreckage in a remote location, 30 kms from Roing. The patrol moved cross country for 30 kilometres in thick jungles and snow-covered areas for eight days to trace the wreckage. The region had seldom been ventured by anyone in the past and is even obscured from air due to thick foliage. The discovery of the vintage aircraft and other warlike stores will definitely lead to revelation of some historical inputs.

The US State Department has indicated that it has cleared the sale of 24 MH-60R Seahawk maritime helicopters to India. The US$ 2.6 billion deal, as and when it materialises will provide a huge boost to the anti-submarine capabilities of the Indian Navy. They will replace the ageing Sea King helicopters being operated by the Indian Navy since 1971.

Rejecting a report in Foreign Policy which cited unnamed US officials that none of the Pakistan Air Force’s F-16, supplied by the US was found missing, the Indian Air Force has once again reiterated that its Mig-21 Bison had shot down a Pakistani F-16 aircraft on February 27, 2019 during the combat in the Nowshera sector. During the combat Wing Commander Abhinandan Vardhaman’s Mig-21 was also shot down. He had ejected and drifted into Pak territory and ultimately captured by them. In an official brief to the media, the IAF has confirmed sighting the ejection at two different places on that day and that the electronic signatures as captured by its radars clearly indicated that the Pak aircraft was F-16.