Indian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Indian Army interested in U.S. Avenger UAVs



The Indian Army shows interest in purchasing General Atomics Avenger UAVs. The request from the Indian Army for the UAVs was one of the items discussed in June 2017 when the US Secretary of Defense James Mattis met with the Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

U.S. Issues Harsh Threat to India; Purchase American F-16 Fighters it Face Economic Sanctions



India’s plans to acquire the Russian S-400 surface to air missile system have led to threats from the United States to impose economic sanctions on the South Asian state should it go through with the purchase, with the U.S. Treasury havingfor a similar acquisition of Russian air defence systems just days before Delhi and Moscow signed a contract for the weapons platform in an apparent warning of Washington’s readiness to follow through on its threats.

has forced Washington to reconsider its policy, balancing its need to punish clients for Russian arms with economic sanctions with its unwillingness to alienate India as a key emerging defence partner in Asia. Washington as a result has reportedly offered Delhi a potential waiver on economic sanctions from the United States - namely that India would be except from penalties under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) if India were to give an assurance that it would buy the F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft from the United States.

According to Indian sources, the offer was made following a discussion between Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her U.S. counterpart James Mattis in Singapore on October 19th. The United States has long been keen to market the F-16 to the Indian Air Force to gain access to the country’s sizeable defence market, though India’s response to these offers has been far from enthusiastic.

Indian Army may get thermal imager for surveillance...



The Indian Army may get advanced hand-held thermal imagers for effective surveillance of targets and night operations in high conflict zones such as Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast.

The ministry of defence is in the process of procuring 12,389 hand-held thermal imagers (HHTIs) to be equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS), digital and magnetic compass, inclinometer and day and night channel binoculars to reduce the number of separate equipment a soldier carries at present.

The Directorate-General of Artillery recently issued a Request for Information (RFI) to this effect to Indian vendors mentioning its operational and technical requirements.

“The HHTIs must be capable of operating in varying terrain and Indian temperature conditions. The equipment, being a day and night surveillance device, will be used to carry out effective surveillance of targets in all kinds of terrain. This will enable effective and accurate acquisition and engagement of targets. This equipment is intended to be used in a man portable role,” stated the operational requirements notes of the RFI.

The Indian troops are currently using French and Israeli HHTIs, in which a couple of issues — poor battery life and picture quality — were observed of late.

“HHTI is a very crucial equipment for the infantry troops while operating in the conflict zone as it can engage target at a distance of 15km. But it does not have GPS, digital and magnetic compass and inclinometer system. These features, if integrated, will certainly give advantage to the troops during the operations,” said an infantry colonel, who has served extensively in Kashmir, adding that, at least 16 HHTIs are required for an infantry battalion.

The HTTIs in use at present also developed issues in extreme climatic conditions in the recent past, states a report prepared by the Army Design Bureau (ADB) in 2017.

Commenting on the challenges, the colonel said, “We cannot use HHTI during ambush operations as it generates sound. The manufacturers need to overcome this aspect. Also, they need to improvise its picture quality.”

A senior infantry officer, who did not wish to be named, told TOI over phone, “Since the battery of HHTI does not last for a long period, the soldiers had to carry additional battery with them in the past.”

Budget crunch hits IAF's new arms deals, upgrade of airbases

India built BAE-HAL joint project , Advanced Combat Hawk

T-14 Armata in the Spotlight as Indian Army Chief Visits Russia



The Indian Army is looking to procure 1,770 multipurpose future ready combat vehicles (FRCV) to replace the aging force of T-72 main battle tanks (MBTs). Russia’s T-14 Armata FRCV is a key contender for the deal that is likely to have a price tag of over $4.5 billion.

Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat started his six-day visit to Russia on Monday in what is being seen as an attempt to lend impetus to the bilateral strategic partnership.

Indian naval Tejas in Digital camouflage

Representative Model of F-18 block 3 for India Air force and Navy proposed by Boeing...

It's Official : India inks $950 million deal for Russian Frigates

Russia has inked a $950 -million deal to supply two new warships to India that will be equipped with Brahmos missiles to add to the firepower of the Navy. The two frigates of the Project 11356 class will be bought directly from Russia and a contract to build two more at an Indian yard is likely to be signed at a later stage.




Sources told ET that while final clearances for the long-pending project came before the summit earlier this month between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the deal was signed last week after price negotiations.

Given that the US has implemented sanctions on weapons purchases from Moscow, India could make payments for the ships using the rupee-rouble route. The deal — under a ‘2+2’ scheme where technology will be transferred to an Indian shipyard to construct two of the frigates from scratch — has been in the works since 2015.

The two ships to be brought from Russia are expected to be delivered by 2022, given that the hulls have already been fabricated for a Russian navy order that got stalled following the Ukrainian crisis. The ships have been designed to work with Ukraine-made gas turbines.

The two frigates are likely to be brought to India after construction to fit the gas turbines at a local yard as the order for turbines has been placed directly by New Delhi with Ukraine, to bypass any complications given the Ukraine-Russian relations.

There had been initial discussions to involve the Indian private sector to build two of the ships but the government decided to nominate state-owned Goa Shipyard. It is not clear if the decision still stands or the ministry will follow a competitive process to determine the local partner.

The Goa Shipyard has been facing financial stress and has not been able to go ahead on an earlier order for new minesweeper vessels that are desperately needed by the Navy.

The process to acquire the minesweepers has been aborted twice and an attempt is now being made to issue tenders for the project.

Delhi, Mumbai and other major Indian cities to soon get their own Missile Shields

India is working on a mega plan to make the airspace over almost all its major cities, including Delhi and Mumbai, virtually impregnable, sources in the military establishment said.



The government is procuring a variation of systems, including missiles, launchers and command-and-control units from the US, Russia and Israel, besides deploying indigenously developed missiles as part of the project, they said.

In the last few years, China has significantly ramped up its air power and the sources said that the government was calculated to equip the forces with capabilities on par with its adversaries.

"Over the national capital and many other cities are being strengthened considering the evolving security scenario. Procurement of missile systems, and weaponry is part of the initiative," a senior military official said.

India is engaged in talks with the US for procuring components of systems, including missiles, and drones, and the US has already approved sale of 22 Sea Guardian to India at an estimated cost of USD 2 billion.

It is for the first time, the US is selling them to a country which is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The sources said India is also gazing at the US' National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System-II to bolster its own defence.

India is also procuring the S-400 Triumf Air Defence System from Russia at a cost of $5.4 billion to accelerate its gizmo. Deliveries will begin as early as 2020.

"The aim of the project is to make our skyline impregnable," the official said.

As part of efforts to strengthen the country's aerial security, India is also in the process of inducting the first batch of its offensive Intercontinental Ballistic Missile System — Agni V — which is expected to significantly bolster India's 2nd strike capability against China. The missile, with a strike range of 5,000 km, is capable of delivering a nuclear payload to every city in China.

Very few countries, including the US, China, Russia, France and North Korea, possesses intercontinental ballistic missiles.

In its offensive missile armory, India presently has Agni-1 with a 700 km range, Agni-2 with a 2,000-km range, Agni-3 and Agni-4 with 2,500 km to more than 3,500-km range.

In November last, India successfully test fired air-launched variant of the Brahmos, the world's fastest supersonic cruise missile, from a Sukhoi-30 combat jet. The missile will be also be part of the project to make the country's airspace impregnable, the sources said.

The Defence Ministry is now expediting the process to integrate the deadly Brahmos with 40 Su-30 MKI Fighter Jets.