NSG to have permanent structures at new hubs

New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) NSG commandos deployed at their new hubs in four cities and currently housed in temporary locations will have permanent structures at their earmarked lands by next year.

The permanent structures and multi-storey buildings will come up by next year at these places, National Security Guard (NSG) Director General N P S Aulakh said.

Till the permanent structures come up, the commandos will be housed in pre-fabricated structures by mid-December this year at their designated lands, he said.

"The National Building Constructions Corporation (NBCC) had given us the deadline of November 30 for completion of pre-fabricated structures and roads etc. At the most, we will move into all the four hubs by second week of December," he said.

The regional hub at Mumbai was operationalised on June 30 while Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata hubs were inaugurated on July 1 by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram this year.

MARCOS (India)

MARCOS (India)
Active	1987 - Present
Country	India
Branch	Navy
Type	Special Forces
Nickname	Magarmach (Crocodiles)
Operations	Operation Cactus, Operation Pawan, Kargil War, Raid on LTTE in 1987, Operation Black Tornado, Operation Cyclone
Equipment	AK-47 and variants, Colt M16A2, INSAS 5.56 mm, Type 56 assault rifle, Tavor assault rifle,HK MP5 sub-machine gun and 7.62 mm SLRassault rifle, H-3 Sea King and Chetakhelicopters, Cosmos CE-2F/X100 two-mansubmarines.

MARCOS (previously named as Marine Commando Force (MCF)) is an elite special operations unit of the Indian Navy. "MARCOS" is short for "Marine Commandos", and MCF is an acronym for "Marine Commando Force".

The force started off as the Indian Marine Special Force, the first batch qualifying in February 1987. It was later renamed as the Marine Commando Force(MCF) in 1991. The force has gradually acquired experience and a reputation for professionalism over the two decades it has been in existence. It is one of India's highest trained and best equipped forces.

The force was initially trained by the other special forces of the country, including those under the Home Ministry, the Army, Air Force, Police and paramilitary units. This was later supplemented by foreign training facilities, notably the SEALS of the US Navy. Over the years, the force set up its own training facility, first as an adjunct of the operational company at Mumbai, later as the Naval Special Warfare Tactical Training Centre. Wide exposure to different forms of warfare have been obtained through field operations in counter insurgency and anti terrorist operations within the country, and joint exercises with more than a dozen countries across the world.

IAF lost 36 aircraft, 32 lives in plane crashes since 2006

New Delhi: The IAF has lost 36 aircraft and seven helicopters in accidents during a period of nearly four years beginning 2006 as 32 persons, including IAF personnel, were killed in the mishaps, the Lok Sabha was told today.

A look at the Defence Arena

Night launch for N-capable Agni-II today (Asia Defence)

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009

Rajat Pandit

India is all set to test its 2,000-km-plus Agni-II missile from the Wheeler Island off Orissa coast again on Monday. Significantly, the nuclear-capable missile will be launched for the first time during night in a major step towards making it fully operational in the Strategic Forces Command (SFC).

Defence officials said Agni-II’s ‘user training trial’ was likely to be conducted around 8pm on Monday to give the necessary confidence to the armed forces that the two-stage, solid-fuelled missile can be fired whenever required.

Incidentally, DRDO is also working on MIRV (multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles) technology for the Agni series of ballistic missiles. An ‘MIRVed’ missile can carry a bunch of nuclear warheads in a single payload, each of which can hit different targets along separate trajectories.

Such missiles can conceivably overwhelm even robust ballistic missile defences of an enemy. MIRV technology is considered important for a country like India, which has a clear no first-use nuclear doctrine but warns that nuclear retaliation to an enemy first-strike will be ‘massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage’.

Pakistan, with the active help of China and North Korea, has surged ahead of India in the missile arena. Some US nuclear experts recently estimated that Pakistan has more nuclear warheads than India. As per their estimates, it has 70-90 warheads compared to 60-80 of India.

China is in a different league altogether, brandishing as it does ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) like Dong Feng-31A (11,200-km range) and SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles) like JL-2 (7,200-km range).

But coming back to the Agni-II test, it will take place only if all the pre-launch final checks go smoothly as planned on Monday. The missile, which is around 20-metre tall and weighs 17 tonnes, was earlier to be tested on November 6 but it was called off at the last moment due to some glitches.

Even Agni-II’s last test on May 19 was not fully successful. Consequently, the only ballistic missiles which can be said to be “100% operational” at present are the short-range Prithvi missile (150-350 km) and, to a certain extent, the 700-km-range Agni-I. The fourth test of 3,500-km Agni-III, which will give India the strategic capability to hit targets deep inside China once it becomes fully operational by around 2012, will take place early next year.

India’s most ambitious strategic missile Agni-V will be ready for its first test only in end-2010 or early-2011. With a proposed range of 5,000-km, Agni-V will have near ICBM capabilities (strike range in excess of 5,500-km) and give India’s “dissuasive deterrence posture” against China some much-needed muscle.

India, Iran Weigh Troop Training, Sat Launch

By vivek raghuvanshi

NEW DELHI - Officials from Iran and India discussed cooperative training of troops and the possible Indian launch of an Iranian commercial satellite during Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki's visit here Nov. 16-17, sources in the Iranian Embassy here said.

Mottaki called on Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Foreign Minister Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna during his visit.

Details of the Iranian satellite to be launched from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) vehicle have been under consideration since July, but no decision has been taken, an Indian External Affairs Ministry official said.

India and Iran are also negotiating a joint patrol exercise in the Arabian Gulf. India and Iran have a defense cooperation framework in the Joint Working Group on Defence Cooperation, which has been dormant since 2005.

New Delhi is also pressing Iran to share information with India on the movement of terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba, sources in the Home Ministry here said, but there has been no major breakthrough on this issue.

www.defensenews.com

Women as fighter pilots bad investment: IAF

ALL MEN FORCE: Senior IAF officer says women will have to wait to be fighter pilots.New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) will be flying President Pratibha Patil in a Sukhoi fighter jet, but it will have to wait for women to be fighter pilots.Vice-Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal P K Barbora, on Tuesday gave a statement, which suggests that women IAF officers must delay pregnancy if they want to become fighter pilots.

“We might see this change (women as fighter pilots) coming in with certain pre-conditions - that till this age we require you to be happy, be married (but) let us hope that you don't have an offspring,” said Barbora at a press conference in New Delhi.

Barbora suggested that women officers must plan a child only after “13-14 years of flying service” when “investments” made on a fighter pilot will be recovered by the Air Force.

“We can induct women fighter pilots for show purposes. But we spend an exorbitant amount on training fighter pilots, and if we are not able to utilise them optimally, it may not be prudent to have women fighter pilots at the moment,” said Barbora.“Once the lady goes the family way, she will be off flying for 10 months. And when we have invested so much, it is not a fruitful development.”

Barbora, however, assured women IAF officers that there would be a change down the line.

“A few years from now, there will be some change. However, we will not induct women just for the sake of it but for optimally utilising their potential,” he said.

Barbora’s statement may trigger a controversy and reflects the military’s discomfort with using women for combat roles, reports CNN-IBN’s Associate Editor, Defence, Vishal Thapar.

IANS reports the IAF currently has 784 women officers working in different branches, but that they are barred from the fighter pilot stream.

BrahMos-II by 2013, DRDO to develop invisible technology

The Indian defence establishment would have a hypersonic missile - BrahMos II - in its fold in the next four years and the DRDO was developing "Clock Technology" to make warships and aircraft totally invisible both to the human eye and radars. Brahmos Aerospace was working on the hypersonic missile project, Brahmos II, which was expected to be ready by 2013, Defence Scientist and Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) Chief Controller Dr A Sivathanu Pillai said.

Giving this information on the sidelines of a function got up as part of DRDO's golden jubilee celebrations here last evening, Dr Sivathanu Pillai said work in this regard has commenced.

The indigenous second BrahMos missile would have improved speed and fire power. The speed range of the missile would be between Mach five (five times the speed of the sound) and Mach seven and it was expected to be ready by 2013, Dr Pillai, who is also the CEO and Managing Director of Brahmos Aerospace, said. He also said work on developing an universal missile launcher has commenced at the Brahmos Aerospace in Thiruvananthapuram.

Earlier, speaking at the function, Dr Pillai said the DRDO's new mantra would be "less men, more machine" With the changing dimensions of war theatre, the future wars would be fought with minimum people, but with maximum weapons.

The DRDO was focussing on robotics and unmanned vehicle development to prepare the Indian defence to meet future war situations, which would be more network centric and fought with autonomous systems. ''The main aim was to attain maximum weapon power by using minimum people'', he added. Observing that cyber warfare and robotic systems would dominate the battlefield, Dr Pillai said robotics and software plays a vital role in modern day combat and the DRDO has been developing weapons and combat systems which were less man-centric. He said nanotechnology and biotechnology would change the perspective of future wars. ''The Bio-Nano revolution will change every applications in the battlefield and the DRDO was making efforts to develop robot-soldiers, stealth ships and radars''.

''We are on the process of developing a "clock technology" that will make the warships and aircraft totally invisible, both to the human eye and radars. The DRDO is developing a material called meta-metal which has a negative refractive index, making things invisible.

25 Squadron (Himalayan Eagles)

	25 Squadron (Himalayan Eagles)
Crest In the wake of the Chinese aggression in 1962, a need was felt to strengthen our supply lines to the Army in the Northern Sector encompassing J&K and Ladakh regions. Consequently, 25 Sqn, AF was formed on 01 Mar 63, with 04XAN-12 aircraft acquired from the erstwhile USSR. The unit's first Commanding Officer was Sqn Ldr GJ Shaw. AN-12 Nowhere in the world have the heavy transport aircraft such as the AN-12 and IL-76 been used in so hostile a terrain as prevails in Ladakh and J&K Sectors. Therefore, credit must go to the dedicated band of aviators of this squadron for evolving such complete and abiding procedures for safe landings of these heavy transport aircraft at high altitude airfields like Leh (10,500'), Chushul (14,500') and Thoise (9,800'). Through operational operational innovations and varied use these aircraft have completely changed the concept of Transport Operations, move specifically Air Maintenance over the years. IL-76 The tasks entrusted to the squadron are : Air maintenance in the Northern Sector Transportation of cargo, both within the country and Ex-India Transportation of troops whenever and wherever tasked. Paradropping and platform drops at designated dropping zones. To bring succor to the needy during natural calamities; both within & outside the country. Since its inception in 1963, the personnel of the squadron have executed the allotted tasks with dedication, remarkable efficiency and a very strong sense of service pride. The mettle of 'Himalayan Eagles', an epithet that the squadron has earned over the years because of yeoman service it has been rendering to the numerous Army and Air Force units located in the Northern Sector, has been proved time and again both in war and in peace. Everytime, it has proved time and again both in war and in peace. Everytime, it has emerged with flying colours. A brief resume of the important events in which the Himalayan Eagles have participated over the years is as follows :- 1963-1989 - During this period the squadron operated with AN-12 aircraft along with 44 Sqn AF which was co-located in Chandigarh. it took part in the following operations :- Indo-Pak Conflict -(1965) - AN-12 aircraft of the squadron were used for movement of men and material. Indo-Pak Conflict - (1971) - Departing from its usual role of transportation, the AN-12 were utilised as bombers extensively in the Western Sector. The Battalion Group paradrop at Tangail in East Pakistan was a noteworthy success. 1989-1993 - By the mid-eighties, however, the 'Old Work-horses', the AN-12 had aged and spares requirement had overtaken the supply. To provide relief to the AN-12 fleet, four IL-76 aircraft joined the 'Himalayan Eagles' in 1989. The two heavy transport aircraft worked together for four years before the AN-12 yielded the pride of place to the medium transport aircraft - the AN-32 - glided into the pages of IAF's glorious history on 30 Jun 93. Some of significant events in which the Il-76 fleet participated during this period were as follows :- 1990 : Firing IR Flares at Pokhran Range - Two IL-76 were modified and their objective was to test the systems effectiveness to divert fire power of heat seeking missiles, shoulder fired guns, and also jamming of radar by dispensing chaff around the aircraft. Gulf war evacuation of stranded Indians from Dubai and Basra. This has been acknowledged as the biggest airlift operation since World War II. 1992 - Evacuation of 5000 passengers stranded at Leh due to a strike by the Indian Airlines. Airlifting of para military forces to every nook and corner of the country in the aftermath of Ayodhya riots. 1993-94 : Deinduction of T-72 Tanks from Leh (Total 24) - Due to restrictions of maximum take off weights when operating from Leh (altitude 3270 mtrs), the deinduction was a laborious process as the hull and turret of the tank had to be dismantled and two sorties were required to deinduct one tank (wt of hull 24 tons, turret 10 tuns, other accessories 08 tons). A total of 55 sorties were flown of 55 sorties were flown to deinduct 24 tanks plus four ARVs. Ex-Snow Leopard - In 1994, heavy platform drop at Stakna DZ in the Ladakh sector neat Leh airfield was carried out with excellent results. 1993 - On 30 Jun 93 and AN-12 phasing out marked the end of a glorious chapter of transport operations in the IAF. They were replaced by 03 AN-32 in Jul 93. Three more AN-32 were allotted in Aug 93. By Sep 93, the AN-32 took over the complete gamut of operational roles in the Northern Sector. They joined the IL-76 of the squadron to walk in footsteps of the glorious traditions of the AN-12 aircraft. The sqn did itself proud by flying the "Big Boy Formation" with one IL-76 in lead and two AN-32 of the Squadron in formation on the occasion of the Air Force Day on 08 Oct 93. Ex-Leaping Gazelle and Desert Fox - By Jan 94, 03 sets of AN-32 crew had been qualified on the new displaced Trail formation. The squadron AN-32 ac took part in Ex-leaping Gazelle (2 AN-32 ac) and Desert Fox (01 AN-32 ac) and dropped paratroopers, in formation by night, with precision. Ex-Snow Leopard - In Jan 94, a P-16 heavy platform was dropped for the first time at Stakna DZ (Elev 3270 m) with excellent results. 02 X AN-32 aircraft of the squadron took part in formation para drop successfully. Big Boy Formation on Air Force Day 94 - The Sqn lived upto its reputation by doing another meticulous "Big Boy Formation" on Air Force Day with IL-76 and three AN-32s from the squadron. Evacuation of Civilians from Yeman - In May 94, the IL-76 of this squadron carried out evacuation of civilians from Yeman (Sanna) in record time in perilious conditions, involving 38 hrs of nonstop work by the aircrew. 1995 - Big Boy Formation Flypast on Republic Day : The squadron, as expected, was tasked with this formation. This flypast over Rajpath was being revived after 08 years. The squadron provided the IL-76 and 02 formating AN-32 aircraft. The formation was a grand success. Night Operations at Leh and Udhampur Successful operations to Leh and Udhampur airfields by night requiring a very high level of proficiency have been carried out by the IL-76 and AN-32 aircraft of the squadron. The first landing by night at Leh was carried out by the AN-32 in Jul 96 and by IL-76 in Jan 97. Squadron Crest The Himalayan Eagle The primary role of the Sqn, being Air Maintenance in the Northern Sector, the unit crest rightfully depicts the 'Himalayan Eagles' in all its glory. The background depicts the mighty show capped Himalayas over which the sqn ac have been flying day in and day out, ever since its inception. Ladakh region is basically hostile and rugged in nature and is snow bound for a major part of the year. The roads remain unsuable for nearly eight to nine months in an year and transportation of men, material and ration by air is the only viable alternative. Further North, where the Army is deployed over the Siachen glacier, air dropping by AN-32 ac and helicopters is the only way to survival. Therefore, the unit serves as a 'lifeline' for the Northern Sector and hence the inscription on the crest ' The Saviors of the North'.