The first export contract for the supplies of the BrahMos cruise missiles to a foreign customer can be signed before the end of this year, Alexander Maksichev, a spokesman for the Russian-Indian company Brahmos Aerospace, informed TASS at the 14th International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition LIMA 2017.
"I believe the first export contract for the delivery of the BrahMos missiles can be signed until the end of 2017," he said without specifying the potential customer. Maksichev emphasized that the consent of the Russian and Indian governments is required for exporting these missiles to third countries.
He did not specify though which modification could be exported - sea or land-based. According to Maksichev, it is planned to adapt the BrahMos-ER (extended range) missiles tested in March 2017 for naval applications.
Now Export Contract for Brahmos Missiles could be signed before year-end 2017
India’s rising military strength seems to have rattled both China and Pakistan. According to the Chinese Communist Party’s official organ The Global Times, China is contemplating to produce ballistic, cruise and anti-aircraft missiles in joint collaboration with Pakistan.
Until recently, Beijing was in the habit of pooh-poohing India as a military power. But the Agni V missile with its five thousand plus kilometre range and the recent successful trial of the nuclear capable submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) K-4 with a reported range of 3,500 kms have made Beijing sit up and take note.
The Indian Navy has also drawn up an ambitious expansion plan which aims at raising the navy’s fleet strength to two hundred vessels by 2025 and transform it from a buyer’s navy to a builder’s navy, posing a serious challenge to China’s ambition of dominating the high seas in Asia.
Besides, the situation in South Asia has been gradually turning against China. Its ‘string of pearls’ policy of encircling India has failed. Rather, its aggressive assertion of unilateral claim over the South China Sea has antagonized Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. India’s decision to sell the BrahMos missile to Vietnam has raised Beijing’s hackles.
China’s influence on Sri Lanka and Myanmar has also waned considerably. Instead of isolating India, China finds itself getting isolated from most of her neighbours. Joint naval exercises by India, Australia, Vietnam and US in the Malabar Coast have been another worry for China.
In fact, barring Pakistan China today has hardly any Asian country which it can count as its all-weather friend. China may fume and fret over Dalai Lama’s coming visit to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh but it knows that a repetition of 1962 will no longer be possible. Donald Trump is yet another imponderable factor for China. Beijing does not know whether militarization of the South China Sea will invite Trump’s retaliation. It would be very risky to do so.
As for Pakistan, it no longer enjoys the same rapport with the US as it did earlier. China is hardly likely to replace the US as a donor country helping Pakistan militarily and economically. The growing China-Pakistan axis may not win Beijing many friends in Asia. China considers India as its main rival as a regional power but finds that containing India is becoming more and more difficult. It is for the policy-makers in Beijing to decide whether they will take a confrontationist or a conciliatory attitude to India.
China-Pak unable to contain India's Rising Military Strength and Global Diplomacy Streaming
Russian Air Force Su-30 over Russia
Agni 2 Missile: The range for Agni-2 is performance, repeated guidance more than 2000 km. The salient features of performance capability and salvo firing the test firings are mobile launch capability, capability. With the completion of above multi-staging, state-of-the-art control and flight trials, the design and development of guidance, re-entry technology and the Trishul Missile is complete. sophisticated on-board packages including Nag Missile: Nag is a third generation anti-advanced communication. Agni-2 has also tank missile with top-attack and fire and been inducted into Services. forget capability.
Agni 2 The Indian Missile
Agni 1 Missile is an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile. Agni-I used solid propulsion booster and a liquid propulsion upper stage, derived from Prithvi, essentially to prove the re-entry structure, control and guidance. The strap-down inertial navigation system adopts explicit guidance, which has attempted for the first time in the world. It uses all carbon composite structure for protecting payload during its re-entry phase. The first flight conducted in May 1989, established the re-entry technology and precise guidance to reach the specific target. Agni-I flight trials having proved the long-range technologies, an operational version of agni with solid-solid propulsion system was test fired in April 1999, which is Agni-II with mobile capability.
Agni-1 The Indian Missile
Agni-V Indian Missile
| Launch of the Agni V | |
| Type | Intercontinental ballistic missile |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | India |
| Service history | |
| In service | 2016-Current |
| Used by | Strategic Forces Command |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) |
| Manufacturer | Bharat Dynamics Limited |
| Unit cost | ₹50 crore (US$7 million) |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 50,000 kg |
| Length | 17.5 m |
| Diameter | 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) |
| Warhead | Nuclear |
| Warhead weight | 1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb) |
| Engine | Three stage solid fuel |
Operational
range | Over 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi) Upto 8,000 kilometres (5,000 mi) |
| Speed | Mach 24 (terminal phase) |
Guidance
system | Ring laser gyroscope and inertial navigation system, optionally augmented by GPS/IRNSS. Terminal guidance with possibleradar scene correlation |
Steering
system | flex-nozzle Thrust vectoring(all stages) |
| Accuracy | less than 10 m |
Launch
platform | 8 × 8 Tatra TEL and rail mobile launcher (canisterised missile package) |
| Transport | Road or rail mobile |
Agni-V Indian Missile
The Arjun Mk.2 is an improved version of the original Arjun main battle tank. It was developed in cooperation with Israeli defense companies. A total of 13 major improvements were made. After prolonged development the original Arjun Mk.1 entered service with the Indian Army in 2004. However the original MBT failed to impress the Army and improvements were required in order to make it combat-worthy. The newArjun Mk.2 has improved protection, firepower and mobility over its predecessor. Trials of the Arjun Mk.2 began in 2012. It was first publicly revealed in 2014. Series production is expected to begin a couple of years later. It should replace the ageing Cold War era T-55 and T-72M tanks in service with the Indian Army. It is worth noting that it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain a fleet of ageing tanks.
The Arjun Mk.2 has some design similarities with the German Leopard 2A5 main battle tank. It is claimed that this new Indian tank weights a whooping 68 t. Which makes it the heaviest tank in the world. It is even heavier than the American M1A2 Abrams or British Challenger 2. The ArjunMk.2 is criticized as being too heavy. There are many problems with its excessive weight, such as limited cross-country mobility, limiting areas where it can be deployed. Also it is difficult to transport this tank to the front line.
Hull and turret of the Arjun Mk.2 were redesigned. Protection was improved by improved Kanchan armor. Also locally-developed explosive reactive armor modules were added. It seems that the new ERA is based on the Russian Kontakt-5 technology, developed in the 1980s and used on the T-90 and some other Soviet/Russian tanks. Armor modules counter APFSDS and HEAT rounds, as well as RPG rounds. Ready to use ammunition is stored in the turret bustle with blow-out panels. Other rounds are also containerized. The Arjun Mk.2 is also fitted with advanced laser warning and countermeasures system which confuse enemy sensors. As usually this tank is fitted with NBC protection and automatic fire suppression systems.
This new main battle tank is armed with a fully-stabilized 120-mm rifled gun, which is loaded manually. A rifled gun of such caliber is only used on the British Challenger 2 MBT. This gun is more accurate at long range comparing with smoothbore guns. It is claimed that during trials this new Indian tank outgunned both the T-72M and T-90. The ArjunMk.2 is also compatible with Israeli LAHAT anti-tank guided missiles. Missiles are launched in the same manner as ordinary projectiles. This tank carries a total of 39 rounds, including missiles.
This new main battle tank is fitted with advanced thermal imaging and panoramic sights, and now has a hunter-killer capability. Fire control system of the new tank should have a hit probability over 90%, when firing on the move. The new tank also has improved communication systems and new navigation system.
Secondary armament consists of coaxial 7.62-mm machine gun and a roof-mounted remotely controlled weapon station, armed with a 12.7-mm heavy machine gun.
This new Indian tank has a crew of four, including commander, gunner, loader and driver.
Prototype of the Arjun Mk.2 is fitted with a German MTU MB 838 Ka-501 diesel unit, developing 1 400 hp. The same engine is used on Arjun Mk.1. However it seems that production tanks will be fitted with a more powerful engine. It is speculated that the new engine will be the Cummins QSK-38 turbocharged diesel unit, developing about 1 500 hp. It should be coupled with a French transmission. Also Ukrainian manufacturer proposes for this tank a new 6TD-5 turbocharged diesel engine, developing 1 800 hp. The Arjun Mk.2 has an advanced hydropneumatic suspension system. This tank is also fitted with auxiliary power unit which powers all systems when the main engine is turned off. This MBT can be also fitted with a mine plough.
Due to its weight the Arjun Mk.2 can not be airlifted by the Indian Il-76 heavy transport aircraft. It can be carried only byBoeing C-17 Globemaster III. Indian Air Force ordered 10 of these aircraft. Deliveries should be completed in 2014.
Arjun Mk.2 Main battle tank
Nearly a fortnight after the surgical strikes in September 2016, Pakistani snipers took out sepoy Sudesh Kumar of 6 Rajput regiment who was on patrol along the LoC in Rajouri. A week later, they struck again, killing BSF jawan Gurnam Singh with a shot to the head in Hiranagar sector, Jammu. Two bullets from a Pak sniper caught rifleman Sandeep Singh Rawat in the neck, killing him instantly as he stood guard along the fence in the Kupwara sector.
In the last four months, over a dozen Indian soldiers have died at the hands of Pakistani snipers. A shortage of the lethal lone wolves, outdated technology and absence of specialised training programmes are fraying India’s edge in covert border warfare. Lack of official acknowledgment in the form of awards and citations is a deterrent to getting fresh recruits.
Indian snipers use only technologically obsolete Russian-made Dragunov rifles of 1960s vintage along the LoC. Acknowledging its slipping edge, an internal report of the Army HQ stated, “Snipers are force multipliers to any infantry battalion. The high standard of sniper training and their imaginative employment leads to decisive and out-of-proportion results.”
The Army started its hunt to replace the Dragunovs around 2012, but the infantry is yet to get new, up to date weapons. Indian Army has two snipers per battalion deployed at the Line of Control.
Little training and outdated equipment have led to India’s slipping sniper edge over Pakistan. Pakistani shooters use modern sniper scopes on their Austrian Steyr SSG .22 rifles. Crawling through thick vegetation, they take up position to monitor Indian troop movement and choose targets. Pakistan snipers are posted permanently at border outposts, while before the surgical strikes they were requisitioned on operational requirement.
“To achieve effective results out of the precision fire of a sniper rifle, it is important that the forced incidental errors due to environmental factors be reduced to minimum,” the Army’s internal report said. It identified hi-tech sniper scopes for small teams to be regularly deployed in counter-terror ops in the plains and high altitude areas up to 20,000ft, such as Siachen, where light and wind factors play an important role in shooting accuracy.
“These sniper detachments operate in conditions where judging distance and cross wind error component adversely affects the external ballistics before the bullet strikes the target. The new sniper scope with inbuilt distance and cross wind component correction will help the sniper to engage with precision,” the report stated while stressing on the need for institutionalised training for Indian snipers.
The Army is compensating the gap by using conventional styles of target engagement and distance assessment. “Third generation telescope sights are accurate to an extent in measuring distance but it requires extensive training at long range. Laser range finders and hand-held thermal imagers are being used to measure accurate distance.
However, it imposes the penalty of additional battle load on the sniper detachments,” the Army report added by saying that optical refracting telescope with variable magnification sites are being used by many armies. However, these sights don’t cater for high-speed cross winds and rarefied air in high altitude areas.
Even the BSF, in view of the rising incidents of sniper fire from Pakistan, has taken preventive measures such as placing nets in border outposts and Observation Posts. A 10-metre high embankment will be built along the LoC too.
Indian Army losing sniper edge over Pakistan on LoC Border
Sukhoi Su-30MKI
Su-30MKI is a long-range, high-endurance, heavy-class Air Dominance Fighter with multi mission capabilities. It is currently the most advanced version of Su-27 Flanker flying anywhere in the world. The Su-27, which was first produced in the Former Soviet Union starting 1982 is counted among the world's best fighter aircraft even without any upgardes; but some of the the technology and capability that the Su-30MKI boasts has absolutely no parallels across the world's air forces. The Su-30MKI gives its operator, the Indian Air Force, a capability that will remain unmatched by all rivals for the forseeable future
Sukhoi Su-30MKI Info Indian Air Force
India will boldly go to Venus for the first time and re-visit the Red Planet very soon.
Buried and hidden in the hundreds of pages of the new format electronic budget documents, is the first formal acknowledgement by the government about these two new bold inter-planetary sojourns to Earth's immediate neighbours.
This uplifting news comes ahead of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) attempting to undertake its mega launch where it will drop off into space not one, two or three but a full load of 104 satellites in space in a single mission.
No other country has ever tried to hit a century in a single mission. The last world record is held by Russia which in 2014 rocketed 37 satellites in a single launch using a modified inter-continental ballistic missile.
If all goes according to plan, on the morning of February 15, Isro will hurl into space using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) three Indian satellites and a 101 small foreign satellites.
India is hoping to better the previous world record by a whopping two-and-a-half times. Isro, considered the new kid on the block in the multi-billion dollar world launcher market, hopes to set an enviable benchmark for the space fairing nations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's love affair with space is quite evident. The government, it seems, is rather pleased with the Indian space agency as finance minister Arun Jaitley gave the department of space a whopping 23 per cent increase in its budget. Under the space sciences section, the budget mentions provisions "for Mars Orbiter Mission II and Mission to Venus".
The second mission to Mars is tentatively slated for in 2021-2022 timeframe and as per existing plans it may well involve putting a robot on the surface of the Red Planet.
While India's first mission to Mars undertaken in 2013 was a purely Indian mission, the French space agency wants to collaborate in making the Mars rover.
In fact on a visit to India this month, Michael M Watkins, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of Nasa, said they would be keen to at least put a telematics module so Nasa's rovers and the Indian satellites are able to talk to each other.
The second Indian mission to Mars is likely to be all about doing good science since the first one had a nationalistic streak on it in trying to beat China to the orbit of Mars which the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) did magnificently.
India's maiden mission to Venus, the second planet of the Solar System named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty, is in all probability going to be a modest orbiter mission.
Watkins said a mission to Venus is very-very worthwhile as so little is understood about that planet and Nasa would definitely be willing to partner in India's maiden voyage to Venus.
Towards that, Nasa and Isro have already initiated talks this month on trying to jointly undertake studies on using electrical propulsion for powering this mission.
India's original inter-planetary dreamer K Kasturirangan, former chairman of Isro, says, "India should be part of this global adventure and exploring Venus and Mars is very worthwhile since humans definitely need another habitation beyond Earth."
Closer to home on its 39th launch India's workhorse rocket the PSLV will lift off carrying 1378 kg of robots to be deployed in space.
The first to be let off will be India's high resolution Cartosat-2 series satellite made especially to monitor activities of India's hostile neighbours at a resolution of less than a metre keeping a bird's eye view on both Pakistan and China.
This earth imaging capability is not unusual but the rest of the passengers are unique. There are two small Indian satellites each weighing less than 10 kg that are forerunners of a new class of satellites called Isro Nano Satellites which the engineers seek to master.
What follows next is a trailblazing performance by the PSLV when at an altitude of over 500 km in space it will release from its womb, 101 co-passengers one each from Israel, Kazakhstan, The Netherlands, Switzerland, the UAE and a whopping 96 from the US. It is only recently American private companies have warmed up to Isro as India offers cheap and reliable option.
88 of the American satellites belong to a San Francisco based start-up company Planet Inc which is sending a swarm of small 4.7 kg each satellite it calls 'Doves'. This constellation will image earth like never before and with a high repeat rate providing satellite imagery at an affordable cost.
This suite of 101 small satellites all together weighing 664 kg will be released in space in a manner akin to a typical school bus which drops of its passengers namely children at their respective bus stops in a sequential manner, avoiding squabbling and elbowing in near zero gravity is not easy.
Ensuring that no collisions take place even is an art that Isro has mastered from previous launches. In less than 600 seconds all 101 satellites will be released into space each travelling at whopping velocity of over 27,000 km per hour or at 40 times the speed of an average passenger airliner.
Some experts are suggesting that in a bid to earn some money Isro is actually contributing significantly to the creation of space junk as these small satellites are really not very useful.
But Laura Grego, Senior Scientist, Global Security Program, Union of Concerned Scientists, Cambridge, USA says, "I think that these launches can be done responsibly and provide benefits to all people. Developing a culture of responsible space launch and operations is key as more and more countries become space-faring.
"While the number of countries that can launch satellites independently is still quite small, many dozens of countries own and operate satellites."
Kasturirangan says, "India has the capability putting several satellites in a single launch and demonstrating that capability is certainly not bad as it adds to India's credibility and then later if Isro deploys this capability of formation flying in a constellation of its own satellites it would be a useful addition to its arsenal."
With an eye on Venus and Mars, ISRO attempts mega World Record
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