Indian Army’s Arjun Mk1 Alpha Tanks ‘Desert-Storms’
India-Pakistan Border, Tests Firing Capability
The Indian Army demonstrated the combat capabilities of its
Arjun Mk1 Alpha tanks in a live fire exercise at the Pokhran Field Firing Range
in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer, on the weekend.
This tank is the cavalry’s latest workhorse handed over to the service in February 2021 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Chennai. The Defense Acquisition Council had cleared the procurement of 118 Arjun Mk1 Alpha tanks earlier called M k II at an estimated price of Rs 8400 crore.
Seeing the current scenario and challenges, the firepower
demonstration of Main Battle Tank Arjun Mk1 Alpha, which is an advanced version
of Arjun, took place to check its capabilities in various parameters in the
desert area, thus fulfilling army’s future requirements.
One of the main features demonstrated was the ability to fire
accurately while on the move. “The Mk1 Alpha includes an improved gunner’s main
sight, integrated with automatic target tracking. This would enable the tank
crew to track moving targets automatically, and engage them even when Arjun is
on the move.
Will HAL AMCA, India’s new fighter jet, belong to 5th or 6th
generation?
There are many fighter jet projects currently in development
around the world. India’s hall Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft AMCA is one of
them. In development since at least 2009, it is intended to enter production
some time in the late 2020s and become a full multi-role aircraft to supplement
India’s latest jets like Hall Tejas, Dassault Rafale and Sukhoi Su-30 MKI as
well as replace a wide array of older ones.
The aircraft will supposedly feature supermaneuverability,
supercruise, stealth features and advanced networking systems – all the
hallmarks of the 5th generation fighter jets, like the F-22, F-35 and Su-57.
But isn’t this a bit odd? There are a handful 5th generation jets still in
development – the Chinese J-31 and South Korean KF-21 amongst them – but the
leading aircraft manufacturers are looking into the next generation already.
The United States said that the prototype of 6th generation
NGAD has already been tested. In Europe both FCAS and Tempest are getting
closer and closer to completion. Both Russia and China, while secretive,
probably are working on something along those lines too.
There are conflicting versions of how Indian officials
themselves view the AMCA. At the start of the development, a decade ago, the
aircraft was referred to as a “5th generation fighter jet“ by pretty much
everybody. In 2019, Indian Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria said
that it is going to be a 5th generation fighter jet with “6th generation
characteristics”.
In 2020 he claimed that India has a true 6th generation
fighter jet in development, possibly listing its features – optional pilot’s
presence, loyal wingmen, swarming drones and hypersonic weapons. On their own,
all of these features can be, and sometimes are, present in fighters of earlier
generations. But what distinguishes the 6th generation is an emphasis on their
fusion – the often-talked about “system of systems”.
This Norwegian Anti-ship missile will make Indian MH-60Rs
Lethal
Kongsberg a Norwegian company has developed a
helicopter-launched variant of the Naval Strike Missile NSM, a fifth-generation
high-subsonic, anti-ship / land-attack cruise missile that can be used against
the sea and land-based targets in littoral and open sea environments. India
will be the first country to purchase the NSM- helicopter-launched variant for
its 24 MH-60R helicopters after the Indian Navy shows indent to procure two
Naval Strike Missile Emulators as well as four Naval Strike Missile Captive
Inert Training missiles.
Indian Navy will be having a separate contract with the
Kongsberg, once it starts taking deliveries of the MH-60R helicopters.
NSM-HL has been manufactured with composite materials that
are meant to give the missile sophisticated stealth capabilities due to which
the missile weighs slightly more than 400 kg but still has a range of 185km.
NSM-HL After being launched into the air by a solid rocket, the missile is
propelled to its target in high subsonic speed by a turbojet sustainer
engine—leaving the 125 kg multi-purpose blast/fragmentation warhead to do its
work, which in case of a ship target means impacting the ship at or near the
waterline.
India will be the first customer that will have that
Helicopter launch variant of the missile that will make the weapons system much
more lethal due to the incremental range at which MH-60R helicopters can
deliver this missile towards its target.
UK carrier strike group will sail to India on its maiden
deployment
As a representation of the ‘Indo-Pacific tilt’ in the UK’s foreign
policy, the HMS Queen Elizabeth Carrier, the largest ship ever built by the
Royal Navy will sail to India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and the wider
region. The Carrier will visit West Coast Ports where it will engage in a
series of events to maximise bilateral relations benefitting both countries
trade and political alliances. The ship will conduct a series of joint
exercises with Indian Military Forces in the Indian Ocean, expanding our
interoperability and enhancing our capabilities to defend against shared
threats and protect our democratic values.
Throughout the deployment, the UK will support freedom of
passage through vital global trading routes and demonstrate commitment to a
recognised international system of norms and behaviours that benefit all
countries. It will also help to establish a maritime partnership with India to
support our mutual security objectives in the Indian Ocean.
The UK Government’s landmark review of foreign, defence,
development and security policy, published last month, committed the UK to
becoming the European country with the broadest, most integrated presence in
the Indo-Pacific in support of trade, shared security and values.
Last December, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab travelled to
meet Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar in New Delhi
to make progress towards agreeing a landmark UK India roadmap for greater joint
cooperation, including on defence and security, trade, health and climate
change.
Later this year, the UK has invited Prime Minister Modi to
attend the G7 Summit in Cornwall, UK, in recognition of India’s role as the
world’s largest democracy and as a vital partner to the UK in tackling global
challenges like climate change and pandemic.
The Carrier Strike Group will travel over 26,000 nautical
miles from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, from the Gulf of Aden to the
Arabian Sea, and from the Indian Ocean to the Philippine Sea.
