Bharat Forge to assume full control of missile making subsidiary Kalyani Strategic Systems KSSL
Bharat Forge
will buy the remaining 49 percent stake in Kalyani
Strategic Systems KSSL at Rs 32.97 crore to make it a fully owned
subsidiary, the Pune based company disclosed in filings with the stock
exchanges. The promoter and promoter group entities of Bharat Forge will off load
their shares in Kalyani Strategic Systems.
“Since KSSL holds industrial license under the Arms Act, 1959 read with the Arms Rules, 2016, the said acquisition of shares shall be subject to prior approval of Ministry of Home Affairs / Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
KSSL is the
holding company for the defence vertical of Bharat Forge Group. This
acquisition shall result in making it the wholly owned subsidiary of Bharat
Forge which shall enable it to be eligible for participating in various defence
programs.
KSSL is
engaged in the field of developing, deploying defence electronics, systems
development, system integration for defence products and components.
KSSL and
Israeli defence technology company Rafael Advanced Systems are in a $100
million joint venture order to supply 1,000 Barak 8 MRSAM missiles kits to
state run Bharat Dynamics.
PLA
exercising in its depth areas opposite Ladakh, Indian forces watching closely
More than a
year after the Chinese army displayed aggression on the northern front, the
People’s Liberation Army is carrying out an exercise in their depth areas near
the Eastern Ladakh sector. The Indian armed forces are also fully alert this
year despite the pandemic and keeping a close watch on all these movements of
the Chinese forces there.
The Chinese
have been coming to these areas for many years where they hold their exercises
in summer time. Last year also, they had come to these areas in the garb of
exercises and diverted from here towards Eastern Ladakh aggressively.
The Chinese
troops are well within their traditional areas with distances at some places
ranging from 100 kms and beyond, they said. The development is important as the
two sides are still discussing issues related to existing friction points
including hot springs and Gogra heights after the mutual withdrawal of troops
from the Pangong lake area by both sides.
The Indian
side has also seen summer deployment of troops at forward locations in eastern
Ladakh and other sectors.
The forces
deployed by the Indian side in Ladakh include the Indo Tibetan Border Police,
Indian Air Force, and Indian Army which is now at the forward most locations in
the sector.
The Chinese
after diverting from their traditional exercise areas had come to the eastern
front and the two sides have been engaged in a military standoff since then.
There was
hope that the Chinese would go back to their original locations but they have
remained at forward locations since then. The Chinese have also been seen doing
construction of bunkers in their territory and have been working to fortify
their structures.
India has
also fortified its positions and prepared its troops for a long haul there as
deployments of additional forces and rotations have been going on.
Both Indian
and Chinese Armies have a large number of troops deployed at the border since
last year. The formations of Mathura based One Strike Corps have also been
reoriented towards the Northern borders while one of its Armoured formations
would continue to be with it.
The
deployment of formations and troops in the Sugar sector, Central sector, and
the northeastern borders have also been strengthened. Due to the Indian
tactical operations along the southern bank of Pangong Tso, the Indian Army
managed to secure disengagement from the Finger area, the two sides are
continuing to hold talks for further disengagement and de-escalation from other
friction points in the area.
India is
demanding disengagement at the Gogra, Hot Springs, and Depsang plains area by
the Chinese Army. The Chinese have been maintaining the presence of their long range
air defence batteries including the HQ 9 which can hit targets at over 200 kms
ever since the stand-off started along with their fighter nets at Hotan, Ngari
Gunsa and Kashgar. India has also ensured that its guard remains up in view of
the Chinese posturing and maintained a large number of troops in these areas
along with frequent deployment of frontline aircraft such as the Rafale fighter
jets there.
NAVY
SEEKS AMENDMENT TO 30 YEAR SUBMARINE PLAN, WANTS SIX NUCLEAR BOATS
In the backdrop of
rapidly expanding Chinese Navy, the Indian Navy wants six SSNs to replace
diesel powered conventional attack submarines as Indo-Pacific has emerged as
the new theatre.
The Indian Navy has approached the Narendra Modi government for approval to make changes in the Cabinet Committee of Security approved 30 year submarine building plan by replacing six conventional attack vessels with nuclear powered platforms in the context of changing strategic scenario in Indo-Pacific.
As of now, the India has one Akula class submarine INS Chakra on lease from Russian Federation and one ballistic missile firing submarine INS Arighat. The two are under the Strategic Forces Command. All the ballistic missile firing submarines also called SSBNs are outside the purview of Indian Navy and with Strategic Forces Command.
While the Indian Navy wanted
six more AIP equipped diesel submarines to be added to complete the 30 year
submarine force levels,
The national security
planners convinced the Admirals that nuclear attack submarine is a much more
potent platform with the capacity to stay below surface for months and only
surface for crew change and logistics.
The equatorial waters of
Indian Ocean make submarines a very potent weapon due to temperature
differences on surface and below water. This causes total internal reflection
due to changes in medium and makes submarines in equatorial waters the most
difficult to detect. It is due to this phenomenon that the SSNs will act as a
deterrent for both sea access and sea denial to the adversary.
