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India and Russia have signed an agreement to jointly develop the 5th generation stealth fighter aircraft with equal financial and technological stakes. Overall development cost of the Sukhoi T-50 is in the region of US$ 10 billion.

An artist’s rendering of the Sukhoi T-50 fifth generation fighter aircraft

India will lease a nuclear powered Akula-II attack submarine from Russia from mid-2008 onwards under a hush-hush Rs 2600 crore (US$ 650 million) deal.

The Akula-II class attack submarine

Then, of course, India will be acquiring another 40 Sukhoi-30MKIs to add to the 190 already contracted, 347 more T-90S to add to the 310 such main-battle tanks already inducted, and 80 more Mi-17 medium-lift utility and assault helicopters from Russia. The deal does not include 230 Sukhoi-30MKI fighters India is going to acquire from Russia at an overall cost of over $8.5 billion.

2 SU-30K Flankers, 2 F-15 Eagles and 2 Mirage 2000 flying in formation

The 44,570-tonne aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov (below), was initially supposed to join Indian Navy by August 2008 as per the $1.5 billion package deal signed with Russia in January 2004. But India will not be getting the carrier, already rechristened INS Vikramaditya, anytime before 2010. The package deal, incidentally, includes 16 MiG-29K ‘Fulcrum’ supersonic fighters and a mix of Ka-31 and Ka-28 helicopters to operate from the carrier’s deck.

News source: TimesofIndia

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India will now be a regular host for the training of Singapore’s small but high-tech armed forces. The two countries are poised to ink a unique five-year defence cooperation pact to allow the city-state’s armed forces to exercise regularly on Indian territory and airspace.

The comprehensive agreement, along with a detailed logistical pact, is likely to be signed when Singapore defence minister Teo Chee Hean and permanent secretary (defence) Chiang Chie Foo come visiting over the next few days, say sources.

The former’s visit from October 14 to 18 will be preceded by the Foo’s visit from October 8 to 10. The Singapore delegations are scheduled to hold discussions with defence minister A K Antony, Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and defence secretary Vijay Singh, among others. during the talks, the two sides will also discuss “regional security, including expanding cooperation in the maritime security arena”.

Rest of the article here.

Mr Wang has also written about this news here.

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The world’s fourth largest air force, The Indian Air Force (IAF) turned 75 years today. Wanna fight?

Jaguar 21

A Mig-29, keeping our offshore oil rigs safe.

Mirage 2000, flying in formation

The almighty Sukhoi -Su30MK1, armed to the teeth.

All pictures courtesy: Bharat Rakshak

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INS Rajput, 8 Other Warships To Deploy Brahmos Cruise Missiles

The Indian Navy has already deployed the Indo-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile on the INS Rajput, P Venugopal, director, Defence Research and Development Laboratories (DRDL) and head of the BrahMos mission told a packed audience at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Powai, Mumbai, which is holding the aerospace meet Zephyr 2007.

INS Ranjit is next in line among the eight warships that the Indian Navy has planned to equip with this missile. Each ship will be fitted with four missile launchers, two on each side of the vessel. The Indian Army has already inducted its first group of truck-launched missiles.

The four-tonne rocket has a diameter of 70 cm and is 8 metres long. It has a maximum range of 300km and a payload of 500kg. Both the latter are the maximum limits mandated by the international missile control regime, he said, hinting that they could have achieved higher parameters in these two areas had it not been for the limits.

The missile can fly from a sea-skimming height of just 10 metres above the waves to an altitude of 15km. While it can achieve a maximum velocity of Mach 2 in the denser air at sea level, this goes up to Mach 2.7 in the rarefied upper atmosphere above 7 km, he said.

The missile has three propulsion systems. First, a gas generator blows it out of its canister, then a solid fuel booster speeds it up to Mach 2, after which an air-breathing liquid fuel ramjet takes over to propel it to its target.

Read the full article here.

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Himalayan Warrior: Elite Indian, British Soldiers To Hold High Altitude Exercises Near Chinese Border

Himalayan Warrior, a joint UK-India exercise comprising specialist high altitude training, will be held in the Ladakh region from 17 September to 11 October including a period of acclimatisation. This is a unique opportunity to share best practice between elite soldiers of both British and Indian Armed Forces.

This specialist environmental training is the culmination of three years interaction between the Royal Marine (RM) mountain leaders and the Indian Army High Altitude Warfare School. Emphasis will be given to survival and basic infantry skills in order to improve their ability to operate above 5000 metres. The RM welcome the opportunity to train alongside the Indian Army in one of the most challenging environments in the world that will test their specialist high altitude and mountain leadership skills.

The RM are the amphibious infantry of the UK and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary form the Naval Service. They are also the U K’s amphibious force and specialists in mountain and Arctic warfare. A core component of the country’s Rapid Deployment Force, the Corps is able to operate independently in all types of terrain and is highly-trained as a commando force designed to be able to quickly deploy and fight in any terrain in the world.

The Indian airborne forces who are taking part in this Exercise ‘HIMALAYAN WARRIOR’, are especially trained high altitude warfare troops capable of operating independently in varied snow-bound mountainous regions. They are well equipped and experienced for conduct of all types of operations in all environments.

Above news and picture courtesy: India Defence.

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