Monthly Archives: April, 2022

India testfires anti-ship version of BrahMos missile

BrahMos Aerospace, an India-Russian joint venture, produces supersonic cruise missiles that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land platforms. BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound. The range of the advanced version of the missile is learnt to have been extended to around 350 km from the original 290 km.

Leonardo wins $29 million contract for supply of AW119K helicopters to Israel

Leonardo AW119K Helicopter for Israel: Italy based helicopter manufacturer Leonardo has been awarded a $29 million contract by the U.S. Department of Defense for supply of new AW119Kx aircraft to Israel under the framework of Foreign Military Sales (FMS), with the U.S. Army Contracting Command as the contracting activity. The aircraft will be fully produced at Leonardo’s facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Pratt & Whitney, NAAEE announce $250,000 funding for environmental education

Pratt & Whitney environmental education funding: The US based aviation engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney  Wednesday announced E-STEM Awards in partnership with the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). The awards will grant a total of $250,000 to support innovative E-STEM education programs around the world that build the skills and capacity for students ages 11-18 to use science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to address environmental challenges.

Lt Gen Manoj Pande becomes first officer from Corps of Engineers to be appointed Army Chief

Lt General Manoj Pande appointed army chief: A meeting of Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday cleared the name Lt General Manoj Pande for the appointment as Chief of Army Staff, succeeding General MM Naravane who retires at the month end.  Pande, who is Vice Chief of Army Staff and would be first officer from the Corps of Engineers, will take over as the 29th Chief of Army Staff of 1.3 million strong Indian Army.

Iron Beam: Israel’s Rafael concludes testing of laser air defence system

Rafael Iron Beam Laser Air Defense System: Israel’s leading defence technology company, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Thursday announced completion of a series of ground-breaking tests with a high-power laser interception system Iron Beam against steep-track threats. These tests were conducted in collaboration with Israel’s Ministry of Defense’s Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D), demonstrating successful interception of UAVs, mortars, rockets, and anti-tank missiles in various scenarios.

India’s Tata Group delivers locally developed infantry combat vehicles to Indian Army

Indian Army Infantry Combat Vehicle: India’s salt-software conglomerate, the Tata Group, Tuesday delivered first lot of the locally designed and developed Infantry Protected Mobility Vehicles (IPMVs) to Indian Army. Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), a Tata Group company, handed over these infantry vehicles to Indian Army in a private ceremony in Pune in Maharashtra. The event, which was organized at Bombay Engineers Group campus in Pune, was attended by Indian Army Chief General Manoj Naravane and Vice Army Chief Lt General Manoj Pandey.

British Army orders 100 more Boxer armoured vehicles

British Army Boxer Armoured Vehicles: The British government has signed a contract with a consortium of Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) for supply of an additional 100 Boxer wheeled armoured vehicles to the British Army. The contract, which is signed between the European procurement organization OCCAR and ARTEC, entails supply of three previously ordered variants of the Boxer: the infantry carrier, the command vehicle and the field ambulance.

India’s DRDO tests Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet technology

DRDO’s Solid Fued Ducted Ramjet Missile: India’s apex defence research organization, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Thursday successfully flight tested Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) booster technology at the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha in eastern India. The test successfully demonstrated the reliable functioning of all critical components involved in the complex missile system and met all the mission objectives, said the ministry of defence.

India releases third negative list to curb defence imports

India’s third negative list for defence imports: In a major decision to support domestic defence industry, India’s defence minister Rajnath Singh Thursday released the third indigenization list of 101 products. The defence systems and sub-systems listed in the third negative list are fairly complex in nature and it shows the growing confidence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in the domestic defence industry for their development and manufacture in the country.

Germany’s Rheinmetall unveils new radar Oerlikon AMMR

Rheinmetall Oerlikon AESA AMMR Radar: German defence and high technology company Rheinmetall Monday unveiled the Oerlikon AMMR, the Group’s latest radar system. The Oerlikon AESA Multi-Mission Radar (AMMR) was developed entirely at Rheinmetall Italia in Rome, underscoring once again the subsidiary’s role as Rheinmetall’s radar centre of excellence. Rheinmetall says the new radar is now ready for series production.

India’s defence electronics manufacturer BEL achieves a record turnover of $2 billion

BEL’s Financial Results FY 2021-22: India’s state owned defence electronics manufacturer Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)  achieved a turnover of about Rs 15,000 crore  ($1.98 billion), during the Financial Year 2021-22 that began in April last year and ended in March this year. “As per the provisional and unaudited results, this is an increase of 8.55% against the previous year’s turnover of Rs 13,818 crore, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and global semiconductors shortage,“ said the company.