The Indian Navy is satisfied with the upgrade work of the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, that it is expected to acquire by the end of 2012. The Controller, Warship Production of the Indian Navy, Vice Admiral NN Kumar visited Russia earlier this month and surveyed the upgrade process of the carrier that is currently underway.
The Indian Army is moving to firm up the criteria for a possible Request For Proposal for light tanks. Significantly, the Army is to issue a supplementary Request For Information (RFI) asking for more information on light tanks, following up on an initial RFI that was issued in October last year.
StratPost managed a conversation with the Chief Scientist for the International Space Station program at NASA, Dr. Julie Robinson, just before the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center, who explained the range of work being done on the ISS and how that work would continue despite the imminent end of the space shuttle program this year.
Boeing is working on a program to integrate Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with manned aircraft, to enable the latter to control and direct them in the air and increase the scope of ISR (Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance) sensory inputs.
While so far, Boeing’s Apache combat helicopters have displayed the ability to control a single UAV, the company has multiplied the scope of the same system to enable larger aircraft like the family of 737 AEW&C Wedgetail and P8 to control multiple UAVs.
The space shuttle Atlantis took off today on its last mission, manned by six crew members carrying cargo to the International Space Station (ISS), for the 11th time. The 12-day mission will be delivering a Russian Mini Research Module that will provide additional storage space and a new docking port for the Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft.
The engines pounded away into your correspondent’s chest, as he watched the brilliant flame that pushed the shuttle from the launch pad, at a distance of almost four miles from the press site observation area, into the clear skies above and beyond in a matter of a few seconds, and into Low Earth Orbit in barely four or five minutes.
StratPost tweeted facts about the Indian Air Force (IAF) tender for 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) and the participating aircraft last week. Here they are on a single page, for easy reference. And please feel free to add any more in the comments. They will be updated on this page.
A cost escalation of 50 percent (INR 63,000 crore, in this case) or more, requires approval again from the Ministry of Finance, before the Defense Acquisitions Council (DAC) can proceed with it. With the cost of the tender for India safely ranging from INR 83,000 crore to 1,25,000 crore, the revision of the estimated expenditure on the MMRCA would require the approval of the finance ministry.
The French Dassault fighter aircraft Rafale has been selected to be the Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) of the [...]
The complete list of gallantry awardees, this Republic Day.
The following is the list of army personnel who lost their lives in service, in the past year.
Some of the stories of the courage displayed by India’s armed forces, awarded for conspicuous gallantry this Republic Day.
