This is the third aircraft to be delivered under an option contract for four additional aircraft that the Ministry of Defence awarded in 2016 in addition to the eight aircraft already in service.
Admiral Gilday will also embark the U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Group led by USS Carl Vinson in the Bay of Bengal as the second phase of the four-navy Exercise Malabar takes place this week.
The navies of the four Quad countries, India, Japan, Australia and the U.S., will be running drills till Friday, following on from the first phase which was held in the Philippines Sea in August.
India’s defence ministry said the Indian side ‘made constructive suggestions for resolving the remaining areas but the Chinese side was not agreeable and also could not provide any forward-looking proposals’, and ‘The meeting thus did not result in resolution of the remaining areas’.
An estimated 80,000 employees have been transferred to the new companies and E.R. Sheikh has been appointed the first Director General of the Ordnance Directorate (Co-ordination and Services), the successor organisation of Ordnance Factory Board.
ACM V.R. Chaudhari has commanded a MiG-29 squadron and was a ‘pioneer member of the Suryakiran Aerobatic Display Team’, according to the IAF. He is also a Cat ‘A’ Qualified Flying Instructor.
The USD 1.01 billion order is for the Arjun Mk 1A MBT variant developed by CVRDE and other laboratories of DRDO and will be produced by Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF), Avadi.
A wargame conducted last month anticipates higher prices, fewer products and reduced manpower as a result of the corporatisation of process of India’s Ordnance Factory Board that traces its origins to the early 18th century and employs an estimated 80,000-strong workforce.
The acquisition, which has been under consideration since 2010, is expected to be worth an estimated USD 3 billion and will involve the discharge of offset obligations in India. It was approved by the ministry’s Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC) in 2015.
These Contractor Sea Trials will be conducted over the next few months and the Vikrant is expected to be commissioned in the first half of 2022. The navy says the ship’s performance, including hull, main propulsion, PGD and auxiliary equipment would be closely monitored during this maiden sailing.
The training of Indian personnel is underway in Russia, in anticipation of the delivery of the S-400 Triumph air defence missile system that is expected to begin in December without any delays, so far, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Indian Navy has taken delivery of it’s tenth P-8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft. It is the second aircraft to be delivered under an option contract for four additional aircraft placed in 2016.
Russia is planning to offer its new, reformed diesel-based Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) plant concept onboard the Amur 1650 for the Indian Navy’s Project 75(I) program for six new submarines.