Category: Defence

New Delhi: The Indian Army has initiated a long-awaited comprehensive overhaul of its indigenous Arjun Mk-1 main battle tank fleet, with a pilot refurbishment programme now underway at the Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) in Avadi, Chennai. The project comes years after the tanks were originally expected to undergo their first major overhaul. Under the pilot phase, two Arjun Mk-1 tanks will be completely dismantled, refurbished and rebuilt. The vehicles will also receive 26 upgrades derived from the more advanced Arjun Mk-1A configuration. The pilot programme is intended to establish standardised…

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New Delhi: Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh has said that unmanned aerial systems are transforming modern warfare but cannot completely replace manned fighter aircraft, underlining the continuing importance of human judgement in complex military operations. Speaking at the India Defence Conclave organised by BharatShakti in New Delhi, Singh rejected the view that future air combat will be dominated entirely by autonomous drones. He said human decision-making would remain critical, particularly when military operations involve rapidly changing situations and sensitive targets. Singh pointed to the growing global…

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New Delhi: In a significant move aimed at strengthening domestic defence manufacturing, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved a landmark Transfer of Technology (ToT) initiative that will allow Indian private-sector companies to manufacture a range of conventional missiles developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The decision represents a major step towards expanding private-sector participation in defence production and advancing India’s goal of achieving greater self-reliance in military technology. However, the new framework does not extend to some of the country’s most strategically sensitive missile systems. According to…

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New Delhi: British aerospace and defence major Rolls-Royce, in partnership with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), has proposed an advanced indigenous fighter engine for India’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme, with an initial afterburning thrust target of 120 kilonewtons (kN) and a potential future upgrade to around 145 kN. The proposal comes as India seeks to develop greater technological independence in military aviation and establish a domestic ecosystem capable of designing, testing, manufacturing and supporting high-performance fighter engines. According to details emerging from the proposal, the partnership envisages establishing a…

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New Delhi: India’s indigenous Tejas Mk2 medium-weight fighter programme is moving deeper into aircraft integration and systems validation, with the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) issuing a specialised tender for automated testing of the electrical cable harnesses installed on the first flying prototype, Prototype Vehicle 1 (PV1). The tender, identified as GEM/2026/B/7909097, was published on August 12, 2026, with a bidding deadline of August 22. The contract envisages approximately five months of work focused on PV1, indicating that the prototype has progressed to a stage where detailed inspection and validation of…

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Islamabad — Pakistan’s reported unveiling of the D-248, a new long-range loitering munition, has generated considerable interest in defence circles because of its claimed range, endurance and striking visual resemblance to Iran’s Shahed-series attack drones. The system was showcased by Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) at the Indus Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) Expo 2026. According to specifications presented at the event, the D-248 is claimed to have an operational range of between 2,200 and 3,000 kilometres and an endurance of up to 12–14 hours. If independently verified, those figures would…

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Chennai: The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Vietnam Coast Guard (VCG) have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening maritime security cooperation ahead of the second edition of their joint exercise, SAHYOG-HOPTAC, scheduled to begin off Chennai on Thursday. The two sides held their 7th High-Level Meeting in Chennai on August 25, with discussions centred on maritime search and rescue, law enforcement at sea, marine pollution response, capacity building and greater operational coordination. The meeting was co-chaired by ICG Director General Paramesh Sivamani and Major General Luong Dinh Hung, Vice Commandant of…

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New Delhi: Former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan’s recent remarks about the reported impact at Pakistan’s Kirana Hills during Operation Sindoor have triggered renewed debate among defence and foreign policy experts over the circumstances surrounding the incident and its wider strategic implications. General Chauhan had clarified that India had not intentionally targeted the Kirana Hills, an area associated with Pakistan’s nuclear infrastructure. According to his explanation, a loitering munition deployed to search for radar systems around Sargodha may have inadvertently struck one of the hills after exhausting…

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Kolkata: Visitors arriving at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport will now be greeted by a striking symbol of India’s defence prowess: a 20-meter-long scale model of the Project 17A Advanced Guided-Missile Frigate, standing proudly in the open-air space outside the terminal building. Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Limited officially unveiled the impressive installation, marking a bold public engagement initiative aimed at showcasing India’s rapid progress toward self-reliance in defence manufacturing. The inauguration ceremony, held recently, drew top officials from both the defence ministry and the Indian Navy,…

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New Delhi: As strategic tensions between Turkey and Israel intensify over developments in Syria and the wider West Asian region, sections of the Turkish media have sought to portray India as part of a broader strategic alignment involving Israel, Greece, Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates. However, such narratives appear to stretch India’s independent foreign-policy choices into a geopolitical equation in which New Delhi has no direct stake. Recent Turkish media coverage has featured Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli officials, suggesting that…

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