Category: Defence

New Delhi — India continues to hold a commanding military advantage over its South Asian neighbours, buoyed by a record defence budget, a rapidly expanding domestic arms industry, and one of the region’s only three-dimensional force structures spanning land, air, sea and strategic weapons. But officials and analysts caution that this dominance does not extend to China, which remains far ahead of India in overall defence spending and industrial capacity. According to the 2026 Global Firepower rankings released this year, India stands 4th in the world for overall military strength, comfortably…

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New Delhi: When disaster strikes, the first requirement is often not only medical assistance or food, but the ability to reach people quickly in places where normal infrastructure has collapsed. Roads may be submerged, bridges destroyed, airports closed and communication networks disrupted. In such situations, defence forces frequently become among the most capable organisations available to mount a large-scale emergency response. From earthquakes and floods to cyclones, wildfires and humanitarian emergencies, armed forces across the world have increasingly played an important role in disaster relief. Their contribution extends well beyond…

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Nagpur: Airbus has joined hands with Indamer Technics to establish South Asia’s first dedicated radome repair and support hub at Nagpur in Maharashtra, strengthening the region’s aircraft maintenance and repair infrastructure. Under the new service agreement, Indamer Technics will operate as an authorised Airbus facility for the repair, exchange and storage of radomes used on the manufacturer’s A320, A330, A350 and A380 commercial aircraft. The facility is expected to become a central point for Airbus radome-related maintenance requirements in India. Indamer Technics already operates a network of Maintenance, Repair and…

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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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