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ITBP – RK Pachnanda

BSF DG - KK Sharma

SSB DG - Rajni Kant Mishra

ICGS DG - Rajendra Singh

NSG DG – Sudeep Lakhatia

ITBP tableau returns to Republic Day after 20 years, troops 'patrol' China border on snow scooters

The last time the tableau of the ITBP featured in the parade was in 1998

New Ministry of Defence committee will push capital projects worth

Rs 5 billion

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has constituted a 13-member committee that will review ongoing capital acquisition projects worth

over Rs 5 billion, and suggest ways of taking them towards fruition. Called Raksha Mantri’s Advisory Committee on Ministry of Defence Capital Projects (RMCOMP), the body is required to “expedite capital acquisitions to bolster armed forces preparedness”

The committee will be chaired by Vinay Sheel Oberoi, who retired earlier this year as secretary for higher education in the human

resource development ministry.

The Maratha Light Infantry celebrated 250 years of its existence

at the Manekshaw Centre

February 4 is celebrated as "Maratha Light Infantry Day" across the regiment throughout the country.

The date holds a historic significance as on this day, in 1670, Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji conquered the famous Kondana Fort, which is now known as

Sinhgad today in Maharashtra.

It was also the first infantry regiment of the Army to be awarded the title of 'Light Infantry' during the First Afghan War in 1841.

The Maratha Light Infantry has a proud history of gallantry as it was honoured with 15 battle honours in the First World War. In the second World War, the regiment's

strength increased from six to 13 battalions.

Today the regiment has around 21 regular battalions, four Rashtriya Rifles battalions, and two Territorial Army battalions.

• The Punjab Regiment has bagged the award for the best marching contingent among the three services and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police among the paramilitary and other

auxiliary forces in the Republic Day parade

• Maharashtra got the first prize for the best tableau.

• Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave away the awards

• Maharashtra’s tableau was titled Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj coronation.

• Assam’s tableau depicting traditional “masks and sastras” bagged the second prize.

• The third prize went to Chhattisgarh’s display of Ramgarh’s ancient amphitheatre and artistes performing dance based on Kalidasa’s Meghadootam .

• Among the tableaux by Union Ministries and departments, the first prize went to Khelo India of the Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry.

Exercise Paschim Lehar

A tri-Service Maritime Exercise, code named ‘Paschim Lehar’ commenced on the Western Seaboard on 12 February 2018. This

exercise includes participation of a large number of ships, submarines and aircraft from the Western Naval Command of the Indian Navy.

In addition, units from Eastern Naval Command, Indian Army, Indian Air Force and the Indian Coast Guard are also participating to build

inter-operability. Over 40 ships & submarines, similar number of maritime surveillance, fighter aircraft, helicopters and Remotely Piloted Aircraft of the Indian Navy and the IAF are participating.

Indo - Oman Joint Army Exercise Al Nagah-Ii 2017

Al Nagah - It is the joint exercise between the Indian and Oman Armies.

Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh

This is the second edition of the exercise in continuation of a series of joint exercises between the armies. The first edition of the exercise

was held at Muscat, Oman in 2015

Surya Kiran - It is Indo - Nepal Joint Military Exercise.

The 11 edition of the exercise was held in Pithoragarh area of Uttarakhand in March 2017

The 12th edition of India-Nepal joint military exercise - Surya Kiran XII was held at Nepal Army Battle School (NABS) in Saljhandi, Nepal

The 14 day exercise (from 3 to 16 September 2017)

Troops of Kumaon Scouts and Narayan Dal Battalion participated on behalf of Nepal Army.

Nomadic Elephant -Indo - Mongolian Joint Military Exercise.

The twelfth edition Indo-Mongolian Joint Military Exercise Nomadic Elephant 2017 has begun at Vairengte in Mizoram.

The two week exercise (from 5 to 18 April 2017)

Vairengte houses Indian Army’s elite Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School

The first joint Nomadic Elephant was held in 2004 and since then it is annually held

Indra - The first tri-service armed Forces (Army, Navy,&Air Force) exercise INDRA 2017 between India and Russia began at the 249th

Combined Army Range Sergeevisky and in Sea of Japan near Vladivostok. It is overall 10th edition of INDRA exercise and India’s first bilateral

military exercise with any country involving all three services

This is the first ever tri service exercise ‘INDRA’ between India&Russia.

Exercise INDRA in its previous nine avatars was conducted as single service exercise.

Prabal Dostyk - Indo – Kazakhstan Joint Military Exercise.

The bilateral military exercise “PRABAL DOSTYK – 2017” between India and Kazakhstan began at Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh.

‘Prabal Dostyk’ means ‘Robust Friendship’

It is 2nd edition of the joint military training exercise between both countries. The first edition of exercise was held in Karaganda.

11th Gorkha Rifles of Indian Army

Yudh Abhyas - Indo - US Joint Military Exercise.

The 13th edition Yudh Abhyas 2017, a joint military training exercise between India and United States was held at Joint Base Lewis McChord,

Washington.

Indian side was represented by soldiers of Gorkha Rifles from the Surya Command.

Mitra Shakti - Indo – Sri Lanka Joint Military Exercise.

The 5th India-Sri Lanka joint training exercise “Mitra Shakti 2017” was held Aundh Military Station in Pune, Maharshtra.

The Mitra Shakti series of exercise between India and Sri Lanka had started in 2012

Sampriti - Indo-Bangladesh Joint Military Exercise.

at Counter Insurgency & Jungle Warfare School, Vairengte in Mizoram.

It was 7th edition of exercise

This edition of exercise had two district components which included Command Post Exercise (CPX) and Field Training Exercise (FTX). The CPX

was conduct at Umroi and FTX was conducted at Vairengte

Ajeya warrior - Indo – UK Joint Military Exercise.

‘Ajeya Warrior- 2017’ was held at Mahajan Field Firing Range near Bikaner of Rajasthan.

It was 3rd joint military exercise between India and UK.

The first exercise was conducted in 2013 at Belgaum, Karnataka and second exercise was held was held in 2015 in UK.

Pralay Sahayam - The exercise was conceptualised as Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise based

on an urban flooding scenario in the twin cities of Hyderabad & Secunderabad.

The Exercise synergised the efforts of all stakeholders Army, Navy, Air Forces, NDRF, civil administration, CAPFs and other civil agencies.

Malabar - IN, US Navy and the Japan Maritime Self - Defence Force (JMSDF) participated in the exercise.

Trilateral naval Exercise near Chennai in Bay of Bengal. This year it is the

21st edition of the naval exercise.

INS Vikramaditya

Malabar Exercise began as an Indo-US bilateral naval drill in 1992. Since then it is held annually. Japan had formally joined the exercise

as a permanent participant in 2015

In 2007, the exercise also saw participation of Australia and Singapore.

Varuna - It is a joint navy exercise between India-France.

The Indian Navy sent four of its foremost ships for the exercise: guided missile destroyer INS Mumbai, two guided missile frigates INS

Trishul and INS Tarkash, and replenishment and repair ship INS Aditya.

Initiated in 2001

The 15th edition of the major Indo-French naval exercise, Varuna, was held from 24 April to 12 May.

Indo-French Naval Exercise ‘Varuna’ 2017

It took place at France's Toulon port, southern France’s Mediterranean coast

The Indian Navy sent four of its foremost ships for the exercise: guided missile destroyer INS Mumbai, two guided missile frigates INS Trishul and INS Tarkash,

and replenishment and repair ship INS Aditya.

From the French Navy, too, four ships participated: multi-mission frigates Auvergne and Aquitaine, the anti-aircraft frigate Cassard, and the stealth frigate La Fayette.

Konkan - It is a bilateral navy exercise between Indian Navy and Britain Navy

SIMBEX - It is the annual bilateral exercise with Republic of Singapore Navy

India, Singapore navies conduct joint exercise in South China Sea

Named Simbex-17 (Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercises), four Indian ships —Shivalik, Sahyadri, Jyoti and Kamorta besides one P8-I, a maritime patrol and anti-

submarine warfare aircraft — participated in the weeklong exercise.

Held since 1994, Simbex is the 24th edition of the annual exercise between the two countries in 2017

This exercise included wide-ranging professional interactions during the Harbour Phase scheduled from May 18 to May 20 and a diverse range of operational activities during the sea phase held from 21 May to 24 May.

AUSINDEX – It is the biennial Australia-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise.

Exercise Australia-India (AUSINDEX) was first conducted off the East Coast of India in September 2015.

AUSINDEX-17 was second overall

Indian warships INS Kamorta, the INS Shivalik (first stealth warship built in India), and oiler INS Jyoti, took part in the exercise

Was held between June 17 and 19

SLINEX –

The 7th edition of India-Sri Lanka joint maritime naval exercise SLINEX 2017 was held near Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) in Bay of

Bengal.

7th to 14th September 2017 initiated in 2005

Sambandh -Indian Navy

Maldives, Myanmar, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Mauritius

INS Mysore and INS Sindhuratna. The participants were scheduled to sail onboard INS Vikramaditya to witness fleet operations and also

visit Karwar Naval Base and Goa Naval Area.

Navika Sagar Parikarma - Six naval women officers are undertaking NavikaSagar Parikrama on an Indian-built 56 feet long Sailing Vessel, INSV Tarini.

This is first Indian all-women crew circumnavigation of the globe under sail.

Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, Honble Raksha Mantri had flagged-off INSV Tarinifrom Goa on 10 September 17. The vessel has covered approximately 15000

Nautical miles from Goa, crossing the Equator on 25 September 17, Cape Leeuwin on 09 November 17 and Cape Horn on 18 January 18.

The made-in-India INSV Tarini, built by Aquarius Shipyard Pvt Ltd, Goa

The vessel is scheduled to return to Goa in April 2018

Stop-overs at four ports: Fremantle (Australia), Lyttleton (New Zealand), Port Stanley (Falklands), and Cape Town (South Africa).

The team is led by Lieutenant Commander

Vartika Joshi.

The other officers are Lieutenant

Commanders PratibhaJamwal and P Swathi, and Lieutenants PayalGupta, Vijaya Devi and

B Aishwarya.

Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC) - ‘Goa Maritime Conclave’ (GMC) was attended by Chiefs of Navy/ Heads of Maritime Agency/ representatives

of Bangladesh, Indonesia, Maldives, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand

The Conclave was aimed at ‘Addressing Regional Maritime Challenges’ in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR)

The Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC) was inaugurated at the TarangAuditorium of INS Mandovi, Goa.

A corvette is a very small class of combat ship, often the smallest in any fleet. These ships have limited range and weapon systems, but

they are quite effective at tracking down and hence primarily used by naval police to patrol the sea and also for close defence of a larger

ship.

Frigates are larger than corvettes and have a fair mix of offensive and defence capabilities. These are also used for patrol missions and

to escort larger ships

INS Kiltan - It is an Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Corvette deployed recently.

It is an indigenously designed submarine.

INS Kalvari - It is a diesel-electric attack submarine which is designed by French company and being manufactured in India, deployed recently.

Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas) - it is an advanced multirole aircraft with state-of-art avionics was made under “Make in India”

Su-30 MKI - Induction of Su-30 MKI aircraft in the IAF is under progress.

The current lot of Su-30 MKI aircraft are being manufactured in HAL through Transfer of Technology.

Advanced indigenous weapons like 'BrahMos' supersonic cruise missile and ‘Astra’ Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile has been indigenously

integrated and fired from aircraft.

Siam Bharat - A Command Post Exercise (CPX) was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand from IAF team participated in

the exercise.

This is second time such exercise was held between the two Air Forces

22nd to 26th May

Op Sahayam - In the aftermath of cyclone 'Ockhi' the IAF unrelentingly pursued HADR along with NDRF team.

‘OP Sahayam’ of Southern Naval Command persisted for the eleventh day on 10 Dec 17 over Southeast Arabian Sea and L&M islands.

INS Sujata

INS Subhadra

India’s First Homegrown Carrier to Be Ready By 2020

India’s first domestically built aircraft carrier, the future INS Vikrant, designated IAC-1, will be ready for induction into service by October

2020, a senior Indian Navy official said this month during a media briefing in New Delhi.

The Vikrant, the lead ship of the Indian Navy’s Vikrant-class, the first aircraft carriers to be designed and built in India under the so-called Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) program, was officially launched in

August 2013 and relaunched in June 2015.

A total of six submarines are to be built at the MDL in collaboration with French shipbuilding major Naval Group (formerly DCNS).

The Indian Navy’s third state-of-the-art Scorpene class submarine, INS Karanj, was launched by Reena Lanba, wife of Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba

Six Scorpene class submarines are being built under Project 75 by the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL), Mumbai, under a $3.75 billion technology transfer signed in October 2005 with the Naval Group of France

The Scorpene class is the Navy’s first modern conventional submarine series in almost two decades, since INS Sindhushastra was procured from Russia in

July 2000.

• The first two Scorpene submarines — INS Kalavari and INS Khanderi. INS Kalvari, the first to be launched, was commissioned in December 2017 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

• INS Khanderi, which launched in January 2017

Remaining three submarines — Vela, Vagirand Vagsheer.

Indian Navy decommissions warships INS Nirbhik and INS Nirghat

after serving the Navy for 30 and 28 years respectively.

The warships, in their new avatar, were commissioned at Poti, in the erstwhile USSR on December 21, 1987 and December 15, 1989

respectively.

They participated in many operations including Op Parakram and Vijay and were deployed off Gujarat on many occasions for patrolling

India's Deadliest Submarine INS Kalvari

INS Kalvari has been named after fierce deep sea predator Tiger Shark

Kalvari boasts of state-of-the-art features such as superior stealth and the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision guided weapons. The attack can be launched with torpedoes, and as

tube launched anti-ship missiles, while it is underwater or on surface. According to Indian Navy, Scorpene Submarine is designed to operate

in all theatres including the Tropics.

Kalvari is also equipped with Weapons Launching Tubes (WLT), and it can carry weapons on board which can be easily reloaded at sea,

through special handling and loading equipment.

Indian Navy's patrol aircraft 'Albatross' decommissioned

the Soviet-origin Tupolev-142M aircraft, which kept an eye on enemy warships and submarines in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) for almost 30 years, was

decommissioned

It was said to be world's largest and fastest turboprop aircraft and is named the ‘Albatross’.

The TU-142Ms are being replaced by the 12 Poseidon-8I long-range patrol aircraft acquired from the US for $3.2 billion.

INS Sindhurakshak decommissioned

India had bought INS Sindhurakshak in 1997 for $113 million and later upgraded it for $156 million (around Rs 800 crore).

INS Sindhurakshak (Sanskrit, for Protector of the Seas) was a Russian-made Kilo-class 877EKM (Sindhughosh-class) diesel-electric submarine of the Indian Navy

Two minesweepers of the Indian Navy -- INS Karwar and INS Kakinada -- were on Tuesday decommissioned after being in

service for over 30 years.

INS Karwar was the first of the ‘Natya’ class minesweepers acquired from the erstwhile Soviet Union. The ship was commissioned on July

14, 1986.

INS Kakinada was the second of the class and was commissioned on December 23, 1986.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has launched a second 97 m offshore patrol vessel (OPV) on order for the Indian Coast Guard (ICG).

The platform, which is part of a contract for seven OPVs signed between the Indian government and L&T in March 2015, was launched on 20 January at

Kattupalli, near Chennai.

The vessel has been named Vijaya . First-of-class Vikram was launched in October 2017, and is currently undergoing sea trials.

The 2,100-tonne OPV has an overall beam of 15 m and a hull draught of 3.6 m. It has a top speed of 26 kt, and a standard range of 5,000 n miles at

cruising speed of 12 kt.

Coast Guard patrol vessel commissioned at Karaikal

The patrol vessel 'Charlie-435' equipped with modern navigation and communication systems

was commissioned by Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy

The vessel would strengthen coastal security between Chennai and Kanyakumari

patrol vessel would be of great help in rescuing fishermen

Army Air Defence Corps Celebrated Its 25th Raising Day

25th Raising Day of Army Air Defence was celebrated on 10th January 2018.

motto, ‘AKASHE SHATRUN JAHI’ (Kill The Enemy in Sky)

The Corps of Army Air Defence was raised on 10 Jan 1994

ARPAN 3.0: Government rolled out new automation software for Defence Security Corps

Defence Ministry has rolled out ARPAN 3.0 (Army Record Office Process Automation 3.0), a new automation software for Defence Security Corps personnel to ease

personal documentation and all issues related to their progression.

The software was jointly developed by Army Software Development Centre (ASDC) and Tech Mahindra, using state-of-the-art web-based technology.

Facts :

ARPAN 3.0 will provide over 12 lakh soldiers of Indian Army easy access to their service records including pay and leave details and transfer and postings among

others.

INS TARASA commissioned into Indian Navy.

INS Tarasa (T94), the fourth and last ship in series of Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC) was commissioned into Indian Navy at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai.

It is an improved variant of Car Nicobar-class high-speed offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) built indegenously by Kolkata (West Bengal) based Garden Reach

Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE), for the Indian Navy.

It has been named after the picturesque island in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago in Bay of Bengal.

INS Tarasa will be based at Mumbai under operational control of Western Naval Command.

Background

WJFACs are ideally suited and used for interception of fast-moving surface craft.

INS Tarasa is fourth and last of follow-on WJFAC’s Water Jet Fast Attack Craft

indegenously built GRSE, Kolkata.

The first two ships of class INS Tarmugli and INS Tihayu were commissioned in 2016 and are based at Visakhapatnam.

The third ship INS Tillanchang was commissioned earlier in March 2017 at Karwar, Gujarat.

Indigenously developed weapon-locating radar SWATHI handed to Army

The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) formally handed over an indigenously developed Weapon Locating Radar (WLR) system dubbed as ‘SWATHI’ to

Indian Army.

Developed by DRDO’s Electronics & Radar Development Establishment (LRDE). It has a range of 50 km which brings all artillery guns presently in service worldwide under its

coverage.

Performs two roles i.e. Weapon Location Mode for enemy Artillery and Direction of Own artillery Fire (DOOAF) Mode for Artillery