17 May 2022 Daily Defence Current Affairs And Updates [DOWNLOAD PDF]

Divyanshu Pandey
May 17, 2022
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In today’s 17 May 2022 Defence Current affairs and updates, we are going to see the latest defense-related updates national and international current affairs topics. These current affairs questions and major events will be really helpful for your upcoming NDA, CDS, AFCAT, TA, INET, MNS, ACC exams, and other SSB interviews and AFCAT interviews like SSC Tech, TGC, TES, NDA, CDS, AFCAT, and more. Download the current affairs PDF file at the end of this article.

Daily Defence Current Affairs 17 May 2022

CURTAIN RAISER: LAUNCH OF YD 12707(SURAT) & YD 12652 (UDAYGIRI)

On 17 May 2022, the nation will witness a landmark event in the history of indigenous warship building when two frontline warships of Indian Navy, Surat, a Project 15B Destroyer and Udaygiri, a Project 17A Frigate will be launched concurrently at Mazgaon Docks Limited, Mumbai. Shri Rajnath Singh, Hon’ble Raksha Mantri will be the Chief Guest for both the events.
The Project 15B class of ships are the next generation stealth guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy being built at the Mazgaon Docks Ltd, Mumbai. ‘Surat’ is the fourth ship of Project 15B Destroyers which heralds a significant makeover of the P15A (Kolkata Class) Destroyers and is named after the commercial capital of the state of Gujarat and also the second-largest commercial hub of western India after Mumbai. Surat city has a rich maritime & shipbuilding history and vessels built in the city in the 16th and 18th centuries were known for their longevity (of more than 100 years). The ship Surat has been built using the Block construction methodology which involved hull construction at two different geographical locations and has been joined together at MDL, Mumbai. The first ship of this class was commissioned in 2021. The second and third ships have been launched and are at different stages of outfitting/ trials.
‘Udaygiri’, named after a mountain range in the state of Andhra Pradesh, is the third ship of Project 17A Frigates. These follow on of the P17 Frigates (Shivalik Class) with improved stealth features, advanced weapons and sensors, and platform management systems. ‘Udaygiri’ is the reincarnation of erstwhile ‘Udaygiri’, the Leander Class ASW Frigate, which saw numerous challenging operations in its illustrious service to the country spanning over three decades from 18 Feb 1976 to 24 Aug 2007. Under the P17A program, a total of seven ships, with 04 at MDL and 03 at GRSE are under construction. Various novel concepts and technologies like Integrated Construction, Mega Block Outsourcing, Project Data Management/ Project Lifecycle Management (PDM/PLM) etc have been adopted for the first time in indigenous Warship Design and Construction in this project. It may be recalled that the first two ships of P17A Project, were launched in 2019 and 2020 at MDL and GRSE respectively.
Both 15B and P17A ships have been designed in-house by the Directorate of Naval Design (DND), which has been the fountainhead for all warship design activities of the Nation and during the building phase at the Shipyard, around 75% of the orders for equipment and systems have been placed on indigenous firms including MSMEs which is a true testament of ‘Atmanirbharta’ in the country.

After Brahmos, Philippines looking to buy LCAs and LCHs

After a deal with India for the induction of anti-ship Brahmos missiles, the Philippines government seems interested in upgrading its fleet of military aircraft with help from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).
HAL has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation (PADC) in April that may lead to export of India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and Light Utility Helicopter (LUH).
China had even raised objections (even diplomatically) when Brahmos carrying Su-30 MKI fighters of the Indian Air Force (IAF) landed at upgraded Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) in Arunachal Pradesh, close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China.

Skanda Aerospace First Private Firm To Build Helicopter Gears

In a first for a private company in India, Skanda Aerospace Technology Private Limited (SATPL) announced on Thursday its plan to invest Rs 250 crores to set up a gearbox manufacturing facility in Hyderabad.
- This production facility will be India’s first private company with the capability to manufacture helicopter gears and gear boxes. Given the growing demand for helicopters manufactured by HAL there is likely to be a significant demand for gearboxes and drive trains.
- Rave Gears, which will function as technology provider, will hold 55 per cent of SATPL, while RVMT & Investors will hold the remaining 45 per cent. The JV company will invest Rs 250 crore and provide employment to 1,000 workers in the next 3-5 years.
- Rave Gears has also committed to provide Skanda Aerospace with assured annual orders to the tune of $9 million.

India To Install Coast Guard Radar System for Seychelles Coast Guard

India will be helping Seychelles with the installation of a coast guard radar system and other defence matters, the Indian High Commissioner said on Friday. General Dalbir Singh Suhag, a former chief of army staff of the Indian Army, spoke said.
This surveillance system is not the first that India has donated to Seychelles. In 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Seychelles to launch the first Coastal Surveillance Radar station at Ma Josephine, a mountainous central region of the main island of Mahe.

India Plans Dam Project as China Seeks to Divert River

The proposed dam in the upper reaches of Arunachal will be able to store around 10 billion cu. m (BCM) of water, Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said. By storage, the Indira Sagar Dam is the largest in India at 12.2 BCM.
China’s 14th five-year plan has proposed building a massive dam over the Brahmaputra River, known in China as the Yarlung Tsangpo, a development that has raised concerns in India because of the strategic ramifications.
Of the 2,880km length of the river Brahmaputra, 1,625km is in Tibet, 918km in India, and 337km in Bangladesh. Of the total catchment area of 580,000 sq. km, 50% lies in Tibet, 34% in India, and the balance in Bangladesh and Bhutan.
“Brahmaputra river has a huge quantum of 500 BCM (billion cubic metres) of water flowing into it. Of this, more than 75% comes from our catchment area. That’s the reason why we are not affected by it a lot. But in the non-monsoon season, when the river gets water from snowmelt, we don’t have water in our catchment area. So, if they construct a dam and divert water in the non-monsoon seasons, then it will have an impact from Arunachal Pradesh to Bangladesh. Earlier they (China) had said they were not doing anything. Later they said that they are constructing run-of-the-river hydroelectric projects. And now there is evidence that perhaps they can also work on water transfer,”

YAI MULTICLASS SAILING CHAMPIONSHIP 2022

The participants from Indian Navy’s Sailing and Windsurfing teams exhibited a stellar performance in the recently concluded YAI Multiclass Sailing Championship (IN-MDL Cup 2022) by winning two Gold (Nacra 17 and 470 mix classes), one silver (470 mix class) and two bronze medals (49er and iQFoil classes).
The event was conducted at Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre (INWTC) Mumbai under the aegis of the Yachting Association of India (YAI) and Indian Navy Sailing Association (INSA) for senior Olympic classes of boats from 08 – 15 May 22.
The event was sponsored by M/s Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and was a YAI ranking event as well as selection trials for the Asian Games.
The races were conducted off Mumbai harbour. A total of 97 sailors from 10 sailing clubs across the country participated in the keenly contested event. The competitors battled out in 121 races including 5 medal races to achieve their National Ranking points over a span of 5 days in winds ranging from 8- 15 Kts and choppy sea. It was the first time in the history of Indian Sailing when medal race for five classes viz ILCA 7, ILCA 6, 49er, 470 (mixed) and RS:X were conducted. The concept of medal race with double points is now used worldwide in all major sailing events to keep up the level of competition till the last day of the series.

India hosting SCO’s RATS meeting amid Af, Pak terror threat

India is hosting a critical meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s anti-terrorism body, Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), for three days from Monday with an eye on addressing terrorism threats in the Eurasian region, including Afghanistan. Pakistan has sent a delegation for the meeting, which is being attended by all nine members of the grouping.
The meeting assumes significance amid prevalent terror network in the Af-Pak region and threats from narcotics smuggling, said people aware of the matter.
RATS, based in Tashkent, is a permanent body for countering terrorism, extremism and separatism in the Eurasian region.
In the ongoing meeting, India aims to take forward the agenda of countering the threats highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to SCO and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation’s outreach summit on Afghanistan in September 2020.

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