Daily Defence Current Affairs And Updates 21 October 2022 [DOWNLOAD PDF]

Divyanshu Pandey
October 21, 2022
1,697

Today’s 21st October 2022 Defence Current Affairs and Updates will show us the latest defense-related news about national and international current events. These current events and questions will be very helpful for your upcoming NDA, CDS, CDS OTA, AFCAT, TA, Agniveer Army, Agniveer Navy, Agniveer Air force, Women Military Police, INET, MNS, ACC exams, SCO, PCSL, CAPF, and SSB interviews, and direct entries for Army, Navy, and Air force like SSC Tech, TGC, JAG, NCC, TES, 10+2 Cadet. Download a PDF file about current events at the end of this article.

Defence Current Affairs 21 October 2022

Aim Is To Increase Defence Production To USD 22 Billion By 2025: RM

Rajnath Singh invited investment from domestic industry and Foreign Original Equipment Manufacture in the Indian defence sector and take advantage of the opportunity to integrate global supply chains, during the ‘Invest for Defence’ investor outreach event organised as part of 12^th DefExpo.
Sharing the government’s future plans for the defence sector, he asserted that the target is to increase defence production in India from USD 12 billion to USD 22 billion by 2025. This provides unparalleled opportunities for growth to industry in the coming years, he added.
Shri Rajnath Singh questioned the earlier view of a dichotomy between economic development and security, and asserted that they are complementary. He noted that this approach has changed in the past few years and now these two concepts are integrated, as they strengthen each other. “Today, the nation is integrating and moving forward with these two capabilities, which complement each other, and making unparalleled improvements in both,” said Shri Rajnath Singh. He added that economic and strategic capabilities are essential for development of science and technology, health, agriculture, trade and commerce.
Highlighting the achievements of the domestic Defence industry, the Raksha Mantri said it has demonstrated capabilities by building Fighter Aircraft, Aircraft Carrier, Main Battle Tanks and Attack Helicopters and gained experience to further build on this ecosystem. “This experience will help in supporting and developing defence weapons/systems for future generations”, he added. He termed DefExpo 2022 as an excellent platform for existing and prospective investors to become a part of the phenomenal growth of the Indian defence industry.
Shri Rajnath Singh observed that it is natural for investors to look for profit and offered a value proposition. He said the country has skilled human resources and a healthy population and the government has taken several steps to further enhance this aspect. He referred to the financial measures that have enabled banks to extend loans, boost capital availability and led to establishment of a venture capital funding culture.
In the field of technology, the Raksha Mantri added that the government has improved lab to industry linkage for organisations such as CSIR and DRDO and introduced initiatives such as Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) and Technology Development Fund to provide financial support for upgradation and innovation in products, systems, processes for the Armed Forces. Foreign Direct Investment norms in the Defence sector have been liberalised to 74% through the automatic route, and 100% through government route and trading in stock markets has become more transparent, which has also benefited defence companies, he said.
Shri Rajnath Singh added that the government has dedicated one fourth of the Defence R&D budget to industry-led R&D to encourage private players. He stated that providing markets to industry is part of the Government’s commitment to building an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’
“To increase the participation of domestic industry in the defence sector, the government has reserved 68% of the defence capital acquisition for domestic procurement for the year 2022-23, which is approximately Rs. 85,000 crores and 25% of this has been reserved for the domestic private industry”, he said.
The Raksha Mantri stressed that all these measures have increased defence exports in the past few years. He reiterated the unlimited possibilities of growth for the Indian Defence Industry and invited businesses to invest in the sector.
‘Invest for Defence’, the first ever marquee event of the Ministry of Defence, was targeted to promote investment in the defence sector in the country both by the Indian industry as well Foreign OEMs.
Earlier, a panel discussion was held with the Vice Chiefs of the three-armed forces, DG (Acquisition), and CEOs from Airbus, Lockheed Martin, SAAB, Adani Defence & Aerospace, Bharat Forge and L&T. The Indian Air Force informed that huge opportunities will be available to industry for indigenous networking infrastructure, critical to security and 62,000 lines are likely to be available for indigenization in next 10 years.
The Army said that it is going through major upgradation resulting in a huge scale of opportunities. Two systems – Man-portable Anti-Tank Guided Missiles and Very Short-range Missile systems – are an urgent requirement along with consumables like small arms.
Director General (Acquisition), MoD, informed that the procurement process is being overhauled and the Ministry of Defence is in the process of developing, in the next one year, a AoN bank of USD 50 billion.
During the discussion, Adani Defence & Aerospace projected huge investments to the tune of Rs. 5,000 Crores in priority areas of information processing, AI/ML, Unmanned systems etc. Additionally, the company said that it is investing in UP Defence Industrial Corridor to set up an Ammunition facility.
It also shared a plan to set up the largest Maintenance and Repair Operations (MRO) facility to cater to both Defence & Civil areas. Further, Lockheed Martin shared its plans for establishing MRO and Multi Role Fighter Aircraft facilities in the country and integrating local manufacturers into the global supply chain. SAAB India also announced that it is planning to commence production of launchers in India by 2024.

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Garuda Aerospace, Elbit Systems Sign Agreement To Provide Drones To Commercial, Govt Agencies

India’s leading drone start-up Garuda Aerospace has signed an agreement with Israel-based international defence electronics firm Elbit Systems at the Defence Expo 2022 in Gandhinagar to provide Skylark 3 unmanned aircraft system drones to commercial as well as government agencies.
Garuda Aerospace also said Skylark 3 will be mainly utilised for the Survey of India projects to implement large-scale surveying and mapping of villages under the Swamitva Scheme.
The company said these high-end drones would be equipped with advanced sensors which can be utilised for large-scale mining projects for steel plants, coal mines like BCCL, Coal India, NTPC facilities across the country.

Triton Electric Vehicle Issues Rs 8060 Cr LoI To BEL For Purchase Of Battery Packs For Electric Trucks

Triton Electric Vehicle India Pvt Ltd, a part of Triton Electric Vehicle LLC, USA, issued a Letter of Intent (LoI) to Navratna Defence PSU BEL for procurement of 300 KW Li-Ion Battery Packs for Triton’s Semi-Truck project in India at an estimated value of Rs. 8060 Crores.
The battery packs are to be delivered by BEL to Triton in 24 months commencing from January 2023. The Purchase Order for first-off quantity with hundred percent advance payment has been handed over to BEL by Triton. BEL will deliver the first-off quantity by November 2022.
Ealier, on the second day of DefExpo 2022, India’s flagship Navratna Defence PSU- BEL has signed an MoU with Triton Electric Vehicle, for the manufacturing of Hydrogen Fuel cells by BEL with technology transfer from TEV, to meet the requirements of the Indian market and mutually agreed export markets.

US Set To Provide USD 450 mn F-16 Sustainment Package To Pak Despite India’s Objection

Notwithstanding India’s concerns, the US is all set to provide USD 450 million F-16 sustainment package to Pakistan as there has been no objection to the deal from the Senate within the mandatory 30-day notice period.
On September 7, the Department of State notified the US Congress – through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee – about the determination of the Biden Administration to this defence sale for Pakistan under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme.
India has questioned the rationale behind Washington’s USD 450 million F-16 security assistance to Pakistan.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who was on a visit to the US last month, said that America’s relationship with Pakistan has “not served” either of the two countries and raised questions on the Biden administration’s approval of a USD 450-million sustenance package for the F-16 fleet.
The Biden administration has argued that Pakistan’s F-16 programme is an important part of its broader ties with Pakistan. The proposed sale will sustain Pakistan’s capability to meet current and future counterterrorism threats by maintaining its F-16 fleet, the US asserted at multiple levels including the Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the White House.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had also conveyed to US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin India’s concerns over Washington’s decision to provide the sustenance package for Pakistan’s F-16 fleet.

Armenia Considers Buying Surface-to-air Missiles, Drones, Loitering Munitions From India

Armenia is considering more defence deals with India including possible procurement of drones and loitering munitions (aka suicide drones), besides mid-range surface-to-air missile system like the Akash.
The meeting comes weeks after the reported purchase of the Indian multi-barrel Pinaka launchers, anti-tank rockets, and other range of ammunitions by Armenia. The anti-tank rockets are Konkurs anti-tank guided missiles and other munitions include a wide variety of ammunition including 80-mm mortars.
“Sources in the government remained tight-lipped about what transpired during the bilateral meeting with the Armenian minister but maintained that “defence cooperation was the focus”. The Centre has been wary of speaking on the defence cooperation with Armenia because of the ongoing tensions with Azerbaijan, a country that Turkey and Pakistan support. However, sources told that Armenia has been considering the possible procurement of the indigenous Akash air defence systems. It is also looking at arming itself with loitering munitions developed in India by private companies like Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Solar Industries.

Andhra Pradesh Bureaucrat Aramane Giridhar To Be New Defence Secretary

Road Transport and Highways Secretary Aramane Giridhar has been named the new defence secretary as part of a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the Centre on Wednesday.
Aramane Giridhar, a 1988 batch IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as an Officer on Special Duty in the Department of Defence. He will take over as Defence Secretary after the retirement of Ajay Kumar on October 31, 2022, a Personnel Ministry order said.
Alka Upadhyaya, chairperson of the National Highways Authority of India, will be the new Road and Transport Secretary in place of Giridhar. Financial Services Secretary Sanjay Malhotra will be the new Revenue Secretary. He has been appointed as an Officer on Special Duty in the Department of Revenue.