Defence Current Affairs And Updates 10 December 2020

Hemanth Kasturi
December 10, 2020
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Chief of Staff, Japan Air Self Defense Force is on a Goodwill visit to India

General Izutsu Shunji, Chief of Staff, Japan Air Self Defense Force (CoS-JASDF) arrived in India on 09 December 2020 on a formal invitation from Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria PVSM AVSM VM ADC, Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Indian Air Force. Besides being hosted at Air Headquarters by the CAS, CoS-JASDF called on Shri Rajnath Singh, Raksha Mantri at his office and held meetings with Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of the Naval Staff and Vice Chief of the Army Staff.
On his arrival at Air Headquarters, CoS-JASDF was presented with a Guard of Honour. In subsequent discussions, CAS and CoS-JASDF recognised the progress made in defence ties between India and Japan and discussed avenues to further enhance cooperation and interoperability between the two Air Forces. They also discussed scope for enhancement of joint exercises and training between the two Air Forces. A broader cooperation for strengthening collective response to HADR contingencies was also discussed.
Overcoming the unprecedented challenges posed by COVID-19, the visit reaffirms the deep-rooted commitment to maintain and strengthen the relationship between the Air Forces.

Successful Trials of 5.56 x 30 mm Joint Venture Protective Carbine (JVPC)

Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) designed 5.56×30 mm Protective Carbine has successfully undergone the final phase of User trials on 7th December 2020 meeting all the GSQR parameters. This has paved the way for induction into the services. This was the last leg of trials in a series of User trials which have been carried out in extreme temperature conditions in summer and high altitudes in winter. JVPC has successfully met the stringent performance criteria of reliability and accuracy in addition to quality trials conducted by DGQA.
JVPC is a Gas Operated Semi Bull-pup automatic weapon having more than 700 rpm rate of fire. The effective range of the carbine is more than 100 m and weighs about 3.0 kg with key features like high reliability, low recoil, retractable Butt, ergonomic design, single hand firing capability, and multiple Picatinny rails etc. These features make it a very potent weapon for Counter Insurgency /Counter Terrorism operations by security agencies.
The carbine has been designed as per Indian Army’s GSQR, by Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), a Pune based laboratory of DRDO. The Weapon is manufactured at Small Arms Factory, Kanpur while the Ammunition is manufactured at ammunition Factory, Kirkee, Pune.
The weapon has already passed the MHA trials and procurement action is initiated by the CAPFs and various State Police organisations.
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh had unveiled the 5.56 x 30 mm JVPC during DefExpo- 2020 at Lucknow.
Secretary DD R&D & Chairman DRDO Dr Satheesh Reddy has congratulated DRDO team, user team and all public and private agencies involved in manufacturing for successful reaching this milestone.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh, addresses 14^th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus online

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh attended the 14th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus organized online at Hanoi, Vietnam on 10 December 2020 that marked the 10th anniversary of ADMM Plus.
ADMM Plus is an annual meeting of Defence Ministers of 10 ASEAN Countries and eight partner countries. This year marks the 10th year of inception of ADMM Plus forum. A special commemorative 10th Anniversary Celebration was conducted which was attended by the Prime Minister of Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Mr Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Raksha Mantri was extended the privilege to address the celebratory session as a special gesture reflecting India’s recognition by the forum.
During his address, Shri Rajnath Singh underlined the key role of ASEAN-centric forum in promoting dialogue and engagement towards a pluralistic, cooperative security order in Asia. He highlighted the collective achievements of ADMM Plus in the past decade in advancing multilateral cooperation through strategic dialogue and practical security engagements. He complimented the achievements of the seven Expert Working Groups in sharing best practices in key domains including Maritime Security, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, Counter-terrorism and Peace Keeping Operations.
Raksha Mantri also addressed the thematic discussions during the ADMM plus meeting on the Regional and International Security Environment, where in, he presented India’s perspective. He emphasized that Indo-Pacific region in particular confronts numerous traditional and non-traditional security threats.
Shri Rajnath Singh recalled the launch of the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in last year’s East Asia Summit and stated that IPOI is an open global initiative which draws on existing regional cooperation architecture and mechanism. He noted the commonality between India’s IPOI and ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific, both being opportunities for cooperation. In his speech addressing the Defence Ministers of ASEAN member countries, USA, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, Raksha Mantri emphasized India’s call for an open and inclusive order in Indo-Pacific based upon respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, peaceful resolutions of disputes through dialogue and adherence to International rules and laws.
He also reiterated India’s support to freedom of navigation and over-flight for all in International waters in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Shri Rajnath Singh underlined the importance of mutual trust and confidence based on restraint in activities and actions that may further complicate the situation in the region.
Raksha Mantri stated that terrorism remains a major scourge for the region and world. He reiterated that the structures that support and sustain terrorism continue to exist, including in India’s neighbourhood. He called for stronger commitment and need to strengthen International mechanism to fight terrorism, jointly and vigorously.
Shri Rajnath Singh thanked Vietnam for the excellent conduct of ASEAN related Defence events including ADMM Plus despite the restrictions imposed by COVID-19. He also welcomed Brunei Darussalam as new Chair and wished them well for successful conduct of events in 2021.

Quantum Communication between two DRDO Laboratories

Secure communications are vital for defence and strategic agencies world over and distribution of encryption keys from time to time is an important requirement in this context. Sharing of keys over the air or wired links requires encryption, which in turn requires encryption keys to be pre-shared. Quantum based communication offers a robust solution to sharing the keys securely. Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) undertook the project for development of this technology.
A milestone of this project was achieved today when DRDO developed Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology underwent trials in Hyderabad between two DRDO labs, DRDL and RCI, to show secure communication. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO team for successful demonstration of QKD communication.
The technology is developed by CAIR, Bengaluru and DYSL-QT, Mumbai. Quantum Communication using time-bin Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) scheme was performed under realistic conditions. The setup also demonstrated the validation of detection of a third party trying to gain knowledge of the communication. Quantum based security against eavesdropping was validated for the deployed system at over 12kms range and 10dB attenuation over fibre optic channel.
Continuous wave laser source was used to generate photons without depolarization effect. The timing accuracy employed in the setup was of the order of picoseconds. The Single photon avalanche detector (SPAD) recorded arrival of photons and key rate was achieved in the range of kbps with low Quantum bit error rate. Software was developed for data acquisition, time synchronization, post-processing, determining Quantum bit error rate and extracting other important parameters.
The work being done at DRDO will be used to enable start-ups and SMEs in the domain of Quantum information technologies. It will also serve to define standards and crypto policies that can leverage QKD system in a unified Cipher Policy Committee (CPC) framework for more secure and pragmatic key management for current and future military cryptographic systems.

US dominated global arms trade in 2019, India 2^nd top importer according to SIPRI

India was the world’s 2nd biggest arms importer in 2019, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The country was in the third spot in terms of total spend on military.
Also in terms of total military spend, India ranked high up at No. 3, behind only US and China. However none of the three biggest spenders were in the top 10 list of military spend taken as a percentage of GDP.

The US was the most dominant player in arms export, accounting for 36% of the global trade, while the Middle East made its first appearance among the 25 biggest weapons manufacturers during the year.
The total sales by the “top 25” companies, in 2019, rose by 8.5 per cent to $361 billion, equivalent to 50 times the annual budget of the UN’s peacekeeping operations.

Russia feels the West is engineering a split between Moscow and New Delhi

The Indian government has launched a direct attack on Beijing until now New Delhi was sticking to the diplomatic code of conduct. In public the statements were non-confrontational, however, in private, India has been direct.
The Indian government wanted the Chinese troops to withdraw but China hasn’t listened. So today, India spoke publicly. The development comes at a time when SFJ has been leading protests in Canada, US and UK in front of Indian missions in the name of “solidarity” for the farmer protests in India.
External affairs minister S. Jaishankar says the India-China relationship has been significantly damaged this year and that it cannot be business as usual with China as long as the PLA is on the border.
Jaishankar was speaking to an American think-tank where he shared the latest assessment on China border standoff. Jaishankar said China is in a major breach of bilateral agreements. The Chinese side has given five different explanations to explain the provocation but failed to explain why they didn’t adhere to the agreements.
In fact, the provocations haven’t stopped. China has dispatched fighter aircraft and troops to a Pakistani airbase. It close to the Indian state of Gujarat. The deployment is for the Shaheen military exercise. Now, India has Chinese soldiers at the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in eastern Ladakh and in the west the Chinese have been conducting drills with Pakistan.
China hasn’t responded to the Indian minister’s statement, however, Russia has spoken on the border standoff and it is an interesting assessment from a country that has been India’s strategic ally and major arms supplier.
Russia feels the West is engineering a split between Moscow and New Delhi, however, ignoring the Chinese aggression, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Western powers are trying to engage India in an “anti-China” game.
“For instance, India is a matter of persistent, aggressive devious Western policy which tries to draw the country into anti-Chinese games, promoting so-called Indo-Pacific strategies,” Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said, adding, “and at the same time, (western policy tries to) weaken our close partnership, strategic, privileged relations with Indians. There is a very tough pressure undertaken by Americans on New Delhi, concerning (Indian) military technical cooperation (with Russia).”
No prizes for guessing who Lavrov is talking about – the United States of America. Russia has its own theory about the border standoff. In the statement, Lavrov referred to India as a “clear pole” in the world order.
He says the West wants to weaken India’s alliances with different global powers to maintain what he calls a “unipolar” world order and with those words Moscow seems to have effectively given a clean chit to Beijing.
At the same time, Lavrov has drawn the attention of the world to the great “power game”. The pandemic has shaken the world order. New alliances are taking shape and Russia doesn’t want to lose an ally like India.
Global powers like Russia and the United States have been vying for India’s partnership. India will have to hedge its bets and make sure its rise doesn’t come with a compromise.

India offers LCA-Navy LIFT as Carrier borne Trainer for US Navy

In a reversal of roles, India has offered the United States of America a fighter jet trainer required by its navy for pilot training on aircraft carriers, marking the first major weapons sales pitch by New Delhi to Washington. The Indian offer is for the Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS) for which the US Navy has launched a global search.
India responded to the official Request for Information (RFI) with a Lead in Fighter Trainer (LIFT) version of the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft. The aircraft on offer brings in experience gained by Indian developers from the naval version of the LCA that has successfully demonstrated operations from an aircraft carrier.
While the US is still evaluating the offer, India sent in a detailed project plan, which includes advanced avionics that enable the LIFT LCA to mimic almost all types of fighter jets, from cockpit display layout to control performances.
“We have done all the work in house,” Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) chairperson R Madhavan told. “The same platform can be used to mimic any other platform. All that needs to be done is put in the flying characteristics and things will change to the selected aircraft. For example, if they Rafale characteristics, to the pilot it will seem like he is flying Rafale, which will help in the advanced training process.”
The aircraft on offer is based on the LCA Mk 1A that is on order by the Indian Air Force and a demonstrator can be produced if the US Navy goes ahead with the selection process and shortlists it for the next step, which is formal request for proposals (RFP).
While India will be going against a clutch of global manufacturers with a history of developing trainers, developers feel there is an even chance for success as an aircraft of the type does not currently exists. In addition, the LCA is one of the few jets in the world that has a demonstrated capability of operating from an aircraft carrier.
As per the US Navy RFI, the LCA meets all basic parameters being asked for, which includes an operational aircraft capable of field carrier landing practice and carrier touch and go events. The naval version of the LCA has been tested extensively on both at the shore-based testing facility in Goa as well as the INS Vikramaditya.
With the LIFT version of LCA expected to meet both domestic and worldwide demands, plans are underway to produce a demonstrator aircraft along with the upcoming order for 83 LCA Mk 1 as that is being placed by the air force and is expected to be signed this financial year.
The US has been a significant exporter of military equipment to India, ranging from transport aircraft to artillery guns and attack helicopters. There has been a strong pitch by US arms manufacturers to gather a bigger slice of the India market, with offers in place for new fighter jets, unmanned combat aerial vehicles and air defence systems, among others.

QUICK REVIEW

Chief of Staff of Japan Air Self Defense Force (CoS-JASDF) arrived in India on 09 December 2020. He is:
General Izutsu Shunji
General Hideyoshi Obata
General Toshio Tamogami
General Haruhiko Kataoka

ANSWER: A

Which organization designed 5.56×30 mm Protective Carbine that has successfully undergone the final phase of User trials on 7^th December 2020 meeting all the GSQR parameters?
Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), Bengaluru
DRDO Young Scientist Laboratory – Asymmetric Technologies, Kolkata
Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune
Advanced Centre for Energetic Materials (ACEM), Nasik

ANSWER: C