Defence Current Affairs And Updates 18 August 2020

BRO constructs 180-feet bailey bridge under three weeks providing connectivity to 20 villages in Uttarakhand Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has constructed a 180-feet bailey bridge in Jauljibi sector of Pithoragarh...

Hemanth Kasturi
August 18, 2020
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BRO constructs 180-feet bailey bridge under three weeks providing connectivity to 20 villages in Uttarakhand

Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has constructed a 180-feet bailey bridge in Jauljibi sector of Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand in less than three weeks despite frequent landslides and heavy rains. The 50-metre span concrete bridge was completely washed out on July 27, 2020 when cloudburst hit the area and the nallas and rivers were flooded. This caused a mud flow of tremendous force. There were many casualties also due to landslides and the road communication was broken.
The BRO mobilised its bridging resources and setup to construct the bridge. The biggest challenge was to transport parts to the site from Pithoragarh amidst frequent landslides and heavy rains. The bridge was successfully completed on August 16, 2020. This has led to accessing flood affected villages and has connected Jauljibi to Munsiyari.
The connectivity will bring relief to about 15,000 people in 20 villages. The constructed bridge has resumed road communication of 66-kilometre road starting from Jauljibi to Munsiyari. Local Member of Parliament Shri Ajay Tamta had expressed his concern about the worst affected isolated villages of Lumti and Mori at 25-kilometre from Jauljibi where maximum deaths had taken place. This bridge will provide essential support in rehabilitating the villages.

India preparing country-wise profiles of defence products, weapons for exports

The government has prepared a roadmap to promote the indigenously developed military platforms and weapons to boost their exports and will use diplomatic channels to promote them in overseas markets, a senior Defence Ministry official said on Monday.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh earlier this month had unveiled a major policy decision, announcing imposition of a phase-wise ban on import of 101 military platforms and weapons systems with an aim to promote the domestic defence industry.
Raj Kumar, secretary, Department of Defence Production, said at a webinar that the domestic defence industry will hold web interactions with the representatives of friendly countries to figure out what kind of products and platforms they require.
“We are preparing country-wise profiles of products, weapons and platforms which are probably needed by our friendly countries. So we are now planning to start web interaction led by the industry,” Kumar said.
“That country’s defence attache, our DPSUs (defence public sector undertakings), industry, will then figure out what is in the store for us to promote there for exports,” he said.
Kumar said the government will be standing side by side with the domestic industry through its defence attaches, embassies and diplomatic channels to promote exports.
To promote indigenous production, the Defence Ministry on August 9 announced restrictions on import of 101 weapons and military platforms including light combat helicopters, conventional submarines and cruise missiles under a staggered timeline till 2024.
Kumar said a second list of import-restricted defence items will also be notified.
“This is the first list we are examining and then a second list will also come. We expect you (industry) to come forward and start investing to meet our requirements,” he said at the webinar – “Army Make Projects 2020” – organised by FICCI.
The senior official said as successful domestic bidders move to the defence equipment production stage, his department will share their details with the Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu defence corridor authorities, who “will compete in attracting your units to their respective states”.
He said since the three services are making efforts to push the “Make II” category of defence production projects, he will interact with project participants to understand their concerns and share best practices among the services.
As secretary of the Department of Defence Production, Kumar heads the collegiate committee that approves the “Make II” category of projects.
Under the Make II category, no government funding is given to the Indian company for the prototype development process. If a prototype developed by the company meets the standards set by the armed forces, an order is placed for such equipment or platforms.
“Everything, whether it is defence industrial corridor, or whether it is defence production and export promotion policy, or whether it is a negative list – everything works in the same direction that we have to be among the top producers of defence items,” he said.
Under the Make I category, government funding of 90 per cent of the total project value is provided to the domestic company to develop the prototype of the item. Both – Make I and Make II – are part of the “Make” category.
Lt Gen SK Saini, Vice Chief of the Army Staff, said during the webinar that the army is pursuing “Make” projects in diverse fields of technology including aerial targets, precision ammunition, tank ammunition, auxiliary power units, drone kill systems and mountain radars.
He said nine new projects were introduced in 2019 and four more will be unveiled in 2020 in the “Make” category.
Out of the 28 projects in progress, 13 of them, valued at Rs 21,264 crore, are suo moto proposals received from the Indian defence industry, he noted.
The first RFP (request for proposal) under Make II route has been issued recently on July 13 for Manuverable Expendable Aerial Targets (MEAT), he mentioned.
“One more RFP for upgraded assault track way and three project sanction orders (PSOs) valued at Rs 4,919 crore are going to be issued very soon,” Saini added.
India is one of the most lucrative markets for global defence giants. The country has figured among the top three global importers of military hardware for the last 8 years.
The Indian armed forces are projected to spend around USD 130 billion in capital procurement in the next five years.
On August 9, Defence Minister Singh said the ministry was now ready for a “big push” to indigenous defence manufacturing in tune with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for an “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (Self-Reliant India).
The negative list of 101 items includes towed artillery guns, short range surface to air missiles, cruise missiles, offshore patrol vessels, electronic warfare systems, next generation missile vessels, floating dock, anti-submarine rocket launchers and short-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
The list also includes basic trainer aircraft, lightweight rocket launchers, multi-barrel rocket launchers, missile destroyers, sonar systems for ships, rockets, ASTRA-MK I beyond visual range air-to-air missiles, light machine guns and artillery ammunition (155 mm) and ship-borne medium range guns.

2 jawans, one cop martyred as terrorists attack CRPF, police team in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla

Two CRPF soldiers and one Special Police Officer (SPO) of Jammu and Kashmir Police got martyred after some unidentified opened fire on them in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday (August 17).
Sources said that the terrorists attacked a joint naka party of CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) and Police at Kreeri area of Baramullah district. Security forces have cordoned off the area and search operation has been launched to arrest the terrorists.
“The two CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) soldiers who were injured in the Baramulla attack today have succumbed to injuries,” said Vijay Kumar, Inspector-General, Jammu & Kashmir Police.
The two soldiers of CRPF were were rushed to nearby hospital for treatment but both succumbed to their injuries.
This is second such attack on security forces in the last 24 hours in north Kashmir. On Sunday (August 16), a joint team of forces were fired upon terrorists in orchards of Sopore village.

Pakistan may deploy Chinese UAVs at LoC to create unrest in Jammu and Kashmir

Pakistan is planning to deploy medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) at Line of Control (LoC) to create further unrest in Jammu and Kashmir, according to reports. Security agencies sources said that Pakistan is procuring Cai Hong-4 (CH-4) UAV from China in big numbers in order to unleash mayhem in Kashmir valley.
It is learnt that a 10 member-team of Pakistan Army led by Brigadier Mohammad Zafar Iqbal has visited China to review the procurement process. The Pakistan Army team recently visited China for factory acceptance test for items procured from Aerospace Long-March International Trade Company (ALIT) in China.
Iqbal had earlier visited China in December 2019 for factory acceptance test of first tranche of Cai Hong-4 for which delivery was to commence in 2020.
The CH-4 has a take-off mass between 1,200-1,300kg depending on the variant. It can also carry a wide range of payloads. The UAV is already in service with military forces including the Iraqi Army and the Royal Jordanian Air Force.
Few days ago, intel reports had revealed that Pakistani Army Special Service Group (SSG) commandos are giving arms training to Talibani and Afghani terrorists in secret places of Afghanistan. The report added that these terrorists are planning to launch attacks on security establishment and patrolling party in Jammu and Kashmir.
The report also claimed that different terrorist outfits in Kashmir were working in tandem with each other to launch terror attacks in the valley and facilitate infiltration of terrorists from Pakistan.

U.S. and Canadian fighter jets will conduct military training in the Arctic

U.S. and fighter jets will be conducting will conduct air defense exercises in the Arctic region, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
The details were given in a media release, to announce North American Aerospace Defense Command will conduct an air defense exercise from August 17-21, ranging from the Beaufort Sea to Thule, Greenland.
The exercise will include Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 fighter aircraft, CP-140 long-range patrol aircraft, and a CC-150T air refueler; as well as United States Air Force F-15 fighter aircraft, KC-10 refueler, and C-17 transport aircraft. The exercise will be based out of 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alberta; and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
Exercise flights will be conducted over sparsely populated Arctic areas and at high altitudes. The public is not likely to see or hear the exercises; however, there will be increased flight activity at Yellowknife. This exercise is in no way related to the Government of Canada or United States’ response to COVID-19.
NORAD routinely conducts exercises with a variety of scenarios including airspace restriction violations, hijackings and responses to unknown aircraft. NORAD carefully plans and closely controls all exercises. This air defense exercise provides us the opportunity to hone our skills as Canadian and U.S. forces operate together with our allies and partners in the Arctic.
NORAD has implemented preventative measures including regular hand sanitation, physical distancing, and wearing of face masks in situations where physical distancing is not possible to mitigate potential risk of exposure to novel coronavirus (COVID-19) by military members and the local population. In addition, participating U.S. military personnel require two negative COVID-19 tests prior to arriving in Canada, and all military personnel positioned at forward operating locations will be isolated on the base.
For more than 60 years, NORAD has identified and intercepted potential air threats to North America through the execution of the command’s aerospace warning and aerospace control missions. NORAD also keeps watch over Canadian and U.S. internal waterways and maritime approaches under its maritime warning mission.

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