Rajput Regiment gets more soldiers

• 361 recruits were attested after successful completion of their training at Rajput Regimental Centre Fatehgarh on 30^th June 2020. We welcome these valiant young soldiers to Indian Army.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Army Chief Naravane to Visit Ladakh for Security Review on Friday

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Ladakh on Friday along with Army Chief General MM Naravane to review the on-ground security situation amid the border standoff with China and the progress in talks with the Chinese military.
• According to government sources, preparations are underway to arrange the visit, which is likely to conclude within a day. This will be Singh’s first visit to Ladakh since the tensions broke out between the two countries in May, and Naravane’s second in just over a week.
• It will come after the third round of commander-level talks were held by Lieutenant General Harinder Singh, the commander of India’s Leh-based XIV corps, and his People’s Liberation Army counterpart, South Xinjiang military region chief Major-General Liu Lin, on Tuesday.

Chinese new Z-8G transport helicopters spotted near disputed Himalayan border

• China’s new Z-8G transport helicopters were recently spotted during a large-scale military exercise near a disputed Himalayan border. The Z-8G is a “large transport helicopter” that focuses on “plateau operations”.
• The new Z-8G helicopters attached to an army aviation brigade under the PLA 76th Group Army took part in a flight training exercise at an extremely low altitude in plateau area.
• The new helicopter flew for the first time in 2014. Powered by three domestic WZ-6C turboshafts, it has a maximum take-off weight of 13.8 tonnes (30,360 pounds). It can carry 30 troops, or five tonnes (11,000 pounds) of cargo, for up to 1,000 km (600 miles). The helicopter can take off from 4,500 meters above sea level and has a ceiling of more than 6,000 meters.
• An updated troop transport version of the Z-8G helicopter entered service with PLA ground forces in early 2018.

PLA has deployed over 20,000 troops along LAC, India wary of third division in Xinjiang

• The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has deployed more than 20,000 of its troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) near the Eastern Ladakh sector even as India is closely watching the activities of another 10,000-12,000 Chinese troops deployed in Xinjiang with high mobility vehicles and weaponry in the rear positions with the capability to reach the Indian front in 48 hours’ time.
• “The Chinese Army has deployed around two divisions worth of troops (around 20,000) along the LAC in the Eastern Ladakh sector. There is another division (10,000 troops) which has been stationed by it in the Northern Xinjiang province almost a 1,000 kilometres from the front but they can be mobilised to reach our frontiers in maximum 48 hours’ time due to the flat terrain on the Chinese side,” top government sources told ANI.
• “We are keeping a close eye on the movement of these troops along with the ones which have been deployed close to the Indian territory,” the sources said.

India sending high-powered boats to match heavier Chinese vessels while patrolling Ladakh lake

• Indian Navy is sending a dozen high-powered, bigger capacity and top of the line surveillance equipped steel boats to Ladakh so that the Indian Army can patrol Pangong Tso and match the heavier Type 928 B vessels of the Chinese Army lake fleet. The Pangong Tso lake is at the centre of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aggression in East Ladakh with the Chinese bullying India into ceding territory on both the banks and deliberately pushing the Modi government into retaliatory mode.
• While the third senior military commander level talks stretched late into Tuesday night at Chushul, the word out is that they were held in cordial atmosphere with both the Leh Corps Commander and his Xinjiang Military district counterpart discussing the specifics of de-escalation and dis-engagement along the 3488 km Line of Actual Control (LAC).
• The decision to send steel hulled boats to Pangong Tso was taken by the tri-services this week with the Navy asked to transport the vessels through C-17 heavy lift transporters to Leh on a priority basis. Apart from signalling Indian intent to stand up strong to any Chinese provocation, the heavier vessels will not be pushed around in the water by PLA boat fleet. Even though there are some logistical issues in transporting the huge boats by plane, solutions are being worked out by both Indian Navy and Army.

India planning to buy more Spice-2000 bombs

• Seeking to further strengthen its capability to hit ground targets, India is planning to acquire a lethal and more capable version of the Spice-2000 bombs.
• The bombs, which were used effectively to destroy the Pakistani terrorist camp in Balakot town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province last year, are planned to be acquired by the Air Force as part of the emergency financial powers granted to the services in the middle of a row with China.
• “The Indian Air Force already has the Spice-2000 bombs. It is now planning to acquire more stand-off weapons like the Spice-2000 bombs under the emergency procurement powers granted to the services,” government sources told ANI.
• The Spice-2000 bombs can hit targets upto 70 kms and the new variant inducted in the force can also destroy bunkers and hardened shelters, they said.
• The version used in the Balakot airstrikes could penetrate into hardened shelters and buildings and cause destruction inside.
• Under the emergency powers, the Narendra Modi government has granted financial power to the defence forces under which they can buy any weapon system under Rs 500 crore.

IAF team fits indigenous airborne locust control system on two Mi-17 helicopters

• The Indian Air Force has indigenously modified two Mi-17 helicopters for atomised airborne spraying of pesticide to deal with locust attack, according to a statement issued by the IAF on Tuesday.
• Using all indigenous components, the atomised airborne spraying of pesticide has been successfully achieved in air through a configuration of nozzles mounted both sides on external trusses of a Mi-17 helicopters, the statement added.
• The nozzles used for the purpose are a mix of commercially available as well as the ones developed by the Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO), Chandigarh.
• The pesticide malathion in appropriate concentration would be filled in the internal auxiliary tank of 800 litres capacity fitted inside the helicopter and pumped into the nozzles by using an electrical pump as well as compressed air, achieving nearly 40 minutes of spaying duration in the infected zone covering an area of approximately 750 hectares in each mission.
• A team of test pilots and test engineers of aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment, Bangalore have successfully carried out ground and airborne trials of Airborne Locust Control System (ALCS) on a modified Mi-17 helicopter.
• The system is being offered for use with malathion for deployment in the locust control operation.
• Being an indigenously developed system, ALCS would offer inherent advantages of in-house maintenance, future upgradeability, saving of foreign exchange and help in making the country self-reliant in aviation-related technology.

Australia to invest 270 billion dollars to boost defence capabilities amid China’s threat in Indo-Pacific

• Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday said 270 billion Australian dollars will be invested to modernise the country’s defence capabilities in the coming decade to maintain regional security and deter/respond to “aggression” in the strategic Indo-Pacific, amidst China flexing its muscles in the region.
• “The challenges and nature in the Indo-Pacific have meant we need a new approach and one that actively seeks to deter actions that are against our interests,” the prime minister said.
• Morrison said that the Indo-Pacific was the epicentre of rising strategic competition and tensions. Territorial claims are rising across the Indo-Pacific region, as seen recently on the border between India and China, and the South China Sea, and the East China Sea.

Russia begins trials of new generation unmanned ground vehicle

• Russia has begun trials of the new Marker unmanned ground system, the Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects announced on 29 June.
• The Marker unmanned ground system is the joint project of the Center and the Android Technics Scientific Production Association. The modular platform is supposed to become the key element for practice of joint operation of ground robots, unmanned aviation and Special Operations forces. The Marker is positioned as a construction set for development of combat models in the future.
• The final testing stage of the Marker robot will take place in 2021, then the robot will be handed over to the Russian Ministry of Defense, says Oleg Martyanov, who heads the Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects’ National Center for the Development of Technologies and Basic Elements of Robotics.

South Korea develops new futuristic laser weapon system

• South Korean defense contractor Hanwha Defense is currently developing a new vehicle-mounted futuristic weapon system.
• The new system, called the Laser System for Explosive Disposal or LSED, is designed to neutralize surface landmines and unexploded ordnance.
• LSED will use a solid-state heat capacity laser beam to heat target ordnance to the point of causing the explosive filler to ignite and start to burn. The resulting neutralization causes a low-level explosion that minimizes collateral damage. In addition with the LSED system the counter IED personnel do not need to leave the vehicle and expose themselves to sniper fire.
• Hanwha Defense is creating a prototype of a new laser system led by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD).

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Rajput Regimental Centre is located at:
2. Firozpur
3. Durgapur
4. Fatehgarh
5. Lucknow

ANSWER: C

• The steel hulled boats of the Indian Navy were sent to Pangong Tso by which aircraft?
• Hercules C-130J
• Boeing C-17 Globemaster
• Antonov AN-32
• MI-17 Medium Lift Helicopter

ANSWER: B

• Spice 2000 Bombs are manufactured by:
• Rafale Advanced Defence Systems
• Boeing Defence, Space & Security
• Raytheon Defence Systems
• Lockheed Martin Inc.

ANSWER: A

• Which Air Force among the following is the only one after IAF that uses Spice 2000 bombs?
• French Air Force
• US Air Force
• Russian Air Force
• Israeli Air Force

ANSWER: D

• The Indian Air Force has indigenously modified two Mi-17 helicopters for atomised airborne spraying of which pesticide to deal with locust attack?
• Diazinon
• Parathion
• Malathion
• Carbaryl

ANSWER: C