India joins US, Russia, China hypersonic Missile club

• India today became the fourth country after the United States, Russia and China to develop and successfully test hypersonic technology from APJ Abdul Kalam testing range (Wheeler Island) in Balasore, Odisha. This indigenous technology will pave the way towards development of missiles travelling at six times the speed of sound (Mach 6).
• The test of Hypersonic Test Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV), developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was conducted at 11.03 am today using the Agni missile booster and lasted for five minutes.
• People aware of the development said this test means that the DRDO will have the capacity to develop a hypersonic missile with scramjet engine in next five years, which will have the capacity to travel at more than two kilometres per second. The test was led by DRDO chief Satheesh Reddy and his hypersonic missile team. The HSTDV performed on all parametres, including combustion chamber pressure, air intake and control guidance, the agency said.
• At 11.03 am, the Agni missile booster took the hypersonic vehicle to height of 30 km after which the latter separated. Thereafter, the vehicle’s air intake opened and that led to successfully firing of the test scramjet engine. The combustion lasted for more than 20 seconds with the vehicle achieving a speed of Mach 6. “The vehicle performed successfully on all the pre-determined parametres including the ability to handle combustion temperatures of over 2500 degrees Celsius as well as air speed,” said a senior official.
• Defence minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO immediately after the test and praised their efforts to indigenously build a scramjet engine.
• He said that it is a landmark achievement towards realising the vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India).
• “The @DRDO_India has today successfully flight tested the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle using the indigenously developed scramjet propulsion system. With this success, all critical technologies are now established to progress to the next phase,” Singh tweeted.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh arrives in Iran to discuss bilateral ties

• Singh arrived in Tehran from Moscow after concluding his three-day visit to Russia where he attended a meeting of the SCO defence ministers forum.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday arrived in Tehran where he will meet his Iranian counterpart and discuss bilateral defence ties, a day after he urged the Persian Gulf countries to resolve their differences through dialogue based on mutual respect.
• Singh arrived in Tehran from Moscow after concluding his three-day visit to Russia where he attended a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers. He also held bilateral talks with his counterparts from Russia, China and the Central Asian countries.
• “Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh reached Tehran this evening. He will be meeting the Iranian Defence Minister (Brigadier General Amir Hatami) during his visit,” his office said in a tweet.
• India on Friday said that it was deeply concerned about the situation in the Persian Gulf and called upon the countries in the region to resolve their differences by dialogue based on mutual respect.
• A series of incidents in the Persian Gulf involving Iran, the US and the UAE in recent weeks have flared up tension in the region.
• We are deeply concerned about the situation in the Persian Gulf, Singh said in his address at a meeting of the SCO here.
• “We call upon countries in the region – all of which are dear and friendly to India, to resolve differences by dialogue based on mutual respect, sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs of each other,” he said in his address at the combined meeting of defence ministers of the SCO, Collective Security Treaty Organisation and Commonwealth of Independent States member states.
• Last month, Iranian navy briefly seized control of a Liberian-flagged oil tanker in what the US said were international waters near the Strait of Hormuz, which links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond.
• Iran has threatened to disrupt oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz if the United States tries to strangle its economy.
• The SCO, seen as a counterweight to NATO, has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations which accounts for almost 44 per cent of the world population stretching from the Arctic Ocean to the Indian Ocean and from the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea.
• The aim of the SCO is to maintain peace, stability and security of the region.
• Iran has observer status in the SCO, which was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
• India and Pakistan were admitted as observers of the grouping in 2005. Both the countries were admitted as full members of the bloc in 2017.

Palau invites US military to build bases as China seeks regional clout

• The tiny Pacific nation of Palau has urged the United States military to build bases on its territory — which lies in a region where Washington is pushing back against growing Chinese influence.
• US Defense Secretary Mark Esper visited the island nation last week and accused Beijing of “ongoing destabilising activities” in the Pacific. Palau President Tommy Remengesau later revealed he told Esper the US military was welcome to build facilities in his country, an archipelago about 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) east of the Philippines.
• “Palau’s request to the US military remains simple — build joint-use facilities, then come and use them regularly,” he said in a letter to the US defence chief that his office released this week. The note, addressed to Esper and marked “by hand delivery, Koror. Palau,” said the nation of 22,000 was open to hosting land bases, port facilities and airfields for the US military.

Hizbul Mujahideen trying to re-establish its base in North Kashmir: Army

• Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) is trying to re-establish its base in north Kashmir, the Army said on Saturday, a day after three militants of the outfit were killed in an encounter with security forces in Baramulla district.
• Addressing a joint press conference with Deputy Inspector General of Police (North Kashmir Range) Muhammad Sulaiman Choudhary at Pattan, Commander 10 Sector of the Rashtriya Rifles of the Army Brigadier N K Mishra said it was after a long gap that militants belonging to the HM were killed in north Kashmir where, in the recent years, only the ultras from Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad had been neutralised.
• “The activity of the HM outfit was very less here (in north Kashmir). It seems that Hizbul is trying to re-establish its base in north Kashmir,” the Army officer said.
• However, he said the security forces were alert and ready to foil all the plans of the outfit aimed at its revival in the north Kashmir.
• “If anyone (among the militants) wishes to join the mainstream, they are always welcome, but if anyone wants to become a terrorist, he will not be given any opportunity,” Brigadier Mishra said.
• The DIG North Kashmir Range said the three militants killed on Friday in Yeddipora area of Pattan in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district were affiliated with the HM outfit. “Two of the slain militants were locals and were identified as Shafkat Ali Khan of Rawatpora, Delina and Hanan Bilal Sofi of old town Baramulla. The identity of the third one is being ascertained,” he said.
• Choudhary said two AK-47 riffles, four magazines, one pistol and two pistol magazines. besides incriminating matter, were seized from the site of the encounter. He said the militants were hiding in a house, holding 12 civilians, including children, hostage. The Army officer said that the operation was a deliberate one as the first priority was to evacuate the civilians.
• An Army Major and two Special Police Officers (SPOs) of J-K Police were injured in the gun battle, but their condition is said to be stable.

PLA command station in Pak targeting US assets

• Pakistan is hosting a fully operational Strategic Support Force (SSF) command station of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which is engaged in cyber-warfare, high-tech reconnaissance, electronic warfare and psychological warfare against assets of the United States.
• This has been revealed in an annual report prepared by the US Department of Defense, which was presented to the US Congress earlier this week. The report is titled, “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China”.
• PLA’s Strategic Support Force (SSF) is a theatre command-level organisation, which was established to centralise PLA’s strategic space, cyber, electronic, and psychological warfare missions and capabilities. It was established in 2015 with the intention to improve PLA’s informationized warfare. Currently, it is headed by Lieutenant General Li Fengbiao, who succeeded the first SSF Commander, General Gao Jin in March 2019. He is an officer with more than 40 years of experience, much of which has been spent as a part of the PLA Air Force Airborne Corps.
• It is pertinent to mention that as per the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Pakistan, which is now formally hosting a Chinese military station whose primary aim is to take out US assets, has received $350 million in aid from the US in 2019, $496 million in 2018, $901 million in 2017, $990 million in 2016, $1,123 million in 2015 and $974 million in 2014.
• This huge amount of continuous aid in the last 5-6 years, which Pakistan has got from the US, is only second to what Afghanistan has received in the same period in the region. Effectively, from 2014 to 2019, Pakistan has received $4,834 million from the US as aid, or $967 million every year.
• Pakistan has also been getting billions of dollars every year from China as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
• The corresponding figure for India, which is tackling Chinese expansion, despite no overt support from the United States, for 2019 was $90 million, $138 million in 2018, $136 million in 2017, $123 million in 2016, $114 million in 2015 and $120 million in 2014, which comes to $721 million or $144 million every year.
• Apart from running a command station in Pakistan, the SSF is also running similar tracking stations in Namibia and Argentina.
• As per the report, China has been nurturing Pakistan with the intention to decrease China’s reliance on transporting energy resources through strategic choke points such as the Strait of Malacca, which explains the reason behind China operating a fully functional command station specialising in sophisticated forms of warfare.
• The SSF provides the PLA with strategic information support through space and network-based capabilities, including communications, navigation and positioning, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and the protection of military information infrastructure.
• The report has further revealed that China is looking to build considerable amounts of military structure for the PLA in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, all of whom are India’s next-door neighbours, apart from in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola, and Tajikistan.
• China is already operating a military base in Djibouti, which it operationalised in August 2017. The country is important, globally, because of its strategic location as it is located near some of the major shipping lanes and can be used to control access to the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.

Oil Tanker MT New Diamond towed to safety from Sri Lankan coast; fire-fighting still on, no oil slick

• The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is continuing its fire-fighting operation east of Sri Lanka on Motor Tanker (MT) New Diamond, which is a Greek-owned vessel and under charter by Indian Oil Cooperation. The vessel has been ablaze since September 3, following a major explosion in the engine room, while transiting Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone. The first information about the vessel being on fire was received at Indian Coast Guard Maritime Rescue Co-Ordination Centre (MRCC) Mumbai.
• MT New Diamond is reportedly carrying more than 2.7 lakh MT Kuwait export crude oil that was destined for Paradip, Odisha. According to Marinetraffic.com, MT New Diamond is a 20-year old Crude oil tanker that is 333 meters long and 60 meters wide.
• ICG Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) Ameya with 1,000 liters oil spill dispersant, arrived at the area, on Saturday evening to augment pollution response efforts. Another FPV Abheek with 40 drums (200 kg each) aqueous film forming foam concentrate (AFFF), 10 units of DCP (50 Kg each) and 20 barrels (50 kg each) of dry chemical powder (DCP) had also joined in. Owing to intense and continuous fire-fighting, the fire has been localised at Port Bridge Deck and Aft Ready Use tank area.
• The Indian Coast Guard has deployed six vessels and two aircraft for fire fighting and to handle pollution response in event of an oil slick. ICG Ships Sujay, Shaurya and Sarang are on scene since Thursday and are continuously engaged in fire fighting operation using specialised external fire-fighting system along with Sri Lankan ships/tugs. The operations are being carried out with the advice of Master of the MT New Diamond.
• On Friday, a team comprising ICG personnel and Master embarked MT New Diamond and connected tow with tug APL Winger. After consolidated efforts, ICG and Srilankan ships alongwith Tug APL Winger have towed MT New Diamond 35 nautical miles away from nearest shore of the island nations east coast. Another Tug TTK-1 arranged by salvors joined along with ICG ships, Tug Ravana and Tug Vasabha for continuing the fire-fighting operations.
• Two CG Dornier aircraft with Oil Spill Dispersants (OSD) and Pollution Response Spray pods arrived at Hambantota on late Friday evening. Coast guard helicopters, embarked on ships, are also being launched regularly for aerial assessment. An aerial recce by Srilankan Airforce Beachcraft and spraying of water through Bambi Bucket by Srilankan Airforce MI-17 is in progress.
• Emergency Towing Vessels from Mumbai and Chennai have been sailed for augmenting Salvage and Fire Fighting efforts. No oil spill has been so far reported. Continuous liaison and co-ordination is being maintained with Sri Lankan Navy/Coast Guard and other authorities for augmentation and effective response.

US Army receives first AMPV

• BAE Systems has delivered its first Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) to the US Army after working through a six-month delay as it overhauled the way it produces vehicles at a key facility.
• On 31 August, the company delivered an AMPV mission command variant to the service and the vehicle is now expected to be put through its paces.
• “The mission command vehicle will be the first vehicle delivered and is the cornerstone of the army’s Armoured Brigade Combat Teams (ABCT) network modernisation strategy,” the company wrote in a 2 September announcement. “It facilitates digital mission command, taking advantage of increased volume, protection, power, and cooling capabilities and provides flexibility and growth capacity for command, control, communications, and computer capabilities.”
• The AMPV line is designed to replace the army’s M113 family of vehicles and BAE Systems is currently under contract to build and deliver more than 450 low-rate initial production (LRIP) vehicles in five different configurations — general purpose, mission command, mortar carrier, medical evacuation, and medical treatment vehicles.
• The first vehicle was slated to be delivered in March, but that date first slipped to July and then August for a variety of reasons including the ongoing pandemic and manufacturing changes at the company’s York, Pennsylvania, facility.
  “The army and BAE Systems formalised the schedule change to gain the advantage of increased throughput just as the coronavirus [Covid-19] hit the United States and impacted manufacturing facilities and supply chains across the globe,” company spokeswoman Amanda Niswonger.

China now has world’s largest navy as Beijing advances towards goal of a ‘world-class’ military by 2049, says US DoD

• China now has the largest navy in the world, an expansion driven by Beijing’s aspirations to “return” the country to a position of strength and leadership on the world stage, the US Department of Defense (DoD) said in its 2020 report on military and security developments involving China.
• Published on 1 September the report, often referred to as the ‘China Military Power Report’, states that the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) now has “a battle force of approximately 350 platforms, including major surface combatants, submarines, ocean-going amphibious ships, mine warfare ships, aircraft carriers, and fleet auxiliaries”, compared with the US Navy’s (USN’s) 293 ships using the same measure.
• Although the cut-off date for the Pentagon assessment was the end of 2019 and developments have continued apace through 2020, the 200 page-long report provides an authoritative source of timescales and numbers for a number of significant capabilities.
• The report notes progress in the construction of the PLAN’s third carrier, which in comparison with the two already in service “will be larger and fitted with a catapult launch system”. It assesses that the third carrier will enter service in 2023 and be operational by 2024 and also reports that development continues on the fifth-generation FC-31/J-31 multi-role fighter aircraft “for export or as a future naval fighter for the PLAN’s next class of aircraft carriers”, largely confirming persistent rumours.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Iranian Defence Minister
2. Hassan Rouhani
3. Brigadier General Amir Hatami
4. Mohammad Javad Zarif
5. None of the above

ANSWER: B

• Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was founded in
• 1999
• 2000
• 2001
• 2002

ANSWER: C

• Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was founded at a summit in
• Wuhan
• Shanghai
• Beijing
• Shenzhen

ANSWER: C

• Which among the following country’s president was not a founder of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation?
• Kyrgyz Republic
• Kazakhstan
• Tajikistan
• South Korea

ANSWER: D

• India and Pakistan were admitted as observers of the SCO grouping in
• 2005
• 2004
• 2003
• 2002

ANSWER: A

• India was admitted as full member of the SCO bloc in
• 2014
• 2015
• 2016
• 2017

ANSWER: D

• Which pacific nation has urged the United States military to build bases on its territory recently?
• Palau
• Fiji
• Solomon Islands
• Samoa

ANSWER: A

• MT New Diamond is reportedly carrying more than 2.7 lakh MT Kuwait export crude oil that was destined for
• Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
• Paradip, Odisha
• Cochin, Kerala
• Mormugao, Goa

ANSWER: B