Monthly Archives: August 2018

Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 19

The Helina and Dhruvastra air launched anti-tank guided missile systems are ready for induction in the armed forces after successful trials were carried out from the indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter platform in the desert ranges.

Helina is the missile’s Army version while Dhruvastra is the Air Force Version.

The missile systems have been designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). These missiles are a follow-on development of the ground-based Nag anti-tank missile.

Five missions were carried out for evaluating the missile capabilities at minimum and maximum range. The missiles were fired in hover and max forward flight against realistic static and moving targets.

Few missions were carried out with warheads against derelict tanks. A mission was also carried out against a moving target from a forward flying helicopter, according to an official spokesperson.

The Helina and Dhruvastra are third generation, Lock on Before Launch (LOBL) fire and forget anti-tank guided missiles that can engage targets both in the direct hit mode as well as the top attack mode.

The system has all-weather day and night capability, and can defeat battle tanks with conventional armour as well as with explosive reactive armour.

DRDO claims it to be one of the most-advanced anti-tank weapons in the world. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO, the Army and Air Force for the achievements.

Secretary Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy appreciated the effort of the teams involved in the successful trials.

Beijing, February 19

Four Chinese soldiers were killed in the fierce clash with the Indian Army in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June last year, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) acknowledged for the first time on Friday.

China’s military authorities have honoured two officers and three soldiers, including four who received the awards posthumously, for defending the country’s western border, the official Xinhua news agency reported, quoting the The People’s Liberation Army Daily, the newspaper of the Chinese military.

Also read: 10th round of commander-level talks between India and China tomorrow

Five Chinese frontier officers and soldiers stationed in the Karakoram Mountains have been recognised by the Central Military Commission of China (CMC) for their sacrifice in the border confrontation with India, which occurred in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, the PLA Daily said.

The CMC is headed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, also General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China.

The title of “border-defending hero” was conferred on Battalion Commander Chen Hongjun posthumously, while Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan and Wang Zhuoran received first-class merit. Qi Fabao, who was seriously injured in the skirmish, received the title of “hero regiment commander for defending the border,” the Xinhua report said.

Three PLA soldiers were killed in the combat while another soldier died while crossing the icy river when he went to support his army mates.

Asked why China chose to reveal the casualties suffered during the Galwan incident after over eight months, Hua said, “the report has been revealed to give the truth to the public because the truth is long awaited and is necessary for the people to know the true story.”

India has said that 20 of its soldiers were killed in the fierce hand-to-hand combat on June 15 in Galwan Valley, an incident that marked the most serious military conflicts between the two sides in over four decades.

While China acknowledged casualties, it did not disclose details.

“These heroes will along will be remembered by the Chinese people. Their sacrifices made to defend our territory will never be forgotten by the Chinese people,” she said.

“We all know that conflict broke out in Galwan in June last year and responsibility does not rest with Chinese side,” Hua claimed.

“We hope the border issue will be put in a proper place in our bilateral relations. We hope to work with the Indian side to properly resolve the issue and uphold the general picture and the interests of the bilateral ties”, Hua said.

“India is an important neighbour of China and restoring a healthy stable relationship is the aspiration and also in the interest of the two peoples. I hope the Indian side will work with us towards achieving this shared goal,” she said.

Asked whether the details of the Galwan incident revealed by China today will impact Saturday’s 10th round of Commanders-level talks to discuss further disengagement of troops, Hua said these are two separate issues.

“Through diplomatic and military channels of the two sides are in communications in completing the disengagement smoothly,” she added.

“We hope the Indian side will bear in mind the general interest of bilateral relations and bring the ties to the right track. What we released is just the facts and the truth,” she said.

The border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupted on May 5 last year following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake areas and both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry.

The Chinese soldiers used stones, nail-studded sticks, iron rods and clubs in carrying out brutal attacks on Indian soldiers after they protested the erection of a surveillance post by China on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control in Galwan.

The PLA Daily claimed that the Indian soldiers attacked the Chinese military personnel with steel tubes and cudgels and threw stones.

This is the first time China has acknowledged casualties and details of these officers and soldiers’ sacrifice, four of whom died when dealing with the Indian military’s “illegal trespassing” of the Galwan Valley Line of Actual Control (LAC), the report said.

While India has announced the casualties immediately after the incident, China did not officially acknowledge the casualties until Friday.

The Russian official news agency TASS reported on February 10 that 45 Chinese servicemen were killed in the Galwan Valley clash. According to an American intelligence report last year, the number of casualties on the Chinese side was 35.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long LAC. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet, while India contests it.

The Global Times, a tabloid, part of the ruling Communist Party of China-run People’s Daily group of publications, said the PLA Daily while acknowledging the Galwan Valley casualties stated that the five were killed fighting the “foreign military”.

“It is noticeable that the PLA Daily report used “foreign military” to refer to the Indian military, a move that showed China’s kindness of not inciting sentiments of the people against the background of the current disengagement of troops from China and India along the border areas”, the Global Times report said.

The admission of the casualties by the PLA coincides with the ongoing disengagement of troops by both sides at the North and South banks of the Pangong Lake, the most contentious part of the standoff which began in May last year. PTI

Srinagar, February 19

A militant gunned down two unarmed policemen in broad daylight in an upmarket Srinagar area, an incident witnessed by several people and captured on CCTV cameras, police said on Friday, two days after a similar shooting targeting the son of the owner of a city eatery.

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The two policemen were on duty at Baghat on the high-security airport road when they were attacked. The militant, identified as Saqib, can be seen pulling out an assault rifle hidden inside his ‘pheran’, a loose over-garment worn during winters, and pumping bullets at them at close range.

The attacker can be seen fleeing from the spot as people scatter around in horror.

“We have identified the militant and we will soon catch hold of him,” Director-General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Dilbagh Singh told PTI here.

The two policemen were rushed to SMHS hospital. Constable Suhail was the first one to succumb while his colleague, constable Mohammed Yusuf, lost the battle of life as he was being wheeled into the operation theatre, police said.

Immediately after the incident, police teams rushed to the area and took into their possession recordings from CCTVs installed by shops and houses. This led them to identify the militant as Saquib from Barzulla area in the city. His affiliations were not immediately known.

This is the second attack in the city in three days.

On Wednesday evening, militants shot at and injured the son of a popular eatery owner in the city’s high security Durganag area.

“We have identified some people and they are being questioned by the police. I am sure the case will be cracked soon,” Singh said.

The attack in the city came as a 24-member delegation of envoys from various countries visited Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday to assess the ground situation in the union territory. PTI

New Delhi, February 18

Chief of Army Staff Gen MM Naravane on Thursday flagged off the 100th K-9 Vajra tracked self-propelled howitzer from a production facility of its maker Larsen and Toubro at Hazira near Surat.

The Indian Army said Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has supplied 100 units of indigenously made K-9 Vajra-T 155 mm/ 52 calibre self-propelled guns to it so far.

In a statement, L&T said with the flagging-off of the 100th howitzer, the company has successfully completed delivery of all guns under the existing contract awarded to it by the Ministry of Defence in May 2017.

The company said it has maintained its track record of “ahead of time deliveries” of complex platforms.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had flagged off the 51st K9 VAJRA in January last year from Hazira.

As a part of its ‘Make-in-India’ initiative, the company established a green-field manufacturing-cum-integration and testing facility at its Hazira manufacturing complex near Surat to produce the guns.

The ‘Armoured Systems Complex’ at Hazira was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2018.

L&T Defence produced the ‘K9 VAJRA’ under a contract awarded to it through global competitive bidding. L&T was the prime bidder for the programme with South Korean defence major Hanwha Defence, the original equipment maker of the world’s top rated howitzer the ‘K9 Thunder’, as its technology partner.

“The production of complex platforms like the K9 VAJRA contributes to the Indian economy with a large multiplier effect, creates new job opportunities and plays a significant role in enhancing India’s industrial ecosystem,” said J D Patil, Whole-Time Director and Senior Executive Vice President (Defence and Smart Technologies) of L&T.

“With the experience, track-record, skills, capabilities and infrastructure that L&T has built, we are ready to indigenously develop, and build India’s future capabilities,” he said.

Patil said with the supply of 100th K9 VAJRA howitzer, L&T have created an industry benchmark by delivering the only in-service equipment of its class, a major land-based programme ahead of schedule.

“We hope and believe that under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat policies of the Government of India, the national asset created in the form of the Armoured Systems Complex to execute this ambitious contract, will provide sustenance to the painstakingly built supply chain of more than 1000 MSME partners,” he said.

The company said ‘K9 VAJRA’ systems are delivered with more than 80 per cent indigenous work packages and above 50 per cent indigenisation (by value) at the programme level.

It said the project involved local production of over 13,000 components per system through a supply chain spread across the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. PTI

Beijing, February 18

China on Thursday said the disengagement process of the Chinese and Indian frontline troops at the eastern Ladakh border was progressing smoothly and expressed hope that both sides will make concerted efforts to achieve the goal.

On February 10, China’s Defence Ministry spokesman Senior Colonel Wu Qian announced that the Chinese and Indian frontline troops at the South and North banks of the Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh started synchronised and organised disengagement.

“To my knowledge, things are progressing smoothly in general. We hope both sides will continue to move towards each other, strictly comply with the consensus reached and agreements signed, and ensure the smooth completion of the disengagement process,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said when asked how the disengagement process is proceeding.

“Based on the consensus reached by the Chinese and Indian sides in rounds of consultations through diplomatic and military channels, frontline troops of both sides in the Pangong Lake area started on February 10 to organise disengagement in a synchronised and planned manner,” she said.

About the timeline of the disengagement of the troops, she said: “I don’t have any at the moment and refer you to the military.”

After nine months of border standoff in eastern Ladakh, the two armies reached an agreement on disengagement in the North and South banks of Pangong Lake that mandates both sides to cease forward deployment of troops in a “phased, coordinated and verifiable” manner.

The Indian Army on Tuesday released short videos and photographs showing thinning down of troops and dismantling of bunkers, camps and other facilities by the Chinese military in the areas around the Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh in line with the agreed disengagement process between the two sides.

The visuals also showed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) using a bulldozer to flatten some structures, and vehicles with troops and equipment preparing to retreat to rear bases as part of the infantry disengagement. PTI

New Delhi, February 18

Recalling the decisive Battle of Longewala, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria on Thursday said the plan of armoured thrust by the Pakistan army was “brilliant” and could have changed the course of the 1971 war, but the only thing it probably forgot to factor, was India’s air power.

The Pakistan army forgot what half a squadron of Hunter aircraft sitting in Jaisalmer could do, and that was probably their “only mistake”, he said.

India is celebrating the 50th anniversary year of the country’s victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) chief was speaking at the launch of a book ‘The Epic Battle of Longewala’ authored by Air Marshal (retd) Bharat Kumar at the IAF Museum at Palam.

The dais and chairs for audience was placed centrally in an open courtyard flanked by two T-59 tanks of the Pakistan army damaged during the battle, and Hunter and Krishak and other aircraft, which played a critical role during the battle.

“A lot has been said about the Battle of Longewala. And, the plan of armoured thrust by Pakistan army itself was brilliant in terms of the area and axis chosen, the Longewala-Jaisalmer axis, and if it had succeeded, it would have changed the course of the war on the western front and the final result,” Bhadauria said.

“The only thing the Pakistan army probably forgot to factor, was India’s air power. And, they thought what half a squadron of Hunter aircraft sitting in Jaisalmer could do, and that was probably their only mistake,” he said.

The IAF chief also said the Battle of Longewala brings to light a scenario where air power can bring “asymmetric results if time and place chosen correctly”.

“On air power, over the decades, we have learned our lessons well, and graduated to a stage where it has been incorporated deep into our plan, synergy and interaction with the services,” he said.

The IAF chief said it was important that stories of valour are documented in books and passed on to the next generations. — PTI

New Delhi, February 18

The disengagement process between India and China in eastern Ladakh is in final stages and on the brink of completion, top officials of the country’s defence establishment told a parliamentary panel during a meeting on Thursday.

The meeting, said sources, turned “stormy” amid several questions asked by opposition members, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, top officials from the three armed forces and Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar on Thursday deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence chaired by BJP leader Jual Oram.

The meeting witnessed an argument between Oram and Gandhi when the Congress leader asked some specific questions to the officials deposing before the panel, which the chairman felt was not on the agenda of the meeting, sources said.

Also read: China says disengagement of Chinese, Indian troops in eastern Ladakh going on smoothly

The agenda of the meeting was to examine demands for grants of the Defence Ministry in this year’s Budget.

In the presentation before the panel, officials informed that Indian Air Force (IAF) for the year was planning to acquire Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), Avro transport aircraft replacement, upgrade of UAV systems, Harop (P-IV), Avionics upgrade of IL-76, IL-78 among others, according to sources.

The committee was also informed that the 83 Tejas aircraft, acquisition of which was approved by Union Cabinet last month, will be inducted in four squadrons. Induction of these aircraft would augment the present overall fighter squadron strength of IAF and would partially offset the phasing out of MiG-21 and MiG-27 squadrons, said sources.

Responding to members’ question, top officers from armed forces also informed the panel that the disengagement between armed forces of India and China in eastern Ladakh was in final stages and on the brink of completion, sources in the panel said.

Earlier in a statement given to both Houses of Parliament during the first part of the Budget Session, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had said India and China have reached an agreement on disengagement in the north and south banks of Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh to “cease” forward deployment of troops in a “phased, coordinated and verifiable” manner.

Singh had also assured that India has not conceded anything in the sustained talks with China and it will not allow even an inch of its territory to be taken away by anyone. PTI