Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 6

Even as the ruling BJP today accused the Congress-ruled UPA-II government (2009-2014) of “leaking” information of a “fake” Army coup to the media, records of Parliament show the Manmohan Singh-led government had then made it clear that “troop movement” was purely for training purposes.

The issue had cropped up in April 2012 when a newspaper ran a story alleging that the Army, then headed by General VK Singh, made an unauthorised movement of troops towards Delhi on the night intervening January 16 and 17, 2012.

Around the same time, the General, who is now a minister in the Modi government, had challenged his date of birth in the Supreme Court.

A reply in Parliament given by then Defence Minister AK Antony on April 25, 2012, said on January 16, 2012, one of the units of 50 Para Brigade carried out mobilisation to practice mounting from an alternative airfield other than Agra, during “fogged-out conditions/non-serviceability” of the Agra airfield due to operational reasons.

Agra is the home base of the Para Brigade. This column came to the location of one unit at Gurgaon on January 17, 2012. Mobilisation practice was under the 50 Para Brigade. The 33 Armoured Division based at Hisar was to carry out an exercise with troops in March-April 2012, Antony had said.

As a precursor to this exercise, a Mechanized Infantry battalion was mobilised by the formation commander towards Bahadurgarh (north-west of Delhi) to validate its loading, movement and occupation in poor visibility conditions.

The battalion reached the area of Bahadurgarh during morning hours on January 17, 2012, and proceeded to occupy the designated dispersal area as per standard operating procedure. Having validated their mobilisation drills, both Columns moved back subsequently.

There was no report received in the Ministry of Defence from intelligence agencies on January 16/17, 2012, as regards such troop movement, Antony had said.

The movement was aimed at refining the mobilisation drill and ensuring operational preparedness of the Army despite adverse weather conditions.

At a meeting of the parliamentary panel later, Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma said the movement was a routine activity, which did not require any permission from the government. He is learnt to have told the panel that no standard operating procedures had been breached.

The crash of the multirole fighter Mirage 2000 as it was taking off in Bengaluru and the death of two intrepid test pilots has dealt a heavy blow to the Indian Air Force and the ambitious Make in India initiative. It has also knocked the wind out of the sails of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). What adds to the worries is the fact that the Mirage was freshly upgraded and serviced by HAL under a 2015 contract and was being test-flown by young ace pilots before its re-induction into the Air Force.

The horrendous crash rate of MiG-21 — dubbed ‘flying coffins’ — is still fresh in public memory. In recent months, there have been a slew of crashes, including a Jaguar aircraft, a MiG-29 and Sukhoi 30 MKI. Though the overall annual crash rate has come down after the induction of the British Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT), it hovers close to the red line, as the bulk of our air frames are, alarmingly, over two decades old. Some Sukhoi-30 squadrons are the exceptions.

Mirage 2000 was first inducted into the force in 1984 and proved its worth during the Kargil War with its accurate bombing runs that snapped the Pakistani supply line to intruders on mountain-top fortifications. The Friday crash was the 11th such, bringing down the three-squadron fleet of the IAF to 48. In 2011, India had inked a $2.4-billion contract with the original manufacturers to upgrade the fleet. While two aircraft were upgraded in France, it fell upon HAL to pick up the baton for the rest.

The probe will establish the actual cause, but prima facie HAL stands humbled in public perception. The spotlight is back on its technical capabilities. Several of its projects, including the Mirage upgrade, are trailing behind schedule. As imports often lead to political fracas which delays replacements, India must pump in funds to reduce foreign dependence. It speaks of our national security commitment when the IAF is expected to fix-and-fly refurbished planes. The ‘make do’ approach comes at an exorbitant cost, of both man and machine.

Jammu, January 24

The Pakistan Army on Thursday targeted forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district with mortars and small arms, an official said.

The Indian Army is effectively retaliating.

“Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by small arms fire and shelling with mortars in Sunderbani sector since 0915 hours,” the Defence PRO said.

The Pakistan Army also targeted forward posts in Mendhar sector of Poonch district on Wednesday night, officials said.

Officials said the Pakistan Army is continuously firing 120 mm and 81 mm mortars when the reports last came in.

The shelling and firing has triggered panic among border dwellers.

Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh had said on Thursday last that a befitting reply would be given to ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops. PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi rides a K-9 Vajra Self Propelled Howitzer built by Larsen & Toubro, in Hajira on Saturday, January 19, 2019. Twitter photo via PTI

Hazira (Gujarat), January 19

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the Armoured Systems Complex of Larsen and Toubro in Gujarat, the first private facility in the country where the K9 Vajra self-propelled Howitzer guns will be manufactured.

L&T had in 2017 won the Rs 4,500-crore contract from the Ministry of Defence to supply 100 units of K9 Vajra-T 155 mm/52 calibre tracked self-propelled gun systems to the Indian Army under the Centre’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.

The company has set up the Armoured Systems Complex at Hazira, around 30 km from Surat, to manufacture and integrate advanced armoured platforms, such as self-propelled artillery Howitzers, future infantry combat vehicles, future-ready combat vehicles and future main battle tanks.

The manufacturing complex is executing the ‘K9 Vajra-T 155 mm/52-caliber tracked self-propelled Howitzer guns’ programme.

K9 Vajra contract involves delivery of 100 such systems in 42 months, which is the largest contract awarded to a private company by the Ministry of Defence.

L&T had signed a transfer of technology contract for guns with South Korean company Hanwha Corporation.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was also present at the inauguration Saturday. PTI

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 17

Six months after Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa spoke about using a blend of biofuel with aviation turbine fuel (ATF) for planes, the Indian Air Force today said it will fly an AN-32 transport aircraft on blended fuel over Rajpath at the forthcoming Republic Day Parade.

Two days ago, the Union Agriculture Ministry conducted a day-long seminar in Mohali, Punjab, to tell farmers how non-edible crops are needed to produce the biofuel.

At the flypast, the lead aircraft of the three-plane AN-32 formation will be flown using a blend of bio-fuel and ATF. It will be piloted by Squadron Leader Mehtab Sond of the Aircraft Systems Testing Establishment.

It will be a blend of ATF and 10 per cent bio-fuel extracted from jatropha plant seeds using a technology patented by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun, the IAF said.

The IAF initiative is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to reduce crude oil import and dependency by 10 per cent by 2021.

HAL copter succeeds in firing missile

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s indigenous Light Combat Helicopter has achieved a milestone by successfully firing a missile at a moving target
• HAL Chairman R Madhavan said it was the first time in the country that a helicopter carried out air-to-air missile engagement. With this, the LCH is ready for induction