Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 29

The Amritsar Improvement Trust will approach the Ministry of Defence to lift the objection raised by the Army on a pillar of the railway overbridge (ROB) at Vallah railway crossing. Improvement Trust Chairman Dinesh Bassi said a delegation of the trust, led by MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, will visit the Defence Ministry office to lift the objection.

A minor portion of the ROB at the Vallah side falls in the no-construction zone.

Even as the construction of the railway overbridge is underway but it will not complete until the Army gives its approval. The Army in a communiqué to the Improvement Trust had directed it to stop the construction of a pillar of the ROB as it fell within the no-construction zone of the ammunition dump at Vallah in January.

As per the notification issued on November 11, 2004, any construction in 1,000 yards parapet of the ammunition dump is prohibited.

The Improvement Trust had applied for the NOC from the Defence authorities but it did not receive encouraging response.

Bassi stated that it was mentioned that the ROB was being raised in the larger interest of the public to provide them smooth movement and remove traffic congestion.

Almost all pier caps have been constructed on both sides of the ROB which will have a span of about 800 meters. Once completed it will be the maiden bowstring shape ROB in the entire city.

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 26

His body reached us first and then his letter which he had written three days before he was martyred. He was only 26!” shared Bhai Kirpal Singh, father of Shaheed Daljit Singh who was martyred on July 11 in 1999. On the 21st anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas, the father remembered how in the letter he had asked his wife to take care of the family as anything could happen to him in the war.

“He was not well and had come home on sick leave. When the war broke, he insisted on going back even though I asked him not to. I accompanied him to the Jammu railway station and then asked him where to go now. Daljit then said I must go back as what others will think of him when they will see a sepoy has come with his father,” Kirpal Singh shared and stopped talking as he was choked with emotion. After a pause, he started again and said, “He hugged me and took my blessings. I took another train, and my son left, but he never looked back even though I was looking at him until the time train left the station. That was the last time I saw him,” said an emotional father.

Shaheed Daljit Singh’s brother Kuldeep Singh said, “I was 23 when he was martyred and we always looked up to him. Now his only daughter has moved to Canada on a study basis.”

Kargil Vijay Diwas was celebrated on Sunday at War Memorial by the Kashyap Naujawan Dharmik Sabha where only three families of the martyrs were invited because of the pandemic and they were honoured by the sabha. Kuldeep Singh said even though the situation was not favourable because of the pandemic, he did not want to miss the opportunity to pay tributes to his brother. “For the past 21 years, the Kashyap Naujawan Dharmik Sabha has been organising events on every July 26 in the city to remember the martyrs who laid down their lives for the country.

Sharing the journey, Pawan Kumar, president of the sabha, said they first started organising the event in a mohalla and then they started holding it in palaces.

The president said, “When he is asked why he gets so emotional for the families of the martyrs, though nobody from his own home was in the Army or has remained a freedom fighter, he replies that whosoever sacrificed their lives for the country were his family members.

“I always noticed that people used to have posters and calendars with pictures of film stars on them, instead of freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for the country. And then the Kargil War happened and several reports of those martyrs who lost their lives started coming,” shared Kumar, adding that then he decided to reach out to those people who had lost their kin. “Every year, we invite the families of the martyrs — not only of the Kargil War martyrs, but of all those who laid their lives in different wars. They have become my family,” said Pawan Kumar.

Spirit of bravery, sacrifice palpable in Mukerian

Interestingly, walk into the interiors of Mukerian tehsil in Hoshiarpur and the spirit of bravery and sacrifice is palpable. Gates and schools of otherwise nondescript villages here stand out as a testament to the sacrifice of those who laid down their lives in the Kargil war, which lasted a little over two months, ended on July 26, 1999. As many as 13 young jawans, all in their 20s, from villages in the tehsil had laid down their lives in the war. Nangal Bihala, Repur, Nangal Bailankhan, Bhadiaran Di Kuda, Bhambotara and Tohlu villages all lost a brave man to the war.

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 29

An Army porter was killed in a ceasefire violation in the Uri sector in Baramulla district on Wednesday, the Army said.

The Army said a porter was killed when Pakistan initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation along the Line of Control in the Uri sector by firing mortars and other weapons on Wednesday afternoon.

“One Army porter, who was injured in the ceasefire violation, succumbed to injuries,” an Army statement said.

The Army said befitting response was given to the Pakistani firing.

Sources identified the slain porter as Mohammed Altaf Jeendar, resident of Gohallan, Uri.

There has been an increase in ceasefire violations along the Line of Control in Kashmir this year.

The Army said the firing from across the border was mainly aimed at helping the infiltrators to sneak into the Valley.

New Delhi, July 29

The touchdown of five Rafale jets on Indian soil on Wednesday caps years of intense political dogfight, with the ruling BJP projecting the purchase as a huge boost to national security and the Congress alleging corruption, before a clean chit by the Supreme Court to the deal removed any hurdle in its acquisition.

Senior BJP leaders were jubilant as the multirole combat jets arrived at the Ambala Air Base, but this denouement marked by celebrations follows a long saga of political fights, with detractors of the deal taking their battle to the apex court and losing it there.

Even the Supreme Court’s dismissal in December 2018 of PILs demanding a court-monitored probe into the Rs 59,000 crore purchase of 36 fighter jets and assertion that it found nothing wrong in the deal, could not douse the political fire as the then Congress president Rahul Gandhi made his allegations of graft in the transaction a poll issue in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the opposition of compromising national interest by making “baseless” corruption charges and asserted that the French aircraft will bolster Indian Air Force capabilities manifold in a hostile neighbourhood.

Most political observers believe that Gandhi’s charges did not find much traction with voters as the saffron alliance retained power at the Centre with a bigger mandate, taking the wind out of the opposition’s sails in its campaign against the deal.

His diatribe against the prime minister with slogans like “chowkidar chor hai” (watchman is a thief) ended up boom-ranging, as the Congress was decimated in the elections.

The political row had erupted after the NDA government inked the Rs 59,000-crore deal on September 23, 2016 to procure 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation after a nearly seven-year exercise to procure 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force did not fructify during the Congress-led UPA regime.

The emergency acquisition was made primarily to check the depleting combat capability of the IAF as the number of its fighter squadrons had come down to a worrying 31 against the authorised strength of at least 42.

However, opposition parties, primarily the Congress, accused the Modi government of bypassing the due process and alleged that the cost per aircraft had turned out to be much more than what was being negotiated by the UPA dispensation.

The then Defence Minister Arun Jaitley had asserted amid relentless protests in Parliament by the Congress that in reality the deal signed by the Modi government was 20 per cent cheaper than being negotiated by the UPA.

The government, however, declined to reveal price breakdown of the deal, saying it will compromise national interest by disclosing the details of the aircraft’s security features.A CAG report in February last year also vindicated the government’s position to a large extent, saying it secured a 2.86 per cent cheaper price for the fighter jets than what was negotiated by the UPA regime.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had on December 14, 2018 rejected plea for a probe into the deal, saying there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the Rafale’s procurement.

In November last year, the court rejected pleas for a review of its decision, putting a closure to the political controversy over the deal. PTI

New Delhi, July 29

The Rafale jets, known globally as one the most potent strategic platforms with unmatched capability in carrying out a variety of roles, will significantly bolster India’s air combat capabilities when it is facing hostile neighbours like Pakistan and China, defence experts said on Wednesday.

The timing of induction of the 4.5 generation combat jets assumed significance as it came in the midst of India’s tense border row with China, they said.

Read also: 5 Rafale jets touch down at Ambala airbase

They said the Rafales could be a game-changer for India after all the 36 jets join the Indian Air Force as no aircraft in possession of any country in the neighbourhood will be able to match their superior kinematic performance and powerful electronic warfare systems.

The Rafale jet, which is often compared with the US’ stealth F-35 aircraft and F-22, is able to carry out all combat aviation missions like air superiority and air defence, close air support, in-depth strikes, reconnaissance, anti-ship strikes and nuclear deterrence at varied speed limits of up to 1.8 Mach.

The aircraft proved its unmatched capabilities in air combat missions in Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Iraq and Syria in the last few years. India is the fourth country to have the strategic platform after France, Egypt and Qatar.

The Rafale, manufactured by French defence giant Dassault  Aviation, entered service with the French Navy in 2004 and with the French Air Force in 2006.

According to Dassault Aviation, the aircraft has a whopping 30,000 flight hours in €€€operations.

In comparison to F-35, experts said the Rafale jet is more agile as it has long-endurance to fly at a higher speed while carrying a range of weapons for a longer period of time. However, the F-35 scores much ahead of Rafales in terms of on board avionics and electronic warfare systems.

“It is one of the finest combat aircraft available in the global market. It is much more advanced and lethal then the current fighter aircraft available with China. It is definitely a boost to India’s defence preparedness. The timing of the arrival of the jets is perfect,” said defence expert De Laxman Behera.

When asked about China’s fighter jet J-20, he said it cannot be compared with Rafale as the French manufactured jet is much more potent than the Chinese aircraft.

Former Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major (retd) too echoed Dr Behera’s observations.

“There was no comparison between Rafale and the J-20s. The world does not know about the J-20s. The Rafale jets will give the IAF superior air dominance capability,” the former IAF chief told PTI.

European missile maker MBDA’s Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile, Scalp cruise missile and MICA weapons system will be the mainstay of the weapons package of the Rafale jets.

The Indian Air Force is also in the process of procuring a new generation medium-range modular air-to-ground weapon system Hammer to integrate with the Rafale jets.

The Hammer (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range) is a precision-guided missile developed by French defence major Safran. The missile was originally designed and manufactured for the French Air Force and Navy.

“India will have unmatched air power in the region when it has all the 36 Rafale aircraft. It will be a game changer for India,” said Dr Behera, who is a leading expert at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.

He said both Pakistan and China must have taken note of induction of the fighter jets.

The government on Monday said the delivery of all 36 aircraft will be completed by the end of 2021.

India on Wednesday received its first batch of new multirole combat fighter aircraft in nearly two decades with the arrival of five Rafale jets.

The NDA government had inked a Rs 59,000-crore deal on September 23, 2016 to procure 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation after a nearly seven-year exercise to procure 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force did not fructify during the UPA regime.

The emergency acquisition was made primarily to check the depleting combat capability of the IAF as the number of its fighter squadrons had come down to a worrying 31 against the authorised strength of at least 42.

The fleet, comprising three single seater and two twin seater aircraft, is being inducted into the IAF as part of its Ambala-based No 17 Squadron, also known as the “Golden Arrows”. — PTI

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 29

Around 3 pm when the first lot of Rafale fighter jets touched down at the Indian Air Force base, Ambala, on Wednesday, it marked an incremental increase in the arc of operations and capability to strike.

The five jets, part of the 36 ordered from Dassault Aviation of France, arrived to a rousing welcome. They are the first step to building up the IAF strength to 42 fighter jet squadrons (16-18 jets in each). The IAF currently has 31 squadrons, including five with MiG-21s, which should have been ideally decommissioned by now.

The Indian forces assess a need for 42 squadrons (some 18 planes in each) to tackle a two-front war with Pakistan and China simultaneously. The remaining 31 Rafales will be delivered progressively till May 2023 or over the next 34 months. Also, 20 LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) Tejas will be inducted over the next two years, which will be added to the existing fleet of 20 Tejas fighters.

Besides the Rafales and Tejas, the IAF will be looking for 230 other jets to make good the shortfall.

As an immediate measure, India has gone back to its long-standing military ally Russia to order an additional 33 fighter jets. These will include 21 MiG 29, adding to the existing fleet of 59 jets. The purchase and the upgrade of the existing fleet will cost Rs 7,418 crore ($1billion approx). In addition, New Delhi is buying 12 Sukhoi 30 MKI. India has a sanction from Russia for licensed production of 272 such jets. The additional 12 fighters will meet the immediate shortages and make up for those that have crashed over the past decade.

Will protect territorial integrity

The new capability must be worrying those who want to threaten our territorial integrity. —Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister

A part of the 230-jet requirement will be met by the 83 Tejas Mark1A fighters, which will come with 43 improvements over the existing Tejas. The order is expected to be placed by the end of the year, sources said.

The IAF has expressed an interest to procure another 114 fighter jets under the “strategic partnership” model. In the race for this tender are the Lockheed Martin’s F-21, Boeing’s F/A-18IN, Eurofighter Typhoon, French Dassault’s Rafale, Swedish Saab’s Gripen and Russian MiG-35 and Sukhoi 35. But not much has moved on the procurement front.