India puts up 'Death Trap' at border, Pak sees RED

The three-tier border fencing along the Line of Control has turned into a ‘death trap’ for infiltrating militants, leading to desperation among militant ranks and repeated firings on Indian posts from across the border, the army has said.

"It is impossible for infiltrating militants to cross over the three-tiered border fencing along the LoC. There is desperation in militant leadership and the Pakistani establishment due to failure to cross over the fencing," said Brigadier A Sengupta.

Commanding the front brigade deployed to guard the LoC in forward sectors, Sengupta said, "There is firing on the fencing at times from across due to desperation caused as a result of failure to push in armed militants this side. They are violating the ceasefire, targeting Indian forward posts and resorting to mortar firing".

Armed with thermal imagers and surveillance equipment, the fencing from Malu (Akhnoor) in Jammu district to Kanzalwan in Kupwara district of Kashmir Valley -- covering 490 km of LoC and 190 km of the International Border from Malu to Pathankote in Punjab -- has become a major hurdle for infiltrating militants.

As per intelligence reports, there are over 300 militants waiting across the LoC to infiltrate for the past three to four months, but they are unable to cross over due to fencing and increased vigilance by troops and ground surveillance equipment, the army officer said.

"They fire on posts to force jawans to keep their movement restricted to posts so that they can try and engineer infiltration of militants," he said.

"Not even a single infiltration has taken place this year in this sector. All infiltration bids have been foiled," said Major General V P Singh, who is looking after operational control of the 220-km long LoC in Rajouri-Poonch region.

Army feels the border fencing along the Indo-Pak border has virtually turned into a death trap for ultras, as 28 infiltrating militants were killed when troops foiled bids this year.

Passing through dense woods, narrow valleys and riverine areas along the LoC and the international border, the fence has proved to be a major deterrent against cross-border infiltration, as it acts as a "round-the-clock" guard, the army officers said.

"The army continues to maintain a state of high alert along the LoC and work on repairing damaged parts of the fence. That continues to make this round-the-clock guard more effective," they said.

The army has also mapped new probable routes of infiltration and vigilance is being maintained by soldiers equipped with ground sensors, thermal imagers and battlefield surveillance radars, they said.

The Line of Control and International Border in Poonch sector and Jammu frontier have become active with Pakistani troops violating the ceasefire and repeatedly attacking forward posts.

Six jawans were killed and 11 people injured in ceasefire violations and firing by Pakistan troops on forward posts, civilian areas and patrolling parties along the Indo-Pak border during August.

People living along the LoC are relaxed as the fencing has brought down infiltration.

"Earlier, militants used to stay in their houses, take food at gunpoint and misbehave with their womenfolk," they said, adding, "Now, border dwellers are fully supporting the army against infiltrating militants".

According to intelligence reports, of the 1,300-1,450 militants set to be pushed into India, over 1,000 were in 21 camps and launching pads along the LoC and 450 in four bases along the IB.

These included Bagh, Kahuta, Hazira, Goi, Jandro, Nikia, Sensa, Mirpur, Khuiratta, Saman, Zafarwal and Sialkote forward, it said.

The launching pads are at Bhimber, Bindi, Samani, Marar, Shakergarh, Dhallapur, Manana, Nikial, Goi, Sensa, Hajira, Ralaur and Garnun opposite Kathua in Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch sector.

Nearly 300 militants are in Chirat-Kahuta-Goi area and 150-155 in Sensa-Kotli-Nakial belt opposite Poonch.

India Issues Global Tender for Maritime Recon Planes

India is on a global hunt to procure nine medium range maritime reconnaissance (MRMR) aircraft equipped with anti-ship missiles.

The tender, worth more than $2 billion, was sent to overseas defense majors Alenia of Italy; US-based Boeing and Lockheed Martin; Saab of Sweden; Germany’s EADS, France-based Dassault; Embraer of Brazil and Bombardier of Canada.

The latest global tender is a rebid of tender floated in 2008 to buy six MRMR aircraft. That was withdrawn later because none of the vendors could meet the qualitative requirements of the tender.

In the latest tender, the nine MRMR aircraft will replace the Indian Navy’s Islanders (BN-21A) surveillance aircraft, which were used for coastal surveillance for many decades. The Islander aircraft, bought in 1976, will be given to the Coast Guard or could even be gifted to foreign countries,said an Indian Defence Ministry source. India has already donated two Islander aircraft to Myanmar.

The MRMR should have an endurance of about four hours and a range of about 400 nautical miles. Indian Navy sources said the range was lowered from the earlier planned range of 500 nautical miles and endurance of six hours. No reason for this dilution is known.

The current procurement is in addition to the purchase of 12 long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft purchased from Boeing on a government-to-government basis for more than $3 billion. Eight P-8I Poseidons were contracted in January 2009 for $2.1 billion and another four P-8Is were contracted last month for more than $1 billion.

The latest tender requires the MRMR to be equipped with anti-ship missiles, and is not specific on the supply of anti-submarine missiles, which would require bigger aircraft, said an executive of an overseas company who refused to be identified. In addition, the tender requires the supply of spares along with two engines.

The MRMR must be able to perform maritime reconnaissance, anti-surface warfare, electronic intelligence, electronic support measures, communication intelligence, search-and-rescue and medical evacuation.

The MRMR aircraft needs to be powered by two engines, which the tender says should be of current production generation and have full authority digital engine control system. The overseas defense company executive said the engine requirement is not very clear as the price of an aircraft could vary on the choice of the engine.

On weapons capabilities, the MRMR needs to have detection-and-tracking capability against air targets. The aircraft must also carry and launch at least two anti-ship missiles on surface vessels at ranges of at least 100 kilometers.

On its surveillance capabilities, the aircraft should be able to track up to 200 surface targets automatically.

The MRMR will be used in tropical conditions prevailing in the Indian Ocean region. As such the aircraft and its engines and all other systems should be optimized for prolonged operations over salt-laden seas.

India's first defence satellite GSAT-7 launched successfully

India's first exclusive defence satellite GSAT-7 was successfully launched by European space consortium Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou spaceport in French Guiana on Friday, giving a major push to the country's maritime security.

Indian Navy would be the user of the multi-band home-built communication spacecraft, expected to be operational by September end.

The Rs 185-crore GSAT-7, the country's maiden dedicated spacecraft for defence applications, was launched during a 50-minute launch window which started at 2am, and it was telecast live by Doordarshan.

After a flight of almost 34 minutes, the satellite was injected into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) of 249 km perigee (nearest point to earth), 35,929 km apogee (farthest point to earth) and an inclination of 3.5 degree with respect to the equator.

During August 31-September 4, three orbit-raising operations will be performed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to place the satellite into geostationary orbit of 36,000 km above the equator.

By September 14, GSAT-7 is planned to be positioned in its orbital slot of 74 deg East longitude and subsequently the satellite's communication transponders will be switched on.

The frequency bands of GSAT-7 will help space-based marine communications. It has coverage over India landmass as well as surrounding seas.

"It's important from security and surveillance points of view", an ISRO official said.

According to a senior space scientist, so far the Navy had limitation from line of sight and ionospheric effects, among others, as far as space-based communications were concerned.

It was thought essential to have an integrated platform for the Navy's exclusive use.

Earlier, satellite communication in ships was through Inmarsat, a major provider of global mobile satellite communications services.

The state-of-the-art satellite carrying payloads operating in UHF, S, C and Ku bands, had a lift-off mass of 2625 kg and is based on ISRO's 2500 kg satellite bus with some new technological elements, including the antennae.

According to ISRO, GSAT-7 is an advanced communication satellite to provide wide range of service spectrum from low bit rate voice to high bit rate data communication. Its payload is designed to provide communication capabilities to users over a wide oceanic region including the Indian land-mass.

The launch cost for ISRO is around Rs 470 crore, including insurance.

ISRO cannot launch heavy satellites like GSAT-7 as its home-grown GSLV rocket, with indigenous cryogenic stage, is still at works and needs two successful flights before it is declared operational.

In addition to GSAT-7, the Ariane 5 orbited another spacecraft EUTELSAT 25B/Es'hail.

EUTELSAT 25B/Es'hail 1 - which rode in the top position of the Ariane 5 payload "stack" - separated first, some 27 minutes after liftoff.

At approximately 34 minutes into the flight, the lower passenger - GSAT-7 - was deployed, completing the mission.

Indian ambassador to France, Arun Singh and director of Bangalore-based ISRO Satellite Centre, S K Shivakumar, were among those who witnessed the launch.

Singh said the launch event is also a reflection of strategic partnership between India and France.

Shivakumar said GSAT-7 would be operational by next month-end.

Air-launch BrahMos to fly late this year

The air-launched version of the Russian-Indian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile will have its first flight before the end of 2013, according to BrahMos Aerospace managing director A Sivathanu Pillai.

It will be carried by a SU-30MKI fighter that will conduct captive carry and drop tests before attempting the first powered test launch in mid-2014.

The basic surface- and submarine-launched missile has now completed 36 successful test flights, so the test programme for the new variant will be fast-paced. The system is due to enter Indian Air Force service in 2015.

India to replace bursting tank barrels in 1,500 crore deal

Seeking to address the issue of bursting barrels of Army tanks due to ammunition, the government is planning to replace them with canons of T-90 tanks in collaboration with Russia.

T-72 tanks, the mainstay of the Indian armoured fleet, are facing problems with their ammunition as they sometimes bursts in the barrel and 200 such cases have been reported causing concern in the Army.

The Defence Ministry is planning to replace the barrels of the T-72 tanks with the ones fitted in the T-90 tanks.

Under the plan, around 800 barrels are to be procured from Russia under a deal expected to be worth around Rs 1,500 crore, government sources told PTI here.

The issue is expected to be taken up for discussion during the high-level talks between India and Russia during the visit of Defence Secretary Radha Kant Mathur to Moscow next week, they said.

Earlier this year, the Army told a Parliamentary panel that barrels burst sometimes due to ammunition and wondered whether its troops will be "afraid" to fire even after seeing the enemy.

"It (the T-72 ammunition) used to burst in the barrel. If it bursts in the barrel, then the firer is afraid to fire his own gun, which is not a correct thing. If he is afraid to fire his own gun, then even if he sees the enemy he will not fire," the Army had told the Standing Committee on Defence.

The Army informed the government and the Parliamentary Committee that over a period of time, there have been 200 such accidents involving the ammunition and "it brings down the confidence of the firer, especially, with regard to tank ammunition".

In terms of the numbers, the T-72 tanks are the backbone of the Indian armoured fleet and have undergone several upgrades since their induction to be able to fight effectively in the battlefield.

GSLV flight with indigenous cryogenic engine only in Dec: ISRO

The flight-test of GSLV with indigenous cryogenic engine, called off ten days ago following a leak in the second stage of the rocket, is now expected to take place only in December, Indian Space Research Organisation said on Wednesday.

ISRO has started the process of de-stacking the rocket and the second stage would be shifted to Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), a facility of the space agency located at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu, for an investigation into the cause of the leakage.

The launch of the GSLV-D5, scheduled for 1650 hrs on August 19 from the Sriharikota spaceport was called off, as a leak was observed in the UH25 fuel system of the liquid second stage during the pre-launch pressurisation phase on the vehicle just two hours before the scheduled lift-off.

The propellants were later drained from the cryogenic stage, liquid second stage and the four liquid Strap-ons of GSLV-D5. The rocket was moved back to the vehicle assembly building.

An ISRO official told PTI in Bangalore on Wednesday that the first and third stage of GSLV would be “preserved” while the second stage would have be built again, a process which has already started.

ISRO would be busy with the Mars Orbiter mission in the next two months. “We can expect the GSLV flight in December”, the official said.

ISRO has drawn flak from some quarters for using an “old tank” for the second stage as the materials used for building it were “prone for delayed cracks”. It was said have been delivered to ISRO four-years ago and was to be the last in the series of the kind that ISRO planned to use.

A senior space scientist called it a “gross error of judgement” on the part of ISRO which obviously seemed to focus more on the third (cryogenic) stage, as the first two were a “given” as it’s similar to the proven PSLV, the workhorse launcher.

GSLV is a three stage vehicle that is 49 metre tall, with 414 tonne lift-off weight. First stage comprises S125 solid booster with four liquid (L40) strap-ons. Second stage (GS2) is liquid engine and the third stage (GS3) is a cryostage.

The final/third stage of GSLV is the cryogenic stage, which is more efficient compared to the liquid stage in PSLV.

This means that the thrust developed by burning each kg of propellant is higher in cryo engine, hence can place larger payloads with higher weight into orbit.

“Cryo stage as final stage is hence essential for a launcher with higher payload capacity”, an ISRO official said.

PSLV is capable of launching 1600 kg satellites in 620 km sun-synchronous polar orbit and 1050 kg satellite in geo-synchronous transfer orbit (GTO).

“This poses a serious limitation on launching communication satellites which are heavier. The GSLV will be capable of launching satellites which are 2000 kg-2500kg which matches with the GSAT class of Communication satellites”, it was noted.

Currently, India is forced to outsource the launch services from abroad which are not a cost effective solution. The establishment of a proven GSLV launcher is the need of the hour. The successful development of indigenous cryo stage will boost India’s confidence in terms of its self-reliance in the launch capability, ISRO officials said.

Russia to deliver six Mig-29k warplanes to India

Russia is set to deliver six more jet fighters of 4++ generation this year to Indian Air Force as per a deal with New Delhi, the MIG aircraft corporation said Wednesday.

“India currently exploits 21 aircrafts. In line with a contract, we must deliver 29 planes by 2015. Last year, we’ve delivered four planes. This year, we’ve delivered one plane and six aircrafts remain to be delivered,” MIG’s director general Sergei Korotkov told reporters at the MAKS air show, Xinhua reported. 

The six-day MAKS show kicked off in Zhukovsky city outside Moscow Tuesday. MIG signed a $1.5 billion deal with India in 2010 to deliver 29 MIG-29K-KUB warplanes.

This is the second such contract between the Russian aircraft construction corporation and New Delhi. The first deal to supply India with 16 MIGs-29 was signed in 2004 and completed in 2011.

During MAKS, the Russian corporation also signed two deals worth $55 million to build a centre in India to service MIG’s avionics and hardware, the corporation’s spokesperson Elena Fedorova said.

MIG’s partner in those deals is Basant Aerospace Private Ltd, she added.

MIG commenced production of new unified family of multi-role fighters of the 4++ generation in 2005.

The double-seat MIG-29K-KUB is a multi-role fighter intended for air-defence missions of naval forces, air superiority gaining, sea and ground target destruction with high precision guided weapons day and night and in any weather condition.