DEFENCE:

• Outcomes of recently held Defexpo.
• FDI in Defence Sector.
• Budget Allocated for Defence Products Manufactured in the Country.
• Procurement of Defence Equipment from Vendors.
• Efforts to Boost Defence Sector.
• Defence Exports.
• Joint Air Exercise with Myanmar.
• Import of Defence Equipment.
• DAC paves way for procurement of 83 indigenous Tejas fighter aircraft for IAF.
• Rs 880 crore contract for Light Machine Guns with Israeli firm.
• Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh unveils draft of Defence Procurement Procedure 2020.
• Armed Forces in the Fight against COVID-19.
• Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh & US Defence Secretary Dr Mark T Esper review bilateral defence co-operation.
• Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh reviews Ministry of Defence action plan to deal with COVID-19.

International Terrorism:

Turkey

• Hezbollah’s key terrorist arrested from eastern Turkey.

Africa

• Somalia- Al-Shabaab attacked base hosting US Embassy in Mogadishu;
• Al-Shabaab commander killed in airstrike in Southern Somalia.
• Nigeria- Terrorists killed 70 soldiers in ambush on convoy in Borno state
• Niger- Security forces killed 50 Boko Haram terrorists in Diffa region.

Afghanistan

• IS-KP terrorist killed 25 people in Gurdwara attack in Kabul.

Domestic Terrorism:

Jammu and Kashmir

• Security forces killed two LeT terrorists in Shopian;
• Three JeM associates arrested from Budgam.

Left-Wing Extremism

• 17 policemen were killed in a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh;
• Three Maoist ‘couriers’ arrested from Telangana.

Khalistan-inspired Extremism

• NIA filed charge sheet against KZF for conspiring terror attacks in India.

Islamist-inspired Extremism (including Islamic State)

• Court extended stay on bail order of IS terrorist Areeb Majid, till 20 April;
• IS urged terrorists to avoid visiting Coronavirus-affected countries.

DEFENCE

Outcomes of recently held Defexpo

The 11th edition of Defexpo was organized from 05-09 February, 2020 in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The theme of the event was “Digital Transformation of Defence”. 856 Domestic and 172 foreign companies/exhibitors respectively participated in Defexpo 2020.

Over 200 partnerships involving Signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs), Transfer of Technology (ToT) and Product launches were concluded during Defexpo 2020. These include 14 MoUs signed at the 5th India-Russia Military Industrial Conference between Russian defence companies and Indian companies under the framework of Inter Government Agreement (IGA) between the two countries. The signing of MoUs/ToTs are a step in the direction to achieve the target of Rs 35,000 crore defence exports target in next 5 years. Government of UP signed 23 MoUs and anticipate an investment of Rs 50,000 crore in the U.P. Defence Corridor. Click here to read....

FDI in Defence Sector

FDI is one of the sources available for the industry to access some of the technologies required to indigenously design, develop and produce the equipment, weapon systems/platforms required for defence. As per the data furnished by 37 companies operating in Defence and Aerospace sector, so far, FDI inflows of over Rs 1,561 crore have been reported in defence and aerospace sector after 2014 under automatic route. Click here to read....

Budget Allocated for Defence Products Manufactured in the Country

The percentage of Contracts to Indian Vendors has increased from 39.06% in 2015-16 to 75.03% in 2019-20.

Procurement of Defence Equipment from Vendors

During the last five years 2015-16 to 2019-20 (upto January, 2020), 158 contracts have been signed with Indian vendors and 100 contracts have been signed with foreign vendors for capital procurement of defence equipment for Armed Forces.

The defence equipment procured from Indian vendors over the last five years includes Helicopters, Radars, Electronic Fuses, Bridges, Ballistic Helmets, Bullet Proof Jackets, TI Sights, Rocket launchers and Vehicles. Click here to read....

Efforts to Boost Defence Sector

The efforts made by Government to boost country’s defence sector during the last two years have been through liberalising Industrial licensing, revising FDI norms, revising DPP for local design and manufacturing, articulating the need for setting up defence corridors and making available test facilities with various SHQ’s and other government institutions.

During the last two years, the Government has signed Agreements on Defence Cooperation with Argentina, Russia, Serbia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Comoros, Jordan, Madagascar, Uganda, Zambia, Saudi Arabia and Finland. Click here to read....

Defence Exports

Various reforms/steps have been taken to enhance Defence exports. These reforms have provided a big boost to defence exports in the recent times. The authorisations for defence exports in the country have grown seven folds in the last two years. Measures taken by the Government to promote Defence Exports can be accessed at Click here to read....

Joint Air Exercise with Myanmar

A Table Top Exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Myanmar Air Force (MAF) was conducted at Prayagraj on the theme of HADR. The objectives of the exercise include planning of HADR operation in a given scenario, learn best practices, executing mission during HADR disasters, understand Search and Rescue Mission procedures etc. The exercise was conducted under the aegis of Headquarters Central Air Command, IAF. 20 member team of IAF participated in the exercise. India and Myanmar have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on defence cooperation on 29th July, 2019 in New Delhi for furtherance of India-Myanmar cooperation in the field of Defence.

The countries with which IAF have conducted exercises during the last three years and the current year include Singapore, USA, UAE, Thailand, Bangladesh, Oman, Israel, Russia, Sri Lanka, Australia, Malaysia, France, UK and Myanmar.

Import of Defence Equipment

An amount of Rs. 45,705.57 crore has been spent on the import of Defence equipment during the year 2018-19.

DAC paves way for procurement of 83 indigenous Tejas fighter aircraft for IAF

The first meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) under the chairmanship of Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh was held with the Acquisition Wing being the Secretariat of the DAC on 18 March 2020. DAC paved the way for procurement of 83 of the more advanced Mk1A version of the aircraft from HAL by finalising the contractual and other issues. The proposal will now be placed for consideration of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). This procurement will be a major boost to 'Make in India' as the aircraft is indigenously designed, developed and manufactured with participation of several local vendors apart from HAL.

The Defence Acquisition Council also accorded approval for acquisition of indigenous Defence equipment for about Rs 1,300 crore. The proposals were for procurement of Aerial Fuses and Twin-Dome Simulators for Hawk Mk32 aircraft for the Indian Air Force.

The DAC in addition also approved an amendment to the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2016 to enable review by a Costing Committee of bids submitted by Joint Ventures of Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs)/Ordnance Factory Board (OFB)/DRDO from whom procurement of Defence items is undertaken on a nomination basis.

Rs 880 crore contract for Light Machine Guns with Israeli firm

The Indian Armed Forces' long-standing requirement of a modern state-of-the-art Light Machine Gun (LMG) has finally fructified. The Acquisition Wing of Ministry of Defence has signed the capital acquisition contract with Israel Weapons Industries for procurement of 16,479 LMGs at a cost of Rs 880 crore with the approval of Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh.

The contracted Negev 7.62X51 mm LMG is a combat proven weapon and currently used by several countries around the globe. This LMG will greatly enhance the lethality and range of a soldier vis-a-vis the presently used weapon.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh unveils draft of Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2020

The DPP 2020 aims at further increasing indigenous manufacturing and reducing timelines for procurement of defence equipment. These and several other such innovative measures were part the Draft finalized by a high-level committee headed by DG Acquisition, Ministry of Defence that was set up in August 2019.

The major changes proposed in the new DPP are:

Indigenous Content ratio hiked: In view of the experience gained by the domestic industry, the Draft proposes increasing the Indigenous Content (IC) stipulated in various categories of procurement by about 10% to support the ‘Make in India’ initiative. A simple and realistic methodology has been incorporated for verification of indigenous content for the first time.

Use of raw materials, special alloys and software incentivised as use of indigenous raw material is a very important aspect of ‘Make in India’ and Indian Companies are world leaders in software.

Assurance of procurement on a single vendor basis from Aero Engine manufacturing unit and chips from FAB manufacturing units established in the country.

New Category Buy (Global – Manufacture in India) has been introduced with minimum 50% indigenous content on cost basis of total contract value. Only the minimum necessary will be bought from abroad while the balance quantities will be manufactured in India. This would be in preference to the ‘Buy Global’ category as manufacturing will happen in India and jobs will be created in the country.

Leasing introduced as a new category. Leasing has been introduced as a new category for acquisition in addition to existing ‘Buy’ & ‘Make’ categories to substitute huge initial capital outlays with periodical rental payments. Leasing is permitted under two categories i.e, Lease (Indian) where Lessor is an Indian entity and is the owner of the assets and Lease (Global) where Lessor is a Global entity. This will be useful for military equipment not used in actual warfare like transport fleets, trainers, simulators, etc.

A new Chapter is introduced for procurement of software and systems related projects as in such projects, obsolescence is very fast due to rapid changes in technology and flexibility in the procurement process is required to keep up with the technology.

A new Chapter is introduced for Post Contract Management to facilitate and provide clear guidelines for issues arising during the contract period as typically Defence contracts last for a long period.

Timelines for procurement reduced by reducing the process for accord of Acceptance of Necessity which would be single stage of projects less than Rs.500 crore and in case of repeat orders. Trial methodology and Quality Assurance Plan to be part of RFP.

Field Evaluation Trials to be conducted by specialised trial wings and the objective of trials will be to nurture competition rather than elimination for minor deficiencies.

A comprehensive Chapter introduced for ‘Make’ to cover procurement from manufacturers in India including start-ups and innovators and from research projects of DRDO.

Product support. The scope and options for Product Support have been widened to include contemporary concepts in vogue, namely Performance Based Logistics (PBL), Life Cycle Support Contract (LCSC), Comprehensive Maintenance Contract (CMC), etc to optimise life cycle support for equipment. The capital acquisition contract would normally also include support for five years beyond the warranty period.

The draft has now been uploaded on the Ministry of Defence (MoD) website (https://mod.gov.in/dod/defence-procurement-procedure) as also the following Click here to read....

Armed Forces in the Fight against COVID-19

Six quarantine facilities run by the Armed Forces are currently operational (27March) at Manesar, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Chennai, Hindan and Mumbai. So far, a total of 1,463 people, including foreigners, evacuated from COVID-19 affected countries have been housed and observed at these centres. Of them, 1,073 persons are presently under quarantine and being provided proper care. These include evacuees from Iran, Italy, Japan and Malaysia, besides the IAF and medical crew. Three hundred ninety evacuees from China, Japan and IAF evacuation flight crew have been discharged following completion of their mandatory quarantine period.

Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) Lt Gen Anup Banerji said, 28 Service Hospitals have been earmarked as COVID hospitals for managing purely Corona virus cases. This will include Armed Forces as well as civilian patients transferred from state health authorities, in case their capacity is overwhelmed. He added that as of now, there are five hospitals across Army, Navy and Air Force which can carry out COVID test. These include Army Hospital Research and Referral, Delhi; Command Hospital Air Force, Bangalore and Armed Forces Medical College, Pune; Command Hospital (Central Command) Lucknow; Command Hospital (Northern Command) Udhampur. Six more hospitals are being equipped shortly with the resources to begin testing. A 14-member team of medical officers and paramedical staff of Army Medical Corps was sent to the Maldives for capacity building measures and assist in setting up their own testing, treatment and quarantine capacities. The team stayed in the Maldives for 10 days and returned back on March 23, 2020. Lt Gen Banerji said, apart from the Maldives, AFMS is ready to dispatch a Rapid response Team to Nepal for assisting them with the COVID situation there. He added that other assistance for other countries will be provided as and when required. Click here to read....

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh & US Defence Secretary Dr Mark T Esper review bilateral defence co-operation

Raksha Mantri held a telephonic conversation with his United States counterpart Secretary of Defence Dr Mark T Esper this evening. The two Defence Ministers reviewed the progress in bilateral and multilateral defence co-operation and agreed to expand military-to-military engagements and defence trade & industry as part of India-US comprehensive global strategic partnership.Click here to read....

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh reviews Ministry of Defence action plan to deal with COVID-19

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh held a review meeting with senior officials of Ministry of Defence (MoD) on the action plan of the Ministry to deal with the COVID-19 situation, here today. During the meeting, Raksha Mantri expressed appreciation on the proactive role played by the Armed Forces and various departments of MoD in evacuating Indian nationals as well as foreigners from COVID-19 affected countries and ensuring them proper care at various quarantine facilities.

The Indian Air Force has made several sorties and evacuated Indian nationals from affected areas in China, Japan and Iran. Various quarantine facilities of the Armed Forces have, so far, handled 1,462 evacuees and discharged 389. Presently, 1,073 persons are being provided care at the facilities in Manesar, Hindan, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Mumbai. Additional quarantine facilities are on standby with 950 beds capacity.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratories have manufactured 20,000 litres of sanitizer, 10,000 masks and are tying up with some private companies to make personal protection equipment such as body suits and also ventilators.

Army medical teams deployed in the Maldives have since returned after completion of their mission. Army medical teams and two ships of Navy are on standby to provide required assistance to friendly countries in the neighbourhood. Click here to read....

INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM

Turkey

Hezbollah’s key terrorist arrested from eastern Turkey

On 25 March, Turkish security forces arrested a convicted terrorist of Hezbollah identified with its initials— Y.Y, from the city of Mus in eastern Turkey. Y.Y was hiding from last 20 years and was sentenced in absentia to six years and three months in prison. Notably, the Hezbollah group, founded in 1980s, is not affiliated with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and it is often referred as “Turkish Hezbollah” or “Kurdish Hezbollah”. Click here to read....

Africa

Somalia

Al-Shabaab attacked base hosting US Embassy in Mogadishu

Al-Shabaab terrorists, on 18 March, fired five mortar shells on Halane Basecamp which is host the United States Embassy in Mogadishu. The basecamp also hosts the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), United Nations and other international partners’ offices. Strategically, the base neighbours Aden Abdulle International Airport. “The attack by al-Shabaab shall not diminish AMISOM’s resolve to carry out its important mandate to drive out the terrorists and bring lasting peace and security in Somalia”, said the AMISOM Spokesperson— Lt Col Charles Okongo. Click here to read....

Al-Shabaab commander killed in airstrike in Southern Somalia

In a State report release last week (mid-March), it has been confirmed that al-Shabaab’s senior commander Bashir Mohamed Qorgab was killed in an airstrike on 22 February 2020 in Sakow, a town in Somalia. The family confirmed the report of his death. Qorgab was in charge of attacks on military bases and an operational commander in Kenya. Click here to read....

Nigeria

Terrorists killed 70 soldiers in ambush on convoy in Borno state

O 23 March, terrorists attacked on a security forces convoy and killed 70 Nigerian soldiers near Gorgi village in Borno state. In the attack, terrorists fired RPGs (Rocket-Propelled Grenades) on convoy carrying soldiers and killed all onboard. In the conflict between the terrorist groups and the government, 36,000 people have been killed and 1.8 million were displaced in the North-East of Nigeria. Click here to read....

Niger

Security forces killed 50 Boko Haram terrorists in Diffa region

On 15 March, heavily armed Boko Haram terrorists in 20 vehicles attacked a military camp in Toummour in Diffa region in South-East Niger. The spontaneous response from the security forces led to a gun-battle in which 50 Boko Haram terrorists were killed. After the attack, the reinforcement unit of the army special intervention battalion pursued the terrorists to its base on the shores of the Lake Chad. The Niger Army arrested several terrorists and seized weapons and two vehicles. Click here to read....

Afghanistan

IS-KP terrorists killed 25 people in Gurdwara attack in Kabul

On 25 March 2020, IS-KP (Islamic State-Khorasan Province) terrorists attacked on Gurdwara (Sikh temple) and killed 25 people, in Shor Bazaar in Kabul, Afghanistan. In a statement, Islamic State claimed the responsibility of the attack, saying it was a “revenge for India’s treatment of Muslims in its portion of Kashmir and threatening further attacks”. In a prompt response to the attack, Afghan security forces killed all terrorists and rescued 80 people from the seized complex. Click here to read....

DOMESTIC TERRORISM

Jammu and Kashmir

Security forces killed two LeT terrorists in Shopian

On 09 March, the security forces killed two terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in a gun-battle in Khojpora village in Reban area in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Acting upon intelligence inputs, the security forces carried out Cordon And Search Operation (CASO) in the area on 08-09 March in the village. The hiding terrorists fired on the patrolling party and engaged in the exchange of fire. Both terrorists— Shabir Ahmad Malik aka Abu Maviya, and Amir Ahmad Dar were killed. Click here to read....

Three JeM associates arrested from Budgam

On 11 March, security forces arrested three associates of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), identified as Dilawar Sofi, and Sameer Yusuf; whereas the identity of third associate was undisclosed as he is a minor. The trio were accused of providing shelter and other support to JeM terrorists and were arrested from Budgam district in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Click here to read....

Left-Wing Extremism

17 policemen were killed in a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh

On 21 March, Maoists attacked on the State police force and killed 17 policemen and injured 14 others, near Elmaguda village in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh. During the search operation conducted next day, bodies of 17 policemen were recovered, said Superintendent of Police (SP) in Sukma— Shalbh Sinha. Click here to read....

Three Maoist ‘couriers’ arrested from Telangana

On 16 March, Telangana police arrested three Maoist ‘couriers’— MadakamBhima, MadakamAnda, and MadakamMalla, from Enkoor in Khammam district in Telangana. All three belong to TimirigudemUsoor block of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh. According to police, the trio joined the Maoists in the year 2008. Bhima was Grama Rakshana Dalam member, Anda and Malla were members of Dandakaranya Adivasi KisanMazdoorSanghatan. They used to supply goods to Maoists and provide shelter when the Maoist visited villages. Click here to read....

Khalistan-inspired Extremism

NIA filed charge sheet against KZF for conspiring terror attacks in India

On 18 March, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed the charge sheet against nine operatives of Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) for their alleged involvement in conspiring terror attacks in India, including dropping of arms and ammunitions in Punjab via drone. The accused were charged with provisions of the IPC (Indian Penal Code), Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UA(P)A], the Arms Act, and the Explosive Substances Act [ESA]. The accused were named in charge sheet are: Akashdeep Singh (21 years-old), Balwant Singh (48), Harbhajan Singh (65) , Balbir Singh (70), Maan Singh (43), Gurdev Singh (40), Shubhdeep Singh (21), Sajanpreet Singh (22) and Romandeep Singh (20).
Click here to read....

Islamist-inspired Extremism (including Islamic State)

Court extended stay on bail order of IS terrorist Areeb Majid, till 20 April

In the wake of worldwide pandemic caused by Coronavirus aka Wuhanvirus, the Bombay High Court extended stay on the bail order of Islamic State (IS) terrorist and India’s first returnee— Areeb Majeed, till 20 April 2020. AreebMajeed, who was accused of travelling to IS-controlled territory in Iraq in 2014, was granted bail by the Special NIA (National Investigation Agency) court on 17 March 2020. On 26 March, the NIA sought an urgent hearing before the Bombay High Court in this matter. The agency pleaded that a stay on execution on the bail shall be extended. Click here to read....

IS urged terrorists to avoid visiting Coronavirus-affected countries

In their latest newsletter— Al-Naba, the Islamic State (IS) has urged its terrorists to avoid travelling to Coronavirus-affected countries, and to wash hands multiple times a day, even when wake in the middle of night. The newsletter also suggests that one must avoid sneezing out in the open and cover their nose and mouths while sneezing, much on the lines of guidelines issued by health experts across the world. Click here to read....