Free Republic

The secret undersea weapon Sandeep Unnithan January 17, 2008 Located up the winding shipping channel in Visakhapatnam harbour is a secret, completely enclosed facility known only as the Shipbuilding Centre (SBC). Inside this dry dock, nearly 50m below ground level, is a cylindrical black shape, which is as tall as a two-storey building and at 104 m in length, is longer than the Qutub Minar lying on its side. Technicians working on it confess to a surge of national pride: India’s first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine or SSBN is arguably its greatest engineering project. For over a quarter of a...

NEW DELHI: In what will be the biggest defence deal with US till now, India is now firmly moving ahead to seal the contract for acquiring six C-130J 'Super Hercules' military transport planes for "special operations" at a cost of around $1 billion. Defence ministry sources said the FMS (foreign military sale) contract — a government-to-government arrangement — for the C-130Js will be concluded "soon" since it had been catered for in the ongoing defence budget. "We are closely studying the offer after the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency notified the American Congress in May. The contract will be signed...

Nuclear submarine not a distant dream Josy Joseph Saturday, September 22, 2007 12:29 IST Two-decade project should be ready for sea trial in 2009 NEW DELHI: The defence establishment is making stunning progress in developing its underwater ability to launch nuclear missiles, the most assured means of launching weapons without enemy detection. The development of a nuclear submarine and nuclear-capable missile would result in India joining an exclusive club of five countries. The most potent ability in the nuclear triad — the other two being land and air based nuclear capability — the underwater capability is much closer to realisation...

Russia aims to sell India 40 fighters in Sept -Ifax MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia hopes to sign a contract next month to sell India 40 Sukhoi fighters, the president of the Irkut warplane maker said on Friday, Interfax news agency reported. "We hope to sign a contract in September to deliver another 40 Su-30MKI fighters to India," Irkut president Oleg Demchenko told Interfax. The Su-30MKI is a long-haul Sukhoi fighter specially modified for the Indian air force. Indian officials had said they planned to sign a deal to buy 40 Sukhoi fighters by the end of March. India's air force,...

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the biggest naval wargame to be hosted by India in the Bay of Bengal, a top American military official on Thursday scotched China's fears that the exercise involving US, Australia and Japan was aimed at isolating the communist country. US Navy's Pacific Commander Timothy J Keating observed that Indo-US military ties had become "more robust" but side stepped questions about opposition from the Left parties to the upcoming Malabar exercise, merely saying, "It is what democracy is all about." The four-day Malabar exercise beginning on September 4, which will see the biggest congregation of warships in...

Russia showcases fighter jet developed for Indian Navy 21 Aug, 2007, 1815 hrs IST, PTI ZHUKOVSKY: Russia for the first time showcased the MiG-29K deck-based fighter specially developed for the Indian Navy at the 8th international aerospace show 'MAKS-2007', inaugurated by President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. MiG-29K and its fighter-trainer variant MiG-29KUB, showcased here at the local airbase near Moscow, is part of the USD 1.5 billion Gorshkov aircraft carrier deal and India is also expected to deploy them on the indigenous aircraft carriers under Advanced Air Defence Ship (ADS) project currently at an advanced development stage. MiG-29K is equipped...

According to Subhra Jain, a freelance reporter in New Delhi, she bumped into a very senior Indian Military official in a nightclub in New Delhi. While talking what she came to know will make the rest of the world sit up all night. According to her, Extra Terrestrials have been visiting India and the rest of the world for thousands of years. In recent days most of the super powers have been formally contacted. India is no exception in recent days. ’They always contact through the ground radar stations of the military’, she says. Indian Himalayas and Ladakh (China-India) border...

Monday India celebrates Republic Day - and worries neighbors, especially Pakistan. NEW DELHI – Every Republic Day, India struts its military stuff, dragging out the latest ballistic missiles and tanks and parading the finest soldiers on the subcontinent. But Monday, on this year's anniversary, India has a bit more to strut about. Just five years after US-imposed sanctions turned India and Pakistan into virtual pariah states for their nuclear-weapons tests in 1998, India has emerged as America's "strategic partner" in South Asia. Far more than its alliance with Pakistan to hunt down Al Qaeda and Taliban remnants, America's new relationship...

India to display military might at Republic Day IANS Thursday, January 22, 2004 NEW DELHI: Missiles like the long-range, nuclear-capable Agni-II and sophisticated weapon systems like T-90 tanks and Il-78 air-to-air refuelling aircraft will be among the attractions at this year's Republic Day parade. The parade, held every January 26 to mark India's emergence as a republic in 1950, will also feature the BrahMos, a missile jointly developed by India and Russia, the home-grown Windy 505 fast attack vehicle and a flypast by the indigenously developed advanced light helicopter. "The whole parade is a highlight as it showcases the might...