Testing the Abhyas HEAT
HSTDV flight tested
DRDO successfully demonstrated hypersonic air-breathing scramjet technology with the flight test of a Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle ( HSTDV) from Wheeler Island, off the coast of Odisha on 7 September 2020.
The hypersonic cruise vehicle uses a solid rocket motor, boosting it to an altitude of 30 kilometres, where the aerodynamic heat shields separate at hypersonic Mach number. The cruise vehicle separated from the launch vehicle and the air intake opened as planned, the hypersonic combustion sustained and cruise vehicle continued on its desired flight path at a velocity of Mach 6, demonstrating critical systems including fuel injection and auto ignition of scramjet.
NAMICA is launched
Asuccessful flight test of the Abhyas, High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT), was conducted by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from the Interim Test Range, Balasore in Odisha on 22 September. During the trials, two demonstrator vehicles were successfully test flown.
Laser Guided ATGM test-fired
ALaser Guided Anti- Tank Guided Missile ( ATGM) was successfully test fired from a Arjun Tank at KK Ranges, Armoured Corps Centre and School (ACC&S) Ahmednagar on 22 September. In these tests, the ATGM successfully engaged a target located at 3 km. The missile employs a tandem HEAT warhead to defeat Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA) protected armoured vehicles. It has been developed with multiple-platform launch capability and is currently undergoing technical evaluation trials from gun of MBT Arjun.
The Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE) Pune in association with High Energy Materials Research Laboratory ( HEMRL) Pune, and Instruments Research & Development Establishment (IRDE) Dehra Dun have developed the missile.
CARACAL International commitment to ‘Make in India’
Hamad Al Ameri, Chief Executive Officer, CARACAL, has reiterated their commitment to the ‘Make in India’ initiative: “with strong bilateral ties between our two nations, and with India being a key market for CARACAL, we remain on standby to supply the product to the customer upon instruction.” CARACAL is part of the Missiles & Weapons cluster within EDGE, an advanced technology group for defence and beyond, and has wholly owned subsidiaries in Germany and the USA.
LONGBOW FCR for Indian Army AH-64Es
The US Administration has recently awarded LONGBOW Limited Liability Company (LBL), a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Nothrop Grumman, four Foreign Military Sales contracts to provide the AH-64E Apache helicopter with AN/APG78 LONGBOW Fire Control Radar (FCR) to the Indian Army and also Morocco, Netherlands and the UAE. The LONGBOW customer base now includes 16 foreign militaries and 14 nations. The UAE is updating from AH-64D to the AH-64E variant.
“Corporatisation” of OFB
Consequent to the decision of the Government to convert Ordnance Factory Board ( OFB) into one or more fully Government- owned corporate entities, the Government has
Rolls-Royce has celebrated the tenth anniversary of its Engineering and Research Centre (EARC), established at Pune in 2010. The entire MTU Series 1600 of engines has now been transferred to India with full product responsibility. The Engineering and Research Centre Pune is Power Systems’ largest development site after Friedrichshafen in southern Germany (where the erstwhile Dornier GmbH had their headquarters).
Since its inception, the Power Systems Engineering and Research Centre has contributed to several significant global R&D projects including the development of environmentally friendly engines and Rolls-Royce’s first-ever high-speed gas mobile gas mobile engine for commercial marine.
ATDS Maareech facility
On 10 August 2020, the Defence Minister inaugurated, through video conference, the upgraded state- of- theart Maareech Integration Facility. This fully indigenous system involves sensors and decoys developed jointly by DRDO labs, Naval Physical & Oceanographic Laboratory ( NPOL) and Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) and productionised by BEL. Two production grade systems manufactured by BEL
On 13 August Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched a number of BEML’s indigenously designed & developed products including the BH150E Dump Truck; BE1800E Electrical Excavator; BD50HST Heli-Portable Dozer and Medium Bullet Proof Vehicle Gaur (MBPV). The launch ceremony was done virtually in the presence of Secretary Defence and Secretary Defence Production) among others.