Previously several Indian Army officials used WhatsApp and other similar applications for sharing information and documents among officials but it was found that almost all the information got leaked into the public domain. Recently in an annual press conference, Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi revealed that during the last round of talks held with China in October 2024, the Indian Army used Sambhav (Secure Army Mobile Bharat Version) smartphones for secure communication.

If we take a look at the design of this device, it looks quite similar to the Google Pixel 6a device. There is a strip kind of camera bar that houses two camera sensors and an LED flash while volume and power buttons are placed on the right side.

It is revealed that around 30,000 Sambhav phones have been given to officers. The handsets used for the project have applications like M-Sigma for messaging and sharing documents, videos, and pictures. It also has numbers of all important functionaries, so that officials don’t need to save the numbers while the Indian Army has also indigenously developed an end-to-end secure mobile ecosystem. The devices work on Jio and Airtel networks and operate on state-of-the-art 5G technology.

As per an Army official statement, “Mobile networks are inherently vulnerable to eavesdropping, putting sensitive information at risk. To counter this, we have developed an end-to-end secure mobile ecosystem that is network-agnostic and offers secure communication on the move. ”

The development of Sambhav smartphones highlights the Army’s focus on dual-use infrastructure and demonstrates the success of civil-military fusion in harnessing emerging technologies.

The post Indian Army Used Sambhav Smartphone To Ensure Secure Communication During Border Talks With China; Device Looks Similar To Pixel 6a appeared first on The Tech Outlook.

In a move to boost Paralympic sport in India, the Indian Army has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) to bring specially abled soldiers into the sport.

As per the MoU, Paralympic sports will be a way to rehabilitate soldiers who are injured or disabled in the line of duty. Moreover, it will inspire specially-abled soldiers to bring glory in sports while helping in the growth of Paralympic sport, infrastructure development and training facilities.

India had won its best haul of 19 medals at the Tokyo Paralympics last year.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Lt. Gen Ravin Khosla, Deputy Chief of Army Staff, and PCI president Deepa Malik.

“This is a great initiative. It is a natural progression for armed forces personnel who by nature are disciplined. For those who, while performing different duties on the line of fire, have disability, there is no better way to rehabilitate them but to bring them into the fold of sport, make them Paralympians. The basic qualities are already there—hard work, dedication, focused approach and once they acquire skills as far as sport is concerned, we will have winners all the way,” Lt. Gen. Khosla said.

“This will begin a new era in Indian Paralympic movement. There is lot of similarity in the journeys of a soldier and a sportsperson. Both sacrifices so much in their personal life to make the country proud. When a soldier becomes an athlete, it is the best combination the world of sport can see. This partnership will help in growth of para sports and win more international medals,” said Malik, who hails from an Army background.

“As part of the project, Army Marksmanship Unit shooting range in Mhow and Army Rowing Node are two centres that will be upgraded to make it disabled friendly,” said PCI secretary general Gursharan Singh at the signing of MoU.

Furthermore, Malik is the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic medal. She will provide technical support for army sportspersons to develop skills and get classified at the international level, said the PCI secretary.

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A top corporate executive claims that the technical staff at Chennai-based Garuda Aerospace has been asked to modify drones for security reasons by the Indian Army.
The army has expressed a significant interest in utilizing Garuda Aerospace’s expertise and technical understanding in the realm of drone technology to deploy drones more successfully in modern combat.

Drone manufacturer Garuda Aerospace is ready to provide knowledge to the Indian Army for the accomplishment of particular missions, such as the identification, destruction, and disruption of transnational organized criminal networks. The former Indian cricket team captain and current captain of the Chennai Super Kings is Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Additionally, he is an honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Parachute Regiment of the Indian Territorial Army.

Demining is a risky operation by its very nature, and the army is continuously looking for ways to improve its effectiveness, speed, and cost. The company began its US $30 million Series A round of investment at a recent valuation of US $250 million.

Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO said “Garuda Aerospace has created significant traction by deploying drones for unique applications to support the Indian Army and now will be using multiple-purpose drones for strategic and tactical operations.”

Jayaprakash claims that this collaboration will enable big businesses like ours to utilize our expertise while also assisting in meeting defense requirements. The businessman went on to say that he was “extremely honored” to serve his country and that he was delighted to offer to provide “Make in India” drones to the military forces that support front-line soldiers.

“Our drones are built with artificial intelligence and technology that has rapid learning,” the speaker stated.

The update would help the army fulfill its duties for the country while adhering to timelines and operational tempo, thus the drone startup has been asked to send a technical team. Garuda Aerospace will examine the practices and offer a recommendation using its “Make in India” drones to decrease the vulnerability of the Indian military and manual laborers engaged.

These drones will assist with logistics and reconnaissance.

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Defence research and Development Organisation – DRDO reveals the successful first flight test of Aerial Target Abhyas – Heat. It took place in the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur in Odisha on June 29.

Abhyas – Heat :

Abhyas is a high speed expendable aerial target which is built by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) of the DRDO. Also, it is for fully autonomous flight.

The company which develops various system, product for Indian Armed Forces shared a tweet which read, ‘Strengthening indigenous capabilities, #ABHYAS-HEAT has been successfully flight tested from ITR today.

The test demonstrated the performance at low altitude including sustained level & high manoeuvrability.’

Moreover, the air vehicle was launched with the help of twin under – slung boosters which offered initial movement to the aircraft. However, Abhyas is fueled by a small gas turbine engine to support long flight at fast speed.

Additionally, Abhyas is supplemented with a micro-electromechanical systems based inertial navigation system.

It can also be controlled and guided further with the help of a flight control computer for guidance and control along with a radio altimeter and a data link for encrypted communication.

Also, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulates team DRDO and Armed Forces for successful first trial of ABHYAS. Along with him, even DRDO chairman G Satheesh Reddy appreciated the team efforts who all were connected to develop the ABHYAS.

The post DRDO records successful flight trial of Aerial Target Abhyas – Heat appeared first on The Tech Outlook.

A commoner Pradeep Mehra is a Well-known Personality and Inspiration to this generation of kids.

A filmmaker Vinod Kapri recently shared a video of a 19-years old boy and amazed the filmmaker and the Whole world overnight with his excellent thoughts.

Pradeep Mehra, an Uttarkhand 19-years old who lives with his brother In Barola of Noida and his mother being Hospitalized.  When Kapri saw a boy running in the night, He offered him to take to his house but the 19-years old boy refused him politely by saying,” No thanks, I will Run and go home.” This boy works in an Mc-Donalds sector 16 and he always runs when he goes back home. The filmmaker again offered to drop him home but again this boy refused him saying,” No otherwise, I don’t get time to run.” When the award-winning Filmmaker asked why he was running at this time, Pradeep- Mehra replied by saying, ” To Join ARMY”.

Pradeep Mehra works hard for his goal to enter the army and he doesn’t want to miss his routine by taking a lift from the filmmaker. Impressed with his determination Kapri told him that this video is going to be viral, Mehra said, ” Who is going to recognize me?” and added, ” If it goes viral, that’s fine, it’s not like I’m doing anything wrong.” This much maturity this boy holds is even adults fail to embrace it.

In the last attempt, Kapri offered him dinner but Mehra refused him saying,” No, but my older brother will be hungry then since he worked the night shift and can’t cook for himself right now .”

The filmmaker shared the post and after three hours the video has been viewed more than 1 million times on Twitter and has been retweeted more than 33,000 times. His sheer grit and determination have won millions of hearts. Many of them are searching for this hardworking boy to know more about him.

After this great response, The filmmaker was waiting for Pradeep Mehra to come out after his shift, He flashed a smile and greeted Kapri. The filmmaker said,” I told you the video will go viral” He responded,” It’s no big deal being viral. I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I was just running”

The entire country is showering you with so much love. Everyone is saying you are the Inspiration.”. The next words he said was Wonderful, ” The world bows down to those who work hard.”

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Image Source: The Print

As per defence reports, the Indian Army has sought two regiments of the new indigenous Arjun 1A tank. The Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed them and it incorporates 71 improvements from the original version.

The Arjun features a 120 mm main rifled gun with indigenously developed armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding-sabot ammunition, one PKT 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, and an NSVT 12.7 mm machine gun. It is powered by a single MTU multi-fuel diesel engine rated at 1,400 hp and can achieve a maximum speed of 67 km/h (42 mph) and a cross-country speed of 40 km/h (25 mph).

It has a four-man crew: A commander, gunner, loader and driver.

The Defence Acquisition Council and the Cabinet Committee on Security will have to clear it. The deal is worth Rs 8,956 crore, not just for the tanks but also, spares and servicing.

This move works towards promoting the ‘Make in India’ initiative. The Indian Army already has two regiments with 242 Arjun mk1 Tanks in their service.

Further adding to the Make in India cause, according to Defence View, five indigenous anti-tank weapons are in the final stages of development, top government sources said. They include the Nag anti-tank guided missile, its standalone version called SANT, the HELINA, or the one delivered from helicopters. There will also be an MPATGM or the man-portable version as well which can use Arjun’s gun barrel.

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Defence officials have stated that the first batch of three indigenous Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) will be delivered by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to Army and Air Force before March 31.

LCH helicopters approved by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) are a part of the 15 Limited Series Production (LSP).

A report states that HAL received the Letter of Intent from Army and Air Force. After giving the order, it’ll deliver the remaining 12 helicopters of the LSP in the next financial year.

Earlier this month, the defence ministry said that contracts for the following are likely to be signed in the first quarter of 2021: LCH from HAL, additional Harop (P-IV) drones from Israel along with an upgrade of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAV) in service.

Besides this, the Army variant of the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) is scheduled to receive its Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) at Aero India. It completed all tests and also demonstrated its high-altitude capability in hot and high weather conditions in September 2020.

According to HAL, LUH is a three-tonne helicopter which will be placed as a replacement for the Cheetah and Chetak helicopters. It has the capability of flying at 220 kmph, along with a service ceiling of 6.5 km with a range of 350 km and 500 kg payload.

Aero India will be showcasing the LCH and the LUCH along with the weaponised Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) inside the Indian pavilion.

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Nuclear-armed countries India and China have been in tense-border-standoff situations since April 2020. However, more recently there seems to have been another tense issue between the two countries.

In a statement to Reuters, an Indian Army official has confirmed: “It is clarified that there was a minor face-off at Nakula area of North Sikkim on 20 January 2021 and the same was resolved by local commanders as per established protocols,”

Sikkim is in the eastern Himalayas, thousands of miles away from Ladakh where the military crisis began last year. This reportedly led to hand-to-hand combat that left 20 Indian soldiers dead and an unspecified number of Chinese casualties.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Zhao Lijian said in a statement in a general news briefing: “We hope both sides will take proper actions to manage their differences and take concrete actions to safeguard peace and stability along the border.” He had no comment on the standoff in particular.

Reports from India says that the latest incident sustained injuries in Sikkim resulted in injuries on both sides but declined to make any further comment. According to Reuters, the Army also said, “Media is requested to refrain from overplaying or exaggerating reports which are factually incorrect,”

The latest round of talks between both countries took place this past Sunday. There has been no word yet on the talks.

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picture source: ANI 

According to Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister of India, The Defence Acquisition Procedure derives its spirit from the call to an “Aatmanirbhar Bharat”, which defines India’s dream to become a 5 trillion economy by 2021. This concept had some very interesting and new takeaways. Let’s take a look at them.

1. BrahMos

The BrahMos missile was jointly developed by India’s Defense Research Development Organization and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya. It is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft, or land. It is the fastest supersonic cruise missile in the world. It is designated as PG-10.

2. Boeing P8 Poseidon 

This is an American military aircraft developed and produced by Boeing Defense, Space & Security. It was originally developed for the United States Military. The P-8 operates in the anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), and shipping interdiction roles. It is armed with torpedoes, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and other weapons.

3. Boeing C-17 Globemaster III

This one is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force from the 1980s to the early 1990s. According to the Boeing website,  the multi-service C-17 can carry large equipment, supplies and troops directly to small airfields in harsh terrain anywhere in the world day or night. The massive, sturdy, long-haul aircraft tackles distance, destination and heavy, oversized payloads in unpredictable conditions. This makes it important and critical in places with a mountainous topography like Pakistan and China.

Apart from acquiring weapons, deals also make up an important part of our defence resources. Here are a few of the most successful ones:

1. India-US Apache Contract

India and US have signed the contract for six Apache helicopters for the Indian Army which follows a contract for 22 helicopters ordered by the Indian Air Force in 2015. Deliveries for the Indian army are set to begin in 2022. The FMS contract for the Apache includes munitions, training, aircraft certification, and components include engines, EO sensors and the radar.

2. The MH-60 Romeo Deal

This defence deal, which according to the Economic Times is worth USD 2.6 billion dollars, is a deal under which 30 military helicopters will be procured from two American defence majors for the Indian armed forces. The choppers will operate from frontline ships and aircraft carriers providing them with the critical attributes of the flexibility of operation, enhanced surveillance and attacking capability.

3. India- Israel Defence pact

Amin escalating border tensions, this deal included the procurement of SPICE-2000 Bombs, Barak-8 MRSAM missile kits and HAROP Suicide drones.

The post India’s Top Defense Acquisitions of 2020 appeared first on The Tech Outlook.