IDR Updates
F-35 Bombing Tests
By: IDR News Network | Issue: Vol 27.3 Jul-Sep 2012 | Date: 12 Sep , 2012
The Marine F-35B variant of the Joint Strike Fighter is inching closer to in-flight releases of weapons following a recent run of tests that involved dropping inert munitions into a pit. The...
New Weapon Testing Facilities
By: Harish Kapur | Issue: Vol 27.3 Jul-Sep 2012 | Date: 12 Sep , 2012
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the country’s premier research organisation for the defence services, will invest around Rs1,000 crore to create new testing and validation...
North Korean Rocket Fails
By: IDR News Network | Issue: Vol 27.3 Jul-Sep 2012 | Date: 12 Sep , 2012
North Korea’s much hyped long-range rocket apparently crashed into the sea a few minutes after launch in the second week of April 2012. Pyongyang had defied international pressure from the...
Lifetime Cost of F-35 Fighter
By: IDR News Network | Issue: Vol 27.3 Jul-Sep 2012 | Date: 11 Sep , 2012
According to the Pentagon, the total cost to develop, procure and operate the Lockheed Martin Corporation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been estimated to be $1.51 trillion over the next 50 years....
Dilemma of Rise in Populations of Drones
By: IDR News Network | Issue: Vol 27.3 Jul-Sep 2012 | Date: 11 Sep , 2012
Drones armed with cameras and increasingly, with bombs and missiles are fast becoming a key weapon of modern warfare. The US regards the pilotless aircraft as vital in operations in Afghanistan,...
Navy Grounds Fire Scout Drone Copters
By: IDR News Network | Issue: Vol 27.3 Jul-Sep 2012 | Date: 11 Sep , 2012
Just weeks after the Navy grounded its fleet of MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned spy copters as a precautionary step, it announced proposed expenditure of $250 million to purchase even more drone...
Improved Brahmos Missile Tested
By: IDR News Network | Issue: Vol 27.3 Jul-Sep 2012 | Date: 11 Sep , 2012
End March 2012, the Defence Research and Development Organisation test-fired an improved version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, off...
NASA & ATK Complete First Test for SLS Booster
By: IDR News Network | Issue: Vol 27.3 Jul-Sep 2012 | Date: 11 Sep , 2012
According to company program managers, NASA and ATK successfully completed the first test for the space agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) booster program. The demonstration held on March 28 at...
India incapable of conducting Op Geronimo
By: Lt Gen Harwant Singh | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 11 Sep , 2012
Consequent to American operation ‘Geronimo,’ at Abbottabad in Pakistan to eliminate Osama bin Laden, many in civil society have been asking whether India can go ahead with a similar...
Drones in Pentagon’s 30-Year Plan
By: IDR News Network | Issue: Vol 27.3 Jul-Sep 2012 | Date: 10 Sep , 2012
The Pentagon plans to increase its fleet of armed and long endurance surveillance drones by 45 per cent over the next decade. As per the Department of Defense, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the US...
General Dynamics Awarded ATC Radar Contract
By: IDR News Network | Issue: Vol 27.3 Jul-Sep 2012 | Date: 10 Sep , 2012
General Dynamics C4 Systems bagged a ten-year $363 million contract from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for radios that allow air traffic control personnel to communicate with...
Maiden Flight by Carrier Version of LCA, Tejas
By: IDR News Network | Issue: Vol 27.3 Jul-Sep 2012 | Date: 10 Sep , 2012
Nearly two years since its roll out during which there were a number of postponements, on April 27, 2012, India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Naval Prototype 1 finally took off from the airport...
Second BrahMos Regiment Operational
By: IDR News Network | Issue: Vol 27.3 Jul-Sep 2012 | Date: 10 Sep , 2012
Early March 2012, the Indian Army successfully test-fired the BrahMos stealth supersonic cruise missile at Pokhran in the Western sector, providing itself with much-needed swift strike capability...
End of Space Shuttle Era
By: IDR News Network | Issue: Vol 27.3 Jul-Sep 2012 | Date: 10 Sep , 2012
Riding on the back of a modified 747, Discovery NASA’s veteran space shuttle Discovery did a final lap of honour before becoming a museum piece. It flew low over the monuments of the nation’s...
Boeing celebrates delivery of Air India’s first 787 Dreamliner
By: IDR News Network | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 10 Sep , 2012
First Indian airline to fly the 787 The Dreamliner's range, capability allows for routes to Middle East, Europe, Asia, and Australia Boeing and Air India celebrated the delivery of the...
Rheinmetall: Competence and cooperation at the Cape of Good Hope
By: IDR News Network | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 06 Sep , 2012
The Republic of South Africa is the regional superpower of Sub-Saharan Africa. Further reinforcing its role as an influential and responsible player on the global stage, the country is...
Laser-Guided Sidewinder (LaGS) for Air-to-Surface Missions of Combat Aircraft
By: IDR News Network | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 06 Sep , 2012
Latest market surveys indicate an interest of different air forces in a light air-to-surface guided weapon for pin-point engagement of small, lightly armoured targets. Missions of this type have...
China humiliates India by offering cash tips
By: Prakash Nanda | Issue: Courtesy: Uday India | Date: 06 Sep , 2012
How does one view the tips (“gift”) of Rs. 50000 that General Liang Guanglie, the outgoing defence minister of China, who has just concluded his five-day India visit, gave each of the two...
Tackling Debris in Space
By: IDR News Network | Issue: Vol. 27.2 Apr-Jun 2012 | Date: 06 Sep , 2012
The US Air Force tracks about 20,000 pieces of orbiting space junk and that includes dead satellites. The most obvious sign that space is polluted with junk is the frequency with which pieces of...
Indo-Pak Nuclear Talks
By: IDR News Network | Issue: Vol. 27.2 Apr-Jun 2012 | Date: 06 Sep , 2012
Despite concerted efforts at Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs) and several rounds of talks to improve relations between India and Pakistan, there has not been appreciable progress. The nuclear...