• Astra test-fired successfully
January 12, 2010
India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted two back to back test of the indigenously developed Astra missile. The test which was conducted from ground based launcher follows DRDO’s earlier captive flight trials on Sukhoi-30 MKI. The integrated test of the missile is expected within a year.
Astra is a beyond visual air to air missile. Once operational, India will join the club of the select countries such as US, Russia, Israel and France which have such technologies. The missile is “designed for an 80-km range in head-on mode and 20 km-range in tail-chase mode. As an anti-aircraft missile, it can be fired after receiving a signal from the far away target through its on-board manoeuvres based on radio frequency.”
• CII-KPMG asks for reforms in defence sector
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and consultancy firm KPMG in a joint study report has asked the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to bring more reforms in defence to enable India “to influence its future growth trajectory.” To enable the Indian industry to play a more meaningful role in defence production, the reports asks the MoD to improve “visibility of Government’s order book; increase industry’s inputs and feedback into the request for proposal (RFP) process; take steps to reduce bidders’ costs, allow private sector to take a large role in defence R&D.”. Also the report asks for formulation of an industrialization strategy to increase the private sector’s role in defence industry.
• China tests interceptor missile
January 12, 2010
China’s official new agency, Xinhua reported a “test on ground-based midcourse missile interception technology.” The test “achieved the expected objective”, and is “defensive in nature”, said the report. The test however comes few days after the US’s approval to sell air defence missiles worth $6.5 billion to Taiwan.
No comments:
Post a Comment