As part of partnership, Reliance & Rolls-Royce will explore formation of dedicated Aerospace Gas Turbine Complex that will be a centre of excellence for power and propulsion technology in India.
In interview to ThePrint, Rolls-Royce top official Sashi Mukundan took a dig at rival Safran, saying there are just 3 genuine engine manufacturers, with two in US, the 3rd being them.
Going by current timeline, five prototypes of India’s own 5th-gen fighter are set to be rolled out by 2031. The 1st prototype is expected to be rolled out by 2029 using GE F414 engine.
The coming years will test India’s defence industry like never before. Success will depend on collaboration between DRDO, ADA, HAL, private firms, and international partners.
As per the timeline decided, 5 prototypes of India’s own fifth-generation fighter are set to be rolled out by 2031, with the first by 2028 using the GE 414 engine.
India spends heavily on defence but does not finance it. That distinction separates mature defence-industrial economies from those trapped in yearly budget cycles.
India’s fighter aircraft strength will be down to 31 squadrons by the end of the year, down from 42. It will further reduce when Mirage 2000, MiG-29, and Jaguar squadrons are phased out.
India has paid a steep price for HAL’s unchecked dominance, evident in the MiG-era overhauls, the decades-long Tejas saga, and the troubled ALH programme.
With AMCA rollout expected to take a decade, Defence Secretary Rajesh Singh confirms talks for fifth-gen jets amid reports of Pakistan acquiring Chinese stealth fighters.
In a seminal work, former military officers Lt. Gen. D.S. Hooda & Lt. Col. Pavithran Rajan put forth a framework to approach cognitive warfare, called Socio-Technical-Cognitive Battlespace.
India, China and Russia share more contradictions than congruence. Each has a different worldview, as also a different adversary. The rude fact is that BRICS is the most irrelevant of all such groupings.
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