Indigenous fighter aircraft Tejas will also not be featured in Republic Day parade. The 40 aircraft that will participate include 22 fighters, 11 transport aircraft & 7 helicopters.
Delegation visited Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd’s facilities this week, days after its maiden international air show. It is rumoured the African country is also going in for Chinese J-10s.
Three of these indigenous Advanced Light Helicopters have crashed since March, forcing military to ground fleet twice. Choppers flying again but parts being changed, it is learnt.
Review by committee set up by Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification found no design flaw, but metallurgical issues & maintenance problems at the service level, it is learnt.
The crash took place days after ALH fleet was cleared for flying again after back-to-back crashes involving Dhruv helicopters in use by Navy & Coast Guard.
Platforms such as INS Vikrant, LCH Prachand & ALH Dhruv aren't exclusively made in India and do rely on imports, which is a reality even for major defence producers such as US.
Over the last two decades 18 to 22 incidents involving the ALH Dhruv have been reported. Experts say the malaise in the ALH fleet could be related to design & engineering issues.
The weapon system integrated helicopter has no role over water. Lt Col AS Batth and young Capt Jayant Joshi had nothing going for them, materially or training-wise.
Incident brings back memories of 1963 crash that claimed lives of five top Indian military commanders, and led to new protocols regarding top officers flying in the same chopper.
A poor Muslim man from Kurnool, selling khoya buns during the Medaram Jatara in Telangana, was harassed by some YouTubers and surrounded by a mob over allegations of 'food jihad'.
This is the game every nation is now learning to play. Some are finding new allies or seeing value among nations where they’d seen marginal interest. The starkest example is India & Europe.
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