Indian Navy Will Get First Scorpene Submarines in 2015.

The Indian Navy will get delivery of the first of its six Scorpene submarines in 2015, a three-year delay from the original schedule of 2012, the Rajya Sabha was informed Wednesday. 'The first submarine (Scorpene) is now scheduled to be delivered in the second half of 2015. As per the contract, the first submarine was scheduled to be delivered in December, 2012, and thereafter, one each every year till December 2017,' Defence Minister A.K. Antony said in a written reply during question hour. The six Scorpenes -- Project-75 as the submarine construction programme is called -- are under construction at the Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) at a cost of $4 billion in collaboration with French firm DCNS.

'There has been a delay due to initial teething problems, absorption of technology, augmentation of MDL infrastructure and procurement of MDL Purchased Material (MPM),' Antony said. He was replying to a question on the delays in augmenting India's underwater combat capabilities. He said the government constantly reviews the security environment and accordingly decides on the induction of appropriate defence equipment and platforms, including submarines for the navy. 'This is a continuous process undertaken for the modernization of the armed forces to keep them in a state of readiness to meet any eventuality,' he said.

'Any gap in submarine capacity is being addressed by modernisation and upgradation with the state-of-the-art weapons and sensors fitted on the existing submarines to enhance their combat-worthiness,' he added. The defence minister also noted that the government had accorded approval for revising the cost of Project-75 on account of increase in the cost of MPM items, related sub-heads and additional MDL infrastructure. Antony also said the government had already set in motion the process of constructing additional submarines under Project-75 (India). To shore up its depleting submarine fleet, India will this year issue a $11-billion global tender for building six more next generation vessels under Project-75 (India), a follow-on to the six Scorpenes. The navy issued the RFI for Project 75 (India) in September last year and some of the global firms that have responded to it are Russian Rosoboronexport, French DCNS/Armaris, German HDW and Spanish Navantia. The Indian Navy operates 14 diesel-electric submarines at present after it decommissioned two Foxtrot class submarines last year. Of the 14 submarines, 10 are Kilo class Soviet-origin vessels and the rest are HDW German-origin vessels. India is expected to induct the 12 Project-75 and Project-75 (India) submarines in the next decade-and-a-half. The 12 vessels would now be inducted one after the other over 12 years beginning 2015. The vessels are part of the 30-vessel submarine induction plans of the navy that was approved early in the last decade. The number of navy's submarines is likely to be just the half of the current 14 vessels in 2015, as most of them are aging and would be decommissioned in the next five years.

Pakistani JF-17 A Thunder OR A Blunder

Pakistan has witnessed new defense acquisitions in this decade than any other, and in the center of it all is the new fighter which was designed by China with partial funding from Pakistan. It is formally known as JF-17 Thunder. When the fighter was in development, Pakistani online communities were jumping with excitement comparing it with its arch rival India’s modern combatants Su-30MKI, Mig-29S & Mirage-2000H. There were claims of it featuring western Radars and long range missiles, & Chinese ordering some due to its superior capabilities. But the reality is far from it. China having spent significant amount of money into a fighter which it is never going to use, most probably forced Pakistan to accept its avionics to offset some its development costs. Chinese who are known for their self reliance first and quality next, are further downgrading JF-17s capabilities with their poorly copy-pirated avionics. Along with their dubious weapons, any chance of JF...

India Planned Attack On Pak Navy Mehran Base To Kill Chinese Engineers

The terrorist attack on Karachi's Mehran Naval Station on May 22 was conceived and launched by India with the primary objective of killing the Chinese engineers present there, a Pakistani newspaper has claimed, citing 'informed sources'. Four to six Taliban terrorists had entered PNS Mehran on May 22, destroying two maritime surveillance aircraft and killing ten military personnel during their 17-hour siege of the naval air base. "India is the only country in the region that feels troubled by the Pakistan Navy, which had awfully beaten the Indian Navy in Operation Dwarka of 1965. Since then, it has been an earnest desire of India to harm the Pakistan Navy but it was perhaps not possible on the battle front, hence it struck the PNS Mehran," The News quoted sources as saying.

Pakistani F-16s Shoot Down RAF Eurofighter Typhoons During Air Combat Exercises In Turkey

Pakistani pilots flying modernised versions of the 1970s-vintage F-16 Falcon fighter have beaten the RAF's brand-new Eurofighter Typhoon superfighters during air combat exercises in Turkey, according to a Pakistani officer. Analysis: The RAF Typhoon, formerly known as the Eurofighter, should nonetheless have been vastly superior in air-to-air combat whether BVR or close in within visual range (WVR). The cripplingly expensive, long-delayed Eurofighter was specifically designed to address the defects of its predecessor the Tornado F3 – famously almost useless in close-in, dogfighting-style air combat. The Typhoon was meant to see off such deadly in-close threats as Soviet "Fulcrums" and "Flankers" using short-range missiles fired using helmet-mounted sight systems: such planes were thought well able to beat not just Tornados but F-16s in close fighting, and this expectation was borne out after the Cold War when the Luftwaffe inherite...

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