MBT ARJUN

Named after the India's great archer from the epic MAHABHARATA, ARJUN MBT(Main Battle Tank) is the first tank designed and built by India. Weighing around 58.5 tons, this tank can achieve a maximum speed of 70 km/h on road and 40 km/h in cross-country. It has a crew size of 4 which includes commander, gunner, driver and loader.

First produced in 2004, Indian Army currently operates 124 such tanks. Main armament of the tank is its 120 mm rifled gun which is capable of firing armour-piercing shots at the rate of 6-8 rounds per minute. Arjun is also armed with 12.7 mm AA machine gun and 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun. The tank also incorporates GPS based navigation system and state of the art battlefield management system.

Despite huge strength on paper and files, the tank has failed to impress the army. Though the tank has been inducted into the army but on several occasions the tank has not performed to the expectations. An advanced variant of the tank, ARJUN MK-II has been developed which has performed very well in trials. It has a total number of 93 upgrades, including 13 major improvements. 

The production of 124 ARJUN MK-II tanks started in 2012 after success of development trials. The deadline for induction of these tanks is 2016, which is most likely to be missed, as its Israeli LAHAT (Laser Homing Anti-Tank Missile) has failed 20% of its user trials.

""JAI HIND""

INS KOCHI

"जहि शत्रुं महाबाहो"........"ARMED TO CONQUER THE WORLD"......

The second ship of the Kolkata Class Guided Missile Destroyers(Project 15-A) and the largest warship made by INDIA, INS KOCHI was commissioned to the Navy on 30th September, 2015. The vessel was first launched on 18th September, 2009, has been built at Mazagaon Docks at Mumbai and costs around Rs. 4000 crores .

With a displacement of 7500 tonnes, the ship has a length of 164 meters and a width of 17 meters and can achieve a speed in excess of 30 knots. Thanks to the 4 gas turbines. It is equipped to operate 2 Sea-King or Chetak helicopters. 

The ship incorporates new design concepts for improved survivability, stealth and manoeuvrability.  The ship is equipped with state of the art weapons and sensors. It has a 76 mm SRGM(Super Rapid Gun Mount) and AK-360 CIWS(Close In Weopon System), which can take on air and surface targets. It is also packed with long range BARAK-8 SAM(Surface To Air missile) along with world's best supersonic cruise missile, BRAHMOS. 

The ship is second in the class after INS KOLKATA, which was commissioned in August last year, and the third ship of the class, INS CHENNAI is expected to be commissioned in late 2016.

""JAI HIND""

LCA TEJAS-THE INDIAN BIRD

India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) , TEJAS is the smallest and lightest multi-role supersonic fighter aircraft of the class. A single engine, single seater and a tailess air-craft has been developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to replace the ageing fleet of Mig-21's.

Costing around 200 crore per unit, TEJAS took its first flight on 4th January, 2001 and was officially introduced in the INDIAN AIR FORCE (IAF) on 17th January, 2015. This aircraft is available in 2 versions. One for air force and the other for navy. While the IAF requires around 220 aircrafts, the NAVY has demanded 40 such aircrafts.

The LAC development programme has been largely delayed. While the design got finalised in 1990, it took 25 years for the aircraft to get introduced in the air-force and that too with a foreign engine. It is yet to get Final Operational Clearance (FOC), which is expected by late 2015.

Nevertheless, it is a great leap forward in the aim to achieve indigenousness of our defense forces.

""JAI HIND"" 

ASTROSAT LAUNCH SUCCESSFUL

ISRO DOES IT AGAIN......

PSLV is now on the way to become one of the most reliable rocket launcher in the world. The recent successful launch of ASTROSAT with 6 other foreign satellites via PSLV C-30 is just another feather in the cap.

With a lift off mass of 320.2 tons, the vehicle lifted off the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 10:00 am on 28th september, 2015. In 25 minutes 33 seconds, the vehicle successfully injected all the 7 satellites into their respective orbits.

Among the six foreign satellites, one was from U.S.A., one from Canada and 4 from Indonesia. This the first time that ISRO is launching a satellite for U.S.A.

ASTROSAT is INDIA'S first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory. One of the specific features of ASTROSAT mission is that it enables the simultaneous multi-wavelength observations of various astronomical objects with a single satellite. It will observe the space in Optical, Ultra-violet, low and high energy X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Success, a habit of ISRO.......

""JAI HIND""