Miragedriver
Brigadier
Everyone probably seen photos of the MiG-29K, well now there are more of them.
Back to bottling my Grenache
Back to bottling my Grenache
Too bad Vikramaditya and its Mig-29Ks could not have been the INdian carrier participating.
India is poised to counter the recently announced $46-billion expansion of China’s strategic footprint in Pakistan with a foothold on the Iranian coast. New Delhi is set to ink a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the development and operation of Chabahar port in Iran, taking into account the international obligations that arise out of Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Merely 72 km west of China-developed Gwadar port in Pakistan’s restive province of Baluchistan, Chabahar, on the mouth of the Straits of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, provides India a land-sea access route into Afghanistan and Central Asia through the Bandar Abbas-Caspian Sea axis.
The MoU is expected to be signed in Tehran by roads, transport and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari very soon.
Although India’s development of Chabahar port has been hanging fire since 2003, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s two-day visit to Pakistan this week has triggered renewed interest in the Modi government with Bejing announcing a network of roads, railway, optical fibre cables and pipelines linking the strife-ridden Xinjiang province to Gwadar via the Karakoram highway.
Intelligence reports indicate China will push the optical fibre line to Afghanistan via Pakistan so that Islamabad continues to have a big say in Kabul. The 1,300-km Karakoram highway links Kashgar in Xinjiang to Hassan Abdal in Punjab of Pakistan.
Although the inter-governmental MoU between India and Iran involves a joint venture investment of $85.21 million (about R537 crore) that will allow operation of the port for 10 years, New Delhi is examining the option of signing the agreement and injecting the money later so it does not violate any international obligations. The joint venture — between Jawahar Lal Nehru Port Trust, Kandla Port Trust and an Indian or Iranian company — will be supported by annual expenditure of around Rs150 crore.
According to plans, the Indian JV will develop two berths at Chabahar, one to handle container traffic and the other a multi-purpose cargo terminal. With sea-land access to Afghanistan as part of the MoU, New Delhi has plans to build a road-railroad network from Chabahar to Milak in Iran in order to link it with the Indian-built 223-km Zaranj-Delaram road in Afghanistan so that aid could be pushed to Kabul and beyond.
Chabahar port will also allow Indian goods into Central Asia using the existing north-south corridor to counter Beijing’s domination in the region as reports indicate Indian traders are using Chinese ports to push goods into Kazakhstan.
“The Chabahar MoU is crucial to India as Pakistan will never allow a land route to Afghanistan and PM Narendra Modi’s proposed July 2015 visit to Central Asia will have little to offer to these extended neighbours,” said a South Block official.
looks like bad times are coming for the tejas
Well, this is what the Indian Navy launched:
When a US destroyer is launched, it looks like this:
See the difference?
The Indians tend to launch just the hull...with most of the top structure incomplete. The US (and most others) launch the whole thing.
Here's two good videos of them being launched:
Wouldn't it make it much more difficult to install the island, other components of the superstructure etc once a ship is launched? or do they need to reel her back in again? LOL
Bengaluru, April 27: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed on Monday that the home-grown 155 mm x 45 mm calibre artillery howitzer -- Dhanush -- has successfully completed the rigorous winter and summer trials. The Dhanush, often dubbed as the Indian version of the Swedish-made Bofors gun, has now cleared all technical parameters during the trials conducted by the Indian Army. The MoD quoted Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar informing the members of Parliament Consultative Committee that Dhanush incorporates many state-of-the-art improved features. Dhanush is priced approximately around Rs 12-14 crore, which is almost half the price of an artillery gun in its class. "The minister informed the committee, attached to the MoD, that Dhanush has many embedded features better than the guns which the Indian Army currently posses," MoD sources said. Dhanush had undergone extensive trials at Khetolai in Pokhran as well. The Indian Army had waited for over three decades to strengthen its firing units with a 155-mm artillery gun. Dhanush has a better range compared to Bofors The MoD said that the Consultative Committee was discussing the ‘role performance and future' of Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), the largest and oldest production unit in the country. The OFB is a conglomerate of 39 ordnance factories with two new projects coming up in Nalanda (Bihar) and Korwa (UP). Sources said that Dhanush has a better range compared to Bofors and its electronic sighting/laying system for the targets is far superior to those imported in the 1980s. Parrikar is said to have informed the committee that in addition to Dhanush, the OFB has also developed a home-grown 40-mm Multi Grenade Launcher (MGL) for 40 x 46 mm Low Velocity Grenades (LVG). The MoD said that assault rifle ‘Ghaatak' (7.62 x 39 mm) developed through desi R&D too has met all the parameters as per the General Staff Qualitative Requirements (GSQRs). Ghaatak was evaluated by the paramilitary forces under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Keeping in the NDA government's Make in India policy, MoD quoted Parrikar saying that the OFB would be made into a lead integrator of major platforms and as a manufacturer of world class defence equipment.
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