Who conducted mega exercise 'Vayu Shakti' in Pokhran, Rajasthan?

Light combat helicopter (LCH),has successfully carried out air-to-air missile firing on a moving aerial target at the integrated test range in Chandipur on Odisha coast.This LCH is first in the country,which is designed and developed by Rotary Wing Research & Design Centre (RWRDC),Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The helicopter is equipped with helmet mounted sight and a forward looking infrared sighting system, allowing its pilots to detect and destroy any target on ground or in the air. Other weapons on the LCH include a 20mm Turret gun and 70 mm Rockets,that had completed the test last year.

INS Trikand, the frontline warship of the Indian Navy, participated in a multi-national training exercise 'CUTCLASS EXPRESS 2019'. The annual Exercise Cutlass Express is sponsored by U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) and conducted by Naval Forces Africa (NAVAF). It is the eighth iteration of the annual multinational maritime exercise and was held in the vicinity of Djibouti, Mozambique and Seychelles. The aim of the exercise was to improve law enforcement capacity, promote regional security and progress inter-operability between the armed forces of the participating nations for the purpose of prohibiting illegal maritime activity in the Western Indian Ocean.

The Defence Acquisitions Council, DAC chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman approved indigenous construction of six submarines worth 40 thousand crore rupees. It is the second project under the Ministry's ambitious strategic partnership model aiming to boost the government's Make in India' program. The first project to get the government's nod for implementation under the new model was the acquisition of 111 utility helicopters for the Navy at a cost of over 21 thousand crore rupees in August last year. DAC has also approved the acquisition of about five thousand MILAN Anti Tank Guided Missiles for the Army.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully test fired Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR-SAM) from naval warship INS Chennai. The test was conducted off the coast of Odisha. The LR-SAM hit a low flying aerial target during the test.

The Indian Navy, in coordination with the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and other stakeholders, conducted the massive coastal defence exercise codenamed 'SEA VIGIL-2019'off the Indian coast on January 22-23, 2019. The exercise, a first of its kind, covered the entire 7516.6 km coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone of India and involves all the 13 coastal States and Union Territories along with all maritime stakeholders, including the fishing and coastal communities. The main goal of the large-scale exercise is to comprehensively and holistically validate the efficacy of the measures taken since '26/11'. The exercise also aims to test India's preparedness to thwart any attempt by anti-national elements to carry out an attack on its territory or against its citizens by infiltrating through the sea route.

Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba, presided over the day long review session of largest War Game of the Indian Navy - the Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise (TROPEX 19) intended to examine the conduct of the exercise and to assess the operational preparedness of the Indian Navy. TROPEX 19 had commenced with Tri-services Amphibious Exercise in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands with participation of Army and Air Force and about 60 ships of the Indian Navy, 12 ships of the Indian Coast Guard and 60 aircraft were part of the exercise. It was the largest in terms of geographical spread covering the IOR and also with regard to the number of participating units.

After 36 years of service, Indian Navy's frontline missile destroyer, INS Ranjit has been decommissioned at the naval dockyard in Visakhapatnam. INS Ranjit's motto was 'Sada Rane Jayate' or 'Ever Victorious in Battle'. The ship was constructed as 'Yard 2203' in the 61 Communards shipyard in the town of Nikolev, Ukraine, where the ship was given its Russian name, "Lovkly" which means "Agile". The solemn decommissioning ceremony was attended by workforce who have served INS Ranjit onboard, officers and sailors from the commissioning crew.

The Navy will inaugurate the Information Fusion Centre (IFC) for the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Through this Centre, information on 'white shipping', or commercial shipping, will be exchanged with countries in the region to improve maritime domain awareness in the Indian Ocean. The IFC has been established at the Navy's Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) in Gurugram, Haryana.

Afghanistan formally launched shipping goods to India through the Chabahar port in Iran. The first shipment of 570 tonnes comprising of dried fruits, textiles, carpets, and other goods in 23 trucks was inaugurated by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. With the opening of the Chabahar route, Afghanistan's exports will double to $2 billion from the current $1 billion over the next one year. About Chabahar Port: Chabahar Port development is the India-Iran joint venture project. Inaugurated in 2017 and been built largely by India. This port provides a critical transport link from New Delhi to Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan, to trade with Central Asia.

The Defence Ministry has awarded a contract of worth Rs.6,311 crore to Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE) to build eight anti-submarine warfare shallow watercraft (ASWSWC) for the Indian Navy. As per the agreement, the first ship is to be delivered within 42 months from the date of signing of the contract and subsequently, two ships are required to be delivered per year. The eight vessels are to be delivered between 2022 and 2027. The vessels are equipped with highly advanced state-of-the-art integrated platform management systems including propulsion machinery, auxiliary machinery, power generation, and distribution machinery and damage control machinery, etc.