Integrated Defence staff celebrates its 19th Raising Day:

Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS) is celebrating its 19th Raising Day. The Chief of the IDS to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) Lt Gen P S Rajeshwar at the National War Memorial.

Aim:

• To pay homage to the Martyrs of the Armed Forces to mark the occasion. Senior officers of HQ IDS from the three Services were also present during the ceremony.
• The CISC exhorted all ranks of the Purple Fraternity to continue striving hard towards joint manship and wished them all success in every endeavour in the years ahead.
• The HQ IDS raised on October 1, 2001 as a Tri Service Entity with an overarching aim of Victory Trough Jointness.

The IDS led the conduct of Disaster Relief Operations, Tri-Service Exercises, including those with friendly foreign countries, training leaders at Tri-Service Institutions, consolidating defence intelligence and progressing procurement for the defence forces. In a landmark effort, the IDS spearheaded construction of the National War Memorial, inaugurated by Prime Minister on February 25, 2019. The HQ IDS is currently progressing the operationalisation of Defence Cyber Agency, Defence Space Agency and Armed Forces Special Operations Division as Joint organisation.The HQ IDS conducted a number of events for troops and their family members.

IAFs Sukhois to be upgraded with advanced avionics, radars:

India has announced its plan to upgrade its fleet of Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets with more advanced avionics, radars, and weapons to further bolster their combat capabilities. IAF is currently holding detailed talks with Russia for the project. 

The IAF will also finalize with Russia the procurement of 12 more Sukhois to replace the ones lost in crashes. The Sukhois will be built by defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics, as well as 21 additional MiG-29 jets that will cost around Rs.230 crore each.

Exercise Nomadic Elephant XIV commenced on 6th October in Bakloh:

The Exercise Nomadic Elephant XIV, 14th edition of Indo–Mongolian joint military training has commenced from 6 October 2019. The exercise is conducted over a period of 14 days from 6 October to 18 October 2019 at Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh. 

Aim:

Nomadic Elephant-XIV aims to train troops in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations under the United Nations mandate. It aims to enhance defence co-operation and military relations between the two countries. 

Drills:

The exercise will provide a platform to share the experiences and best practices of the two countries and gain mutually during the joint training.

It aims to evolve various tactical drills in counter-terror environment like Convoy Protection Drill, Room Intervention Drills, Ambush/ Counter Ambush Drills. 

The joint training will conduct operations by a cohesive subunit to enhance the interoperability between the two armies.

Participants:

The Mongolian Army will be represented by officers and troops of the elite 084 Air Borne Special Task Battalion. Indian Army will be represented by a contingent of a battalion of Rajputana Rifles.

IAF has inducted over 250 of the 272 Sukhois originally contracted in batches from Russia for well over $12 billion. The huge number will be licensed-produced by HAL.