Defence Services (Air,Land,Sea) – Page 7

Ananth Technologies opens spacecraft manufacturing unit at Aerospace Park in City

Ananth Technologies which designs and produces systems for Indian aerospace has set up a 15,000 square metre spacecraft manufacturing unit at KIADB Aerospace Park, Bengaluru, said to be the country’s first such facility in the private sector.

The manufacturing unit would be able to conduct assembly, integration and testing of four large spacecraft simultaneously, the company said in a statement.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Subba Rao Pavuluri, Chairman & Managing Director, Ananth Technologies, said, “India is on the cusp of revolutionising the spacecraft industry. As a nation, we are capable of manufacturing world-class spacecrafts.’‘

“Over the years, Ananth Technologies has successfully contributed to major launches of ISRO. Our technology acumen is such that none of the sub-systems supplied by Ananth Technologies has ever failed in orbit,’‘ he claimed.

Since its inception in 1992, Ananth Technologies has contributed to the manufacturing of 89 satellites and 69 launch vehicles built/launched by ISRO, including two satellites for European customers that ISRO had built in collaboration with Airbus, France.

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Bannari Amman College students team selected for final event of RoboBoat 2022

Organised by RoboNation, RoboBoat invites participants to tackle simplified versions of challenges facing the modern maritime industry

A 35-member team of students from Bannari Amman Institute of Technology in Sathyamangalam, who developed an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV), has been shortlisted for the final event of RoboBoat 2022, an international student competition, which will be held in Florida, U. S., on June 20, 2022.

Organised by RoboNation, the competition invites participants to tackle simplified versions of challenges facing the modern maritime industry like coastal surveillance, port security and oceanographic exploration. The boats are designed to take on tasks that are similar to those faced by the maritime industry in the real world.

The students team “Vyuha ASV” from the institute is the only team representing India in the 15 ^th RoboBoat 2022 Worldwide Autonomous Surface Vehicle Development competition.

Team leaders for their respective teams were Thiruvarulselvan Karunanithi (Team Management), Saravanan Elangovan (Hull design), Krishnan Murugan (Failsafe system), Srisanthosh (Propulsion system), Puviyarasu Sakthivel (Control system) and Tharakeshvar Padmanaphan (Computer vision). The faculty mentors were D. Selvamuthu Kumaran, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering and V. Baranidharan, Assistant Professor, ECE. Both the faculties were UUV lab in charge and facilitated the team.

** This Kerala ISRO official has spent three decades space-bound

S Geetha, the first woman programme director of space transportation systems at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, will retire after 33 years of service on Tuesday.

She was heading 64 engineers at the centre across seven teams.

Geetha is an alumnus of Vattiyoorkavu Government High School, Thiruvananthapuram, where she studied in the Malayalam medium. Back then, a young Geetha would have never thought she would be one of the best space scientists in the country years later. She vividly remembers coming to know about Valentina Tereshkova, the first and youngest woman to fly a solo mission to space on the Vostok 6 in 1963. Valentina was Geetha’s inspiration to pursue bachelors degree in electrical and electronics engineering from College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram (CET).

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** Women make their families proud as they march out of the Indian Naval Academy as officers

What makes the likes of Brahmjot Kaur tick? She holds a B.Tech degree in Electronics and Communications and could have opted for a job in the private sector. Yet, it was that attraction for the uniform that prevailed. On Saturday, she was one of 30 women who marched out of the Indian Naval Academy in Ezhimala, Kerala, as a sub lieutenant of the Indian Navy.

“It is great that the number of women opting for the Navy as a career is going up. As it is, the Navy has the largest percentage (6.2 per cent) of women officers among the three armed forces in the country. In the batch that passed out on Saturday, there were 210 men and 30 women. That means that this batch had 12.5 per cent women. We also have women pilots serving on ships now,” a senior naval officer said.

While Brahmjot is from the Naval Armament Inspectorate Cadre (NAIC), there are other women in her batch who will go on to become logistics officers, law officers, observers and naval constructors after further training at other bases. The last 5-odd months at Ezhimala have been gruelling, Brahmjot says but she is ready for more.

Her grandfather is Wing Commander Swarn Singh Birdi (retd) and her father is Group Captain Simranpal Singh Birdi. Her maternal grandfather is Lt Col K.S. Cheema (retd).

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** Skyroot successfully test fires space launch vehicle ‘Vikram-1’ rocket stage

Named ‘Kalam-100’ after the renowned Indian rocket scientist A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Skyroot Aerospace, the national-award winning startup building India’s first privately built space launch vehicles has announced the successful completion of a full duration test-firing of its ‘Vikram-1’ rocket stage, representing a major milestone for the company on Thursday.

Named ‘Kalam-100’ after former President and the renowned Indian rocket scientist A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the third stage of ‘Vikram-1’ produces a peak vacuum thrust of 100 kN (or ~10Tons) and has a burn time of 108 sec, said the city based firm’s founders, in an official release.

The rocket stage has been built with high-strength carbon fiber structure, solid fuel, novel thermal protection system, and carbon ablative nozzle. “It’s a highly reliable stage with no moving parts and high level of automation in manufacturing. This testing will help us in development of orbital vehicle Vikram-1 and gives great confidence for our other rocket stages planned to be tested soon,” said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-founder Pawan Kumar Chandana.

** Indian Navy successfully test-fires naval anti-ship missile

The Indian Navy on Wednesday successfully carried out the maiden test firing of the first indigenously developed naval anti-ship missile from a Seaking helicopter, officials said.

The test was conducted at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Odisha’s Balasore.

“This firing is a significant step towards achieving self-reliance in niche missile technology and reaffirms the Indian Navy’s commitment to indigenisation,” said a senior Navy official.

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** India hosts SCO-RATS meeting; focus on situation in Afghanistan

Counter-terrorism experts from India, Pakistan and other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on May 16 deliberated on boosting cooperation in combating various regional security challenges at a meeting hosted by New Delhi.

The meeting is taking place under the framework of the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure.

A major focus of the discussions was to be on the situation in Afghanistan, especially in dealing with the threat from terrorist groups active in the Taliban-ruled country, people familiar with the meeting said.

Pakistan has sent a three-member team for the meeting.

India assumed the chairmanship of the Council of Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of SCO (RATS SCO) on October 28 for a period of one year.

India has shown keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence.

** 1946 Last War of Independence Royal Indian Navy Mutiny review: The 1946 naval uprising

Pramod Kapoor transforms a footnote in history into a remarkable account of a rebellion that convinced the British it was time to leave India

As rightly remarked by Shyam Benegal, a footnote in the history of the freedom movement has been turned into an exciting and important account in Pramod Kapoor’s 1946 Last War of Independence: Royal Indian Navy Mutiny. Pramod himself stumbled onto this forgotten story while researching for his book on Gandhi: “After the draft of the Gandhi book was done, I re-read the Royal Indian Navy mutiny episodes and realised the magnitude of the event.”

Reports of the revolt

When Pramod began his research, he discovered hundreds of reports by British admirals, commanding officers of ships and shore establishments, cables and letters exchanged between London and Delhi, proceedings in the British parliament and debates in the Legislative Council in India. They were “honest,” but were told from the British point of view. For another view, Pramod waded through hundreds of newspaper reports and documents at libraries, met people with knowledge of the revolt and toured HMIS Talwar, the signal school of the Navy at Colaba, where “inflammatory slogans” had been written on the walls and “seditious pamphlets” were circulated. A tour of the dockyard and areas of Navy Nagar in Mumbai helped him understand the “history and geography of the area where the uprising took place.”

In February 1946, ratings, or the lowest rung of sailors in the Royal Indian Navy hierarchy, staged a revolt. The young sailors were protesting against the fact that things they were promised at the time of recruitment had not been honoured: living conditions were horrible; the food worse and there was rampant racial discrimination. Also, says Pramod, inspired by the Indian National Army (INA), they were politically charged and keen to play a part in India’s freedom movement. Within 48 hours, the strength of the mutineers grew to 20,000, and they took over ships afloat and on-shore establishments. Servicemen in the army and air force, and civilians joined the protests.

** Rezangla Anthem celebrates valour of 1962 war heroes

The Rezangla Anthem was launched at the Rezangla War Memorial to pay a special tribute to the braveheart war veterans of the Indian Army at Rezang La as it marked the close of the first Ladakh International Music Festival that began on April 30.

Conceptualised by Sushil Chaudhary and composed by music composer Joi Barua and his band, the anthem was sung by Joi Barua. The anthem presents a heartfelt tribute signifying the courage of the Param Vir Chakra decorated officer Major Shaitan Singh and his men, who faced the Chinese army at the Rezang La Pass during the 1962 India-China war.

The anthem, shot in metaverse/VR format, was launched by Corps Commander Lt Gen Anindya Sengupta. Major Gen Akash Kaushik, Chief of Staff, Fire & Fury Corps, Major General Abhinay Rai, General Officer Commanding, Uniform Force and Bollywood actor Darshan Kumaar and other dignitaries graced the event.

Addressing the crowd, Lt Gen Sengupta said “On behalf of Uniform force, 114 Brigade, 22 JAK RIF, the other units here, the brave jawans of the Fire and Fury Corps, JCO, respected officers and on behalf of the officers in and around Chusul and all those present here with us. I congratulate Joi Barua and his band for performing such a revered song on this precious land, based on the 60-year-old war.”

** Gen Manoj Pande becomes first Chief from Corps of Engineers

Gen Pande is the most senior Army officer in the country and has spent most of his career serving along the northern borders facing China. This is significant as India’s two-year standoff with China remains unresolved.

Gen Manoj Pande, who was serving as the Vice Chief since February, took over as the new Army Chief from Gen MM Naravane on Saturday on his retirement. Gen Naravane had taken over as the Army Chief in January 2020, months before the standoff with China in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020.

Gen Pande will have a tenure of a little more than two years.