Why Naresh Chandra committee was consituted?

• The committee was constituted by the Union Govt to contemporarize the Kargil Review Committee’s recommendations. It was also asked to suggest ways to revamp defence management by examining the state of country’s border management and restructure system.

Who are the members on the committee?

• A 14- member committee which includes military officers, intelligence chiefs, diplomats and strategic analysts.

Kargil Review Committee:

• The Kargil Review Committee (KRC), headed by the late K. Subrahmanyam. It has been a decade when it submitted its report. It was on the recommendations made of the committee, a Group of Ministers was set up which suggested huge reforms in the country's security management system. The KRC is thought to be the first major step in revamping the country's security after Independence.

India successfully test fired BrahMos supersonic cruise missile as part of a user trial by the Army from a Chandipur off Odisha coast. The Brahmos missile development is an Indo-Russian collaborative project.

• Range: 290 km
• Can carry conventional warhead of 300 kg
• Surface-to-surface Army version
• Two-stage missile
• Can fly at zero level

The name BrahMos is derived from the names of the two great rivers of India and Russia -- Brahmaputra and Moskva.

India successfully test fired BrahMos supersonic cruise missile as part of a user trial by the Army from a Chandipur off Odisha coast.

MiG-29KUB, a Russian-built fighter jet made the first landing on the INS Vikramaditya during sea trials.

INS Vikramaditya

• It is the rechristened name of former Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, which has been procured by India.
• The ship is a modified Kiev class aircraft carrier built in 1978–1982.
• Russia sold the carrier to India after it became too expensive for the soviet nation to operate it on a post Cold War budget. It has been extensively refurbished and upgraded to a light aircraft carrier at the Sevmash shipyard in the Russian city of Severodvinsk.
• It is expected to be inducted for service in the Indian Navy by December 2012.

• The Navy commissioned one of its most futuristic warships INS Sahyadri at Mumbai-based Western Naval Command headquarters. It will further embolden its stealth and anti-submarine warfare competence.
• INS Sahyadri is the last ship in the series of stealth warships after INS Shivalik and Satpura by the Mazgaon Dock Limited (MDL).
• Sahyadri is India's first warship with major stealth feature and a western gas turbine as till now Indian Navy was using Russian one.
• The Navy commissioned first INS Shivalik and INS Satpura in the same class in April 2010 and August 2011. These ships are serving in the Indian Ocean Region.

Despite differences running b/w the Army and DRDO, the two are trying cooperate in the development of world-class tank-killer missile.

What are the problems?

The problem with the DRDO’s anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), Nag (Hindi for cobra), is its range and weight. Currently, the Nag accurately hits its targets out to 4 km, the range that the army asks for. But in extreme heat, especially in summer afternoons in the desert, the missile cannot strike a target beyond 2.5 km. The seeker of the missile cannot work in high temperatures. The DRDO is trying to develop a seeker that can work through the hottest desert temperatures.

The Army is unhappy with the 40 kg weight of the missile. It has demanded for about 30-35 kg.

The Army is ready to buy 13 Nag carriers (NAMICA, being developed by BEL and L&T), and 443 Nag missiles in the current form. These will be positioned in regions of Punjab, where close-set villages, groves and electricity transmission cables do not allow visibility beyond 2.5 km. It will order larger consignment only after DRDO demonstrates better performance with an efficient Seeker.

What is the exigency of these missiles?

• The delay in the development of the missile is a disappointment to the army. Indian infantry formations is urgently looking for a capable ATGM to tackle Pakistani tank forces that now have potent Ukrainian T-80 and Chinese T-85 tanks.

How does the missile function?

• With the help of thermal imaging telescopes, the Nag missile pilots scan the battlefield for enemy tanks. After having set up an enemy tank, the Nag pilot locks the seeker onto it. Instantly, a digital snapshot of the target is taken, which funtions as a reference image. As the Nag heads towards the target, at 230 m/s, the seeker takes repeated snapshots of the target; each one is compared with the previous image. The deviations are translated into corrections to the Nag’s control fins, which automatically guide the missile onto the target. The missile is also called as “fire-and-forget” missile as it eases the pilot of the need to expose himself to enemy fire after launching the missile.

What are the other types of “Fire and Forget” missiles?

• Only a few countries carry these kinds of sophisticated missiles.

- FGM-148 Javelin is manufactured by American companies, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

- The Spike is built by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. The Javelin and the Spike are lighter, “man-portable” missiles that can be carried by an infantry soldier, whereas, the Nag is heavier and more powerful missile that operates from vehicles and helicopters.