NEWS 18-09-2022. News For 19th-Sep (Monday) 1. Army’s Kharga Corps and the Indian Air Force conducted a 4 days joint exercise, to showcase the might and prowess of the armed forces. Termed *Gagan Strike*. 2. Ex *Parvat Prahar* was conducted recently in Ladakh. This Exercise is a 20 day long routine conduced by Indian Army to undertake disengagement from Patrolling Point 15 in eastern Ladakh. This exercise was held at a height of 14,000 feet and it used all newly terrain vehicles transported by Chinook heavy lift helicopters and K9 Vajra howitzers. 3. India is now looking to allow private sector companies to develop sub sonic air launch cruise missiles from 200km to 500km range & also develop surface to surface variants of a similar range, as there will be a huge demand from the tri services in the coming 20 years. 4. The IAF has taken a huge step by deciding to purchase 100 UAVs for base security & surveillance around the nation. These drone systems will be purchased from Indian suppliers or original equipment manufacturers. 5. Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) has won the contract to supply 10,000 Bullet Proof Jackets to the Indian Armed Forces which will provide level 3 protection. 6. Argentina has progressed on talks for purchasing India's Tejas fighter aircraft. HAL's LCA Tejas is one amongst its 4 shortlisted contenders which includes Chinese JF-17, second hand American F-16 & Russian Mig-35. 7.As part of capability enhancement in Arunachal Pradesh beyond the Tawang sector, the Indian Army is set to deploy two Heron-Mk2 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), along the LAC in the Eastern sector by end of September. 8. Govt has recently launched an indigenously developed drone named *'Defender'*. The Defender is loaded with 13 pre-programmes to lock, track and nautralise rogue drones. It can effectively neutralise threats without any human intervention. 9. Shanghai Cooperation Meeting was held on 15 & 16 Sep at Samarkand, Uzbekistan. 8 member countries including India, China, Russia, Pakistan attended. India gave cold shoulders to China & Pakistan by not having any talks with them. < < Back