JHANSI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday laid the foundation stone of the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor project worth Rs 400 crores in Jhansi.
The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of the much-awaited significant project on the concluding three-day ‘Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv’ event being organized by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) along with the government of Uttar Pradesh here in the city.
The Centre has decided to set up two Defence Industrial Corridors in the country– one in Tamil Nadu and the other in Uttar Pradesh. The Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor has nodes at Agra, Aligarh, Jhansi, Chitrakoot, Lucknow and Kanpur.
For the Jhansi node of the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor, the state government has made nearly 1,034 hectares of land made available.
Bharat Dynamics Ltd, a Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU), is setting up a plant for the propulsion system for Anti-Tank Guided Missiles in the Jhansi node. It will be spread over 183 acres of land in Jhansi. The facility will involve an investment of Rs 400 crores.
The project is expected to provide direct employment to 150 people and indirect employment to nearly 500 people.
Besides, the Prime Minister dedicated and launched several new initiatives of MoD to the nation in a grand ceremony organized in the precincts of Jhansi Fort.
The Ministry of Defence has taken several steps to promote ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ in defence in the last two years. These include the issue of positive indigenization lists, earmarking of 64 per cent of capital procurement budget for the domestic industry, promotion of startups under Innovations For Defence Excellence (iDEX) initiative, speeding up of capital acquisition process and setting up of Defence Industrial Corridors among others.
As a demonstration of the thrust on ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy are adopting indigenously designed and developed platforms for their use. Three platforms were formally handed over by the Prime Minister to respective Service Chiefs in the event.
These platforms depict maturing of the Indian defence industry ecosystem with contributions from Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), DPSUs and Defence industry and startups.
PM Modi hands over ‘Shakti’ to Indian Navy
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday handed over an advanced electronic warfare system ‘Shakti’ to the Indian Navy in the Jhansi city of Uttar Pradesh.
Shakti is meant for interception, detection, classification, identification and jamming of conventional and modern radars. It is developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the capital warships of the Indian Navy.
Prime Minister also presented the miniaturised model of Shakti EW System to the Chief of the Naval Staff at Jhansi Fort under the ongoing three-day ‘Raksha Samarpan Parv’, which will conclude today.
“Shakti will augment navy’s electronic intelligence capability for early warning, ships’ defence against missile attack, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance for maritime domain awareness and ensure electronic dominance in the maritime battlefield,” it was announced in the event.
Twelve Shakti Systems, developed by Defence Electronics Research Laboratory of DRDO, are under production at Bharat Electronics Ltd trusted with more than fifty MSMEs at a total cost of Rs 1,805 crores, said officials known with the development.
“First Shakti system has been installed on-board INS Visakhapatnam and second Shakti system is being installed on-board Indigenous Aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant,” officials said
“Further, systems are scheduled to be installed on-board capital warships under productionincluding P-15B, P-17A and Talwar class follow-on ships,” officials added.
In pursuance of the constant quest to enhance the capabilities of EW systems, the officials said that the Shakti system would replace earlier generation indigenous EW Systems.
According to the officials, Shakti is a true symbol of Atmanirbhar Bharat in the areas of advanced defence technologies.
The Prime Minister also handed over DRDO designed and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) manufactured advanced EW suite for naval ships including that for Indian Aircraft Carrier Vikrant. The advanced EW suite will be used in different naval ships including destroyers, frigates etc. and marks a big step towards ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
Also hands over Light Combat Helicopter,
drones, Advanced EW suite to armed forces
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday handed over Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) designed and developed Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and other indigenously manufactured defence equipment to Indian Air Force in Jhansi.
PM Modi handed over LCH to the Chief of the Air Staff VR Chaudhari in the ongoing ‘Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv’ event from Red Fort.
LCH is a new addition to HAL’s helicopter division. This twin-engine helicopter is a dedicated combat helicopter of 5 to 8-tonne class.
The LCH incorporates advanced technologies and stealth features for effective combat roles and is designed to carry out roles such as destruction of enemy air defence, counterinsurgency, search and rescue, anti-tank, Counter Surface Force Operations etc.
The LCH is the only attack helicopter in the world that can land and take off at an altitude of 5,000 m (16,400 ft) with a considerable load of weapons and fuel.
The Prime Minister also handed over drones and UAVs designed and developed by Indian startups to the Chief of the Army Staff.
Indian Army has decided to procure these drones from Indian industry and startups after detailed testing and trials. The deployment of Indian UAVs by the Indian Armed Forces is also proof of the growing maturity of the Indian drone industry ecosystem.
The Prime Minister later handed over DRDO designed and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) manufactured Advanced EW suite for naval ships including that for Indian Aircraft Carrier Vikrant. The Advanced EW suite will be used in different naval ships including destroyers, frigates etc. and marks a big step towards ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. (ANI)