1. General Electric officials to visit India for engine deal
General Electric officials will arrive in India next month to advance talks with Hindustan Aeronautics for the license production deal for the F-4149-ins6 engine which will be used to power the Tejas Mark II fighter jets.
Both companies are currently working on a licensing agreement that will clear the path for manufacturing these engines as well as carry out in-house repair and overhaul capabilities of the engine in India.
The Indian Air Force will procure around 200 Tejas Mark II fighter jets and 40 AMCA Mark 1 Aircraft and the Navy has committed to procure around 60 TEDBF aircraft and all these fighter jets will be powered by the same f-4149-ins6 engine.
2. Indian Army will receive 5000 AK-203 Rifles in March
Indian army Chief has said that the Army will receive the first shipment of AK-203 rifles in March 2023.
The first batch of 5000 rifles will have 5% indigenous content and another 65,000 rifles with 17% indigenous content will be delivered over the next 32 months.
After these 70,000 rifles are delivered, over 5 lakh AK-203 rifles with 100% indigenous content will be manufactured locally by Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited.
3. Delivery of 3rd Squadron of Russian S-400 to India Begins
According to latest information, Russia has started initial deliveries of the third Squadron of S-400 system to India, and Russia is confident that it will deliver all five squadrons by the end of this year.
India has already deployed the first S-400 Squadron in the North in Punjab and the second Squadron in the East around the chicken’s neck corridor and the third Squadron is likely to be deployed in the North in Rajasthan.
4. BAE Offers Upgraded M777 155mm, 52 cal Gun to Indian Army
After supplying 145 units of 155 millimetre 39 caliber m-777 howitzers to the Indian army, BAE Systems has now offered an upgraded variant of its M-777 Howitzer which is a 155 millimeters 52 caliber variant.
BAE Systems has offered the upgraded variant with transfer of technology and local assembly license agreement with its Indian industrial partner PTC Industries.
The upgraded M777 Howitzer weighs less than 5800 kilograms as compared to 8000 kilograms of ultralight Howitzer ER variant developed by Kalyani group.