On Board India's Deadliest Warship INS Kochi.

INS Kochi. At 7,500 tonnes, the Kochi, which has been built at Mazgaon Docks, Mumbai, is one of the largest ships of its class in the world and incorporates state of the art sensors and weapon systems. The most potent sensor on the Kochi is the Israeli built MF-STAR phased array radar capable to tracking targets several hundreds of kilometres away. The Kochi is also armed with a new generation of Surface to Air Missiles, the Indo-Israeli Barak-8 which can reportedly intercept enemy aircraft and missiles 100 kilometres away. The Kochi is the second in a class of three Kolkata class destroyers being built in India.
1) INS Kochi.
2) "Armed to conquer," the motto of the Kochi.
3) The 7,500 ton destroyer has cost Rs.3900 crores and has been built over a period of ten years at Mazgaon Docks Limited, Mumbai.
4)The Kochi's 76mm Oto-Melara Super Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM) being tested ahead of the ship was commissioned.
5) The Kochi's 76mm Super Rapid Gun mount in the foreground with the large Israeli built MF-STAR phased array radar visible on top of the mast of the Kochi.
6) The Bridge of the Kochi.
7) The Kochi's RBU-6000 anti-submarine rocket launcher, Barak missile silos and main gun visible from the Bridge of the Kochi.
8) The Machinery Control Room (MCR) onboard the destroyer Kochi.
9) Crew rest areas on the Kochi.
10) Automatic dosa maker in the galley of the Kochi. The galley feeds a crew of 390 officers and men.

Over 200 Paki terrorists across LoC waiting to infiltrate: Army

Over 200 heavily armed militants were waiting across the Line of Control (LoC) to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir, a senior army officer today said but asserted that troops are fully geared to thwart their nefarious designs.

"Exact details of the infiltrators cannot be said with surety but with our experience, having known their modus operandi and from inputs of various security agencies, we can put the figure at around 200 plus," General officer Commanding (GoC) of the 16 corps Lt Gen RR Nimbhorkar said here.

He said the consolidation of militants at various launching pads was not a new phenomenon and they keep on trying to infiltrate into the Indian side.

"Terrorists come to the launch pads, try to infiltrate and get killed. Maybe very few manage tocross over but get killed in the second and third tier of the security grid," he said, adding that the army was fully geared and the security grid intact to thwart the nefarious designs of the terrorists.

"Having gained the experience, our security grid is tight and well geared up to thwart the activity," said the GoC.

Asked to comment on the situation in the south of Pir Panchal, the area under the operation of the 16 corps, he said it has been "relatively peaceful".

"Our area of operation in the southern side of Pir Panchal has been relatively calm and quiet for the last few years due to high-intensity operations carried out by security forces which have brought the situation under proper control and as of now, there is no change and we are having a reasonable amount of peace and tranquility here," he said.

Replying to a query on the effect on militancy if the government plans to reduce the footprints of security forces in the state, he said addition and reduction of security personnel are done after proper deliberation and discussion and such decisions are not taken overnight.

"If peace has been restored to a place, it does not mean that the army should be removed from there. Lot of deliberations and discussions go on," he said.

Asked if there could be an increase in militancy-related activities if the army was removed from certain areas, he said if police is withdrawn from a place, the crime rate will see an upward trend there. "If there is no policeman to control crime, you can well understand what would be the state of crime in the area," he said.

The GoC said terrorists are always on the lookout for a "weakness" and would try to launch an attack.

"Wherever terrorists get a chance and find weakness, they will act. We are not weak, we are there to guard and have put in our resources to do that," he said.

Replying to a query, the GoC said the exact number of terrorists active in the Jammu region cannot be divulged, adding that some Over Ground Workers (OGWs) were present in the area.

Regarding the renewal of lease of the training ranges in the Jammu region, he said the issue was pending with the state government and the procedure takes time

Russian Ilyushin has suspended the co-development program with India to build Il-214 medium airlifted under the MTA program and has resumed the development at its own expense.

“The Ilyushin Aviation complex is developing the future medium airlifted for the Russian Aerospace Force at its own expense. A scaled model of the aircraft has been made, and the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) are gearing up for its wind-tunnel tests, using mock-ups of both the PS-90A and PD-14 engines,” the company’s press office was quoted as stating by Russian Aviation Monday.

The future aircraft will be powered either by two PS-90As or by a pair of PD-14s, with the latter’s flight tests having started last year.

“The Ilyushin Aviation Complex has designated its future medium military transport aircraft development program as Il-214,” the press office concluded.

In January, Ilyushin Director General Sergei Velmozhkin told journalists about the program having been put on hold. According to him, the company expected “to clarify somehow” the future of the program by the middle of the year. There have been no official statements about the cause behind the suspending of the Russian-Indian program.

The Il-214 is designed to carry and air-land troops, their equipment, and cargo. It is to haul 20 tons of cargo at a distance of over 2,000 km. The aircraft is supposed to operate from unpaved and artificial airfields, including those high in the mountains.