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Army Moves Over Rs 6,500 Cr Deal To Defence For 400 Howitzers From Desi Firms

By LokMarg 28th September 2023

In a mega push to promote indigenously designed and developed weapon systems, the Indian Army has moved a proposal to the Defence Ministry to buy 400 howitzers from Indian firms.

Indian Army’s Regiment of Artillery is looking to use the expertise of Indian Industry to produce 155 mm/52 calibre Towed Gun System, which will be lighter, versatile and cater for future technological advancements.

“A proposal for buying 400 155mm 52 calibre towed gun systems (TGS) along with towing vehicles from Indian firms under the Buy Indian-IDDM category has been moved to the Defence Ministry. The government is expected to soon take a decision on the TGS at a high-level meeting,” senior military officials told ANI.

The Indian Army has already issued a tender for buying 307 Advanced Towed Artillery Gun Systems (ATAGS) along with one for finding a mounted gun system for its requirements along borders with China and Pakistan.

The Indian Designed, Developed and Manufactured howitzer would mean that it would be totally Indian in all ways.

The Army wants the guns to be lighter in weight and easier to deploy in high-altitude areas like the older bofors guns.

The procurement process is part of the Army plan for Mediumisation with indigenous guns and is likely to be completed by the year 2042

In the last decade, four contracts have been concluded for the procurement of 155 mm howitzer. These Gun Systems have already been inducted and more number of Regiments are being equipped with these guns.

These gun systems include Dhanush, Sharang, Ultra Light Howitzer (ULH) and K-9 Vajra Self Propelled Guns.

Dhanush Guns are an electronic upgrade of Bofors Guns, while the Sharang Guns have been up-gunned from 130mm to 155mm calibre.

Seven Regiments have already been equipped with ULHs while five have been equipped with self-propelled guns. (ANI)

China Spying On You Via Smart Bulb, Fridge Or Car: Report

By LokMarg 24th January 2023

China is watching you via smart bulbs, fridges, cars and credit cards by “weaponizing” microchips embedded in them, reported Asian Lite International.

More specifically the threat revolves around four areas: national security, economic prosperity, privacy, and values and human rights.

Three Chinese companies – Quectel, Fibocom and China Mobile – already have 54 percent of the global market in devices and 75 percent by connectivity. Customers of the three Chinese firms include computing firms Dell, Lenovo, HP and Intel, carmaker Tesla and card payments firm Sumup.

Like all Chinese firms, they must hand over data to the Chinese government if ordered to, which means the Chinese Communist Party can get access to as many devices as they want, reported Asian Lite International.

Devices with modules include: laptop computer; voice-controlled smart speaker; smart watches; smart energy meter; fridges, light bulbs and other appliances that can be controlled via the app; body-worn police cameras; doorbell cameras and security cameras; Bank card payment machines, cars and even hot tubs, reported Asian Lite International.

The modules collect data and then transmit it via 5G networks, giving China the opportunity to monitor the movements of intelligence targets including people, weapons and supplies, and to use the devices for industrial espionage. Millions of them are already in use in the UK.

“Trojan horse” technology poses a “widespread” threat to Britain’s national security, according to a report sent to the British government by Charles Parton, a former diplomat who advised parliament on Beijing.

Parton spent 22 years of his diplomatic career working in or in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and has advised the Foreign Office and the European Union on Chinese affairs, as well as being Special Adviser to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on China.

The report says ministers have completely failed to understand the threat posed by the “widespread presence” of modules known as cellular IoT – a concern echoed by senior MPs, reported Asian Lite International.

It calls on ministers to take immediate action to ban Chinese-made cellular IoT from goods sold in the UK before it is too late.

“We are not yet aware of the threat,” said Charles Parton. “China has seen an opportunity to dominate this market, and if it does it can collect a lot of data as well as, also can make foreign countries dependent on them.”

“Dependency is dangerous when it is in the hands of the CCP, a potential, if not actual, hostile power,” added Preston.

The potential threat to national security is greater than that posed by Chinese-made components in mobile phone masts, prompting the government to ban Huawei products used in mobile infrastructure, a report published Monday by Washington-based consultancy OODA said.

Cellular IoTs – which stands for Internet of Things – are tiny modules used in everything from smart fridges to advanced weapons systems to monitor usage and feed data back to the owner and often the manufacturer using 5G.

The possibilities of espionage are huge. Coupled with artificial intelligence and machine learning to process massive amounts of data, the report suggests tracking US arms sales activities, reported Asian Lite International.

It can also serve to identify and address royal and diplomatic security officers, then monitor their cars during advance security sweeps to track visiting ministers.

Even innocuous applications such as agricultural machinery, which also use the equipment, can help the Chinese find weaknesses in Western supply chains, such as poor harvests of a particular crop, then undercut British suppliers. Seizing market share, making the West more dependent on Chinese exports.

Allowing China to form a monopoly on the manufacture of the equipment – which is subsidized by the Chinese state to make them cheaper than Western competitors – would leave the West entirely dependent on China for the supply of the strategically important component, reported Asian Lite International.

The report by OODA recommended a full audit of government assets to replace equipment where necessary and suggested that companies operating in sensitive sectors like defence be asked to complete the work by the end of 2025. (ANI)

China’s Nuke Stockpile To Swell To 1500 By 2035: US Report

By LokMarg 30th November 2022

With the aim to modernize, diversify, and expand nuclear forces, China has accelerated its nuclear expansion and plans to field a stockpile of about 1500 warheads by its 2035 timeline.

In a report titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Pentagon said Beijing probably accelerated its nuclear expansion last year, surpassing the operational 400 nuclear warheads stockpile.
“The Department of Defence estimates that the PRC’s operational nuclear warheads stockpile has surpassed 400,” the US Defense Department said in the report.

“The PLA (People’s Liberation Army) plans to basically complete modernization of its national defence and armed forces by 2035. If China continues the pace of its nuclear expansion, it will likely field a stockpile of about 1500 warheads by its 2035 timeline,” it adds.

According to Pentagon, the PRC aims to modernize, diversify, and expand its nuclear forces over the next decade. Compared to the PLA’s nuclear modernization efforts a decade ago, current efforts exceed previous modernization attempts in both scale and complexity, the report said.

“The PRC is investing in and expanding the number of its land-, sea-, and air-based nuclear delivery platforms and constructing the infrastructure necessary to support this major expansion of its nuclear forces,” it adds.

On the “operational structure and activities on china’s periphery,” the Pentagon report said the PRC continues to refine military reforms associated with the establishment of the Eastern, Southern, Western, Northern, and Central Theater Commands, based on its perception of peripheral threats.

The Western Theater Command, oriented toward India and counterterrorism missions along China’s Central Asia borders, is geographically the largest theater command within the PRC and is responsible for responding to conflict with India and terrorist threats in western China, the report said.

According to Pentagon, PLA units located within the Western Theater Command include 76th and 77th Group Armies and ground forces subordinate to Xinjiang and Xizang Military Districts; three PLAAF bases, one transportation division, and one flying academy; and one PLARF base.

“PAP units responsible for internal security operations are also likely under the control of the Western Theater Command. Within China, the Western Theater Command focuses on Xinjiang and Tibet Autonomous Regions, where the CCP perceives a high threat of separatism and terrorism, particularly among Uyghur populations in Xinjiang,” it adds. (ANI)