1. Raksha Mantri and French Defence Minister co-chair India-France Annual Defence Dialogue

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh and Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs of France, Ms Catherine Vautrin, co-chaired the 6th India-France Annual Defence Dialogue in Bengaluru, Karnataka, on February 17. The Defence Cooperation Agreement was renewed for another 10 years, while Bharat Electronics Limited & Safran signed an MoU to manufacture HAMMER missiles in India, and both sides announced reciprocal deployment of officers between the Indian Army & French Land Forces establishments.

2. Tata Advanced Systems inaugurates H125 helicopter assembly line

Tata Advanced Systems inaugurates India’s first private-sector helicopter Final Assembly Line (FAL) for Airbus H125 at Vemagal, India. The facility was virtually inaugurated by  Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Emmanuel Macron, President of France. The H125 will be offered for both civil and military markets in India

3. BEL and  Safran sign joint venture agreement for HAMMER guided bomb

BEL and Safran Electronics and Defense, France, on February 17, signed a Joint Venture Agreement to establish a Joint Venture Company for the production of Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range (HAMMER) Smart Precision Guided Air-to-Ground Weapon in India. The HAMMER is carried by the Rafale and LCA Tejas fighter jets of the Indian Air Force.

4. General Anil Chauhan, CDS, visits HAL Headquarters

General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff, visited Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, reaffirming the Armed Forces’ firm commitment to strengthening indigenous defence manufacturing. The visit underscores the growing synergy between the Armed Forces and India’s defence industry, driving innovation and capability development in line with the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and securing the nation’s future in the aerospace domain.

5. Cochin Shipyard declared L1 for next-gen survey vessels for Indian Navy

Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) has been declared L1 by the Ministry of Defence for the construction of five Next Generation Survey Vessels (NGSV) for the Indian Navy, for an order value of around ₹5,000 Crore. This underscores CSL’s commitment to strengthening India’s maritime capability and aligns with the Government of India’s vision of Make in India & defence indigenisation.

6. Tanzania People's Defence Force delegation on a visit to India

A high-level delegation from the Tanzania People's Defence Forces (TPDF) is on three days visit to India. The visit underscores the growing synergy between the two Defence Forces, as per the 5-Year Roadmap for Defence Cooperation signed between the two countries in 2023. During the visit, the discussion focused on cooperation in the cyber domain and sthe trengthening of ongoing defence engagements.

7. DARPA’s Longshot completes technical milestone and gets designation

DARPA’s Longshot with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has completed a series of technical milestones, moving its air-launched uninhabited vehicle – recently designated the X-68A – closer to flight testing.

Recent achievements, including full-scale wind tunnel tests and successful trials of the vehicle's parachute recovery and weapons-release systems, demonstrate significant progress in developing this next-generation capability. The Longshot program is designed to fundamentally change air combat operations. The program’s premise is an uninhabited aircraft that can be launched from a larger aircraft, fly ahead of follow-on forces, and engage enemy targets with its own air-to-air missiles.

This approach augments traditional fighter aircraft, enabling them to remain farther from the front lines, drastically increasing pilot safety while extending the overall force package reach and mission effectiveness. The LongShot concept is intended to be host-platform agnostic, providing opportunities to integrate an operational variant onto fighters, bombers, or employed as a palletised munition from mobility aircraft.

Chakra Desk

Chakra News is a specialised digital media platform committed to in-depth coverage of India’s defence, national security, geopolitics, and critical technologies.