Indian Defence News

Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth has been appointed India's next Chief of Army Staff, effective June 30. A National Defence Academy alumnus commissioned into the Armoured Corps in 1986, he brings nearly four decades of operational and leadership experience. He has commanded formations from armoured regiments to strike corps and operational commands.

In a historic first for India’s armed forces, women from the National Defence Academy (NDA) have graduated as commissioned officers. This follows a 2021 Supreme Court ruling that opened the premier institution to women. The pioneering batch was commissioned at ceremonies at the Indian Military and Air Force Academies.

India's indigenous Netra AEW&C airborne surveillance system will receive Final Operational Clearance from DRDO on June 25, marking its readiness for full operational deployment with the Indian Air Force. Built on the Embraer EMB-145 platform, Netra provides airborne surveillance, threat detection and real-time battlefield awareness.

India and US will conduct 22nd edition of Exercise Yudh Abhyas in September 2026, with around 350 troops from each side training in Uttarakhand's Auli and Rajasthan's Mahajan firing range. The exercise will feature Apache attack helicopters and focus on high-altitude warfare, live-fire drills, air-ground coordination and combined-arms operations.

The Indian Navy successfully removed and defused an unexploded missile warhead embedded inside the crude oil tanker MT Olympic Life, preventing a potentially devastating maritime disaster. The vessel, travelling from Fujairah to Kochi, was damaged by an explosion off the Omani coast. Navy specialists safely extracted the live ordnance.

Delhi-based defence manufacturer SMPP has completed the delivery of 106 Peacekeeper (Agniveg) turbojet-powered loitering munitions to the Indian Army. The 180-km-range kamikaze drones offer high-precision strike capability and mark a significant step in the Army’s expanding indigenous drone programme.

Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Airbus have successfully conducted the maiden test flight of the first ‘Made-in-India’ C295 military transport aircraft from their final assembly line (FAL) in Vadodara, Gujarat.

The Ministry of Defence has signed a ₹449 crore contract for 20 ECGNSS jammers for the Indian Navy. The indigenous systems can disrupt and spoof enemy satellite navigation signals, strengthening naval operations in complex threat environments.

The proposed acquisition would be the largest artillery procurement by the Indian Army in decades, and would take L&T's total K9 Vajra production order past 500 guns.

The Ministry of Defence plans to penalise HAL for failing to deliver any Tejas Mk1A fighter jets to the Indian Air Force despite a 2021 contract worth ₹45,696 crore. Delays in GE engine supplies have stalled deliveries beyond the original deadline.