Supporting Afghanistan This time Mi 35 Attack Helicopters

Supporting Afghanistan This time Mi 35 Attack Helicopters

   India all set to give four Mi 35 attack helicopters to the Afghanistan army as a good will to fight against Taliban and Pakistani sponsored terrorism. The proposed discussion will be held by coming days when the Afghan National security adviser meet his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval. Afghanistan looks Indian co operation to build peace and security along the state. India already deployed Forces and support systems in Afghan to fight against the Taliban terrorists and improve the country's economy and stability.

    Supplying the Attack helicopter is new in the defense cooperation. Earlier India provided HAL made Cheetal helicopters for utility purpose. However this is the first time India providing modern Mi 35 Hind E helicopters to Afghan. The Attack helicopters can be used to fight against Taliban's with it's superior fire power and defensive capabilities. Afghan already operating some Mi 35 attack helicopter bought directly from Russia earlier.

    After US overthrow the Taliban's from Afghanistan, India officially express interest to build stronger relationship with Afghanistan, With the US support India carried out friendly mission in early 2010.  India not engaged the fight against Taliban in Afghan, However India moved with infrastructure and economical aid to Afghan to establish good relationship for longer times.

     India invested bigger projects in Afghan by constructing Power plants, Health and Educational activities. The Indian Army's BRO (Border Road Organization) also sent in Afghan to build key roads around afghan to connect major cities like Delaram and Zaranj, Also take care of the Nimroz remote province and  assisted many humanitarian and civil constrictions. India also helped the Afghani's to stop depending on Pakistan for their economical needs.

    At first in 2005, India deployed more than 200 ITBP elite commando's to safe guard Indian missions in Afghan such as constructions, Educations and government buildings. The US and the Collation forces will not allow foreign troops inside their mission zone.Where India is the first country who deployed the forces inside Afghan with the support from Afghan political leaders. India also says once the ISAF mission ends India will deploy more troops inside afghan.

    The Pakistan is on other hand playing hide and seek games inside Afghan by plotting attacks and suicide bombings. The well known connection between ISI and Taliban has been whitewashed by Wikileaks, Once the ISI backed Taliban militants carried out a suicide attack in Indian Embassy Kabul. The Attack killed an Indian Army Brig general and a senior diplomat official. Same kind of attacks still happens in Afghan to sabotage Indian  missions. The recent one is last year attack in Indian Consulate Herat.  The attack was repelled by the ITBP Commando's.

    Providing assistance to Afghan Army is also a key interest, Most of the Afghan Soldiers are trained by Indian Army, India also hosts some Afghan nationals in NDA Pune. India supported the Afghan military by supplying armored personnel carrier and 4x4 Jeeps.  Earlier HAL Provided three Cheetal Utility helicopters to Afghan Army. All of them under operational.

    Taliban threats in Afghan still exists.As a recent example, this year Taliban seized two major districts in northern Afghan with Pakistani support. However the Afghan forces and US forces later carried out counter attack to re capture the lands from Taliban. The US earlier said will pull out all the troops from Afghan by 2015. however they revised their plans and extended to one more year.

    

     Afghan currently has less than 10,000 US Forces and Air crafts, Some 2000 other Soldiers from NATO countries, unknown number of Indian Army and Para military troops and 1,70,000 Afghan troops. However the Afghan troops are poorly equipped to fight against the Taliban's.Most of the times the Afghan positions are overrun by  Taliban's. However later The ISAF comes to the rescue.

    The Afghan Air force has some Mi 35 and Mi 17 for Air support, The MD 500 also provide close air support. Afghan set to receive the first batch of A 29 Coin aircraft's from Brazil in coming years to revamp their Air fleet. Which makes Afghan a good place in Middle East with the support of India. 

Pakistan, Russia sign Mi-35 Attack Helicopters deal

Pakistan, Russia sign Mi-35 Attack Helicopters deal

Pakistan and Russia signed a landmark defence deal that includes the sale of four Mi-35 'Hind E' attack helicopters to Pakistan.

"The agreement was signed by top defence officials from Pakistan and Russia in Rawalpindi on Wednesday," Dawn cited a military source as saying.

Both countries were negotiating the deal for the past year, signalling a major thaw in relations between the two Cold War rivals.

Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif visited Russia in June, after which a draft contract for the delivery of four Mi-35M 'Hind E' combat helicopters was sent to Pakistan from Russia.

General Raheel Sharif spent about 15 hours at an arms expo which featured Russia's cutting-edge weapons and military equipment.

Late last year, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu undertook a visit to Pakistan to discuss bilateral defence cooperation with the Pakistani leadership.

The CEO of Russia's Rostec corporation, Sergey Chemezov, had also said Russia had lifted its embargo on delivery of military hardware and armaments to Pakistan and negotiations were being held on delivering helicopters.

Pakistan currently has a number of 'Mi-17' helicopters delivered by the Russia to assist in the fight against militancy.

The Mi-35 helicopter is an exceedingly modernised version of the Mi-24 combat helicopter with new onboard equipment and avionics. It also has a more powerful engine and a different tail rotor.

Pakistan and Russia signed a bilateral defence cooperation agreement aimed at strengthening military-to-military relations in November last year.

First Published in First Post

Apache AH 64 D Block III

Apache AH 64 D Block III

   Apache AH 64 D Block III

Another addition to the stables of the Indian Air force, it’s the American Apache attack helicopters this time which promise to annihilate the enemies at their tracks. These Apache’s will be replacing the Soviet era attack helicopter the Mi 35 Hind. The deal was in turbulent waters since the last decade and has finally arrived at a solution after much delay. IN the mean time owing to the delays an MLU was signed to modernise the aging Mi’s. They were provided with additional upgrades which concentrated mainly on the avionics, the Mi’s received new sensor suites and DIRCM countermeasure suites owing to these upgrades the Mi’s are battle ready till 2025. The void left by these attach helicopters is huge and the Apache’s promise to fill this cap efficiently thus serving as the back bone for any offensive operations in the future.

When the tenders were floated for procuring a rotary attack platform the Apache and Mi 28 were the forerunners for the program. Apache’s state of the art The Apache ruled out the Russian attack helicopter Mi 28, with its superior performance and network. US has offered India the latest generation AH 64 D Longbow Block III series helicopters, which is also called as AH 64E. The Apache are one of the best products to be rolled out from the Boeing lines, there are nearly two thousand Apache’s serving nearly fifteen other nations throughout the globe.Though the Apache’s will be charged with providing CAS to the army they will still be operated under the IAF and will not be joining the Army aviation corps.

The current deal between the US and Indian government aims to field twenty two Apache helicopter under the Air force. India along with the helicopters will receive fifty additional engines, 1500 Hell fire missiles for anti armour operation, 250 Stinger missiles which will counter the aerial threats. India will also be provided with 12 addition fire control radar and 22 night vision equipments. The total deal is calculated to cost around $1.2 billion.

The Defence Ministry has also taken inputs from the Indian Army to raise a separate squadron of attack helicopters lead by AH 64 and the home grown LCH and ALH Rudra, Rudraarmed with unguided rockets have already been delivered to Army Aviation.

The AH 64 E is capable of guiding unmanned aerial vehicles from itself, the WCO can operate  any of the UAV's under the army, and can also uses its advanced JTDIS to guide the Artillery's to fire with pin point accuracy.


Apache is capable to fly low, and is an all weather helicopter that can make sorties even in the worst conditions. Equipped with state of the art Electronic countermeasures and defensive suites, any threats standing against these copters can be neutralized with a moment’s notice. The Infrared warning systems help Apache to carry out night missions without any major hindrance. Apache also uses thermal and IR camera, these technologies help the Apache serve as an eye in the sky. Apache's formed the first wave of attack in operation Desert Storm, flying low they destroyed several Iraqi early warning Radar sites.

       The deal will be finalized during the visit of Secretary of Defense, USA , Ash Carter. Boeing will deliver the helicopters by 2018 and the Apache's promise to be a force multiplier providing the crucial CAS to the infantry. 

Editor- Karthik Kakoor