In a deal reportedly worth close to $2 billion, India is set to acquire a second Akula 2 nuclear-powered attack submarine from Russia.
●    The contract for this, which has been unannounced so far, was finalised in Goa along with a slew of other defence deals worth more than $5 billion which have been made public.
●    According to Alexei Nikolski, a columnist with the reputed Russian daily Vedomosti, "According to a source in the Russian defence industry, the long discussed lease to transfer a multipurpose Project 971 nuclear submarine to India from the Russian Navy was signed in Goa."
●    The Indian Navy already operates an Akula 2 class nuclear submarine, INS Chakra (formerly known as K-152 Nerpa), which was leased from Russia and commissioned on April 4, 2012 after India paid for its completion and sea-trials.

India on 18 October 2016 completed its nuclear triad by inducting country's first indigenously-constructed nuclear submarine INS Arihant into service.
●    INS Arihant was formally commissioned by Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba in August 2016.
●    INS Arihant is the lead ship of India's Arihant class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.
●    The 6000 tonne vessel was built under the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project at the Ship Building Centre in the port city of Visakhapatnam.
●    It was launched on 26 July 2009, the anniversary of Vijay Diwas (Kargil War Victory Day) by the then Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh.
●    After fitting out and extensive sea trials, on 23 February 2016, Arihant was confirmed as ready for operations, and was quietly commissioned in August 2016.
●    It first of the expected five in the class of submarines designed and constructed as a part of the Indian Navy's secretive ATV project.

India and France on 23 September 2016 inked the 7.8-billion Euro deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets. 
•    As per the deal, the aircraft will be equipped with latest missiles and weapon system like Meteor and Scalp.
•    The 7.8 billion Euro deal is crucial for the Indian Air Force and is expected to give India the dominant status in the air. 
•    The deal was signed in New Delhi by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his French counterpart Jean Yves Le Drian.
•    The features that make the Rafale a strategic weapon is its Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Meteor air-to-air missile with a range in excess of 150 kilometre.
•    During the Kargil war, India had used a BVR having 50 kilometre range. 
•    The delivery of this aircraft will start in 36 months and will be completed in 66 months from the date the contract is inked.
•    As per reports, the deal comes with a saving of nearly 750 million Euros than the one struck during the previous UPA government, which was scrapped by the Narendra Modi government.
 

The eighth edition of India-Russia Joint Military Exercise ‘INDRA-2016’ begun in the Ussiriysk District in Vladivostok, Russia. 
•    The main focus of this edition of the joint exercise is on Counter-Terrorism Operations in semi mountainous and jungle terrain under United Nations Mandate.
•    To achieve interoperability in joint operations, troops from both sides would acquaint themselves with the respective approach to such operations. 
•    A comprehensive training programme spanning eleven days has been drawn up for the purpose.
•    Brigadier Sukrit Chadah is leading the Indian contingent of 250 soldiers from the Kumaon Regiment while the Russian army is being represented by 250 soldiers from the 59th Motorised Infantry Brigade.
•    Indra series of bilateral exercises is one of the major bilateral defence cooperation initiatives between India and Russia since 2003. 
•    The Indian contingent is scheduled to return to India on termination of the Exercise in the first week of October 2016.
 

Indian Air Force on 23 September 2016 successfully fired the recently acquired long range air-to-air MICA missile on a maneuvering target from Mirage-2000 Upgrade combat aircraft.
•    A Defence Ministry release said in New Delhi that the missile achieved a direct hit on a target which was much smaller than an actual aircraft and flying at a low altitude.
•    The release said, with the success of this mission by 'Tigers', the first squadron of the force, IAF has become one of the few air forces in the world with the capability of such beyond visual range air-to-air missile.
•    The Mirage 2000 is a single-engine fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by France's Dassault Aviation. 
•    It was designed in the late 1970s as a lightweight fighter based on the Mirage III for the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air).
•    The upgraded Mirage 2000 fighter jets are fitted with the Thales RDY 2 radar, a helmet-mounted display, new avionics, and the ability to fire new weapons including the MICA missile.

India and France on 23 September 2016 inked the 7.8-billion Euro deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets. 
•    As per the deal, the aircraft will be equipped with latest missiles and weapon system like Meteor and Scalp.
•    The 7.8 billion Euro deal is crucial for the Indian Air Force and is expected to give India the dominant status in the air. 
•    The deal was signed in New Delhi by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his French counterpart Jean Yves Le Drian.
•    The features that make the Rafale a strategic weapon is its Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Meteor air-to-air missile with a range in excess of 150 kilometre.
•    During the Kargil war, India had used a BVR having 50 kilometre range. 
•    The delivery of this aircraft will start in 36 months and will be completed in 66 months from the date the contract is inked.
•    As per reports, the deal comes with a saving of nearly 750 million Euros than the one struck during the previous UPA government, which was scrapped by the Narendra Modi government.

India will finally ink the deal for direct acquisition of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France on Friday. 
•    IAF, after all, is down to just 33 fighter squadrons when at least 42 are required for dissuasive deterrence against China and Pakistan.
•    The overall cost of the 36 twin-engine Rafales , along with their weapon packages, associated supplies and logistics, is pegged at around 7.8 billion euros (over Rs 59,000 crore).
•    It is capable of delivering nuclear weapons, & will touch down in India within three years. 
•    All 36 jets will be delivered in 66 months. India will pay around 15% (around Rs 9,000 crore) as the first installment.
•    The inking of the IGA comes 20 months after the proposed government-to-government deal was announced during the Modi-Hollande summit in Paris in April 2015. 

India on 20 September 2016 successfully test-fired the most advanced surface-to-air missile 'Barak-8' off the Odisha coast. 
•    The long-range nuclear capable ballistic missile, developed jointly with Israel, was launched from a mobile launcher at the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur in Balasore district.
•    The 4.5-meter missile weighs around 3 tonnes and can carry a payload of 70 kilograms. 
•    The system also includes a Multi-Functional Surveillance and Threat Alert Radar (MF STAR) for detection, tracking and guidance of the missile.
•    The missile swung into action after getting a signal from the radars to intercept a moving aerial target supported by an unmanned air vehicle ‘Banshee’ over the Bay of Bengal.
•    As a precautionary measure, Balasore district administration had made adequate arrangements to temporarily shift 3700 people residing within the 2.5 km radius. 
•    The fishermen were also asked not to venture into the sea during the launch.
•    Earlier between 30 June and 1 July 2016, the Barak-8 was successfully test fired twice.

An indigenously built warship equipped with a range of high-tech missiles was launched on Saturday with Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba.
•    Christened ' Mormugao ', the vessel has been built by government-run Mazgaon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) and belongs to Visakhapatnam class of ships being constructed under Project 15B.
•    The Project 15B missile destroyers are modern warships equipped with the latest weapons package in continuation of the lineage of the highly successful Delhi and Kolkata Class ships.
•    Admiral Lanba's wife Reena launched the bedecked ship at a function at MDL here at 11.58am and it was released into the Arabian Sea for the first time. 
•    The vessel will undergo certain testings required by Indian Navy and would be subsequently known as INS Mormugao.
•    Four more such destroyers would be built and delivered by MDL during 2020-2024, the PSU said in a statement.
•    The first ship of the Visakhapatnam class was launched on April 20, 2015. 
 

As Indian and U.S. troops began to assemble for counter-terrorism exercises in the hills of Uttarakhand from September 14 to 27, senior officials said they would soon discuss ways to enhance the scope and scale of exercises in tune with the deepening military cooperation.
•    This means that accounting and book-keeping for the exercise will be done under the arrangement which does away with the need for settling bills and payments every time.
•    They will be recorded and cleared every three months.
•    The bilateral exercise comes against the backdrop of Pakistani media reports that Pakistan and Russia will hold their first joint military exercise later this year. 
•    Possible sale of Russian military hardware to Islamabad is on the cards.
•    Separately, China and Russia began naval war games on Monday in the contested waters of the South China Sea, where India had joined the chorus for enforcing “freedom of navigation” and “open sea lanes of communication”.
•    The 12th edition of the annual bilateral exercise, Yudh Abhyas, one of the longest running joint military training exercises, will take place at Chaubattia in Uttarakhand, close to the China border.
•    Both countries host the exercise alternately.
•    Officials said that currently the exercise is at the company level, comprising 225 soldiers from each side, with Brigade headquarter elements incorporated. 
•    Plans are on to enhance the scope and scale to the brigade level with division-level elements added on.