1. 10th Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) held in Kochi (_______________), to discuss maritime issues pertaining to cooperative capacity-building to deal with common security concerns in region. The theme for this year’s seminar was “IONS as Catalyst for SAGAR’. SAGAR stands for ‘Security and Growth for All in Region.
2. 11 Days Joint India Russia Army Exercise Indra 2018 began at Babina Field Firing Ranges in ________________.
3. 25th edition of SIMBEX (_________________-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise) held in Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.
4. _________________ and Sashastra Seema Bal partnered to provide security to its forests and rich wildlife.
5. India - UK Joint Naval Exercise KONKAN 18 began in __________________, to last till Dec 06, 2018.
6. India and _________________ Joint Bilateral Exercise ‘Samudra Shakti’ Held, participated by INS Rana on India's Behalf.
7. India and Japan held their first ever joint military exercise 'DHARMA GUARDIAN-2018', in Vairengte (____________).
8. India and Russia signed a USD ___________________ million deal for construction of two Talvar-class missile frigates in Goa for Indian Navy. MOU was signed between defence PSU Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) and Russia's state-run defence major Rosoboron.
India also signed $950 million contract with Russia for two upgraded Krivak III-class stealth frigates. The 4,000-ton Krivak III vessels will also accommodate two multirole helicopters and will be used for anti-submarine and airborne early warning missions.
9. India and US Army Joint Exercise named Vajra Prahar 2018 began at Mahajan Field Firing Range (MFFR) in Bikaner (___________________).
10. Indian Army inducted three major globally combat proven artillery gun system - M777 A2 ultra light howitzers (ULH), K-9 Vajra-tracked self-propelled guns (South Korea) and Composite Gun Towing Vehicle (Ashok Leyland -India) at Deolali Field Firing Range in __________________, as first artillery gun systems to be inducted by Indian Army in three decades.
- Last inducted was Bofors artillery gun system procured from Sweden in early 1980s.
11. Indian Army picked ____________________’s Igla-S missile system as choice for its multibillion dollar contract for man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS).
- ___________’s Rosoboronexport, with bid Around $1.47 billion, emerged lowest bidder for Indian Army’s Very Short Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) deal. Other bidders were MBDA of France (bid of $3.68 billion) and SAAB of Sweden (bid of $2.6 billion).
- It is designed for use against visible aerial targets at short range such as tactical aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs), cruise missile, head-on or receding, in presence of natural (background) clutter and countermeasures. As per requirements of Indian Army, it will have maximum range of 6km, altitude of 3km along with all-weather capability.
12. Indian Coast Guard (ICG) launched new Offshore patrol vessel (OPV) ICGS ________________________, as 4th in series of 98 MOPVs designed and built indigenously by Larsen & Toubro (L&T).
13. Indian Navy completed refitting of ___________________ Coast Guard Ship Huravee at Naval Dockyard Visakhapatnam and formally handed it over to Maldives. It was originally commissioned as INS Tillanchang in March 2001, and was subsequently gifted to _______________ by India in April 2006.
14. India’s first indigenous nuclear submarine INS __________________ completed its first deterrence patrol, completing its first long-range mission with live nuclear-tipped missiles.
- During deterrence patrol, a nuclear submarine carries nuclear missiles on board, where command and control protocols for its operations are fully tested by its crew.
- With this, India completed its survivable nuclear triad by adding maritime strike capability to land and air-based delivery platforms for nuclear weapons. It makes India sixth country — after US, Russia, UK, France and China — to have fully operational nuclear triad.
- It is India’s first indigenously developed nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine. It was launched in 2009 and its nuclear reactor went critical in 2013 and it was commissioned in 2016.
15. ____________________ cabinet approved conversion of Indian Navy’s longest-serving aircraft carrier INS Viraat, into India’s first-ever moored maritime museum-cum-marine adventure centre. It was decommissioned in 2017.
16. Raksha Mantri Nirmala Sitharaman formally launched ‘Mission ___________________’, which aims to provide a boost Intellectual Property Rights culture in indigenous defence industry and inculcate IP culture in Indian defence manufacturing ecosystem.
