Daily pill of Defence - 4 April 2008

Tejas: ADA looks to Boeing to provide help
Ravi Sharma, Hindu

The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the defence laboratory behind the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), could soon be turning to global aerospace major Boeing to help them with the aircraft’s flight testing programme. (read more)

NATO invites Albania, Croatia, Georgia and Ukraine into NATO
FIDSNS

Allied leaders decided to invite Albania and Croatia to begin accession talks with NATO. The decision was announced at the Summit meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government in the Romanian capital Bucharest. The Heads of State and Government of the 26 NATO countries held an extraordinary session in the presence of their counterparts from Croatia and Albania to welcome these two new members. (read more)

Its an extremely slippery slope that the heads at Brussels are leading NATO down. Looks like they need to get their priorities right and their heads checked. Or it may just be that they're living 20 years in the past.

New SPG unit to combat snipers
Vishwa Mohan, ToI

In a bid to strengthen its defences against a Lee Harvey Oswald type incident or a 'Day of the Jackal' scenario, the Special Protection Group (SPG) — the elite force providing close security to serving and former prime ministers and their families — will soon have a counter-sniping unit. (read more)

Better late than never... they should have had such a unit a long time ago.

For 4 yrs, VIPs flying unsafe: CAG indicts IAF
Vijay Mohan, The Tribune

While pointing out several infirmities in the acquisition process of aircraft for the Indian Air Force’s VIP squadron, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has revealed that the IAF has been ferrying the country’s leaders in aircraft that have been unsuitable for VIP flights for the past four years. (read more)

INS Kesari (Shardul-class) to be commissioned on April 5
Shiv Aroor, Livefist

INS Kesari (see photos), the Navy's latest amphibious vessel of the Shardul-class will be commissioned into service on April 5 at the IN Jetty at Naval Base, Vizag. The GRSE-built vessel is the second in the Shardul-series of landing ships. (read more)