India's government has given the go-ahead for a project to manufacture a locally designed fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, accelerating its ambitious Make in India initiative.
The Cabinet Committee on Security on Thursday cleared the design for the advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA) and allotted 150 billion rupees ($1.81 billion) for further development and manufacture of the fighter jets.
The project is part of India's drive to upgrade and modernise its military capabilities without relying on imports. The US, Russia and China are the only countries so far to have developed operational fifth-generation fighter jets.
The Aeronautical Development Agency, a part of India's Defence Research and Development Organisation, will oversee further development of the AMCA design, with production of the jets by the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (Hal) expected to begin after a decade.
The ADA is working on five prototypes of the single-seat, 25-tonne, twin-engine stealth fighter. It will have have an internal bay for weapons and achieve supersonic cruise speed using a locally-developed version of the diverterless supersonic intake used in foreign advanced fighter jets.
The AMCA is intended to perform a variety of missions including air supremacy, ground strikes, suppression of enemy air defences and electronic warfare.
India has increased its focus on indigenous design, development and manufacture of advanced technologies and systems in the defence sector under the Nirbhar Abhiyan – Make In India – initiative by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
In 2021, the Indian Air Force began inducting the new light combat helicopters designed and built by Hal. The 5.8-tonne, twin-engine helicopters are designed to operate in the high altitudes along the country's northern borders.
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White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Price, base / as tested From Dh173,775 (base model)
Engine 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo, AWD
Power 249hp at 5,500rpm
Torque 365Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Gearbox Nine-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined 7.9L/100km
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
HOW DO SIM CARD SCAMS WORK?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards, often by claiming their phone has been lost or stolen
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
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TRAINING FOR TOKYO
A typical week's training for Sebastian, who is competing at the ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon on March 8-9:
- Four swim sessions (14km)
- Three bike sessions (200km)
- Four run sessions (45km)
- Two strength and conditioning session (two hours)
- One session therapy session at DISC Dubai
- Two-three hours of stretching and self-maintenance of the body
ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon
For more information go to www.abudhabi.triathlon.org.
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Scorline
Iraq 1-0 UAE
Iraq Hussein 28’
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
