Three AH-64E Apache Attack Helicopters From US land In Hindon, Likely To Be Deployed At Western Front
The Indian Army Aviation Corps was waiting for the first slot of three Apache helicopters since 2024, as they were originally planned to be delivered in May 2024.
Under a $800 million agreement signed with the United States in February 2020, the Indian Army was slated to receive six Apache AH-64E attack helicopters.
AH-64E is one of the world's most advanced helicopters, and its induction into the Indian Army is likely to boost operational capabilities.
"Milestone moment for Indian Army as the first batch of Apache helicopters for Army Aviation arrive today in India," the Indian Army posted on X.
"These state-of-the-art platforms will bolster the operational capabilities of the Indian Army significantly," it added.
As India faces hostilities with Pakistan on the Western front and China at the Northern border, these killer helicopters are intended to play a crucial role in supporting the Army's operations on the Western front.
Its arrival on Tuesday assumes significance against the backdrop of Operation Sindoor.
These specially designed killer helicopters are equipped with Hellfire missiles, 2.75-inch rockets, and 30 mm chain gun rounds. Because of their power and agility, they are also termed as tanks in the air and can fire 600-650 rounds per minute.
It also has a Primary Mission Gross Weight of 15,075 lb (6,838 kg), Maximum Operating Weight 23,000 lb (10,432 kg), Maximum Rate of Climb 2,800+ ft (853+ m) per minute, and a maximum Level Flight Speed of 150+ knots (279+ kph).
It is designed and equipped with the latest communications, navigation, sensors, and weapon systems.
In March 2024, the Army's Aviation Corps raised its first unit, 451 Aviation Squadron in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, to deploy these helicopters. Notably, the Indian Army's purchase of Apache was also influenced by the Indian Air Force's experience with the Apache attack helicopter.
The IAF has already received 22 such Apache helicopters as part of a separate deal inked in 2015.
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Time of India
14 minutes ago
- Time of India
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The effort has advanced significantly amid wartime repression, but it is unclear how far it will go. "The goal here is absolute control," said Anastasiia Kruope, a researcher at Human Rights Watch who wrote a recent report on declining Russian internet freedoms. The Kremlin wants to control not only the information available online but also where and how internet traffic flows, Kruope said, so the Russian internet can function in isolation and be switched on and off at will. Russia's technical capabilities for clamping down are improving, she added. "They are not perfect," Kruope said. "They are not nearly at the level they would like them to be. But they are getting better, and this is the reason to start paying attention." Vanishing Freedoms Unlike China, where users have been restricted since the dawn of the internet, Russia long boasted one of the most open and freewheeling environments anywhere online. Operating with virtually no barriers, millions of Russians flocked to Western tech platforms, posted critical news and freely expressed their thoughts on the web. The Kremlin began to see that freedom as a threat, particularly after the rise of opposition activist Alexei Navalny, who died in prison last year. His exposes of the Putin elite, initially publicized in Live Journal blog posts and later in popular YouTube videos, gave him millions of followers online and the power to mobilize mass protests on the street. Since the first decade of Putin's rule, Moscow had been articulating a vision for what it called a "sovereign" internet that would sever Russia as much as possible from the rest of the online world and strip power from foreign tech companies, which didn't always give in to the Kremlin's demands. But Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 gave the government the opportunity to accelerate the plan. On the eve of the invasion, the state indirectly took over VK, the country's biggest social network, harnessing a platform with millions of existing users to popularize Russian alternatives to Western tech products. The son of Putin's powerful first deputy chief of staff, Sergei V. Kiriyenko, was tapped to run the company. Moscow banned Facebook, Instagram and Twitter outright and took steps that caused TikTok to disable functions in Russia. Lawmakers passed draconian laws stifling free expression in the streets and online. Last year, after creating a video-streaming service on VK, Russia began throttling YouTube, pushing users toward the domestic alternative, though with mixed success. Now, with the introduction of MAX, authorities have signaled they may take aim at foreign messaging apps, in particular WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta and counts nearly 100 million monthly users in Russia. Telegram could be a target as well. Anton V. 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Mint
38 minutes ago
- Mint
China is choking supply of critical minerals to Western defence companies
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The Department of Defense has awarded grants to expand production of niche materials, including $14 million in funding last year to a Canadian company to produce germanium substrates used in solar cells for defense satellites. In July, the Pentagon took an even bigger step when it agreed to pay $400 million for 15% of MP Materials, the operator of the largest rare-earths mine in the Americas, which is rapidly scaling up its magnet manufacturing capacity. The Pentagon didn't respond to a request for comment. Reporters gather outside the London venue of U.S.-China trade talks in June. On an earnings call last month Lockheed Martin CEO James Taiclet called the MP Materials agreement groundbreaking and said it would help ensure the supply of magnets needed in its F-35 jet fighters and cruise missiles. But building up new supply will take time. The Defense Department early last year established the Critical Minerals Forum, an effort in part to spur more mineral supply-chain projects in the U.S. and allied countries, including helping metals miners secure funding to increase their output of critical materials like antimony and germanium. Defense companies that traditionally outsourced the purchase of critical minerals to sub-suppliers are now using their market heft to try to acquire sources of key materials themselves. Major defense companies 'are starting to get more and more panicked as they go, because they recognize that they're just not going to get the magnets, no matter what happens, unless they get involved," said Nicholas Myers, the CEO of Phoenix Tailings, a Massachusetts startup that produces rare-earth metals. Beijing is signaling that it takes its mineral export bans very seriously. Earlier this year, one U.S. defense supplier, the United States Antimony Corporation, tried to ship 55 metric tons of antimony mined in Australia to its smelter in Mexico. The load transited via the Chinese port city of Ningbo—until recently a routine practice. But in April, while the shipment was being transloaded in Ningbo, China customs detained it for three months, prompting United States Antimony to ask the State Department and White House for help. The Chinese released the shipment in July, on the condition that it be sent back to Australia and not to the U.S. When it arrived in Australia, United States Antimony learned that product seals had been broken. It is currently working out whether the antimony has been tampered with or contaminated. 'The shipping company, everyone who was involved, they'd never seen this happen before," said company CEO Gary Evans. Neither the White House, the Defense Department nor the State Department provided comment. Write to Jon Emont at Heather Somerville at and Alistair MacDonald at
India Today
2 hours ago
- India Today
Trump repeats India-Pakistan ceasefire claim despite New Delhi's fact-check
US President Donald Trump on Sunday once again took credit for resolving conflicts worldwide, including the recent escalation between India and Pakistan. Since May 10, Trump has been repeatedly claiming that he helped to secure a "full and immediate" ceasefire between the two nuclear-armed neighbours after talks reportedly mediated by India has repeatedly rejected any third-party mediation in the ceasefire, stating that no foreign leader asked India to halt its military latest claims come shortly after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering peace deals around the world, including the India-Pakistan ceasefire. On Sunday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, criticising radio host and author Charlamagne Tha God. He stated that Charlamagne "knows nothing" about Trump's accomplishments, including "ending 5 Wars," such as the 31-year conflict between the Republic of the Congo and Rwanda that caused seven million added, "He didn't know that, or India and Pakistan or wiping out Iran's nuclear capabilities, or closing the horrendous open Border, or creating the greatest economy."In an interview on Newsmax, Trump repeated his role in settling multiple wars. "We've settled a lot of, a lot of very beautiful wars One of the wars India, Pakistan, nuclear," Trump said. He also mentioned conflicts between Thailand and Cambodia, as well as Congo and Rwanda, claiming to have resolved them largely through trade negotiations. "I settled it up with trade. I said 'listen, you guys are going to fight. You can fight all you want... But we're not doing a trade deal.' All of a sudden, they end up not doing a war." Trump estimated that he has helped settle about one war per month, saving "millions of lives," he Trump announced a 25% tariff on all goods imported from India starting August 1, alongside penalties for India's purchases of Russian crude oil and military equipment. The tariff on Pakistan was set at 19%, lower than the 29% announced in also announced a new trade deal with Pakistan and said the US would assist Islamabad in developing its "massive oil reserves."WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY BACKS PEACE CLAIMSAt a press briefing on Thursday, Karoline Leavitt credited Trump with ending conflicts between Thailand and Cambodia, Israel and Iran, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India and Pakistan, Serbia and Kosovo, and Egypt and said the president has brokered about one peace deal or ceasefire every month during his six months in office. 'It's well past time that President Trump was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize,' she REJECTS THIRD-PARTY MEDIATIONadvertisementHowever, Indian officials have denied any external mediation in the ceasefire with Pakistan. In a special discussion in parliament on Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that no foreign leader asked India to stop Operation Sindoor, a military response to the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 people."We had said from day one that our action was non-escalatory. No leader in the world asked us to stop Operation Sindoor," PM Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also said that no third-party intervention helped bring about the ceasefire. He also clarified that the halt of military action was not connected to trade deals, as claimed by added that Modi and Trump did not have any phone conversations between April 22 and June 16, the period covering Operation Sindoor.- EndsWith inputs from Agencies Tune InTrending Reel
