NEW DELHI: To provide lethal punch to the Indian Army‘s firepower, Indian defence major Adani Defence & Aerospace on Saturday delivered the first batch of 2,000 ‘Prahar’ light machine guns (LMGs) manufactured under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.The delivery of the first batch of the 7.62 mm-calibre weapon, manufactured at the company’s small arms complex on the outskirts of Gwalior, was completed in seven months well ahead of the contracted schedule. The company spokesperson said the total order for the LMGs stands at around 40,000.The LMG weighs 8 kg and is 1,100 mm long and it has an effective range of 1,000 m, according to the company’s data. Prahar has a rate of fire of 600–750 rounds per minute.During the truck flagging-off ceremony, Ashish Rajvanshi, CEO of Adani Defence & Aerospace, told the media, “The journey that has begun today took us six years, starting from bid submission, and we have delivered the first batch, 11 months ahead of schedule. The original timeline which was given to us by the customer has been seven years plus, but I can assure you that in the next three years the full order will be delivered.”Each weapon has undergone lifecycle testing, ballistic assessment and environmental trials before deployment, ensuring adherence to the operational and reliability standards required by the Indian armed forces, a company statement said.The flagging-off ceremony on the premises of the Gwalior facility on Saturday was attended by A Anbarasu, DG acquisition, defence ministry. Anbarasu lauded the company for saving several months by delivering ahead of schedule, and said it shows there is the ability to “race and fire” against time in turning contracts into deliveries. He said the govt stands shoulder-to-shoulder with its defence industry partners, asserting that “scale” and “speed” are the twin pillars of defence acquisition that guide the entire procurement process. Anbarasu stressed that the govt and the private sector have to be together in the nation’s journey towards achieving Atmanirbharta in defence.The Indian Army uses LMGs, such as Prahar and Negev NG-7, to strengthen its firepower along the Line of Control (LoC) and the international border with Pakistan by providing high-volume, long-range fire (up to 1,000m) to secure bunkers, provide defensive fire and counter infiltration attempts.Designed for scale, the Gwalior facility has an annual production capacity of up to 1 lakh weapons, with more than 90% domestic sourcing. The facility is contributing to a broader industrial ecosystem in MP by generating skilled employment and supporting MSMEs across the supply chain.The Gwalior unit is also geared to manufacture close quarter battle (CQB) weapons for the armed forces, further expanding India’s indigenous small arms capability. The manufacturing capability is also supported by Adani Defence’s ammunition complex in Kanpur, commissioned in 2024.

Exactly a month since US and Israel attacked Iran, a fresh front appeared to have opened in the spiralling West Asia war as the Houthis, an Iranian-backed militant group in Yemen, launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel early Saturday. It was their first in this war, followed by a threat that the attacks would continue “until the aggression ends”. Israel said it intercepted the projectile.An Iranian strike, meanwhile, injured 12 US troops in Saudi Arabia, two of them seriously, in an attack on Prince Sultan airbase on Friday, two people briefed on the matter said. The combined missile and drone attack amounted to one of the most serious breaches of American air defences in the war. At least two KC-135 aerial refuelling planes also suffered significant damage.Iran also claimed to have struck two US Army “hideouts” in Dubai, Iranian state media Fars News Agency reported. According to the news agency, a military spokesperson claimed US army personnel had moved to these hideouts after Iran’s strikes on their bases in the region.

Iran reports strike at Bushehr nuclear plant, third in 10 daysThe spokesperson claimed that more than 500 US Army personnel were in these hideouts. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, said Saturday barrage of ballistic missiles was launched toward what he described as “sensitive Israeli military sites” in southern Israel. The attack came hours after Saree signalled in a vague statement Friday that the rebels would join the war.The situation at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant continues to deteriorate and attacks pose a direct threat to nuclear safety, the head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom said on Saturday after another strike near the facility. The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Friday that Iran had informed it of another strike in the vicinity of Bushehr, the third such incident in 10 days, with no damage to the operating reactor and no release of radiation reported.

Focus shifts to new strait

The Russian foreign ministry on Saturday called for “unequivocal and firm condemnation” of the attack near Bushehr. The Israeli military said Friday it had struck a heavy water reactor and a uranium processing plant in central Iran, but did not mention Bushehr. The plant in southwestern Iran has the country’s only operational nuclear power reactor and was first connected to the grid in 2011.The Saudi airbase attacked Friday, about 96km from the apital of Riyadh, was targeted twice earlier in the week. The base is run by the Royal Saudi Air Force but is also used by US troops. The number of Americans wounded in the Iran war has grown beyond 300, while 13 soldiers have been killed.Elsewhere in the region on Saturday, drones struck Kuwait International Airport, damaging its radar, and the key port of Salalah in Oman. The United Arab Emirates said its forces were intercepting drones and missiles from Iran. Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said its forces had intercepted drones and a missile, without saying where they had come from.The Israeli military said Saturday that it had begun a new round of bombardment in the Iranian capital of Tehran. The Israeli military said Saturday it had struck an industrial complex in Tehran used for the research and development of naval weapons. Israel also reported more waves of incoming Iranian missiles, which killed at least one person in Tel Aviv. A direct strike on a village in central Israel wounded 11 people and left a massive crater.

IAF starts work on ‘Vayu Baan’

NEW DELHI: With drones taking centre stage in conflicts around the world, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has started work on the country’s first helicopter-dropped drone project, called ‘Vayu Baan’ (air arrow).Vayu Baan is an indigenous air-launched effects (ALE) programme designed to integrate unmanned aerial systems directly with manned rotary-wing platforms. It is a small, autonomous drone designed to be dropped from a moving helicopter mid-flight. Once released, the drone unfolds its wings, activates its propulsion and operates as either a surveillance asset or a precision-guided munition (kamikaze drone).The homegrown project is being led by IAF’s Directorate of Aerospace Design (DAD), Gandhinagar, which issued a request for proposal (RFP) recently, inviting bids from domestic vendors for the system’s design and development.Once airborne, Vayu Baan will transmit real-time video to operators and, if required, carry out a precision strike using a small warhead onboard. The drone is expected to have a range of over 50 km and an endurance of around 30 minutes.The drone will feature electro-optical and infrared sensors for target identification, with the ability to operate in GPS-jammed environments. IAF, which requires 10 drone units, along with two airborne and two ground control stations, aims to fast-track development, testing and delivery within a year.With ‘Vayu Baan’, IAF is set to join a select group of countries like the US and China that are working on air-launched unmanned systems. The US Army is investing in ALEs as part of its future vertical lift ecosystem. Key technologies include the Area-I ALTIUS (agile-launched, tactically integrated unmanned system), which has been demonstrated in trials launched from MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.China is focusing on integrating unmanned rotary-wing aircraft with its existing helicopter fleets, such as Z-20J, Z-10, and Z-19.

SRINAGAR: A day after an avalanche struck at Zero Point at Zoji La, located at an altitude of over 11,500 ft, killing seven people from Kargil and injuring six others, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Kargil Saturday accused the Jammu and Kashmir administration of a lax response and urged the govts of Union Territories of Ladakh and J&K to treat Zero Point as part of Ladakh’s territory.Addressing a press conference in Drass, LAHDC-Kargil councillors praised the Army, civil administration and Ladakh Police for prompt rescue efforts and retrieval of bodies from the snow following the accident on Friday afternoon. However, they expressed surprise over “J&K Police investigating the incident on Saturday morning”. While J&K claimed the area to be part of its territory, its administrative machinery was always slow to respond when any mishap occurred there, they alleged.The councillors, in fact, disputed J&K’s claim that Zero Point, stretching about five km, falls under its jurisdiction.J&K officials maintain that Zero Point at Zoji La marks the boundary between Ganderbal district in Kashmir and Kargil district in Ladakh. The councillors, however, said Zero Point is not a boundary, but a location used for snow-clearance operations by two wings of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) — BEACON and Vijayak, handling the Kashmir and the Ladakh sides, respectively.The chief executive councillor of LAHDC-Kargil, Dr Mohd Jaffer Akhoon, said since the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of J&K into two UTs on Aug 5, 2019, the boundary at Zoji La had not been demarcated and Zero Point fell under Ladakh’s jurisdiction, he said.Akhoon said heavy vehicles should not have been allowed to move along with light vehicles on Friday, and urged authorities to allow traffic on the Srinagar-Kargil road only before 11 am to reduce the risk of vehicles getting caught in avalanches. “Local wisdom suggests that during March and April, snow begins to melt at Zoji La in the afternoon, increasing the risk of avalanches,” he said.While praising BRO for “doing a commendable job in keeping Zoji La open during winter”, Akhnoor stressed that “better management and consideration of local wisdom are needed” to prevent accidents.

RCB player Virat Kohli drops a catch (ANI Photo)

Virat Kohli dropped a straightforward catch during the IPL 2026 opener between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad, but later made amends by taking the same batter’s catch.The drop came in the 18th over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar when SRH batter Aniket Verma mistimed a shot. Kohli ran in from long-on but the ball slipped through his hands and brushed his thigh before falling. Kohli appeared surprised, while in the stands, actor and Kohli’s wife Anushka Sharma reacted with laughter. Kohli later completed a catch to dismiss Aniket.In the match, SRH stand-in captain Ishan Kishan scored 80 off 38 balls as Sunrisers Hyderabad posted 201 for nine. His innings included eight fours and five sixes, and he shared a 97-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Heinrich Klaasen, who made 31.