September: Space and Defense Current Affairs Summary

Summary of September: Space and Defense Current Affairs 

DEFENCE NEWS:

  • India, Kazakhstan joint bilateral military exercise PRABAL DOSTYK-16 began in Karaganda region of Kazakhstan. The fourteen day (till 17 September 2016) will be a significant step towards fostering military as well as diplomatic ties between both countries. ‘Prabal Dostyk’ means ‘Robust Friendship’.
  • China has claimed that it has successfully developed and tested a radar system that uses quantum entanglement to beat the stealth technology of modern military aircrafts. The Intelligent Perception Technology Laboratory developed this first Chinese quantum radar. Prior to it, US was only the country stealth-defeating quantum radar.
  • The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has commissioned well-equipped offshore patrolling (OPV) vessel named ‘Sarathi’.
  • The joint military training exercise between India and United States dubbed as “Yudh Abhyas 2016” has begun in Chaubattia in Uttarakhand. It is the 12th edition of the joint military exercise hosted alternately by the two countries
  • Indian Navy’s indigenously built most Advanced Guided Missile Stealth Destroyer ‘Mormugao’ was launched in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
  • The eighth edition of joint military exercise ‘Indra-2016’ between India and Russia has begun in Russian city of Vladivostok. The main focus of this edition of bilateral military exercise is on Counter-Terrorism Operations in semi mountainous and jungle terrain under United Nations Mandate.
  • Indian Air Force (IAF) has successfully fired recently acquired long-range air-to-air MICA missile from Mirage-2000 Upgrade combat aircraft on a maneuvering target. During the test, the missile achieved a direct hit on a target, which was much smaller than an actual aircraft, and flying at a low altitude.
  • India and France has signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of 7.87 billion Euros.
  • The first military exercise between Russia and Pakistan named Druzhba-2016 (Friendship-2016) has kicked off in Pakistan. With this, Pakistani Army and Russian Ground Forces (RGF) have come together for the first time in military exercises reflecting growing military ties between two former Cold War rivals.
  • China and Russia have carried out joint naval exercises dubbed as Joint Sea-2016 in the resource-rich South China Sea (SCS) off China’s southern Guangdong province.
  • India and Israel jointly developed most advanced long range surface-to-air missile (LR-SAM) Barak-8 was successfully test fired off the Odisha coast.

SPACE NEWS:

  • The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully launched advanced weather satellite INSAT-3DR.
  • The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a US space agency has launched OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to collect samples from an asteroid 101955 Bennu and return to Earth.
  • China has successfully launched Tiangong-2 space lab to develop expertise for a future space station and conduct science experiments. The space lab was launched on board of Long March-2F T2 rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China’s Gobi desert.
  • NASA’s Cassini spacecraft after studying Saturn, its rings and moons for more than 12 years, has entered in the final year of its epic voyage. In its epic voyage, the Cassini spacecraft will make the closest-ever observations of the planet. Beginning November 30, 2016 Cassini will make the closest-ever observations of Saturn.
  • China has built world’s largest radio telescope nicknamed Tianyan (Heavenly Eye” or “The Eye of Heaven) or the five-hundred-metre aperture spherical radio telescope (FAST). It has started its operation and is part of China’s drive to become a science powerhouse. It is located in the Dawodang depression (vast natural crater), a natural basin in Pingtang County in the Guizhou Province, Southwest China.
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