INS Trikand, a front-line warship of the Indian Navy, participated in a multinational training exercise ‘CUTLASS EXPRESS – 19’ held from 27 Jan to 06 Feb 19. The aim of the exercise was to improve law enforcement capacity, promote regional security and progress inter-operability between the armed forces of the participating nations for the purpose of interdicting illegal maritime activity in the Western Indian Ocean. During the exercise, Naval, Coast Guard and Marine Police personnel from a number of East African countries were jointly trained by mentors from USA, India, and Netherlands, with support of international organisations like the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Combined Maritime Force (CMF) and European Naval Forces (EUNAVFOR). The Indian Navy played a significant role in ‘CUTLASS EXPRESS – 19’, being involved in planning, coordination and execution. Through INS Trikand, the IN provided a platform for live Visit Board Search Seizure (VBSS) drills, which proved to be of immense training value to the participating nations. The exercise was conducted in two phases. The first, called the Command Post Exercise (CPX) was conducted from 27 Jan to 02 Feb 19. It involved training of personnel on shore for coordination and conduct of VBSS operations. During the CPX, extensive training and interaction was carried out between the officers and sailors of the Indian Navy and personnel from the participating nations. The training included exposure of the personnel to the various software tools used by the US Navy and the European Union for integration of maritime information, with a view to positively identify a suspicious vessel and direct a VBSS operation against it.
The second phase called the Final Training Exercise (FTX) was conducted from 03 – 05 Feb 19. This phase consisted of actual boarding operations at sea and live boardings were out onboard INS Trikand, anchored off Djibouti harbour. The closing ceremony of the event was held at the Djibouti Naval Base on the morning of 06 Feb 19.
The ship’s stay at Djibouti harbour also enabled the crew to interact professionally with the crew of other ships in harbour, including the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force Ship Samidare, Spanish Naval ship ESPS Relampago and United States Ship Chung Hoon. Mutual ship visits were organised with a view to promote inter-operability between the Indian Navy and the other navies, as also understanding of best practices. Officers from the ship’s Operations team also visited Camp Lemonnaire, the American base at Djibouti. During this visit, the Commanding Officer called on Major General James D Craig, US Army, Commander Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa. The IN officers also visited the Japanese military base at Djibouti, where they were briefed about the JMSDF operations towards anti-piracy in the region.
INS Trikand, commanded by Captain Srinivas Maddula, is equipped with a versatile range of sensors and weapons enabling her to address threats in all the three dimensions – air, surface and sub-surface. The ship’s extended endurance at sea makes it an ideal platform for prolonged deployments, including the present one, in which she is carrying out Presence and Surveillance missions and Anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and Western Arabian Sea. The ship is a part of the Indian Navy’s Western Fleet and operates under the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, headquartered at Mumbai.
56 Assistant Commandants of the 67th Batch passed out of the portals of Indian Coast Guard Training Centre, Kochi on successful completion of CG Law and Operations Course today. On this occasion, an impressive Passing Out Parade (POP) was held at Indian Coast Guard District Headquarters No. 4, Kochi. POP marked the successful culmination of the Technical Courses for the trainee officers. During the 10 weeks CG Law and Operations Course, the officers were imparted instructions on Coast Guard specific subjects such as Maritime Law, Search and Rescue, Fisheries Monitoring & Control, Prevention and Control of Marine Pollution and other subjects related to the CG Charter of Duties. The training at CGTC (K) has been conducted with due impetus to build up professional calibre, practical broad base knowledge and critical thinking skills in the Officer trainees which are the key requisites for manning state of art platforms of Indian Coast Guard, handling critical & dynamic situations at sea, besides also for grooming them for a career with the Indian Coast Guard.
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight tested the second indigenously developed ‘Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR)’ propulsion based missile system from ITR, Chandipur, Odisha today. Ground booster, separation of the ground booster and Nozzle-less-booster performance were found satisfactory. The missile was guided to high altitude to simulate aircraft release conditions and subsequently, nozzle-less-booster was ignited. SFDR based missile accelerated to achieve ramjet Mach number successfully. The trajectory was tracked by telemetry and radar stations till touchdown. All the mission objectives have been met. The success of SFDR propulsion technology is a significant milestone and will pave the way for the development of long-range air-to-air missiles in the country.
Total 584 Candidates who have cleared the CDS 2 2018 for the Indian Airforce 205 Flying course (CDSE Entry) can check their names and AFSB interview date in the list attached below. CDS 2 2018 SSB interviews will be conducted at 1 AFSB Dehradun, 2 AFSB Mysore, 3 AFSB Gandhinagar, and 4 AFSB Varanasi. CDS AFSB interviews are starting from 11 Feb 2019 and the last batch will be on 18 March 2019. Below is the list of candidates who have qualified in written test of CDS 206 F(P) course and have given ‘air force’ as their ‘first choice’. We suggest all the aspirants go through the list attached below and read it carefully. SSBCrack wishes all success to the future air warriors.
Hello friends, My name is Ujjawal Panwar from Saharanpur, U.P. I got recommended from 19 SSB board Allahabad for NDA 141 course in my first attempt. My journey started from class 10th when I came to know about NDA and officers in the Indian army through my family members as my father is also serving in B.S.F. So I always wanted to live life like them and wanted to join an adventurous and responsible job in my life. I am a fitness freak and daredevil type person since my childhood and that’s why I am very fascinated about the Indian army. I cleared my NDA written exam in the second attempt after class 12th. My parents and friends always told me that I have the potential to clear exam and the personality to become an Indian army officer. For this, I will always remain thankful for them to support me. After I cleared the exam I started preparing for the 
“SOME PEOPLE SUCCEED BECAUSE THEY ARE DESTINED TO, MOST OF THEM SUCCEED BECAUSE THEY ARE DETERMINED TO”. 
