Marshal of Indian Air
Force Arjan Singh passes
away
I
ndia’s pride Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh has
passed away. Marshal of IAF Singh was admitted to Army’s
Research and Referral hospital this morning after he suffered a
cardiac arrest, the defence ministry said.
Arjan Singh was a respectable figure of the Indian military
history. Marshal of IAF, Arjan Singh had led a young air force into
the 1965 Indo-Pak war when he was about 44-year-old. The Marshal
has been awarded the Padma Vibhushan for his leadership during
the war. The Marshal has flown over 60 aircrafts and remained a
flyer until the end of his career with the IAF.Five-star Marshal Arjan Singh retired in August 1969. In 2016,
the crucial air base at Panagarh Air Force Station was renamed
after the Marshal. Panagarh is also the headquarters of the newly
raised 17 Crops – Mountain Strike Corps.Qatar to buy 24 Typhoon
fighter jets
U
K Defense Secretary announced Qatar’s intent to proceed
with the purchase of Typhoon aircraft and the further
strengthening of the United Kingdom’s defense relationship with
the State of Qatar. The price per unit of the Typhoon is estimated
at $94-121 million. During a visit to the Gulf state, Defense
Secretary Sir Michael Fallon and his Qatari counterpart, Khalid bin
Mohammed al Attiyah, signed a Statement of Intent concerning
Qatar’s proposed purchase of 24 Typhoon aircraft.
Defense Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said: “After a number of
years of negotiations between our two countries, I am delighted
to have been able to sign today with Qatar’s Defense Minister,this Statement of Intent on the purchase of 24 Typhoon aircraft
by Qatar.”
In 2016, the Gulf country signed a $7.5 billion deal to procure
24 Dassault Rafale fighters from France. The Eurofighter Typhoon
is jointly built by Airbus, BAE and Leonardo (former Alenia
Aermacchi) and has had 510 units built as of June 2017.The
intention of Qatar to purchase a batch of fighter jets signifies a
turn for the better for the producing consortium, which had been
struggling with securing orders.
In July 2016, Austria announced retiring its 15-strong fleet of
Eurofighter Typhoons starting 2020 due to “limited equipment
and significant cost uncertainty”
Qatar is currently under an economic blockade from its
neighboring countries that accuse Qatar of sponsoring terrorism
at a state-level. The crisis has severely hit the country, with
Moody’s saying that Qatar has spent almost $40 billion (almost a
quarter of its GDP) supporting its economy during the first two
months of the blockade.DEFENCE & MILITARY
18 OCTOBER^2017 AVIATION UPDATE