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The Pentagon intends to load up on advanced missiles, space defence and modern jets in its largest defence request in decades in order to meet the threat it perceives from China. The spending path would put military's annual budget over the USD 1 trillion threshold in just a matter of years, its chief financial officer said Monday. The administration is asking Congress for USD 842 billion for the Pentagon in the 2024 budget year. It's the largest request since the peak of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in the mid-2000s, when the weight of hundreds of thousands of troops deployed in those overseas conflicts ballooned overseas war spending. Now, the budget could surge again. That's in part to meet the higher cost of weapons and parts, but also to answer the vulnerabilities that the Ukraine war has exposed in the U.S. defense industrial base, and the strategic threat the U.S. sees from China's rapidly growing nuclear arsenal, its hypersonic capabilities and its gains in space. Even if i
The US Army has grounded its entire fleet of Chinook helicopters, a battlefield workhorse since the 1960s, over the risk of engine fires, a media report said Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal, which broke the story, said such an extreme step was taken out of abundance of caution. India has about 15 CH-47 Chinook helicopters. Over the past few years, they have emerged as one of the major military tools for airlift operations in places like Ladakh and Siachen glaciers to assist Indian forces deployed in these regions. India received the first batch of Chinook helicopters in February 2019. Boeing completed the delivery of 15 Chinook helicopters to the Indian Air Force in 2020. Officials told the Wall Street Journal the US Army was aware of a small number of engine fires in the helicopters, and the incidents didn't result in any injuries or deaths. "One of the officials said the fires occurred in recent days, the Journal said. "The U.S. Army Materiel Command grounded the fleet of hundr
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday (local time) met with US aerospace and defence majors Boeing and Raytheon and exhorted them to take advantage of the policy initiatives in India aimed at 'Make in India' and 'Make for World'."Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh met with the U.S. aerospace & defence majors Boeing and Raytheon after reaching Washington DC. He exhorted the companies to take advantage of policy initiatives in India to steadily march from 'Make in India' towards 'Make for the World'," tweeted the Office of the Defence Minister.The minister arrived in Washington DC on Sunday as part of his five-day US visit during which he will take part in the fourth India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue. During his stay in the US till April 15, Singh will hold talks with the US leadership on ways to deepen the India-US strategic partnership.The defence minister will also meet his US counterpart Lloyd J Austin III at the Pentagon on Monday.India and the US are set to hold the 2+2 ...