Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft

• The Defence Ministry is working on a model to involve private industry in the works of Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).
• The design of the AMCA is ready and the prototype is expected to roll out by 2028-29 and the production is expected to begin from 2032-33.

Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA)

• Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) is India’s fifth-generation multirole fighter jet that will put India in a select group of nations that have their own fifth-generation fighter aircraft.
• Size: This aircraft will be bigger than other fighters in the Indian Air Force inventory.
• Organizations Involved: Aeronautical Development Agency & Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
• The development of AMCA is planned to be carried out in two phases, a MK1 with the General Electric F414 engine and a Mk2 with a more powerful engine planned to be co-developed in partnership with Saran of France for which discussions are underway.

Features:

• Stealth: The 25-tonne twin-engine aircraft will have advanced stealth features to avoid detection by enemy radar.
• Fuel & Weapons: The aircraft will have a large, concealed internal fuel tank of 6.5-tonne capacity, and an internal weapons bay for a range of weapons, including indigenous weapons, to be buried in its belly.
• Engine Specifications: The AMCA Mk1 variant will have the US-built GE414 engine of the 90 kilonewton (kN) class.
• The more advanced AMCA Mk2 will fly on the more powerful 110kN engine.
• This will be developed indigenously by DRDO’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) in collaboration with a foreign defence major.
• Specialized Design Features: To maximize engine performance and reduce radar emissions, the AMCA will use cutting-edge design elements like a serpentine air intake duct and a diverterless supersonic inlet.

Significance of Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA)

The AMCA project is particularly critical as it is India’s only FGFA that is planned for induction at a time when a series of such FGFA development projects are making progress worldwide. China has made great progress in the development and deployment of FGFAs, and has recently deployed its twin-engine J-20 FGFA in Tibet bordering India.

• Boost to Self Reliance (Atmanirbharta): After India withdrew from its Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) partnership with Russia in 2018, the AMCA project highlights India’s pursuit of self-reliance in defense technology.
• Advantages of Stealth: As a fifth-generation fighter, the AMCA will have a low electromagnetic signature, increasing survivability and lethality in modern combat conditions.
• Enhanced Capabilities: Using enhanced sensors and weaponry, the AMCA will be able to detect and engage hostile aircraft while remaining undetected, providing a major edge over fourth-generation equivalents.
• Operational Implications: The IAF’s need for seven AMCA squadrons emphasizes the importance of increasing India’s air combat capability in the face of diminishing fighter squadron numbers.
• Enhancing Strategic Posturing: While countries like the United States, China, and Russia have fifth-generation stealth fighters, the AMCA will add India to this exclusive list, strengthening its strategic position in the region.
• Addressing Operational Gaps: As older aircraft are retired, the induction of AMCA squadrons will fill crucial operational gaps, guaranteeing a capable air combat force in the future.

Generations of Jet Fighters

First Generation Fighters: Subsonic fighter planes constructed between the mid-1940s and mid-1950s are considered first generation fighters.

• The planes possessed a basic avionic system, but no radar or self-protection equipment.

Second Generation Fighters: In contrast to the previous generation of aircraft that carried out their attacks with cannons, machine guns, unguided bombs, and rockets, these jets were capable of reaching supersonic speed and were outfitted with semi guided missiles.

• The most well-known second-generation fighter is probably the MiG-21.

Third Generation Fighters: The third generation of aircraft, produced in the early 1960s and early 1970s, featured more sophisticated weaponry and maneuverability.

• These aircraft, which included the Mirage III and MiG-23, had the ability to fire at targets that were outside of the pilot’s field of vision.

Fourth Generation Fighters: Conceptualized in the 1970s, fourth generation fighters went into service in the early 1980s. Additionally, these aircraft had fly by-wire systems installed, which substituted electronic flight control for human combat control.

• The French Mirage 2000, the Soviet MiG29, the American F15, and the French F16 are notable fighters from this generation.

Fifth-generation multi-role fighters: They have features such as all-aspect stealth, Low Probability of Intercept Radar (LPIR), high-performance airframe, engine capable of supercruise without afterburner,

• The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, the world’s first combat-ready fifth-generation fighter, joined the US Air Force in 2005.

NITI Aayog launched the ‘Sampoornata Abhiyan’ witnessing significant participation from citizens across the country.

Sampoornata Abhiyan:

• It is a 3-month campaign to undertake a sustained effort to achieve saturation of 6 key indicators in Aspirational Districts and 6 key indicators in Aspirational Blocks across the country.
• It seeks to achieve saturation in each of the 6 identified indicators in the 112 Aspirational Districts and 500 Aspirational Blocks under the Aspirational Districts Programme and Aspirational Blocks Programme.

Aspirational Districts Programme:

• Introduction: Introduced in 2018 by NITI Aayog.
• Aim: It Aims to rapidly and effectively transform 112 districts nationwide.
• Focus areas: It focuses on five areas: Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & Skill Development Infrastructure
• Assessing Progress: Progress is assessed using 81 development indicators.

Aspirational Blocks Programme:

• Introduction: Introduced by NITI Aayog in 2023.
• Aim: It aims to achieve full coverage of essential government services in 500 blocks (329 districts) nationwide.

Key indicators of Aspirational Blocks include:

1. Percentage of pregnant women registered for Antenatal Care (ANC) within the first trimester;
2. Percentage of persons screened for Diabetes against the targeted population in the Block;
3. Percentage of persons screened for Hypertension against the targeted population in the Block;
4. Percentage of pregnant women taking Supplementary Nutrition under the ICDS Programme regularly;
5. Percentage of Soil Health Cards generated against the soil sample collection target; and
6. Percentage of SHGs that have received a Revolving Fund against the total SHGs in the block

Key indicators of Aspirational Districts :

1. Percentage of pregnant women registered for Antenatal Care (ANC) within the first trimester;
2. Percentage of pregnant women taking Supplementary Nutrition under the ICDS Programme regularly;
3. Percentage of children fully immunized (9-11 months) (BCG+DPT3+OPV3+Measles 1)
4. Number of Soil Health Cards distributed;
5. Percentage of schools with functional electricity at the secondary level; and
6. Percentage of schools providing textbooks to children within 1 month of the start of the academic session

• NITI Aayog, in collaboration with the relevant Central Ministries and Departments, as well as the Governments of States and Union Territories, will work together to ensure the effective and rapid development of these Districts and Blocks.

First International Conference on Steel Slag Road jointly organized by CSIR-CRRI (Central Road Research Institute) and PHDCCI( PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry) at New-Delhi,

• It released the Guidelines for Utilization and Processing of Steel Slag as Processed Steel Slag Aggregates in Road Construction.

Steel Slag

• Steel Slag is a by-product of steel making, produced during the separation of the molten steel from impurities in steel-making furnaces.
• The slag occurs as a molten liquid melt and is a complex solution of silicates and oxides that solidifies upon cooling.
• Uses of Steel Slag: It is used as an aggregate and is considered a standard practice with applications that include its use in granular base, embankments, engineered fill, highway shoulders, and hot mix asphalt pavement.
• Steel slag can be used in the agricultural sector as It has the ability to correct soil acidity.
• In fact, developed countries like Japan, the USA have taken the lead in making fertilisers using steel-making slag.

Steel Slag Road Technology:

• The Steel Slag Road Technology has been developed by the Central Road Research Institute under a research project in collaboration with the Ministry of Steel, Government of India and four major steel manufacturing companies of the country

Advantages:

Eco-friendly waste management:

1. Utilises steel slag waste in road construction, providing an environmentally friendly solution.
2. Reduces landfill burden and environmental impact from steel slag disposal.

Cost-effective and long-lasting:

1. Steel slag roads are approximately 30 per cent cheaper to construct than traditional paving methods.
2. These roads are highly durable and weather-resistant, leading to significantly lower maintenance costs.

Minimising natural resource depletion:

1. Reduces the reliance on natural ballast and aggregates, conserving valuable resources.
2. Helps preserve natural ecosystems by eliminating the need for traditional road construction materials.

Managing steel slag waste:

1. India produces around 19 million tonnes of steel slag annually, expected to reach 60 million tonnes by 2030.
2. Inefficient disposal methods have led to large slag piles around steel plants, causing pollution.

Challenging terrain success: Border Roads Organisation (BRO), in collaboration with CRRI and Tata Steel, constructed a steel slag road in Arunachal Pradesh, showcasing the technology’s suitability for difficult terrains and essential infrastructure.

“Waste to Wealth”: This technology is making significant contributions to realize the vision of “Waste to Wealth”.

Wildfires have been a natural part of the Arctic’s boreal forest or snow forest and tundra (treeless regions) ecosystems.

• As per Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, it is the third time in the past five years that high intensity fires have erupted in the region.

Concerning Statistics On Arctic Wildfires

• The Arctic has been warming roughly four times as fast as the world. While the global average temperature has increased by at least 1.1 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial levels, the Arctic has become on average around 3 degree warmer than it was in 1980.
• High Burning of Land: A majority of fires are in Sakha, Russia, where more than 160 wildfires burned nearly 460,000 hectares of land.
• High Carbon Emissions: The June monthly total carbon emissions from the wildfires are the third highest of the past two decades, at 6.8 megatonnes of carbon, behind June 2020 and 2019, which recorded 16.3 and 13.8 megatonnes of carbon respectively.

Factors for Worsening of Arctic Wildfires

As per the World Wild Fund, all three factors — rising temperatures, more frequent lightning and heat waves — will most likely worsen in the coming years, thereby causing more wildfires in the Arctic.

• Frequent Lightning: The fast paced warming has led to more frequent lightning in the Arctic, which has further increased the likelihood of wildfires.
• Example: Lightning-sparked fires have more than doubled in Alaska and the Northwest Territories since 1975.
• Rising Temperature: Soaring temperatures have also slowed down the polar jet stream — responsible for circulating air between the mid- and northern latitudes — due to less of a temperature difference between the Arctic and lower latitudes.
• Hence, the polar jet stream often gets “stuck” in one place, bringing unseasonably warm weather to the region.
• Heat Waves: It also blocks out low-pressure systems, which bring clouds and rainfall, possibly leading to intense heat waves, which can cause more wildfires.

Concerns with Rising Arctic Wildfires

By 2050, it is estimated that wildfires in the Arctic and around the world could increase by one-third.

• Emission of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs): When wildfires ignite, they burn vegetation and organic matter, releasing the heat trapping GHGs such as carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere.
• Hence, the rising frequency of wildfires around the globe is a matter of concern as they contribute to climate change.
• Storehouse of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs): In the case of Arctic wildfires, GHG emissions are not the biggest worry but rather the carbon stored underneath the region’s permafrost.
• Scientists estimate that Arctic permafrost holds around 1,700 billion metric tons of carbon, including methane and CO2. That’s roughly 51 times the amount of carbon the world released as fossil fuel emissions in 2019.
• Vulnerable to Thawing: Wildfires make permafrost more vulnerable to thawing as they destroy upper insulating layers of vegetation and soil. This can cause ancient organic materials such as dead animals and plants to decompose and release carbon into the atmosphere.
• In case of a large-scale thawing, it would be impossible to stop the release of carbon.
• This would mean that the world will not be able to limit global warming within the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold. Breaching the limit will result in catastrophic and irreversible consequences for the planet.
• No Actions Taken: To make matters worse, as of now, no one is keeping a tab on post-fire permafrost emissions, and they are not even fed into climate models. Therefore, there is no way to estimate their contribution to climate change.
• Arctic change amplifies risks globally and these fires are a warning cry for urgent action.