State-of-art SBTF to be operational soon in Goa

VASCO DA GAMA - The work on the state-of-art Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) at the Indian Navy’s premier naval station, the INS Hansa, is likely to be completed soon.

The SBTF, which is aimed at helping the fighter pilots sharpen their skills ahead of more aircraft carriers joining the fleet, is only the third such deck facility in the world.

Only the US and Russia currently have this facility.

Apart from the advanced facility, the INS Hansa is also coming up with several new facilities.

Interacting with media persons ahead of the induction ceremony of the Mig-29K in the Indian Navy, Commanding Officer (CO) of the INS Hansa Captain Surendra Ahuja said there are three more hangers and two simulators coming up in the naval base.

A 1255 metre strip is also under construction for the SBTF facility at the naval station, Captain Ahuja said.

Besides that the SBTF facility with the ski-jump facing the sea front is an added feature of the project.

The ski-jump facility would be a replica of the same facility on the INS-Vikramaditya, which is expected to the join the might of the Indian Navy in late 2012.

Two wire arresting systems are also being readied up to enhance the navy’s operability.

“We are building such a system that it could arrest both the LCA’s and the Mig-29K’s safely,” informed Captain Ahuja.

India is only the second country in the world after Ukraine to have this kind of ‘wire arresting’ system.

Even the US does not have the said facility. The American war ship carriers has a ‘catapult’ system. By Shashank Shantanu (ANI)

|Lashkar commander among 30 killed in Tirah Valley suicide bombing |national[Jamrud (Pakistan){Jamrud/Hangu (Khyber Agency, Pakistan), Feb.19 (ANI): At least 30 people, including an important Lashkar-e-Islam commander (LI), were killed and another 110 injured in a suicide attack near a mosque in Akakhel area of Khyber Agency’s remote Tirah valley on Thursday.

Sources in Tirah valley confirmed the identity of the dead Lashkar commander as Azam Khan.

Witnesses told Daily Times that a suicide bomber, after parking his explosives-laden double cabin pickup in the middle of a ground, blew himself up while meeting the Lashkar’s deputy chief for the area, also setting of the explosives in his vehicle.

But a source said the bomber only detonated explosives strapped to his body as LI members and locals prepared for mid-day prayers at Darss Mosque, which is controlled by the LI.

The agency also quoted local official Javed Khan as saying that the dead also included other LI militants.

The attack was carried out with around 80 people gathered around “the mosque, a cattle market and bazaar, an official said.

Officials were still investigating what caused the explosion.

Kohat Commissioner Khalid Umarzai told reporters over the phone that the injured had been shifted to Kohat hospitals for treatment. He said “most of those injured” were in critical condition.

An intelligence official told AFP, “We have confirmed reports that militant commander Azam Khan was also killed in the blast.”

The LI has not held anybody responsible for the attack.

The Akakhel area is located on the border of Khyber and Orakzai agencies. While Orakzai is controlled by the TTP, the LI is the dominant force in Khyber.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have condemned the attack. (ANI)