Defence Direct Education

We at DDE Publisher, equip competitive exam aspirants with the right books to succeed. Explore books on Amazon, Flipkart & bookstores.

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

INS Surat in Muscat for Naseem Al Bahr. Indian Navy's first AI-enabled warship.
1 - MF-STAR radar: never spins, sees all round
2 - 76 mm gun
3 - RBU-6000 anti-sub rockets
Plus 16 BrahMos, 32 Barak-8.

Gwadar was Omani till 1958. Pakistan bought it, then handed the port to China.

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

Meet Captain Gurjinder Singh Suri, Maha Vir Chakra, Indian Army Officer from the Army Ordnance Corps, attached to 12 Bihar.
From Ambala, Haryana. Led a raid near Gulmarg on 9 Nov 1999, aged 25: 17 enemy killed, 14 bunkers destroyed. Hit by an RPG, he refused evacuation.

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

In 1948 India took tanks to 11,575 ft. No army had fought with armour that high.

Bridges to Zoji La were too weak, so 7 Light Cavalry took the turrets off its Stuarts and moved them by night.

1 Nov 1948: the raiders on the pass saw tanks and ran.

(Photos colourised)

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

Tonight, most of us will light diyas with our families, share sweets and call everyone we love. For lakhs of soldiers, sailors and air warriors, Diwali looks different.

Their diyas go on barbed wire.
On a border fence, in a bunker, on a ship at sea or at a post where the snow never melts. A tray of diyas in one hand, a rifle never far from the other. The night-vision goggles stay on, because the night still has to be watched, festival or not.

What do they give up?
Not just Diwali. Holi, Eid, Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, a child's first steps, a parent's illness, sometimes a wedding in the family. Leave is planned months ahead and can be cancelled overnight. Many of them call home for a few minutes, if the network reaches at all, and then go back on duty. Salute to all! Happy Diwali 🪔

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

World's highest airstrip: a mud strip at 16,614 ft, 8 km from the LAC. Daulat Beg Oldi.

No plane landed there for 43 years. Then:
2008: IAF An-32 reopens it
2013: C-130J lands, a world record for its class
Now: IL-76 lands at Nyoma, 13,629 ft. Its highest ever

PLA, take notes.

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

Meet Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal, Shaurya Chakra, Indian Army Officer from 55 Rashtriya Rifles.
From Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Killed fighting terrorists in Pulwama in 2019, 10 months after his wedding.
His wife Nitika joined the Army and received his Shaurya Chakra in uniform.

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

1965: Pakistan captured Field Marshal Cariappa's son and offered to send him home early.

Ayub Khan had once served under Cariappa. Sqn Ldr Nanda Cariappa's Hunter fell on the war's last day.

Reply: "He is my son no longer... Release all or release none."

(Photo 1 colourised)

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

Meet Subedar Hokato Hotozhe Sema, Indian Army soldier from 9 Assam Regiment.
From Nagaland. Lost his left leg to a landmine on the LoC in 2002. Won Paralympic bronze in Paris in 2024, then became the first Paralympian to receive the AVSM.

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

Lances vs machine guns.
23 Sep 1918: the Jodhpur and Mysore Lancers charged Ottoman guns on Mount Carmel and took Haifa on horseback.
Maj Dalpat Singh rode at a machine gun with only his trumpeter. He fell that day.
Haifa's schools teach it. 61 Cavalry still rides.
(colourised)

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

Garuda Shakti's 48-hour final test in the Java jungle is done: Indian Para SF and Indonesian special forces hit a mock enemy camp with a joint ambush and a heli air assault.

11th edition, at Banyuwangi on the Bali Strait.

Jungle hideouts are getting less private every year.

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

Demonstrating exceptional airborne proficiency and operational readiness, the Combat Freefallers of Shatrujeet Brigade successfully completed their Annual Combat Freefall Training Camp at Haldwani, Uttarakhand, executing 40 combat freefall jumps including six high-altitude oxygen jumps with full combat equipment.

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

Meet Rifleman Aurangzeb, Shaurya Chakra, Indian Army soldier from 44 Rashtriya Rifles.
From Poonch, J&K. Abducted and killed by terrorists on his way home for Eid in 2018.
A year later, his brothers Mohd Tariq and Mohd Shabir joined the Army.

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

India sent no combat troops to the Korean War. It sent paratrooper doctors.

60 Para Field Ambulance treated about 2 lakh patients. In March 1951 its volunteers jumped with the US 187th Airborne at Munsan-ni.

They were called the Maroon Angels.

(Photos 1 and 3 colourised)

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

The official AFCAT (1) 2027 notification for the Air Force Common Admission Test has been released. All candidates who aspire to join the Indian Air Force as commissioned officers, can avail the opportunity to apply for it.

https://t.co/ir2PuPQ6S1

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

Somali pirates seized an Iranian fishing vessel 3,000+ km from Mumbai. The Indian Navy went and fetched it anyway.

48 hours, all 20 crew freed, with IAF support. Waiting alongside: INS Kolkata, 16 BrahMos.

Last time, on MV Ruen in 2024, 35 pirates simply surrendered.

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

Meet Honorary Captain Sanjay Kumar, PVC, Indian Army soldier from 13 JAK RIF.

From Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh. A Delhi taxi driver the Army had turned down before it took him. Param Vir Chakra at 23.

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

3 Nov 1988. India's paras flew to the Maldives to stop a coup, and their only maps of Malé were photocopied tourist sketches.

They still landed 9 hours after the SOS. By morning the coup was over.

The mercenaries who fled by ship with hostages? The Navy caught them at sea.

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

Exercise AUSTRAHIND 2026 culminated in a 36-hour Joint Validation Exercise conducted from October 30 to 31 under Chapter VI of the UN Charter, featuring intensive joint operations by the Indian Army and the Australian Defence Force across jungle, island, and coastal terrains.

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

What is a pilot vehicle?
The Corps of Military Police provides pilot vehicles to Division Commanders, Corps Commanders, Army Commanders and the Chief of the Army Staff. The pilot vehicle drives ahead of the senior commander's car to clear the way and lead it safely through traffic.

Then what is a GUIDE?
Pilot vehicle is authorised only for the few appointments laid down in the rules, so when the Military Police lead anyone else, such as a visiting team, a convoy or a guest who is not entitled to a pilot, the same kind of vehicle goes out marked GUIDE. The job is the same; the plate tells everyone on the road it is not a commander's pilot.

[Defence Direct Education @DefenceDirect]

The Navy retired its Sea King Mk42B squadron in June. This 40-year-old still drops troops on beaches.
1 - IN558, a Sea King Mk42C, the troop carrier. Lifts 28 men. India got only six
2 - Fast rope: no harness, no clip. Gloves and grip
3 - First men down kneel facing out, guns up