Long-range glide bomb ‘Gaurav’ successfully tested
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully conducted release trials of the 1,000-kg long-range glide bomb (LRGB) named ‘Gaurav’. The tests were carried out from April 8 to 10 using a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet of the Indian Air Force. “The weapon was integrated at multiple stations in different warhead configurations, with a land target located on an island. The trials successfully demonstrated a range of nearly 100 km with pinpoint accuracy,” the Ministry of Defence said.
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The trials mark a significant step towards the induction of the weapon into the IAF, the ministry added.
The system was developed with the support of Development-cum-Production Partners — Adani Defence Systems and Technologies, Bharat Forge and several MSMEs. ‘Gaurav’ was first tested in August last year. Once launched from the air, the bomb glides towards its target using a highly accurate hybrid navigation system based on GPS data. ‘Gaurav’ has been designed and developed indigenously by the Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad.
China slaps 125 pc tariffs on US
China on Friday upped its additional tariff on US goods to 125 per cent, retaliating to America's 145 per cent levy even as President Xi Jinping urged the European Union to “jointly resist the unilateral bullying" by Washington.
China, however, left the door open for talks between the world's two top economies as the tariff war between them continued.
China's Foreign Ministry said any dialogue must be based on "equality and mutual respect". Beijing also indicated that if the US hikes its tariffs further, “China will ignore it”.
China's Customs Tariff Commission said higher tariffs by the US would no longer make any sense and go down as a “joke” in the world's economic history.
However, should the US persist in substantially undermining China's interests, Beijing will take firm countermeasures and fight to the end, the commission added.
As Trump kept hiking tariffs against China while pausing the levies he planned earlier on EU, India and a host of other countries, Xi said China and the 27-member bloc must fulfil their international responsibilities, work together to safeguard economic globalisation and international trading environment, and jointly resist unilateral bullying.
As Trump seeks to isolate China, Beijing has also started an outreach diplomatic campaign to galvanise global opinion against America's unilateral sanctions.
Xi is next week setting out on a visit to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia, the key ASEAN countries badly hit by Trump's tariffs. Separately, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday held a meeting of the country's envoys in different countries outlining Beijing's diplomatic priorities in the light of US tariff war against China.
