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SPI General Knowledge · Defence and Armed Forces

Aircraft, Ships and Missiles

The aircraft, aircraft carriers and missiles the bank asks about: what kind of machine each is, which country made it, and what makes the Indian-made ones special.

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Why this matters

Five questions in the bank, four EASY and one MODERATE, and the MODERATE one is from the 2022 paper. Two ask which aircraft is combat or Indian-made (Tejas both times), one asks India's first indigenous aircraft carrier, and two are about BrahMos: what kind of missile it is, and the fastest cruise missile as asked in the paper. Each answer turns on one word: combat, transport, helicopter, ballistic or cruise.

Concept 1 of 2: Aircraft and aircraft carriers

An aircraft question usually hides one combat aircraft among helicopters and transport planes, or one Indian design among foreign ones. Sort each name by its job and by its maker.

Definition

  • Tejas is India's own Light Combat Aircraft, designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency and built by HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited).
  • Rafale (France) and the Su-30MKI and MiG-21 (Russian designs) are combat aircraft made abroad.
  • Chetak and Dhruv are helicopters built by HAL. The C-17 Globemaster and the C-130J Super Hercules are American transport aircraft.
  • INS Vikrant, built at Cochin Shipyard and commissioned on 2 September 2022, is India's first indigenous aircraft carrier.
  • India's earlier carriers came from abroad: the first INS Vikrant and INS Virat from Britain, and INS Vikramaditya from Russia.
NameKindMade by
TejasLight combat aircraftIndia (HAL)
RafaleCombat aircraftFrance (Dassault)
Su-30MKICombat aircraftRussian design, built in India by HAL
MiG-21Combat aircraftSoviet Union
Chetak, DhruvHelicoptersIndia (HAL)
C-17 GlobemasterHeavy transport aircraftUnited States
INS Vikrant (2022)First indigenous aircraft carrierIndia (Cochin Shipyard)
INS VikramadityaAircraft carrierBought from Russia
INS ViratAircraft carrier, now retiredBought from Britain
Practice this conceptself-check · 5 quick reps

The same idea in a practice question:

Practice questionEasy

Example 1 · Defence and Armed Forces · Aircraft, Ships and Missiles

Which one of the following is a combat aircraft?

Indian-made is not Indian-used

The Air Force flies Rafale, Su-30 and MiG-21 aircraft, but they are French and Russian designs. Among combat aircraft, the one designed in India is Tejas.

Virat was bought, Vikrant was built

INS Virat came from Britain. The INS Vikrant commissioned in 2022 was built at Cochin Shipyard and is India's first indigenous aircraft carrier.
Drill 2 more on aircraft and aircraft carriers

Concept 2 of 2: Ballistic and cruise missiles

A ballistic missile is fired high into the sky and falls on its target like a thrown stone. A cruise missile flies low and level all the way, like a small plane without a pilot. Learn each Indian missile by which kind it is and what it is fired at.

Definition

  • BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile built jointly by India and Russia. Its name joins two rivers, the Brahmaputra and the Moskva. It can be fired from land, ships and aircraft. It is not ballistic and not an anti-aircraft missile.
  • Agni and Prithvi are surface-to-surface ballistic missiles; Dhanush is the ship-launched form of Prithvi.
  • Akash is a surface-to-air missile; Nag is an anti-tank missile.
  • Agni, Prithvi, Akash, Nag and Trishul came from the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, begun in 1983 under Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
MissileKind
BrahMosSupersonic cruise missile, India and Russia
AgniSurface-to-surface ballistic, long range
PrithviSurface-to-surface ballistic, short range
DhanushShip-launched form of Prithvi, ballistic
AkashSurface-to-air
NagAnti-tank
A mock question calls BrahMos the fastest supersonic cruise missile in the world: give that answer as asked in the paper, not as a record of today.
Practice this conceptself-check · 5 quick reps

The same idea in a real exam question:

SPI · 2022 · SPI Entrance Examination 2022 · Q112Moderate

Example 2 · Defence and Armed Forces · Aircraft, Ships and Missiles

The Brahmos missile is a____missile.

BrahMos is cruise, not ballistic

BrahMos flies level like a plane, so it is a cruise missile. When the options offer only ICBM, anti-aircraft and surface-to-air, the answer is None of these.

Agni and Prithvi are ballistic

In a list asking for a cruise missile, Agni, Prithvi and Dhanush are the ballistic ones to strike out, which leaves BrahMos.
Drill 1 more on ballistic and cruise missiles

Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance

A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.

Reference tables (2)

Aircraft and aircraft carriers9 rows
NameKindMade by
TejasLight combat aircraftIndia (HAL)
RafaleCombat aircraftFrance (Dassault)
Su-30MKICombat aircraftRussian design, built in India by HAL
MiG-21Combat aircraftSoviet Union
Chetak, DhruvHelicoptersIndia (HAL)
C-17 GlobemasterHeavy transport aircraftUnited States
INS Vikrant (2022)First indigenous aircraft carrierIndia (Cochin Shipyard)
INS VikramadityaAircraft carrierBought from Russia
INS ViratAircraft carrier, now retiredBought from Britain
Ballistic and cruise missiles6 rows
MissileKind
BrahMosSupersonic cruise missile, India and Russia
AgniSurface-to-surface ballistic, long range
PrithviSurface-to-surface ballistic, short range
DhanushShip-launched form of Prithvi, ballistic
AkashSurface-to-air
NagAnti-tank
A mock question calls BrahMos the fastest supersonic cruise missile in the world: give that answer as asked in the paper, not as a record of today.

Watch out for (4)

Test yourself on a real paper

Sit a past SPI paper, timed and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.

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