Indian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Miragedriver · May 22, 2015

Tata built Airbus will construct 56 C295 transport aircraft for India

(Defensa.com) The Defense Acquisition Board (Defence Acquisition Council or DAC) India has announced the selection of the consortium Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. (TASL) to build 56 transport aircraft C-295 Indian Air Force. The Council proposal Procurement must be approved by the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. The news has been highly appreciated by the defense minister Manohar Parrikar.

The MTA (Medium Transport Aircraft) program, worth over 2,000 million dollars includes the delivery of 16 of these aircraft in flying condition in a first step (to manufacture in Spain) and construction under license from the rest in India. In addition, more than half of the pieces of the aircraft will be manufactured in India.

Although India usually are canceled programs in which concurs a single candidate, the Indian government has considered the ability of this program as a development of private aviation sector in India. Besides the fact that the program would break the traditional hegemony of the builder Hindustan Aeronautics in India which has claimed responsibility for most aircraft programs in this country it is given.

The Indian Air Force wants to acquire 56 aircraft to replace transport means 748 Avro manufactured under license in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) no less than forty years ago. The program had two handicaps as when it began was budgeted at 130,000 million Indian rupees to 2,340 billion change. However the Indian currency has depreciated considerably since then and major aircraft manufacturers do not seem to sprout accounts. The other problem is that the Indian government wants the 56 aircraft delivered 16 international supplier and the remaining 40 are manufactured in India under license. The only candidate a priori was HAL, however the main Indian aerospace company has reached its maximum capacity and new industrial partners are sought.

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Back to bottling my Grenache

Zool · May 22, 2015

So Rafale will indeed be limited to the 36 unit buy. I think if this was a calculated move for these aircraft to be used for special operations/nuclear delivery then it's not too terrible a decision, although a very costly based on expected per unit price. On the other hand, if it was a consolation order to the French for cancelling the larger tender and simply politics, then it's a bad move, and still a very costly one. Either way, seemingly good news for the LCA program, if the import lobby can be held at bay -- LCA is on shaky ground right now.

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Published May 22, 2015 | By
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SOURCE : IDRW NEWS NETWORK (INN)

Speaking at the Aaj Tak Manthan conclave in New Delhi on Thursday, Parrikar said that India will not be placing any follow-up orders of more Rafale fighter after 36 aircrafts are inducted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Paris, last month requested the French government to supply 36 Rafale fighters in a G2G deal and French teams are already in India to draft final purchase agreement.

Parrikar Confirmed that Money saved on not purchasing more Rafale fighter jets will allow Government more funds which will be diverted to LCA Tejas Project.

” I have saved the cost of 90 Rafales and Now we can buy more Tejas “said Parrikar and also said MMRCA or Rafale was never meant to replace Mig-21s in IAF fleet, but it will be Cheaper and lighter Tejas fighter jets which will take its place .

When asked if he is satisfied with Performance of Tejas, Parrikar responded by saying he is satisfied up to a certain level and went on to add that Safety aspect of the aircraft is Excellent and he has no doubts about that .

aksha · May 22, 2015

she spent almost 10 years for refit, and HSL dare blow their horns, no wonder the navy wants to give the contract for construction of the new submarines to private shipyards.

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Adding yet another feather to its cap, Hindustan Shipyard Limited commenced sea trials of Russia-made INS Sindhukirti, the seventh Sindhughosh class diesel electric submarine of Indian Navy, after completion of retrofitting here on Thursday.

It sailed out for trial sortie after successful harbour acceptance trials. “Today is a red-letter day in our history as retrofitting involved a complex process – a more difficult process than building a new submarine. Our workforce deserved credit for completing the Herculean task adhering to stringent quality standards stipulated by the Navy,” Chairman and Managing Director of HSL Rear Admiral N.K. Mishra told The Hindu .

HSL, which is under Ministry of Defence, is a premier shipyard set up in 1941 with its rich experience undertaking retrofitting of two submarines belonging to Egyptian naval forces and INS Vagli at a specially-made submarine medium repair yard. The modernisation increases the operational life of the submarine providing a potent weapon platform to the Navy.

“This was the biggest-ever repair of a submarine undertaken in any shipyard in the country proving our capability to take up orders to construct generation next Greenfield submarines,” Mr. Mishra said.

The submarine was fitted with indigenous advanced sonar suite USHUS and communication suite CCS Mk-II from Bharat Electronics, upgraded AC plants from KPCL, 400 bar HP air compressor from Burkhadt India, apart from Russian supplied weapon and navigational package. During the refit, nearly 100 km of cabling and 30 km of mostly high pressure piping was renewed, thereby making this the most advanced platform ever to be undertaken in an Indian yard.

INS Sindhukirti was built at Admirality Shipyard and Sevmash in the erstwhile Soviet Union and commissioned on January 4, 1990. The cost of the retrofitting project is estimated around Rs.700 crore to Rs.800 crore.

HSL also had to undertake dredging after undocking it on November 4 due to accumulation of sand in its area reducing the draft from seven to four metres under the influence of Cyclone Hudhud, which battered the industries of Visakhapatnam on October 12, 2014.

Jeff Head · May 22, 2015

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Pacific Sentinel said:
India’s delayed carrier is set to enter the water next week while the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi government has approved more money for development of the second indigenous carrier, according to local press reports.

The 40,000-ton INS Vikrant is set to launch from the Cochin Shipyard in the southwest on May 28 following a dry dock period after the initial launch ceremony of the ship in 2013.

“All major equipment has gone into the vessel, which has now acquired the shape of an aircraft carrier, with a finished hull,” said a yard official to
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earlier this month.

“Barring a bit of ongoing work on the super structure, structural work is all over and the internal compartments have all been welded in.”

The Modi government has reportedly put more support behind India’s domestic carrier program as a hedge against an expansionist China. Beijing has reportedly moved to build their own indigenous carriers for People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) following their acquisition
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.

In addition to the re-launch of Vikrant, the Modi government has also set aside about $5 million for development of the indigenous aircraft carrier-II (IAC-II) program — INS Vishal, according to local press reports.

The planned 65,000-ton Vishal is set to be a much more complex ship than its predecessors and could introduce nuclear power and a catapult launching system for the carrier to launch heavier aircraft than India’s current crop of MiG-29K

Vikrant India’s current carriers — Vikramaditya and the 50 year-old carrier INS Viraat, the former British carrier Hermes — are convieitnally powered and launch aircraft via a much simpler short-take off but arrested recovery (STOBAR) system marked by a so-called “ski jump” feature at the bow.

The Indian’s have expressed interest in the General Atomics Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) that has been installed on the U.S. Gerald R. Ford nuclear carrier.

To that end, the U.S. and India announced a greater degree of cooperation in development of carrier technology.

The two countries agreed to “explore” sharing carrier technology and design and establish a working group
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Under the most recent timelines, Vikrant will become operational in 2018 and the more complex Vishal could commission as early as 2033.

INS Viraat is slated to decommission next year.

Jeff Head · May 22, 2015

I did not know that the Vishal was pushed all the way out to 2033 for in service.

That's out there.

aksha · May 23, 2015

DRDO's Rustom-I with two HELINA missile during taxi trials

Here's an exclusive pic of India's first armed drone, DRDO's Rustom-I with two HELINA missile during taxi trials.

source: Saurav Jha

aksha · May 23, 2015

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As such, work on weaponizing the Rustom-I medium altitude long endurance UAV is being hastened and first weapon trials will take place this year. The Rustom-I, developed by DRDO's Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) will initially be armed with the HELINA anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) and subsequently with smaller munitions specifically developed for UAV carriage.

Armed UAV development in India has been carried out at a rather slow pace till date owing at least partly to American concerns about the same. These concerns were likely taken into account because key domestic UAV development programmes till recently had been somewhat dependent on American sources for key components such as actuators. However the recent United States (US) State Department's withdrawal of export licenses on MTCR grounds for some seven types of MOOG actuators that feature in ADE's flagship Rustom-II MALE UAV means that India need no longer be so concerned about what America thinks. As of now, indigenously developed replacement actuators have completed electro-magnetic interference/compatibility tests etc and high speed taxi-trials (HSTT) of the Rustom-II have re-commenced. These taxi-trials will go up to a speed of 55 knots, just 10 knots shy of take-off speed. First flight will happen in June 2015 after a delay of more than a year on account of MOOG's non-supply. Currently, a move to indigenize all critical components for domestically developed UAVs is also underway.

Now though Rustom-II is essentially a C4ISR platform, it too could potentially feature weapons in the future. But for that, the Rustom-I has to become a pathfinder for armed UAV development in India. At the moment, only some weapon carrying taxi-trials have been done with the Rustom-I. The image enclosed below (Pic) depicts the same.

Meanwhile the manned Light Canard Research Aircraft (LCRA) on which the Rustom-I's planform is based, was used successfully to demonstrate automatic take-off and landing capability (ATOL) just last week. After some more trials, the same capability will be ported to an actual Rustom-I. Once successfully completed, ATOL will take care of one of the prime demands the Indian Army (IA) has made with respect to the Rustom-I's capability set. ATOL after all reduces the occurrence of accidents at airfields and is also a facilitator of true day/night capability. It is likely that the capability growth of the Rustom-I with respect to handling, better recon payloads (also under development) and weaponization will lead to the IA dropping its currently lukewarm approach to the drone.

Nevertheless, even as the IA demands more, the Indian Navy (IN) could well become the first customer of the Rustom-I. In recent months the Rustom-I's maritime recon capabilities have been demonstrated to the IN off the coast of Tamil Nadu. Rustom-I, given its size is far more difficult for targets like illegal fishing trawlers to spot than manned aircraft which usually carry out coastal surveillance duties. Moreover Rustom-I flights are likely to prove cheaper as well.

The Rustom-II however already has some 'firmish' orders on hand. The military across all three services has projected an initial requirement for 75 units. During Aero India 2015, a memorandum of understanding between DRDO, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) was signed for the productionization of the Rustom-II. HAL will be the lead integrator for the Rustom-II with parts built by private players and BEL will supply the ground control systems for the same. Taneja Aerospace and Aviation Limited (TAAL) incidentally has built the fuselage of existing Rustom-II prototypes. The all critical datalinks for the Rustom-II have been developed by DRDO's Defence Electronics Application Laboratory, Dehradun. In the future the Rustom-II will feature indigenous engines in the 165-210 HP class currently being developed by DRDO's Vehicles Research and Development Establishment in partnership with Tech Mahindra. Two flying prototypes of each service version (i.e Army, Navy, Air force) will be part of the Rustom-II development program.

Indian UAV programmes need to be speeded up. For that it is important that the proposed aeronautical test range in Karnataka be set up without any more delay. This would be crucial for not just developing UAVs armed with kinetic munitions but also for honing airborne unmanned electronic attack capability.

aksha · May 28, 2015

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India has sounded out Germany for a direct government-to-government deal to buy six submarines, bypassing a competitive bidding process in what could be New Delhi's costliest military acquisitions programme.

The Indian Navy is now in the middle of finalising the specifications for and choosing a shipyard for its P75i programme to acquire six conventional submarines. The submarines must be capable of firing missiles to attack targets on land and must have air independent propulsion (AIP) that gives them more endurance to stay underwater.

The total cost of the project could top $11 billion (approximately Rs 66,000 crore).

The enquiry to the Germans was made at delegation-level talks last evening, a source in the defence ministry said today. The German defence minister, Ursula Von Der Leyen, is currently visiting India.

The Indian Navy currently operates a fleet of 13 conventional diesel-electric submarines after its INS Sindhurakshak sank in Mumbai in August 2013. Four of the submarines are of German-origin.

"We asked them what they would offer if we went for the submarines in a direct government-to-government deal," said the official.

German conglomerate, Thyssenkrupp, the original builders of the U-Boat of Hitler's navy in World War II, currently owns HDW from which the Indian Navy sourced its Type 209 Shishumar-class submarines (INS Shishumar, Shankush, Shalki and Shankul) between 1986 and 1994 before the deal was hit by allegations of bribery and suspended.

Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems is now contracted to upgrade the four submarines. The upgradation involves equipping them with capability to fire Harpoon missiles.

The Project 75i programme is designed to assist the navy in beefing up its undersurface power after a three-year submarine-building project drafted in the 1990s went askew. The navy wanted 24 submarines by 2024; it now effectively has 13 with two or three constantly under refit.

Last year, the government decided to select an Indian shipyard for P75i for which a committee headed by the navy's chief of design, vice-admiral Ashok Subhedar, has been tasked.

A defence official said the Modi government was closer to a policy in which all purchases of "strategic equipment" would be made through government-to-government deals. He cited the example of the decision to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets from France.

An official statement from the ministry said the talks between Manohar Parrikar and the visiting German minister focused on "partnering of Germany in the Make-in-India initiative in the defence sector and supply of state-of-the-art equipmentechnology".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Germany last month. German chancellor Angela Merkel is slated to visit India later in the year. The German defence minister will be visiting the Western Naval Command in Mumbai tomorrow.

plawolf · May 28, 2015

aksha said:
DRDO's Rustom-I with two HELINA missile during taxi trials

Here's an exclusive pic of India's first armed drone, DRDO's Rustom-I with two HELINA missile during taxi trials.

source: Saurav Jha

Is it just more, or is the missile of the left (from drone prospective) wing very badly miss-aligned?!

Miragedriver · May 28, 2015

India chooses the Russian helicopter Ka-226T

(defensa.com) The Procurement Board of India has approved a number of important agreements on non-competitive basis for its armed forces, including Russian Helicopters The light helicopter Ka-226T, which will be produced by Kumertau Aviation Production Enterprise, with important collaborations with local industry. Conceptual design by Kamov (belonging to Russian Helicopters), was certified in March in Russia and participated in the Light Utility Helicopter competition of the Asian nation announced 2003 and was canceled last year.

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Back to bottling my Grenache

Indian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Miragedriver

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aksha

Captain

aksha

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aksha

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plawolf

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Miragedriver

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