Indian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

aksha

Captain
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France has agreed ‘in principle’ to India’s request for a crucial internal guidance technology to be provided by French company Safran (Sagem) for the BrahMos missiles.

The issue was discussed in a bilateral meeting between the French Minister of Defence Jean-Yves Le Drian and visiting Indian Minister of State for Defence Production Rao Inderjit Singh at a meeting in Paris on Wednesday.

Singh told Media India Group in an exclusive interview in Paris that he had already discussed the issue with the senior management of Sagem, which of course had agreed to provide the technology, if the French government gave its permission.

“Following this, I raised the issue with the French minister and he told me that he did not see a problem in this technology being given to BrahMos and now Sagem will have to apply for the permission to the French government for the technology transfer to happen,” a confident Singh said.

Singh pointed out that Sagem would not be transferring the technology to the Indian government but to BrahMos, which is an Indo-Russian joint venture, even though the navigation system is for missiles of below 300 km range.

The two sides also discussed the progress in the Rafale deal, which has acquired real pace and a sense of urgency following the surprise announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his joint press conference with French President Francois Hollande in Paris in April to buy 36 aircraft.

“The governments on both sides have agreed on the broad terms of the deal and now it is upto the negotiating teams on both sides to finalise all the details. I am confident that the final deal will be reached within three months,” Singh said, echoing the confidence expressed by Le Drian at the ongoing Paris Airshow on Tuesday about a rapid conclusion to the negotiations. Le Drian is slated to visit New Delhi shortly in connection with the Rafale deal.

Singh also held discussions with the Israeli delegation, which has a big presence at the 51st edition of the world’s largest air show.

“We have requested the Israel government for some technologies for our defence requirement. The Israelis have also agreed in principle, but they want to work out the details of who the technology transfer would be done with. They are very particular about it and are fine with a government-to-government deal but perhaps not so keen on transferring technologies to individual companies. So these aspects need to be worked out,” Singh added.

Intensifying defence collaboration with Israel would certainly figure high up during the forthcoming visit of Modi to Israel.
 

aksha

Captain
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Looking at India as its key focus market, Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has asked its Indian partner to speed up the design work for their joint production of the Multi-role Transport Airplanes (MTAs).

UAC chief Yuri Slyusar also said that India has agreed to install the Russian PS-90 engines on the MTAs which the two countries are jointly developing. State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) is UAC's Indian partner on this long-delayed project.

Speaking to journalists here at the Paris International Air Show, Slyusar said, "The Indians have agreed to the PS-90. The project itself will replace the Antonov group of airplanes which in the near futures will begin to leave service en masse."

He said that UAC has held meetings with its various foreign partners here at the Air Show including with HAL for their joint project to develop the MTA medium transport aircraft.

"The aircraft is expected to be in great demand not only in Russia and India, but in other markets as well. Preliminary design stage is completed and for now the design is being approved by the two parties," he said.

The project is currently at the stage of the adoption of the preliminary design and UAC hopes to sign a contract on the transition to the stage for a detailed design by 2015-end.

"We really hope that by the end of the year we will sign a contract for the next stage of detailed design. If we manage to create a competitive product within a short period of time, it will have very good perspectives.

"That's why we are asking our Indian partners to increase the pace to proceed with the aircraft design itself. We need to manage the maiden flight and start flight testing by 2020," Sluysar said.

The initial agreement for the project was signed by the two countries way back in 2007. UAC and HAL are 50:50 partners in this aircraft project that will have manufacturing facilities in both the countries.

Initially there are plans to make 205 aircraft some of which can be exported to other countries. While Russia will take delivery of 100 plans. India will have 45 as per initial plans. The total number of aircraft to be made can almost double after taking into account the civil aircraft demand.
 

aksha

Captain
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NEW DELHI: What is the use of a gun without bullets? Or a shark, even if a metal one, without teeth? Using this logic, the Navy has sought a waiver from the government to ink the Rs 1,800 crore deal with Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica for torpedoes to arm its Scorpene submarines.

With the first Scorpene INS Kalvari set to head for year-long extensive trials this August, Navy has pressed the panic button of "critical operational necessity" for the acquisition of 'Black Shark' torpedoes from Finmeccanica subsidiary Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquel (WASS).

All fresh deals with Finmeccanica are banned under the graded blacklisting norms notified for the conglomerate in August last year due to the fallout of the infamous VVIP helicopter scam, in which another of its subsidiaries AgustaWestland was the accused.

As it is, the ongoing Rs 23,562 crore construction of six French Scorpene submarines at Mazagon Docks (Mumbai) is running four years behind schedule. The first Scorpene, which was finally "undocked" on April 6, is now to be commissioned in September 2016. The other five will be delivered by 2020, at intervals of nine months each.


But the Scorpenes will be toothless without heavyweight torpedoes. While the submarine can also fire SM-39 Exocet anti-ship missiles from its six firing tubes, the torpedoes are its primary weapons to maintain stealth.

Defence ministry sources on Thursday said the law ministry's opinion had been sought for the "special exception" of the contract with WASS for 98 Black Shark torpedoes. "No final decision has been taken yet. It is being actively considered," said an MoD source.

The new defence procurement policy (DPP), which will liberalize blacklisting norms keeping operational military requirements in mind, is also still "some months away" from being finalised. Defence minister Manohar Parrikar told TOI recently that an expert committee led by former home secretary Dhirendra Singh is "still examining" the proposed DPP changes to simplify convoluted procedures and remove the "atmosphere of suspicion" dogging arms procurements.

In August last year, the Modi government relaxed the original blanket ban imposed on Finmeccanica by the previous UPA regime since it held such indiscriminate embargos adversely affected military modernisation projects.

Under the "partial" ban, while all ongoing contracts with Finmeccanica are now progressing, all new ones are on hold even if it has been declared L-1 (lowest bidder) after competition. WASS had won over the Franco-German Atlas Elektronik Gmbh, which produces Seahake torpedoes, in the torpedo competition well over five years ago.

But the deal was first put on hold since Atlas complained to the CVC about "irregularities" in the selection process. Then, after being cleared by the special technical oversight committee, the deal once again stalled due to the VVIP helicopter scandal.
 

Miragedriver

Brigadier
India and Brazil discuss cooperation on defense

OJSliXZ.jpg

(Defensa.com) During the meeting of the Joint Commission for Defence IV IV (CCD), military of Brazil and India discussed the expansion of bilateral cooperation in science and technology, academic exchanges and partnerships in shipbuilding projects and other areas defense.

The delegation was received by Deputy Head of International Affairs, Ministry of Defense, General Luis Schons Decius, and officers of the Navy, Army and Air Force.

Visitors with the Brazilian military could identify areas of defense likely to improve their exchange profiles and enunciate bilateral agreements on humanitarian and natural disasters. The delegation showed interest in this matter because international experience and the role of the Brazilian Armed Forces in support of various relief operations in the field of Civil Defense. Naval Force for an academic exchange between applicants of the Naval Academy in 2016, further cooperation in projects and construction of submarines "Scorpene" and aircraft carriers, as well as an agreement for the exchange of information on maritime traffic was agreed.

Regarding the implementation of ongoing Army Strategic and International Studies in 2016, exchange of researchers and teachers between schools and strategic studies and security or cyber defense and doctrinal courses on cyber security and defense defined.

In the case of the Air Force a much closer cooperation in the Strategic Program Space Systems, exchanges in the field of cyber defense, aerospace medicine and chemical, biological and nuclear defense weapons, beyond the exchange of knowledge is established among flight instructors and cadets at the Air Force Academy (AFA). It was also agreed to send Brazilian officials for courses in India and exploratory the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology visits.

At that time, the heads of Joint Operations and Logistics also proposed and signed an exchange agreement in the field of joint planning and use of the Armed Forces in support of civil defense. Logistics, proposals focused on the existing structure of Indian military mobilization and mobilization procedures industries. It also has raised a possible interest in Brazilian Indian naval cruise missile Brahmos. The Indian Air Force has some ERJ-145 as a VIP aircraft, plus 3 E-99.

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Back to bottling my Grenache
 

aksha

Captain
Light Combat Helicopter clears critical hot weather trials

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engaluru, June 26: Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) on Friday said that its home-grown Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) completed hot weather trials. The one-week long trials were held at Jodhpur measuring a series of parameters. HAL Chairman T Suvarna Raju told OneIndia that the trials were crucial as the programme is inching towards Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) phase. Interestingly, during the tests, expert pilots from the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army were present. Representatives of certification teams were also present

"The test flights were carried out in the temperature range of 39 to 42 degree Celsius," says Raju. HAL says the third technology demonstrator (TD-3) of LCH, 3 was ferried from Bengaluru to Jodhpur for the trials. Following are some of the key features tested during the trials:


* Temperature survey of engine bay * Temperature survey of hydraulic system * Assessment of performance of helicopter * Verifying the handling qualities and loads at different AUWs (all up weights) * Checking low-speed handling capabilities * Capturing the height-velocity diagram establishment As reported by OneIndia earlier, the LCH had completed cold weather flight testing at Leh in February this year. The chopper was HAL's star attraction during Aero India 2015. HAL claims that the chopper would receive its IOC by end of this year and subsequently enter series production. HAL has also set aside Rs 126 crore for the fourth sibling of LCH (TD-4) to propel the testing phase.

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Jeff Head

General
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Naval Today said:
After being stuck for almost a decade at Hindustan Shipyard (HSL) in Visakhapatnam, Indian Navy’s submarine INS Sindhukirti started its final trials on Friday, June 26.

INS Sindhukirti, the Navy’s seventh Sindhughosh class diesel electric submarine, received new weapons, sonars, and fire control systems during its modernization programme.

The vessel, which was commissioned in January 1990, should join the Navy’s fleet in July.

The total cost of the modernization works was around $110m.

In essence, this Kilo sub that was commissioned by India in 1990, spent about 16 years in service before going in for refit in June 2006. The refit, which was a fairly major modernization, was only supposed to take three years.

But due to numerous delays of all sorts, the sub was "in refit" for nine years. Now, that is complete and she is going into service and will be able to, in essence, replace the INS Sindhurakshak which was lost to fire and sank in 2013 at dock.
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
another picture of the vikrant

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New Zealand Navy Chief(CNNZ) Rear Admiral Jack Steer on a visit to Southern Naval Command, Kochi.(Source: MoD)
"Look a mermaid", "are you sure, I think that is my Ex-Wife in Scuba gear setting a charge under my cabin"???

"Cap'n Jack Steer of the Black Pearl", now "wheres the BEEF?"
sorry Aksha, that is one of those pictures that just beg a really stupid caption, especially with the Cap'n pointing like that, and the other gent with that LOOK?
 

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
Indian Army scraps the world's largest assault rifle tender
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Published: 16:08 EST, 30 June 2015 | Updated: 19:44 EST, 30 June 2015

In a setback to the Indian soldier's quest for a reliable assault rifle, the Army has scrapped a four-year-old tender for purchasing 1.8 lakh weapons.

In a June 15 letter to the four short-listed international firms, the Army said it was retracting the Rs 4,848-crore contract.

In 2011, the Army floated a contract to supply Multi-Caliber Assault Rifles (MCAR) for the Army and the Navy to replace the existing INSAS rifles.

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The Army has scrapped a mammoth tender to replace INSAS rifles

An initial 65,678 assault rifles and 4,680 under barrel grenade launchers were to be procured off the shelf for Rs 2,500 crore.

With over 1 lakh more rifles to be built by the Ordnance Factory Board through technology transfer, it was the world's largest such rifle contract.

The scrapping of the seven-year quest is a setback to the Army's modernisation plans.

Army chief general Dalbir Singh had, in January this year, identified assault rifles as one of 20 'critical requirements' including bulletproof jackets and artillery guns for the Army.

The Army cannot blame anyone but itself. The rifle quest began with the Army's unhappiness with the indigenous 5.56 mm INSAS assault rifle which entered service in the late 1990s.

But the solution to the INSAS's quality issues was to ask for a weapon so expensive with specifications so outlandish that it raised questions on the Army's competence in framing General Staff Qualitative Requirements.

The Army wanted a rifle with interchangeable barrels firing different calibers, the 5.56 mm INSAS round and the 7.62 mm AK-47 round.

The requirement originated in the present practice of soldiers in counterinsurgency operations using AK-47s and switching over to INSAS rifles in peace stations.

Army officials say the specifications were deeply flawed. Five international firms — Beretta of Italy, Israeli Weapons Industries (IWI), Colt Defense of the US, Ceska Zbplojovka of Czech Republic — were shortlisted.

All the weapons they presented for the trials were prototypes, meaning, none of them were actually in service with their respective armies.

The contract appeared doomed right at the start in 2012 when the Army first delayed the technical evaluation of the rifles. Companies then began asking for extensions for sample submission. As of 2015, no trials of the competing weapons were conducted.

A whiff of corruption accompanied the contract. It was speculated that the GSQRs were tailor-made by Army brass to favour one of the vendors.

Another concern the Army had was cost. At over Rs 2 lakh a piece, each multi-caliber assault rifle with a conversion kit cost twice the price of a regular imported assault rifle and six times the cost of a Rs 35,000 OFB-made INSAS rifle.

A General called the MCAR contract the equivalent of equipping a mass transport taxi service with Mercedes S-class saloons.

Major General Mrinal Suman (retired) says the failure of the rifle contract shows the Army's deeply flawed system of framing GSQRs.

'Just because you drive a car for 20 years does not give you the capability to design one. Acquisition staff are neither trained nor equipped to select weapons,' he says.

Experts say it will now take the Army at least five years to acquire rifles. The infantryman's wait continues.

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aksha

Captain
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The advanced trials of Pinaka I, a complete multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) system, were successfully carried out for the 'submunition warheads' here at Pokhran field firing range in Rajasthan on Monday.

Pinaka has been indigenously developed by the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune, a laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Dr KM Rajan, director, ARDE, told TOI that the success of the latest trials has paved the way for these submunition warheads to be used in mark-II version of Pinaka as well which is going to have a 20-km longer range.


Claiming that the development trials for a 60-km range for Pinaka II have been termed successful by the users (Indian Army), Dr Rajan said that the current trials are a part of the 'proof trials' for the 'production lot of Pinaka I' wherein random Pinakas are picked up to test the performance standards of a specific lot at regular periods. "Complete systems, subsystems and efficiency for these submunition warheads have been tested today," said he.

Senior DRDO officials said on the condition of anonymity that while Pinaka II has been tested for ranges beyond 60 kilometres as well, the DRDO is just claiming '60-kilometre-range' both for consistency and 'playing it safe' reasons.

The DRDO officials disclosed that not only the volume of Pinaka rockets is being increased in the production lines to cater to the army's needs, even their strike capability in terms of a longer range is being increased.

The indigenous Pinaka MBRL can act as a force-multiplier. It is known as an area weapon system which can fire a salvo of 12 high explosive (HE) rockets in 44 seconds while neutralising a marked area of 3.9 square kilometres.

"We have seen Pinaka's performance during the Kargil episode. And now this thermo-baric ammunition is able to operate from a mobile launcher at extreme temperature ranges of -10 degrees Celsius to 55 degrees Celsius with a quicker reaction time. It also has the capability to carry various kinds of warheads. It has now become more lethal," said the official, adding that its thermal and blast effects have been developed for MBT Arjun to further boost its firepower. The ARDE and DRDO officials were also present with the Indian Army officials during these trials at Pokhran.


MBRLsystem can fire in different directions in one go

Jodhpur: The state-of-the-art Pinaka MBRL system is endowed with a capacity to fire in different directions and can work in various modes including autonomous mode while being controlled by a fire control computer, standalone mode, manual mode or remote mode etc. Taking pride in the low-cost factor of Pinaka vis-a-vis other such rocket systems in the world bestowed with shoot and scoot capabilities, DRDO officials disclosed that a Pinaka battery consists of six launchers and each is equipped with 12 rockets. It can carry more than 100 kg of payload for a 40 km range as in case of Pinaka I. The Pinaka went into development in 1986 and production in 1998. The system mounted on a Tatra truck works in a way that all the 72 rockets in a single battery can be fired in just 44 seconds while each of the six launchers can fire in different directions too.


A kind of warhead for Pinaka

Jodhpur: The submunition warheads tested on Monday are among the eight kinds of warheads for Pinaka. The submunition incendiary warheads are valuable for inflammable targets while there are cluster warheads armed with anti-personnel and anti-tank submunitions. Runway denial penetrating submunition warheads are aimed at neutralising targets like runways and other complexes.
 
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