quadbikeRussia to modernize fifth Indian submarine
A fifth Indian Kilo class diesel-electric submarine has arrived to Russia’s Zvezdochka shipyard for an overhaul under a recent contract, the shipyard company said on Thursday.
Russia has built ten Kilo class submarines for India and has already overhauled four of them at the Zvezdochka shipyard in the north of the country.
INS Sindhurakshak is being upgraded under a direct contract between the Zvezdochka shipyard and the Indian defense ministry, signed on June 4, 2010.
The upgrade program includes a complete overhaul of the submarine, including its hull structures, as well as improved control systems, a sonar, electronic warfare systems, and an integrated weapon control system. The upgrade is reported to cost around $80 million.Russia’s Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines are well-known for being extremely quiet boats, and have been purchased by China, India, Iran, Poland, Romania and Algeria.
quadbikeISRO planning to send astronauts to space before 2015-16
CHANDIGARH: The Indian Space Research Organization is planning to send astronauts to space before the year 2015-16, deputy project director of ISRO’s Chandrayaan Mission Jaswinder Singh Khoral said in Chandigarh on Thursday.
Khoral was addressing the students at the Haryana Space Science Congress Programme at Faridabad today which was organized by Space Applications Centre, Hisar on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Dr Vikaram Sarabhai, the father of Indian Space Programme.
About 800 students from 40 schools participated in the day-long programme aimed at sensitizing the students about developing a career in the field of science.
Khoral said ISRO was also working to send an unmanned lunar mission Chandrayaan-II in 2012-13, an official release quoting him said.
He said that India is in the select league of six nations which have sent their satellites to the moon.
He also informed the students about different details regarding the successful launch of Chandrayaan-I by ISRO.
Director, Haryana Science and Technology Department Sandeep Garg said the State Government has launched the Haryana Science Talent Hunt Scheme for students of class 9th to 12th to promote science among the students.
ISRO’s senior scientist Dr P K Champati Ray said that India is one of the leading countries in space technology in the world, having the capability of fabricating and launching its own satellites with indigenous launching vehicles.
He said India had successfully launched 17 remote sensing satellites and 24 geostationary satellites since 1975.
Elaborating on the strength of Indian Space Programme, he said the recently launched Cartosat-2b Remote Sensing Satellite has less than one metre resolution, which is capable of identifying the objects smaller than one metre and would be highly useful for urban and infrastructure planning.
quadbikeDelhi school boys discover new asteroid
NEW DELHI: Wonders never cease to exist. Two Delhi students have discovered a new asteroid as part of a unique astronomy project connected to the USspace agency NASA.
Amanjot Singh and Sahil Wadhwa, both Class 12 students of Ryan International School, discovered a main belt asteroid (2010 PO24) on Aug 6 as part of the All India Asteroid Search Campaign (AIASC).
Asteroids are very small planet-like objects that generally go around the sun in orbits located between Mars and Jupiter. Sometimes these are nudged by gravitational forces out of their orbits and can come into contact with Earth.
“I am really excited about it,” Sahil, who wants to pursue a career in astronomy, told IANS.
“Our task was to sift through the data and analyse it. Every day we used to send our findings to scientists in NASA and they used to tell us if we were successful in discovering an asteroid, a near earth object or a second time confirmation of the asteroid.”
The campaign conducted between May 17 and June 30 and from July 1 to Aug 13, was introduced in India for the first time and about 30-45 schools were be involved in it. This year 11 countries on four continents participated in it.
Behind involving school students in the project was the Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) along with the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC), an international educational outreach programme.
The students went through exclusive data files of the sky provided by the IASC using astronomical data analysis software. The data files had images of the sky taken in the night with 24-inch and 32-inch telescopes at the Astronomical Research Institute (ARI) Observatory in the US.
Sahil and Amanjot are looking forward to naming the asteroid discovered by them, though the process will take almost six years as per the international rule.
Three other students from Navrachana School in Vadodara, Gujarat, have made a Virtual Impactor Observation (VIO) discovery of a Near Earth Object (NEO) discovered during the same programe July 19.
An NEO is an object in the solar system whose orbit brings it in close proximity to Earth. A VIO is carried out to determine whether the NEO is likely to hit the Earth or not.
When NEOs are first discovered, the impact risk with Earth is evaluated. If that risk is high enough, the NEO is placed on to the potentially hazardous asteroid list maintained by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“The observation made by students has led to NEO being officially removed from the list. This is a very rare and important observation,” C.B. Devgun, SPACE director said.
Devgun said asteroids larger than about 50 metres could be expected to reach the Earth’s surface at an interval of about 100 years, causing local disasters.
“These collisions are unlikely, but programmes such as NEO at NASA precisely track these objects as, if predicted in advance to be in a trajectory that collides with Earth, warnings can be generated and methods to avert them can be sought,” he said.
quadbikeOnus On HAL To Speed Up Su-30 MKI Production
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) will have to step up Su-30MKI production at its Nasik facility following the announcement for 42 more fighters being ordered from Russia.
“The ball is now in HAL’s court and it needs to speed-up the delivery of the current order so as to take the additional load,” a senior Indian Air Force (IAF) official told AVIATION WEEK. HAL has been told to complete the ongoing Su-30MKI blocks (under the compressed schedule) by 2015 at all costs. “There are concerns expressed by us time and again and we are watching the progress at the other end,” the official said.
When asked to explain what the IAF “concerns” were, the official declined to elaborate.
Sources in HAL said that the overall production rate of Su-30MKI during the current financial year is falling far behind expectations.
The IAF already have inducted more than 110 Sukhois (out of original 230 aircraft) and the additional 42 would take the total strength to 272 (Aerospace DAILY, Aug. 11). The IAF fleet has been steadily declining the last few years. It is operating with 32 fighter squadrons, short of the approved 39.5, and fleet strength could dip to 27 by 2017.
Indian defense minister A.K. Antony told the Indian Parliament that the Su-30MKIs would be delivered to the IAF during 2014-2018. The IAF currently operates five Su-30 squadrons, with three in Pune and two in Bareilly. Two more squadrons are likely to come up in Halwara (Punjab), Jodhpur (Rajasthan) and Tezpur, Chabua (Assam). The fighter will soon carry a version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.
The Sukhois are built under license at HAL’s five Divisions (Nasik, Koraput, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Korwa) and are later assembled, integrated, test-flown and delivered from Nasik. Fifty Sukhois initially came directly from Russia between 2002 and 2005. All of these divisions will be participating in the raw material phase of manufacturing the new Sukhois.
quadbikeTejas to guard South skies soon
While the first squadron of 20 fighters – already contracted by the IAF to Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd – will be stationed in Sulur in Coimbatore, the second squadron may be stationed at Kayathar in Tuticorin, where a new airbase is getting ready, sources told Deccan Herald.
The IAF has agreed to buy one more squadron of LCA mark-1, the contract for which is being processed at the IAF headquarters. The first squadron is expected to receive initial operation clearance by December.
While Sulur is being gradually converted a major base, the IAF has taken a decision to revive Kayathar––a World War II air field––in a big way.
“We plan to have a big presence in the South, which will also help the Navy to be a truly blue water navy for which air cover is essential,” said a senior IAF official. Also the IAF is in dialogue with the Airports Authority of India for getting defence enclaves near civilian airfields in the south.
Recently, the IAF has revived WW II bases close to China border in J&K like Daulat Beig Oldie, ****che and Nyoma for transport operation. In the North East, work is underway to revive six advanced landing grounds in Arunachal Pradesh – Pasighat, Machuka, Walong, Tuting, Ziro and Vijaynagar.
Revival of the ALGs in the northern and eastern sector of the Sino-Indian border is expected to aid India in mobilising troops closer to the border on both flanks, as and when required.
However, so far there were not much of fighter operations in the south, where the focus was on training and maintenance. That is set to change with the IAF setting up bases and the defence forces installing radars along the coast to plug the surveillance gaps.
The IAF will increase its activities in under-utilised bases like Charbatia (Orissa) and Ojhar (Maharashtra). A base in Chhattishagrh is also likely as Steel Authority of India favours handing its Nandini-Durg airfield to the IAF.
The air force is upgrading its 30 air fields in the next three years beginning with Bhatinda. The lighting, instrument landing system and navigational aids will be upgraded.
The IAF is expanding its wings by stationing Su-30 fighters in more stations like Tezpur, Chabua, Halwara and Jamnagar. Su-30 fighters are currently in Pune and Bareilly.
By 2022, the IAF aims to have its sanctioned 42 squadrons comprising Su-30, Tejas, the upcoming 126 medium multi role combat aircraft, medium combat aircraft—a mark II version of Tejas with an improved engine—and Indo-Russian fifth generation fighter.
quadbikeIAF to construct washed bridges in Leh
The Indian Air Force on Saturday commenced airlifting raw materials from the Pathankot air base for constructing bridges in Leh district affected by devastating floods following cloudburst. “IAF’s IL-76 transport aircraft started airlifting raw materials for repair of the damaged bridges,” a defence spokesman said in Jammu.
Around 13 bridges were washed away during the flash floods.
Nearly 25 tonnes of raw materials per bridge are being airlifted by the IAF transport plane, the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, relief and rescue operations by the army continued in the Ladakh region. Army and Border Road Organisation personnel opened the nearly 460 km Leh-Manali road for traffic on Thursday.
The Leh-Srinagar highway via Zojilla Pass was thrown open to traffic yesterday after construction of seven bridges between Leh and Khalsi, the spokesman said.
quadbikeThe report is wrong. No one really knows the actual figure and the new aircrafts are upgraded ones.
http://www.domain-b.com/aero/mil_avi/mil_aircraft/20100626_fighters.html
Over a month ago the figure was Rs. 15000 Crore
quadbikeI was just pointing out what you claimed was wrong. And yes Pakistan does need an airforce of 400 fighters.
quadbikeI know but what you said was.
Wrong. Israel actually dominates every single country that neighbours it by a massive margin.
quadbikeActually I doubt the figures are right. There were earlier reports quoting much lower figures. And these are Block III with radar and avionic upgrades, the deal may also include the upgrade of the first batch of MKIs to latest standards.
quadbikeIAF Foresees Delays In Indo-Russian 5th Gen Fighter
A senior officer of the Indian Air Force has said that India foresees “substantial delays” in the Indo-Russian Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) programme, with slippages that could run into a year or more for inductions into Indian service. The Indian Air Force plans to contract for 50 single-seat (prototype designated T-50) fighters and 200-250 twin-seat variants — the latter will be built with Indian financial and technological involvement. More details soon.
quadbikeIAF Foresees Delays In Indo-Russian 5th Gen Fighter
A senior officer of the Indian Air Force has said that India foresees “substantial delays” in the Indo-Russian Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) programme, with slippages that could run into a year or more for inductions into Indian service. The Indian Air Force plans to contract for 50 single-seat (prototype designated T-50) fighters and 200-250 twin-seat variants — the latter will be built with Indian financial and technological involvement. More details soon.
quadbikeWrong. Israel actually dominates every single country that neighbours it by a massive margin. Even the Israelis will be proud to tell you that.
The Saudis will give Israelis a good run for their money. What gives Israel an edge now are nukes.
quadbikeAmericans really do have some superiority when it comes to Avionics don’t they. That radar in F 16 is many years old now.
I missed the forum when it was down. Please don’t go down again 🙁
quadbikeShould be decent at A2A too. APG 80 + C7/D AMRAAM. JHMCS+AIM9x
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