quadbikeThat might be in 6-7 years from now!!!!!
The way Obama is going I doubt it.
quadbikeThat is not the point. I agree they can, but it would be a massive pain and cost more then just getting the aircraft already equipped with US stuff.
With the jamming, comms and special nav kit, the “Special Forces” C-130 loses the “Special” bit….
True that but i fully expect it to be signed, I think the current impasse is because India do not want to sign it without getting anything in return.
May be they will sign it during the next republican admin.
quadbikeIndia and France signed an upgrade deal to modernize Indian Mirage 2000H-THs to 2000-5 MK2 standars.
Its comprehensive
However, the French argue that the upgrade, which will give the aircraft new radar systems, a new weapon suite, missiles, electronic warfare system and modern electronic warfare, will convert the combat-proven aircraft into next-generation fighters.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/indiainksmiragedeal-francesaysnotopak/600042/
quadbikeI realise that. If, however you want to buy new kit from elsewhere and integrate it with a US aircraft it will take more time and more money.
Good luck with that……
C 130J will offer a lot even without those kit. What missing are some communication/encryption equipment and mil grade GPS. Can easily substitute with our own secure communication stuff and mil grade GLONASS(which India has access to)/ Normal GPS kit.
quadbikeI thought that the MTCR was there to make sure critical technology is not exported to countries that does not already have it; does this mean that India does not have medium range cruise missile technology?
As for the range of Taurus; I may be wrong but I would think that it should be not too difficult to limit the range if that’s a requirement. Also there is the RBS-15 which exist also in land-attack version.
India does not have it at the moment ! That is why even the Brahmos is limited to 290 Kms under 300 kms as per MTCR requirements.
There is the Nirbhay on the chalkboards, which has 800-1000 km range till that enters service I think there will be restrictions.
RBS-15 is not a stealthy platform like the Taurus/Storm Shadow are. It may be an excellent anti shipping platform but as a land attack missile it does not offer anything more than the Russian types in IAF inventory.
quadbikeOf course you can. Which will cost even more to buy and integrate.
May as well as just get gold plated C-130s….
:rolleyes: if they are not integrating it they cannot charge for it in the first place.
quadbikeEven the IAF do not for see the PAK FA entering service before the 20s. The Taurus big range means it will not be available for export to India under MTCR. This leaves the Gripen with bit of a handicap wrt to Stand off capability, with both the other Euro Canards have with range limited Storm Shadows (Black Shaheen types).
The biggest problem for the Rafale is its cost and the lack of enthusiasm shown by Dassault. Compare it to SAAB who are running an excellent PR campaign. May be Dassault knows how the Indian MoD works and are working behind the scenes.
Arthuro any idea how much 126 Rafales would cost ?
quadbikeLooks like a waste of money….
Not at all we can always install 3rd party kit. 🙂 And India will sign the agreements anyway in future…Just a matter of time. :diablo:
quadbikeOriginally posted by Craig Alpert in BR.
quadbikeAir force gets US planes minus security net
New Delhi, Aug. 2: The Indian Air Force has contracted six aircraft for the special forces for $1 billion without military-grade secure equipment because Washington denied the technology after New Delhi refused to sign a communications secrecy pact.
The air force is now in the process of contracting another 10 very heavy strategic airlifters under the same technology-denial regime for an estimated $3 billion.
India contracted six C-130J Super Hercules in 2007 and the first of these aircraft is likely to be delivered by January 2010 ahead of schedule by its maker, Lockheed Martin, under a government-to-government foreign military sales programme.
One of the scenarios in which the Hercules (“Hercs” for short) is to be used involves inserting special airborne troops (paratroopers) by flying into hostile territory where an adversary can try to intercept and/or jam electronic communication.
“We are aware that some of the equipment we desire may not be available. But it is up to us to use the platform the way we want to with modifications once we have it,” a senior air force officer told The Telegraph.
A US defence official told this newspaper “anything that requires encryption, which includes military-grade global positioning systems (GPS)” will not be mounted on the C-130J or the C-17 Globemaster III (made by Boeing) because India has not yet signed the Communications Inter-Operability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA).
The CISMOA was proposed by the Pentagon to the Indian defence ministry in 2006. A standard text for another crucial agreement, the End-User Monitoring Arrangement, was agreed last year after more than three years of negotiations.
A secure GPS is indispensable for mobile military platforms that are designed to track targets in all-weather and all-time circumstances.
“The military GPS system is encrypted and thus not available without a communications agreement,” the US defence official said. He claimed that “US military equipment is designed utilising the best systems available, such as military-grade GPS, which is more accurate and less likely to be spoofed (intercepted) than civilian GPS”.
Asked if there was any way India could access the equipment without signing the CISMOA, he replied “there is no way around this”. He said the CISMOA would apply to the proposed sale of the C-17 also. Trials for the aircraft were completed last month and the Indian Air Force has decided to buy it.
The four-engine turbo-prop Hercs — a workhorse for the US military — is a “tactical airlifter” with a payload capacity of 20 tonnes or about 120 fully-equipped airborne troops capable of landing on dirt strips and with short take-off and landing capability.
The giant C-17 jet is also rugged but capable of flying much longer distances with much heavier payloads. The Indian Air Force has projected a dire need for these two different classes of aircraft because its Russian/Soviet-origin aircraft are outdated.
The air force is set to order six more Hercs in addition to the six already contracted. The Coast Guard and the Border Security Force are also in line to acquire two Hercs each.
The Hercs are to be based at Hindon, just east of Delhi, where the Indian Air Force base is being refurbished. The Hercs for India have been modified for special missions and are equipped with an infrared detection set for low-level flying in adverse conditions.
Although the communications systems would not have the desired level of security for the Indian Air Force, an official said that India was getting the Hercs with the configuration it wants. They will have self-protection and mid-air refuelling ability. The Hercs is in service in 10 countries.
quadbikeIAF gives nod for HPT-32 revival
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has decided to revive its fleet of HPT-32 trainer aircraft, which were grounded following a fatal air crash last year, the Lok Sabha was informed today.
“IAF has decided to revive HPT-32 trainer aircraft which was grounded following a fatal accident last year with critical modifications by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited,” Defence Minister A K Antony said in a written reply.
After the grounding of the over 100 ‘Deepak’ basic trainer aircraft, the IAF is using its Kiran Mk 1 (HJT-16) aircraft for basic and intermediate flying training.
Basic trainer aircraft are used by air forces to train and prepare their rookie pilots for flying bigger aircraft, including fighter and transport aircraft.
The force has also issued a global tender for procuring 75 basic trainer aircraft from foreign vendors and the HAL will also develop indigenous basic trainers to fulfil IAF’s requirement.
quadbikeSpy in the sky: India begins hunt for mini ‘killer’ drones
NEW DELHI: After launching the hunt for combat drones, the Indian armed forces are now looking to induct micro and mini UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) for snooping missions. Plans are even afoot to induct small UAVs which can perform “a killer role”.
The IAF, for instance, has now issued an RFI (request for information) to armament companies for micro UAVs with an “operational endurance in excess of 30 minutes” but weighing less than two kg to ensure they can even be operated by a single person.
IAF wants these micro drones, with fuel or battery operated engines and latest avionics, to be capable of being “hand-launched” or with “vertical take-off and landing” capabilities. As per specifications, they should be equipped with CCD (charged-coupled device) cameras and FLIR (forward-looking infra-red) payloads.
This comes even as the 1.13-million Army is on course to induct slightly bigger mini and micro spy drones in a major way for short-range surveillance and intelligence-gathering missions as well as detection of NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) contaminants in the battlefield.
The force wants some of these man-portable spy drones to be capable of even hitting small but high-value enemy targets with explosives in a Kamikaze fashion. This is in keeping with Army’s plan to induct such UAVs in phases right down to the battalion-level by the end of the 12th Plan (2012-2017).
Being stealthy because of their small size, these drones will also be used to equip Army’s Para (Special Forces) battalions for covert missions beyond enemy lines, counter-terrorism operations and `beyond-the-hill’ surveillance.
This comes soon after IAF issued a global RFI to armament giants worldwide for procurement of combat drones or UCAVs (unmanned combat aerial vehicles), with precision weapons and satellite data links, drawing lessons from the deadly use of American `Predators’ and `Reapers’ against the Taliban in the Af-Pak region, as earlier reported by TOI.
Since the 1999 Kargil conflict, India has inducted over 100 Israeli UAVs and uses them in surveillance and precision-targeting roles. The armed forces also have some “killer” drones like Israeli Harpy UAVs, while more advanced ones like Harop have also being ordered. But UCAVs are a generation ahead since like fighter jets they come back to their bases to re-arm themselves with more missiles for the next mission.
* Drones are major force-multipliers since they can snoop with their sensors and cameras, as also send back real-time imagery to direct precision fire at enemy locations. Some even act as missiles to hit high-value targets
* Drone technology is moving towards combat UAVs (like American Predators and Reapers armed with Hellfire missiles) as well as mini ones
* Mini UAVs can evade enemy radars, are easy to handle and can be launched without runways. Some are so small that they can fit inside the palm of a hand
* Some mini UAVs even have sensors to detect IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and move ahead of a convoy of soldiers on surveillance missions
quadbikeDRDO’s next: Star Wars-like weapons
NEW DELHI: Move aside Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, DRDO is trying to develop its own set of Star Wars-like weapons. From laser dazzlers to control rioting crowds to high-powered lasers to destroy incoming missiles, DRDO is working on a slew of directed energy weapons (DEWs).
“Lasers are weapons of the future. We can, for instance, use laser beams to shoot down an enemy missile in its boost or terminal phase,” said DRDO’s Laser Science & Technology Centre (LASTEC) director Anil Kumar Maini, talking to TOI on Monday.
Incidentally, DRDO chief V K Saraswat himself has identified DEWs, along with space security, cyber-security and hypersonic vehicles, as focus areas in the years ahead. “LASTEC has the mandate to develop DEWs for armed forces,” said DRDO’s chief controller (electronics & computer sciences) R Sreehari Rao.
While conventional weapons use kinetic or chemical energy of missiles or other projectiles to destroy targets, DEWs decimate them by bombarding with subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves at the speed of sound. Apart from the speed-of-light delivery, laser DEWs cause minimal collateral damage.
DRDO, of course, often promises much more than it can deliver. But even the defence ministry’s recent “technology perspective and capability roadmap” identifies DEWs and ASAT (anti-satellite) weapons as thrust areas over the next 15 years, as was first reported by TOI.
The aim is to develop laser-based weapons, deployed on airborne as well as seaborne platforms, which can intercept missiles soon after they are launched towards India in the boost phase itself. These will be part of the fledgling ballistic missile defence system being currently developed by DRDO.
The US, incidentally, is already conducting tests of high-powered laser weapons on a modified 747 jumbo jet, the ALTB (airborne laser testbed), which direct lethal amounts of directed energy to destroy ballistic missiles during their boost phase.
It will, of course, take India several years to even conduct such tests. For now, LASTEC is developing “a 25-kilowatt” laser system to hit a missile during its terminal phase at a distance of 5-7 km. “All you need is to heat the missile skin to 200-300 degree and the warhead inside will detonate,” said Maini.
LASTEC is also working on a vehicle-mounted “gas dynamic laser-based DEW system”, under project Aditya, which should be ready in three years. “But Aditya is just a technology demonstrator to prove beam control technology. Ultimately, we have to develop solid-state lasers,” said Maini.
Even countries like US have now shifted their focus to the more efficient, smaller and lighter solid-state laser DEWs since chemical (dye and gas) lasers are dogged by size, weight and logistical problems.
LASER POWER
Non-Lethal systems:
— Hand-held laser dazzler to disorient adversaries, without collateral damage. 50-metre range. Status: Ready.
— Crowd-control dazzlers mounted on vehicles to dispel rioting mobs. 250-metre range. Status: take 2 years more.
— Laser-based ordnance disposal system, which can be used to neutralise IEDs and other explosives from a distance. Status: trials begin in 18 months.
Lethal Systems:
— Air defence dazzlers to take on enemy aircraft and helicopters. 10-km range. Status: take 2 years more.
— 25-kilowatt laser systems to destroy missiles during their terminal phase. 5 to 7-km range. Status: take five years more.
— At least 100-kilowatt solid-state laser systems, mounted on aircraft and ships, to destroy missiles in their boost phase itself. Status: will take a decade.
quadbikeThat incident is a bit complicated, The soviets claim they shot down the F 16, Pakistanis say it was fratricide with another F 16 involved.
quadbikePeople are going to miss the MRCA saga once its over. Its like a sitcom thats been running for a while that you are really bored of it, but when the channel pulls it plugs you miss it !
Its not long now 😀 one more season….
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