quadbikeIndia, US to enhance sub rescue measures
NEW DELHI: Away from the glamour of the forthcoming Malabar naval wargames and battling terrorism-piracy on the high seas, India and US are now on course to enhance measures to rescue Indian sailors if they get trapped deep underwater in a disabled submarine.
Even as the US chief of naval operations Admiral Gary Roughead is slated to hold talks with defence minister A K Antony, Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma and other top military brass next week, India is looking to extend the scope of US Navy’s “global submarine rescue fly-away kit service” for its requirements.
When India had first inked the contract for the rescue service in 1997, with an initial payment of $734,443, it was meant to be more of an interim measure till Navy acquired DSRVs (deep submergence rescue vessels) of its own.
A DSRV or ‘mini submarine’ can, after all, rescue 24 sailors at a time from a depth of around 600 metres after ‘mating’ with the hatch of the stricken submarine, equipped as it is with pressurised chambers, sonars, cameras and other advanced facilities.
But, 13 years later, Navy is still far away from getting something as basic and critical as DSRVs, despite the country spending big bucks on importing military hardware and software.
Indian sailors do have submarine-escape pressurised suits, as also diving support ships like INS Nireekshak, but they can only be used for relatively shallow depths. Consequently, as CAG reports have lamented, India continues to remain dependent on ‘a foreign source’ (US navy) for robust rescue facilities.
Under the agreement with US, the American navy is supposed to fly either a DSRV or a ‘submarine rescue chamber’ to an Indian port or airport nearest to the mishap site within 72 hours. Sources said discussions during Admiral Roughead’s visit will, of course, also focus on the Malabar wargames, to be
held on the western seaboard off Goa with Indian and American warships and submarines from April 22 to May 2, and ways to further bolster ‘interoperability’ between the two navies.
quadbikeNo Russian involvement in developing of cryogenic engine: ISRO
Indian Space Research Organisation on Wednesday said there was no Russian involvement in the design and production of cryogenic engine that is developed by New Delhi indigenously and declared that it’s a befitting reply to the technology denial regimes.
ndia is set to test the home-grown cryogenic stage and technology — developed after 18 years of research — in its rocket, GSLV, on April 15 from the Sriharikota spaceport.
Asked at a press conference here if Russians were involved in the development of cryogenic technology, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said India certainly learnt a lot working with Moscow and it was a “good learning experience”.
But he asserted: “The (cryogenic) engine is designed by our own engineers, our own industry fabricated it, tested…”. He added: “It’s Indian. You should be proud of it”.
ISRO officials recalled that the US exerted pressure on Russia not to provide cryogenic technology and India took a bold decision in 1992 to develop it indigenously.Of the seven engines supplied by Russia earlier, ISRO has used five. Radhakrishnan said India developing this complex technology is a “befitting reply” to technology denial regimes.
“About Rs 335 crore is the amount used for the development (of indigenous cryogenic engine and stage),” Radhakrishnan said.The Rs 175-crore GSLV-D3 would carry the Rs 150-crore, 2220 kg GSAT-4 experimental communications satellite in the proposed mission on April 15. The ISRO chairman said the PSLV mission, which would launch Cartosat-2B, an Algerian satellite, two Canadian nano-satellite, and Studsat developed by Indian students, is slated in the first half of May.
quadbikeIndia to train 100 Sri Lankan naval officers
One hundred officers of the Sri Lankan Navy will be trained on an Indian Navy ship to strengthen the bilateral defence ties between the two countries, an officer said Friday.
‘The student officers would be given exposure to various activities on board, including seamanship, bridgemanship, damage control and fire fighting exercises during their stay,’ the navy officer said.
The training would be conducted on the tank landing ship INS Magar and the student officers would embark on the ship at Trincomalee in eastern Sri Lanka on Monday.
quadbikeUS arm twisting tactics prodded ISRO
BENGALURU: Space scientists have cocked a snook at “big brother” US by developing cryogenic technology which it tried to prevent Indian Space Research Organisation from importing from Russia.
Undeterred by a US ban in 1992, a team of scientists led by then Chairman U.R.Rao embarked on a plan to develop the technology indigenously.
After 17 years of relentless effort, ISRO is on the verge of launching its first rocket powered by home grown cryogenic engine
“We have done it” is Rao’s response, hailing the ISRO team for overcoming hurdles in developing the technology
Most of the work on cryogenic engine was done at Isro’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu.
The Geo stationary launch vehicle will be fired into orbit from Sriharikota launch pad on April 15. If it is successfully launched, India will join an elite club comprising US.Russia, France , Japan and China which has cryogenic technology.
“It’s Indian. You should be proud of it” exclaimed ISRO’s Chairman K.Radhakrishnan, who had played a key role in the successful launch of ISRO’s first unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-I.
“The (cryogenic) engine is designed by our own engineers; our own industry fabricated it and tested it” said Radhakrishnan.
What got Isro’s goat was the manner in which America arm-twisted Russia to go back on a deal with India to supply cryogenic engines.
Despite ISRO’s assurance that its programmes were civilian related, the US applied pressure, forcing the Russian company Glavkosmos to cancel the deal.
United States alleged that the sale of cryogenic engines violated the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) guidelines since cryogenic technology could be used to propel missiles.
Immediately after deal went sour, Rao hit out at the US, saying India will not cowed down by such tactics.
Rao called the US action ” uncalled for” and indicated that the US did not want India to enter the multibilllion dollar global satellite launch market.
India can launch heavy communication satellites using cryogenic engines at thirty per cent less than the US.
Cryogenic technology will help launch two tonne satellites usiing GSLV rockets with a greater deal of efficiency.
The development programme of GSLV, considered a major challenge for Isro ,
had been hit by US sanctions. An embargo was first imposed in 1992. followed by a second ban after India’s nuclear tests in 1998.
quadbikeWell you have to understand the context I was referring to. My point was that with the MKI, MMRCA and LCA programs, plus the upgrades for the Mirage 2000, MiG-29 and now DARIN-3 for the Jaguars, the IAF may end up with only limited life extension and upgrades for its non Upgraded remaining 3 squadrons. The more drastic OEM assisted zero hour refurbishment and engine upgrades may not happen..
I know i was just joking. What will happen to the upgraded MIG 27s are they in for an engine upgrade ?
quadbikeLooks like Teer is right about MIG 27s going early
Mumbai to get its very own MiG 27 fighter plane
MUMBAI: The MiG-27 may be mired in controversy with the Indian Air Force’s decision to ground its fleet of the Russian fighters earlier this year, but the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) may have a novel use for the plane. The IAF central command in Delhi donated an airframe of one of its MiGs to the municipal body with a request that it be installed at the Horniman Circle Gardens, Fort.
The glitch, however, is the 12,081 sq yard of park space is a notified Grade Two heritage precinct and any such move would need a nod from the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC). The proposal will be tabled before the MHCC on Thursday for approval. But it will not be the first aircraft exhibit in Mumbai: Diamond Gardens, Chembur has a similar installation.
Meanwhile, the BMC has already started looking for alternatives. Several traffic islands in South Mumbai including Vasudev Balwant Phadke Marg and Shyam Prasad Mukherji Chowk are the top contenders.
“The heavy green cover at Horniman may hinder a person’s view of the plane. So, we have kept two other options ready if the original location does not get a nod from the MHCC,’’ said a senior BMC official.
The IAF grounded its fleet after a MiG crashed in Siliguri, West Bengal in February this year, but the donation of this airframe—constructed mostly of titanium and high-strength aluminium alloys—is being given away as part of IAF’s regular image-building exercise, said officials. The length of a regular MIG-27 frame is 56ft length, and it stands 16ft tall.
“This particular aircraft may have been decommissioned because of its old age. But instead of simply disposing of it, we have donated it as an exhibit. It could be a good tourist attraction for Mumbai,’’ said Captain Manohar Nambiar, Chief PRO, Defence (Western Region).The custom of donating reputed carriers, aircraft and tanks has become a part of city’s beautification efforts. The state government is now thinking of turning INS Vikrant, the first aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy that was decommissioned on January 31, 1997, into a museum. The ship played a key role in the Indo-Pak war in 1997 :eek::rolleyes:.
quadbikeNow that Singapore got their new SGs IAF can look forward to some DACT with MKIs and see how they compare.
quadbikeIf Greece wants fighters, why not give them some instead of some aid ? If they are going to spend money on fighters anyways ?
quadbikeAgreed. IAF may well feel all its bases can survive a Chinese atack.
Obviouly PAF is taking nothing for granted.
Obviously IAF do not, but for the moment its war Plans are basically centered around Pakistan, it is slowly changing however (activating airfields in NE, placing Su 30s there etc.)
quadbikeIts usually the country that fears about getting overwhelmed quickly by a larger enemy which practices flights from motorways, quick turn arounds etc. For Eg. Sweden against the Soviet Union. This is to a lesser degree similar in the India Pakistan context.
If India is ever going to do the same it would be with respect to the Chinese.
quadbikeChina’s ASAT programme threat to global space assets: India
India today slammed China’s anti-Satellite (ASAT) programme, terming it a threat to global space assets.
In 2007, Beijing successfully tested an anti-satellite (ASAT) vehicle, destroying an inactive weather satellite.Asked if China’s ASAT programme is a threat to Indian satellites, Secretary in the Department of Space, K Radhakrishnan said: “… the threat is not only for us, but for the entire world because it (China’s 2007 test) has created space debris”.
Noting that the Chinese test has resulted in 3000 particles (space debris), Radhakrishnan, also Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Space Commission, said: “So we have to be careful about their (space debris from the Chinese test) possible collision with our operational satellites”.
He said a group of ISRO scientists is coordinating with the international group on space debris, which observes and conducts analysis and continuously looks at managing Indian satellites — in terms of manoeuvres and navigation — for avoiding such possible collisions.
“Internationally, under the UN body, countries are encouraged not to undertake such activities (killing satellites in space and creating space debris”, Radhakrishnan said.
Radhakrishnan said space debris are also created when satellites are integrated on their own. “Such objects (debris) will be there in orbit”.
One can only try to avoid debris hitting satellites, he said, adding there is a talk of “scavenging” of debris from orbit. But this concept needs to evolve and “one has to see how one is going to do that,” he added
quadbikeIndia to launch heavy communications satellite April 15
BANGALORE: India will launch its heavy geostationary communication satellite April 15 using the indigenously built cryogenic engine and thus join the elite space club of five advanced countries, a top space scientist said Wednesday.
“In the world only five countries have the cryogenic engine upper stage technology to launch heavier satellites in the geostationary orbits. India is the sixth country to design and develop the technology on its own,” Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Radhakrishnan told reporters here.
The five advanced countries are the US, Russia, France, Japan and China.
When the US prevented Russia from transferring the cryogenic technology to India in 1992, ISRO embarked on a mission to design and develop the engine on its own.
“Technology denial has made us take up the challenge to develop our own cryogenic engine for launching heavier satellites in the higher orbits, about 36,000 km from the earth,” Radhakrishnan recalled.
India, however, imported seven cryogenic engines from Russia but used five of them to launch heavy satellites (above two-tonne class) in GSLV-Mark I and Mark-II rockets in the last decade.
The indigenous cryogenic engine will be flight tested for the first time in the upper stage of the third geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSVL-3), carrying the geostationary experimental satellite (GSAT-4) from the ISRO spaceport at Shriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
“The lift-off is scheduled April 15 at 16:27 IST. The rocket with the GSAT-4 satellite has been moved to the second launch pad earlier in the day. The formal countdown for the launch will begin 29 hours before April 14,” Radhakrishnan said.
The 2.2-tonne GSAT-4 will have one Ka-band regenerative transponder and a navigation payload will operate in C-band and L1 and L5 bands for global positioning system aided geo-augmented navigation (Gagan).
quadbikeISRO aims for the skies, targets space tourism
BANGALORE: Even as countries are vying to grab a share of the tourism pie, Isro is aiming at the skies, literally. They are seriously taking up the challenge of pursuing space tourism in a big way.
Newly-appointed chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), Dr K Radhakrishnan says the space agency is exploring new strategies and technologies for human space flight programmes, low-cost access to space tourism and the colonisation of Mars and the Moon.
As of 2009, space tourism opportunities have been limited and expensive, with the Russian Space Agency providing this facility. The price for a flight brokered by Space Adventures to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft is $20-35 million. Space tourists usually sign contracts with third parties to conduct certain research while in orbit. This helps minimise their own expenses.
Countries like the US, Russia and Japan have already started work to have a habitat in Mars by 2030 and are devising a transportation system to reach Mars.
“Space tourism is something where India can play a niche role with its affordable solutions. However, this will take some time,” says Ajey Lele from the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). But the fact that this is an achievable challenge was evident when he said: “India’s Chandrayaan programme was less costly than the private jet gifted by Mukesh Ambani to his wife.”
A suborbital spaceship owned by aspiring space tourism operator Virgin Galactic was airlifted into the skies over California’s Mojave Desert recently for its debut test flight. The six-passenger ship, VSS Enterprise, remained attached to the center of its carrier aircraft throughout the flight. Virgin Galactic, an offshoot of London-based Virgin Group, has collected about $45 million in deposits and fares from more than 330 amateur astronauts, each of whom will be charged $200,000 to experience a few minutes of suborbital spaceflight.
Back in India, Isro was allocated a budget of $1.27 billion for 2009-2010 and the plan allocation for India’s human space flight programme was Rs 5,000 crore. Isro scientists have started work to reach Mars, put an orbiter there by using the capabilities of its workhorse launch vehicles like PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) and GSLV Mark 3.
“There are various strategies to reach Mars. It is a 250-day journey and there will be opportunities in 2013, 2016 and 2018,” said Dr Radhakrishnan, an alumni of IIM-Bangalore.
“The previous experiments were achieved with a shoestring budget, which is just 3% of Nasa’s expenditure on space programmes,” said Dr Radhakrishnan. He said that Isro has 2-3 launches a year and in the coming year, they plan 6-8 launches per year.
Buoyed by the success of Chandrayaan-I, Indian space scientists now plan to conquer new frontiers by sending robots to the moon in 2012 and a spacecraft to Mars the following year which will also see an Indian astronaut in space.
Isro is now developing a heavier cryogenic engine, almost three times powerful than the home-grown cryogenic engine used in GSAT-4, which is going to be launched in April 2010.
Dr Radhakrishnan said that if they have to put a payload in the orbit now, they have to pay $20,000 per kg using PSLV and GSLV launch vehicles but using GSLV Mark 3 this can significantly be pulled at least by half.
“We also need to use innovative methods such as semi-cryogenic engine developed, in which we replace the liquid hydrogen by purified kerosene. The price comes down drastically,” said Dr Radhakrishnan.
“If we have re-usability, we can improve the cost of putting the satellite in the orbit. We have a system of reusable launch vehicle technology demonstrator, using a small solid rocket. We are putting a winged body to an altitude that can fly at hyper sonic speeds and looking at reentry”, said Dr Radhakrishnan. Radhakrishnan said that all the cutting edge technologies as output in Robotics, Biology, Bio-Astronautics, will lead to spin offs which are going to benefit the common people in the area telemedicine, security, navigation, Education, disaster management, cyclone warning systems and emergency communication.
“More than 200 places in India are disaster prone related to draught, flood, land slides and cyclones”, said Dr Radhakrishnan. He said in future, Isro is going to increase the number of communication transponders from 211 to 500 by 2014, as the demand is increasing. This way more applications can be initiated.
quadbikeNSG airbase for quick response becomes operational
In order to reduce the response time of National Security Guard commandos in case of a terror strike or a hijack attempt, the government has operationalised an airbase near the IGI airport in New Delhi.
A crack commando team of the elite force has been stationed and is ready to undertake operations from the complex spread over five acres of land located on the periphery of the Indira Gandhi International Airport on National Highway-8.
The complex was inaugurated by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday. The NSG’s response time during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks–while moving from the national capital to the western metropolis — came under criticism after which the government finalised a number of plans like creation of four hubs for deploying the specially trained men in minimum possible time.
The complex has been named ‘Sudarshan’– the NSG symbol signifying the mythological ‘Chakra’ of Lord Krishna which destroys the enemy and comes back– would house and facilitate quick mobilisation of the counter terrorist task force of NSG commandos enabling them to be airborne in minimum possible time.
The unit, comprising 50-60 commandos on a 24X7 basis, will only have to open a door and enter the tarmac of the IGI airport in case of a terror attack or a hijack attempt. The commando squad is armed with weaponry like MP5’s, glock pistols and devices for aircraft intervention.
Basic infrastructural facilities like single living accommodation, office block among others are already in place and construction of training and firing enclosures are also in the offing.
The Airports Authority of India had handed over the land to the National Security Guard in April last year.
quadbikeIndia to flight-test first indigenous jet engine next month
After two decades of research and development, India is all set to flight-test its first indigenously developed jet engine next month, an official said on Wednesday.
“Kaveri engine will be flight-tested in one-and-half months… Should be after middle of May,” Director of Bangalore-based Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), a DRDO lab, T Mohana Rao, said.
It would be flight-tested using the IL-76 aircraft in Russia, he said. The Kaveri engine, meant for India’s fighter jet, the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, has completed all simulation and altitude tests. The altitude tests in Russia in February were a “grand success”, he said.
GTRE officials said around Rs 3,000 crore has been spent on the Kaveri project.
Rao said GTRE is now looking to reduce the weight of the Kaveri engine to 50 kg from 60 kg. “It has to be fine-tuned. We will go in for lot of optimisation in future”.
GTRE, which is engaged in research and development of gas turbines for military aircraft, has so far developed nine Kaveri engines and four Kabini (core of Kaveri). “All engines have been tested to full potential,” he added.
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