More T-6C trainers head for New Zealand

Actually related to the IN, but anyway posting it here. Just a rumour as of now..

India expected to choose Sikorsky S-70B Sea Hawk helicopter for 16 helicopter purchase

India is expected to choose Sikorsky Aircraft’s S-70B Sea Hawk helicopters at a 16-aircraft tender worth over $1 billion.

The decision could come during a high-profile visit to the United States by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that starts on Friday.
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Those deals could in turn lay the groundwork for a much larger order of 123 helicopters for the Indian Navy, said one of the sources, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Boeing continues to negotiate with India on the Apache and Chinook helicopters and hopes to have signed contracts by the end of the year, said spokeswoman Caroline Hutcheson.

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Don’t know if it can fit under the small canopy of the bird but a targeting head sight system with a pair of Aim9x blck II under the wings might turn the equation.

it can fit under the canopy- the MiG-21 Bison features a helmet mounted tracking system for the R-73E missile.

Soooo….. how’s the MTA project coming along? Perhaps India backed the wrong horse on that one?

The MTA project is going nowhere and is very unlikely to fructify anytime in the next few years IMO. I’d agree, the KC-390 would’ve been a project where India with its order requirements could’ve negotiated a large work share and development share as well. And by all indications, this project seems to have a bright future. Whereas the MTA? It doesn’t seem to leave the damn drawing board at all.

Kongsberg plans JSM flight tests in 2015

Fingers crossed!

yes indeed. Things have been moving quite fast under the new Govt..just today I read in the print edition of TOI that the Cabinet Committee on Security had given the go-ahead for the purchase of over 200 Barak-1 missiles for the IN, a deal that had been languishing for the past 6 years under the comatose UPA govt of Manmohan Singh and his Defence Minister AK Antony..there is a clear urgency in the air now.

First KC-390 gets wings on assembly line – picture