BlackArcherCompletely wrong.
This is a multi-step multi-year process consisting of (at least) the following steps:
1. Strategic Partnership Model must be finalized (within 1 month)
2. Proposal for new single engine fighter program (within 4 months)
3. Selection of Indian company (end of 2017)
4. Floating of global tender (Q1 2018)
5. “two or more year process to evaluate technical and financial bids and conduct extensive trials” (Q1 2020)
6. Finalization of government-to-government deal (current estimate: 2021).Read (and re-read) the steps above.
What is the probability of this going according to plan, and having the “deal inked” in 2021?
How long did it take to “ink the deal” with Dassault after the decision to do a g2g deal with France?
I say there is a quite high likelyhood of having several delays in several of the steps above…. thus IMHO 2025 is probably a more realistic (and maybe even slightly optimistic) estimate for when this deal will be inked (if ever…!)
I don’t believe the article has it all tied down. The process is still being defined and those timelines are completely speculative and have not been given by the DM, but by unknown MoD officials.
BlackArcherIs that whisfull thinking or do you have tangible proof?
Based on this govt’s track record versus the previous ones, it is very likely that they will wrap up the decision within the timeline that they set for it. Plenty of other decisions that were pending for ages were fast tracked by this govt. and Manohar Parrikar has been an exceptional Defence Minister so far.
BlackArcherFWIW
DM Parrikar provides more details on Make in India for single engine fighter
India’s next fighter production line will be of a single-engine foreign type, confirmed defence minister Manohar Parrikar today, clearing up speculation that this was still in doubt (this was a scenario first reported by Livefist here). This, in essence, narrows the next contest to a possible two-horse race between the Gripen and the F-16… Significantly, the Minister said the process of contract would be initiated this calendar year.The Minister however also confirmed that India would consider taking up the manufacture of a twin-engine fighter ‘later’. If the Minister was referring to a foreign line, he confirms projections made, for instance, by companies like Boeing about a second Make-in-India fighter production line in India that follows the single-engine line. Dassault’s own pitch for a greater number of Rafale jets (in addition to the 36 already contracted) would conceivably compete for this deal, though the Minister said an expanded number at this time was ‘speculative’.
Speaking today at a Ministry of Defence event, Minister Parrikar noted, importantly, that the Make-in-India fighter would be a deal awarded under the ‘Strategic Partnership’ policy — a scheme that hasn’t been unveiled yet, but that the Minister said would be by the end of January. Vendors and OEMs remain on tenterhooks over how this crucial scheme will play out.
Technology transfer and ownership cost will be guiding principles in the selection of the Make-in-India fighters, the Minister said. This isn’t new or surprising — and is a possible safe play owing to lessons learned from the abortive M-MRCA.Minister Parrikar reaffirmed that the Indian Navy would not operate the LCA Navy, but would continue to support its development as a tech demonstrator to validate technologies that will be applied to India’s twin engine naval fighter, presumably an intended carrier version of the AMCA. This makes it official that the Indian Navy will float a separate competition for its own future fighter. However, in what comes as the first bit of hope in months for the LCA Mk.2 programme, the Minister said it would be considered in the next decade. The Minister also indicated that full rate production of the LCA Mk.1 (and subsequently the Mk.1A) would be ramped up to 16 a year.
BlackArcherIndonesian air force Hercules C-130 aircraft crashed.
Indonesian Air Force Plane Crashes in Papua Province Killing 13 People on Board
Indonesia has a terrible record with this type. They’ve now lost 5 C-130s since 2000.
BlackArcherFrom AW&ST
Boeing’s next-generation T-X took off for the first time Dec. 20, making its milestone first flight just weeks before the U.S. Air Force expects to formally kick off the competition for a new trainer fleet.
The aircraft’s first flight originated from St. Louis Lambert International Airport, escorted by two legacy T-38 trainers, company spokeswoman Deborah VanNierop confirmed to Aviation Week.
..
Boeing-Saab’s T-X is a purpose-built, production-ready trainer that hews closely to the Air Force’s threshold requirements for the new program. The sleek, twin-tail design focuses on affordability over performance, drawing on Boeing’s secretive Black Diamond initiative to drive down manufacturing and sustainment costs.
“The No. 1 mission is to meet the threshold requirements of the Air Force advanced pilot training,” Boeing Phantom Works President Darryl Davis said during the Sept. 13 rollout ceremony. “If you are going to control cost you have to drive how you actually meet all those requirements.”
The rollout revealed a single-engine T-X design that looks like a hybrid of an F/A-18 Super Hornet and a Saab Gripen. Boeing’s T-X features a shoulder-mounted, shallow-anhedral wing and fuselage-mounted landing gear. The wing has F/A-18-style leading-edge root extensions, under which appear Gripen-style pitot inlets.
The aircraft can be most obviously distinguished from the competition by its twin vertical tails, which officials say add maneuverability and control. While most modern fighter jets are twin-tail, the other three T-X proposals feature a single tail. Boeing’s is powered by an afterburning General Electric F404—the same engine used by the T-50, and, in nonreheated form, in Northrop’s T-X demonstrator.
BlackArcherNEW DELHI. India has cleared the first payment of 15 per cent to seal the deal for 36 Rafale combat aircraft with the French Government.
Sources told India Strategic that the instalment was cleared recently, and as per the contract, the French Government will deliver the first few aircraft within three years, that is sometime in 2019. India has though requested France to speed the delivery to the extent possible.
Industry sources in Paris also said that aircraft manufacturer Dassault had started working with its partners well in advance towards the Indian requirement, particularly as the Indian Air Force had asked for some specific modifications.
Dassault leads the consortium with Safran and Thales doing the engines and electronic systems and suites. In fact, the latter two have higher share each than Dasssault which designs, integrates and markets combat and civil aircraft.
BlackArcherHAL HTT-40 in its new color scheme
BlackArcherIndian govt. blames Ecuador for Dhruv losses
The Indian government has blamed Ecuador for the high loss rate of its Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Dhruv utility helicopters after the Latin American country decided to get rid of its remaining platforms.
Answering questions in parliament in late November, the Indian minister of state in the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Dr Subhash Bhamre, said that all of the four crashes of the Ecuadorian Air Force’s (Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana: FAE) Dhruvs between October 2009 and January 2015 were found to be the fault, or to probably be the fault, of the Latin America operator, and were not down to any inherent design deficiency in the Indian-built aircraft.
BlackArcherSo, the ADA Chief, who is a former Indian Navy man, states that the LCA Navy Mk2 version is likely to commence flight testing by 2020. Also confirms that testing work on the LCA Navy Mk1 prototypes will continue, since it feeds into the technology development for the eventual Mk2 variant. This is what the IN Chief had also said, that the Navy would continue to support the institutions in further development of the LCA Navy.
Naval version of LCA will meet operational requirements- ADA Chief
New Delhi: A more powerful engine, albeit imported, will enable the Mark-2 naval version of the indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA) meet the requirements of the Indian Navy, its developer says, even as the navy chief has said that the Mark-1 version has not delivered.
“I would think that it is the Indian Navy’s prerogative on their operational needs. We are trying to develop an indigenous carrier-borne aircraft from scratch and it is certainly a challenging proposition,” Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) Director C.D. Balaji said, responding to a recent statement by the navy chief, Admiral Sunil Lanba.Speaking about the upgraded version of the aircraft, he said: “A new programme with a higher thrust engine was sanctioned and termed LCA Navy Mk2. This programme is envisaged to minimise the constraints of Navy LCA Mk-1.”
As for the new power plant, Balaji said: “The GE 414 engine has adequate thrust for a heavier take-off and this would permit the mission performance to be met as indicated at the time of sanctioning the Navy LCA Navy Mk-2 (in 2009).”
The GE F 404 powers the Mk-1 version.
“It is expected that the first prototype would commence flight testing by end 2020. The second prototype is expected a year later. It is expected that flight-testing would take about four years,” Balaji said, adding: “It is expected that Mk-2 can be available from 2024-25 onwards.”
As part of its development, a dedicated Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) has been set up to replicate to a large extent a short take-off but with arrested recovery (STOBAR) carrier.
India’s sole aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, has this capability, as does the first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC), INS Vikrant, now under construction at the Cochin Shipyard. The next generation IAC, INS Vishal, is also likely to have this capability or the even more advanced EMALS (electromagnetic aircraft launch system).“The next big proving capability is for arrested recovery, for which a number of activities like handling quality evaluation, higher sink rate landing, structural testing, arrester hook integration on aircraft and the like have been carried out. The phase of actual taxi-in engagement and flight engagement is progressively planned during the course of 2017.”
What then went wrong with the Mk-1?
Balaji said it was intended to be a technology demonstrators (TD) that provide inputs for the final development of an aircraft.
“When the programme was envisaged at the time of its sanction in 2003, it was expected that the naval version could be derived from the air force version, already flying, by introduction of a stronger landing gear and arrester hook. However, as detailed design progressed, there was a need for significant changes to the structure, a much more complex landing gear to be housed in the centre fuselage, and an externally mounted arrester hook on a dedicated platform.“Further, the major constraint of design space due to the conversion of the existing LCA platform resulted in a sub-optimal design and compromises leading to the Navy Mk-1 variant being heavier than anticipated. A naval aircraft is typically 500-700 kg heavier than its air force variant due to the need of strengthened structure, heavier landing gear and arrester hook. However, the navy Mk-1, being a first-time development with associated conservatism in design and constraints of the air force configuration, led to an aircraft weight of around 900-1,000 kg heavier than the air force Mk-1.
BlackArcherIAF to train Vietnamese Air Force pilots in flying Sukhoi jets
Expanding its outreach in China’s backyard, India will train Sukhoi-30 pilots of Vietnam.
The two sides today agreed to train the pilots. This is the second major training programme after Vietnamese Navy was trained by Indian Navy in operating Russian-origin kilo-class submarines. The agreement was signed at a meeting between Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his Vietnamese counterpart Gen Ngo Xuan Lich on Monday in New Delhi. Vietnam operates Sukhoi-30 MK2 while India operates the Sukhoi-30 MKI.
BlackArcherWhich means the Elta 2032 or 2052 has been part of Darin III upgrade.
Why? What has the radar got to do with the Python 5? The Jaguar IS photographed carrying the Python 5 was not equipped with a radar.
BlackArcherbeautiful helicopter, the Ka-52.
BlackArcherJaguar with Python 5?
Wow, I thought they had signed the deal with MBDA for the ASRAAM on the Jaguar fleet.
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