Well its true, the current ministries are nothing like the combination of Gujral and Fernandes when it comes to making sure that certain arms purchases go through.

Its amazing how the purchase of the P-8i’s , C-130J and C17 are going through without these long drawn procedures. and yet transport and logistics is just as important as the sharp end of the stick.

So you’d rather that the Govt. have heeded the US’s request and make the MRCA into a single vendor or only-US competition and purchased it through the FMS process ? That would have been fair and alright by you ?

whereever the IAF/IA or IN have felt a need that is met mostly only by products made by the US, they have decided to go through the FMS route. By all indications, the MRCA evaluations are going well, they are fair and transparent. Saying that this procurement will take 20 years like the Hawk AJT is frankly being too pessimistic even by Indian standards.

Not directly related to the IAF, but I’m sure they’ll keep an eye on this development as well. the pics are those of the NAL-ISRO-CSIR new regional transport, the RTA-70, that will include a number of private sector players as well in the development, including Infosys Technologies as well.

Diehl had displayed a mock-up of the cabin interiors for the RTA-70 recently.

I talked about the free of costs choppers to Maldive or some other small nations. It was kind of joke about one have to give them away to show that it is exported. 😉 Well, sofar the JF17 has not even been given away so it was an easy shot to return.

they’ve sold them to Nepal, Mauritius and Ecuador, not donated them. They were close to an order in Chile but the US muscled India out on that sale. A Bolivian order didn’t materialise because the MoD refused to offer them a line of credit to buy Dhruvs.

Those that are given free are done as part of the strategy to build friendship and partnerships. South Korea recently gave away its retired T-37s to Peru simply to build a defence relationship which will come in use in the future..the same T-37s that Pakistan also asked SoKo to donate.

1. You don’t need to be hit by as many.

2. You do not know the relative kTs

3. You are not big enough to need any “to be perfected” delivery vehicles. Those are needed for the dragon.

If you believe the destruction is “mutual”, you would be careful enough not to start it(from conventional) and if you think you are nuts enough not to care, then imagine how much nuts your act would have driven others not to bother the consequences for once. Public would not need much convincing.

Hopefully you would stop creating this unnecessaryand veiled N-diversion in the threads everytime the scenarios are being discussed if you believe the harm is “mutual”.

Roylarson, don’t respond to xxxx flame baits. This kind of discussion will invariably end up in garbage being thrown around and the thread will get locked up.
Wise words

Nice drawing … maybe this could help You too; but don’t ask me, where I found it.

Deino

wow ! thanks Deino ! really appreciate your posting this. 🙂

Nishant UAV undergoing confirmatory trials in Rajasthan

link

India’s Nishant UAV is undergoing crucial confirmatory user trials at Pokhran. The trials began April 20 and will last for one more week.

Nishant previously underwent stiff user trials at Pokhran in August 2009. The UAV was developed by the Bangalore-based Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), along with two other Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) laboratories.

A senior official overseeing the program at DRDO headquarters in New Delhi confirmed to Aviation Week that the UAV’s confirmatory trials are crucial for the Indian Army. Senior scientists and engineers from DRDO and the India Army are witnessing the flights. During the last trials, the Army wanted to improve some features which are being tested during the current trials. Two flights have been completed and four more are planned in the coming days, the official said.

A senior Army official at Pokhran said the trials are moving forward in a very satisfactory manner. “We are checking three crucial parameters: video quality, tracking ability and fall of gunshot [missed distance after firing]. These input performances are critical to our operations in the forward areas,” the official said.

All four limited series production UAVs are taking part in the Pokhran trials. Sources said that senior officials from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Punjab police are witnessing the trials. DRDO has delivered the first four UAVs to the Indian Army at a cost of 800 million Rs ($17.9 million). The UAVs earlier underwent trials at Kolar, near Bangalore.

Nishant can stay aloft for nearly five hours and has a maximum speed of 185 km. per hour. It is a multimission day/night capability UAV with advance payloads, a jam resistant command link and digital down link. Nishant is compact and can be easily deployed for battlefield reconnaissance, target tracking and fine-tuning of artillery fire. It is launched using a mobile hydro-pneumatics system and can be recovered with the help of parachutes.

does “Fall of gunshot” refer to firing weapons ? So are they converting the Nishant into an armed UAV ?

At long last, a MiG-21 – Tejas comparison.:)

thanks Robban..the dimensions seem to match very closely for the Tejas and the MiG-21..can clearly tell that they did a size comparison with the MiG-21 to draw up the basic dimensions that they’d look for in a MiG-21 replacement..

This is the second hot weather trials for the Sitara. Previously they did it with one of the prototypes travelling to Nagpur during the peak of summer (horrible heat, really)..that was when it still had the Snecma Larzac engine and not the AL-55I engine.

Sitara IJT to go for hot weather trials in Jaisalmer.

The Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT) Sitara of HAL will enter a significant phase with the hot weather trials scheduled to begin at Jaisalmer soon. The aircraft (PT-I) is on its way to Jaisalmer from Bidar Air Force Station on April 19.
“It will be for the first time that the IJT will undertake the hot weather trials with the AL-55I engine and the tests will continue this quarter with PT-2 too set to join the trials later,” top sources told tarmak007.

The IJT flew with the Russian-made AL-55I engine in May 2009 and all the flight tests for certification were completed by February 2010.“Thirty-one (31) flights with new engine were conducted,” a top HAL official said.

During the Jaisalmer trials, various functional parameters of the aircraft will be tested and monitored, including cockpit condition, avionics, load performance, instrumentation and engine temperature. “These parameters will be compared against the sea trials as well,” the official added.

HAL, on its part, has kept an Avro aircraft aside to support the trials, to be undertaken by HAL’s chief test pilot (fixed wing) Sqn Ldr (Redt) Baldev Singh.
The IAF is desperately in need of the IJTs for their Stage-II training as a replacement for the Kiran. HAL has in its kitty the LSP order for 12 aircraft and the IAF has shown keen interest to buy more (~70 plus) in future.