a modified version of the PAK-FA called the FGFA?

This.

I didn’t know that Gripen NG have RCS less than 0,1m2, and without internal weapons? Is this verified?

Possibly without external stores. The best case scenario would be with 2 AAMs.

India releases $102 mn more for Gorshkov

NEW DELHI: India has given an additional $102 million to Russia for the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov ahead of fresh negotiations before July
end between the two countries on the final purchase price of the warship, a senior official said on Thursday.
An Indian team was in Russia last week to break the deadlock over the cost escalation of the aircraft carrier.

“Gorshkov by far is the most problematic of the deals with Russia. But by July 15 we will work out the scope of trials and a firm cost based on which a fresh contract will be signed. We are insisting and hopeful that the platform will be delivered by the end of 2012,” a senior defence ministry official said requesting anonymity.

“In the last one-and-a-half years they have done a lot of work on the aircraft carrier and we have also released $102 million last week,” he added.

The deal for 45,000 tonne Kiev class Gorshkov, to be inducted in the Indian Navy as INS Vikramaditya, was signed in 2004 for approximately $948 million. However, the project hit the headlines in 2007 as the delivery date was pushed back and the Russians increased the price.

With the latest installment of payment, India has paid nearly $602 million to Moscow so far for the refurbishment of the Gorshkov, an aircraft carrier which has not been seaworthy after 1988. According to the official, Gorshkov, currently undergoing refit at Sevmash shipyard in Russia, is floating and will be towed into the sea by the year end.

According to the senior officials involved in the negotiations with Russia, the quoted price of the aircraft carrier has fluctuated between $2.2 billion and $2.9 billion and Moscow may come around to the lower price to accomodate New Delhi
.

The two sides have been carrying on negotiations on the price issue for over a year with India not keen to pay what it considers unreasonable escalation that has nearly doubled the cost of the aircraft carrier.

The dramatic cost escalation has threatened to cast a shadow on the long-standing defence ties between India and Russia.

Besides this the basic training for the first batch of the Indian Navy pilots for MiG-29 aircrafts which will be operated from the deck of Gorshkov has been completed.

“The basic training of the first batch of the Indian Navy pilots has been completed. The second batch will undergo training from September,” the official added.

The decision on the purchase of more MiG-29 aircrafts will be taken following the approval of the cabinet.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/India-releases-102-mn-more-for-Gorshkov/articleshow/4617955.cms

Why dont you research these options yourself? Or do you want each & every thing to be discussed publically? Whose purpose does that serve?

You are the ones making such absurd claim. For once think do you think the people at foriegn office are any worse off than you are. Do you think you could pass a civil service exam and be in their seat ? Stop assuming that people in power are incompetent. If there were options we would have taken them already.

Absolute nonsense. The public is concerned & has been concerned, its just that they dont see much difference in A versus B, given the former also couldnt deliver completely.

Yes the public is concerned for a while and thats it. Then they move on to more pressing issues like putting food on the table for their families. Do you think that an NREGA worker in Bihar gives two hoots about Mumbai terror attacks ? Do you think that the Indian corporates want war ? Please.

You know, some classes in logical reasoning would help. If I was touting the power of the majority, then I would be totalitarian. Instead, it is you who is extolling the same, and then resorting to ad hominems.

Dont make a fool out of yourself.

Protecting a nation has little to do with projecting power or glorifying it – it has everything to do with common sense.

I could say the same to you. India is a vast nation that any terrorist strikes on it is doomed to fail. Simply because they cannot kill enough using IEDs or conventional bombs. On the other hand if we get on our nationalistic war horse and go to war with a nuclear armed enemy, we will suffer more loses than we would in a 100 years of peace with proxy terror war.

Stability and continuity are not guaranteed by regular terror strikes which bring economic engines to a halt. Logic fail 101 again.

And again, nobody’s advocating war. It is you in your quixotic lack of ability to discern what is being talked about who is going on and on about it.

Yes we may not host sports events. The interests of the global economic giants in India is larger than the instability caused by terror strikes now and then. An outright war with nuclear exchange will set us back by 20-30 years. I am talking war because we have tried most of our soft power options. Any military operation will lead to war.

You can keep saying it, but it doesnt make it any more true. The military is part of the Govt. I dont know what kind of understanding you have of the national structure, but it is clearly lacking. The military also contributes to the decision making & as far as stepping out of line is concerned, each & everything has a breaking point. If the civil military relationship has to be safeguarded, it has to ensure that the military requirements are also considered. Its called the covenant of trust.

What I say is true. The military in a truely working democracy is no more than a tool at the hands of the government. Breaking point, please India is too large and too big for a successful military coup. And in all matters from pay commission to pensions, we know who makes decisions. There were reports that the ex servicemen were voting for BJP to implement one rank one pension. See what happened there. I for one will go to war against the state with foriegn help (if provided by the west) if India ever goes autocratic.

A taxi driver in Mumbai is often as pathetically poor and deprived as any farmer, in fact the latter can be better off depending on the state & cultivated crops. You made the statement that only the middle class suffer in terror attacks, and that is clearly false.

A taxi driver in mumbai atleast has a way to have two to three meals a day while a farmer who benefits from the welfare programs did not. I am not talking about rich farmers here.

You talk a lot of non-sense along facist lines here and hence you don’t have the right to question anyone else.

As far as Kerala is concerned, you might want to look into the brutal police crackdowns against the Naxalites & the same that occured in WB.

Eh the last Naxals in kerala died out about 20-30 years ago. A movement dies out not because of police might it died out because it did not gather popular support. THe land in kerala was divided and given to the farmers by the first government itself.

Only in theory. In practise, people trade their votes for everything from a glass of liquor, to two saris & a TV.

That is a clearly wrong assumption. Such things can cause disqualifications. An incumbent government is not even allowed to do welfare measures during the time of electotions. People vote for stability, secularism and welfare measures are rewarded like in Tamil Nadu. Saris TV and a Kilogram of Rice @ 2 Rupees is a welfare measure however you look at it.

Stop BS’ing & point out where I wished for a military or dictatorial regime.

Its clearly apparent from your lack of respect of the people’s mandate. Your lack of respect for other forum members having disimlar fiews. Your blind rhetoric and need felt for glorification of India behind the strong shield and effective leadership BS.

You can keep telling the same nonsense & you would be equally wrong. Its quite clear I am talking to someone without the basic intelligence to even comprehend the topic and who is acting as his own sock puppet.

The point being made is that inaction is causing more problems as ANY govt, including your political favorite has little else to offer but conventional war with saber rattling, which can create a full blown conflict.

Next time, read what people are saying versus prattling on what you think they are saying, and getting pompous about how superior you are with your love for democracy. In fact, given your lack of understanding of how the democratic structure works, I wonder if you even understand what the term means & how its functioning.

When you know that your arguments are exposed and beaten you go personal. May be it is the same trait that get you banned in the first place.

Every Indian has a constitutional obligation to support its democratic structure. I have asked you to kindly list India’s options via vis Pakistan other than the threat of a conventional war. If you cannot list them then i suggest you shut up about a topic you have no knowledge about apart from spinning and twisting.

More political rants without substance & missing the point entirely.

It is true whatever you say about it. India is doing the best it can against Pakistan in the current political and strategic climate.

Its Chhattisgarh – note the H. Its Orissa. Note the single -R.

And yeah, its bloody offensive for you to spout about states which you cant even spell properly.

And the original point was about how ineffective the Central Govt was in even acknowledging the existence of this problem, as documented by Shivraj Patil’s antics. Which you could’nt even address.

Spelling does not matter. You could understand what I said and so could I. I do not care if you take offense in me mispelling a states name.

For the past several years our PM has acknowledged Maoist naxalism as the gravest threat to the Indian Union. You apparently only read what you want to read.

Not all terror threats are to be dealt with in the same way as for the naxalist threat talks are to be held along with miltiary action.

Modi for PM …

A grave human rights abuser suspected for masterminding riots which killed thousands of Muslims. One who is denied visa on the same grounds by the USA. Indian populace know better than that, he will never be elected.

1.6 : 1 is very realistic not 6 to one.

Sorry I don’t believe that. 🙂 With better weapons may be twice as good but 6 times over an SU 35. Sorry 🙂

Sigh… Did you skip school the day they taught geography at high school ? Or are you an Indian at all? Considering your lack of geographical knowledge of India, I am having my doubts.

I stress again, just read up a little before and reflect before tilting at imaginary windmills.

Its is Orissa not Orrissa and Chattisgarh not Chattisghad. At least learn to spell the states of your country correctly. And no, they are not in the north east.

So question time again, how many states are there in the north east and why are naxals referred to as such? Read something on the subject and then get back to me.

I learned by Geography before Chattisgarh was formed. So my apologies there. Also it makes no sense to pick on spelling mistakes. And no it do not matter whether I spell them right or not.

I was trying to make a point and i did make it. The Geography may have been wrong but my point remains true.

Seeds of Privatization in Defense.

TATA, Larsen, Godrej, HAL Pitch for Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance UAV Contract

In a first for an Indian military aircraft programme, private sector firms Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T), Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Co. Ltd and Tata Advanced Systems Ltd have bid to develop and build an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or drone, used in surveillance operations.

The three companies, and a fourth bidder—a combine of state-owned defence equipment makers Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Bharat Electronics Ltd—submitted their bids on 15 May to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) aircraft, named Rustom, which will be designed to fly at least 250km at a stretch.

“Now, a technical evaluation will be done before identifying the lead partner,” said P.S. Krishnan, director of the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), the DRDO unit that has built drones such as Nishant for the military. He said a decision would be taken later this year.

The three private sector firms declined to comment.
Given the sensitive nature of defence projects, private firms had been restricted to being component suppliers or sub-contractors in military plane programmes, while state-owned agencies or firms such as DRDO and Hindustan Aeronautics have led and managed the projects.

In 2002, India opened up defence equipment production to private sector companies and even allowed up to 26% foreign direct investment in such ventures.

In the US, private sector companies such as Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. compete for military plane projects. The F-16 is built by Lockheed, while Boeing builds the F-18. Both firms get enormous support from the US government.
Russia and China, on the other hand, allow only state-funded firms to build planes for their military.

L&T, India’s largest engineering company, Godrej and the Tata group have dedicated divisions that supply parts to the country’s space and aerospace industry.

Godrej & Boyce supplies the Vikas engines for India’s rockets, while the Tata group builds components for Hindustan

Aeronautics, DRDO and the Indian Space Research Organisation.
L&T makes military vessels for the Navy, and has built a radar with Bharat Electronics for the Army, in addition to being involved in other aerospace projects.

ADE is testing a technology demonstrator, or a bare prototype, of Rustom. Once a vendor is selected, it and ADE will design an enhanced version of Rustom, which is meant to replace the Israeli Heron drones currently in use.

Typically, the cost of producing one set of five Rustom vehicles with five sets of spares, payload and ground handling equipment would be around Rs250 crore, ADE said in its tender.

The partner, once selected, will build the drone, test and certify it, and provide maintenance services. It will also work on converting Rustom into an unmanned combat aerial vehicle, in addition to developing future versions of the drone.
India’s market for MALE UAVs, the class of drones used for surveillance, border patrolling and exploration, is expected to touch $800 million (Rs3,768 crore) by 2016, according to research firm Frost and Sullivan.

Despite India being a major customer for global military aircraft makers, its own aerospace industry is nascent. The country has built a few aircraft such as Tejas, a light combat aircraft; Dhruv, an advanced light helicopter; Saras, a 14-seater passenger plane; and Nishant. Only Dhruv and Nishant have been inducted into the forces.

None of these projects involved private sector firms in design and development.

http://www.india-defence.com/reports-4413