First posted by saptarishi in Bharat Rakshak

Lockheed Martin selects Raytheon for F-16 protection suite,which the company described as the “world’s most advanced electronic warfare system”.

indian Air Force (IAF) order for 126 combat jets just got hotter with US defence major Lockheed Martin opting to equip its F-16IN Super Viper with electronics giant Raytheon’s protection suite, which the company described as the “world’s most advanced electronic warfare system”.
The two companies announced the tie-up on the sidelines of the seventh edition of the Aero India international air show that opened here Wednesday.

The advanced counter measures electronic system (ACES) comprises a radar-scanning receiver, a jammer and a chaff and flare dispenser, as well as a decoy that is towed behind the aircraft.

“It is pretty exciting that Lockheed Martin has taken us for the entire system. What we offer is the world’s most advanced electronic warfare system,” Mike Henchey, Raytheon’s vice president for Space and Airborne Systems, told IANS.

“Wonderful things are happening for India. This shows India has the opportunity to come to Raytheon for the most advanced systems to meet its needs,” he added.

According to Orville Prins, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for business development in India, Raytheon’s electronic warfare systems “represent the latest technology and the best value solution for India.

“The Raytheon aircraft self-protection equipment helps make Lockheed’s Super Viper the right solution for India’s air force,” he added.

The F-16 is one of the six aircraft in the fray for the IAF order. The others are the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, the French Rafale, the Swedish Gripen, the Russian MiG-35 and the Eurofighter Typhoon built by a four-nation European conglomerate.

The tender was floated in 2007 and the bids were opened last April.

The field trials of the six aircraft are to begin soon and slated to last for a year as the jets have to be tested in a variety of climatic conditions ranging from the deserts of Rajasthan to the icy heights of Leh in Jammu and Kashmir.

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/lockheed-martin-selects-raytheon-for-f-16-protection-suite_100154000.html

here is more information on aces

http://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/aces/

I have a question. Does the block 60 have the same suite or is it supplied by Northrop.

Steep climbs, the ability to fly inverted, high gravity turns and loops evoked praise? They have not been demonstrated in displays before, many years after first flight?

Surprising spectators and the minister, it only means, the first time they did it in airshows.

So after all these years the Tejas still has multiple shortcomings but is due to enter service in 2011? It’s a bit late to bring in a design consultant at this stage, isn’t it? It sounds like ADA should have done so years ago.

They did bring in Boeing but the U.S government asked them not to co-operate EADS is the second consultant.

Time for a bit of glasnost where the LCA is concerned?

The aircraft do not need resdisgn. the problems stated are minor and it will be fixed. EADS is here to help stop further delays thats all.

From Ajay Shukla’s Excellent Blog Broadsword

http://ajaishukla.blogspot.com/2009/02/eads-plans-to-ride-lca-into-indian.html

http://ajaishukla.blogspot.com/

By Ajai Shukla
Aero India 09, Yelahanka, Bangalore
Business Standard, 12th February 09

At the opening of the Aero India 09 defence exposition today, Defence Minister AK Antony clearly enjoyed what must have seemed like a wild-west style shootout. One after another, four contenders for India’s purchase of 126 medium fighters — the Eurofighter Typhoon, the F/A-18, the F-16 and the MiG-35 — took to the skies in a fiesta of aerobatics clearly aimed at impressing the decision-makers who must decide which aircraft will win the $12 billion contract.

But the performance that evoked Mr Antony’s praise was that of the Indian-built Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). Although more cautious than the all-out performances of the established fighters, the Tejas went far beyond anything it had ever displayed before, surprising the spectators with steep climbs, an inverted pass, high-gravity turns and loops.

Addressing the press, Mr Antony remarked, “I was very excited to see the LCA. After many years we could see the LCA doing manoeuvres… I was excited to see the Indian-made LCA in Indian skies.”

But even amidst success, the Tejas LCA is struggling to overcome major development hurdles. Its maker, Bangalore-based Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) has taken the crucial decision to bring in a design consultant, a global aerospace major that would assist HAL to overcome persistent design glitches that dog the LCA, including fuel distribution, uneven braking, flight controls, environment controls and testing. And while US-based Boeing has declined to supply such know-how, German-Spanish consortium, EADS, one of the makers of the Eurofighter, has aggressively pursued the consultancy as a way of flying into the Indian market.

In multiple interviews with senior Indian and EADS officials who requested anonymity, Business Standard has pieced together the EADS strategy. The company has decided to supply India with high technology for Indian products that are not directly competing with an EADS product. The Tejas is not in the same category as the heavier Eurofighter.

Having established its presence in the Tejas programme, EADS is confident that it would be well positioned to get its Eurojet EJ200 engine accepted for the Tejas. India is currently deciding between the EJ200 and the GE-414 engine for powering future squadrons of the Tejas.

And EADS believes that winning the contract for the EJ200 engine, and producing it in India, would position it perfectly for the lucrative medium fighter contract; twin EJ200 engines power the Eurofighter.

While willing to part with the technology assistance needed to get the LCA over its hump, EADS worries about the possibility of eventually being held responsible for a possible failure in the Tejas development.

“Let’s be clear that we are not underwriting the LCA programme”, says a senior European official related with the contract. Another likens EADS’s role to helping someone in a dark room turn on the light switch. But EADS will do no more than indicate the direction of the switch.

The German and Spanish governments have already permitted EADS to part with the technology needed for the Tejas programme; the US government, in contrast, imposed stringent restrictions on Boeing. Explains a senior EADS official, “If we don’t supply technology, India will develop it anyway, perhaps with some delay. So it is better for us to establish our presence here, partner India in the Tejas, and perhaps even market it together.”

All of a sudden the world looks bright and shiny for the Eurofighter.