black eagleMOSCOW COMES CALLING
When Russian President Dmitry Medvedev comes calling on his maiden official visit to India on December 5, expect a changed, more realistic and sober engagement posture devoid of any arrogance coming from the delegation that he will be leading. For the Russia that had been testing India’s patience for the past two years, especially with regard to Russians demands for re-negotiation of the multi-billion contract for supplying the 44,570-tonne aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, is not the same Russia that exists today. For the past five months, Russia’s problems in both the domestic and foreign fronts have only increased. Consider the following:
· Russia’s five-day limited border conflict with Georgia last August only served to highlight the block obsolescence of the former’s military might and only accelerated NATO’s determination to push further eastwards via Ukraine and Georgia, thereby completing the strategic encirclement of Russia.
· The aftershocks resulting from the global liquidity crunch has seen several Russian financial institutions crash like a pack of cards. The country’s benchmark RTS stock market index dropped by 70% since last May and the Kremlin is now grappling with its worst financial crisis in a decade, helped no less by the falling global crude oil prices, a massively overheated domestic economy, the steadily falling value of the Rouble, and double-digit inflation (13 per cent).
· The Kremlin’s decision to start an aggressive foreign policy has not been accompanied by a corresponding, aggressive foreign trade policy. Instead, its recent decision to decline joining the World Trade Organisation is widely being seen as a serious blunder.
· Growing fears of government interference in business and perpetuation of the system of unaccountable redistribution of national financial resources among private oligarchic empires close to the Kremlin have resulted in foreign institutional financial investors exiting Russia in droves, thereby raising the prospects of a severe downturn and a long-term crisis in the country’s financial sector.
· The quantum of Russian weapons exports to its traditional customers has been steadily decreasing for the past three years, especially when it comes to China, India, Iran and Malaysia. Though alternate markets have been sought and penetrated in Indonesia and Venezuela, the future outlook for Russian weapons exports remains bleak, especially if Russia is seen as an unreliable military-industrial partner that wants to re-negotiate already signed-and-sealed contracts of the type inked for INS Vikramaditya.
· Lastly, both President Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin are widely believed to be advocating solutions from opposite ends and which also seemingly contradict each other. While Medvedev favours widespread economic reforms and feels the need to add more substance to his anti-corruption initiatives, Putin is widely believed to be intolerant of dissent from his junior partner, since any crack in the monolithic system of power could trigger an avalanche of desertions and revelations that would demonstrate that rampant corruption is not a mere defect in his course of expanding state control over the economy, but its core substance. Putin’s approval ratings still remain high, but the social contract of ‘Putinism’, according to which the population enjoys the fruits of petro-prosperity while ignoring the shameless thievery of the ruling elite, is now all set to expire.
The peculiar two-headed form of leadership was designed by the over-confident ‘Tsar Vladimir’ for presiding over a permanent party of distributing tonnes of easy money, but it cannot function anymore in the situation of escalating squabbles between elite clans and gathering social discontent. Cutting President Medvedev down to size may have been easy, but now Putin has to decide how much longer he can postpone the hard tasks of managing rather than explaining away the crisis that has transformed his pet projects into toxic assets.It is against this backdrop that President Medvedev is coming to India and all indications are that a far more realistic appraisal of the future state of bilateral military-industrial cooperation will be visible. While Putin reportedly favours a Euro-centric foreign policy and accords greater priority to re-claiming Russia’s influences in its near-abroad—especially in Central Asia and China (the Kremlin’s recent approval for exporting the Su-35M and Su-33M, both armed with Yakhont supersonic multi-role cruise missiles, has to be seen in this context)—Medvedev, being a technocrat, favours a more broad-based approach that focuses more intensely on South and Southeast Asia, and the African continent. For the Indian Navy, Medvedev is known to favour a mutually beneficial solution to the INS Vikramaditya’s quagmire, under which a far-more amenable and financially viable supplementary contract will be inked between India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Rosoboronexport State Corp to expedite the aircraft carrier’s refit and upgrade. In return, the Russian shipyards will be accorded preferred vendor status for supplying a substantial number of pre-fabricated modules for the two 37,500-tonne Indigenous Aircraft Carriers (IAC), the first of which is now being fabricated at Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL). Also up for grabs for the Russian shipbuilding industry are two major projects: one, for the co-design and joint fabrication of five guided-missile destroyers under Project 15B (for which the Project 22350 DDG is being offered); and the co-design and joint fabrication of seven guided-missile frigates under Project 17A, for which Moscow is offering the Project 1167 FFG.– Prasun K. Sengupta
http://trishulgroup.blogspot.com/2008/12/moscow-comes-calling.html
black eagleDETAILS OF THE ATV PROJECT
For at least a decade speculation has been rife on two major issues: India’s quest for acquiring a credible sea-based element of the country’s nuclear weapons triad; and the Indian Navy’s (IN) projected plans for acquiring on lease SSGNs of Russian origin. More often than not, it is the Russian mass media that has been more accurate in reporting key developments on these two issues, while its Indian counterpart has been engaging in speculations ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. What follows below is a detailed analysis of India’s continuing quest for acquiring a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines for strategic nuclear deterrence.
ATV stands for Advanced Technology Vessel (carrying the hull codename P-4102), which will be a technology demonstrator displacing less than 7,000 tonnes dived and will NOT be an operational nuclear-powered submarine. It will be used for validating the ATV’s 90mW nuclear-powered propulsion system, the vessel’s structural integrity as well as the on-board mission sensors, combat management system (CMS), and integrated platform management/battle damage management system. The ATV will thus be used for validating various technologies and performance parameters for two types of fourth-generation operational nuclear-powered submarines that are being proposed for series production the following decade: three attack submarines (SSGN) each displacing 7,500 tonnes when dived, and a single SSBN displacing some 12,000 tonnes dived. The ATV, to be built with NQ-1, a derivative of HY-80 grade steel, will be divided into an engine compartment, reactor compartment (containing a 90mW pressurised water-cooled water-moderated reactor [PWR] using uranium-aluminum dispersed fuel (cermet) housed within zirconium cladding), a forward compartment housing the vessel’s CMS, integrated platform management system (IPMS), depth-finding echosounder, a mid-frequency active/passive sonar suite comprising a bow-mounted sonar transducer array as well as twin hull-mounted flank arrays, and a torpedo compartment containing three 21-inch (533.4mm) torpedo launch tubes designed and built by Larsen & Toubro (L & T) that will be able to launch heavyweight anti-submarine and anti-ship torpedoes (the TEST-71ME and TEST-71ME-NK models built by Russia’s DVIGATEL FSUE and Region State Research & Production Enterprise).
The ATV’s twin flank-array sonars will be used as a torpedo approach warning system, and a stern-mounted distinctive ‘bulb’ on top of the rudder will house an ultra-low frequency thin-line towed active/passive sonar array to be built in future by state-owned Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), broadband expendable anti-torpedo countermeasures developed by RAFAEL of Israel, as well as four universal vertical launcher capable of launching submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM). The Navy has already projected a requirement for SLBMs with 8,500km-range and the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) is expected to develop such an SLBM by 2012.
The related Launch Preparation System and Centralised Real-Time Fire-Control System has been built by BEL as has the CCS Mk3 composite communications system and ATM-based broadband integrated data network. The ATV will feature double-hull construction, dramatically increasing the reserve buoyancy by as much as three times over that of a single-hull vessel. Ballast tanks and other gear will be located between the inner and outer hulls, and limber holes will be provided for the free-flooding sections between the hulls. The ATV’s pressure hull will have four major compartments and the standoff distance between the outer and inner hulls will be considerable, reducing the possibility of inner hull damage. The engine room will feature sound-isolation couplings to prevent transmission of vibrations to the ocean from major fresh-water circulating pumps in the steam cycle. The CMS (comprising a commander’s multi-function console, manoeuvring control console, three weapons management consoles and one EW console), and IPMS (comprising three consoles) are now being developed by TATA Power’s Strategic Systems Division in collaboration with BAE Systems. The retractable masts viewed from bow to stern will include an optronic periscope (to come from the joint venture between Italy’s Riva Calzoni & India’s Larsen & Toubro), along with one I-band surface search/navigation radar and one low-level air defence radar, VLF/VHF/EHF/SHF radio and UHF SATCOM antennae, and one integrated electronic warfare suite [4CH(V)2 Timnex II], all to be supplied by Elbit Systems. The mast fairwater section of the ATV will house a magnetic compass sensor, combined SATCOMS/radio antenna, air supplier for diesel engines, search radar antenna mounted on a non-hull-penetrating optronic search mast, attack periscope housing optronic sensors, plane position indicator, rudder steering unit, course repeater, distance measuring sonar, and a sail plane drive. The ATV will have a double layer silencing system for the power train. Main propulsion machinery will comprise a high-density PWR reactor core rated at 90mW, and a steam turbine developing 35mW. Two auxiliary diesel engines will provide emergency power. The nuclear propulsion system will drive a seven-bladed fixed-pitch propeller with cruciform vortex dissipaters, and provide a maximum submerged speed of 33 Knots and a surface speed of 15 Knots. A reserve propeller system, powered by two motors rated at 370kW, will provide a speed of 4 Knots.
The ATV’s pressure hull will be rated for diving down to a hull-crush depth of 600 metres. The vessel will carry sufficient supplies for an endurance of 80 days and will be operated by a crew complement of 50. The outer hull will be fitted with anechoic and vibration damping coatings to reduce the vessel’s acoustic signature to no more than 110 decibels. The indigenously developed rubber-based anechoic tile will contain thousands of tiny voids, and their function will be two-fold: to absorb the sonar sound waves of active sonar, and reduce and distort the return signal thereby reducing its effective range. The tiles, each of which are 4 inches (100mm) thick, will also attenuate the sounds emitted from the vessel, typically its engines, to reduce the range at which it can be detected by passive sonar. The ATV’s scheduled operational cycle will be divided into 2.5 years, five years and 7.5 years. To mount a patrol, the ATV will require 15 days to be prepared for a 60-day endurance cruise, following which 10 days will be required for replenishing provisions and changing the crew complement. The period between two cruises will be 25 days, while dock repairs and storage battery replacements will be conducted within a 20-day period. Yard repair for the ATV will be conducted over a 12-month period.
Up until 2004 a casual stroll around the Central Government Office Complex or Kashmir House—the current seat of the armed forces’ HQ Integrated Defence Staff in Delhi—revealed the Indian Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) unique approach towards managing this project. A simple, twisted signboard marked the office of the Director-General, ATV project, from where the ATV’s planning, design and fabrication efforts were being directed. The ATV’s design-cum-industrial coordination effort was directed from the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) Building, located near the HQ of India’s Research & Analysis Wing. In 2005, both these offices were relocated under one roof to ‘AAKANGSHA’ (Hope), a heavily guarded building located behind the United Services Institution and within an Indian Army enclave near Palam Airport. The Prime Minister heads the Steering and Funding Committee of the project, which is monitored by the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, who is also Secretary of the MoD-owned Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO). The ATV Project’ Directors have always been Vice Admirals who upon their retirement from the IN had been re-employed at Secretary-level. In addition, there are six retired IN officers of the rank of Rear Admiral who run various segments of the programme (such as weapon systems, CMS, IPMS, acoustic signature management and sonars, integrated powerplant/propulsion system, and communications/electronic warfare). Overall, it is the DRDO that is running the entire project, while the DAE is responsible for developing the close-cycle nuclear propulsion system, a task the latter was entrusted with in 1976. However, since neither the DRDO nor the IN’s Directorate of Naval Design have any hands-on experience in designing submarines, the DRDO in 2002 contracted Russia’s St Petersburg-based Malachite Marine Engineering Bureau under Project 78 to produce production engineering drawings (using TRIBON CAD/CAM software) for the ATV’s hull sections. This drawings were delivered to L & T by late 2003 and included those for the pressure hull, shrouded propulsor, upper and lower rudder segments, starboard hydroplane, aft anchor light, aft rudder and hydroplane hydraulic actuators, Nos1,2,3 and 4 main ballast tank, propeller shaft, high-pressure bottles, towed-array sonar’s cable drum and winch, main ballast venting system, aft and forward pressure domes, air treatment units, naval stores, propeller shaft thrust block and bearing, circulating water transfer pipes, lubricating oil tank, starboard condenser, main machinery mounting raft, port and starboard turbo-generators, combining gearbox, main turbines, steam delivery ducting, aft equipment compartment, watertight bulkheads, manoeuvring room citadel, manoeuvring room’s isolated deck mounting, switchboard room, diesel generator room, static converters, main steam valve, reactor section, forward air-lock, air-handling compartment, waste management system, air-conditioning ducting, galley, forward section’s isolated deck mountings, batteries, junior ratings’ mess, RESM office, commanding officer’s cabin, portside communications office, diesel exhaust mast, snort induction mast, VLF/VHF/SHF/EHF masts, ESM mast, search radar mast, UHF SATCOM mast, integrated comms mast, starboard and portside visual masts, navigation mast, bridge fin access, junior and senior ratings’ bathrooms, battery switchroom, control room consoles, sonar operator’s consoles, senior ratings’ bunks, medical berth, weapons stowage-cum-handling compartment, bow-mounted sonar array, maintenance workshop, depth-sounder and obstacle/mine avoidance sonar room, forward hydroplane and its hydraulic actuators, hydroplane hinge mountings, main administrative office, junior ratings’ berths, torpedo tubes, water transfer tank, torpedo tube bow caps, air turbine pump, weapons embarkation hatch, rigid-hull inflatable boat stowage area, hinged fairlead, anchor windlass, and anchor cable locker. All these sections will be ready for final assembly within the pressure hull by 2011. Final assembly work will take place at the Vizag-based Shipbuilding Centre (SBC) that is headed by a retired Vice Admiral and lies adjacent to the IN’s Naval Dockyard. The entire hull-section welding effort (with the help of 25 major industrial contractors and 250 other vendors) is overseen by the Hyderabad-based Defence Material Department, headed by a retired Rear Admiral.
In March 2007, the MoD decided to hike the project’s financial allocation to Rs140 billion (US$3.3 billion) of which some $2.5 billion is being sourced from the Rupee-Rouble debt settlement scheme that was bilaterally worked out by New Delhi and Moscow way back in 1993. Now, instead of the debt settlement taking place in 2037 as originally envisaged, successive payment tranches to the tune of Rs8 billion ($200 million) per annum will be made by India through to 2016 and in return Russia will help the DRDO realise all the R & D mission objectives of the ATV project (over a three-year period starting 2012, when the ATV will commence its sea trials, and culminating in the conclusion of the sea trials three years later), and subsequently assist in initiating the production of the three SSGNs and one SSBN over a 15-year period starting starting 2015 as currently envisaged by the MoD. Under a separate, yet-to-be-inked contract, Russia will provide technical expertise to the IN for building two planned underwater naval bases (one each along the coastline of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala), each of which will cost some $1.5 billion to build and will contain twin underwater submarine tunnel entrances leading to separate berths for accommodating both SSGNs and the SSBN, a hardened underground tunnel for storing nuclear warheads for the SLBMs, plus a command-and-control centre. Subject to approval from the Cabinet Committee on National Security at a later date, both the SSGNs and SSBN will be built by L & T’s Defence Engineering Division at a new $500 million state-of-the-art mega-shipyard that will be operational in Kakinada, Orissa, from 2010. The ATV fabrication facility within this shipyard as well as L & T’s existing fabrication facility in Hazira, Gujarat, are now being built and equipped with the help of Russia’s Krylov Central Research and Scientific Institute, Central Research Institute for Shipbuilding Technology, and the Region Scientific Production Association.
The DAE’s Trombay-based Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in 1976 began work on designing a generic, miniaturised PWR. Altogether, four different types of designs were considered. The first, a water-cooled, water-moderated reactor, used 248 fuel assemblies as its core. The fuel was cermet in zirconium cladding. However, this design was rejected in late 1976, while the second was discarded in 1979, and the third in 1981. The BARC had shelved the first three PWR designs because of engineering objections from the IN. Despite this, BARC succeeded in fabricating a pilot PWR in the early 1990s using the fourth design. By late December 1995 the DRDO had made considerable progress in the design of a 600-tonne pre-test capsule made of titanium that was fabricated in 1994 by Mumbai-based Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd’s Precision Equipment Division. From there the capsule was transported to the PTC. The capsule, containing the BARC-built PWR (with a diameter of 10 metres) was unsuccessfully subjected to on-shore and submerged structural integrity tests in November-December 1995. In June 1996 the programme suffered further setbacks following additional failed tests of the PWR and its containment vessel. This was attributed to the unsuitable design of the reaction control-rod insertion and withdrawal mechanism. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the DAE tried in vain to buy a rod-worth minimiser (RWM) used by reactor operators to guide and monitor the proper sequences for the remotely-controlled withdrawal and insertion of reaction control-rods. By early 1997, the DRDO made serious and successful overtures to Russia for procuring shipborne PWRs and related machinery off-the-shelf. On October 5, 2000, after India and Russia inked an agreement on a news blackout on sensitive information exchanges in the areas of defence and nuclear cooperation and appointed watchdogs to enforce compliance with the new agreement, Moscow agreed to supply an initial two VM-5 PWRs, their related propulsion machinery, plus their detailed engineering drawings off-the-shelf. These arrived at Vishakapatnam in late 2000. These propulsion systems, however, were not brand new, but were unused and originally built for usage on board civilian ice-breaking ships. In addition, Moscow insisted that such hardware be used for replication only, and be integrated with the propulsion system on-shore, and not be installed on any shipborne platform. Adoption of this approach meant that while Russia was not violating its obligations made under the NPT and START-2 nuclear non-proliferation and arms reduction treaties, it was, on the other hand, helping the DRDO and the DAE to overcome the R & D ‘know-how’ challenges by leapfrogging straight ahead to the ‘know-why’ stage. By early 2003, L & T as prime industrial contractor was contracted for fabricating the ATV’s hull sections (with technical assistance from Russia’s Malachite Marine Engineering Bureau, Krylov Central Research and Scientific Institute and the St Petersburg-based Central Research Institute for Shipbuilding Technology), while the DRDO’s Naval Chemicals and Metallurgical Laboratory and Mumbai-based Advani Oerlikon Ltd began supplying indigenously developed metal-cutting and welding solutions to the SBC, where the ATV’s final hull assembly began in 2004 and. The universal vertical launcher to be used for launching the SLBM is being indigenously designed and built by L & T. The IN has also built a Russia-designed facility–the Special Safety Service—adjacent to the SBC for monitoring the health of the people working inside the ATV and the radiation leaks emanating from the vessel. State-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) was contracted by the DRDO to develop the PWR’s heat exchanger in cooperation with Godrej & Boyce, electrical generator and the propulsion system’s geared turbine (connected via a set of reduction gears to a fixed-pitch propeller), transmission shaft and gearbox, with L & T fabricating the seven-bladed fixed-pitch propeller. Pune-based KSB Pumps Ltd (an Indian subsidiary of KSB AG of Germany), is supplying the power-driven centrifugal and eccentric screw pumps and butterfly valves each comprising a cast-iron body with ductile iron or stainless steel disc and EPDM/nitrile rubber liners. Seamless piping is coming from the Maharastra Seamless Ltd subsidiary of the D P Jindal Group. Advani-Oerlikon Ltd is producing welding electrodes and machines for welding the ATV’s hull sections and pipelines, while Kirloskar Electric Company Ltd is building the switchgears, water, air and chemical flowmeters, plus electrical cables, transformers and capacitors. Russia’s St Petersburg-based Malachite Marine Engineering Bureau has been roped in to act as the DRDO’s principal designer-cum-independent design consultant and validate the ATV’s hydrodynamic design/performance parameters. By October 2004, the first PTC-built and VM-5-derived indigenous PWR went critical on-shore at Kalpakkam. The highly enriched uranium fuel for the PWR was supplied by the DAE’s Ratnahalli-based Rare Materials Project (RMP) near Mysore. Two months later, the reactor was integrated on shore with the propulsion system. On November 16, 2005, the then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee (now external Affairs Minister) stated in Moscow during the 5th session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission for Military-Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) that Russia had agreed to help India build both the ATV and the 37,500-tonne Project 71 Integrated Aircraft Carrier through technology transfers. By mid-2006, a fully integrated and closed-cycle PWR-powered propulsion system was shipped to Vizag, which has since been encased within the ATV’s L & T-fabricated reactor and engine compartments. By late last year, a propulsion simulator and an IPMS simulator co-developed by TATA Power and BEL were installed at the SBC.
The integrated sonar suite is being developed by the DRDO’s Kochi-based Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory and will be series-produced by BEL. The flank-array sonars’ underwater omnidirectional transducers are 60mm hollow spherical elements fabricated from lead zirconate titanate type-4 material. Fabrication of the light (outer) hull and pressure (inner) hull sections has been undertaken directly at the SBC and is the most challenging part of the ATV’s fabrication process. The hull has been constructed with very high precision, since the inevitable minor deviations are resisted by the stiffener rings, but even a 1-inch (25mm) deviation from roundness results in more than 30% decrease of hydrostatic load. The total pressure force of several million tonnes must be distributed evenly along the hull and be oriented longitudinally, as no material will resist such force by bending. The entire ATV hull thus uses expensive transversal construction, with the stiffener-rings located more frequently than the longitudinals. The welding technique involves twin tandem submerged-arcs for rotated sub-unit circumferential butts, and for frame-to-hull and web-to-table tee butts. Pressure hull static circumferential butts and sub-unit vertical seams are being welded by a mechanised (positional) FCAW process, and semi-auto FCAW is used for all other welding. For non-destructive testing and examination of the butt welds, digitised ultrasonics (using time-of-flight diffraction techniques) are being employed.
For destroying ASW helicopters equipped with dunking sonars, the DRDO and RAFAEL of Israel in early 2006 began co-developing a submarine-launched air defence missile system that will include twin three-cell vertical canisters each containing a ready-to-fire Python 5 missile that can be launched by the ATV from a submerged depth of 50 feet. This variant of the Python 5 air combat missile will have a 12km range. The ATV’s eight torpedo tubes will be capable of launching the TEST-71 family of torpedoes.–Prasun K. Sengupta
http://trishulgroup.blogspot.com/2008/12/prowler-of-deep.html
black eagleINDIA NEGOTIATING PURCHASE OF TU-160 BLACKJACK FROM RUSSIA????
Indian Agni missiles deployed in tunnels on Chinese border
India has built atleast 2 tunnels in mountains for storage of Agni Intermediate Range Ballastic Missile (IRBM). It was revealed by Mr. Bharat Karnad, who released his book “India’s Nuclear Policy” in Mumbai yesterday. He said that India is building more such facilities. Such tunnels will help India’s second strike capability, as; the Chinese Thermo Nuclear weapons cannot vaporize mountains.
Mr. Karnad explaind that it has been done to offset the deployments of Chinese IRBM”s in Chinese occupied Tibet. Mr. Karnad also outlined some scenarios when India and China might actually fight a war and the nuclear weapons might be used. One of the foremost reasons could be the Chinese plans to build a dam and divert water from Yarlung Zangbo (Brahmaputra) to the Yellow river. He said that China has already proceeded by the civil works. In a second scenario, he said, the new generation Tibetians who are very motivated, would launch an armed struggle against Chinese Imperialist. Another important fact he said was that India and China are already engaged in a battle to secure natural resources, even as far as Ecuador.
Bharat Karnad said that the weakest point of the Nuclear Chain of command was the will of the government to launch retaliatory strike. He said this was told to him by a retired Indian Army General. While Bharat karnad was unsure of current governments will, he and other speakers were unanimous that eventually the decision will come.
I have difference of opinion with some of the points made by Mr. Karnad. He mentions that the MiG-23 was purchased by IAF when they were given choice of purchasing TU-22M. MiG-23 was purchased was a knee jerk reaction to purchase of F-16’s by Pakistan Air Force. But the general observation of the lack of foresight by the Indian Air Force to build up capabilities against Chinese is agreeable. He also mentioned that India had put the ICBM development in back burner because of lack of resources. My point of view is different. I assume that India is actually building ICBM capabilities in the DRDO’s Advanced Systems laboratory (ASL). ASL does not seem to have a publicly defined mandate. Mr. Karnad says that India is leasing Akulas and it will improve the second strike capability. I just wonder which Indian missile can be fired from it. Mr. Karnad also revealed that India is negotiating for purchase of TU-160 Black Jacks from Russia. He could be right; Russian Air Force did display Tu-160s with their capability to get their job done over Indian Ocean during Indo-Russian Naval Exercises (INDRA).
I would also like to add some vital comments by some good speakers present at the book launch. Dr. P.K. Iyengar, former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission made a point that, the Indian nuclear program was about weaponisation right from the start. He observed that, Nasser, Nehru and Tito, the three founders of Non- Alignment Movement (NAM) had agreed that if NAM has to be heard, it needs nuclear weapons. While Apsara reactor was established to get hands on Graphite machining and Cirrus was for extracting Plutonium. Dr. Iyengar was not at his verbal best on his opposition to India-US civil nuclear deal. Dr. Iyengar also recounted an incident that where he had asked the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for nuclear test. But Rajiv Gandhi responded by saying that he is putting a note to UN general assembly for disarmament.
Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh (Retd.) outlined the structure of the Indian nuclear command. He said that there was a National Commission (or Committee, I didn’t get that right). Then Executive Committee. These both are manned by civilians. Then the decision goes to another civil (DRDO and AEC) and military group who would translate the decisions into reality. Vice Admiral Madanjit also outlined the prospects of the Indian Nuclear submarine (ATV) building costs, costs of operation that includes the decision where would the ATV be berthed after it comes back from sea.
Ambassador Prakash Shah, IFS (Retd.) revealed that India signed Chemical Weapons ban (CWC) with the pre-condition that infamous Australia Group will be dissolved in future.
Dr. A.N. Prasad, former Director, BARC turned out to be the terrific speaker. He managed to come out with some pointed inferences, while I was wondering what he would speak since everybody else has spoken everything. He said that Thorium is the third stage but what about natural Uranium right now? He said that Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha had the vision to start extracting uranium right in 1960 with the uranium in Indian ore of just .07% (700 grams per ton). Those days, the world was operating 2-3% uranium content mines. Then he said that India lost focus and is now realizing the mistake of not continuing to build up on new mines and processing facility. He said that if the Indians would have concentrated on various ways of extracting uranium, we could have found alternative source like the Japanese have found a method of extracting uranium from sea water. One major point he brought out was that when the decision to build the nuclear submarine in 1970’s, the choice of the fuel was enriched uranium and not plutonium. India did not posses the facilities to enrich uranium but subsequently built it up.
black eagleIndian Agni missiles deployed in tunnels on Chinese border
India has built atleast 2 tunnels in mountains for storage of Agni Intermediate Range Ballastic Missile (IRBM). It was revealed by Mr. Bharat Karnad, who released his book “India’s Nuclear Policy” in Mumbai yesterday. He said that India is building more such facilities. Such tunnels will help India’s second strike capability, as; the Chinese Thermo Nuclear weapons cannot vaporize mountains.
Mr. Karnad explaind that it has been done to offset the deployments of Chinese IRBM”s in Chinese occupied Tibet. Mr. Karnad also outlined some scenarios when India and China might actually fight a war and the nuclear weapons might be used. One of the foremost reasons could be the Chinese plans to build a dam and divert water from Yarlung Zangbo (Brahmaputra) to the Yellow river. He said that China has already proceeded by the civil works. In a second scenario, he said, the new generation Tibetians who are very motivated, would launch an armed struggle against Chinese Imperialist. Another important fact he said was that India and China are already engaged in a battle to secure natural resources, even as far as Ecuador.
Bharat Karnad said that the weakest point of the Nuclear Chain of command was the will of the government to launch retaliatory strike. He said this was told to him by a retired Indian Army General. While Bharat karnad was unsure of current governments will, he and other speakers were unanimous that eventually the decision will come.
I have difference of opinion with some of the points made by Mr. Karnad. He mentions that the MiG-23 was purchased by IAF when they were given choice of purchasing TU-22M. MiG-23 was purchased was a knee jerk reaction to purchase of F-16’s by Pakistan Air Force. But the general observation of the lack of foresight by the Indian Air Force to build up capabilities against Chinese is agreeable. He also mentioned that India had put the ICBM development in back burner because of lack of resources. My point of view is different. I assume that India is actually building ICBM capabilities in the DRDO’s Advanced Systems laboratory (ASL). ASL does not seem to have a publicly defined mandate. Mr. Karnad says that India is leasing Akulas and it will improve the second strike capability. I just wonder which Indian missile can be fired from it. Mr. Karnad also revealed that India is negotiating for purchase of TU-160 Black Jacks from Russia. He could be right; Russian Air Force did display Tu-160s with their capability to get their job done over Indian Ocean during Indo-Russian Naval Exercises (INDRA).
I would also like to add some vital comments by some good speakers present at the book launch. Dr. P.K. Iyengar, former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission made a point that, the Indian nuclear program was about weaponisation right from the start. He observed that, Nasser, Nehru and Tito, the three founders of Non- Alignment Movement (NAM) had agreed that if NAM has to be heard, it needs nuclear weapons. While Apsara reactor was established to get hands on Graphite machining and Cirrus was for extracting Plutonium. Dr. Iyengar was not at his verbal best on his opposition to India-US civil nuclear deal. Dr. Iyengar also recounted an incident that where he had asked the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for nuclear test. But Rajiv Gandhi responded by saying that he is putting a note to UN general assembly for disarmament.
Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh (Retd.) outlined the structure of the Indian nuclear command. He said that there was a National Commission (or Committee, I didn’t get that right). Then Executive Committee. These both are manned by civilians. Then the decision goes to another civil (DRDO and AEC) and military group who would translate the decisions into reality. Vice Admiral Madanjit also outlined the prospects of the Indian Nuclear submarine (ATV) building costs, costs of operation that includes the decision where would the ATV be berthed after it comes back from sea.
Ambassador Prakash Shah, IFS (Retd.) revealed that India signed Chemical Weapons ban (CWC) with the pre-condition that infamous Australia Group will be dissolved in future.
Dr. A.N. Prasad, former Director, BARC turned out to be the terrific speaker. He managed to come out with some pointed inferences, while I was wondering what he would speak since everybody else has spoken everything. He said that Thorium is the third stage but what about natural Uranium right now? He said that Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha had the vision to start extracting uranium right in 1960 with the uranium in Indian ore of just .07% (700 grams per ton). Those days, the world was operating 2-3% uranium content mines. Then he said that India lost focus and is now realizing the mistake of not continuing to build up on new mines and processing facility. He said that if the Indians would have concentrated on various ways of extracting uranium, we could have found alternative source like the Japanese have found a method of extracting uranium from sea water. One major point he brought out was that when the decision to build the nuclear submarine in 1970’s, the choice of the fuel was enriched uranium and not plutonium. India did not posses the facilities to enrich uranium but subsequently built it up.
black eagleTHE ADM DETAILED
Back in February 1998 when India decided to co-develop with Russia the 290km-range supersonic BrahMos multi-role cruise missiles (MRCM), Pakistan decided to counter the BrahMos with two distinct types of cruise missiles—the 700km-range land- and sea-launched Babur/Hatf-7 (a scaled-down variant of China’s 1,500km-range DH-10A subsonic cruise missile), and the 350km-range air-launched Ra’ad/Hatf-8 air-launched cruise missile whose design, engineering development and series production tools and processes were reportedly acquired off-the-shelf from South Africa’s Denel Aerospace. Ten years later, while the Babur and Ra’ad have already entered operational service with all three armed services of Pakistan, in India’s case, only the land-launched and ship-launched variants of BrahMos has been inducted into service by the Indian Army and Navy (the latter did so in mid-2005), while the air-launched variant will be service-qualified only by 2009 and that too by the Navy (on board its eight Tu-142M Mod 4 maritime surveillance/ASW aircraft), not by the Indian Air Force (IAF). It is believed that the India-Russia joint venture BrahMos Aerospace Ltd is now no longer pursuing the prospect of qualifying the BrahMos on the IAF’s Su-30MKI air dominance combat aircraft. In a way, this portends well for the IAF as its operational requirements never called for acquiring BrahMos-type MRCMs (it already has standoff precision-guided munitions like the Kh-59MK and Popeye guided air-to-surface missiles and Harpy loitering anti-radar drones), but has instead, since late 1998, called for the acquisition of a family of multi-role supersonic ‘air-delivered munitions’ (ADM) with ranges of between 700km and 1,200km and capable of being armed with both conventional blast-fragmentation warheads as well as 300kT tactical nuclear warheads. The IAF’s reasons for acquiring the ADMs and not the BrahMos are primarily two-fold: the BrahMos’s target engagement envelope is limited to 290km and it can armed with only non-nuclear warheads due to Russia’s adherence to MTCR guidelines; and weight-cum- payload carriage limitations that have resulted in the BrahMos having the potential to be flight-qualified only on board the Su-30MKI.
The project to develop the ADM, whose existence has yet to be publicly acknowledged by either the Ministry of Defence (MoD) or the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), officially took off in late 2006, with the Hyderabad-based Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) and Bangalore-based Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) and Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE) being the principal DRDO-owned laboratories that are involved in the ADM’s R & D effort. Believed to have been roped in as technical consultants-cum-industrial partners are Israel Aerospace Industries & RAFAEL Armament Development Authority. Based on the IAF’s Air Staff Qualitative Requirements, the conventionally armed ADM (carrying a 300kg warhead) is required to have a range of 700km and be flight-qualified on both the Su-30MKI and the Dassault Mirage 2000TH. The tactical nuclear warhead-armed ADM will be required to have a range of 1,200km. Both variants will each be powered by a liquid-fuelled ramjet incorporating integrated accelerators. The ADM will have a maximum weight of no more than 900kg, length of 5.4 metres, diameter of 300mm, width of 0.98 metres, and cruise speed of Mach 2.2 at an altitude of 200 metres, which will increase to Mach 3 in its terminal cruise phase at an altitude of 50 metres. The conventionally armed ADM will use a tri-mode target homing system for precision-strike lethality and will comprise an imaging infra-red (IIR) seeker, a millimeter-wave radar and a semi-active laser homing device. For mid-course guidance use will be made of a ring laser gyro-based inertial navigation system coupled to a GPS receiver.–Prasun K. Sengupta
black eagleNIRBHAY UAV DETAILED
Under a fast-track project that forms an integral part of India’s efforts to develop a credible cruise missile defence system, the Defence Research & Development Organisation’s (DRDO) ADE and ASL laboratories are co-developing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) called Nirbhay (fearless) that will be both air-launched and ship-launched. Believed to have been launched in late 2005, the project calls for the UAV to be developed as both a high-speed target drone capable of simulating the flight profiles of land-attack/anti-ship cruise missiles like China’s DH-10A and Pakistan’s Babur, as well as sea-skimming anti-ship missiles like the A/RGM-84A Harpoon and C-802A, both of which are operational with the Pakistan Navy. In addition, a ground-launched conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant of the Nirbhay is also envisaged—this being a high-speed, medium-altitude vehicle equipped with a 130kg payload for standoff, theatre-level reconnaissance—in response to a specific air staff requirement of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
To be powered by a NPO Saturn-supplied 36MT turbofan rated at 400kg thrust, the Nirbhay’s target drone variant will be capable of cruising at a speed of Mach 0.92 at medium altitudes (10,000 feet) and 1,100kph at sea level, have a flight endurance of two hours, will sea-skim at 10 metres above sea level, will be able to pull up to 6.5 G, be equipped with a 130kg payload (of up to 24 different types such as towed radar/infra-red reflector/augmentation devices, EW jammers and hit-scorer avionics), and will have a digital flight management system that will enable the drone to undertake various flight manoeuvres like snaking, pop-up and a 40-degree dive. The ship-launched variant of Nirbhay will be equipped with twin solid-propellant boosters that will be ejected once the drone is airborne, while for the IAF, it will be configured for launch from an IL-76MD transport aircraft. For recovery purposes, both variants of the drone will be equipped with parachutes and inflatable air-bags. The drone will have a maximum takeoff weight of 650kg (minus the twin boosters), overall length of 5.5 metres, wingspan of 2.5 metres, and a fuselage diameter of 0.40 metres. The Nirbhay’s theatre reconnaissance CTOL-UAV variant for the IAF will be equipped with an X-band inverse synthetic aperture radar (most likely the EL/M-20600 from ELTA Systems of Israel), a wideband two-way data link, and a ring laser gyro-based inertial navigation system coupled to a GPS receiver. Maiden flight of the drone’s first prototype is scheduled for early 2009, while its CTOL-UAV variant is expected to fly later the same year. Present plans call for procuring up to 80 drones and 30 UAVs. Series production of the Nirbhay will be undertaken by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, while the 36MT turbofans will be procured off-the-shelf from NPO Saturn. In October 2006, NPO Saturn had inked a US$100 million contract with the DRDO under which the latter will deliver, starting this December, a total of 200 36MT turbofans through to 2010.–Prasun K. Sengupta
http://trishulgroup.blogspot.com/2008/11/nirbhay-uav-detailed.html
black eagleIndia successfully test-fires submarine-launched ballistic missile from land
BALASORE (ORISSA): India, for the first time on Wednesday, test-fired from a defence base in Orissa its submarine-launched ballistic missile
(SLBM) K-15 from a land-based launcher, defence sources said.
It was test-fired successfully from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in the district of Balasore, about 230 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.
The missile has two stages fitted into its half-metre-wide body. It can carry a payload up to one tonne and has a highest range of 700 km.
The missile had earlier undergone few tests in an underwater platform. The Wednesday test was intended to check speed, trajectory, azimuth and other parameters of the missile.
The K-15 missile has a length of around 11 metres, larger than the 8.5-metre-long Prithvi short-range ballistic missile but smaller than the 15-metre-long Agni-1 ballistic missile.
The district administration evacuated temporarily about 3,010 people from about five villages located within the two-km radius of the defence base hours before the test in the area, district collector A C Padhiary said.
black eagleIAF proposes to set up National Aeronautical Commission
NEW DELHI: Indian Air Force (IAF) has mooted a proposal to set up a National Aeronautical Commission (NAC) for developing indigenous capabilities
in the field of aviation.
“IAF has proposed setting up of a National Aeronautical Commission, an umbrella organisation, to oversee development of capabilities and niche technology in aviation,” IAF Vice Chief Air Marshal P V Naik said while addressing third International Conference on Energising Indian Aero Space Industry here today.
Air Marshal Naik said the Commission will be headed by National Security Advisor (NSA) and will include members from all the government departments concerned and public and private sector companies.
“The Commission is proposed to be headed by NSA and it will include all the members concerned from the three defence services, civil aviation, leading public sector undertakings and private entrepreneurs in defence field,” Naik told reporters.
He stated that to develop India as an aerospace power, indigenous technology development programmes should avoid time and cost overrun.
“One area that we need to be careful about is of time and cost overrun. We also have to be competitive in terms of prices, besides being far more efficient,” he said.
Commenting on future foreign tie-ups between public and private sector companies, he said, “Joint venture should be such that both the partners should be interdependent rather than we being dependent on them.”
black eaglewell the defence spokesman said it was based on a computer game & not real life. now it could be both, the truth or the opposite. but keep that in mind while making any assesment.
black eagleIndia to carry out test flight of LCH soon
New Delhi, Aug 31: India’s first indigenously-developed Light Combat Helicopter will be test flown later this year, in a major step aimed at giving a boost to the country’s fighting capabilities in the Himalayas. State-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has completed development of the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and it will test fly the chopper by the year-end.If the test flight goes smoothly, the LCH, built on the platform of a Cheetah body would be the second big feather in HAL’s cap after the Advanced Light Helicopter. The LCH is expected to fill vital gaps in India’s security as the armed forces lack a helicopter gunship which can operate in extreme high altitude above 9,000 feet.
The indigenous development of such a helicopter comes as IAF has recently floated international tenders for the purchase of 22 advanced helicopter gunships. Besides Eurocopter which is part of the defence and aviation consortium EADS, the other major contenders for this competition are Boeing’s AH-54D, Augusta Westland’s AW-129 Mangustu and Russia’s MI-28N NightHunters.
Top HAL officials said work on the project was going on as per schedule. The aerospace major had taken five years to design the Advanced Light Helicopter ‘Dhruv’ but it completed the design of the LCH within 16-17 months. The helicopter will be equipped with helmet-mounted targeting systems, electronic warfare systems and advanced weapons systems.
typical indian ignorant journalism.
black eagleFlying blind, Sukhois ‘shot’
SUJAN DUTTA
New Delhi, Aug. 22: Flying near-blind in the US, the Indian Air Force’s frontline Sukhoi 30Mki fighters have been “shot” down in missions at the Red Flag wargames, the toughest combat aircraft exercise that the US hosts for its allies.
The Russian-made Sukhoi 30Mkis have been asked to fly in the exercise only after switching off a sophisticated radar and without recourse to a key shield against surface-to-air missiles, a senior air force officer said. The exercise in which the IAF is participating for the first time entered its most complex phase today.
“Shooting down” or getting “shot down” must necessarily take place in a wargame. In 2003, US Air Force’s (USAF) F-15 Tomcat aircraft participating in an exercise out of Gwalior in India were similarly “shot down”.
Despite being hamstrung at the Red Flag games, the IAF contingent was getting invaluable training as part of a “Blue force” tasked to defend its territory against an aggressor “Red force” in the Nevada desert. The range over which the exercise is taking place has mock-ups of several targets that are mostly military establishments, air force spokesman Wing Commander Mahesh Upasani, who is with the contingent, told The Telegraph from the Nellis air force base.
The IAF is participating with eight Su-30s, two IL-78s (mid-air refuellers), an IL-76 (heavy lift transporters) and 247 men led by Group Captain D. Chaudhary. Frontline aircraft from the air forces of South Korea and France and, of course, the US are engaged both with the IAF and against it in the drills.
“Captain Marcus ‘Spike’ Wilson of the USAF Aggressors in his appreciation of the IAF has said the IAF is a world-class air force with great aircraft and great leadership,” said Upasani.
The IAF Sukhois have been asked not to show the full capacity of their BARS II radar so that their signatures may not be recorded.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080823/jsp/nation/story_9731711.jsp
black eagleAgni missile to get multiple warheads
Ajai Shukla / Hyderabad January 28, 2008
If the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre is the heart of India’s nuclear deterrent, the Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) in Hyderabad is its limbs and sinews.
The ASL Director, Avinash Chander, takes us through a spotless assembly room, where technicians are bolting sensitive instruments into the nose of a giant Agni-3 missile. It is eerie; before long, this very missile will roar off a launch pad on Wheeler’s Island in Orissa.
It will travel 350 km above the earth, re-enter the atmosphere at a speed of 5 kilometers per second, experiencing temperatures of 3000 degrees centigrade.
But the scientists here are cheerfully confident of repeating last April’s success, and proving the missile’s ability to deliver a one-and-a-half-ton nuclear bomb to within 100 metres of a target 3000 kilometers away.
And that is routine stuff, compared to what India’s Chief Controller of Missiles and Strategic Systems (CC-MSS), Dr VK Saraswat, has divulged to Business Standard.
He says that ASL is now working on new warhead technologies, which will equip the Agni-3 and all future missiles. The new warheads (usually nuclear bombs) will be capable of sneaking through enemy anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defences, fooling enemy radars and dodging enemy missiles.
The Agni’s new warheads, says the DRDO, will include five cutting-edge technologies:
# They will be multiple warheads (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles, or MIRVs), with each missile delivering several warheads at the same, or even different, targets.
# Decoy warheads, which will be fired alongside the genuine warheads, so that enemy’s missiles are wasted in attacking decoys, rather than the real warheads.
# Manoeuvring warheads, which will weave through the atmosphere, dodging enemy missiles that are fired at it.
# Stealth technologies to make the warheads invisible to enemy radars.
# Changing warheads’ thermal signatures, to confuse the enemy’s infrared seekers.
The decision to go in for enhanced warhead capabilities stems from growing ABM capabilities with many countries, including India, which has already conducted two successful ABM tests in Nov 2006 and Dec 2007, and plans a comprehensive two-stage ABM test this June.
Dr Saraswat says, “As we are developing missile defences, other countries are also doing that. I’m sure our immediate adversaries will also try, or they will acquire, so our future missiles should counter the threat of interception by anti-missile defences.”
The DRDO is already working on the technologies for these new systems, even though government sanction has not been formally taken.
Dr Saraswat says that, “The government sanction for that is just coming, but practically you can say it is received, because we have been asked to go ahead and the work is already on.”
By 2015-2020, according to current planning, India’s missile force will consist mainly of Agni-3 and Agni-4 missiles, all of them equipped with new-generation warheads.
The 5000-km range Agni-4 is also referred to as the Agni-3+, because it is almost identical in technology to the Agni-3. Its extra range comes merely from reducing its weight by making its rockets from composite materials, rather than the maraging steel, which is presently used. The Agni-4 is slated for its first flight trials in 2009.
The failure of the first Agni-3 flight test in July 2006 is now a distant memory. Avinash Chander is confident that, after two successful tests this year, an army unit will be equipped by 2009 with operational Agni-3 missiles.
The officers and jawans will soon move to Hyderabad, and learn to prepare and launch the missile. The army already has two Agni units: one equipped with 700-km Agni-1 missiles, the other with the 2000-km Agni-2.
The new Agni-3 missiles will all be assembled here in ASL. Unlike every other weapon system, there is no series production line for Agni missiles. Instead, selected Indian partners manufacture individual parts of the missile, which are then integrated in ASL and handed over to the army. Avinash Chander points out that the missile is 100% indigenous, with most of it produced by private industry.
The ASL Director says, “Agni has funded industry to create that infrastructure, so that we get the best of products. We are funding seed capital where necessary, and the money is recovered from the supplies that are made. With infrastructure costs so high, and the production numbers being limited, we invest… and ask the industry to manage the product.”
black eagleAir launched version of BrahMos cruise missile to be tested in 2009
The re-design and development of the air-launched version of the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile has been completed and the missile is ready for testing, defence minister AK Antony informed house member Raghuveer Singh Koshal through a written reply.
The missile has already been successfully developed for the Indian Navy and the Indian Army. Development of the air version had earlier been sanctioned, and work on integrating the missile with the Su-30MKI aircraft of the Indian Air Force has been progressing, the minister said.
According to the defence minister, suitable universal launchers for different types of aircraft have also been designed and tests on these air-launched versions would be carried out in 2009.
Earlier reports had indicated that the Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace Limited might eventually manufacture about 1,000 supersonic cruise missiles over a period of ten years.
Chile, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates are potential clients of this unique product.
The two-stage solid propulsion missile is about eight meters in length, with a takeoff weight of about three tons. It has a range of 290 kilometres and flies at three times the speed of sound to deliver a 200-300-kilogramme warhead on the target.
The name BrahMos fuses the names of the Indian Brahmaputra and Russian Moskva rivers.
black eagleIAF likes the Akash, the Army’s not impressed
IAF likes the Akash, the Army’s not impressed
The indigenously developed surface-to-air missile Akash, capable of engaging multiple targets, has impressed the Indian Air Force but not the Army.
The contradictory stands come at a time when Akash is going through a series of tests in the desert near Pokhran before full flight tests at the Balasore range along the Bay of Bengal.
According to defence sources, the IAF, impressed with the short-range missile that can identify enemy objects and engage multiple targets, has written to the Defence Research and Development Organisation offering to induct it in two units.
But the Army has written to the DRDO rejecting the system, pointing out that it was too late in the day for induction. Sources say “we are focused on the induction of Akash into the Air Force”.
“If the tests are successful in Pokhran then we will go in for the flight test in Balasore,” sources told DNA. If the flight test too was successful, production would begin.
Sources said the present tests in Pokhran were looking at “consistency” in the battery control centre, battery level radar and the launcher. Besides, it was looking at the efficacy of the system in identifying friend or foe accurately. The validation is being done by flying a number of aircraft and testing the accuracy of the system in identification of friend and foe.
Sources said if all the tests in Pokhran and Balasore were successful, induction in the IAF would begin. Serial production would have Bharat Electronics Limited as the lead contractor but with several private sector players actively involved.
black eagleField trials of Akash missiles at Pokhran impress IAF, says DRDO
Over a weeklong field trials of indigenously developed Surface-to-Air Missile Akash in the deserts of Rajasthan have impressed the top officials of Indian Air Force (IAF), according to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The medium range missile with a range of between 27 to 30 kms has yet to inducted by the IAF, and there were media reports earlier claiming that the IAF’s top brass were not satisfied with the missile system, as they found instances when parts of missiles fell from the main body.
Efforts were made to improve the missiles, and field trials were held.
The recent field trials conducted in Pokhran in the second week of November have put to rest such kinds of speculations.
“The IAF officials were completely impressed by the field trials of the missiles,” said a DRDO official.
In August this year, answering to a question in Lok Sabha, Defence Minister A K Antony clarified that the IAF has not declined the induction of Akash missile.
Development of Akash missile is a part of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), and the missile system was expected to be inducted by the Indian Army and the Air Force by 2003.
As on July 31, 2007, an amount of Rs. 492.41 crore has already been spent on development of Akash, which has a launch weight of 720 kg, a diameter of 35 cm and a length of 5.8 metres.
It can fly at supersonic speed of around 2.5 Mach and can reach an altitude of 18 kms.
The missile is supported by multi-target and multi-function phased array fire control radar called ‘Rajendra’ that has a range of about 60 km.
The first test flight of the missile was conducted in 1990, and since then many development and field trials have taken place.
Sign In
