With MiG 25’s gone, Sukhois to become eye in the sky

The Indian Air Force (IAF) would soon be getting new snooping capabilities along the eastern border with a squadron of Su-30 MKI fighters being prepared for special reconnaissance missions.

A year after the mighty MiG-25 spy planes were phased out of service at the Bareilly airbase, the latest fighters in IAF’s inventory are being fitted with Israeli reconnaissance systems that will help them look more than 300 km inside Chinese territory without crossing the border.

A team of experts from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will shortly visit the airbase to integrate the Elta Reconnaissance System on the fighters and help set up a ground receiving station to collect live images being taken by the aircraft, a senior IAF officer confirmed.

“With the MiG-25’s gone, there was a gap in surveillance capabilities. The (Bareilly-based) 24 Squadron has now been tasked with reconnaissance duties and will shortly be fitted with recon pods,” the officer said, adding that reconnaissance will be just one of the many roles tasked to the squadron.

The new systems being fitted on the aircraft will enable them to map out the enemy territory at a rate of 50,000 sq km per hour and send back live images to the airbase for interpretation.

A state-of-the-art receiving station to process the images will also be set up at Bareilly, which is being developed as a hub for the Su-30 MKI fighters on the eastern front. While the airbase already houses a squadron of the latest Phase III version of the fighters, another squadron is currently being raised for deployment along the eastern border.

“Bareilly is strategically located and we are converting it into a hub for Su-30 MKI fighters. Another squadron, No 8 The Pursuits, is being re-equipped with the fighters and will also be based here,” Group Captain PV Gadgil, Chief Operations Officer of the airbase, told The Indian Express.

Other than the data receiving stations, a world class avionics lab has been established at the airbase for second line repair and inspection of equipment on board the aircraft. “The largest fighter aircraft hangar in the country is coming up at the base where eight Sukhois can be serviced at the same time. A service support centre to maintain the aircraft is also being constructed,” said Group Captain Rajiv Gandhotra, Chief Engineering Officer (CEO) of the base.

The IAF is looking at deploying the aircraft at the Tezpur airbase next year once sufficient numbers of the fighters arrive from Russia.

http://www.idrw.org/2007/09/30/with_mig_25vs_gone_sukhois_to_become_eye_in_the_sky.html

India’s first space varsity takes off in August

India’s first space university is all set to take wings next month seeking to groom tailor-made experts to fuel the country’s satellite and rocket programmes.

“August middle is our target”, said G Madhavan Nair, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, which is setting up the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) and expected to meet the high technology requirements of ISRO.

It would initially operate from the campus of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram, a lead centre of ISRO, which will create a full-fledged infrastructure for IIST on a picturesque site in Ponmudi near the Kerala capital in about two years.

The Institute, which offers technically tuned courses in space science and technology, has already attracted some of India’s bright minds encouraging India’s space agency.

“The response is really good. Original plan was to take from the so-called extended list of IIT JEE. But we could see large number of applicants from the main list of IIT itself”, Nair told PTI in an interview.

ISRO sources said around 150 students were expected to be enrolled in aeronautical and avionics engineering and integrated MSc in space sciences in the first academic year.

Nair said ISRO came up with the idea of setting up of the institute as it was faced with a “very alarming situation” in terms of attracting the right talent for India’s space programmes.

Most of the students who come out of IIT and IISc etc� they go to either Management, IT or abroad. So, they are not available to the Indian scientific community,” Nair said.

The Bangalore-based ISRO gets 70,000-plus applications annually from students of other institutions, from which it’s able to short-list around 1,500 by way of written tests.

“In the final selection process, we are not able to get even 200. On an average, we require about 300. This has been a very alarming situation. We don’t want to dilute quality”, the Chairman of the Space Commission said.

Nair said this “difficult process” actually becomes a real hunt for talent at the country-level.

“We cannot take the marks given by institutions and engineering colleges. We are forced to conduct our own test and finally we get only a handful of people. So, this is not a very healthy situation.

“So, we thought we need to plan something unique; catch the students right at the young age itself, at the Plus 2 level (class 12)”, Nair, also Secretary in the Department of Space, said.

“They will be taught in propulsion, aerodynamics, navigation, guidance, sub-systems, avionics, control systems and so on”, he said. “So, that way, as soon as they come out of the Institute, they will be usable by us”.

ISRO has totally subsidised the education and the students passing out of the IIST are required to serve the space agency for five years. If not, they would have to pay the bond amount.

http://www.idrw.org/2007/07/22/indias_first_space_varsity_takes_off_in_august.html

is that a NIRBHAY pic?

Defence Acquisition Committee To Issue RFP For Air Force MRCA Deal Within 15 Days

The Defence Acquisition Committee (DAC) will meet in a fortnight to decide on the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the acquisition of 126 jet fighters by the Indian Air Force, Defence Minister A K Antony said today.

“The DAC will be meeting within a fortnight and decide on the RFP. All negotiations are over and now it is a question of formalities,” he told reporters when asked about the delay in issuing the RFP document for the multi-million dollar acquisition programme.

He said the RFP was likely to be issued within “one or two months”. Earlier too, Antony has maintained that the RFP would be issued within two months.

Asked whether the Defence Ministry was “worried” about the acquisition of airpower by the LTTE, he said “we are watching that. We are not worried, but are concerned. A terrorist organisation gaining this kind of capability is a matter of concern”.

On Sri Lanka, he said India had the “most cordial relations with the country. We are committed to its sovereignty, unity and integrity”.

To Colombo’s request for the supply of radars and other equipment to help them in their fight against LTTE, he said “We will support them in whatever help they need”. He also pointed out that the ultimate solution to the ethnic problem was not military but a political solution.

Asked why the budgetary resources of the Ministry remained unspent in the last fiscal, Antony said the Defence Procurement Policy was approved in September 2006, bringing in new procedures and rules. “There was a certain delay, but we will fulfil the targets this year,” he asserted.

http://www.india-defence.com/reports-3324

Indo-Russian Defense Ties: Trouble Brewing Underneath
http://www.india-defence.com/reports-3319

Deep historical ties and high volume trade apart, serious challenges confront Indo-Russian Defense Ties

NUCLEAR SUBMARINES, Heavy Battle Tanks, Fighter Jets and Aircraft Carriers – this is a just partial list of the current defence trade items between India & Russia, which is estimated to be worth upto $10 billion by 2010. For three decades and more, Russia has been, and today still is, India’s largest trading partner.

The Russian defence industry, which used to enjoy a huge monopoly in the Indian market, has however in recent times found it very hard to hold on to its market share. Since 1992, when India and Israel established full diplomatic ties, Israel has grown exponentially to become India’s second largest defense partner expected to overtake Russia in coming years. European and American defense companies are too making the most of the ‘liberalization’ of Indian Defense. And if competition from Western Defence giants was not enough, the growing thaw in Indo-Russian defence relations is making it even harder for Russia to maintain its dominance in Indian defence.

BrahMos – Indo Expo 2006 Fiasco

The friction first became public when, for the first time, Russian missile makers accused the BrahMos Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. of using unfair marketing practices for the promotion of the PJ-10 BrahMos Supersonic cruise missile. Brahmos Ltd. is a Joint Venture between India and Russia and manufactures state-of-the-art cruise missiles suitable for land, sea and air based launch platforms.

The spat occurred in a defense exhibition held in Indonesia (Indo Expo 2006) as marketing initiatives of BrahMos clearly overshadowed all of the Russian missile exhibitors. Accusations were exchanged to-and-fro but the incident highlighted the growing friction between the Indian and Russian defence industry.

Russia had always viewed India as a perennial market and signs of India becoming an equal competitor was not being taken very well in Moscow. And instead of fair and healthy competition, the Russians resorted to allegations, accusations and political/diplomatic maneuvering. The first signs of Russia’s growing incompatibility with India’s evolving defense industry.

Cost Reviews for Concluded Deals

In May 2007, Russia pushed for an overall review of all defence deals signed between the two nations. Russia lobbied passionately for increasing the price even for deals that were already signed. The Russians cited the appreciating Rouble vis-a-vis the U.S. Dollar, and while the Russian concerns would force them to increase the price of upcoming deals, their desire to review the price of deals already concluded did not go down too well with the Indian Ministry of Defence.

The prevailing feeling is that Russia has not acknowledged the fact that India’s options today are far greater than when Russia enjoyed a monopoly in the Indian market back in the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s. Today India can purchase European, American and Israeli arms and neither finances nor diplomatic ties are an hindrance. India does enjoy excellent ties with traditionally U.K. and France and the relations with the United States have made rapid strides in recent years with India & the U.S. having signed significant strategic agreements in recent years.
Cost Overruns & Delays

Despite numerous denials and attempted cover-ups by the Indian Navy, the Defense Minister had to acknowledge and confirm media reports that the Admiral Gorskhov/INS Vikramaditya deal was facing cost overruns and potential delays. The reports initially appeared in Russian and then Indian media outlets and the Navy tried first denying and then scaling down the scale of problems but the Defence Ministers statement was all but a confession for the same.

This is not the first major defence deal with Russia to face such problems. The Indian Army’s MBT T-90S is also facing major issues wrt munitions, suspension and overall performance in the Indian desert conditions. Some in the Armed Force have a preference for non Russian arms and such can be understood given the track record so far.

As a result many of India’s current purchases from Russia have multi-national inputs for example the Air Force Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter jet deal has a great deal of Indian and Israeli systems embedded on the Russian Su-30 platform. The PHALCON AWACS deal too is of a similar nature.

Russians & the Integrity Pact

In 2006, the MOD released a Defence Procurement Manual which prominently contained an Integrity Pact which barred bidders from using middle men aka. defence agents to win national contract. In a surprising admission, the Russian side informed MOD that some clauses in the Integrity Pact were “conflicting” with Russian domestic laws and that they wouldn’t sign the same.

Under the Integrity Pact, if it is found that either side had agents or paid commissions then criminal cases can be initiated by India and the other side has to cooperate. Arms dealers are banned under the defence procurement policy 2006. April 2007 saw intense negotiations between the Ministry of Defence and Russian representatives to ensure that the latter’s stand do not “delay” India’s defence modernization and massive procurement programmes; but then delays were witnessed for one reason or another in almost all major defence deals with Russia.

Future Trends

The Russians so far have come off to be pretty inefficient and rather combative despite enjoying a major stake of the Indian defence pie. Instead of leveraging their present position as the dominant player, they’ve creating openings for Israelis, Americans and Europeans to venture. Even CIS states such as Ukraine and Kazakhstan have won defence deals with India where Russia failed to seize the initiative.

While Russia will continue to be a major partner for India in the coming decades, the Russian industry needs to learn to compete with the West, the Israelis and domestic defense players if it chooses to be dominant in coming years. The fact remains that the defence market today is a buyers market and that India is one of the largest defense importers in the world.

bharat-rakshak.com/NEWS/newsrf.php?newsid=8660

IAF’s Sukhoi SU-30 jets lack EW system

The Indian Air Force’s Sukhoi SU-30 combat jets lack an electronic warfare (EW) system, parliament was informed on Wednesday.

The EW system was not incorporated in the fighter as it was ‘not identified’ in the 1996 contract for purchasing the aircraft from Russia, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

The EW system is also not incorporated in the SU-30s being manufactured in India under license by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the minister added.

The IAF currently operates two squadrons (40 aircraft) of Su-30s that were inducted in 2004. Delays in its licensed manufacture here have prompted the IAF to place an order for another 40 aircraft.

Antony said: ‘The general contract of December, 2000 was signed with Russia for manufacture of SU-30 aircraft by HAL as per the Standard of Preparation (SOP) for direct purchased aircraft contracted by MoD (ministry of defence) in 1996.

‘Electronic warfare system was not included in the general contract because the system was not identified for the aircraft at that time.

‘The Su-30 aircraft manufactured by HAL under licence is of the same SOP as that of stage III aircraft supplied directly by Russia,’ the minister added.

Antony also said HAL planned to establish facilities for repairing and overhauling the SU-30 by 2008.

The aircraft would become due for overhaul from 2010 onwards.

Russia’s GLONASS satellite navigation system runs into problems

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) is a radio-based satellite navigation system developed by the Soviet Union and now operated for the Russian government by the national Space Force. It is the Russian counterpart of the United States’ Global Positioning System (GPS).

GLONASS has both military and civilian applications and is a graphic example of how space technology can be put to work back on Earth.

In late March, a meeting of the State Council Presidium held in Kaluga, a town southwest of Moscow, discussed the national space program. President Vladimir Putin, who chaired the meeting, said the commissioning of the GLONASS system is a top national priority and expressed hope that the system will start operating this year.

First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, a likely candidate to succeed Putin, said the operational GLONASS cluster will have at least 18 satellites before the year is out and will cover the whole of Russia. Ivanov oversees the development of the GLONASS system together with the Space Force and the Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos).

On April 9, Roskosmos Director Anatoly Perminov told the International Satellite Navigation Forum that Russia planned to launch six revamped spacecraft this year and to bring the number of GLONASS satellites to 24 in 2009. He said the GLONASS system would then be able to cater to users all over the world.

Unfortunately, the GLONASS project still faces major problems. The Russian mission control center said only 12 out of the 19 GLONASS satellites now in orbit are currently operating. Four more satellites now orbiting the Earth may be commissioned in the future, enlarging the GLONASS cluster to 16 spacecraft.

However, only seven of these are revamped Uragan-M satellites, whereas the rest are obsolete spacecraft, whose service life has either expired or will expire soon.

Quite possibly, all old spacecraft may stop functioning by late 2008. In this case Russia will have to launch 17 new satellites by the end of 2009. And working out the required launch schedule would be a mind-boggling task.

Moreover, to launch spacecraft in space is only part of the problem. It takes several months to commission them. Of three spacecraft launched in December 2006, one has not been activated yet. Some satellites were commissioned only eight months after launch.

Nevertheless, in line with the president’s instruction, all 24 GLONASS satellites will have to be deployed by 2009. With this aim in view older satellites are sometimes shut off in order to extend their service life, in order to report at the right time that the system is ready for operation. But this does not necessarily mean that the entire system will function without a hitch. It is also unclear whether the GLONASS system can be used on a global scale.

Each of the three GLONASS orbital planes will have eight satellites. The U.S. GPS cluster, which also has 24 spacecraft, plus five stand-by satellites, will eventually increase to 48.

Some elements of the GLONASS cluster, which has no stand-by satellites, are regularly deactivated for maintenance purposes. In fact, the system has not operated at full capacity since 1995 and therefore has not been able to cover the entire world.

One of the 24 satellites flies just above the horizon and so cannot be seen. With its 18 spacecraft GLONASS will only ensure uninterrupted ship and airplane traffic, while other users will have to wait for two hours or more. For this reason, it is unlikely that GLONASS could operate on the GPS-dominated Russian navigation services market in the next five to ten years.

Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said only about 1,200 of Russia’s 5,000 airliners have navigation equipment, mostly GPS receivers (92%); GLONASS receivers account for the remaining 8%.

Although Sergei Ivanov is in charge of the system’s development, President Putin has aptly remarked that no one is directly responsible for the end result and for the system’s ground segment. Moreover, Russian enterprises have not yet mastered batch production of user-friendly navigation equipment.

The situation is reminiscent of the COSPAS-SARSAT project, an international satellite-based search and rescue system, established by Canada, France, the United States and the former U.S.S.R. in 1979. The COSPAS-SARSAT cluster was fully deployed in 1995, but production of navigating equipment remained a problem. There are now about 660,000 locator beacons operating in the world, but there are only several hundred Russian planes and helicopters that have them. As before, it sometimes takes months to locate a missing plane in the Siberian taiga.

We must realize that the GLONASS system will not be commissioned before 2010-2011, and that there would be no use for a smaller 18-satellite version.

There are plans to orbit the first Uragan-K satellites, i.e. modified versions of the non-hermetically sealed Express-1000 space platform, in 2009-2010. Each Uragan-K satellite will have three channels, including one for civilian users, which will ensure its dependability and precision of navigation. The new satellite will weigh two times less than its predecessor, the Uragan-M.

This means that the new medium-class Soyuz-2 rockets, rather than the expensive heavy-duty Proton vehicles, will be able to launch two Uragan-Ks at a time from the Plesetsk space center in the Arkhangelsk Region, in northern Russia. In all, there are plans to orbit 27 such satellites that will operate until 2025.

A future, more advanced satellite navigation system will be made up of Uragan-KM spacecraft, whose specifications are currently being worked out. Flight tests will begin in 2015.

Yury Zaitsev is an academic advisor at the Russian Academy of Engineering Sciences.

http://www.idrw.org/2007/05/01/russias_glonass_satellite_navigation_system_runs_into_problems.html