Naval Chief rules out move to reopen Scorpene submarine deal

NEW DELHI, AUG 11 (PTI)

Naval Chief Admiral Arun Prakash today ruled out any move to “reopen” the multi million dollar Scorpene Submarine deal with France negotiated by the previous NDA Government as he said Navy was seeking the launch of a dedicated satellite for networking its fleet.

While admitting that certain clarfications had been sought from the French warship builders DCN international, Prakash emphasised that the “Scorpene deal had been negotiated, scrutinised by watchdog agencies as well as by the Cabinet and was awaiting nod from the Cabinet Committee on Security”.

“The project is being revived and I am sure Government will look favourably at it”, the Naval Chief said amidst widespread speculation that the deal was being reopened with fresh bids being allowed by rival German HDW bidders.

Under the 1.5 million US dollar deal, which may now face some cost esclation, India, under a technology transfer deal, is to build six of these killer class submarines at Mazagoan docks in Mumbai with the first submarine expected to roll out by 2011 and the entire fleet by 2016.

The deal, Prakash said, was very vital for the Navy as in coming years it could face a “serious void” in underwater strike capability.

In his first formal interaction with the media after taking over as 20th Chief of the Naval Staff, the Naval Chief said his main thurst areas would be to have a satellite-based network centric operations like advanced western Navies, which would give Indian Navy more strike capability in the Indian ocean.

The Naval Chief said “with the Navy about to acquire high value weapon platforms like carrier Gorshkov, missiles, sensors and submarines, satellite guided navy wide network centric operations would enable the force to dictate the tempo of battle”.

For the purpose, he said Navy had approached the government seeking launch of a dedicated communication satellite through ISRO and help of the IT industry to set up the networking.

Voicing strong concern over the declining force levels, the new Naval Chief said moves had been initiated to arrest this trend and towards this, 19 more warships were in various stages of construction in the country’s shipyards which included Stealth Classs Frigates Advanced Destroyers and the country’s first indigenous Air Defence Ship.

On the indigenous carrier, he said the warship would be of 38,000 tonne displacement with all consultancy agreements signed. Prakash said design of the warship was being finalised and that actual work and steel cutting would be undertaken in ” matter of months if not weeks”.

On other acquisition plans, the Naval Chief said negotiation were at final stages for induction of more maritime patrol aircraft and deep submersible rescue vehicles adding that talks were on with various vendors, including the Americans.

While stonewalling questions on whether there was a move to acquire nuclear submarines, Prakash said though the Navy wanted them, it was upto the Government to take a decision on this. On the indigenous advance technology vehicle project, he said it was a DRDO project, without elaborating.

http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=241456

Visualisation of Aerodynamics

3D design reviews with crystal Eyes

Pressure Variation on the wing

Virtual prototype in progress

CAD data in PRANA

FEM data in PRANA

CFD data in Prana

Environmental Control System

INDIA’S LASER TECHNOLOGY STATUS

An IDC Analysis

New Delhi, 10 December 2002

We present a point of view contributed by one of our regulars –– Sayan Mazumdar from Kolkata –– on India’s laser technology status. He is both knowledgeable and keen on India becoming a strong military power.

The Indian Air Force had done a lot of work in adapting laser-guided bomb technolgy and that effort needs to be pursued. Cooperation with Russia and other countries may be the answer to our many technological DRDO projects, so that they succeed and the costs can be amortised. We are aware that Indian defence scientists cannot do everything on their own. Do send in your views on this article.

India’s Laser Technology Efforts

By Sayan Mazumdar

India unveiled its high technology laser weapons programme during mid 1994 just prior the visit of then Prime Minister P.V. Narashima Rao to the United States. The programme included a tactical laser beam system designed to destroy “terrain hugging” land-attack cruise missiles and low flying aircraft and attack helicopters. DRDO scientists at that point of time had stated that the Indian laser weapons programme was a decade old and at least five years away from a working prototype of a laser weapon.

Developments at that point of time included high power combustion driven gas dynamic lasers and arc tunnels. Laser outputs of 1 Kilowatt, with pressure of 30 atm and heat up to 1800 Kelvin had been achieved. To function as a weapon system laser outputs of at least 10 Kilowatt with comparable increase in pressure and temperature were needed and were projected to be achievable within “next four to five years”.

The laser programme was also working on carbon dioxide wave-guide lasers for use in communications, and especially in weapons guidance, ranging, tracking and imaging that is applied to LGBs (Laser Guided Bombs), to be delivered on enemy targets with pin-point accuracy. Surgical strikes on high-value military installations are thus facilitated with minimum collateral damage.

Solid-state lasers were being developed for use as super-high-speed ignition systems to arm missiles. Various sub-systems for laser research had been developed like laser compatible optical glass, metal mirrors and high-energy Xenon lamps for laser pumping.

Lasers and other directed energy weapons are all well set to play a vital role in future conflicts. On a global scale the most famous laser weapon is mounted on YAL-1/747, which is a modified Boeing 747-400 carrying a 2.64 metre diametre nose turret housing beam steering optics for a chemical oxygen-iodine laser. The aircraft is projected to loiter around at 40,000 feet and shoot down theatre ballistic missiles in the boost phase from a distance of 600 kilometres. Also under development is THEL (Thermal High Energy Laser) designed to shoot down short-range artillery rockets fired from MBRLs (Multi-Barrel Rocket Launchers).

Emergence of sophisticated low-power yet high-energy lasers facilitated miniaturisation of laser weaponry to be developed for fighter-sized aircraft. It is reported that a 25 KW to 100 KW laser weapon was being developed for the projected JSF (Joint Strike Fighter).

Under such circumstances, the Indian scientists should make rapid strides in development of indigenous laser weapons of sufficient capacity within a given time frame. If necessary, joint-collaboration with the Russians and/or Israelis should be welcome

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I heard that KALI-5000 is the EMP beam weapon (soft-kill) while the Durga is the laser (like starwars). Any information ?

Where do you see that MiG-29K will have thrust vectoring? MiG-29OVT does, but that’s not a production model. Don’t know about RD-33MK, but MiG-29K isn’t vectoring any thrust, as far as I know.

Here it is………….

India carrier buy ups the ante in Asia/Pac
by Reuben F. Johnson
http://www.ainonline.com/Publications/asian/asian_04/d3_indiap13.html

The Asia/Pacific region is about to see a significant change in the balance of naval and air power as India commits to another round of major weapon systems purchases from Russia. The first step in this geopolitical shift occurred last month when a high-level Russian delegation journeyed to New Delhi to sign contracts for the sale and refitting of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier (to be delivered in 2008) and a full complement of Mikoyan MiG-29K carrier-capable fighters.

Officially, the carrier will be provided to the Indians free, but the modifications and other refits will run approximately $650 to $700 million. The MiG-29K contract is valued at another $700 million or more with a combined price tag for both programs of approximately $1.5 billion.

The Indian program is far-reaching in two aspects. First of all, it calls for an ambitious refitting of the Gorshkov that includes extending the ship’s flight deck to allow for the MiG-29K’s operational requirements and installing takeoff catapults similar to that used on U.S. and French-built carriers. No Russian carrier has ever been fitted with a catapult and no design bureau has experience with the construction of steam catapults, which has some skeptical observers asking if the 2008 deadline is feasible.

The second dimension is that this new version of the MiG-29K will be one of the most advanced aircraft to be produced thus far by Russia’s aerospace industry. The 12 MiG-29K-9.41 and four two-seat MiG-29KUB-9.47 models will be practically two generations beyond that of the original MiG-29K-9.31 airplane that was designed for the original Russian carrier trials in the late 1980s.

According to MiG officials, the new-generation MiG-29 is decidedly different from all other versions of the aircraft that have come before it and represents an entirely new era in the history of this aircraft. Furthermore, the production facilities at MiG have been measurably improved and are now the most advanced of their kind anywhere in the former Soviet Union.

[colour=red]The MiG-29K-9.41/7 variants will feature a combination of a new avionics suite and radar set that are more than 80 percent common with the other new Indian front-line aircraft, the Su-30MKI. One of the only differences is that while the Su-30MKI is equipped with a NIIP N011M Bars radar, the MiG-29K will have the latest derivative of the Phazotron Zhuk model. This unified avionics package will allow the Indians to cross-train pilots on more than one type of aircraft. MiG also plans to offer this new set of on-board systems as a retrofit modernization option for the Indian air force’s large fleet of land-based MiG-29s acquired in the 1980s.[/color]

The MiG-29K-9.41/7 will provide the pilot with a state-of-the-art digital fly-by-wire flight control system and a full-authority digital engine control (FADEC) module for the aircraft’s two Klimov RD-33K engines. Thrust vector control (TVC) is another option that has been offered. The cockpit will be an ultramodern design, featuring three 6- by 8-inch color displays and driven by a new design main mission computer. The Zhuk radar is also “definitely nothing like the old original 1990s N010 design,” said one MiG official.

As important as these new technologies are, the other significant advance with the new MiG-29K has been in the extensive use of advanced materials. As with the earlier MiG-29K model, the center wingbox section has the louvred, blown-in doors removed, but the material used is now a more advanced aluminum alloy that is more resistant to corrosion. The internal volume freed up by this change can then be used for fuel.

“Which means we end up with an aeroplane that holds more fuel than even the MiG-29SMT-9.17 version of the aircraft, has a stronger and more robust structure, but still weighs less,” said a senior designer.

But the black cloud that looms over the program is the desire by other enterprises in the Russian aerospace complex to poach part or all of this contract (along the $700 million to be made on it) away from MiG. “We are genuinely confident that the Indians will realize that this contract belongs at the firm where the aeroplane was designed and where the real expertise is,” said one MiG representative, “but we still are concerned.”

What makes this Prithvi any different from P1 or P2? Other than the absent mid-body fins.

P-1 has 150 km range. P-2 dnt know( may be 250 km).

P-3 IAF has 330 km range & it is guided by GPS.