http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/N…show/955967.cms
HAL in $700m JV with Irkut Corp

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2006 01:35:04 AM]

BANGALORE: Hindustan Aeronautics has entered into a $700-million joint venture (JV) agreement with Irkut Corporation of Russia for manufacturing 60-tonne multi-role transport aircraft (MRTA). Under this 50:50 JV, Ilyushin Design Bureau of Russia will design the MRTA and Irkut corporation of Russia will develop the aircraft.

Series production of 100-seater MRTA aircraft will be taken up by the transport aircraft division of HAL at Kanpur. Initially, HAL plans to develop MRTA as a freighter aircraft for military use.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Ashok Baweja, chairman, HAL, said, “We are also in dialogue with Airbus for setting up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) plant at the existing HAL airport in Bangalore. The discussion will start taking shape next month.” He added, “Once the upcoming international airport in Devenhalli becomes operational, we will also use the existing airport for certification process of our own aircraft.”

HAL has also signed a $20-million ten-year deal with the US-based aircraft engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, a part of the United Technologies company for manufacturing high-precision engine components. “HAL order book as of March 2006 is about Rs 30,000 crore, which it expects to liquidate in three to four years,” said Mr Baweja.

HAL is planning to set up an engine plant in Bangalore and Koraput in Orissa for manufacturing the high-precision engine components with Pratt & Whitney. These plants are expected to become operational only after two years. Bangalore will have a plant for static engine parts and Koraput for rotating engine parts.

HAL eyes tie-ups with global aviation majors
Our Bureau

Aims to treble turnover to $3 b by 2011

MR ASHOK K. BAWEJA, Chairman, HAL, addressing a press conference in Bangalore on Wednesday. — G.R.N. Somashekar

Bangalore , Dec. 27

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd is embarking on new partnerships with global aviation majors for military and civil projects with an eye on trebling the turnover to $3 billion by 2011, according to its Chairman, Mr Ashok K. Baweja.

The defence PSU expects to cross the Rs 7,000-cr mark this year. For 2005-06, it posted a turnover of Rs 5,375 crore at a growth rate of over 18 per cent.

Currently, the aircraft major is the object of interest of many global aircraft and aero engine majors such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Airbus, Bell, Eurocopter, Pratt & Whitney, for sourcing and manufacturing tie-ups, Mr Baweja told a news conference on Wednesday.

“With an order book of Rs 28,000 crore and a robust financial health, the company is poised to leap to a turnover of over $3 billion (about Rs 13,300 crore) in the next five years.”

“India is today an exciting place for world aviation majors who are looking at HAL as a partner. There are large offset opportunities in military and civil projects. Indian aviation is (set for) the same boom as IT and pharma sectors,” he said.

The current orders for mainly Sukhoi, Jaguar, LCA fighters and the indigenous intermediate jet trainer should last for the next 3-4 years.
MRO unit

While HAL would continue its core business of defence fleet maintenance, it is looking at entering civil aircraft MRO activities with Airbus and its MRO associates from 2008.

This would be from the existing airport at Bangalore, which would be replaced by the new one coming up at Devanahalli.

“We are in a fairly involved stage on the MRO. The picture would be clearer in the next 1-2 months,” Mr Baweja said.

Venture with P&W

In its first venture with Canadian major Pratt & Whitney, HAL would invest Rs 100 crore to set up an engine components manufacturing facility at its Koraput division.

The facility would begin in a year or two and the tooling process has begun.

P&W would provide the technical support – including training and quality audit of the facilities. This foray should generate an annual business of $50 million (around Rs 200 crore) for HAL over the next 10 years. The company has also been contracted to supply the fuselages for G150 eight-seater business jets made by the US-based Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.

Dhruv plans

HAL is speeding up the supply of its order for 200 `Dhruv’ advanced light helicopters for the Armed Forces.

The indigenous Dhruv with a new glass cockpit makeover is expected to get certified by February while a high-altitude variant with a new engine would be out next year. Currently, 70 of these helicopters are in service, including with ONGC and other civil agencies.

$ 700-m MRTA PLAN

HAL and its Russian partners are about to seal a fresh $700-million plan for a 60-tonne multi-role military transport aircraft (MRTA).

HAL will hold 50 per cent stake in the proposed partnership with Russian aircraft consortium Irkut Corporation and the Ilyushin Design Bureau.

This project could evolve into a 100-seater project. The work share arrangement would be finalised in a month’s time, Mr Baweja said

27 Dec 2006 – India
http://www.jeccomposites.com/composites-ne…space-Labs.html

National Aerospace Labs sets up Bangalore carbon fibre unit

The National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) has set up the country’s first carbon fibre manufacturing facility in Bangalore at an investment of about Rs 300 million

The plant will produce 20 tonnes of fibre per annum which would be used for light combat aircraft (LCA), missile and space programmes. NAL is currently in talks with private agencies for managing and operating the facility.

“Carbon fibre composites are extremely light and can address various issues related to the weight of an LCA or a missile. India imports carbon fibre from other countries, at present. It has many applications in aerospace and automobile industry,” said A R Upadhyaya, director of NAL.

According to him, the largest consumers of carbon fibre composites are Airbus and Boeing. “Worldwide, the demand for carbon fibre is growing. Due to large orders placed by MNCs, we are facing difficulties in timely supply of the material,” he pointed out.

The new facility, funded by the Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Aeronautical Development Agency, is currently awaiting formal certification. “Industrial production is expected to start by next March,” he added. NAL is planning to use the indigenous carbon fibre composites for its Saras project.

“Saras is being put through the weight reduction programme,” Mr Upadhyaya said. NAL, he said, had also received a project from ISRO for carbon fibre composites besides some export orders.

“We are also looking at using carbon composites for Agni missile programme,” said Avinash Chander, director (ASL) of DRDO. The organisation is planning its next Agni missile testing by early next year.

Source : The Economic Times

nice………………….
guys any guess if the MRTA will be used as chosen platform for Small Scale Indigenous AWACS?

The Karwar base, which is being built for about $7 billion, will be the biggest naval base in Asia. It will be the home port for the homegrown Air Defense Ship aircraft carrier, French-built Scorpene submarines, a homegrown nuclear submarine and the former Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, now renamed INS Vikramaditya, which will be commissioned into the Indian Navy in the next two years

:diablo: it should be A Dozen.

1200km CM sagarika is slated for 1st test in 2007. if things go well it will reach IOC in 5 years. length and diameter maybe similar to brahmos permitting the
same VL system to be reused with slight changes.

the naval tomahawk has this kind of the range but maybe smaller coz it has
latest in technology engine wise.

a 21″ diameter, 18ft long weapon would be ideal even if some range is compromized coz it permits torpedo tube launching.

Exactly what i want to say 300 kms brahmos is good but range sucks.
1200 kms to 1500 kms stealth LACM/SLCM is the most important thing we need.

Our MOST IMPORTANT priority should be to develope a Subsonic Cruise missile with these capabilities

1> Tercom
2> Stealth “IR reduction”, if possible masking with using mix of diff spectrum to fool seekers.
3> backward compabitle with Brahmos VLS
4> Sub launched and Ship launched versions.
5> AI implementation like brahmos
6> If possible to use a special booster in terminal homing stage for evasive maneuvours and supersonic speed.

/hopefully Sagarika will have most of them but the most important thing i’m worried is od backward compatibility!

a stealth P15A with 300 kms missile is joke to me, it should have a 8+8 hi-lo like combo of long range CM and Brahmos.

Well I dont know much but have heard Somalia have Waged a Jihad and is asking money from world to help em in the war…

Thousands flee as war escalates in Somalia

POSTED: 9:54 a.m. EST, December 22, 2006

Story Highlights• Ethiopian helicopters, tanks head for battle to support government
• Islamic movement says fighting so far just a taste of what’s to come
• Bodies lay in the streets of villages from Thursday night’s attacks
• Familes abandon homes, crops and livestock

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Ethiopian attack helicopters and tanks headed for battle Friday as fighting raged for a fourth day between Somalia’s Islamic militia and the country’s secular government, witnesses and a government official said.

Tens of thousands of Somalis fled their homes as the Ethiopian-backed government used artillery to push back Islamic fighters who had advanced on the regime’s only stronghold, Baidoa. Islamic forces who have declared they want to bring the whole country under Quranic rule said the latest fighting had been started by the government but now they would launch their own attacks.

Sheik Ibrahim Shukri Abuu-Zeynab, a spokesman for the Islamic movement, told reporters in the capital, Mogadishu, that the fighting so far was just a taste of what was to come.

“We will now start our real attack against the invaders and would not stop until we force the Ethiopians out of our country,” he said. (Watch as Islamists swear to kick out Ethiopian “invaders”)

Residents in Baidoa reported seeing hundreds of government troops and trucks being moved toward the front lines early Friday, following a night of heavy artillery and mortar fire.

Four attack helicopters were seen by residents headed toward the eastern front, outside the garrison town. A government official confirmed the deployment on condition of anonymity because it related to security issues.

Somalia could be battleground for Eritrea vs. Ethiopia
The increasingly violent clashes and deployment of attack helicopters could mean a major conflict in this volatile region. Ethiopia, which has one of the largest armies in the region, and its bitter rival, Eritrea, could use Somalia as the ground for a proxy war. While Ethiopia backs the government, Eritrea backs the Islamic movement.

One government parliamentarian in Baidoa said he feared it will fall to the Islamic group. “More well-armed Ethiopians are pouring in here minute after minute and thousands of Islamic fighters are heading here to force them and the government out,” he said on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals.

Families abandon livestock, homes; bodies in streets
Bodies lay in the streets of villages where attacks had taken place Thursday night, and families began to abandon their homes, crops and livestock, fearing worsening fighting. Hundreds of people in areas held by the Islamic forces also were fleeing south to Mogadishu.

“I think we have lost hundreds of our animals in the fighting, most of them were caught in the crossfire,” said Malable Aden, who reached Mogadishu by car. “We were supposed to reap our harvest of this season, but unfortunately we were forced to leave them behind for the ###### and birds to destroy them.”

The leader of the Council of Islamic Courts said Thursday that Somalia was in “a state of war” and called on all Somalis to fight Ethiopian forces in the country. Ethiopia denies its forces are fighting, but says it has deployed several hundred military trainers in support of Somalia’s U.N.-backed transitional government.

“They (the Islamic group) are claiming that Ethiopia is fighting against them and this is totally false,” said government spokesman Zemedkun Teckle. “If the time comes that we have to fight, it will be very clear to everyone and there will be no doubt because we will announce this to our people.”

No effective government in Somalia for 15 years
The United Nations has appealed for calm, saying fighting would prevent aid from reaching hundreds of thousands in dire need of help because of hunger and flooding.

Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991. The country’s secular interim government, set up in 2004 and backed by the U.N., has rejected religious rule. Muslim leaders have insisted on an Islamic government.

Somalia’s internationally recognized central government holds only a small area around the central town of Baidoa, about 140 miles northwest of the capital of Mogadishu. The Islamic militiamen, meanwhile, control Mogadishu along with most of southern Somalia.

Carnage as Somalia ‘in state of war’

POSTED: 1:39 a.m. EST, December 22, 2006

Story Highlights
• Islamist leader, Aweys, says he will only attack Ethiopians
• U.S. diplomat says rebels are becoming more radical
• Residents stocking up on provisions in preparation for war

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia is in “a state of war,” the country’s Islamic leader said Thursday, as bodies lay in the streets of strategic villages where the U.N.-backed government is fighting to wrest control from the religious movement that has seized much of the country.

The clashes threaten to spiral into a major conflict in this volatile region, sucking in Ethiopia and its bitter rival Eritrea, which is accused of supporting the Islamic group. Analysts believe Ethiopia may soon raise the stakes by deploying attack helicopters in support of the government.

An Associated Press photographer saw 19 bodies of Islamic fighters in Moode Moode, a town nine miles from the government garrison town of Baidoa, where fighting had taken place Wednesday.

Three Islamic fighters were captured. One, 25-year-old Aweys Hassan Ma’alim, said he had been forced to fight by the Islamic movement. Another, Adan Abdullahi Mohammed, said he wanted to fight Ethiopians and “die for the sake of Allah in jihad.”

Meanwhile Sheikh Ibrahim Shukri Abuu-Zeynab, a spokesman for the Islamic courts, said they had now captured the town of Idale, 37 miles southwest of Baidoa, and killed 200 Ethiopian troops. The claim could not be verified.

“All Somalis should take part in this struggle against Ethiopia,” Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, an Islamic leader, told The Associated Press.

Three days of clashes between the Islamic fighters and government forces, newly trained by Ethiopian troops, have left more than 100 people dead.

Ethiopia denies its forces are fighting, but says it has deployed several hundred military trainers in support of the transitional government.

On Wednesday, Aweys told an EU envoy that he was willing to return to peace talks with the U.N.-backed Somali government, but on Thursday, he said “the country is in a state of war.”

In Ethiopia, the government said Wednesday that the Islamic group was warmongering and not interested in peace. “Ethiopia has exerted efforts as it will do so for the peaceful resolution of the problem in Somalia,” the statement said.

EU envoy Louis Michel, in response to a question about Eritrea and Ethiopia’s involvement, said, “Somalia is suffering because some are using Somalia as a battlefield for other issues.” Both countries fought an unresolved border war in 1998.

Somalia’s deputy defense minister Salad Ali Jelle told reporters that 71 Islamic fighters had been killed and 221 injured so far during clashes near Baidoa.

Three government troops were killed and seven injured, Jelle said.

Separately, witnesses in the town of Bur Haqaba, which is controlled by the Islamic movement, reported hearing mortars, anti-aircraft missiles and rocket-propelled grenades being fired Thursday.

After returning from Somalia late Wednesday, Michel said skirmishes were likely to continue, but said both sides had broadly agreed to ease tensions and hold new talks in Sudan.

The interim government holds only a small area around the central town of Baidoa. The Islamic militiamen control the capital, Mogadishu, but have also fanned out across most of southern Somalia.

Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991

Somalia Islamic militants call for jihad

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 59 minutes ago

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Somalia’s Islamic militants Saturday called on foreign Muslim fighters to join their holy war against Ethiopian troops after days of fighting killed hundreds of people and threatened to engulf this volatile region.

“Muslims are brothers and help each other,” Sheik Yusuf Indahaadde, national security chairman for the Council of Islamic Courts, said in the capital, Mogadishu. “We have a right to call our brothers and sisters to help us in this holy war,” he said.

The Islamic forces have declared they want to bring the country under Quranic rule and vowed to drive out troops from neighboring Ethiopia, a largely Christian nation that is providing military support to Somalia’s U.N.-backed government. Ethiopia denies its forces are fighting, saying it has sent only military trainers.

The clashes could mean a major conflict in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia, which has one of the largest armies in the region, and its bitter rival, Eritrea, could use Somalia as the ground for a proxy war. While Ethiopia backs the internationally recognized government, Eritrea backs the Islamic movement.

In Kismayo, a strategic seaport captured from the government by Islamic militia in September, residents saw several foreign Arab fighters disembarking from ships this week.

Hundreds of people have been killed since fighting broke out Tuesday. Sporadic gunfire and shelling could be heard Friday around Baidoa, the government’s only stronghold, although fighting appeared to taper off. But four Ethiopian attack helicopters and about 20 tanks were seen headed for battle, witnesses and a government official said.

Thousands of Somalis have fled their homes as troops loyal to the two-year-old interim administration fought Islamic fighters who had advanced on Baidoa, about 140 miles northwest of Mogadishu. Islamic militiamen control Mogadishu along with most of southern Somalia.

“Special forces who are highly trained in guerrilla warfare are now ready to attack Ethiopians, wherever they are in Somalia,” Sheik Ibrahim Shukri Abuu-Zeynab, a spokesman for the Islamic movement, told The Associated Press.

He also said the Islamists late Friday peacefully captured the Ethiopian border town of Tiyeglow, which is believed to be a main entry point for troops from the neighboring nation.

Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi vowed Saturday that his government will “defend the people it is responsible for and Somali sovereignty.” He called on the Islamic fighters to return to negotiations.

“They will be responsible for any consequences that may result from rejecting our call,” he said.

Government officials said more than 600 Islamic fighters had been killed during four days of clashes. Islamic militiamen said they had killed around 400 Ethiopians and government fighters. Neither claim could be independently confirmed.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan called on both sides to “cease the hostilities immediately and to resume the peace talks,” his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement released late Friday.

Somalia has not had an effective government since warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, plunging the country into chaos.

Ethiopia confirms counterattack on Somali Islamists

MOGADISHU (AFP) – The Ethiopian government has said its troops have launched a counter attack against Islamist forces in Somalia as fighting in the lawless nation entered a fifth day.

“The Ethiopian defense forces have started attacking anti-Ethiopian forces which have been massed in Beledweyne, Bandiradley, Bur Hakaba and Dinsoor,” the defence ministry in Addis Ababa said in a statement, referring to Islamist strongholds.

“Our defense forces is taking an offensive action on those forces in these areas. After tolerance for so many months, we have been forced to take these measures as our security and stability and sovereignty have been threatened,” the statement said Sunday, in a first direct acknowledgement of fighting by Ethiopians.

“All those areas are near to our border,” it added.

Information ministry spokesman Zemedkum Tekle said Addis Ababa took action after the Islamists shelled its territory, while a defence ministry statement reported “initial defensive measures against terrorist forces that attempted to infiltrate into Ethiopia…”

“The Islamists have already started shelling our territories,” Zemedkum said.

“No military details at this time, but we made clear that we will use balanced forces,” he added.

Zemedkum denied claims by Islamic commanders and residents Ethiopian MiG jet fighters had bombarded the Somali towns of Beledweyne and Kalaberka, which lie close to the countries’ common border.

“No airforce involved, but we are using tanks, we do have the right to do so,” Zemedkum added.

The Islamists accuse Ethiopia of deploying thousands of troops to protect the government based in Baidoa, about 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of the capital Mogadishu.

Ethiopian-backed Somali troops on Sunday recaptured the town of Idale, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) south of Baidoa, from Islamists in clashes that claimed at least 100 lives, an AFP correspondent said.

Defence Minister Barre Shire Hirale confirmed that the government seized control of the township, where the correspondent saw more than 100 bodies.

“We call on Somali people to unite against the enemy and go to Jihad,” said Sheikh Muhamoud Sheikh Ibrahim, the secretary general of the Islamists.

“The enemy has used planes and bombed Beledweyne … they have killed civilians there,” he told a press conference in Mogadishu, without giving the exact figure.

“I am telling you that we will never lose this war because we are Muslims and they are Christians. Allah will assist assist us. Whatever they use, their planes and tanks, they will lose,” Ibrahim explained.

The Islamists have declared jihad, or holy war, against Ethiopian soldiers and pledged to extend the fight to any foreign forces that enter the country.

Ethiopia has denied deploying combat troops to Somalia, but admitted sending several hundred military advisers and trainers to help the government at its base Baidoa, the only major town held by the two-year-old administration.

Last month, a UN report into the violations of the 1992 arms embargo on Somalia accused Ethiopia of sending 8,000 troops into Somalia. It also accused Eritrea of deploying 2,000 troops and sending arms to back the Islamists.

Addis Ababa and Asmara have been accused of opening a proxy war in Somalia over their unresolved border dispute, which both sides strongly deny.

Mainly Christian Ethiopia has watched with growing concern the rise on its southeastern border of the Islamists, who seized Mogadishu in June and now control most of southern and central Somalia.

With a large ethnic Somali population, Ethiopia fears radicalization of its sizable Muslim minority by the Islamists, some of whom are accused of links to Al-Qaeda, who have imposed strict Sharia law in areas they control.

Heavy fighting in Somalia broke out early Wednesday within hours of the expiry of an Islamist-imposed ultimatum for Ethiopia to withdraw the thousands of troops or face major attacks.

Somalia has lacked an effective government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Siad Barre and the two-year-old government has failed to exert control across the nation of 10 million people

Seems like su27’s have score kill against intrea’s mig 29’s?

anyways i have no IDEA why this war started….and bla bla
does somalia wants to rule ethiopia?or ethiopia wants to rule somalia?

This time in home….Not that fun is going to happen but will be cool, have some small gettogethers with frnds etc etc anyways happy x-max and new year!.

Aviation and girls are hard to find!

Star49’s some arguments are very wellly done as i read so is cobratos some comments.

As of Pentagon making some statements, is it so easy for peoples here to believe pentagon like that specially when us-china relation are on dire straits on bed [though they are friends in field].

Saying J10 better than Typhoon is funny.Nothing more than like cope-india exercises to ask congress “give me more money! i have to feed my honey!.”

– the J-10 is an indigenous fighter
– the J-10 is in the same performance class as the Eurofighter and Rafale
– the J-10 completed development in 2004
– up to 1200 J-10s could be built

1> Its definitely not “totally indigenous” even Mig acted as consultant for Fc-1 Let alone J10.

2> lol

3> frankly i have no idea about it

4> again no idea

Having said that J10 is no dpubt a great fighter with huge rooms of improvement.

Broncho Dont you think putting Bramos all over is a bit stupid idea?
I mean its definitely a good missile but lacks range, I’d like to see Long range >1500 kms Subsonic variant Ashm in the frigates for secondary land attack role.

(D) Cancel LCA program and move on! (possibly with F-35’s after 2015-17)

why do i feel your not talking in the best interest of my nation.[which isnt expected anyways]

(E) Join the US to develope and manufacture P-8I Patrol Aircraft.

surely, But i’d like this alternative having own production line and buying all sonar/radar source codes from US to modify them and use them in P8, we will buy the airframe from boeing so win-win.

Since you want to take this to next level or partnership thats how we deal.