JaiGo-ahead ‘imminent’ for £9bn Eurofighter deal
A £9bn order for Eurofighter aircraft – the biggest pan-European defence contract in history – could be sealed within the next fortnight, one of the lead companies involved in the programme said yesterday.
The Germans, Italians and Spanish have signed up to buy more Eurofighters but the formal go-ahead for tranche two has been held up by a tussle between BAE Systems and the MoD over the price and capability of the additional aircraft. At one stage it looked as if the impasse could lead to a hiatus in Eurofighter production, threatening more than 1,000 jobs. The likely go-ahead for tranche two will be a boost for north-west England and BAE’s Warton factory near Manchester, where thousands of jobs are dependent on production of the aircraft.
But it is likely to re-ignite the debate over whether the aircraft is needed at all. The Eurofighter was conceived in the days of the Cold War and was designed to act in an air defence role against Soviet forces.
JaiSeems like Mr. Novichkov’s estimate of MKI’s cost was incorrect by a few million dollars.
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=92&kwd=sukhoi
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
RAJYA SABHA
The first SU-30 MKI aircraft under license manufacture at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is planned to be delivered to Indian Air Force in 2004-2005.
The Government has accorded sanction to the licensed manufacture of SU-30 MKI aircraft, its engines and accessories at HAL at a total cost of US $ 4809.3 million (Rs. 22122.78 crore at year 2000 price level and at 1 US $ = Rs. 46).
This information was given by the Defence Minister Shri George Fernandes in a written reply to Shri Prem Chand Gupta in Rajya Sabha today.
$4809.3 million / 140 = $ 34.35 million per HAL manufactured aircraft
JaiAir Force Looks at New Microwave Weapon
DAYTON, Ohio – The (US) Air Force expects planes will be able to fire non-lethal microwave rays at enemy ground troops with the help of a new superconducting generator system developed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base after about 25 years of research.
The Air Force is preparing to award a $22 million contract to a private contractor to construct and demonstrate the new electrical generating system by 2009.
“We finally have the materials where we’re ready to build this generator,” Lt. Col. JoAnn Erno, chief of the power division of Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Directorate, said Monday.
Erno said conventional generators, which have heavy copper coils, are large, heavy and less efficient in producing power than the superconducting generators. Planes carrying conventional generators would have to fly at low altitudes and be in danger of being shot down by small-arms fire, she said.
“We can’t take those airborne,” Erno said. “What we have to do from the Air Force side is to produce much smaller superconducting generators.”
Powered by a turbine engine, the new generators are about the size of a small beer keg and designed to produce five megawatts of power.
The generators have lightweight metal foils coated with superconducting material that carry many times more current and are more efficient, making possible an electric power system strong enough for microwave weapons and light enough for airplanes.
However, Oelrich said that to operate a diesel engine to power the generator will require a lot of fuel, adding weight and cost to the operation.
“If you’re going to use it continuously, then the fuel will be the big weight factor,” he said. “To operate a thing like that requires a few tons of fuel per hour.”
Oelrich also questioned whether the Air Force had considered a less efficient, but less expensive superconducting system. He said the proposed system could be expensive to maintain and might require multiple backup systems.
JaiMore info on the ACS contract.
Foreign firms get defense work
A new window may be opening for foreign-owned defense and aerospace companies looking to get a larger slice of the U.S. defense budget.
Analysts say the U.S. Army’s decision this month to award Lockheed Martin a contract for new surveillance aircraft could be an important milestone in defense procurement.
Lockheed won the potential $7 billion competition with a proposal that uses an airplane, essentially a stripped-down regional jetliner, built by Brazilian manufacturer Embraer.
The Army chose the Lockheed-Embraer platform over Northrop Grumman’s proposal that would have used Gulfstream jet designed and built in the United States.
“It’s potentially huge,” said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace industry analyst with the Teal Group in Fairfax, Va. “In a day and age of ‘buy American’ and no imports, they’ve awarded one of the biggest airplane contracts to a foreign company.”
Analysts said that Lockheed’s proposal for the package of electronics systems on the aircraft was the deciding factor and that the airplane itself was secondary. But the precedent is still an important one.
“There’s definitely a message: Best value wins, and they don’t care about the political consequences,” Aboulafia said. “That’s a good sign for the military and the taxpayers.”
JaiSingle aircraft corporation may be created
The Russian government is considering the possibility of making the Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG a joint-stock company in order to merge it into the single aircraft corporation JSC Research and Production Corporation Irkut, Yury Chervakov, the head of the press service of MiG told RBC today with reference to Boris Alyoshin, the head of the Russian Federal Agency for Industry.
According to him, the planned merger will be held within the framework of establishing a united aircraft corporation, which will be similar to such international companies as Boeing and EADS. The new company will target the development and promotion on the international market of Su and MiG military equipment.
JaiFinally. 😀
JaiMore captures.
JaiErez, thanks for the link.
I am posting a few captures from that video for the benefit of those who did not download the video.
JaiImportant milestones reached in MEADS programme
– USA and Italy sign MoU for the launch of the design and development phase of the future air defence system
– NATO agency NAMEADSMA awards letter contract to MEADS International industrial consortium
– Parliamentary decision on German participation in the MEADS development project planned for December 2004
Munich, 29 September 2004 – The MEADS International industrial consortium received a letter contract for the launch of design and development for a future air defence system from the NATO agency NAMEADSMA on 28 September 2004. EADS/LFK-Lenkflugkörpersysteme GmbH holds a share in MEADS International along with MBDA Italy and Lockheed Martin. The signing of the design and development Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the USA on 24 September and Italy on 27 September forms the basis for the contract that has now been concluded. For the future ground-based Medium Extended Air Defense System MEADS two important milestones have therefore now been reached.
The total volume of the letter contract awarded to MEADS International is US $ 54.5 million plus E 54.8 million and the period covered is 6 months. The overall volume of this development project, which is due to run until 2012, will amount to US $ 2 billion plus E 1.4 billion.
The overall contract will be awarded once the German Bundestag has approved German participation. The matter is expected to be dealt with by the German parliament before the end of this year.
A three-year RRE (Risk Reduction Effort) phase preceded the award of the letter contract. This was completed to the entire satisfaction of the three nations involved with a successful system demonstration on 06 May 2004. During the trilateral RRE phase, system tasks were carried out and key technologies for MEADS were investigated so as to reduce the risks for the design and development phase. In addition, it was possible to demonstrate the feasibility of using the PAC 3 missile as a MEADS missile.
EADS Defence and Security Systems Division participates in the MEADS programme with several Business Units under the leadership of EADS/LFK*Lenkflugkörpersysteme as well as with its subsidiary MBDA.
“We are proud to be partners in a highly successful transatlantic joint venture and are looking forward to continuing the cooperation. The letter contract allows us to now commence with the MEADS design and development work without any major delays or interruptions and ensures utilisation of our unique capacities in Germany. We especially welcome that we are able to participate in this international grouping without restriction, even though we are still waiting for the parliamentary decisions on Germany’s participation in MEADS. We hope that the relevant decisions will be taken before the end of 2004,” said Tom Enders, Member of the EADS Executive Committee and Head of the Defence and Security Systems Division.
MEADS protects own and allied forces in out-of-area operations, the civilian population in crisis regions and important sites in the context of Homeland and NATO territory defence. The MEADS ground-based air defence system covers the entire threat suite from air breathers up to tactical ballistic missiles with a range of 1000 km carrying biological and chemical warheads (for which “hit-to-kill” technology is required).
Only MEADS meets the specifications of the “International Common Operational Requirements” (ICOR) and the associated specifications of the “International Technical Requirements Document” (ITRD), which Germany has agreed upon together with Italy and the USA and to which these countries have trilateral commited. Moreover, only MEADS meets the requirements of the German Luftwaffe for a new generation air defence system (LVSysNG).
Equipped with a 360 degree surveillance radar, a fire control radar, a state*of-the-art tactical operations centre, “hit-to-kill” missiles (PAC 3) and its network centric hardware and software structure (netted-distributed) the system configuration can be adopted to any specific threat (flexibility/modularity). The system is cost*-effective, is designed to roll-on/roll-off C130 and A400M transport aircraft (a quantum leap in terms of mobility over systems such as Patriot) and can also integrate other sensors and effectors due to its “plug-and-fight” capability (open, networked system architecture). The trinational approach ensures interoperability in international alliances. The sensors can detect low flying targets and TBMs and offer 360 degree coverage.
The MEADS tasks are performed on the basis of an equal partnership. The financial share of the program is USA 55%, Germany 28% and Italy 17%. The technical work share of the companies involved – EADS/LFK (Germany), MBDA-IT (Italy) and Lockheed Martin (USA) – is in line with the percentages of the respective contributions to the costs. The European companies control their activities through the joint venture company euroMeads GmbH which, like Lockheed Martin, has a 50 percent share in MEADS International Inc.
JaiAny updates on Scan Eagle ?
September 19, 2002
ScanEagle can fly, take off, and land without human intervention, making it a possible surveillance tool for the military.
On the banks of the Columbia River on the Oregon/Washington border, a handful of engineers stand in a circle finishing a flight test briefing. Instead of rolling out their aircraft from a nearby hangar, they grab it by hand. It looks a dragonfly, with a 10-foot-wide wingspan in the shape of a “v,” and it weighs less than 60 pounds. Tonight’s “Tech Live” shows you the craft, a prototype of an unmanned robotic aircraft called the ScanEagle.
It’s being built and tested by the Insitu Group in Bingen, Washington, a small engineering firm that for nearly 10 years has developed a specialty for building lightweight, long-range, and endurance-driven radio-controlled aircraft.
But the ScanEagle is something different.
Insitu was awarded a 15-month contract by aerospace giant Boeing to develop a totally autonomous, self-directing unmanned aircraft that can be used by the military for surveillance, among other things.
“It has the ability to fly, take off, and land autonomously without human intervention,” said Dave Sliwa, director of flight operations for the Insitu Group.
Taking flight
Onboard is a tiny digital video camera that eventually will rotate up and down at a 180-degree angle. It can beam back a live video picture to the operators on the ground. It’s also equipped with microchips, a global positioning system, and high-bandwidth data links capable of sending a wide range of telemetry back to a laptop that serves as a ground controller for the plane. But the plane is not reliant on the laptop and can fly independently, making course corrections on its own.
Sliwa says the ScanEagle will be able to stay aloft for three days, long enough for a trans-Pacific test flight that is being planned.
One of the most unique aspects of the ScanEagle is its ability to land anywhere on its own. At the edge of each wing are hooks that grab on to an arresting line hoisted into the sky that can be of any length. As the plane flies into the line, the hooks grab the line and hold on for a safe capture. At no point does the plane touch the ground, so it can literally land or be captured in the air regardless of the terrain.
McGeer says a final prototype will be ready sometime next year.
JaiRussian company repairing Indian anti-submarine planes
By: Interfax News Agency
The Taganrog Aviation company (Tavia) is implementing a contract for repairs of the Indian Air Force’s TU-142ME Bear long-range anti-submarine planes, Tavia Director General Nikolai Savitskikh said on Tuesday.
“Another Indian plane of this type is currently under repairs at the aircraft plant. According to the schedule, the enterprise must annually repair one Indian TU-142ME,” Savitskikh told Interfax-Military News Agency.
He noted that the enterprise was only repairing the Indian aircraft, not upgrading them.
“Eight TU-142Mes were supplied to India in 1987-1988. They are repaired in turns, all of them have been repaired once and are now up for the second repairs,” the director general said.
Repairs of both Russian and Indian TU-142 planes provide for most of the company’s workload, he went on. In addition, the company is involved in making empennage for TU-334 short-range passenger planes. The work is performed in the framework of cooperation supplies.
The TU-142M baseline long-range anti-submarine plane is a derivative of the TU-142 aircraft. The TU-142M is fitted with the Korshun-K automatic search and sighting system and MMS-106 Ladoga magnetometer which are intended for detecting low-noise nuclear-powered submarines. Also installed are the NPK-142M upgraded navigation and piloting system, a system of control over bomb, torpedo, buoy and mine dropping, the Strela-142M on-board communication system, the Nerchinsk hydrological defense system, the Sayany on-board defense system, an automatic encoded radio communication system and a powerful round-view radar.
The plane’s gun armament comprises the DK-12 rear gun system with two 23-mm AM-23 guns.
The search and strike variant of the plane carries 66 RGB-75 buoys, 44 RGB-15 buoys, 10 RGB-25 buoys, 10 RGB-55A buoys and three torpedoes on outer suspension. In case RGB-15 buoys are used for active search, the K-142M container can be loaded with up to 240 MGAB-LZ or MGAB-OZ small-size air bombs.
The plane’s power plant consists of four NK-12MV turboprop engines developing 15,000hp each.
With a maximum load of strike armament of 8,845kg, the TU-142M has a maximum take-off weight of 185t. Its maximum flight speed is 800 kmph, cruising speed 705 kmph, barraging speed 450 kmph and practical flight range without aerial refueling 10,500km.
JaiThat was a reporter’s statement, and because he said Moscow ( Moskva ) along with Brahmaputra, which is a river, he probably thought it redundant to state Moscow river.
JaiThe ‘Brahmos Missile’ (Brahmputra + Moscow) Jointly developed by India and Russia passing through the Rajpath during the full dress rehearsal for Republic Day Parade -2004, in New Delhi on January 23, 2004 .
JaiThe total number of BrahMos missiles to be built is not fixed. It will ultimately depend upon the requirements of the users and upon the volume of export orders. As far as the production of the BrahMos is concerned, the production of ship-launched and TEL-launched versions of the BrahMos has commenced following the successful tests of the missile from the Rajput and the latest one from a ground-based facility.
BrahMos to be inducted in Navy next year
NEW DELHI: Production has commenced for inducting the 290 km range BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missiles in the Indian Navy next year, Lok Sabha was informed today.
“The navy has placed a Letter of Interest for inducting BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missiles in certain types of ships and in- shore. Production has commenced for induction in 2005,” Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.
After a series of successful flight trials from ship and land the missile has proved its accurate performance against ship target with devastative destruction capability, he added.
About BrahMos’s seventh launch
BrahMos test-fire successful despite heavy rains
Balasore (Orissa), June 13. (PTI): BrahMos the supersonic cruise missile, which is part of an Indo-Russian joint venture, was today successfully test fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, about 15 km from here, defence sources said.
The missile was fired from a mobile launcher at 12.15 p.m. amid incessant rains caused by a deep depression in the sea along the Orissa coast, the sources said.
After proving its precision guidance capability during test fires conducted earlier, the surface-to-surface version of the BrahMos – the name is derived from India’s Brahmaputra river and Russia’s Moskova river – was test launched today to check its other parameters, the sources said.
This was the seventh mission flight of the BrahMos.
“It is a total success and all the range instrumentation had confirmed the success of today’s test flight,” the chief controller of research and development and managing director of BrahMos, Dr A S Pillai, told PTI.
Pillai said that it was for the first time that the missile was test launched in such inclement weather conditions.
As far as the rate of production is concerned, the magazine MilTech ( Issue 7 2004 ) which has interview Dr. A.S. Pillai, CEO-BrahMos, the rate of production is stated to be atleast 200 missiles per year.
JaiOne more photo.
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