RayRNavy has never been interested in Kitty. Its too bi for them to handle. Just speed up the IAc and follow on’s.
yeah yeah I know..but the problem is with the aircraft have to wait for naval LCA.
RayRI hope it happens ..that will be the right kick on the stupid politicians’ backsides.And dump the Mig29s too.Get refurbished kitty or something with hornets/rafale to operate from there.Russian suppliers are nowhere near to european or American cos when it comes to providing a professional service.
I do realise that the above will not happen most likely.It will probably be sorted out.And problems will continue to occur in future contracts.Life goes on..and the politicians keep being stupid and remain corrupt.
RayRDo I detect a pattern:
A400M vs An-70 ( 1 2)
Does Tu-95 noise have any tactical disadvantages?
Ability of RuAF and Russian Navy to destroy US CBG
Soviet Air Force as of 1991 vs USAF.
Vulnerability of Tu-160 ( 1 2 3)
Soviet Air Power ( 1 2 3 4 5 … Last Page)
S-400 vs THAAD vs SM-3 ( 1 2 3)
Eurofighter vs Su-35 ( 1 2 3 4 5)
Su-27SM vs regional rivals
Fulcrum: A Top Gun Pilot’s Escape from the Soviet Empire
RayRPR in overdrive:
Eurofighter Typhoon best for India’s military needs: EADS
NEW DELHI, FEB 17 (PTI)
Showcasing its Eurofighter Typhoon as a front runner for the IAF multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA) order, European Defence and Aerospace Consortium (EADS) today said the jet fighter was best suited to meet India’s tactical and strategic military requirements.
“We have received firm orders for over 700 aircraft from Germany. UK, Italy, Spain and Austria as also for 72 aircraft from Saudi Arabia. We have already delivered about 140 of them. Typhoon is one of the main contenders for the MRCA competition,” EADS’ Military Air Systems Communication Head Theodore Benien told PTI here.
The multi role combat aircraft, which is competing with other global fighters like F-16, F-18 and MIG-29 for the IAF order for 126 fighter planes, is a four-nation programme.
It is being developed and manufactured by BAE systems (UK), EADS (Germany and Spain) and Alenia FinMeccanica (Italy). These four nations have already ordered a total of 620 of these fighters along with an options for 90 more.
The key feature of the Eurofighter Typhoon is its multi-role capability which enables it to separately or simultaneously carry out air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.
“We have received very positive feedback from major airforces as well as fighter pilots who have flown this aircraft,” Benin said.
He said human-machine interface of the typhoon guarantees very easy handling qualities, which allows the pilot to concentrate on the mission at hand.
Benin said his company was expecting orders for these aircraft from Greece, Turkey, Switzerland and Japan.
Elaborating on EADS participation at the ongoing Def-Expo here, Benien said the EADS Defence and Security division was offering broad range of products, capabilities and systems “directly applicable to India’s new military needs.”
The Tatas had yesterday unveiled plans to form a partnership with EADS to bid for the Indian Army’s one billion dollar advanced tactical communication system project.
“EADS and its companies have always been a reliable and strong industrial partner to India. This partnership approach has assured the participation of EADS in the developments of the Indian industry,” he said.
Besides, providing defence technology to the armed forces, EADS has opened a wholly-owned subsidiary in India to carry out its various activities.
Among some important projects that have EADS participation are missile approach warning systems for all types of military platforms, air-borne early warning and communication system, and integrated early warning solutions.
In these projects EADS has joined hands with DRDO as well as private firms like Larsen and Toubro and research institutes like Bangalore-based organisation DARE.
EADS is also developing ‘Warrior21 project’ to modernise requirement of soldiers in the war zone.
“This integrated solution for future infantry soldiers is completely fitting with the Indian army requirements,” EADS official said.
EADS is also been awarded India’s first major public safety network contract ‘TETRA’ recently by the Andhra Pradesh police to cover the high-tech hub near Hyderabad called Cyberabad, Benien said.
The Airbus Industrie, which has sold many aircraft to Indian carriers, is also a part of the EADS consortium.
http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=545869
Dassault Offers 40 Rafales to IAF With Mirage 2000 Upgrade
Feb 17, 2008
By Reuben F. Johnson, Show News/Singapore
“The infamy of the Indian red tape has gone global,” stated India’s Hindustan Times during the visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, alluding to the interminable delays that the subcontinent’s military procurement process is known for.
Attempting to shortcut the procurement, Dassault has reiterated its unsolicited proposal to provide the Indian Air Force (IAF) with 40 Rafale omnirole fighters as a stop-gap measure until the service’s M-MRCA tender has completed its process. Dassault CEO Charles Edelstenne was one of the senior business executives accompanying Sarkozy on this state visit to India and told the Indian press that “we have some experience with Indian delays… which is why Dassault has made the unsolicited offer.”
Dassault made this proposal initially last year, but Edelstenne said this deal was still on the table should the Indians still be interested in this “temporary” solution to what is perceived by many to be a looming replacement crisis for the IAF. Since 1982 India has purchased 60 of Dassault’s previous leading defense production, the Mirage 2000, and it is the intention of the French planemaker to continue its relationship with the IAF with the Rafale.
The other half of Dassault’s program is–in conjunction with the Rafale offer and the Sarkozy visit–cementing a long-discussed program to upgrade the Mirage 2000s currently in IAF service. “Now a RFP [request for proposal] or tender will be issued to the French original equipment manufacturers of Mirage-2000s like Dassault, Thales and others to respond to our specifications,” said an Indian defense ministry official. Thales, Dassault and other French major suppliers to the Mirage 2000 will reportedly “lead” this upgrade program, but India’s HAL will remain involved.
The one possible stumbling block to the French program is that the upgrade carries a price tag of US$2.2 billion–or roughly US$40 million per aircraft–which Indian officials have (understandably) described as “very expensive.” However, India and France will sign an official agreement permitting the sharing of classified information, which is one of the last steps to be taken in order to kick off the upgrade program. Also, India’s Defence Acquisitions Council has given its approval “in principle” for this upgrade to go forward.
Also announced during the Sarkozy visit is that France and India will hold joint military exercises. After Russia and Israel, France is now the number three arms supplier to New Delhi.
RayRScorpene-Brahmos twin offer
New Delhi: The Scorpene submarine could be fitted with the underwater version of the Brahmos cruise missiles, to enhance the Indian Navy’s strategic firepower capability, the French Company, Direction des Constructions Navales Services (DCNS) announced on Sunday.
“If India wants, Brahmos cruise missiles can be fitted on the Scorpene being built under technology transfer at Mazagaon docks,” DCNS project director Xavier Marchal told newspersons at the ongoing Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) sponsored Defence-Expo.
DCNS is manufacturing the submarine. If New Delhi gives the go ahead, it would increase the potential of the Navy, giving it a second option of firing missiles from submarines. The Navy’s recently upgraded Russian Kilo class submarines are armed with shore strike missiles.
DCNS executive vice president and chief operating officer Bernard Planchais also announced that teething problems in effecting technology transfer have been taken care of and the first of the Indian Navy’s six Scorpene submarines will roll out in 2012.
“I have reviewed the progress of the work at the Mazagaon Docks in Mumbai recently, where the submarines are being constructed, and everything is going well. I am confident that we will be able to deliver all the submarines as per schedule,” Planchais said. He added that the DCNS would be contending for Navy’s subsequent orders for six more submarines.
India proposes to have 24 submarines with a mix of conventional and nuclear, under the 20:20 submarine vision of the Navy. India is to acquire a nuclear submarine on lease from Russia next year, when its own advance technology vehicle would be ready for sea trials.
Asked whether Scorpenes were better than Agosta, the submarines which are being constructed by the DCNS for Pakistan Navy, DCNS project director Xavier Marchal said, “Of course Agostas are inferior than Scorpenes”.
Marchal said Indian naval shipbuilder Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineering Ltd has awarded DCNS a contract to supply propulsion equipment and auxiliaries, including thrust blocks, for four type P28 anti-submarine warfare corvettes for the Indian Navy. The contract is led by a partnership comprising DCNS and Indian company Walchandagar Industries Ltd.
link
RayRINS Jalashwa: US Navy confirms 3 gas leaks in other ships too
Shishir Gupta
Print Email
Posted online: Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 2336 hrs Print Email
NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 13: Assisting their Indian counterparts in investigations into the INS Jalashwa gas leakage, the US Navy has confirmed three previous hydrogen sulphide leakages on its ships, including one that left three workers dead on board aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman on July 12, 1997.
While the Court of Inquiry into the February 1 incident, that claimed six lives, is expected to be completed in a week, the 16,700-tonne landing platform dock is slated for a complete overhaul of its sewage pipes and holding tanks with the US Navy sending all the related maintenance manuals. The overhaul and refitting will be done in Vizag as soon as the troop carrier docks after the completion of the inquiry at sea this month.
Although INS Jalashwa (formerly USS Trenton) underwent a total overhaul before being handed over to India at Norfolk in September 2007, the inquiry is likely to establish whether there were any shortcomings during the maintenance upgradation of the second largest vessel of the Indian Navy. Through its defence attaches abroad, the Defence Ministry has also found out incidents of hydrogen sulphide leakages in the Australian Navy.
However, prima facie investigations have established that hydrogen sulphide and methane gas leaked from sewage pipes below the onboard gymnasium. Although it has not been conclusively established, there are strong indications that the gas gauge aboard the ship malfunctioned and personnel who went down to repair or reset it were the first ones to fall prey to the leakage. The only saving grace was that the ship did not catch fire. Hydrogen Sulphide is an extremely corrosive gas that attacks the nervous system and causes death within minutes if the exposure is more than 350 parts per million.
Significantly, all Indian Navy warships except for the US-built INS Jalashwa have in-built sewage treatment plants (STPs) that discharge secondary or tertiary treated water into the sea. However, like other US Navy ships, INS Jalashwa only has holding tanks for sewage that is pumped out to specially designed barges for sewage treatment after the ship docks at the port. In short, the Indian Navy is not used to this method of sewage treatment.
The incident has sent shockwaves within both the navies as the ship was refitted and sold to India just last year after a complete overhaul that cost $39.5 million. The US Navy has also informed their Indian counterparts that two incidents of gas leakage had taken place on its facilities on-shore, while three ship workers of Newport Shipbuilding lost their lives due to hydrogen sulphide gas leakage in the run-up to the commissioning of USS Harry S Truman.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/272630.html
RayRAnd there was me thinking Dassault was proposing something interesting:p
Eh:confused:
RayRRafael unmanned protector model at defexpo
photo c/o sayareakd
RayRRayRRayRFrom Defexpo India 2008
CEO of Military Air, EADS, Bernhard Gerwert poses with a Typhoon mockup:
RayRAir Force One INDIA
Manu Pubby
Print Email
Posted online: Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 1349 hrs Print Email
Here’s some news for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In three months, he is getting a new office. What is more, he will be going places in it.
Here’s some news for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In three months, he is getting a new office. What is more, he will be going places in it. And he will be better protected in it, have more elbow room, even play host to foreign visitors—all without even being on Indian soil.
The fact is, the Indian Air Force, in whose craft the top dignitaries of the country fly, is getting a spanking new home in the sky for the Indian Prime Minister. The first of three ultra luxury transport aircraft, the Boeing Business Jets (BBJ), ordered for a whopping Rs 734 crore, will arrive in May to join the VVIP squadron of the IAF that ferries the President, Prime Minister and top Cabinet ministers.
While the Indian version of Air Force One is being kept under wraps by IAF due to “security concerns”, the aircraft is known to be fitted with a secure satellite communication centre, an advanced missile warning system and deflecting shield, electronic counter measures and radar warning systems.
This means that when the PM travels on official work, he will be able to conduct meetings, hold press conferences, catch a wink of sleep and remain in constant audio and visual touch with New Delhi without leaving his aircraft.
“The Boeing Business Jet is a specially configured aircraft for VVIP comfort. Its interiors create a working environment befitting the VVIP’s official stature. More importantly , it is equipped with the latest self-protection suite, thus providing our VIPs the highest level of protection from any ground-based or airborne threat,” the Indian Air Force, tasked with maintaining and operating the VVIP fleet, says.
While the older 737s do not have any self protection systems, the Embraer executive jets are reported to have limited protection against land-launched weapons and heat seeking missiles. The BBJs, on the other hand, have an “extremely efficient” missile protection suite and powerful electronic systems designed to confuse the incoming missile.
The IAF refuses to share details, but the minimum systems on board will be an IR (Infra Red) sensor and jammer to track incoming missiles from a good distance to warn the pilot. This would also activate the counter measures unit that will dispense flares and decoys. Like the American Air Force One, the BBJ is also being fitted with electronic counter measures to jam enemy radars.
The three BBJs have been specifically ordered to replace the Boeing 737-200s that were acquired in the 1980s for the use of the top dignitaries. Unlike the earlier craft with their limited resources, the BBJs have a range of close to 11,000 km and a maximum speed of 890 kmph. So they will be able to fly to most parts of the world without a refuelling stopover.
This will be a massive change from the current lot of aircraft that fly VVIPs in the country. Both the Embraer executive jets and the Boeing 737s in the IAF’s inventory have a limited flying range and need to make numerous fuel stopovers during long flights. In fact, the Boeing 737s cannot even fly abroad due to outdated avionic systems and the lack of modern navigational aids.
The arrival of the jets will also be a welcome relief for Air India as currently a regular commercial airliner has to be pulled out of service and “retrofitted” for VVIP duty whenever the President and Prime Minister fly abroad on tours.
While the Embraers—five of them were purchased for over Rs 650 crore in 2003—can accommodate close to 20 passengers in a regular seating arrangement, the BBJ will carry more than twice that number in much more luxury.
Once inside, the PM and his entourage will find a full-fledged flying office-cum-residence that can host up to 48 guests besides having a private bedroom for the VVIP, an executive office with Internet availability and secure communication connections.
The 807 sq ft cabin has been customised with a stateroom and a separate meeting room, something that is inconceivable on the much smaller Embraer 135 Legacy jets that are used to transport VVIPs within the country and for short overseas hauls and the older generation Boeing 737-200s that fly dignitaries on the domestic circuit.
While the three jets have already been delivered by Boeing to IAF in an unfurnished condition, the interiors of the aircraft are being customised at the PATS Aircraft completion center in Delaware, USA. “PATS will install an interior that includes a stateroom, meeting room, communications centre and seating for 48 passengers,” a Boeing statement said.
The first of the BBJs, fitted with the highly classified missile avoidance systems and security suite, is currently being flight tested by the IAF in the US. After complete integration of the security package, the BBJ is expected to land at the Palam Airport—home to the IAF’s elite Communications Squadron responsible for air travel by VVIPs—by the the first week of May. The other two jets are expected to arrive later in the year.
It is not only a luxury craft for Indian VVIPs. The BBJ is being used by close to a dozen countries, including Australia, South Africa, Argentina and Malaysia to fly their heads of state. However, it pales in comparison to the home in the sky of the American President. The Air Force One, a highly modified Boeing 747, is not only much larger but also had a virtually unlimited range as it can carry out air to air refuelling. Besides conference rooms, resting areas and the President’s residential quarters, the jumbo jet even has a gymnasium specially designed for long flights.
The Indian Prime Minister’s needs perhaps do not warrant a gymnasium. But when he climbs aboard his new carrier, there will surely be a new kick in his steps.
RayRUK to supply four Sea Harriers to Indian Navy
New Delhi (PTI): The United Kingdom on Saturday said it would supply four Sea Harriers air frames to the Indian Navy to cannabalize them for spares for use in India’s fast depleting Jump Jet squadrons.
“We have negotiated a deal with the Navy for supplying four air frames of Sea Harriers from our naval surplus,” Hugh Thomas, a top British Defence Ministry official, told newsmen at the Defence expo here.
He also said India and UK were in advanced stage of negotiations for supply to India of Submarine Rescue Vehicles for the Indian Navy. India has for the past four years been striving to acquire these vessels to mount rescue of its submarines in distress.
The British official also said Whitehall had also offered to locate a harrier post design service station in India to overhaul and maintain the navy’s Sea Harrier fighters.
The British offer could not have been more timely as a spate of recent crashes have badly depleted Indian Sea Harrier squadrons, with flying having to be restricted because of falling numbers.
RayRYup ASRAAM not AMRAAM. It might be meant to replace the magic matra 530’s in IAF service.
550 not 530.
So if Sarkozys visit is over then has the contract already been signed?
Sign In
