Naval LCA set for Carrier Compatibility Tests

Source: TNN

The naval variant of India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is gearing up for carrier compatibility tests at the shore-based INS Hansa in Goa, according to sources in the Aeronautical Development Authority (ADA) which is developing the aircraft. The first prototype completed its maiden flight on April 27, 2012. 

The ADA has floated tenders inviting expression of interest (EoI) for the design, development, procurement, testing, integration, installation, commissioning and operation of shore-based telemetry facility, an essential component to test LCA-Navy. “The last date to receive EoIs is October 24,” a source said.

LCA-Navy is the second Ski Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR ) carrier-borne aircraft in the world, after the Russian deck-based aircraft. However, it’ll be the only carrier-borne fighter aircraft in the light category.

A senior ADA official said a US Navy Carrier Suitability Test Team will audit the test findings and its experience in developing and maintaining carrier-borne aircraft will be useful.

Technical features

* Operate from aircraft carrier using Ski-jump Take off But Arrested Recovery. Aircraft gets airborne over a ski jump in about 200 m and lands in 90 m

* Derived from air force version, it’s an agile war machine

* Flight control system augmented with Leading Edge Vortex Controller which aids reduced approach speeds for carrier landing

* Fuel dump system enables safe landing by reducing weight in emergencies after launch from carrier

HAL rejects IAF proposal to produce Pilatus trainer aircraft

Source: PTI

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has rejected a proposal of Air Force to produce Pilatus aircraft in its facilities against the backdrop of a tussle between the two on whether to procure an imported trainer aircraft or develop it indigenously.

IAF has already placed an order for 75 Pilatus trainer aircraft and is planning to procure 106 more of them after the completion of the delivery of first lot by the end of 2017.

HAL, however, is in favour of developing the aircraft indigenously.

IAF had proposed that HAL should licence produce the Pilatus aircraft in its facility but this was rejected by the aerospace giant saying it was working on a project of its own on the issue, senior IAF officials said here.

HAL is working towards producing HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft which is expected to fly by 2015.

IAF and HAL have been debating on the issue for over a year now but it came to fore recently when IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne wrote to Defence Minister A K Antony, asking the government to procure the Pilatus instead of the one proposed by the HAL.

The IAF chief has also told the government that cost of the HTT-40 aircraft being developed by the HAL would be higher than that of the Pilatus aircraft.

IAF has also told government that the indigenous aircraft would be 25 per cent more expensive than the imported Pilatus.

According to HAL, the aircraft proposed by it would be much more advanced than the Pilatus as it will have weapon firing capabilities also along with other advancements.

Antony to take up issues related to FGFA project with Russia

Source: PTI

Not happy with its share of work in the multi-billion dollar Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) project with Russia, India is expected to flag the issue with that country during Defence Minister A K Antony’s visit there next month.

Though India is investing 50 per cent of the cost of the multi-billion dollar programme, its work share in the research and development and other aspects of the programme at the moment is only around 15 per cent, IAF officials said here.

The Defence Minister is expected to flag this issue during his Russia visit beginning November 15 as this will have an impact on India’s indigenous capabilities to develop such an advanced fighter aircraft, they said.

The IAF expressed its objection over the issue at a CII event on energising aerospace sector in India.

“We have a major opportunity in the FGFA programme. At the moment it is not very much in favour of Indian development. We are flagging it through the Government. It should be much more focused towards indigenous development capability,” IAF Deputy Chief Air Marshal S Sukumar said here.

The senior IAF officer was commenting on the programme and the opportunities that it could provide for the Indian defence sector.

The FGFA is a joint venture programme between India and Russia and its preliminary design phase was completed recently.

The programme is expected to cost over 1.5 lakh crore to the Government. The two sides are now in discussion over the main Research and Development part of the programme, which is expected to take another year to be concluded.

India to finalize $15 billion Rafale deal by March, Indian Air Force says

Source: REUTERS

                                      

India will finalize a $15 billion deal to buy 126 Rafale fighter jets from France’s Dassault Aviation by March 2014, an Indian Air Force official said on Thursday, after the deal had been held up by differences over local manufacturing.

India picked the Rafale for exclusive negotiations in January 2012 after a bidding contest against Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, made by a consortium involving EADS, Finmeccanica and BAE Systems.

However, there were differences over the role of India’s state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd in manufacturing the jets.

Air Marshal S Sukumar, deputy chief of Air staff, told an aerospace conference the deal would be signed within the current financial year, according to a statement issued by conference organizer, the Confederation of Indian Industry.Under the deal, Dassault is expected to send 18 ready-made jets and would manufacture the rest in IndiaHindustan Aeronautics will be its lead partner.

Dassault had earlier expressed doubts about the ability of the local partner to make such a sophisticated fighter. Hindustan Aeronautics has been developing a light combat aircraft since the early 1980s with no success so far.

A spokesman for Dassault declined to comment. The French company is still hoping to finalize the deal by the end of the 2013.

India’s government wants to encourage Indian companies to partner with foreign suppliers to reduce its reliance on imports and boost a domestic defence industry that is dominated by underperforming public sector companies.

A separate tender to buy and build 56 military transport planes at an estimated cost of 119 billion rupees has been extended by two months, Sukumar also said. The defence ministry launched the tender in May to replace an ageing fleet of Avro jets.

The ministry had originally said the transport planes deal must be struck between a foreign supplier and an Indian private company. However, heavy industries minister Praful Patel said last week that public-sector firms already making products for the armed forces should have been allowed to take part in the bidding.

The defence ministry has said it will look into Patel’s complaint, potentially delaying the tender. Many of India’s foreign arms purchases run into long delays because of accusations of corruption and bureaucratic complications.

India to purchase Minesweepers from South Korea

 India’s Defence Ministry has decided to award a US $1.2 billion contract to Kangnam Corp. for eight mine-countermeasure vessels in India’s first big-ticket defense program with South Korea.

The deal has been cleared ahead of Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s planned visit to Seoul later this year, and will help boost defense ties with South Korea, an Indian MoD official said.

The finalization of the contract was delayed after Italy’s Intermarine, which was competing for the contract, approached India’s anti-fraud agency, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), with issues related to the transparency of the procurement. The CVC cleared the purchase last year, but the MoD has since dragged its feet in deciding to award the contract, the source said.

India is reaching out to friendly nations in the region, including Japan and South Korea, as part of its Look East policy in a bid to contain the rising influence of China, said defense analyst Mahindra Singh.

The Indian Navy is likely to give additional orders to the South Korean company for the countermine ships, since the service has a requirement for more than 24 minesweepers, an MoD source said. The Indian Navy operates 12 aging Pondicherry and Karwar-class minesweepers.

The purchase of the new countermine ships is part of a long-term plan to acquire vessels for littoral warfare, including large landing platform decks, fast attack craft and advanced offshore patrol vessels.

In 2008, India sent bids for the countermine ships to Kangnam, Intermarine, Northrop Grumman, Izhar of Spain and DCN International of France.

The Navy has wanted new minesweepers for more than 13 years, but delays in procurement due to bureaucratic red tape have been holding back the order.

According to the deal, the first two minesweepers will be constructed at Pusan, South Korea, and the remaining six will be built at the Goa Shipyard through technology transfers.

South Korea has become a big-ticket supplier of weapons to India — along with Russia, Israel, the United States and France — and is aggressively tapping India’s $100 billion weapons market.

Samsung has jointly developed a howitzer gun with Indian private-sector company Larsen & Toubro, and it is likely to put up a tough fight against Russia’s Rosoboronoexport in the quest to supply 155mm/52-caliber tracked guns.

The Larsen & Toubro-Samsung team is competing with Rosoboronexport, and with state-owned Bharat Earth Movers Ltd. (BEML), which has partnered with Slovakian company Konstrukha.

The Indian Army wants to buy 100 tracked guns valued at more than $750 million. The tender, issued in 2011, was a rebid of a 2007 tender, which went to India’s Tata Power SED, Larsen & Toubro, BEML and Rosoboronexport.

South Korean firm Doosan has also been given a tender this year for the purchase of 104 self-propelled gun missile systems to replace aging Russian Kvadrat systems.

Indo-South Korean defense ties began in 2005, when the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on defense logistics and supplies.

In 2007, the defense ministers of the two countries met to hash out a defense cooperation plan, which was followed in 2010 by the signing of a declaration of strategic partnership.

2nd Nuclear Submarine Lease likely to highlight in Indo-Russian Summit

At least half a dozen bilateral agreements, including a big ticket deal on the lease of a nuclear submarine are expected to be signed at the 14th Indo-Russian annual summit in Moscow on October 21, key officials involved in the negotiations (which are still going on) said.

India has been looking to take a second nuclear submarine on lease from Russia and talks are believed to have progressed well. The two sides are keeping budget-level secrecy on this subject. The issue is likely to dominate discussions between Singh and Putin during a restricted meeting where the two principals meet with select aides.


Normally, sensitive subjects like nuclear submarines are not announced formally. It is yet to be seen whether the subject will find a mention in the Joint Statement to be released after the visit but a broad framework on defence and scientific cooperation is likely to be unveiled after the talks.

The only nuclear submarine with the Indian Navy currently, INS Chakra, has also been taken on lease from Russia. The boat joined active service in the Indian Navy in April 2012. The ten-year lease has cost India almost a billion dollars.

The Indian Navy personnel are quite satisfied with the leased nuclear submarine as the 80-personnel capacity boat can remain under water as long as human endurance allows. Another operational advantage of the boat is that its noise level is virtually zero which enhances its stealth qualities.

The second nuclear submarine lease is likely to cost considerably more. Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh is scheduled to hold a press conference on Manmohan Singh’s visit to Russia and China during which she would inevitably be asked questions about the second nuclear submarine lease plans.


Defence ties ::
Government-to-government route, comparable to the American Foreign Military Supplies (FMS) programme, is being actively considered to repair the strains in Indo-Russian defence relations from the Russian viewpoint.

Russia has been complaining to India for losing out on several defence deals over the past two years largely because of India’s radically changed Defence Procurement Policy (DPP) which puts greater emphasis on indigenization.

But despite some recent setbacks, Russia still tops the list of foreign defence suppliers, having secured orders worth $16 billion in orders during the three-year period of April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2013. This amounts to almost 40 percent of the Indian defence imports in this period which totaled $38 billion. Currently Russian arms factories are working on cumulative Indian orders worth $20 billion, enough to keep them busy for years.


Energy, trade, investment issues ::
The October 21 summit will be dominated by energy, trade and investment issues.

On the energy front, Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant’s 3rd and 4th units and Indian concerns about ONGC’s loss-making investment in Imperial Energy which is engaged in mineral extraction in western Siberia would be the main talking points at the summit, officials said.

It is a work in progress on the tricky issue of KNPP 3 and 4 and no agreements are likely to be signed during the summit. The matter is currently at the technical talk’s stage.

The two sides’ prime focus will be on giving a much-needed impetus to the bilateral trade, currently at a below-par $11 billion with a target of taking it to $20 billion by 2015. The leaders will be tightening bolts and screws of a mechanism of deepening cooperation in multiple and diverse sectors such as information technology, fertilizers, infrastructure and aviation.

The two leaders are likely to discuss the idea of Russians producing passenger aircraft SSJ-100 and Irkut in India for India to keep the cost of production considerably lower. Again, an agreement is unlikely to be signed during the summit in this context because the matter is being discussed by technical experts from the two sides.

Fertilizer sector is another highly important area that promises rich returns as Russia is a leading producer and India a major importer of the commodity. The two sides are likely to agree to intensify their cooperation in this area which can give billions of dollars to Russia in the long run.

Source: INDRUS

INS Sunayna to be commissioned into Indian Navy today

    

  One more Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) will be added to the Indian Navy’s fleet of warships on Tuesday with the commissioning of INS Sunayna, one of the largest Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels, at the Southern Naval Command here. Vice Admiral Satish Soni, Commanding-in- Chief, Southern Naval Command, will formally commission the vessel at the South Jetty of the Naval Base at 8 am.

    The 105-metre vessel was handed over to the Indian Navy by the Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) on September 2. The vessel will be primarily used by the Navy for ocean surveillance and surface

warfare operations to prevent infiltration. “The vessel is suited for monitoring sea lines of communication, defence of offshore oil installations and other critical offshore national assets. The vessel can be deployed for escorting high-value ships and fleet support operations,” a Defence statement said.

   INS Sunayna is one of the batch of four vessels which the Goa Shipyard has been commissioned to build. Two other offshore patrol vessels in the batch – INS Sumitra and INS Sumedha – are expected to be handed over to the Navy in two years. The first in the series of NOPV – INS Sarya – was handed over to the Indian Navy by Goa Shipyard in December last year.