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Indian millitary system is a very well organized section of defence that we all feel proud of as Indians. Indian millitary forms the backbone of Indian Defence. Newer and improved weapons are needed by the army to fight back. To make yourself up to date and informed about the new developements of technology in Indian Military, browse through this blog. Know how technology has been highly embraced in our Indian Millitary System.

Friday, November 26, 2010

The 26/11 You Did Not See

Source: Yahoo 


We all remember where we were on 26/11. I myself had a taken a train from VT station that day and was heading to my new home in Bangalore. I was lucky though. My train was in the morning and by the time killing spree began I was halfway through my journey. My family gave me news of the attacks over the phone and I remember being alone and petrified, the pitch darkness of the night not helping. By the time I reached home the images that are now part of our sub-conscious were everywhere. Over the past two years we’ve been bombarded with those same visuals and details. But there is something that most of us haven’t seen …‘Terror in Mumbai’

Dan Reed’s ‘Terror in Mumbai’ is a jaw-dropping documentary on the 26/11 attacks that paralysed Mumbai and stunned the world. The film is narrated by Fareed Zakaria and includes the spine-chilling intercepted phone conversations between the terrorists in Mumbai and their handlers in Pakistan. It also includes CCTV footage from inside the Taj and police interrogation of the sole surviving terrorist – Ajmal Kasab, and never heard before accounts from several of the victims. After hearing the contents if you’re wondering why you haven’t seen this documentary on a TV channel or heard it being discussed in the media – then your guess is as good as mine.

Sample this conversation between the terrorists and their controllers from the documentary:

Controller: The captain of the boat…did you kill him?

Terrorist: Yeah, we finished him off

Controller: How?

Terrorist: We slit his throat

And that conversation is just the beginning of ‘Terror in Mumbai’, co-produced by Channel 4 and HBO. It has been telecast in the UK and the US and is widely available on the internet but has yet to see the day of light on Indian television.

PM heading to Berlin, Germany to pitch for Eurofighter

By: The Economic Times

Germany is set to sharpen its pitch for selling Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets to India when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh goes to Berlin next month, a day-long trip that will focus on expanding the strategic relationship between the two would-be non-permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Manmohan Singh is expected to fly to Berlin Dec 11 for a day-long visit after attending India's summit with the 27-nation European Union (EU) in Brussels.

This will be the second visit by Manmohan Singh to Berlin since he became the country's prime minister over six years ago.

Manmohan Singh and Merkel met recently at the G20 summit of major and emerging economies in Seoul. A bilateral visit by Manmohan Singh to Germany has been in the making for some time, but it was only last week it was decided to include a day-long visit to Berlin to the prime minister's itinerary that was earlier confined to a stand-alone visit to Brussels for the India-EU summit.

Manmohan Singh and Merkel, who enjoy a special chemistry, are expected to focus on expanding defence relationship and enlarging the scope of their strategic dialogue on key global issues like UN reforms, the international financial crisis, counter-terrorism, non-proliferation and climate change.

The UN reforms will be a key item on agenda, a senior official, who did not wish to be names, told IANS.

Significantly, the meeting between Manmohan Singh and Merkel will take place barely weeks before India and Germany join the UN Security Council as non-permanent members Jan 1, 2011. "This explains the focus on a dialogue over big-picture global issues," said the official.

Both countries are in favour of unity among G-4 countries (India, Brazil, Japan and Germany) to realise their collective quest for permanent seats on an expanded United Nations Security Council (UNSC), a point that was made forcefully by German ambassador to India Thomas Matussek recently.

Germany, on its part, is set to make a renewed pitch for the Eurofighter project at a time when the contest for a $10.4 billion tender for supplying 126 fighter aircraft to India is intensifying by the day.

Germany will contend that the Eurofighter offer is unique as it involves technology transfer and is likely to stress that it is ready to forgo the End-User Monitoring Agreement (EUMA) that even India's close partners like the US insist on, an informed source disclosed.

Early this week, the German envoy outlined the attractions of the Eurofighter Typhoon at a speech at the Indian Council for World Affairs. "We are here for the long haul...We are even forgoing the End-User Monitoring Agreement (EUMA) and offering complete transfer of technology. We would like India to work closely with us in the future development of the aircraft," he had said.

Germany, which is leading the Eurofighter consortium of several leading defence giants in Europe including EADS and BAE Systems , is hoping that India takes a favorable decision on the Eurofighter by the time Merkel comes here in the summer next year, the source disclosed.

The Eurofighter Typhoon will be competing against the US F/A-18 Super Hornet and F-16IN Super Viper, Sweden's Gripen, France's Rafale and Russia's MiG-35 to win the Indian Air Force's medium multi-role combat ircraft (MMRCA) project, touted as the mother of all defence deals.

Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy have come together to pitch for the Typhoon. British Defence Secretary Liam Fox extolled the Typhoon during his visit to India, saying it performed brilliantly in the field trials conducted by the IAF. 


LCA Tejas Falls Short of Earlier Expectations

BY: AviationWeek.com

As India’s homegrown Light Combat Aircraft (LCA Tejas) nears critical initial operational clearance next month, Indian air force officials say the aircraft will fail to meet performance requirements laid down by the service for the limited-profile Mk.1 platform.

According to an Indian air force source associated with the long-delayed indigenous fighter program, when the Tejas passes this milestone in December, it still will not be the fighter the air force had agreed to accept for limited squadron service. Performance specifications that the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) has not been able to attain include sustained turn rate, speed at low altitude, angle of attack and certain weapon delivery profiles. Exactly how far off the performance is from the specification remains classified.

The Tejas program has enlisted EADS to help expand the flight envelope to meet service requirements.
These shortfalls come on top of a thrust deficiency that necessitated the selection of a more powerful engine, General Electric’s F414-INS6, this year for a proposed Mk.2 version.

“We are still working to get the platform on track for initial operational clearance,” says an air force officer.
“It appears the exercise of resolving certain performance parameters will spill over into the post-induction phase,” he notes. “There was a very committed effort toward envelope expansion, though we have fallen short in certain key specifications, which we will continue to work on.”

Former air force chief Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy, who first pushed the idea of a limited induction of the homegrown fighter even if it did not fully meet service requirements, argues that the aircraft needs to be delivered without any further delay. “Once it is delivered, all outstanding issues can be ironed out and our pilots can get a chance to see what it is capable of. It is important to get it into service. That is the key.”
Initial deliveries of the aircraft early next year will be to the Indian air force’s Aircraft & Systems Testing Establishment in Bangalore, where the platforms will be tested before formal induction into squadron service for a year-long exercise in defining a role for the Tejas. 

The service has ordered 20 Tejas Mk.1 jets (and is processing an order for 20 more), powered by the GE F414-IN20 for two inaugural squadrons that will be established at peninsular air bases after the Aero India show in February.

The Tejas program has embarked on putting the ostensibly more capable Tejas Mk.2 on track, as well. An ADA team is optimizing the Tejas airframe for the F414 powerplant and has initiated studies on the aircraft’s proposed operational envelope, fluid dynamics studies of new components and analysis of new engine components. The team is also producing fresh numerical master geometry and inboard drawings, a new digital mock-up of the entire Mk.2, and a wind tunnel model in collaboration with the National Aerospace Laboratory.

The Tejas Mk.2 is scheduled to make its first flight in 2014, with full-rate production to follow two years later.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

India test-fires nuke capable Agni-I missile

Source :Bharat Rakshak

India on Thursday test-fired an upgraded version of the nuclear capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile Agni-I from a defence base off the east coast.

The missile with better re-entry technology and manoeuvrability was fired by the armed forces from a mobile launcher at the launching complex – IV of the Integrated Test Range in Wheeler's Island at about 10.10am.

"The result of the test firing was not immediately known. However the flight was made for user's trail and it has met all the mission objectives. The test was to reconfirm the technical parameters set for the user associated launch," told a defence official.

After a vertical lift-off from launch pad at the ITR, the missile rose into the sky leaving behind a ribbon of smokes. Ground radars, telemetry stations and naval ships positioned close to the intended impact point monitored the course of the missile.


Sunday, November 21, 2010

Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft contract to be signed between Russia and India in december

Source : Youngster

Russia and India are highly likely to sign a fifth-generation fighter design contract in December, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said. Russia's Sukhoi holding and India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) agreed in early 2010 to jointly develop a fifth-generation fighter jet. India confirmed that it had finalized a draft contract at a meeting with Russia in early October. "If all procedures are completed by the time of our president's visit [to India] in December, the contract will be ready for signing," Ivanov said.

The new aircraft will be based on Russia's T-50 prototype fifth-generation fighter, which has already made several test flights, and is expected to enter service with the Russian Air Force in 2015.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Tejas induction may overshoot deadline

Bharat Rakshak


The Indian Air Force would have to wait for another 10 months or a year for the induction of indigenously developed light combat aircraft Tejas, it has been learnt. While earlier the aircraft was slated to be inducted into the IAF by March 2011, now even the clearance to operationally fly the fighter may not be available by this period. 

There has been a delay in the completion of the Tejas project and the aircraft was not likely to meet the March 2011 deadline, as had been announced by Defence Minister AK Antony, sources said. 

A meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Defence was held yesterday and the members were informed that the LCA (Tejas) was approaching the initial operational clearance scheduled for December, but the final operational clearance — after which it would be inducted into the IAF — may only be possible by next year-end, the sources said.
After the operational clearance, the first lot of fighters would be handed over to the Air Force. Subsequently, a series of tests would be conducted. A review is being conducted by the IAF Chief every quarter to check the progress on Tejas, the sources said. 

Notably, a contract for the procurement of 20 Tejas was allotted to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on March 31, 2006. The total contract cost was Rs 2,701 crore. The delay in LCA production was primarily due to refinements carried out in the development phase. A total of Rs 1,712 crore has already been paid to HAL till 2009-end. 

The delay in the project was due to certain technical complexities and denial of critical technology, including the fly-by-wire system, that keeps the fighter stable as its takes twists and turns, it has been learnt. The programme was originally envisaged some 25 years ago. 

Meanwhile, Antony yesterday told the Parliamentary Consultative Committee that the Ministry would be making all efforts to create an environment for speedy indigenisation of defence systems and platforms. Certain policy decisions were on the anvil to give a big boost to the defence industry and for the production of futuristic weapon systems within the country. The meeting reviewed the performance of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). 

The DRDO is working on various projects like LCA, aero-engine, electronic warfare system, long-range and medium-range missiles, early warning systems, low intensity conflict technologies, radars, armament systems, etc. 

Meanwhile, members of Parliament have expressed concern over the cost and time overruns for different projects. The DRDO was asked to come back with the detail of cost and time over-runs for each project and the reasons for the delay, the sources said.

Has Eurofighter forged ahead in India’s MMRCA competition?

BY: Defenseworld.net

Source: IDRW





A flurry of reports in the Indian media quoting unnamed sources have pointed out that the Eurofighter Typhoon has forged ahead of the other contenders in India’s bid to buy 126 MMRCA fighter jets for an estimated $10 billion.An expected visit of Britain’s Defence Secretary Liam Fox to New Delhi later this month is seen as sales call on the Indian MoD to further hardsell the Eurofighter to India.
While one report said Eurofighter was ahead on technical evaluation by the Indian Air Force, another said Eurofighter and the Dassault Rafale had scored more points than the others in the technical evaluation report submitted to the MoD over three months ago.
However, there is no official word from the MOD and none of the six contenders- Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Eurofighter, MiG, Dassault and SAAB Gripen-have received any communication about the status of their bid. “There is complete silence. We have not heard anything from the MoD after the completion of the flight tests”, a senior Gripen Executive said.

The MOD has been sending queries to the IAF on the MMRCA competition in relation to the performance parameters and the latter has been responding to it, according to IAF Chief P.V. Naik who was quoted as saying during a news conference.

Informed sources told Defenseworld.net that the technical evaluation report lists out how each contender fared against specific clauses in the RFP and whether they met the performance parameters as outlined. “At the end of the technical evaluation, there are winners and losers. The winners will be in the shortlist who will be invited for commercial negotiations.” “At this time, we don’t know which ones will be in the shortlist. While some aircraft may be ahead of others on purely technical parameters, issues such as life cycle costs and offsets could complicate matters in deciding the shortlist”, the sources said.


Russia ready to sell Su-35 fighter jets to China

BY: RIA Novosti

Source: IDRW

Russia’s state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport said on Tuesday it was ready to hold talks with China on the delivery of advanced Su-35 fighter aircraft to the Chinese air force.

“We are ready to work with our Chinese partners to this end [Su-35 deliveries],” Deputy General Director of  Rosoboronexport Alexander Mikheyev said at the Airshow China 2010, which is being held on November 16-21 in Zhuhai.






IAF to increase pilots swap with Friendly countries

BY: IDRW NEWS NETWORK

Indian Air force has  decided to increase the frequency and the numbers  of the Pilot swap with friendly countries ,under foreign exchange pilot program of IAF , IAF  pilots and instructors are posted in few  Friendly foreign air forces .

under current program IAF instructors are currently serving in US air force as Instructors and a Us Air force instructor is in India Training younger IAF pilots to horn their Fighting skills .

Rescuers find wreckage of missing U.S. F-22 fighter jet

Source: Ria Novosti



A rescue plane has discovered the wreckage of an U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter jet that went missing Tuesday night, the Elmendorf-Richardson airbase in Alaska said in a statement on Wednesday.

The fighter jet lost contact with air traffic control at 7:40 p.m. Alaska time Tuesday (04:40 GMT on Wednesday) while on a night-time training mission.

The crash site has been located at about 160 kilometers north of Anchorage. A rescue team is searching for a missing pilot, the airbase said in a statement.

F-22 is a single-seat, twin-engine fifth-generation fighter aircraft that uses stealth technology.

The $150-mln plane entered service with the USAF in 2005. Over 160 F-22s have been built by Lockheed Martin with projected goal of 187 aircraft. The export sale of the F-22 is prohibited by U.S. federal law.

The USAF already lost two F-22s – during takeoff at Nellis Air Force Base in December 2004 and during a test flight near Edwards Air Force Base in March 2009.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Why India will not buy New F-16IN?

Source: Weapon and Technology
 
India’s M-MRCA competition is currently the largest and most lucrative fighter competition in the world. I believe Lockheed Martin’s F-16IN Block 60+ “Super Viper” offering will have a difficult time making past the shortlist of six. Other contenders vying for the USD 11 billion deal include Boeing F/A 18 Super Hornet, MiG-35, SAAB Gripen NG, Eurofighter Typhoon and the Dassault Rafale.

One major factor working specifically against the Lockheed Martin F-16’s is that it has been in operation in the Pakistan Air Force for decades. It is clearly an older, single engined platform compared to its competitors and just does not impress the Indian Air Force regardless of the media blitz launched by the Director of Advance Development Programme Mr. Michael R Griswold in New Delhi last week.

“First, the Indian Air Force has refused to comment officially on specific progress in the MMRCA competition, but an IAF officer familiar with developments at Air Force HQ has indicated to a select group of journalists, on condition of anonymity, that the Indian Air Force and Ministry of Defence specifically agree that there is no sense in purchasing a platform that the US is already supplying to Pakistan (notwithstanding the assertion that the variant on offer to India is far more advanced). This, especially when the F-16 has come to symbolize the irritation India nurses against the stubborn rhetoric South Block faces from the US when it registers its disquiet at billions of dollars worth of conventional weapons being supplied hand over fist to Pakistan supposedly for the war against terror.”
—Shiv Aroor on LiveFist

Cold-war era co-operation with Pakistan cannot be undone, but United States Government policy must not shackle competitiveness of American defense companies in India. There is enough concern in India about the ever growing conventional military aid given by successive U.S. Presidents to Pakistan—worth approximately USD 15 billion—since 9/11. Most of this aid, as expected, has been hijacked by the Pakistani military, and used to build up military capability against India.

That the United States expects India to purchase American weapons while the same are being gifted to the Pakistanis is not being overlooked in New Delhi.

The second factor that works against all American defense companies pitching for various defense deals in India are the controversial and binding agreements that the United States is pushing along with these arms sales. India Defence has previously reported on these agreements and has provided excerpts and citations, as had Defense Industry Daily. The mainstream media too has picked up on these and has covered it aggressively during President Obama’s November 2010 New Delhi visit, which otherwise is being seen as a huge success.

This is an unusual occurrence for a country like India. India has close and non-conflicting strategic-defense relations with major countries including Russia, Israel, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy etc. and has not encountered such restrictions elsewhere.

After its liberalization in the early 1990s, defense procurement in India has become an increasingly open, transparent and fair process. Multiple candidates vying for each tender is often the case. Simply put, it is overwhelmingly a buyers market. American defense companies will do well to impress upon the U.S. Government to recognize the environment in India and withdraw Government-imposed clauses that hurt the competency of U.S. defense products and companies.

The success of President Obama’s visit and the deepening ties seen through the Clinton and Bush Jr. Presidencies, have already produced significant deals. On the other hand, India has learnt well from the cold-war era, and is unlikely to put all its eggs in one basket. Regardless of the F-16’s success or failure in M-MRCA, the United States has the potential to strongly compete with Russia and Israel, and become a close defense partner to India.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

C-17 Globemaster III agreement signals more strategic sourcing from India

Source : Bharat Rakshak

In addition to creating more than 20,000 jobs for Americans back home, the preliminary agreement between India and the US for 10 C-17 Globemaster III heavy transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force, would result in more strategic sourcing activities by Boeing, Pratt & Whitney and other companies involved in the C-17 Globemaster III program.

Each Boeing C-17 Globemaster III heavy transport aircraft supports 650 suppliers across 44 U.S. states. The US $4.1 billion deal, all of which is U.S. export content, will support approximately 22,160 jobs.

In the future, Boeing could also look at incorporating Indian companies in the C-17 Globemaster III program. The aircraft is manufactured by Boeing at its facility in Long Beach, California.

So far Boeing and many of it's tier one suppliers have developed sources in India for various components and engineering services. However the 'made in India' content in these aircrafts is still very limited.

Global tier one suppliers to Boeing, including those from Europe, Australia etc have already set up manufacturing facilities in India and are scouting for Indian companies to produce aerospace components and deliver engineering services.

Boeing Company and the Indian Air Force reached preliminary agreement on the purchase of 10 C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft, and are now in the process of finalizing the details of the sale. The preliminary agreement also represents the purchase of approximately 45 engines for Pratt & Whitney. East Hartford’s Pratt & Whitney will produce the engines.

The Boeing C-17 military aircraft is powered by four Pratt & Whitney engines and with spares, it is expected that India would purchase approximately 45 engines.

Pratt & Whitney to step up sourcing and manufacturing activities in India.

Pratt & Whitney has a big R&D engineering footprint in India and is actively working to expand it's manufacturing footprint in the country. The company plans to double the headcount at it's sourcing office in Bangalore to about 80 people in three years. It's local sourcing of components and engineering services will increase 10-fold by 2014, to around $150-200 million a year from the current $15 million.

Pratt & Whitney is finalizing four or five joint ventures with local manufacturers in the coming months. The company is also exploring partnership opportunities with L&T, the Tata Group and other companies. The first joint venture is expected to happen by the end of this year in which P&W will invest 50 per cent (approximately $25 million).

The trade agreement with India to purchase C-17 aircrafts represents three words for Connecticut- jobs, jobs, jobs," stated Congressman John B. Larson (CT-01) upon hearing the announcement. "This is great news for our state and the employees at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in East Hartford and Middletown. I praise President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Singh for working together to make this historic agreement possible for both nations. This is a win-win situation for the United States and India, increasing our trade and economic relations for years to come."

"Earlier this year, I was proud to arrange a visit by Indian Ambassador Meera Shankar to Pratt to meet with Mr. ChĂȘnevert and UTC executives as well as an opportunity for her to speak to the machinists," added Congressman Larson. "Ambassador Shankar spoke to both groups about the great economic opportunity of trade between her nation and the United States. Over the next two years, I will continue inviting Ambassadors from foreign nations to Connecticut to meet with our businesses and further establish trade relations that will benefit our state in the future. Manufacturing is in our state’s DNA and today’s announcement represents the great significance of why we need to continue our vigilance in Congress to support the "Making it in America" agenda."

"I am pleased to welcome India's preliminary agreement to purchase 10 C-17 cargo planes, which will enhance Indian capabilities and support 22,000 jobs back in the US," said US President Barack Obama while addressing a joint press conference with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Once all ten have been delivered, the Indian Air Force will be the owner and operator of the largest fleet of C-17s outside of the United States. India may even order another six C-17s after the first ten.

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