Come this June, the Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch
IRNSS-1, the first of the seven Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System
(IRNSS) GPS navigation satellites into orbit to provide real-time position,
navigation and time services to multiple users, confirmed ISRO Chairman K
Radhakrishnan earlier today. IRNSS-1 will be launched by ISRO’s PSLV-C22 launch
vehicle from the spaceport at Sriharikota off the Bay of Bengal on Andhra
Pradesh coast. ISRO plans to launch IRNSS-2 three months after in-orbit tests
of the first one, and the remaining five satellites over a 14-month period by
2015. The IRNSS will have a space segment (constellation of satellites and
signal-in-space), a ground segment and a user segment to provide multiple
services on a 24 x 7 basis under all-weather conditions to a host of users. Three
satellites will be placed in the geostationary equatorial orbit (GEO) at 34, 83
and 131.5 degree east and two satellites each in the geosynchronous orbit (GSO)
with equator crossing at 55 and 111.5 degree east at an inclination of 29
degrees. The IRNSS will have two signals in L-5 and S-band on 1176.45MHz
frequency and 2492.028MHz frequency with provision for down-links. The satellite
constellation will provide two basic services—standard positioning service for
civilian users (using the CA code) and restricted precision encrypted navigation
service (Py code) for authorised (military) users. The navigation software has
been indigenously developed in-house by ISRO.
Meanwhile, the country’s first 2,330kg dedicated
military communications satellite—GSAT-7/INSAT-4F—is likely to be launched by
Arianespace from Kourou, French Guyana, by this August. This is to be followed next year by the GSAT-7A communications satellite, also to be launched by Arianespace, for the Indian Air Force. Plans are also afoot to
launch at least three additional remote-sensing satellites equipped with SAR
antennae to add to the two already in orbit, these being the ISRO-developed RISAT-1
and the RISAT-2, which was built and delivered by Israel Aerospace Industries. These will be joined between 2016 and 2018 by the Cartosat-3 family of remote-sensing satellites that will offer imagery resolutions of 0.25 metres, and will replace the existing Cartosat-2,
Cartosat-2A and Cartosat-2B satellites.
70 comments:
WILL THE FRENCH PROVIDE ATOMIC CLOCK FOR THE SATS. OR WILL THEY BE MANUF. IN INDIA AS WELL.
WHY IS THIS NOT DEV. INTO A GLOBAL SYS. INSTED OF A REG. SYS.
WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR AGGREMENT FOR SHARING GLONASS SIGNAL.
France has ALREADY provided atomic clocks for them off-the-shelf. India being a regional power does not yet think global like China & therefore the IRNSS is a regional network. With the operationalisation of IRNSS, India won't require the services of GLONASS-K.
HI Prasun
The intelligence agencies are getting the global express but why is the army not going for them to do real time battle management?.Every army worth its salt desires them and it is a known force multiplier. The air force has its own SAR pods but the real use would be to the army.There is nothing like having a large SAR ac like the sentinel.Would the SAR equipped global express ac be better than the sentinel in terms of range and resolution and integration?.Please give more info on that.
comming to the IRNSS , is it as accurate as the glonass or the americam GPS?.Is it true that we are in a partnership with glonass becasue we dont have that precise accuracy for military apps?.I have to congrat the guys who build this IRNSS as it is a major development that has been un noticed.There is a lot of anti jamming research on GPS going on how good are we in that.Did we get some outside help apart from the clocks for IRNSS.
Chinese GPS it seems can send and recieve sms ,It is difficult to understand as a radio amateur the power radiated by a hand held device with a omni antenna to be sufficient enough contact a high flying sat.Pse comment.
Prasunda,if the IRNSS could be upgraded to a global system like GPS in future?
Read this: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/india-wrestles-with-dilemma-of-blacklisting-agustawestland/1089359/0
Sorry when did india become a regional power? Is this power over who...nepal, butan, bangladesh, sri-lanka? or is it by having more people in poverty than the whole of sub-saharan africa continent!!!!
Mr.WSing,
Its not about the number of people India has BPL . With a billion people the pure power of the population can be expressed as a regional power. India is the only stable democracy in the region, there isn't a single democracy in its neighbourhood who has the power, reach and capabilities of her armed forces. The constant argument over the number of the BPL,HIV stricken people is very foolish. We are talking about the armed forces and diplomacy here; nothing swings better than a huge population, remember what the Russians did on the eastern front to Hitler? You can't do that unless you have huge reserves of people!
does ISRO undergo any audit financially. Each year Govt provide budget to ISRO. ISRO is having largest remote sensing satellites in the world and is providing service to many countries. Also we have a wide variety of satellites for different purposes. Doesn't ISRO make any money from its products?
Hi Prasun
I came across a chinese missile named akg-400 that is touted to be carrier killer, there is a picture of it next to a jf-17 and given the size of the missile and weight i doubt it has a range of 250 km as stated especially being rocket powered for 30 sec boost at the most , i supose it coasts all the way down . It claims that it is fired and climbs up to gain height and range and dives down as hypersonic speeds on a carrier. Are we to be concerned .Pse explain
http://yanziyang.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/china-supersonic-cm-400-akg-long-range-anti-ship-and-land-attack-missile/
WHAT IS YOUR THOUGHT ON HAL-RR JV FOR COMPRESSOR COMPONENTS FOR TRENT MARINE. THEY SAY THAT THAY WILL PRODUCE ABOUT 180 DIFFERENT COMPONENTS (I BELIEVE TRENT SERIES HAS 30,000 - 40,000 COMPONENTS FOR COMPLETE ENGINES DEPENDING ON MODEL).
HOW MUCH TECHNICAL KNOW HOW WILL IT BRING TO INDIA?
IS THIS PART OF OFFSET FOR R-R?
Prasunda,
1. Will the K-4 be flight tested this year ? If not when will the first flight test be ?
2. Will Agni-V indeed be flight tested again by June ? When will the R&D work on Agni -V be completed ?
To RAD: The two Global 5000 aircraft will be used primarily for peacetime monitoring of movements & deployments across India’s borders, i.e. they will not have the kind of GMTI mode of operation that is meant for use during wartime. That is why such mission sensors are totally different in terms of what they do, from sensors like the EL/M-2060P SAR pod. The IA already has Searcher Mk2s fitted with EL/M-2055 SAR radar with built-in GMTI mode of operation. In fact, only yesterday, ELBIT Systems announced that it had secured a US$115 million contract for supplying ELINT & SIGINT sensor suites for an unidentified ‘Asian’ customer.
Regarding IRNSS, as I have stated in the narrative above, it will offer Py precision codes for authorised military users. Accuracy will be the same as that offered by Russia’s GLONASS-K & the US’ NAVSTAR. With such precision navigation capability, India’s Army & the IAF will at last be able to fully optimise usage of the combined services Military Geospatial Information System (MGIS), which has been developed by the DRDO’s Defence Terrain Research Laboratory (DTRL) & the Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Robotics (CAIR) & it offers automated, realistic, three-dimensional, fly-through, drive-through and walk-through representations of areas of interest, which will be of enormous value to ground-based formations on the move into enemy territory, as well as for long-range PGMs like Nirbhay cruise missile. The MGIS has various sub-components like the Terrain Feature Extraction System (TFES), Terrain Reasoner system (TRS) & the Terrain Matching System (TMS).
Lastly, the advent of IRNSS will enable several types of land-based, sea-based & airborne platforms to use hardware like the G3OM, developed by Accord Software & Systems for the DRDO. G3OM is a 17-gram high-tech satellite navigation system--a tiny box, two inches across and a quarter-inch high--that will go into various platforms, telling them exactly where they are, accurate to 3 metres. The G3OM also harnesses the power of GLONASS-K. The G3OM will be able to pick up signals from NAVSTAR, GLONASS-K and GAGAN-enabled satellites, integrating all three into an accurate readout. It is built with two antennae so that even when a MBT or a UAV is moving, at least one antenna is receiving satellite signals, allowing unbroken navigation signals. G3OM will also find application on board PGMs like 155mm GPS-guided artillery rounds like a DRDO-developed variant of the Excalibur.
To Anon@1.30PM: Of course it can. But is it worth the cost?
WSING: Long before India was reduced to a regional power by 1947, undivided India was THE SOLE GLOBAL SUPERPOWER in the 18th century, accounting 98% of the world’s GDP & up until 1947 was the ‘Jewel in the Crown’ for the British Empire. Poverty has existed everywhere without any exception. What matters is how does one define it: relative poverty or absolute poverty.
To Anon@7.44PM: Of course it does. And its audited accounts are published every year in its annual report.
To Anon@12.08PM: It is not connected to any offsets deal, but is a pro-active marketing approach adopted by R-R since this company wants to market its marine industrial gas-turbines to replace the existing R-R-built units like the Gnome & Orpheus that are in service in large numbers with ONGC. Such deals never bring any technical know-how. If one wants technical know-how, then the only option is to develop the KMGT Kaveri Marine Gas-Turbine & offer it for use to ONGC & other offshore oil exploration firms.
To Anon@2.38AM: Only the Agni-5 will be test-fired for a second time next month. K-4 at best will be ready only by 2016 at best. All R & D work on Agni-5 & its canister & MIRVs too will be completed only by 2016.
By the way, does anyone know WTF is happening with this project: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on October 15, 2001 between Rotary Wing Research & Design Centre (RWR & DC) of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Bangalore and Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO), Chandigarh, for development of Fly-by-Light Tail Rotor Control System for Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH). Shri K.S. Sudheendra (Executive Director, HAL) signed the MoU on behalf of HAL and Shri R.S. Antil (Controller of Administration, CSIO) and Shri K.K. Lakhanpal (Senior Finance & Accounts Officer, CSIO), signed on behalf of CSIO. The MoU was signed in the presence of Dr R.P. Bajpai, Director, CSIO. Smt. S. Thenmozhi (Chief Manager, Design, HAL) and Shri J.K. Chhabra (Sci. E II, CSIO), the Principal Investigators of the project, were also present on the occasion along with Heads of Divisions.
It seems everyone concerned with this project has gone AWOL & no one’s even talking about it anymore.
To RAD: My two threads dealing with Airshow China 2012 in Zhuhai last November has all the photos, posters & descriptions of the AKG-400 missile.
Prasun,
Applying all the lessons learnt from the Arihant class SSBNs, is India going to embark on design and production of a class of SSNs and/or SSKs?
+ do you think India will go for the lease of the second Akula SSN from Russia as recent reports have speculated?
Also when will the MARCOs start recieivng their FCS (future combat systems) for which RFIs were sent out 15+ months ago?
@Prasun da
Could you please explain this 'Fly-by-Light Tail Rotor Control System for Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH)', what is it meant for ?
Also you once said India could well work on developing composite rotors for Cheetal / Chetan, will that help?
Also you said Cheetah / Chetak & their upgrades Cheetal / Chetan have lot of life in them, but if i am not wrong the engine maker has stopped making them, then how ?
To expand the reach of IRNSS will linking it with GLONASS will help ?
Sir,
Do you think CM-400 will be a game changer in war?
Can India's defense shield defend against this missile.
Is it a match to our Bramhos.
thanks
m.ndtv.com/article/india/former-air-chief-sp-tyagi-did-not-clear-vvip-chopper-deal-alone-343616
finally some sense in head of morons.....!
Did you know WSing is not who you think.He doesn't hail from across the north eastern international border but from time to time also appeared as Anonymous hailing from across the western international border. Need I say more!Do a check on the phrase sub-Saharan and you got your ID.
sir wat abt hal lch td3?u said it wz gonna fly by feb r march?r it z jst dat a cockpit mock up.
PrasunDa,
Designing MIRV is considered to be one of the most difficult thing in the field of Defense Engineering & till date only Russia & US has achieved success in this field with even CHINAstruggling inspite of it's huge defence budget .
Therefore, how credible are these DRDO announcements that AGNI V will have MIRVs ?
Thank You ,
Vikram
Interesting statistics: http://news.yahoo.com/china-replaces-britain-worlds-top-five-arms-exporters-003324632.html
Hi Prasun
You have indicated that there is a guided artillery shell program similar to the excaliber using the g3om gps chip, is it true? do we have the High g tolerant hardware to do that? Saraswat says that there is a anti radiation missile program as well / is th at true or is he doing some wish full talking as we do not have the tech and the experience to do that .
The SAR equipped UAV could be shot down due to the comparative short range to the target of interest due to the small aperture of the UAV.
whereas the bigger SAR equipped ac could stand off and be a battle management hub as well. pse comment
Do we need to be concerned about the akg-400 missile ?.
To UNKNOWN: For starters, the IPRs of the designs of the S-2, S-3 S-4 & S-5 SSBNs are held exclusively by Russia’s RUBIN Central Marine Engineering Design Bureau, meaning no one in India was ever exposed to the design processes of these SSBNs & therefore there’s absolutely no naval architect in India today that can claim to be a submarine designer. Secondly, the closest anyone has ever come within India to specialise in production-engineering processes for submarines of any type is Larsen & Toubro, which today has a virtual reality centre for rapid prototyping purposes. But having such facilities still does not qualify any India-based manufacturer to undertake design of any type of submarine. For, the Russians never allowed access to either the IN’s Directorate of Naval Design or L & T to any aspect of submarine design & therefore it was RUBIN alone that designed the SSBN & therefore was no India-Russia joint design team engaged in a seamless joint designing process (unlike the MRTA & FGFA project for which HAL’s designers are embedded within the overall design team so that seamless transfer of design expertise can take place). Consequently, simply put, the human resource expertise required for designing a submarine hull of any type within India simply does not exist. The same goes for other sub-systems like PWR safety systems.
It does appear likely that India will finance the completion of construction of the second Type 971 SSGN, which is already 40% complete & is presently rotting in Russia. FCS for the MARCOS should begin arriving by 2016.
To JOYDEEP GHOSH, Simply put, fly-by-light flight-control systems use fibre-optic cables instead of electrical cables used by fly-by-wire flight-control systems. This results in airframe weight reduction. The AW-101, for instance, makes partial use of such fly-by-light flight-control systems. As for Cheetal/Chetan versions of the existing Cheetah/Chetak helicopters, what I had stated was that HAL already possesses the in-house expertise required for developing all-composite MAIN & TAIL ROTOR BLADES, that could easily replace the existing all-metal main & tail rotor blades. The existing airframes of the Cheetah & Chetak & their gearboxes have plenty of reserve life left in them to last for another 20 years at the very least. In addition, over the past 20 years, an entire private-sector vendor-based eco-system has been created within India by HAL for supplying all types of airframe structures & components, wiring harnesses, rivetting, etc & therefore these are not imported any more. The only area where foreign dependency continues is for obtaining spares for the R-R/Turbomeca Artouste engine. This dependency too can be overcome if the Turbomeca TM-333-2B2 engine (mounted on the first batch of Dhruv ALHs) can be used on the Cheetal & Chetan instead of the existing Artouste engine. If this is done, then there will be ZEREO dependency by HAL on any foreign OEM when it comes to through-life product support for either the Cheetal or Chetan.
In theory, IRNSS & GLONASS-K can be complimentary. But for India’s reqmts, IRNSS will be more than enough, given its comprehensive regional footprint.
To Anon@9.49AM: I don’t see this supersonic ASM as being a game-changer at all, especially when used against the Indian Navy simply because of the IN’s superior shipborne AEW capabilities, which will prevent any attempt by any type of launch aircraft to launch such an anti-ship missile. Probably, that’s why even the PLA Navy hasn’t inducted such a missile into service as yet & instead has preferred to induct into service the WJ-600 turbojet-powered armed drone, which would typically be launched in swarms against a carrier battle group. In fact, during the air show expo in Zhuhai last November, there was an animated video presentation showing a swarm of WJ-600s attacking the INS Vikramaditya.
To Anon@10.07AM: That is a very interesting chronological timeline for various reasons. Firstly, it debunks the theory of the former CAS of IAF receiving money just for the sake of diluting the ASQRs so that the AW-101 could take part in the competitive bidding process. For, the ASQR dilution had resulted in even the Sikorsky S-92 & Mi-17V-5 then qualifying to compete against the Eurocopter EC-225 Cougar. Does this, therefore, mean that even Sikorsky & Rosoboronexport pay anything to anybody just because they too could then compete against the EC-225 & AW-101? Secondly, the revelation of Rosoboronexport’s inability to ink the Integrity Clause then should be an eye-opener to many, since Rosoboronexport’s former competitor, PROMEXPORT, too had refused to comply with such a clause & when it had won a contract to supply 40 Mi-17-IVs for the IAF after OP Vijay, it had emerged that commissions were paid to certain political officials then via Singapore. Thirdly, the chronological timeline exposes how inept & ill-informed the MoD’s bureaucracy is & therefore how easy it is to manipulate them.
To VIKRAM GUHA: I totally agree with you. In my personal estimation, I do not envisage the emergence of operational MIRVs before the end of this decade for either the Agni-5 or the K-4 SLBM.
To RAD: High G-tolerant hardware is already available thanks to the strategic ballistic missile R & D programmes as well as the Astra BVRAAM project. ARM project is also on-going & just like the Kh-31P Krypton, the DRDO-developed ARM too will use the DARE-developed SIVA HADF direction-finding pod for target acquisition & cueing. SAR-equipped MALE-UAV will fly at an altitude of 20,000 feet ASL safely 10km inside Indian airspace & will yet be able to look up to 40km inside hostile territory. AKG-400 supersonic ASM is a no-brainer unless launched in salvoes of up to six at a time, which the PAF will never be able to do so unnoticed. The MiG-29K/Ka-31 combination will be able to neutralise a flight of six JF-17 Thunder MRCA launch platforms well in advance.
Prasunda,
Will there be a single warhead version of the Agni V ?
Will the coming Agni V test be from a canister ? Frontline claims that this will be so.
Thanks for the confirmation PrasunDa.
Unfortunately our desi journalists think otherwise . According to them - " India is fortunate to have a vast defence technology and industrial base (DTIB) which would be the envy of developed nations. This base comprises thousands of talented scientists working in a network of sophisticated DRDO laboratories backed by the advanced production facilities of the ordinance factories and defence public sector units (DPSUs)."
Full story in the link below :
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-14/edit-page/37712402_1_national-security-defence-public-sector-units-forces
Best,
Vikram
Prasun, do you have the link to the video of WJ-600 attacking Viki?
Sir can you explain India's status and capability regarding Biological Warfare? Do we still have biological agents left in our inventory?
In the Soviet days, were we involved in any type of alliance with Biopreparat?
What type of bio weapons had India developed?
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/chinas-nuclear-powered-aircraft-carrier-programme-rings-alarm-bells/379516-3.html
What's your assessment w.r.t to China's plan for nuclear powered aircraft carrier as mentioned in the above article?
HI Prasun
Is the ARM project different to the kh-31 project,if so what role will the krypton play ,
Can i assume that we dont need sentinel jstar type of SAR ac because that is being done by the phalcon itself in a dual role ?.
Is the chinese awacs given to Pak capable of SAR?. Can the erieye do SAR?.
Prasunda, can you please elaborate about the type of problem(as mentioned by media report) occurs INS Chakra and what is your thought about using of soviet era titenium submarines for future use by russian navy?
To Anon@6.26PM: Based on my interactions with DRDL officials during the ISC expo in Kolkata last January, it seems the initial 12 Agni-5 ICBMs meant for operational deployment will have a single unitary warhead along with three decoy warheads. I was also told that the first two test-firings of Agni-5 are meant to follow identical procedures, i.e. not launched from sealed cannisters. However, the technology reqd for launches from sealed canisters is available in-country & has been proven by the few test-launches so far of Shaurya & K-15 missiles & therefore I would not be surprised if the forthcoming Agni-5 launch is from a cannister. However, I don’t recall Dr Avinash Chander mentioning this when he recently confirmed the forthcoming test-firing of the second Agni-5.
To VIKRAM GUHA: Well…in that case here’s what the DRDO Chief himself had to say about India’s vast & enviable DTIB just a day ago: http://newindianexpress.com/states/andhra_pradesh/article1505017.ece
I guess this is one of those rare contradictions about which, after reading both news-reports, one won’t stop laughing until’s one’s trousers fall off (LoLLLLZZZZ!!!).
To GESSLER: What link? I myself video-graphed it when it was being shown in one of the AMLCD screens at the ALIT pavilion. It was a 2-minute animated presentation.
To Anon@9.27PM: Suffice to say that each & every institute of tropical medicines in India has been & is involved in one way or another with R & D on biological weapons since the early 1980s. All such R & D has been on a standalone basis & there were no tie-ups with any other country. However, since the mid-1990s, these institutes, under the DRDO’s supervision, starting interacting with some Israeli entities & off late the US-based centre for Disease Control.
To Anon@9.52PM: My assessment is in the form of the following facts:
1) This is not surprising at all, since the PLA Navy’s first indigenously developed aircraft carrier will displace some 65,000 tons & will therefore have to be nuclear-powered. It has nothing to do with IOR or Gwadar or any such bullshit.
2) The Indian Navy had three years ago proposed to the Govt of India through the MoD that it too would like its projected 65,000-ton IAC-2 to be nuclear-powered & for that to happen, the IN had asked whether it is possible for the DAE to design a 200mW PWR which could be used for both IAC-2 as well as for the projected S-5, S-6 & S-7 SSBNs.
That’s where things now stand & the DAE has not yet been able to rise up to the challenge, at least on paper. Whether it will be able to do so in the latter half of this decade remains to be seen, since the DAE had admitted three years ago that it would require a minimum of 15 years to design & develop such a ‘lifelong’ PWR. All this is a matter of record & the former CNS of IN, Admiral (Ret’d) Arun Prakash, had himself written about it back in 2010.
To RAD: Of course it is, since the Kh-31 Krypton is imported from Russia. The IAF has such a huge reqmt for ARMs that it can’t all be met through imports. Regarding battlespace surveillance aircraft, it is a proven fact of life that what distinguishes an active phased-array radar for AEW & C from a surface surveillance active phased-array radar are A) the operating frequency & B) the mission-specific operating algorithms. Having said that, it is logical to assume that the CABS is now working on possible battlespace surveillance applications of an airborne active phased-array radar operating in the X-band & capable of ground moving target indication (GMTI). A-50I PHALCON operates in L-band & can’t be used for ground surveillance & neither can the PAF’s four ZDK-03 AEW & CS platforms.
To Anon@10.45PM: It is all about the delayed operationalisation of the shore-based product-support facilities at Vizag for INS Chakra. Submarine hulls made of titanium make sense for only those countries that possess an abundance of titanium ore, like Russia does. That’s the reason why the bulk of the Su-30MKI’s airframe’s critical sections too are made of titanium & why India had no other choice but to import such raw materials from Russia & do the machining & rivetting in-country.
WHAT IS THE STATUS OF Project 17A frigate
does india still import titanium and carbon-carbon fiber even though we have started our production.
can we export them. is there any restrictions that will not allow us to export them?
To Anon@11.29PM; PNC was constituted last January.
To Anon@11.38PM: India has vast reserves of titanium ore but does not have large-scale industrial production facilities for this metal. Even during the Cold War era, India was the single largest supplier of unprocessed titanium ore to the US. As for composites, all raw materials (resins) reqd for the Dhruv ALH, LCH & Tejas MRCA programmes are imported, with only the co-cured bonding & moulding processes being conducted in-country.
Sir,
What is the use of IN leasing another Akula 3 class sub ? It cant be used in war and IN will not have soverign control over it ?
Russian AF will start inducting PAK-FA from 2016 onwards. Why cant IAF also do the same as it is facing a shortage of ac?
Is it possible to reduce the RCS of Su-30mki through RAM coatings during super upgrade and does IAF have any such plans ?
Prasun,
How will the recent controversy involving SIG SAUER and more importantly Fincenmia/AW affect IA's ongoing procurements where the Beretta PX4 and ARX-160 are on offer to Indian Army as well as a SIG AR for the AR comp?
Are these procurements completely fcucked? (and by extension the IA)
Hi prasun ,
i am anon @ 10.07
thanx for detailed reply.
now what st. Antony is going to do about it?
Prasun,
When will work on the P-17As commence? The P-17s have all been completed so now the -17As must get going.
To Anon@12.19AM: The plan to lease another Type 971 SSGN is dictated by the need to train more crew complements reqd for manning India’s future SSBN & SSN fleets. If the S-2, S-3, S-4, S-5, S-6 & S-7 SSBNs are meant to be operational submarines, it means there’s no spare vessel available for training purposes for raising qualified crew complements. Hence the requirement for at least two Type 971 SSGNs.
The Russian T-50 PAK-FA will be as capable as only the Super Su-30MKI & therefore, it makes no sense to introduce another aircraft type into service. Far better therefore to import at least 50 Super Su-30MKIs off-the-shelf from IRKUT Corp at the same time as the domestic programme to upgrade existing Su-30MKIs to Super Su-30MKI-standard gets underway. That’s why I stated earlier that eventually the IAF will end up with some 350 units of the Su-30MK family.
RAM coatings will be applied on certain sections of the airframe (especially around & inside the engine air-intake sections) on the Super Su-30MKI, in addition to radar-absorbing paint on the entire airframe. For reduction of frontal RCS.
To KSINGH: There are some odd aspects to this controversy. Firstly, SIG SAUER being a Swiss company, why were US citizens involved in marketing it? Was it because the Swiss-made weapons were customised by its US subsidiary for usage by SWAT teams? Secondly, the IN’s MARCOS already use almost all types of specialist weapons made by SIG SAUER. Were these imported from Switzerland or from the US? Thirdly, there’s a competitive bidding-cum-evaluation process now underway in which SIG SAUER is only one of the contenders. There are four other contenders from the US, South Africa, Israel & Italy. Therefore, even if SIG SAUER is blacklisted, it will not affect the other four contenders & therefore procurements for either the Union Home Ministry or the MoD won’t be affected.
The AgustaWestland affair is far more problematic, since if this OEM is blacklisted, then it will not only affect the serviceability of the AW-101, but also of all the IN’s existing Mk42B & Mk42C Sea King shipborne helicopters. Therefore, in my reckoning, the MoD is most unlikely to blacklist AgustaWestland.
Actual metal-cutting of the first Project 17A FFG will definitely commence by this November at the latest, once the price negotiations committee has finished its work.
To Anon@1.02AM: What else can he do now, except to wait for the case to go for trial in Italy? After all, since there’s nothing to be done in India & slowly the MoD & Govt of India are realising that all allegations of financial impropriety against any India-based citizen is nothing but a deliberate distraction in order to protect the identities of the real Italian political beneficiaries of laundered money—something which I knew about right from the very outset of this scandal. The best thing to do therefore is lift the suspension of the deliveries of the remaining AW-101s, continue making progress payments for them & once a court verdict is passed in Italy against Finmeccanica, then go to both the ICJ in The Hague & to the European Parliament in Brussels for suing Finmeccanica for liquidated damages. That way, at least the MoD will get back the money that was laundered in India’s name by Finmeccanica. If St Antony really wants to do a great service to the Indian taxpayer, then this is the only legal & logical way to do so.
" India has vast reserves of titanium ore but does not have large-scale industrial production facilities for this metal."
Things are chaNGING Antony inaugurated a production facility in kerala. I don't know about Kerala but TN has titanium.
Hey Prasun Did u heard about Kapil Sibal reply in the assembly on electronics fab plants ? I posted about one of them in one of my previous comment but according to him there's one more proposal that came to government. Looks like both unit will be set up.
The GSLV MkII was to give Indian agencies the capability to launch 2500Kg category satellites to GTO. However due to repeated failures, we have to undertake even dedicated Military launches on board foreign launchers.
Should we not take a risk and line up launches of these military communication satellites on Indian Launchers either GSLV MkIIs (considering next launch is in April/May) or augumented PSLVs. Does it not compromise our security protocols or are we so dependent anyway on foreign suppliers for basic electronics and communication hardware that it does not matter whether we compromise on security or not?
I mean, we are not asking for the moon (tongue in cheek) just basic tech infrastucture.... Is that too much to expect for an aspiring nation with a strong DTIB (Tongue in cheek again)!!!
http://idrw.org/?p=19782
Request your assessment w.r.t implications for India.
Dada,
With reference to Anon@9:48AM, China is by the far the bigger and better competitor, but we seen to be lagging more on national and commercial will rather than technology... This goes for PSUs and Private Industries as ell..maybe corruption and red tape have a role to play as well... Our smaller neighboring countries - Myanmar, Bangaldesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives along with India itself represent some of the best emerging markets in the World. If the Chinese seem to be taking advantage of the Market whether if is launching satellites, developing Port, commercial hubs in Sri Lnaka, Myanmar, Maldives, we only have ourselves to blame. The increasing prosperity, specially in Myanmar, Bangladesh represent golden oppurtunities for growht of Eastern India and the North East.. We should be participating in this growth with or without China... As the Americans say, If you can't lick 'em join them; let's all make some money and create wealth. It will only make one of the most densely populated regions of Asia more prosperous, peaceful and secure.. Stop whining about China...Let's engage them, profit from them, with them, without them...bit let us not let these emerging oppurtunites slip by.... We will be richer and more repsected too if we participate in this emerging growth area of South and South East Asia.
Prasun,
Did you heard about IAI bid to become partner in RTA project ? How significant it is. Should we go for a partner ? I also have to ask is India gonna build the engine for RTA on its own or its gonna be imported ?
Also whats this ?
http://idrw.org/?p=19776
Is this something we should be worried about ? 1 thing is good that they are not undetected.
HI Prasun
I am depressed to say the least that DRDO is again going it alone to make an ARM , I think we should have gone with israel or some one else on this and then carried on after that like the barak missile program, The critical tech has to be imported to make the program fruitfull, like the nag missile IIR that has still not been made in India even after 25 years of "research".
Prasunda,
It appears that China is making ``friendly noises" towards us.
Can we be sure that these ``friendly noises" will not talk GoI into going slow on achieving credible deterrence through the Agni-V and long range SLBMs ?
To Anon@7.24AM: Collecting proposals is one matter, approving a proposal for enactment is another. How long does it take to approve a proposal for implementation? 2 years? 6 years?
To DHRUV: Military communications satellites are heavier & therefore the ISRO plans to develop the FSLV Mk3 launcher. The GSLV Mk2 launcher won’t be able to launch such satellites. Furthermore, the GSLV Mk2 is designed around the Russia-designed cryogenic rockets, which are not available in large numbers & are therefore not viable. Launching military satellites with foreign launchers does not violate or compromise any security protocol. Instead, the issue was until now all about product liability clauses connected with the launcher’s success record, its ability to lift a certain tonnage of payloads, & the insurance coverage. Therefore, the only available options are either to approach a foreign launch services provider or to develop the GSLV Mk3.
To Anon@9.48AM: These pose no security implications for India, since they all involve launches of telecommunications satellites. The interesting part, however, is China’s quest to secure an equatorial launch-pad for its rockets in The Maldives.
To Anon@10.22AM: NA:’s RTA project is a waste of precious time & money. It is far more financially viable & cost-effective to try to develop a civilian regional airliner variant of the IL-214 MRTA now being co-developed by HAL & Russia’s United Aircraft Corp. It is ridiculous to authorise two separate entities (HAL & NAL) to develop their own respective regional airliners. The IL-214 MRTA will be an ideal STOL regional airliner suitable for both passenger transportation as well as air-cargo.
Regarding the tactical UAVs, this again is not a worrisome development at all since such UAVs have very limited endurance & loitering capability. Furthermore, they are flying at least 10km away from the international border during peacetime (as mandated by law that has been agreed upon by both countries) & can therefore, at best, be able to look no more than 15km inside Indian territory.
To RAD: Developing an ARM is far more easier R & D undertaking than developing a BVRAAM, rest assured. The passive seeker for an ARM can be easily developed in-house within an 18-month period. In fact, what surprises me most is why was such a project not approved more than a decade ago.
To Anon@1.19PM: On the other hand, such friendly noises are being made precisely because India has demonstrated its national will to develop & deploy a secure, credible retaliatory strike n-deterrent. Consequently, on-going R & D activities on the Agni-5, K-4 SLBM & the SSBN & SSN programmes will all be taken to their logical conclusion & eventually reach fruition, rest assured.
Last month, Dr. V. K. Saraswat openly mentioned the development of an Agni 6. Is this just the designation given to the MIRVed Agni 5 ?
Dr. VKS also mentioned that this would have a longer range, which he chose not to disclose. Could it be a larger missile ?
google cords : 24.247904,54.555906
i see some F22 here .. does that mean a secret deal with UAE or a glitch
To Anon@6PM: Could well be, although I must confess I haven’t yet heard from any official quarter about the existence of an Agni-6 project.
To RAJDEEP MUKHERJEE: No secret deal or any glitch. These are routine training deployments conducted by the USAF for familiarisation with airspace on a global scale as well as for route familiarisation in case expeditionary deployments are reqd to be undertaken in future due to some emergencies.
Finally, a very clear signal from the PRC that the Sino-India boundary dispute is resolvable:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/xi-jinping-unveils-5-proposals-for-improving-sinoindia-ties/1090268/0
Dear Prasun,
Great news regarding force multipliers like IRNSS-1 and GSAT-7!
1. Has the miniature gadget G3OM been tested on GPS-guided artillery rounds? Can it be used in ballistic and cruise missiles?
2. Will you please give more details regarding development of FSLV-Mk3?
3. What is the progress on GSLV-3's Cryo engine?
4. Has the SAR antenna for the remote sensing satellites been developed by ISRO?
Hi Prasun,
Your blog is an encyclopedia for defense related topics. You are just a great teacher who presents and explains things to ordinary people. How do you get time to respond to readers questions? Do you have a family? Are you living in on some other planets that has more than 24 hrs in one day? :)
With regard to India's GSAT and IRNSS, what are the possibilities that other countries such as China/Western Countries/Pakistan hack or penetrate the security of these satellites and get the sensitive information? In the past there were some news that one of the INSAT satellites was stopped functioning because it was infected with Stuxnet virus. I am not sure, though.
If it was a virus developed by Israel against Iran's nuclear program, how come India was the worst affected country?
Hi Prasun,
I am your fan. Ravi asked what i wanted to ask but in a slightly different manner. I just wanna know what are u doing.... means you are not journalist and I dont think you were in military.... then how come you know so much of defence news...don't take me wrong it's good in a manner that we get to know first hand knowledge through your efforts...just curious. No offence please.
regards,
.....
To SNTATA: Yes, I too share your enthusiasm & optimism. 1) The G3OM can indeed be used on long-range guided & autonomous strategic missiles of all types. In fact, land-based/seaborne/airborne any weapon system that uses GPS for navigation can use the G3OM. Guided 155mm field artillery rounds as well as guided MBRL-launched rockets, as well as NLOS-BSMs like Prahaar & BrahMos-1 can use it. Over the next three years, all such weapon systems will be flight-qualified with G3OM. 2) GSLV Mk3 rocket launcher is still awaiting the arrival of the IRSO-developed cryogenic engine & by late 2014 one can expect substantial progress on this front. 4) Yes.
To RAVI: VMT. Very glad to know that all that I have accumulated as knowledge & wisdom over the past 26 years in the arenas of aviation, aerospace & defence is at least worthy of dessimination & absorption by so many of you on a global scale. As for time availability, it is all about time management & prioritizing one’s taskings. Anyone with a passion for leading a disciplined existence is capable of this in this very planet that we all dwell in.
Military-SPEC satellites like IRNSS & GSAT will have highly encrypted data-links that will ensure communications secrecy, meaning even hacking won’t achieve anything worthwhile for as long as the encryption codes are not compromised by the human element. I’m not aware of any INSAT-series satellites being infected with any kind of virus.
To Anon@11.35PM: VMT. My professional involvement in the aviation & aerospace industries since 1987 has seen me visiting various aerospace & defence expos worldwide & this trend continues till this day. During such visits as well as well as in the day-to-day running of my aviation business one, over the years, gets to come across all kinds of sources of information & knowledge from both industry circles & officialdom. What I therefore try to do through this blog is to just share those experiences & anecdotes with you all, hoping that clarity emerges on several issues under the sun, especially when hardly anyone from the ‘desi’ print/electronic media bothers to do the same.
Dear Prasun,
In your last discussion you told an anonymous follower that Pakistani F - 16 are not network -centric. So the country wants the FC - 20 badly. Can you please tell me a brief comparison between MiG - 29 and FC - 20 (both are networked with awacs). Which one will be superior taking into consideration all possible scenarios?
To SOUBHAGYA: The FC-20 is being developed as an agile M-MRCA that will also have an IRST sensor plus a locally developed CETC-built passive phased-array radar & a helmet-mounted sight. Therefore, in terms of BVR air combat and within-visual-range air combat, the FC-20 will be evenly matched against the MiG-29UPG. In terms of all-weather precision-strike too, the FC-20 will emerge as a formidable platform ONLY IF CETC can in the near future convert the existing WMD-7 day-only laser designator pod into a day/night pod. CETC is also working on a LANTIRN-type pod for the FC-20 to undertake terrain-hugging flights & once this is flight-qualified on a FC-20 fitted with a holographic HUD, then it will make the FC-20 superior to the MiG-29UPG.
Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed President AML, Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani Former DG-ISI, Senator Haji Muhammad Adeel Head of Pakistani parliament’s Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Hanif Atmar Former Interior Minister Afghanistan and Amrullah Saleh Former Head of Afghan Intelligence, in the second of the two-part programme discussing Afghanistan-Pakistan Relations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btVQ-P2hB5c&feature=player_embedded
"These pose no security implications for India, since they all involve launches of telecommunications satellites."
The problem is why isn't ISRO launching these satellites ?
"RTA project is a waste of precious time & money. It is far more financially viable & cost-effective to try to develop a civilian regional airliner variant of the IL-214 MRTA now being co-developed by HAL & Russia’s United Aircraft Corp. It is ridiculous to authorise two separate entities (HAL & NAL) to develop their own respective regional airliners. The IL-214 MRTA will be an ideal STOL regional airliner suitable for both passenger transportation as well as air-cargo."
Thats true but i doubt russians will be interested.
"Could well be, although I must confess I haven’t yet heard from any official quarter about the existence of an Agni-6 project."
I think there could well be one. If there is one, i think its just to show the people in government that drdo is working hard while actually they will do some minor changes to Agni 5 and will declare it A6.
DRDO is under alot of fire and we might see some of such projects from drdo to increase it portfolios of weapon system so as to look good in public and government eyes.
Prasunji,
So in its present configuration is Mig 29 UPG is superior to FC 20? How good does Tejas MkII fares against the FC 20. VMT.
Very interesting read: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/138845/husain-haqqani/breaking-up-is-not-hard-to-do?page=show
Can you tellme about the benefits we the common man will recieve from IRNSS I-A
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