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Friday, August 22, 2014

Heading In The Right Direction.....At Last!

Matters have now progressed just as I had predicted (http://trishul-trident.blogspot.in/2014/08/blindly-muddling-through-with-eyes-wide.html). At last, the AgustaWestland AW-101 VVIP transportation helicopter procurement process is back on track! The terms, which have been cleared by the Attorney General, state that:
* All ongoing contracts will continue unhindered.
* All contracts related to spares will continue.
* Contracts with Russian manufacturers, where Finmeccanica is involved in the back-end, will continue.
* Finmeccanica will be allowed to participate in all tenders but if there are multiple options, Finmeccanica will not be considered regardless of the competitiveness of the offer.
* However, where Finmeccanica is the single vendor with no other firm providing options, the Govt of India is empowered to go ahead with the deal.
Looks like logical reasoning, sanity and common-sense are all staging a gradual comeback into India and the process of redeeming national honour and self-resilience has begun at long-last. My hearty congratulations to IAF HQ for doggedly persisting in trying to convince the Govt of India to objectively and dispassionately arrive at conclusions based on the merits of the case. For the past two years I too have been on a similar lonely crusade  and I was perhaps the sole voice that took on the task of systematically exposing the sheer ignorance of those ‘desi’ journalists who were propounding all kinds of conceivable (and now-discredited) conspiracy theories about financial impropriety related to the AW-101 procurement process. Needless to say, I will doggedly continue with my efforts to expose the convulated illogical mumbo-jumbo of such ‘desi’ journalists who most definitely are not India’s wellwishers. 
Spotlight On INS Kamorta
(Project 28) ASW Corvette
All four Project 28 ASW corvettes will have on board the RAFAEL-supplied C-Pearl EW system and ELTA’s ELK-7038 DF system—the same as those on board the Indian Navy’s six 105-metre NOPVs now in delivery. The Lynx-U2 NGFS is licence-assembled by BEL and has been supplied by Oerlikon Contraves, which is now a part of Germany’s Rheinmetall.
Build-Qualities Of Submarines

124 comments:

VIKRAM GUHA said...

" Needless to say, I will doggedly continue with my efforts to expose the convulated illogical mumbo-jumbo of such ‘desi’ journalists who most definitely are not India’s wellwishers. "

Cheers To That

CONFUSED said...

GREAT news on the face of it but what does this mean? The IAF WILL be using their AW-101s? And will it be the oringal 12?


I don't know if you've seen but AW have sold off 2 airframes orgainlly meant for India to the Nigerians, they arrived just 48hours back there. What's going to happen now?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To CONFUSED: AgustaWestland last April had no other choice but to offer two of the remaining nine AW-101 VVIP transportation helicopters of the IAF for sale in order to recover its financial losses after an Indian degenerate by the name of Arakkaparambil Kurian Antony instructed the MoD to encash the bank guarantees deposited by AgustaWestland with the State Bank of India. Consequently, the IAF will now receive 10 AW-101s—six for VVIP transportation & four for the SPG. However, since the three-engined AW-101 has no other global competitor, the MoD has now been empowered to place new, follow-on orders for two AW-101s at a future date, since the Attorney General has clearly stated that “where Finmeccanica is the single vendor with no other firm providing options, the Govt of India is empowered to go ahead with the deal.

Hope this removes all your ‘confusions’.

prateek said...

sir ,
don't u think CONMEN & AAPTARDS will shout their vocal chords out if aw-101 deal goes ahead ??

I for one totally believe you & i know the govt would not have moved ahead on the deal had their been things that are murky.
I am sure whatever the govt will do is totally defesible in courts,but still if leaving this deal saves u needless headache of opposing parties , then don't u think it should be left ??
the same service could be provided by other helos which are "clean".

The govt. cant even remove the CVO of AIIMS w/o raising a storm.

Shivlaik said...

Sir, I have to applaud you- you truly were the SOLE voice of reasons within the Indian (or even international) media. Whilst the Indian media had long since back proclaimed the AW-101 deal was tainted and no good (not that the Indian media let a small thing like due process get in the way of the BS) you had done what I would hope they do in the future- STUCK TO THE VERIFIABLE FACTS.


Can you please outline what exactly this vedict by the Attorney general means? Will the IAF noe be getting all their AW-101s (all 12?) and will we see PM Modi using these soon? No need for the MI-17 5s then? But CONFUSED is right that the Nigerians have bought and been delivered 2 AW-101s originally meant for India so what will happen about that?


I am pretty relived as I knew for years what you were saying was correct but as time passed by the Indian media seemed to get more and more aggressive in their attacks on the deal. I was heartbroken for a while when I thought the 3 already delivered beauties would never be used despite all the IAF air crews being trained on such.

Please clarify exactly what this means.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To PRATEEK: O yaar, rajneeti ke kuch ‘nuances’ hotein hain…unhe samajhne ka prayaas/koshish toh karo….NaMo from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15 had already acknowledged the contribution of all previous PMs of India on terms of ushering in material progress, which of course included the decision to acquire the AW-101s. Now, by clearing the logjams & resuming the AW-101 deliveries, this govt has indirectly stated that the UPA-1/2 did not indulge in any ‘hera-pheri’, thereby once & for all burying all conspiracy theories about the so-called Italian connection. And by doing so, Namo has earned the gratitude of both the Gandhi family & the INC party. Now, in the months to come, this gratitude will be encashed by Namo & co (nothing comes free-of-charge in politics, there’s always a quid pro quo) when it comes to building bipartisan parliamentary consensus for bringing about legislations on certain contentious issues, like a radical rejigging of Centre-State financial relations (as a result of the imminent dismantlement of the Planning Commission), on which NaMo & co are now at the planning stage. Ab aayi baat samajh mein?

As for the AAPturds, their escape velocity as they’re hurtling down a bottomless pit is so high they don’t count for anything anymore. They’re as good as non-existent.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To Anon@12.20AM: Arey babua....yeh kya 'Anonymous' ka chakkar hai? Ek decent HANDLE kay sath toh comment kiya karo. Is that too much to ask for? Kindly do so & I will provide you with an exhaustive & compelling explanation, rest assured.

Kendall said...

So sir, yes or no PM Modi and all future PMs will be flying on these AW-101s? and if yes when can we expect the first trip by Modi to be taken on one of these fine beauties??

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SHIVLAIK & KENDALL: VMT. YES, the PM & all other members of India’s nuclear national command authority will make use of the AW-101 as was originally planned. Once new stocks of rotables & consumables arrive from AgustaWestland, the IAF will reactivate its now-suspended operational flying conversion training curriculum & by this October the 3 already-delivered AW-101s will be declared operationally available. The Mi-17 was NEVER even considered for ferrying VVIPs due to the reasons I had explained two threads earlier. Transporting members of the nuclear command authority requires very robust & survivable security protocols which none of the Mi-17-types can satisfy. Furthermore, visiting Heads of State or Heads of Govt from abroad almost NEVER prefer to ride on board Mi-17-types during multilateral summit-level get-togethers, like the CHOGM summits or SAARC summits. Have you ever seen Vladimir Putin flying on board on Mi-17? Have you ever seen Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi flying on board A Mi-8T or Mi-17V-5? They always use either Eurocopter-built or Bell-built helicopters chartered by the INC from NOIDA-based Global Vectra Helicorp that’s owned by Ravinder Rishi. How many state governments of India have acquired Mi-17V-5s or Mi-172s or Mi-171s for VIP flying? NONE. All of them use helicopters supplied by either Bell Helicopters, or Sikorsky, or Eurocopter or AgustaWestland.

Anonymous said...

AW is still pretty much blacklisted from any new tenders that has another competitor. When will that blacklisting end?

It's to be noted that AW is only under investigation.

I would do away with the blacklisting all together. Just fine a company 100-times the amount paid in commission.

It's also to be noted that no Russian entities have ever been charged, to my knowledge. Does that mean all dealings with the Russians are squeaky clean and has been for the 50 years?

Bogus said...

The sad thing is these BEAUTIFUL birds will always have these allegations over their heads thanks to the Indian media who will neither understand why they were wrong nor care. Anytime the AW-101s are seen/mentioned the second breath will be about these corruption charges as baseless as they may be.


So sir, when will AW be delivering the remaining 7-9 to India?


I thank you again for breaking this news. Has made my week!

Shivlaik said...

Sir, does this mean the AW101 is back in the hunt for the IN's search for a heavy lift 12 ton NMRH for their LHD? Reading the points it seems that would only be the case if AW is in a single-bidder position, for that requirement it is unlikely the AW-101 would be the only bidder, so the S-92 seems like a de facto winner of that competition now?

Surely the caveat that no matter how good the AW bid is it will be eliminated every time in every bid helps out the AW's competitors as they can charge what they like without facing any competition from AW?

"The Saint" said...

Sir,
1)Will the AW-101s for the VVIPs and for the SPG look any different from the exterior as far as markings and defensive aides go?


2) Has this move by the Attorney General of India allowed India to regain some integrity on the world stage? And what about the IAF? is its image now cleaner?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

That will end AFTER the quantum of liquidated damages payable by AgustaWestland for fudging around its direct industrial offsets commitments related to the AW-101 procurement is worked out in the days ahead between the MoD & AgustaWestland. Any OEM accused of corrupt practices cannot be fined unless the crime is proven in a court of law. That’s how Taiwan won its case through international arbitration against THALES & the latter had to pay Taipei a fine of US$1.5 billion. You think that’s possible to replicate in India? As for the Ruskies, since the days of the USSR, slush payments have been made by the KGB to both the Gandhi family & the INC. It has all been detailed in the book THE STATE WITHIN A STATE: THE KGB & ITS HOLD ON RUSSIA PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE, by Yevgenia Albats. The data for this book came straight from the KGB’s archives in the mid-1990s. What more proof does one need? Why do you think the Russians until recently were shy of accepting the ‘Integrity Clause’ contained within every MoD procurement contract since 2005? Why do the Russians always prefer to ink G-to-G contracts that are always opaque & almost never digest the thought of participating in competitive bidding processes?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To BOGUS: You need not have any worry on that score, since memories in India have a tendency of fading away quite quickly! If all goes as per plan, then the remaining 7 AW-101s will be delivered by next February in successive tranches.

To SHIVLAIK: Yes, by the time the MoD sorts out matters with AgustaWestland, the AW-101 will be eligible to compete on a level playing-field for the 12-tonne NMRH contract. But in my reckoning, the CH-148 Cyclone stands a much better chance of becoming L-1 IF Sikorsky also bags the contract for supplying 16 S-70B2 Seahawk NMRHs. The AW-101 being three-engined has much higher direct operating costs when compared to the CH-148. Therefore, the IN is likely to stick to procuring twin-engined 12-tonne NMRHs. But it will be interesting to see if the IAF opts for the AW-101’s CSAR variant, since the IAF has a reqmt for 16 armed CSAR helicopters equipped with aerial refuelling probes.

To THE SAINT: 1) No. They will be identical. Only the interiors will be different. 2) Of course to both. Whenever rational decisions based on sanity & logical reasoning are taken, everyone will admire the decision-making process & the prestige & ‘izzat’ of the Indian tricolor will go up. Afterall, what determines the prestige-level of the Indian tricolor is not how large the flag is or how tall the flagpole is, but how respectable & admirable the Indian tricolor is due to actions of the Govt of India—a fact of life that the likes of Naveen Jindal & Rajiv Chandrashekhar don’t quite seem to grasp.

Spellbound said...

EPIC news! SO we will be seeing PM Modi and other senior guys in the AW101s soon??

man you have brought a tear to my eye tonight! I thought this deal was dead....


Crdit to the IAF indeed for making their case and getting the right outcome.

BOGUS said...

Sir, that's great news if all remaining 7 will be in place by Febuary! Can I ask where you get such news from?


And secondly, where does this leave the NMRH bid? It's good for that procurement right? When will the S-70B (the right choice) be ordered? Any movement on this deal at all?

Chosen said...

Where has this requirement for 16 armed CSAR choppers been articulated and when sir? I've not heard anything on this...


When will proceedings for such helis be initiated? When will they be inducted?

Rhytm said...

"All ongoing contracts will continue unhindered."

But sir, wasn't the AW-101 deal comepltly cancelled by the UPA 2? Does the AG's ruling really change the fortunes of this deal?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SPELLBOUND: Of course, if matters are now allowed to proceed to their logical conclusions. It’s not just NaMo travelling on the AW-101s. The President, VP, the NSA & visiting Heads of State & Heads of Govt as well, since their travelling on long convoys by road not only greatly inconveniences the ordinary citizens of India, but also leads to lapses in proximate security protocols. That’s why I used to laugh my head off when some imbeciles like former MPs used to come on TV throughout 2012 & ignorantly rant about no need for 12 AW-101s, but that only 2 or 3 of them will suffice. This shows how little they know about national security matters & just how blaze they are on such issues.

To BOGUS: Source of such news? It’s right here:

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/agustawestland-narendra-modi-government-bars-business-with-india-finmeccanica/1/378526.html

Have already explained above where the AW-101 stands WRT NMRH competition.

To CHOSEN: It has been reported & written about extensively since 2007, as far as I can recall. And it’s for that reqmt that the Eurocopter EC-725 Cougar is being pitched, along with the AW-101.

RHYTM: Nope. Only contract termination proceedings were initiated last January. And the then AG fucked up big-time by wrongly advising AKA to violate the terms & conditions of the sales-and-purchase agreement by encashing the BGs deposited with SBI. This move alone stands to benefit AgustaWestland greatly from a legal standpoint if the international arbitration proceedings are initiated, since AgustaWestland will very easily be able to prove that it is the aggrieved party, & not the Govt of India, especially after the Italian court has now delivered its verdict & has given a clean chit to both Finmeccanica & AgustaWestland. Hence, the Govt of India has wisely decided now to cut its losses in a face-saving manner.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

Answers to queries from the previous thread:

To PAWAN: That concept was prevalent throughout the late 1980s & 1990s & ended by June 1998. Now, the concept of ‘hyperwar’ or ‘parallel warfare’ is in place & that’s what been wargamed since 2005.

To JONES: Kindly rest assured that I wasn’t the one to draft any such report. It was probably written by some retired IAF official, several of which contribute from time to time for that publication.

To SS: Therefore, the option option now left on the table is for the IAF to convert all its orders for 34 Tejas Mk1 single-seaters to tandem-seaters, which will allow the IAF to operate a fleet of 40 Tejas Mk1 tandem-seat LIFTs.

To JOYDEEP GHOSH: 1) Not at all. Perceptions do differ. Facts always stay the same & can’t be doctored. 2) They will be neither heavier or heavier by 2K ton or 1K ton. 3) Only licenced-assembly with a degree of locally-built components. It is IMPOSSIBLE to locally build the entire aircraft when only 56 units are reqd. 4) Nope. At least 90 units are reqd for the IAF & IN. 5) They should, if common-sense & logical reasoning prevails.

To RANJIT: VMT. Ex-stock Mirage 2000s can easily be bought from French Air Force’s inventory & there’s no need to go anywhere else. Far better than A-10As are the Rudra helicopter-gunships for providing close air-support.

To RAD: That will be given next month to coincide with the birth date of R & AW, i.e. September 23, 1968. Check out the webpage of Axis Aerospace at http://www.axis.aero/si.htm

It clearly states ‘licenced to manufacture’, meaning licenced by the OEM, meaning foreign OEMs.

To VIKRAM GUHA: 1) The $400 million figure applies to the Kattupalli facility & not to any new project. This yard will undertake shipbuilding contracts for civilian customers, just like what Pipavav is doing. There’s a huge backlog for new orders from the Shipping Corp of India. 2) Those Predators of India are only for surveillance & recce & are not outfitted with pylons for carrying ATGMs or LGBs. 3) Of course, very much so. No doubt about it. No one will ever part with their state-of-the-art hardware, be it Russia or anyone else.

To VISAKH: Why should TATA await orders from Indian users of such hardware? Might as well receive export orders from Bangladesh, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar & Sri Lanka. Of course everyone expects orders from potential customers.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SATHEAD3: What does the photo-caption/photo filename say?

To COMMON SENSE: The Bloomberg report is true. The other one is unadulterated bullshit. How can anyone ever make any offer when the selection process itself has closed for good. Re-opening it will involve another round of test-flights by the IAF of the EF-2000 equipped with the Captor-E AESA-MMR & that too after the aircraft has completed its manufacturers’ engineering development process, which will last till 2016. Do you think anyone in their right mind will wait this long? Secondly, what these ‘desi’ chootias writing such mumbo-jumbo don’t understand is that a lot of what’s now on board the Rafale by way of components & sub-systems is also on board aircraft like Jaguar DARIN-3, Tejas Mk1, Mirage 2000UPG & Su-30MKI. What this in turn means is that it terms of economies of scale, several such items are already being licence-built or licence-assembled by HAL or BEL. And it is due to this that a lot of new licenced-production facilities will not have to be built from scratch & existing facilities will be able to become instant industrial vendors for catering to the Rafale’s licenced-production effort. Likewise, the IAF’s existing 1st-line & 2nd-line MRO workshops that are already servicing such France-origin components & sub-systems will easily be able to take on the additional workload for the Rafale fleet, thereby leading to further cost-savings. All this won’t be possible if the EF-2000 were to be acquired & therefore elementary logic dictates that the Rafale’s financial offer based on life-cycle costs or even acquisition costs was ON ANY GIVEN DAY bound to be far far cheaper than those of any other competitor. Obviously the ‘desi’ journalists haven’t factored in all such technicalities when drafting their fictional riff-raff & hence their wildly ill-informed conclusions & inferences.

To EX-INTELLIGENCE: Kickbacks from the CIA & US State Dept for an FMS deal whose financial details are always available from the US Congressional Library under the Freedom of Information Act? To what species do you exactly belong? You may well be specialising in the moronic art of chasing shadows, but please spare us all your incessant farting & go see a shrink!

Unknown said...

PRASUN DA,
Tadpole sonobuoy by tata power sed has been in production since 2000.

Is this certified to use on all IN platforms. Cant find a single brochure on tadpole sonobuoy on net. Have you one?

AW was to be involved in upgradation of 10nos Ka28 and 17nos Sea King B of IN. It does not make sense due to low availability of these old air frames and better to go for new asw helo?

Is upgradation and life extension is being contemplated or cancelled?

Pawan said...

Dear Prasunji,

Why pakistan violating ceasefire in Arnia and RS pura when it is well accepted international border. There must be some reason.

sumit sen said...

dada.. Recently ins arihant's harbour trials picture surfaced.. It looked shabby and old.. Why so?? Why cant the makers of ins arihant give it a finising touch like ins chakra?? Which is a beautiful submarine yet deadly..

BabuRao said...

Why doesn't India buy INS Chakra kind of subs and arm them with Indian Missiles? This do not violate 300 km rule, right?

some 10 subs may cost 15 USD Billions but meanwhile we can concentrate our R&D on other critical things such as Electronic (missiles, radars, IT systems etc, the things that money can not buy) kind of things.

when we order 10 subs for 15 Billion USD, russian will push some 50% offsets into india in some other critical sections a kind of win win for both and this also speed up things in most of the spheres such as subs, radars etc...

vishakh said...

Hi

1) Is india looking at A-50 or some western plaotform for AWACS ??

2) IS tata NVD joint venture for IA soldiers 3+ Gen NVD requirements expecting some orders??

NJS said...

Developments & currently how many ordered in Shaurya missile.

Latest development in 2 fast tract order of 2 submarine -(france/russia)

BabuRao said...

Is Modi giving free hand to DRDO and ISRO to recruit people WRT to number of people and salary range?

Why doesn't India recruits people from around the world? especially in project management as often Indian projects deviate in time and cost and leads to technical failures..

Even NASA recruits from around the world why doesn't ISRO and DRDO? Security is not an issue as NASA do things much bigger than ISRO and DRDO ever do...

When we do not have technology to manufacture Fighter jet engines, Naval Turbine Engines, Naval Gear Boxes, Cryogenic Engines, WHY DOESN'T INDIA look for professionals from around the word who have these skills?

UK, US, Middle eastern countries recruit doctors, nurses and a lot of technicians from around the world, why can't India recruit the scientists from around the world?

China steals tech secrets through cyber espionage.. is this true?

Gessler said...

Prasun ji, check this out - Latest Saurav Jha interview with DRDO chief Avinash Chander throws light on a set of new projects...some I've never thought existed.

http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/sauravjha/2976/65363/interview-with-dr-avinash-chander-drdo-chief-and-scientific-adviser-to-defence-minister.html

A new long range SAM with a 200-250km range, a DF-21D-like anti-ship missile and what not!

I know your previous clarifications about unfeasibility of ASBMs due to targetting problems and all...but what really surprises me is the possible USE for such a weapon? I mean, which of India's potential adversaries has an operational carrier battle group? Even if China gets 2-3 carriers in future, they'd be preoccupied with South/East China Seas and Pacific areas.

What's your say on Avinash Chander's projects?

lachit said...

have you any latest info on lca mk2 and lch all seems quite on these
two fronts

and by the way good news on aw 101s.
how stupid our MOD is, any body sends an anonymous letter accusing
somebody of wrongdoing and the deal gets dropped. Our enemies (internal and external)must have had a field day
weakening our forces and also have a good laugh at the end of it.

off topic what's your opinion on LOVE JIHAD. Its so in the news.
(a funny side effect of these is a lot of boys suddenly developing a keen interest in Urdu and Muslim etiquette and going after the girls. especially funny was when a boy had a tough time explaining the girl on how he ended up having the following name- sheikh debashish dewri )man it has hilarious

zubin said...

Well done Prasun, excellent journalism. It truly is a political masterstroke by the present government. But sadly the only casualty has been two upright and honest Air chefs who were dragged through the mud...they silently and stoically stood their ground with dignity.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SANJEEV KUMAR: That sonobuoy is no longer in use. All sonobuoys, including those used by the P-8Is & IL-38SDs are sourced from UK-based ULTRA Electronics & they were on display at the DEFEXPO 2014 expo last February. Ka-28PLs & Sea King Mk42Bs have both undergone one life-extension refit & this cannot be repeated & thus they have to be decommissioned from service as they more than 25 years old.

To PAWAN: Only India refers to that area as the International Boundary whereas Pakistan refers to it as the Working Boundary.

To BABURAO: Show me just one country in the whole world that has sold nuclear-powered submarines to another country. India cannot buy SSNs or SSGNs or SSBNs off-the-shelf from anywhere because there are no available sellers. Nor is Russia is hard-up for earning money this way. Why should world-renowned scientists & technocrats flock to India? Does India have any counterpart to the Silicon Valley? And what has been India’s contribution to science to date? Did India invent electricity? Did India invent the telephone or telegram or wireless? Did India invent the steam locomotive? Did India invent the combustion engine? Did India invent rocket propulsion? Did India invent any kind of space-based satellite? Did India invent industrial automation? What India has been doing since 1947 is just trying to acquire technologies that have already been perfected by others. What no Indian decision-maker of substance has realised as yet is that TODAY’s Science is TOMORROW’s Technology. What it means is that today’s pure science becomes a cutting-edge technology in future. Consequently, without investments in home-grown science, there can never be homegrown technological breakthroughs. And that’s why all those brainy Indians who want to pursue careers in pure scientific research always end up in the US. And it is because of the flawed Indian mindset (of pursuing technologies instead of first mastering the sciences) & misplaced perceptions that people like A P J Abdul Kalam—who just has an honourary doctorate—are idolised & made larger-than-life figures, while pure scientists like Prof Dr C N R Rao, Dr J C Bose & the world-renowned mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujam are all rarely thought of or mentioned!!! Hell, it’s not even Bollywood or Tollywood or Kollywood, but Hollywood that is making a biopic on Ramanujam. If this is the prevailing state of affairs, then neither the DRDO or the IITs will ever be capable of producing any world-class technological marvels. Bottomline: It’s not Incredible India, but Incredulous India that exists today.

To VISHAKH: 1) It’s the A-50I PHALCON. Spares problems are for only the IL-76MDs & IL-78MKIs, & not for the A-50Is. 2) Expecting, yes.

To NJS: No Shaurya TBMs have been ordered. No fast-tracking for any type of SSKs because they can’t be fast-tracked. Even if orders are placed tonight, the SSKs will arrive after another four years, by which time the Scorpenes will already have entered service. Nor are there any pre-owned SSKs that can be bought tomorrow or even next year.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To GESSLER: What amazes me is the remarkably short memory-spans Indians in general have. I have almost all the Annual DRDO Product Directories since 1988 & if I were to do a performance audit of ALL the products that have been listed as being under development since 1988, then, conservatively speaking, only 10% of them would have entered the prototype development stage. Tnhe there is the problem of presenting only one side of the story, which then propels the average reader into a world of utopia. Also note that at no stage in the interview is Dr Chander saying even a single word about the DRDO working as an integrated team with the prospective Indian end-users. This, therefore, means that he is only talking about technology demonstrators. Now to the details:

A new man portable anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) for which design is over and hardware is getting developed--this is the laser-guided SAMHO that I first highlighted in January 2013.

A Longer ranged SAM with a range of 200-250km is on the drawing board—this is the PDV that I had explained last year itself to you.

A quick reaction SAM which can track on move is well-advanced in the design stage—That’s the SR-SAM Maitri, whose R & D project has already been cancelled & was confirmed by the IA at the Air-Defence seminar earlier this month.

A long range anti-ship missile which can prevent aircraft carriers from coming within 1500-2000 km of our shores are also being pursued—this is the ramjet-powered supersonic LRCM, which will have a top-attack trajectory at its terminal stage. It WON’T be ballistic at all. However, this project too will be terminated in the near future since no one wants a supersonic LRCM when the much better hypersonic BrahMos-2 LRCM is on offer. Nor is anyone in the IN so bleeding mad as to hurl a ballistic missile from the Bay of Bengal against a carrier battle group cruising in the South China Sea! If it was indeed technologically feasible to produce ASBMs, then surely by now the US & Russia would have had them. Even China to date has not yet test-fired any such ASBM.

We are looking at multiple options and are certainly working on a Mark 2 version of the Akash—this project too will be cancelled since the 70km-range Barak-8 LR-SAM can do EVERYTHING that the Akash-1 or the dreamt-of Akash-2 can or is projected to do. This too was confirmed during the Air-Defence seminar.

We are committed to setting up a detector production facility—Even I’m committed to establish a Stargate in my garage that will enable me to undertake inter-stellar & inter-gallactic commuting! Commitments are abstractions unless the enabling infrasatructure & military-industrial environment are put in place.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

LACHIT: The LCH’s second & third prototype are now being tweaked & re-engineered to accommodate their respective integrated avionics suites. But one of them should be rolled out in its final production-standard form before the year’s end. As for the Tejas Mk2 MRCA, detailed design of the airframe has been completed & the various CADs are now being translated into CAM format for producing the first prototype airframe.

To ZUBIN: As I’m not a journalist, it would be improper on my part to characterise the report above as a work of journalism. The former IAF Chiefs have not been the ONLY casualties. It is the entire IAF that has been subjected to insults, since the mere acceptance by the MoD under AKA of allegations of wrongdoing means that the IAF’s helicopter selection process too was flawed—which in reality is totally untrue. All this drama & waste of taxpayer’s money could well have been avoided if AKA had officially requested the UK’s Serious Fraud Investigations Office to have AgustaWestland investigated & once the clean chit was obtained, AKA should have allowed the AW-101 deliveries to continue. But, in an election year, he was ONLY thinking thinking about his political survival & that of his party (the Congress) & therefore he willfully chose to sacrifice his country’s supreme national interests—this can only be described as an act of criminal negligence. Therefore, AKA should be taken to task & brought to trial in a court of law, since his acts cannot just be wished away as a judgmental error.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To RAD: WRT ISR & other hardware, here’s the reality:

The longest range BFSR in the IA’s inventory is the Stentor from France. BEL is only licence-assembling it & just by giving it a local model-no does not make it an indigenous product.

All DRFM cards used in every piece of locally designed EW hardware are imported.

TATA Power SED’s offer for meeting the TCS-2010 reqmt was shown at DEFEXPO 2012 & it clearly shows the most critical vectronics as being outsourced from ULTRA Electronics & Rohde & Schwarz.

Just make a visual comparison between the EL/M-2055 SAR/GMTI radar payload & the Ku-band SAR payload developed by LRDE for the Rustom-2 UAV. The results will be obvious.

The advanced light towed array sonar (ALTAS), just like the Abhay bow-mounted panoramic sonar, is meant for shallow-water ASW patrol vessels (like the 57-metre long 589-tonne Project 1241.2 Molniya-2 ASW vessels INS Abhay, INS Ajay and INS Akshay), & not for FFGs or DDGs or ASW corvettes. The ALTAS project was initiated 5 years ago after it was discovered that the Project 1241.2 Molniya-2s could not accommodate the ACTAS from Germany’s ATLAS Elektronik. But the IN has since specified that the ALTAS be developed in such a manner that it can be on board both the shallow-water ASW patrol vessels, as well as on board hunter-killer SSKs like the Class 209/Type 1500 SSKs in a ‘thin-line towed active/passive’ configuration.

While Dr Chander has been talking about half-micron MESFET technology for L-band, S, & bands, the present-day world standard in Europe & the US is GaAs VPIN Diode technology for X-band & quarter-micron PHEMT technology for X-band and wide-band active phased-array radars.

To conclude, presenting a one-sided picture produces only skewed inferences. For instance, India’s foremost systems integration institution is not DRDO-owned, but is the WESEE of the IN. It all began in the mid-1960s when the IN began trying to install & integrate sensors & weapon systems of US, European & Soviet origin on to a single platform. It was soon discovered that for this to happen, what was reqd most was a knowledge-base on EMP & EMI, plus a host of container-housed testing/calibrating hardware. While it was the US Navy that then provided the IN with a no-holds-barred knowledge-base (among the ones who benefitted from it was Cmdre Arogyaswamy Joseph Paulraj who subsequently developed the APSOH hull-mounted panoramic sonar), the US charged a very high sum of money for supplying the testing/calibrating hardware. The Soviets flatly declined to supply them as they were paranoic about guarding the EMP/EMI-related data. Eventually, the WESEE developed through its own in-house efforts all such hardware. These are some of interesting insights that emerged from a presentation given by WESEE 3 days ago in New Delhi as part of several events being organised to celebrate the 50 years of the IN’s Directorate of Naval Design this year.

sumit sen said...

dada.. U skipped my ques.. Plzz answr..

Gulab said...

What are the chances of Mirage 2000 from UAE/Gulf ending up in PAF? What is the likely impact of say 3-4 squadrons of these in PAF?

After all PAF will be able to re-use/extend much of their existing Mirage III/V infrastructure.

Gessler said...

Sirji, you saying the Supersonic 600-km LRCM is going to be cancelled for all services? How does the BrahMos-2 with just half the range qualify as an LRCM?

BabuRao said...

Thank you sir for your answers

Anonymous said...

Prasunda,

Will the Agni-V itself eventually be MIRVed or will a follow-on missile need to be developed ? When will the first MIRVed long range missile be tested by India ?

Also, won't 4 K-4s on Arihant be useless unless MIRV capable ?

Kittu said...

I am surprised to learn that WB state govt owes Central Govt a whopping Rs 2.5 lakh crores ....

Will it be declared bankrupt?
Can it ever pay back that money?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SUMIT SEN: A book must never be judged by its cover. Having said that, Soviet & Russian manufacturing processes were never known for their gold-plated finish. That’s why the coning tower looks like that & is similar to how the coning towers of the Kilo-class or Lada-class look externally.

To GULAB: Nil. That country barely has enough money to survive for a month! Its fuel stocks are not more than a week’s worth. Even the PA is now panicking due to the steady sliding down of the country’s economy, as this is causing enormous hardship to the armed forces-owned business institutions like the Fauji Foundation & Shaheen Group, on whose earnings the armed forces primarily depend for paying the salaries of their armed forces personnel. Therefore, even if someone were to gist such weapon systems FOC, there won’t even be enough money available to maintain them in serviceable condition.

To BABURAO: VMT. Most welcome.

To Anon@12.10AM: You mean Agni-5 ICBM armed with MIRV-type warheads? Yes, that ICBM will be armed with such warheads. But exactly how many of them, along with how many decoy MIRV warheads is not yet known. MIRV warheads are unlikely to be tested before 2016.

To GESSLER: Has anyone officially confirmed the range envelope of BrahMos-2? Has an poster been shown by its OEM in which the range envelope is mentioned? If not, then why jump to premature assumptions? After all, by the time the BrahMos-2 makes its maiden test-flight, for all you know India may by then well be a full-fledged member of the club that collectively enforces the MTCR & this in turn will mean that neither Russia nor India will feel the need for imposing any kind of range limitations on BrahMos-2.

To KITTU: Why so surprised? This is what happens when the people of the state keep a govt elected for 32 years non-stop. By the way, listen to this ‘desi’ imbecile who claims that the MiG-29K is perhaps the most superior fighter aircraft of the armed forces:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRXBU3qdeDU&list=UUZdjh94PIFy6fDekDtWRRJQ

To BUDDHA: You may find these interesting:

http://www.exopoliticshongkong.com/uploads/anti_gravity_and_the_world_Grid_1987_pdf.pdf

http://www.pdf-archive.com/2013/02/05/technology-of-the-gods-the-incredible-sciences-of-the-ancients-david-hatcher-childress/technology-of-the-gods-the-incredible-sciences-of-the-ancients-david-hatcher-childress.pdf

sumit sen said...

dada.. Any update on bullet proof jackets and ballastic helmets procurement for IA? Will our army use 'pathka' helmets in future??

RD said...

Prasunda,
Is it really possible?

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/china-moves-closer-to-developing-supersonic-submarine-report/articleshow/40858079.cms

Haven't heard anything moving at the speed of some mach 1or2 under deep water. And if this is possible, then it would be nightmare for marine aqua life. Also will it be SSN or SSK.

Maybe they r referring to some rail gun technology applicable to torpedos.

Mr. RA 9 said...

Your guesswork has been more than solid on AW-101 and Tejas-Mk1 LIFT. Hope it comes true also for the CAESAR 155 mm/52-calibre self-propelled howitzer.

joydeep ghosh said...

@P{rasun da

i dont know if this is the right place to discuss the following:-

1. It seems a lot of people missed PM Modi meeting with Bhakarwals & Gujjars delegation of J&K. i had said earlier if Pak insist on meeting APHC, India will want to meet people from Gigit Baltistan and Bhakarwals & Gujjars are the very same people who straddle on both sides of LoC including Gigit Baltistan, looks like a new approach has finally taken shape

2. Just heard the US is pondering over hitting IS bases in Syria even at cost of colluding with Assad regime, unfortunately if that happens the Suni populace of Syria & Iraq will be completely polarized and alienated & IS will grow stronger

3. Dont know if anyone noticed, with respect to IS powers that be are willing to talk to Syria, Iran, Turkey, Qatar & even in case of Gaza powers that be are willing to talk to Egypt, Qatar, Iran BUT no one is talking to Saudi Arabia which was always the last word till llast couple of years. looks like an effort is being made to sideline Saudi Arabia in Middle east affairs. Even in case of drop in prices of crude oil the wish of Saudi Arabia was final which would cut production & others will follow pushing up prices, now even if crude prices drop no one is under pressure from Saudi Arabia,
looks like there is a paradign shift in policies of powers that be.

your views on these if you wish

thanks

Joydeep Ghosh

vishakh said...

Hi

1) Can tata Advanced materials produce simple Bullet Proof Jacket for IA requirement ?? Can't there be any TOT for this from Other countries???

2) Has india developed AESA for AWACS or taken from other countries for 3 Awacs DRDO is developed on Embarer platform.??

3) Can india convert PESA Rohini to AESA radar ??

Mayur M Manapure said...

1: What are your views regarding BJP's Mission 44 in next J&K assembly elections.. Can they achieve it.
2: does INS Kamorta according to Desi Namunas lack teeth due to absence of ALTAS and Mr-SAM...
3:Increased frequency of ceasefire violation from Pakistan implies what....is it to distract from her internal problems...
4:Why there's still an Anti Indian mentality existing in majority of Valley Youths even after so much development.....@

abs said...

@Prasunda
Two Questions
1)What is the proof that Love Jihad is or is not an organised activity globally and on Indian soil, to lure converts and indulge in Jihad or other such activities as sex trade or using the converted women as conversion agents. Though many stories abound, surprisingly close to nil, cases have been substantiated in front of court of law. A congressman was browbeating me into furnishing substantiated proofs recently.
2) What do you make of the RSS attempts at writing an Indian history taking inspiration from the Puranas. Incidentally they have reached the figure of 1 crore plus years to be the civilisational age of Hindus.

Mr. RA 9 said...

In case if the aliens are Hindus, then anything can be possible.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SUMIT SEN: BPJs are procured only for those Army personnel who are involved in counter-insurgency operations & who are part of special operations formations. No army in the world procures BPJs for ALL its personnel. Patkas are also meant for only those personnel involved in counter-insurgency operations.

To RD: Of course not. The report has got it all wrong. The PLAN has actually developed a supercavitating torpedo almost identical to the Russian Shkval AFTER a few samples were recovered from Kyrgyzstan in the early 1990s for reverse-engineering. The remedy: such torpedoes can easily be neutralised by hard-kill options like RAFAEL’s Torbuster.

To Mr.RA 9: VMT, but it wasn’t guesswork at all. Instead, it was all about reading the writing on the wall, which folks with eyes wide open can’t seem to do so. The same goes for my earlier proposal last year for creating mega solar farms in Ladakh, which too the Govt of India has decided to implement. And the good news is that Kalyani Group’s Bharat-52 towed 155mm/52-cal howitzer has now been officially invited by the IA to give firepower-cum-mobility demonstrations in Pokhran, Ladakh & Sikkim. A total of 50 OFB-built rounds will be required to be fired at each of the three firing ranges, of which the first 10 rounds will be fired for gun alignment/ charge calibration purposes. I expect everything to go ahead smoothly in the months ahead & by this December, one can expect firm orders to be placed for this howitzer.

To VISAKH: 1) Of course TAML can & has been since the early 1990s. There’s no ToT reqd at all since all the required manufacturing processes & raw materials are locally sourced. MKU Group too has been producing such BPJs. 2) For the 3 EMB-145I AEW & CS, the S-band AESA radar & its IFF transponder have all been developed by the DRDO’s CABS. 3) S-band Rohini 3-D CAR is not PESA. L-band Rajendra BLR is.

To ANUP: That’s for the open skies treaty inked between the US & USSR/Russia for START-1/2 treaty compliance monitoring.

To MAYUR M MANAPURE: 1) Let’s see. The BJP has so far not done well in the byelections in states like Uttarakhand because it has not yet ushered in the one rank-one pension scheme that it had promised to do so & therefore a lot of ex-servicemen in that state voted against the BJP. The very same will happen in Haryana too if the BJP continues to dither on this issue. 2) Of course not. Eventually, Barak-1 will find its way on board all four P-28 corvettes, while the ROV/dunking sonar combination that I had explained in the previous thread will take the place of ALTAS. Towed-array sonars severely reduce the warship’s manoeuvrability when conducting ASW sweeps. ROVs with dunking sonars on the other hand don’t. 3) They’re trying to infiltrate as many Jihadists as possible before the forthcoming state assembly elections so that they can create mayhem during the polls. What India should do now is retaliate similarly in Baluchistan & Gilgit-Baltistan & also immediately make some symbolic exports at least a Regiment of OFB-made LFG Mk2 105mm towed howitzers plus related 105mm ammo rounds to the Afghan National Army. 4) There isn’t any, rest assured.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To ABS: 1) Where’s the proof that this phenomenon is organised? These are all isolated incidents & I first came across this phenomenon in peninsular Malaysia way back in 1996 involving a southern Thai (Pattani) who had fallen in love with a young Sikh lady.

2) That’s extremely funny, considering that human beings descended from the original brown-skinned primates only some 170,000 years ago after undergoing close to 65 artificially-induced changes to the DNA. Actually, the RSS has a far, far greater headache to take care of. Let’s talk now by way of statistics. Firstl, as per the 2011 census, those calling themselves Hindus constitute only 15.16% of the total population. The remaining 88.64% is made up of 2.3% Christians, 13.47% Muslims, 40.94% other backward classes (OBC), 19.5% Dalits & 8.63% Adivasis. Now, the RSS, ABVP & other like-minded entities would like to believe that OBCs are Hindus as well. But in reality, there has been a distinct class consciousness among the OBCs since the 1990s & this has since morphed into a distinct religious-ethnic identity as well. For instance, the Gonds that are spread over Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh & Telangana, have produced research works to establish that their Gondi language is the mother of Dravidian languages & that the Harappan script, whose illegibility has long stumped scholars & archaeologists, is actually decipherable using a Gondi language. Furthermore, for the Gonds, the 10-headed Ravana might well be a mythic figure that a lot of ‘Hindus’ torch & dispatch to hell every year, but the Gonds, Ravana, his wife Mandodari & son Meghnad are their ancestors & therefore a lot of Gonds are now buildings temples in honour of Ravana, starting with MP. Similarly, some OBCs now worship Mahishasur in Maharashtra & MP 4 days after Dussehra.

3) Then we come to the issue of the so-called sanctity of the cow, which is erroneously but vehemently traced back to the Vedic era, but what is forgotten is that Vedic rituals involved cow sacrifice & beef-eating. Then there’s the wrong perception about the cow’s survival in India being threatened by beef-eating Muslims. In reality, all Dalits, Adivasis, Christians Muslims & even some Shudras are beef-eating. Furthermore, a growing number of universities throughout India, starting with Delhi & Hyderabad, have been organising annual beef-eating festivals during which the ‘Hindu’ OBC students were only asking whether the meat came from the cow or buffalo. It is also a fact that buffaloes produce more milk in India than cows & therefore the former has far greater utility. Yet it is not protected against slaughter. On top of it, cow’s beef is freely available through West Bengal, Kerala & the entire North East.

Cont’d below…

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

4) I’m all for proving the historicity of the Ramayana & Mahabharata. Why? Because if will prove once & for all that figures like Ram & Krishna were mortal human beings, albeit blessed with far more superior intellect & lifespans. If they were Gods then, they would be infallible, i.e. not capable of making any mistakes. But Ram did make a mistake in suspecting a pregnant Sita’s chastity & had her banished—thereby proving that he too was a human being capable of making judgemental errors. Similarly, if Krishna was a historical reality, then it will also prove that he produced many a ‘miracle’ that can today be attributed to the phenomenon of genetically modifying crops. This in turn will discredit all those members of the ‘Sangh’ parivar who are now agitating against GM crops.

5) Lastly, let’s get to the core of the term HINDU & its etymology. This word never existed in either the Vedas or Puranas. It was, instead a term used by the ancient Persians & Mesopotamians to refer to that piece of landmass that lay to the east of the Hindukush mountain range, i.e. the Indo-Gangetic Plains. It never included peninsular India. In fact, the late Saddam Hussein had named Baghdad’s central parade area (the one featuring the crossed swords) as Hind Square, so enamoured he was by & about India. It was the British who made the linguistic alteration from Hind to Hindustan & its English translation became India. Therefore, everyone today who refers to the landmass called Hindustan is in fact only repeating something invented by the Brits. The same goes for Hinduism or Hindutva. In reality, the country should have been named REPUBLIC OF BHAARAT from January 26, 1950, since Hindustan no longer existed after partition. And the national identity of all her citizens should have been BHAARATIYA & her overriding & all-encompassing cultural ideology should have been VEDANTA. Instead, the sad part is that a party that won 288 parliamentary seats with just 31% of the total votes cast, is being dictated to by a bunch of intellectually bankrupt morons who have no clue of either BHAARATIYATA or Vedanta, & are shamelessly misusing the names of Vivekananda.

Therefore, salvation can now only come from the likes of Dr Dinanath Batra IF he’s able to prove the historicity of Ramayana & Mahabharata. If he succeeds, it will forever rid India of all the regressive myths & dogmas like cow worship, the concept of Hinduism being a way of life, & the infamous ‘Ram Rajya’ syndrome that relegates members of the opposite sex to being third-class human-beings.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/randomaccess/more-border-areas-may-threaten-to-go-to-china-if-india-doesnt-wake-up-now/

http://www.sunday-guardian.com/news/manmohan-did-not-correct-map-error-to-protect-nehru-name#.U_trbeCw5Pw.twitter

Biswajit said...

Hi Prasun Sir,
idrw.org/?p=42425
What he is saying is it true or he is just making it up?

Mayur M Manapure said...

VMT....and also thanks for detailed explanation of our vedic past.....But question is who will explain this to those morons sitting in Mahal (RSS HQ in Nagpur) ... I think Modi should come out and snub them publicly.....I mean the amt of Bakarchodi they do on daily basis.....its no different than the radical sitting across the border... Also when it comes to Discrimination against the womens....why the hell they can't accept that we evolved from those who worshipped adishakti.....

Anonymous said...

Hi Prasun,

Why do all the ships build in India have dents all along the hull? Is it because of the quality of the steel? or fabrication method? or poor workmanship?

Best Regards
Raj

vishakh said...

Hi

1) What torpedoes are onboard IN New Kolkatta class destroyers and new INS Covettee??

2) Why IN not using Rafael TORBUSTERS?? IS mareech better than this ??

3) Can Bharat 52 be converted to Truck Mounted GUN like Ceaser from France??

4) ROV based towed sonar are what IN wants which towed sonar it will use and which ROV it is using can you give links??

5) for SSK is baracuda from FRANCE an option ?? which is best choice fro SSK ??

rad said...


HI Prasun
Is the report of the arihant going below crush depth factual? the self styled submarine expert bharat karnad finding that the conning tower was affected ,but survived the crush depth? He also says the hull is o made of titanium alloy , this seems to be news because it is very expensive
Is avinash chander talking his mouth of saying that there are so many missiles in the offing, what is he trying to convey?.
You mentioned before that the shoulder launched AT missile is laser guided, i really wonder how a soldier is going to keep the laser dot on the tank target while under fire constantly. No body in the world seems to have gone that way.

vrp said...

http://idrw.org/?p=42425
Sir, did Arihant went to the sea without DSRV or has india purchased it. Some report indicate India was testing DSRV from England and Russia(and not Canada. has India purchased/leased secretly?
Thanks.

Singularity said...

I don't get why so many people are so apologetic about cattle worship. This isn't the worst thing the religions across the world have asked their followers to do, is it ?
Also, there have been some interesting hypothesis about the connection of cow-dung, entheogenic mushrooms and cattle worship in many of ancient cultures. The revered Soma of the Vedas.

Anonymous said...

Prasunda,
i beg to disagree with a statement of yours that modern humans descended from brown skinned primates just 1,70,000 years. That is the calculated age of ancestral grandmother (called the 'eve', ranges between 65000 - 3,00,000 has been deduced). however, there were several species of human (other than homo sapiens or modern human), existing long back. but as we trace back history of breed dogs by pedigree, the tracing can deduce common ancestor to 3 lakh years. Even when considering modern humans, the differences what we see from some of our primitive ancestors are only because of the cumulative knowledge accrued over much less than 10000 years recent. by the amount of cranial space, Homo neanderthal were supposed to be intellectually superior to modern human, but as we know now,the size of the brain does not make up the intellect, but the highly efficient neural networks do. there is no way of saying that modern humans descended but rather modern humans evolved over million s of years and even today they do.
However, setting aside these evidence based observation (which could be only partial picture), i am curious about your explanation of extra terrestrial contribution to human development.

Sreenivas R

Gessler said...

@BISWAJIT - I know what Prasun ji's gonna say : Arihant ain't going nowhere without an operational DSRV.

Is it or not, Prasun ji?

UJJWAL said...

Prasunda, a recent TOI report has highlighted the lack of critical ammunition storage of IA. India has inked deal with Russia for 125mm APFSDS and Invar missile but with a hugely exorbitant price. Earlier India tried to import APFSDS from IMI,with a provision to manufacture it with Israel made components.But,the plan failed as IMI was blacklisted. Reportedly, OFB has made mk1 and mk2 of 125mm APFSDS rounds but quality of those rounds was always poor. Where is the problem to make it in India and how can it be solved? thanks, regards

Vinod Sidhu said...

Sir, contrary to what you have said, this report:

http://defence.pk/threads/india-imposes-partial-ban-on-company-named-in-vvip-chopper-scam.330826/

Claims that the AW-101 has been scrapped completely on Jan 1 this year. So is this to say the IAF will now never receive the reaming 9 AW-101s and will never use the 3 it has in service for the PM and other VVIPs?

Do we now go for the S-92 as the AW-101 is off the table for good?

abs said...

@Prasunda
I agree with you in all the points you have been kind enough to make. I only differ in the part where you claim Rama as a mortal being. Rama was called Maaryada Purushottam, which meant ardent follower of Maaryada or Rules. Being a King, it was his duty to nip any dissent amongst his subjects, many of whom were unhappy and suspicious of Sita. When looked at it through this perspective, it is perfectly legit for Rama in having asked Sita for Agni Pariksha even at the cost of what was to follow.

Mayur M Manapure said...

Also why don't we develop AMCA for IN's next gen Aircraft Carriers..... Select a foreign engine from start......test the sensors on LCA Mk2's.....not a tough task if planned properly...I think new leadership at centre must consider It.....

aniz said...

hi prasun.
what is the status of insas 1b1 is it being scrapped?

how is the desi version of ak 47 i see crpf cobra using black ones are they ofb ones
aniz




Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To BISWAJIT & GESSLER & VRP: Of course he’s making it all up. And no need to go as far as DSRV. No navigable channel heading out to the sea has a depth of 100 metres. Even the Strait of Hormuz has a depth of only 60 metres (197 feet). At best, the channel in Vizag has a depth not exceeding 18 metres. And as for deformation of the coning tower, I’ve just uploaded photos above of various coning towers of submarines made by various OEMs worldwide. As you all will notice, the weld-quality of submarine-builders of US, UK, France, Sweden, Germany & Japan are top-notch without any inconsistency. China too is catching up, but it has some more way to go to catch-up with its Western & Japanese counterparts. The Russians are way behind & have a lot of catching up to do. Just look at the deformations (not caused by diving to hull-crush depths, but by welding quality inconsistency) of the coning towers of the Borei-class SSBN, Project 971 Shchuka K-152 Nerpa INS Chakra SSGN, Project 677 Lada-class SSK & the Type 877EKM SSK & judge for yourselves.

To MAYUR M MANAPURE: That’s because it suits them, just fine to be in a state of self-denial. But like I explained yesterday, they will someday have to face a fierce backlash from the OBCs & Dalits. That’s when they will have to admit their folly but by then it will be too late for them. AMCA is way, way too far off. No use sprinting when one has yet to master the art of jogging.

To RAJ: Not the steel-quality nor the design-quality. It’s all about inconsistent welding QC-levels, i.e. different teams of welders being engaged to do the job, instead of sticking on to one team of welders as is practiced in the West, Japan & now China.

To VISHAKH: Same as those on board the three Project 15 DDGs. 2) Marreech is a soft-kill decoy. Torbuster is a hard-kill projectile. 3) It can, but it will take some 5 years to do so. 4) Already explained it with posters & narrative in the previous thread. 5) That is an SSN you mentioned. It is not SSK. Best choice for SSK is still the Scorpene equipped with a Stirling Engine AIP module.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To RAD: Of course it is the usual mumbo-jumbo bakwaas from that imbecile. This is probably what happens when one resides somewhere in the Kangra Valley & passes time by smoking charas/ganja! Arihant’s hull is not made of titanium alloy. Only the internal pipings are made of titanium & these were supplied by Flash Forge, as I had highlighted last year. Dr Chander is talking about the SAMHO, the India-specific version of Javelin with hyperbaric warhead, LR-SAM & its naval & ground-launched versions, the Nag ATGM & its HELINA variant, Astra Mk1/Mk2 BVRAAMs, the anti-radiation version of the Astra Mk1, & the turbofan-powered Nirbhay LACM plus a turbofan-powered anti-airfield weapon. SAMHO won’t be shoulder-launched, but from a ground-based launcher similar to the one for the Konkurs-M.

To SINGULARITY: There’s no need to be apologetic about it at all. Just don’t forcibly impose those values & beliefs on others. Live & let live, & not do as I say.

To SREENIVAS R: If you were to look at the intervals between Homo-Erectus & Neanderthal, Neanderthal & Homo Sapien Sapien, & Homo Sapien Sapien & Cro-Magnon, you will see that the evolutionary period from Homo Sapien Sapien & Cro-Magnon was less than 100 years, which is impossible to achieve if one adheres to nature’s evolutionary timescale. What this means is that between some 195,000 & 170,000 years ago, the evolutionary process was hastened artificially, i.e. through externally induced genetic mutations. In addition, archived Mesopotamian/Sumerian records also state that successive Annunaki (meaning those who descended from the skies) were led by 2 rulers/kings who had lifespans of 36,000 years & one had a lifespan of 28,000 years.

To UJJWAL: The contract with IMI was for licence-manufacturing 130mm cargo rounds for the M-46 howitzer, & not for 125mm FSAPDS rounds. All 125mm FSAPDS rounds were bought off-the-shelf from IMI. DRDO-made 125mm rounds could penetrate 500m RHA at a velocity of 1,600 metres/second, but the IA wanted rounds that could penetrate 600mm RHA at a velocity of 1,650 metres/second. DRDO has already made 120mm FSAPDS rounds that can penetrate 600mm RHA at a velocity of 1,660\ metres/second & is now testing 125mm rounds with similar capability.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To VINOD SIDHU: That’s totally untrue. If the contract was terminated, then there would be no need to seek international arbitration, whose rules clearly state that until the final arbitration verdict is issued, the contract remains only suspended. If India were to terminate the contract, then AgustaWestland would not have sought arbitration & would instead have by now issued a circular stating that it will not be held liable for the airworthiness & serviceability of the 3 already-delivered AW-101s that the Govt of India would have offered for sale. This in turn would mean that the 3 already-delivered AW-101s would have no second-hand resale value at all & would have only scrap value. Do you honestly think the Govt of India is in the mood for absorbing such a gigantic financial loss?

To ABS: If indeed Ram had direct & irrevocable ties to divinity & was a Maaryada Purushottam, then surely his subjects too would have accepted the fact that he was a divine being & they therefore would never have contested his assurances about Sita’s chastity. But the mere fact that Ram could not convince his subjects to let go of the malicious speculation & eventually he caved in to populist demands proves that his subjects never considered him to be God or a descendent/avatar of God. Hence, Ram was forced to suspect Sita’s chastity (i.e. she was guilty who had to next prove her innocence—just like modern-day French law) & demand her Agni Pariksha—something no God will ever do since God is generally accepted as being someone endowed with all-knowing wisdom, & does not need to subject anyone to trials or tests or examinations.

Vinod Sidhu said...

So are you saying the deal will be un-suespended/resumed and that India will be making use of the AW-101s after all? And if so how certain are you? I've seen nothing to confirm this so far, all the media outlets seem to be under th impression the AW-101 is terminated for good and that there is no way the IAF will be flying the AW-101s for VVIPs EVER.

When can we expect some clarification? When can we expect the deal with AW to be resumed? When will the next lot of AW-101s be delivered from the UK? When will Modi first use the AW-101s of the iAF?

sathead3 said...

Incredible pictures of the various conning towers. Wow!

vishakh said...

Hi

1) What is status of Helina and Nag ??

2) The new seeker for NAG/helina DRDO developed or sourced from some country??

3) Is new man Portable missile Anti tank by DRDO 3+ gen Missile with USA , then Nag won't have portable version ??

4) Is india Army looking for Man portable version of LAzer guided Anti tank missile which DRDO developed for turrent launched from Tank like lahat??

Anonymous said...

Prasun ji, regarding the weld quality of western submarines being top-notch how would you judge this latest US Virginia Class
I think this has more to do with the type of anechoic tiles used. Also note the difference between the finish of the Conning tower and the hull here. That would explain the nonsense of Arihant diving to crushing depth bla-bla.

vrp said...

Sir,
thanks for the submarine picture. It feels like our submarine are like brand new car hit hard with hammer all over the body!!!
Sir, will our submarine build at MDL wit France tech have a good welding finishing as of the western standard?
is India in the process of acquiring DSRV, if not how will Arihant go to the sea?( any other rescue vehicle available/leased).
thanks.

sathead3 said...

Anon above, the thing is the Arihant doesn't have any anechoic tiles on just yet. Its all virgin external surface at this point. The tiles will get slapped on later.

joydeep ghosh said...

@Prasun da

1. just learned that Tatra has been foud not guilty by CBI for any wrong doing with regards to supply of trucks as alleged by former COAS VK Singh, now what

2. Also heard somewhere that C17 of IAF cant be used in border area, is it true?

3 The Textron developed Scorpion cant be used as LIFT say some people, why?

thanks

Joydeep Ghosh

financeblogger said...

Hello Prasun,
Wanted to know about Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML), Astra Microwave. From a novice perspective what contribution is of theirs to defence industry?

Messenger said...

INS Arihant is still in the process of making and improving and comparing it to the other finished products is not fair. Also we are in the process of learning, so as time passes by we may improve our manufacturing abilities and professionalism.

The question is how NDTV is able to sneak into ISRO, DRDO, HAL, and for that matter any R&D center and others including DD is not able to???

NDTV and it's pathetic reporter Pallav Bhagla with his horrible english makes me sick to see such videos. NDTV showed something and other moronic people like Bharat Karnad started ghost articles on them.... for false propaganda and for spreading false information both NDTV and the other cunt must be given jail terms..

Anonymous said...

It'a "slav" not slave . Mistakes like that cost teeth .

Unknown said...

Prasun da,

News reports are saying that P15B will carry only one Helicopter to make space for Nirbhaya VLCM. Is this true?

Astra mk1 will form basis for new SR SAM being developed by DRDO?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To VINOD SIDHU: Has this govt officially reiterated or declared that it will not overrule the decision of the previous UPA-2 govt’s decision to terminate the AW-101 procurement contract? Has the MoD put up the 3 in-country AW-101s for sale through public tender? Has this govt said anything about being a party to international arbitration? Has this govt ordered any VVIP version of the Mi-17V-5? Has any RFI or RFP been released so far about procuring such helicopters? Why is this govt keeping quiet about the fate of the 3 already-delivered AW-101s? Has the CBI filed any chargesheet thus far against AgustaWestland in any Indian court of law? Does this govt therefore have any evidence at all about any kind of wrongdoing by AgustaWestland? If you try to answer these questions, then you will also get to find out how certain I am.

To VISHAKH: All those queries were answered several times over the past 2 months.

To VRP: Just an external view of the coning tower doesn’t mean the entire Arihant is to be condemned. The first two Scorpenes built by MDL will have visible external differences in build quality, just like the differences between the 2 HDW-built Class 209/Type 1500 SSKs of the 1980s & 2 more built by MDL in the 1990s. From No3 onwards, one will see visible improvements in the build qualities of the Scorpenes. Regarding DSRVs, there’s no other option but to invest in one’s own fleet of such vessels along with submarine tenders. Here again, AKA really screwed up big-time & the IN is now living with the consequences of his flawed decision-making processes.

To JOYDEEP GHOSH: 1) Now the new-build TATRAs will start arriving to L & T & BEL where they will be retrofitted with Pinaka-1 MBRLs & Swathi L-band WLRs. 2) Cannot be used for what?

To FINANCEBLOGGER: All such info can easily be obtained from the websites of these OEMs.

To MESSENGER: Does it really matter who & from where gets access to such organisations/agencies/sites? If yes, then why was the first decent photo of the Arihant’s gull structure not shown by any of the MoD’s annual reports, but on a publicity leaflet published by the Congress party in 2009 just prior to the general elections?

To K RAVI: 1) Which people are you referring to when using the term ‘Hindus’? The folks residing along the Indo-Gangetic plain or the Dravidians who’ve descended from the brown-skinned racial stock originally residing in Kumari Kandam? 2) Yes, it is indeed true. And the Muslim reference to ‘Kafirs’ or infidels is derived from the earlier Jewish practice.

To SANJEEV KUMAR: Have you ever seen any warship being armed with more than 1 type of cruise missile? If not, then what will be the role of Nirbhay when BrahMos-1 will already be on board? Or is this rumour being spread by that very imbecile (or someone sharing his traits) who claims that the Arihant dived to a depth of 100 metres in a 15-metre deep marine navigation channel? SR-SAM’s R & D project is in the process of winding down since no Indian end-user wants radar-guided SHORADS.

K.RAVI said...

Prasun Sir,

Thanks for the explanation. But is it not true that the Aryan invasion theory was a myth and therefore the people living in the Indo-Gangetic plains are the same as the Dravidians? In other words both are HINDU by race?

Thanks

Kittu said...

Dear Prasun,
I guess you are a Hindu, so am asking this question.

ISKCON declares Krishna as "Supreme Personality of God Head" (The quotes are their official words) and all other Hindu Gods including Thrimurthy s not on par with him (They refer all other Hindu Gods as Demi-Gods).

Also the cover of the Bhagavad Gita they circulate says "AS IT IS" but in the purport accompanying each verse they include so much information, statistics and other material the verse translation really deviates to the plain eyes.

Am confused, what's your take on this?

Thank You very much.

Mayur M Manapure said...

What do you think would New leadership at centre give nod to Second Indigenous Aircraft Carrier.....and if they do should it be Conventional or Nuclear Powered......and wrt India where do you think PRC stands in terms of ACs...

regular visitor said...

For those interested in learning remote viewing

http://www.downeu.org/tutorials/1374670-stephan-schwartz-the-remote-viewing-gold-standard-course-dvdrip.html

http://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2669987

PRAKASH said...

@ Reddy ,

W.R.T the link that you have provided :

What is the plight of Indians in the UK? UKIP is largely a Racist party.I hear most Whites in UK hate Indians because Indians are seen as illegal immigrants? Many Thanx

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

The Indian Air Force (IAF) acquired 1.41 million rounds of 5.56mm L15 NATO ammunition from BAE Systems for USD744,400 in late June for the Israeli Tavor-21 assault rifles used by its Garud special forces. BAE Systems was competing against Israel Weapon Industries, Italy's Fiocchi Munizious, Spain's Expal, and US firm BEL Trading & Consulting for the 5.56mm ammunition tender. Additional 5.56mm ammunition orders are expected from the Indian Army’s Special Forces and the Indian Navy's Marine Commandos, both of which operate Tavor-21 rifles. India's Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) produces 5.56mm SS-109 rounds at its Jabalpur unit in central India and even exported small quantities to Israel and Thailand in 2008-2009, but domestic production declined drastically soon after.

Anonymous said...

Given Japanese aged population and disputes with china and economic stagnation, Japan needs India than the other way.

Given most of the India's population is in 25-35 range and with 1.4 billion people and middle class market, India is a safe bet to Japan to move manufacturing to India from China.

Most of the Japan population is in the age of 60- 65 in the coming decades and more people get pensions than people who work and contribute taxes, it is going to be in a really bad shape.

As technology is changing very fast and other countries catching up very fast technically, Japanese in the coming decades will lose the technological edge there will be less number of people working in science and technical streams or other countries cross technical barriers and need not depend on Japanese technology.

Also Japan's external debt is in trillions.


Modi's visit to Japan may have these things:

1. Bullet Trains
2. Investments
3. Nuclear Power
4. Some Amphibian Planes
5. Shifting Manufacturing to India from China

Bullet trains is not special to Japan. France and China have, also they are highly expensive and economic benefits, ROI, CBA, financial viability is debatable.

Investments can be made from UK, US, China, Canada and Japan has nothing special in this. Every one asks for some favours to Invest in this country. Japan is not going to invest for the sake of India. Even Japan and it's ADB is contributing to Pakistan as well.

I do not understand what's special about Japanese Nuclear power. In turn they put so many conditions like, not to conduct nuclear tests, more transparency, US/UK controlled Intl inspections, audits etc. The joke is they put sanctions on India for long time...where France do not.
Russia, France also offer Nuclear Power Generation..

Amphibious Planes; they are not for defence but for SAR, Relief ops. They are highly expensive and Russia and China have them. Also these japanese planes comes with string attached.

Manufacturing shift to India: This is more to do with China-Japan rivalry than to do for the love of India. Even japanese now need our rare earths more than ever after chinese ban.

I am just trying to say that it is Japan that needs India more than India that needs Japan.

But am in no way saying we do not want Japan, we are going to benefit from Japan WRT to manufacturing. Japanese are known best in Manufacturing. Also we benefit from Investments...

Am finishing with this last line:

Japanese spend 80% of the time for planning and 20% of the time for execution.

India spend 20% of the time for planning and 80% of the time for execution. Due to this the results are in 20:80 success: failure ratio for India.

These are just some random thoughts and so afraid to give me name, am just a regular visitor.

Anonymous said...

Hi Prasun,

Given that most of the Indian shipyards are moving towards modular construction methods, do you think that will improve the QC of welding of the hull? can we expect build quality on par with the best in the world?

Best Regards
Raj

vishakh said...

Hi
1) Why Army buying 130 Artillary gun based on Arjun chasis ?? when 155mm Gun K9 is already tested??

2) Is T-90 tanks in India have Trophy or similar system and is it planned to equipe them??

Siddharth said...

http://idrw.org/?p=42526

Prasun Da,

Will DRDO (Dr. Do Little... - found somewhere on website) able to develop a prototype post 2020.

abs said...

@Prasunda
I was curious to find out about the mass conversions to Islam that took place in Bengal and West Punjab pre-1947. And in the process of looking up materials, I came across this paper by Richard M Eaton:
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/sj6/eatonapproachconversion.pdf
For convenience, the findings of the paper are well summarised in here:
http://dipanjanc.blogspot.in/2005/10/islamization-of-bengal.html
Though, the above blog post is only relevant to the deductions on Bengal.

The paper also tries to address the other theories that abounds in explaining the mass conversions to Islam pre-1947 during the Islamic rule in other parts of India. Though IMHO, the study doesn't take enough cognizance of the 'Conversion by Sword/Force' by calling it no one has been able to define 'force' or what 'conversion' meant. It also outrightly rejects the 'Theory of Social Emancipation' which also happens to be the favourite line adopted by the secularist-leftist combine.
It also rejects any notion that sufism played a huge role in converting the Hindus.
I suggest you give a thorough reading , and provide us your views.

VIKRAM GUHA said...

Prasun Da ,

Today MoD cleared deals for 16 multi role helicopter and midlife upgrade of submarines.

http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/defence-ministry-scraps-rs-6000-cr-tender-for-197-light-utility-helicopters-deal_1462076.html

(1) From which company do you think that MoD will purchase the multi role helicopter?

(2) With Augusta Westland out of the equation do you think Bell’s offer for the V-22 will be considered by the MoD?

(3) Now that the deal for the 197 light choppers have been scrapped do you think DRDO can use this opportunity to tie up with AVX and design a high speed helo, just like you had suggested in the recent past?

(4) Why isn’t MoD placing order for the Super Sukhoi?

VMT

Jaidev said...

Prasunda,

The news report on Apache and Chinook helo purchase which has been cleared by DAC today mentions that Mr Jaitley approved the offset proposal deviation?

1. What kind of offsets are being offered by Boeing in these two deals? What has he cleared?

2. In addition, yesterday on 28th August was the last day for AVRO tender. Any idea who all have finally bid?

3. What kind of ASW suit he has agreed to purchase on 11 warships of P-15B and P-17A series? Its a bit confusing. What is he going to buy in ASW capability?

Please explain. Thanks

Gessler said...

Well, Prasun ji...just as you said, the decision to scrap 197 LUH deal has finally been made by MoD. This is a huge opportunity for HAL's LUH. Does this mean we're gonna get a total of 384 HAL-built LUHs?

Also, bids have been cleared for NMRH competition (S-70B and NH-90), another good move.

Lastly, the deals for Apaches & Chinooks have also been given a greet-light by DAC.

One thing that gets me is the acquisition of 40 Arjun Catapult 130mm SPGH systems being approved...why does Army even want it?

Slava said...

Gessler has beaten me to it :
You wrote this as a comment back in January of 2013
[" Logic has its own way of prevailing in the end. Consequently, just as no self-respecting air force & navy will go for service-induction for two near-identical products for doing the same job (i.e. one has to choose between the PC-7 Mk2 or HTT-40, instead of procuring both types of BTTs), the same logic applies to the RSH requirement as well. Therefore, procuring 197 imported helicopters & 187 indigenous helicopters to do the same job doesn’t make any sense. Elementary business sense therefore dictates that all 384 RSHs have to be of the same type/model. I do hope that the MoD & its RM ‘Saint’ Antony will therefore see the light of day & accept this elementary result of logical reasoning & decide to upgrade the existing SA.315 Lama/Cheetahs into Cheetal LOHs as an interim solution pending the arrival of the LUH.]"
You have been proven right .. Logic has prevailed incidentely it required the departure of the "Saint" for it to happen .
But contrary to what you said earlier it seems there was a requirement by the army of the catapult Arjun . Do you not think waiting for a 155 system would have been better for the sake of logistics if nothing else ?
It seems we are selling Cheetals to Afghanistan .Do you think there is any further scope for exports or even free transfers as good will gestures to countries that need such high altitude helis (Nepal, Bhutan , Afghan )

abs said...

@Prasunda
Also if you could tell me the origins of
1)Purdah system in the Hindu society 2)Seclusion of women in Hindu society before the Islamic invaders, as many Dilli based historians and organisations, have contented that such social segregation of women were prevalent even before the arrival of the Islamic invaders and some date it back to the Vedic ages.

I would like to elaboratE, when I speak of 'seclusion of women', could it be as protection or was it used as a 'derision of women'.
Also if you could provide any source or material that extensively explains the context of the earlier question as well as this one.

Anonymous said...

According to wikipedia, the empty weight of HAL LUH is a thousand pounds more than HAL ALH. True? Please post specs on the LUH if you have them.

Thanks,
USAK

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To VIKRAM GUHA: Yet again, the ‘dfesi’ journalists have got it all wrong. Yesterday’s approval was nopt from the DAC, but from the Defence Procurement Board & that too only for those contracts whose negotiations have been concluded. The 16 NMRHs will definitely be delivered by Sikorsky. The S-70B Seahawk is far more cheaper than the NH-90. 2) Bell-Boeing V-22 is far too expensive for India for the next decade at least. 3) If anyone in IA HQ & HAL has any common-sense, then that’s the most viable & cost-effective solution for sustaining high-altitude aerial logistics in areas like the Siachen Glacier. 4) Because the DRDO has yet to complete all the envisaged R & D tasks.

To KITTU: 1) Nope. Because it knows too well that no one will take up such assignments.

To JAIDEV: Not by the DAC, but by the Defence Procurement Board. The DAC cleared them back in 2010 & only after this were the RFPs released by the MoD. For acquiring such products in such small numbers, there cannot be any economically viable direct industrial offsets. Only indirect industrial offsets can be offered, which were not to the liking of AKA for reasons only known best to himself. 2) It’s nopt important who all have bid. The only thing which now matters is how soon will the decision be made in favour of the C-130J Hercules. The 11 warships mentioned have nothing to do with P-15B DDG or P-17A FFG. Instead, they concern the three Project 16A FFGs & three Project 15 DDGs (whose mid-frequency HUMSA will be replaced by low-frequency HUMSA-NG), three Project 17 FFGs & the first three of six Project 1135.6 FFGs (which will have the ATLAS Elektronik-built ACTAS ultra LF towed-array sonar.

To GESSLER & SLAVA: VMT. Yesterday’s approval was only for prototype development of the Arjun Catapult. So far, only the technology demonstrator has been developed & that was the one shown at DEFEXPO 2014. Give it another six months & the IA will come back saying it does not want it. The same will hold true for the earlier-planned upgunning of the 130mm M-46s. The IA HQ is now slowly beginning to come clear of its earlier confusing state (prevalent since 2006) & will ultimately take the logical decisions, ALL of which I will detail on the night of August 31-September 1, 2014. Now, I am awaiting the approval for the DSRV procurement. It doesn’t make sense for any MoD to suspend its efforts to procure probably the world’s best DSRV (the Remora) just because of an anonymous letter of complaint.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SLAVA: This is the right time for India to sell at least one Regiment of OFB-made LFG Mk2 105mm howitzers, plus at least three Regiments of the M-46 130mm howitzer to Afghanistan. This will send the right kind of signal to Pakistan.

To SUJOY MAJUMDAR: 1) The 11 warships mentioned concern the three Project 16A FFGs & three Project 15 DDGs (whose mid-frequency HUMSA will be replaced by low-frequency HUMSA-NG), three Project 17 FFGs & the first three of six Project 1135.6 FFGs (which will have the ATLAS Elektronik-built ACTAS ultra LF towed-array sonar. 2) Not necessary. TATA Advanced Materials Ltd & TATA Advanced Structures Ltd can easily become the principal sub-contractor to HAL for supplying airframe structures & sub-structures for not only the LIH, but also for the Tejas Mk2 MRCA & the LCH as well. This will be a win-win solution for both HAL & TATAS, not to mention the country as well. Union MHA’s approval is reqd because this Ministry has drawn up all the security vetting norms/guidelines reqd for qualifying as an approved vendor for manufacturing military-standard items & products.

To USAK: The LUH’s brochures were uploaded by me either immediately after Aero India 2013 or DEFEXPO 2014. Kindly check up the show reports of these two expos & you’ll find the info you seek.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To K RAVI: It wasn’t an Aryan invasion, but rather a migration from what is today that area of Russia which sits above the Caspian Sea, with the Caucasus mountains to the northwest. Prior to the arrival of the Caucasian Aryans, the brown-skinned Dravidians were the original inhabitants of both the Indo-Gangetic plain & well as continental Kumari Kandam. There’s no such thing as Aryan race or Hindu race. Anthropologically speaking, there are only four racial STOCKS: Australoids (to which the Draviodians belong), Mongoloids, Negroids & Caucasoids. As I had explained earlier, the term ‘Hindu’ has territorial connotations & therefore cannot be used for religious, cultural or racial purposes.

To KITTU: There’s nothing to be confused about, really. Any religious philosophy throughout the ages has been diluted & got sub-divided into sects & from sects into cults. Same is the case with Vedantic philosophy, which got sub-divided into Vaishnavite & Shaivite sects, & these sects got further diluted into cults. Followers of Krishna belong to the Bhakti cult. This cult has been further diluted into another sub-cult called ISKCON. And everytime & in every phase when dilution occurs, the original philosophical essence gets further eroded. It has happened to date with almost EVERY theocratic religious philosophy as well as with other religions like Buddhism.

To MAYUR M MANAPURE: It is now clear beyond any doubt that the 2nd Indigenous Aircraft carrier will be nuclear-powered. That decision was taken last year itself.

To RAJ: It is industrial automation that holds the key. Those shipyards that have INVESTED in this area have shown visible improvements in hull construction, especially the finishing touches. Of all the MoD-owned shipyards, CSL comes first in terms of build-quality, followed by MDL & then GSL.

To VISHAKH: 2) IA is not buying it. DRDO has only secured some R & D FUNDING fior prototype development. 2) No they don’t. There are plans for incorporating APS to on the T-90S MBTs.

To SIDDHARTH: That project is a long-drawn one. Let’s first see when the series-production of the Rustom-1 MALE-UAV surfaces.

SUVO said...

Prasun da,
it is a very good news that finally Bharat-52 get the chance to prove.

Recently Avinash Chander said that Advanced Towed Array Gun System (ATAGS) programme is going strong & the entire gun should be available for trials by 2017.What is the unique feature of this gun?

Slava said...

Thank you for the reply .
There is the disappointing decision to induct the apache . Is the LAH programme so far behind to justify this project ?

K.RAVI said...

Thank You Prasun Sir,

1. So the Upanishads, Vedas were also brought by the Caucasian Aryans with them, right?

2. Kumari Kandam was said to be larger than India in landmass that connected India with Australia and Africa.However, studies on Continental drift carried out by Western experts suggests that the disappearance of a continental mass like Kumari Kandam is not possible.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/09/080905-pangaea-suction_2.html

Kittu said...

has modi taken journalists from private channels or print media this time to japan?

Messenger said...

Dear Prasun,

why India is so much pushing Japan for nuclear technology?
Since Russia is already providing us the same how different is this Japanese Technology from Russian technology?

Thanks.

Sakshi said...

What India needs is "STANDARDISED" Roads, Unified Road Rules and Laws across Indian Union, Road Discipline among public, Professional and corruption less Driver Licence issue authority and enforcement agencies.

Once India gets these things first in surface transport realms it can then proceed towards white elephant projects such as Japanese Bullet Trains..

Misplaced Priorities... and Un educated public, politicians and corrupted society...

abs said...

@Prasunda
Pending replies to the above queries, what on earth is wrong with Pakistan?

vishakh said...

Hi

1) Kawasaki C2 can replace Russian IL-216 cargo planes??

2) Can India learn from Japan ATX 5th gen plane or Join such program??

3) Kawasaki P1 for coast guard surveillance planes and IN navy as well in addition for P-8??

4) Can Arjun incorporate Type -10 tank design to reduce weight and better C4I tech??

Biswajit said...

Hi Prasun Da,
Have a look at this news report....
www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2738681/India-Russia-jet-deal-hits-turbulence-technical-worries.html
Does this reports holds any truth or it is just another BS in the making.
Thanks.

Anonymous said...

@Vishakh
Looks like ur speculating the same thing which is being posted in idrw.org today.
idrw.org/?p=42591
Did u just picked up their post & modified it to make look like ur own query?

Sakshi said...

@anon August 31, 2014 at 12:21 PM

That is a very usual and casual practice here for so many members especially Bhaswar, Gessler and some others.

For most of them these military things is for time pass, good for nothing activity. It's like having a grand celebrations on Aug 15 with 1000 meter flag and on Aug 16th taking bribes or looking for way to evade taxes or getting some benefits in one way or other.

Most of these guys follow defencepk, idrw and bharat rakshak kind of sites and for technical and moral backup they ask questions here...in all and all good for nothing guys and good for nothing activities...

Sakshi said...

Also when India is looking for defence and other industrial products to be made in India, these morons looking for products in Japanese kitty..what difference these things make importing from other countries or japan ?

Once Prasun said to a question,
what technologies india can get from Japan, He said NOTHING...

Sarath Kumar said...

Dear Prasun sir,

1) How many destroyers, frigates & corvettes does IN plan to have?

2) What DDG are we going to build after Project-15B? Is something planned?

3) What is progress on P-17A FFG?

4) What will be P-17A's armament? 8 BrahMos and 32 Barak-2, is that it?

5) Why are we going for foreign design for 16 corvettes? What can't the DND design such a small ships while they can design much bigger DDGs and FFGs?

6) Progress on S-5 SSBN? How many silos will it have? 12 or 24? Or somewhere in between? Keeping it's said displacement of 20,000 tons in mind, it should be 24 silos.

7) What will IN's SSNs be like? Will they be based on a foreign design? Will they carry cruise missiles?

Thanks in advance.

raw13 said...

The reason Islam spread in what is Pakistan now due to many reasons, among them being:

Tribal cultural was always far more important than any religion. In many cases convert the chief and its done. It also had very low population density...remember Brits build the canals in what is pakistan, before that it mainly consisted of desert/semi-desert environment with small towns. Survival was hard and tribe was all important. The only city with any population size was Lahore.

Same thing happened in Iran, when the king converted to Shia, the whole nation did.

Vinod Sidhu said...

Sir, just because AW hasn't so far withdrawn guarantees for the 3 AW-101s already in indian hands doesn't necessarily mean that the IAF will be using these 3 and the remaining 9 for the VVIPs of India as you claim does it?

Don't you think its a bit premature to state this? SO far no indications have been made that the IAF will be using their AW-101s for such uses and certainly not getting the remaining 9 AW-101s from AW and certainly not by Febuary 2015 as you have claimed.

Just how certain can you be of this? i'd love for you tonne right but I need more evidence sir...

NotRaw13 said...

@raw13,

Go Back Home Baby Go Back, They Badly Need You At Home!!!!!!!!! NOW!!!!!!!!!

Sakshi said...

@Vinod August 31, 2014 at 11:01 PM

You are a funny ****.


Are you bothered, if you, all of a sudden become PM, whether IAF takes you in AW 101 or on a cheetah..?

Take it easy..

Anonymous said...

Funny Indian Media asking to shake hands.... For God's sake some how, they didn't ask for one hour smooch..

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

Will answer all outstanding queries on this thread later today. Kindly refrain from reposting these queries on to the new thread.

abs said...

Analysing, it would appear the Chinese are highly rattled at the new NaMo led regime's tact usage of the Tibet Card. And tried to test New Delhi's determination in going ahead with the Tibet Card when push came to shove through the Demchok-Chumar incident. Something that was played quite a bit by New Delhi, as evident in EAM's statement 'One China,One India' and Dalai Lama's claims of 'Tibet's problem is India's problem'. New Delhi by bringing down the $100 billion investments to only $20 billion, seem to have suggested that economic engagement is secondary and privy to border dispute settlement.
Meanwhile India seem to have also reacted aptly to the Chinese incursions by putting in troops in the R-30 that puts the Indian troops at a tactical advantage while maintaining a 3:1 troop's ratio.
During the meet, NaMo has also insisted upon clarity in the LAC(meaning exchange of maps?) before stepping further, to test the genuineness of the Chinese in resolving the border dispute.
Summing up India seem to have given the message that it would not be pushed over anymore, the resolution of the border dispute is central to furthering more economic cooperation and engagement.
Your thoughts on this @Prasunda.
Also await your responses to previously asked questions.