Tuesday, December 9, 2014

'Make In India' Takes Off In Grand Style With Russia

This deal was in the making for the last two years. And before you jump to any ill-conceived assumptions, NO, the ‘Make in India’ plan involving the Kamov Ks-226T helicopter (powered by twin Turbomeca Arrius 2G1 engines) WILL NOT be used as either militarised LUHs or RSHs by India’s armed forces. Instead, as Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin explained yesterday after the annual summit-level talks between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, these Made-In-India Ka-226Ts “can be used for search-and-rescue (SAR) operations in mountainous areas”, meaning that these helicopters, to be owned and operated by state-owned Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd, will be used primarily by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA). The BRO requires the services of about 120 such helicopters for providing both SAR and CASEVAC facilities for various local and foreign civil/heavy engineering companies that have either been or will be contracted for building all-weather roads and highways all along the Sino-Indian Line of Actual Control, especially in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh.
It may be recalled that Russian Helicopters JSC, a subsidiary of Oboronprom State Corp, and India’s Elcom Systems, part of the Sun Group Investment conglomerate, had signed an agreement on February 5, 2013 to create a Greenfield industrial facilities, in India for building Russia-developed helicopters, starting with the Ka-226T light twin. In the next following months this agreement will be operationalised and the Ka-226Ts built under licence by Elcom Systems will not only be procured by Pawan Hans, but will also be sold to customers in Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar.
Another ground-breaking announcement on December 11 concerned India’s intention to become a full-fledged member of the Eurasian Economic Union by creating a north-south free trade corridor--a point that was briefly touched upon by China’s President Xi Jinping during his maiden official visit to India last September, when he spoke of the critical need for both China and India to align and synchronise their developmental strategies. While Russia, India and China (under the RIC grouping) have been interacting trilaterally since 1996 and have been holding annual trilateral meetings of the foreign ministers of the three countries), plans began taking concrete shape after Xi Jinping’s ascension to power in China. Xi, who has initiated China’s ‘Look West’ geo-economic policy, is also the architect of an ambitious plan to build a wide network of new ‘silk roads’ on land and seas to enhance global connectivity. China last year invited India to join President Xi’s pet project that would revive the ancient trade route and benefit the region. From a historical point of view, India is the converging point of Maritime Silk road (MSR) and the ancient ‘Silk Road’ on land. For morethan 2,000 years India had very close exchanges with China through the passage of the ‘South Silk Road’ and China therefore believes that India has a vital role to play in making the ‘New Silk Road Economic Belt’ a reality.
And this is where the RIC grouping’s most prestigious trilateral project comes into the picture: Russia and India have been negotiating to build a US$30 billion oil pipeline, which would be the world’s most expensive due to its proposed route through the rugged terrain along Xinjiang and Aksai Chin. The so-called ‘Silk Road Pipeline’ will link Russia’s Altai Mountain region to China’s Xinjiang province and northern India. While Russia exports 70% of its crude oil, compared to 30% of its gas production, and its oil revenues are nearly seven times its gas revenues, India is the third-largest crude oil importer in the world after the US and China, as she relies on imports from the Middle East, and she is projected to become the world’s largest oil importer by 2020. China’s and India’s economies have been among the world’s fastest-growing for the past two decades, and like China, India’s energy consumption has more than doubled since 1990. Unsurprisingly, India is aiming to secure additional energy imports and to diversify its energy supply. India’s then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and President Putin had issued a joint statement from Moscow on October 21, 2013, which had then confirmed that the two countries were collaborating “to study the possibility of direct ground transportation of hydrocarbons”. The statement reaffirmed a joint commitment made earlier in 2010. In 2012, the foreign ministers of Russia, India and China agreed to enhance energy cooperation among the two countries, and at the end of 2013, India’s state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) confirmed its interest in the pipeline from Russia, calling it “appropriate”. Talks about the pipeline's construction are expected to conclude by the middle of next year, with a completion date of 2020.

IAF Formally Inducts BrahMos-1 Block-3 Into Service
The Indian Air Force (IAF) on December 9, 2014 formally inducted the BrahMos-1 Block-3 ground-launched supersonic ‘top-attack’ cruise missile into service, thus becoming the third Indian armed service to procure the BrahMos-1 after the Indian Navy (BrahMos-1 Block-1) in 2005 and the Indian Army (BrahMos-1 Block-2) in 2007. The Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of Air Staff of the IAF, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, symbolically accepted the first ‘BRAHMOS Technical Position’ (the IAF-specific mobile autonomous launcher) at the New Delhi-based HQ of BrahMos Aerospace.

Glimpses Of IDEAS-2014 Expo In Karachi
Strangely, PAC Kamra has yet to display a scale-model of either the JF-17 with its full load of air-to-ground PGMs, or of the tandem-seat JFT-17, which was showcased by AVIC last month at Zhuhai (below).
Meet The Maldives’ New ‘All-Weather Friend’
Defending Vietnam’s Offshore Islands In The Spratlys With IMI-Built EXTRA MBRLs & Orbiter-2 Mini-UAS
Revisiting The SHORADS Versus MR-SAM Debate In Malaysia
In 2002, when the Govt of Malaysia had decided to equip the Malaysian Army’s air-defence artillery group (Grup Artlleri Pertahanan Udara, or GAPU) with VSHORADS/MANPADS and SHORADS, contracts were inked on April 15, 2002 for 15 MBDA-made 9km-range Jernas SHORADS systems (inclusive of missiles and Blindfire/Dagger fire-control radars) worth US$315.48 million, IGLA-1 9K310 VSHORADS/MANPADS with Dzighit launchers supplied by Russia’s Rosoboronexport State Corp (for GAPU and the Royal Malaysian Air Force, or RMAF) worth US$48 million, plus 100 Anza Mk1 (QW-1) VSHORADS/MANPADS worth US$21.3 million from Pakistan for the Army’s 10 Brigade (Para). This was subsequently followed by the procurement of FN-6 VSHORADS/MANPADS (64 missiles, instead of the 160 required for a Battery) on September 19, 2008 for GAPU, and several Anza Mk2 (QW-2) VSHORADS/MANPADS for 10 Brigade (Para). The THALES Starburst VSHORADS/MANPADS systems acquired in the early 1990s for the RMAF and the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) have since been decommissioned.
Rewinding back to 2002, when the GAPU had evaluated up to seven different types of SHORADS, the ones deemed most ideal at that time were MBDA’s Aspide 2000 and CPMIEC of China’s LY-60D. However, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in his all-knowing wisdom, preferred to award the procurement contract to MBDA for the Jernas. Fast-forward to 2007, when, in order to establish a hierarchical, layered and in-depth national air defence system, the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) projected a requirement for a minimum of 20 Batteries of enhanced short-range air defence systems (E-SHORADS) for the Army, three Batteries (or one Regiment) of medium-range surface-to-air missiles (MR-SAM) for the RMAF, an additional 200 very short-range SAMs (VSHORADS) for the Army, six gapfiller radars for the RMAF, and a similar number of low-probability-of-intercept (LPI) tactical air defence radars, plus four passive surveillance systems (PSS) for the Army, all to be procured during the 9th Malaysia Plan (2006-2010) and the following 10th Malaysia Plan (2011-1015). While the RMAF and Royal RMN were in favour of acquiring the MR-SAMs, the Army, understandably, wanted additional VSHORADS/MANPADS and SHORADS. However, all such plans got disrupted due to the global financial meltdown of 2008.
Fast-forward to today, when both radar-guided SHORADS and E-SHORADS are being increasingly overshadowed by new-generation vertically-launched MR-SAMs. For instance, in Europe, the MBDA-developed Aster-15/Aster-30 vertically-launched MR-SAM/LR-SAM combination is in use, while for cruise missile defence (CMD), the vertically-launched VL-Mica is available. In Germany, the IRIS family of vertically-launched MR-SAMs are being procured, with the latter (IRIS-T) using an IIR seeker for CMD, while the radar-guided MR-SAM version is optimised for intercepting hostile airborne combat aircraft. In Russia, no new-generation radar-guided SHORADS has been developed since the 1990s and instead, only the vertically-launched S-350E Vityaz MR-SAM has been developed. Similarly, in South Korea, the Cheongung (Iron Hawk) vertically-launched MR-SAM co-developed by a consortium of entities that included Russia’s Almaz Design Bureau, the ADD, LIG-Nex1, Samsung-THALES and Doosan DST, is now in series-production, replacing earlier-generation MR-SAMs and SHORADS of US-origin. In India, the country’s three armed services have decided to do away with radar-guided SHORADS altogether and instead procure the Barak-2 vertically-launched MR-SAM. For CMD, India is on the lookout for IIR seeker-using SHORADS to meet its SL-QRM and QR-SAM requirements. Similarly in Singapore, the SAF has not sought any replacements for its Rapier radar-guided SHORADS, and has instead procured the SpyDer-SR from Israel for CMD. The fire-and-forget SpyDer-SR uses Python-5 missiles equipped with IIR seekers.
Since the new-generation MR-SAMs are vertically-launched, they are capable of high lateral acceleration, going up to as much as 80 G. This in turn enables such MR-SAMs to effectively engage both low-flying airborne targets as well as high-flying airborne targets. It is for this very reason that even China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had decided in the previous decade not to induct the LY-60D SHORADS into service in large numbers, and instead await the development of the LY-80 MR-SAM (produced by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, or CASC, and marketed by Aerospace Long-March International Import and Export Co Ltd, or ALIT). Consequently, the PLA today has only 1 Regiment of the HQ-64/LY-60D operational with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s (PLAAF) Chengdu-based 11 Anti-Air Artillery Brigade (Unit 95607). The interception altitude of the LY-60D is 30 metres-12,000 metres (15 metres–15,000 metres for LY-80) and slant range 1,000 metres–18,000 metres (extended to 20,000 metres recently), as against 3,500 metres–40,000 metres and extendable to 70,000 metres for the LY-80. As an oblique launched system the LY-60D has its limitations compared to a vertically launched system. Its maximum overload after launch is 7 G, compared to 30 G maximum overload available after launch for the LY-80.  
Despite such overwhelming evidence in favour of MR-SAMs, it appears that a turf war between GAPU and RMAF HQ has now erupted, resulting in GAPU insisting, rather strangely, on the procurement of additional SHORADS, and in particular the LY-60D, which had been rejected way back in 2002 by the GAPU and by China itself in 2004! Upon digging deeper, it appears that two persons—Maj-Gen (Ret’d) Husin bin Md Tahak, a former Head of GAPU, and Brig Gen (Reservist) Tan Sri Liew Yun Fah, a Sabah-based timber trader who is now a Vice President of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (a political party)—are the co-marketeers in Malaysia of the obsolete LY-60D. While both these persons were unsuccessful in their marketing efforts during the tenure of Dato Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid bin Hamidi as Minister for Defence (between April 10, 2009 and May 16, 2013), the duo are now confident about striking it rich during the tenure of the present Malaysian Defence Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hishammuddin bin Tun Hussein. While Maj-Gen (Ret’d) Datuk Husin is a former classmate of Dato’ Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (presently Malaysia’s Minister for Home Affairs) and had secured the LY-60D’s sales and marketing agency for Malaysia from CPMIEC on Dato’ Seri Dr Zahid’s recommendation, his marketing efforts were unsuccessful during Dato’ Seri Dr Zahid’s tenure as Defence Minister. Maj-Gen (Ret’d) Datuk Husin has—since Datuk Seri Panglima Hishamuddin’s tenure at MINDEF—joined forces with Tan Sri Liew. In fact, Brig Gen (Reservist) Tan has, since early this year, been introducing himself both in Malaysia and abroad as an adviser to Datuk Seri Panglima Hishammuddin, and has repeatedly claimed both in China and Malaysia that the latter will do whatever the former proposes!
One can only hope that such caricatures do not succeed in enhancing the size of their respective bank accounts at the expense of both the MAF and the Defence Minister’s personal integrity and public probity.

67 comments:

  1. Sir where Is LCA Mk2? Is it going to be delayed too?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Prasun,

    Where you at the IDEA's shows? Well done if you made it. Personally speaking would love to see Indian stuff displayed there as well.

    Not sure you have been following the going-ons wrt Afghanistan and chief trip to the states. Great things are in motion:

    http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2014/12/09/india-should-read-afghan-tea-leaves/

    http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2014/12/08/plain-speaking-with-obama-may-help/

    ReplyDelete
  3. An excellent article from Defense news:

    http://www.defensenews.com/article/20141207/DEFREG03/312070011/Pakistan-Seeks-Prop-Up-Exports-Boost-Industry

    Is Mi-28E on the cards, what is the real story behind this?

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  4. yes, the day comes when sri lanka will happily replenish pak nuke subs

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  5. Sir,

    China is building advanced warships for Bangladesh and also giving 2 Ming class submarines .

    http://china-defense.blogspot.in/2014/12/china-builds-advanced-warship-for.html

    Please analyse the implications for India .

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Prasun,
    What do u mean by-Meet The Maldives’ New ‘All-Weather Friend'?
    sorry for the trouble.
    Thanks in advance.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dear Prasunji,

    We need to tackle Pakistan permanently otherwise we can never have peace on western borders. It is promoting terrorism and fuelling divide in society on basis of Hindu Muslim lines.

    Its very sad that Govt never gave Army and Police a free hand like its did in Punjab

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  8. Hi Prasunji,

    The below article gives kaveri project picture from GTRE engineers.

    http://idrw.org/?p=48893

    IAF should be the primary stakeholder for pushing this ambitious project to completion (Ultimately it should be the IAF's aim to do away with the dependency on engines from foreign origin - at least for the home grown fighters). If the current working procedure is not fructifying then it should devise strategies to improve its research (May be by roping in more public and private institutions with bright minds).

    Where else the GTRE can look other than IAF for super sonic test bed aircraft to validate its performance.

    Even Indian Railways, although having complete monopoly one wonders why it is not having a research division which caters to research and development on high speed trains (concept is not new and are successfully running in Japan and France) which could've resulted in indigenous development. Even the Konkan railways sky bus, God knows what is the fate of this project (None of our cities are interested in implementing this project, everyone is interested in a foreign solution where financial kickbacks to govt ministers and officials is common).
    Your thoughts.. VMT.

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  9. hello prasun sir,

    why on earth does the air force need ground based launchers for brahmos...do they now want to have an army of their own..?

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  10. dada.. When 'll india sign the apache, chinook helicopter deal?? Any chance of signing when obama 'll come to india?? And what about mmrca?? Thnx in adv.

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  11. Dear Prasunji,

    Please resolve my following queries.

    1. How IAF intent to use land version of brahmos
    2. Status of Engine upgrade for Jaguar- Honeywell.
    3. Means to respond Pakistan's proxy war if resources in Afghanistan dried up.


    ReplyDelete
  12. Interesting reads:

    http://www.atlas-elektronik.com/news/news-detail/news/atlas-elektronik-to-deliver-six-actas-sonar-systems-for-the-indian-navy/

    http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/study2014/sscistudy1.pdf

    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/4/china-is-colluding-with-russia-to-avoid-paying-14-/

    ReplyDelete
  13. http://m.ndtv.com/article/india/russia-to-make-in-india-400-helicopters-a-year-633253
    Sir this report say Russia is going to manufacture 400 choppers a year ...
    Where they are going to consume such large quantity .

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  14. See this link.
    http://www.channel4.com/news/unmasked-the-man-behind-top-islamic-state-twitter-account-shami-witness-mehdi

    Here one
    "peaceful" muslim twittering for ISIS, an executive in a big Indian company. What were Indian intelligence doing until it took Channel 4 to dig up this propagandist? This is called the investigative journalism, not like our secular media and journalists.
    Your thoughts on this, Prasun.

    Ravi

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  15. France is wavering and has almost stopped the delivery of Mistral to Russia on grounds of pure political reasons. This may put the French reputation as a weapon supplier under the dark and their reliability factor may be in the soup. As such the Rafale also comes under the shadows with respect to the problems with HAL. Typhoon and Gripen have their own unique problems. Accordingly it should be most judicious to keep the option of the SU-30MKI (also including the latest version) or SU-35 open for the MMRCA or say replacement of the Mig-21. Please provide your valued opinions.

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  16. To Mr. RA 9: LoLz! The Crimean situation & Western reaction to it are largely due to lingering traces of 19th century notions of imperial overreach prevailing within the minds of both France & its Anglo-Saxon cousins. India has nothing to fear from such trends & mindsets. France will react like this against India ONLY IF India decides to annex the French reunion Islands in the Indian Ocean—something India will never do & therefore will not attract any backlash from France, kindly rest assured. The speaking of sanctions, which countries are the ones supplying all the robotic toolings, high-tech machining hardware & jigs for the Tejas Mk1 LCA & Dhruv ALH? ALL such hardware is imported by HAL. Therefore, even if any Western OEM sanctions India, even a totally indigenised & locally produced piece of military hardware will be impossible to produce locally if product support for the manufacturing equipment is unavailable due to any kind of sanctions. That’s the simple bitter truth. In contrast, all such high-tech hardware required for the manufacturing processes in China are all locally sourced. This is one critical area where there is almost no indigenisation at all in India. And tis is why there has been so much haggling between HAL & Dassault Aviation. While HAL wants to procure all production toolings via global tenders, French OEMs have been insisting that only toolings sourced from French manufacturers will be QA/QC-certified by Dassault, SNECMA Moteurs, THALES & SAGEM. Bottomline: if your end-product is imported, then all the primary & intermediate products & their manufacturing processes too will have to be imported from the same source. There’s no escape from this practice, & Eurofighter GmbH would not have behaved any differently from Dassault Aviation.

    To RAVI: The lesser said about Indian investigative journalism the better! Just look at the thunderous silence coming from these ‘desi’ jerks concerning the Ka-226T announcement from Russia yesterday (I’ve detailed it all above). The only reason why Indian agencies have been unable to trace such lunatics is due to the NTRO’s total ineptitude. The only way out of this mess is to either allow the US National Security Agency (NSA) to set up a hub within India like the facility it has at Pine Gap in Australia, or outsource such capabilities from India’s private-sector ICT companies by allowing them to team up with their US counterparts & set up similar data-mining facilities within India. In any case, such a project will cost billions of dollars—given the sheer size of India’s population that would need to be monitored.

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  17. To ABHI: Read the first report on this thread. It’s all explained there.

    To SOURAV & PAWAN: Why the IAF has opted for ground-launched BrahMos-1 Block-3? Elementary: the armed service with the required targetting capability gets to own the weapon system. The IA lacks the resources to acquire static on-land targets beyond 100km from the frontlines & therefore has no other choice but to operate the 290km-range BrahMos-1 Block-2. The IAF on the other hand can acquire & static on-land targets even 800km inside hostile territory. Hence, the 550km-range ground-launched BrahMos-1 Block-3s have gone to the IAF.

    To PAWAN: No resources of any kind inside Afghanistan have dried up nor will they. In fact, military cooperation between Afghanistan & India will reach greater heights in the years to come. Why else do you think the Chief of General Staff of the Afghan National Army, Gen Sher Mohammad Karimi, is now n India? See this:

    http://pib.nic.in/photo//2014/Dec/l2014121160127.jpg

    The ANA wants the IAF to assist in product-support for the 63 Mi-17V-5s that were supplied to the ANA by the US Defense Dept by placing orders with Russia’s Rosoboronexport State Ciro & Tatarstan-based Kazan Helicopter Plant, part of Russian Helicopters, have been delivered to Afghanistan.

    Will explain it all later tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dear Prasunji,

    VMT to clear my apprehensions, but isn't 550Kms range violate MCTR?

    Thanks,

    ReplyDelete
  19. To PAWAN: Of course it does. So what? MTCR is a regime, it isn't a binding multilateral treaty. That's how the US supplied Trident SLBMs to the UK in the 1980s.

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  20. Thank you for giving your insights on the Russia India summit . I am going to assume that when President Putin spoke of a gas pipeline being more expensive than LNG exports he did not mention the possibility of an oil pipeline . What makes a gas pipeline so much more expensive ? Also could you answer the queries on the last thread.

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  21. Sir,

    1.How many Brahmos block-3 units,TEL has the IAF ordered?How many batteries of Brahmos does IAF plan to have ? And how many missile rounds were ordered or will be ordered?

    2.Where will IAF deploy the Brahmos launchers? Will they be stationed in the forward air bases or will be garrisioned in camoflagued fortifications whose locations are classified?

    3.Were any deals signed regarding the Pakfa,Manufacturing SS-100 and MS-21 in India?

    4.Any news on leasing of a 2nd Akula class sub?

    5. In HAL Koraput do they just license assemble the AL-31FP from Skd kits or manufacture the components from machined raw material supplied by Russia with exclusion of the hot end components? How much do they build here.

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  22. Dear Sir
    What about the QUERIES from the previous thread

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  23. sir how can Indian army extend its reach beyond 100 km of enemy line

    ReplyDelete
  24. Sir, will you be replying to the comments in the past blog soon?

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  25. hindu is so shameless to publish this woman's rant

    http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/interpreting-the-kashmiri-vote/article6686791.ece?homepage=true

    ReplyDelete
  26. Prasun Da,

    What are the technologies related to the development of ENGINES for UAV (MALE, HALE , etc)that has not yet been perfected in India and are therefore being purchased from abroad?

    Thanks,

    Vikram

    ReplyDelete
  27. sir in your old blog you had described many advantages of kamov ka-50 over Boeing AH-64 Apache
    then why GOI selected Boeing AH-64 Apache

    ReplyDelete
  28. HI PRasun,

    Any idea how the CHinese are going to continue developing new age avioniscs wtihout the assistance of the Ukrainians for their J20/J31 aircraft? What are their options?

    ReplyDelete
  29. every one looked for their personal gains as evident in this article.

    http://tinyurl.com/k8vf3oy

    1. vk singh for his 1 year job
    2. ak antony for his sainthood
    3. bikram singh for his grudge on vk singh
    4. tejinder singh for money
    5. press for TRPs and selling papers
    6. MoD/PMO for no extra work hours
    7. others we don't know yet

    ReplyDelete
  30. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmv5sa5uvVI

    Matt has asked what many is asking for decades @ 10:00

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  31. Sir, can you explain how the autoloader on the P-15A works for the BARAK-8s that allow the 32 VLS to reload and thus allow her to carry 64 BARAK-8s.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Sir
    1.What role will Navy play in future high intensity limited conflicts.
    2.Please put some light on MARCOS upgrade that Navy is planning?
    3.Do u believe we should focus on Navy more as no great power can remain so without a strong navy?

    ReplyDelete
  33. Dear Prasunji,

    According to your earlier write ups and other sources on internet India may end up buying +- 90 Apache Helos. Would it make sense for Govt to ask Boeing for setting up at-least assembly line in India.

    Regards,

    ReplyDelete
  34. Prasun Da,
    From the report below it looks like all is not well with the current startegy of tackling Maoist in the Red corridor. Will the concerned Govt. takes things in stride and emulate what Andhra has done with Greyhounds else where? Or are the ones in the Govt. sitting and waiting for the crisis to erupt more violently before they could get their acts together?

    http://m.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-central-reserve-police-mess/article6686784.ece/

    ReplyDelete
  35. sorry for taking the discussion off the track Prasun Da

    What is ur take on "Bhagaath Gita"

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  36. another twitter account that needs to be monitored by agencies

    https://twitter.com/pervez_ayesha

    ReplyDelete
  37. HI Prasun
    You seem to be confirm that the brahmos block 3 has a 550 km range? , you had previously said the russians would never let us modify due to MCTR regulations . I do rmember that the original specs of the yahkont was around that figure

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  38. @Rad
    A prof from DRDO openly said at a seminar in IIT Mumbai that the Brahmos can go upto 550km in High high mode.
    The range of Brahmos in lo lo mode is 120 in high lo mode 300 .

    ReplyDelete
  39. HI Prasun
    I dont understand why the recent pics of the arihant is without anechoic rubber tiles, morover it looks rusty for a brand new sub?.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Prasun Da, so mining mafia blocking way for proposed missile launch pad in Alwar ?

    http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/in-alwar-mining-mafia-stalls-army-missile-launch-pad-plans/article1-1296565.aspx

    ReplyDelete
  41. Confirmed: PLAN to acquire the four existing Zubr hovercraft of Greece's Hellenic Navy:

    Hellenic Navy staff spokesman Kleftos Priapos confirmed the sale in an interview. "As the four Project 1232.2 Zubrs were all constructed in either Russia or Ukraine, the sale of these hovercraft does not violate any current NATO rules against arms transfers to China," said Priapos in response to questions from Filipino reporters. "This is a perfectly legal transfer, and besides, we need the funds." the first of the newly purchased Zubrs, numbered 1337 (formerly the Zakynthos), will be delivered at the end of this year.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Army's Super Spies Reduced to Storekeepers

    http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/theWeekContent.do?contentId=18051715&programId=1073755753&tabId=13&BV_ID=@@@&categoryId=-222461

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  43. Sir
    1.What role will Navy play in future high intensity limited conflicts.
    2.Please put some light on MARCOS upgrade that Navy is planning?
    3.Do u believe we should focus on Navy more as no great power can remain so without a strong navy?

    ReplyDelete
  44. Hi

    Pianak Mk2 with Range of 60 KM is finished developement . Does it has Sigma 30 or Talin Intertial Naigation ??

    Is it purely unguided or use GPS + Intertial or Just GPS navigation ??

    In future will Talin will come in Pinaka MK2 as Tata has deal with Honeywell??



    Can you provide some literature about it ??

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  45. @Prasun da

    a few questions

    1. Zubr deal if done tells me that their indeed is a chance of IAF getting its hands on the HAF Mirage 2000-5. If i remember to a question you had said Greece wont sell the strategic systems like Zubr and Mirage 2000-5. But if Zubr is sold India must try for the 27 Mirage 2000-5 with HAF, cant it?

    2. INS Arihant has been launched for SAT but the DSRV has just been signed and no delivery has taken place so how did SAT go ahead?

    3. Some say India Russia have signed deal for incomplete Irbis SSBN, how true is that?

    4. reports say RAW had planed to takeout Dawood last year in a op. like what MOSSAD did to Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, but was called off in last minute, can you shed some light on it?

    5. Rather than setting up Ka226T unit wont it be a better idea to setup a MRO facility for Mi17V5 where problems related to its hydralic gear can be rectified, Can Ka226T really be expected to replace Chetah/Chetak/Cheetal/ Chetan?

    6. Do you think Chinook/Apache deal will be signed next month?

    7. Can my wishful thinking (probably yours too) of Lockhead setting up C130J plant to replace Avro, via FDI see light at tunnel end?

    Thanks

    Joydeep Ghosh

    ReplyDelete
  46. Hi Prasun,
    In the The Week article, the author has named all the people behind this intelligence network. Isn't it bad, since our enemies (whether inside or outside our country) can track these officers and follow their activities?

    Anyway, Bikram Singh screwed up the whole network. Was it just because of the personal animosity against V K Singh?

    Another massacre by religion of peace volunteers. I just wonder, if Pak Army is really interested in eliminating these so called Pak Taliban, why can't they use the help of LeT and Haqqani Network, who are more closer to ISI? These ISI proxies can infiltrate Pak Taliban and kill so called anti-Pak elements. Similar to this, Hizbullah in Lebanon helping Assad regime in Syria, fighting against Sunni terrorists such as ISIS and AQ.

    Ravi

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  47. Thanks or the earlier replies,
    Sir some more questions 
    1)the navy recently received the 6th P-8i, but a few months back a Pentagon report pointed out that the P-8 was not effective in submarine hunting and long range intelligence reconnaissance missions,it went unnoticed by IN and the MOD while the US has started upgrading their P-8s with additional sensors and systems to make the system effective and free from flaws,has the IN and MOD even known about it.if yes have they acted upon the issue,we blame Russia for delivering us inefficient weapons which surprisingly helped us win wars effectively but this is just cheating.
    2)And what's the rap about IAs interest in Sosna-R system, some sources claim they have already inked the deal while some say that IA has shown interest and will ink the deal fireplace the Sterla-10 systems.
    3)How different will INS Aridhaman be from INS Arihant.
    4)Is it confirmed that India has a project for a supersonic cruise missile with more than 600km range.

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  48. you seems to be very busy..?

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  49. while I do not like the concept of getting everything on a ship, this video shows the might of Samsung in SK.
    Can any Indian public or private industry reach the level of Samsung in Innovation, planning and execution?

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30497303

    More on Samsung below, just to get inspired..

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung

    http://uk.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/05/50-things-you-didnt-know-about-samsung/the-shipyard

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  50. Wonderful, Prasun ji. Excellent news and excellent reporting as well! Some new question with regard to this have propped up in my mind -

    1) Any other Russian helos/planes we could get down to building here in future, beyond different versions of Ka-226T?

    2) What about Western aircraft?

    3) Your opinion on this news -
    http://www.financialexpress.com/article/economy/tanks-from-tata-motors-torpedoes-from-pipavav/15875/

    4) Check this out - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-to-lease-second-nuclear-submarine-from-Russia/articleshow/45542006.cms

    VMT in advance!

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  51. Also, one more thing - What do you think could the nature of future Indo-Russian relations? The recent visit of Putin seems to have indicated Russia's own Look-South policy - vastly increased economic dealings with China & India seem to be on their agenda.

    Can you explain in brief what such engagements with Russia would hold for us down the years?

    Lastly, it appears a final selection has been made with regard to S-70B Seahawk purchase...considering a deal could be signed during/after Obama's upcoming visit, I think the decks are now cleared for concentrating on a real bidding for the requirement of 12-ton helicopters (CH-148 Cyclone or AW-101) for DDGs and the like?

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  52. Dear Prasun, can p8i detect submarines at depth of 100 metres in Indian ocean?

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  53. To REDDY: In a way, yes....am catching up on my pending reading materials, such as:

    PURULIA: http://www.millenniumpost.in/NewsContent.aspx?NID=87848

    BANGLADESH 1971: http://winnowed.blogspot.in/2014/11/book-review-colonel-who-would-not.html

    INDIA-CHINA: http://www.frontline.in/books/beyond-the-border/article6632865.ece

    CHINA-INDIA IN SUDAN: http://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/the-new-kings-of-crude/

    http://www.amazon.in/Second-Strike-ANIL-ANAND/dp/8192867420/ref=sr_1_1/279-0779021-2859859?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418853146&sr=1-1

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  54. To RAVI: If you really want to know why all this mayhem is taking place inside Pakistan, then do watch these two soul-searching talk-shows:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAxgz3n1mG0&hd=1

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnV1olkC3xQ

    Here you have Pakistani panelists frankly admitting & acknowledging all that's that gone wrong.

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  55. Hi Prasun
    what is the reaction to the the gslv mk3 flight around the world.
    I do believe that some time later there will be 2 more s200 boosters fixed in the vacant sites around the gslv mk3 vehicle to increase the pay load ie if they are confident about the separation sequence and flight path of expended boosters.This could be a another risk free method if the cryo stage gives problems.I heard one of the scientists say they had developed a unique seperation system by using thrusters on the fore an aft sections of the booster. Please update us with more pics and write up of the gslv mk3 and its tech.

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  56. Prasun sir,

    Is it possible to later refit arhant with additional missile silos to increase the number and size of missile it can carry?

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  57. Sir
    1.What role will Navy play in future high intensity limited conflicts.
    2.Please put some light on MARCOS upgrade that Navy is planning?
    3.Do u believe we should focus on Navy more as no great power can remain so without a strong navy?

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  58. a factual reporting with healthy comments

    http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/12/18/371660324/india-tests-crew-capsule-new-heavy-lift-rocket

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  59. HI Prasun

    The GSLV mk3 has a weight of 630 tons and a pay load of just 4 tons,while comparing it to the chinese long march series , the 3B version is 425 tons with a payload of 5 tons .Further The strap on booster use on these rockets are all liquid. Why is our gslv so inefficient ?, is it really so or are they keeping the real payload weight as classified, which makes sense.
    The doordashan video graphing team should be shot dead for such poor quality of video and professionalism .It was harrowing to see the video jump from one angle at the last moment to another and then concentrate on the base of the launch pad where all we could see is the base of the vehicle which was immediately covered with smoke exhaust and all we could see smoke , the idiots literally video graphed smoke foe us to see!!

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  60. Its high time for ISRO to push the button for developing the family of rockets based on GSLV Mk III design if they seriously consider to compete in space launch market. ISRO long term goal is to have a launch vehicle that can put 12500 KG payload into GTO. Our beloved prime minister whom the space commission reports directly should push for development of family of launch vehicles. Two more family of launch vehicles at least, one which can launch 7000 - 8000 KG and another which can launch more than 12000 KG

    Some of our INSAT (new) satellites are arguably heavier than 4500 KG payloads (which the GSLV MK III is supposed master). The latest communication satellites plug in more transponders into a single satellite which comfortably weighs around 6500 KG. So it still puts a limitation on GSLV Mk III and limits our satellite designers to impose restrictions to fully exploit modern communication satellite designs.

    GSLV Mk III meets the current family of INSAT satellites that too after it is fully capable of launching 4500+ KG payload to GTO. Its high time for ISRO to push for new launch vehicles with higher payloads in the same GSLV MK III family. VMT

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  61. @Prasun da

    a really great news that may make your wishful thinking come true. either Lockheed/Boeing/Airbus are to setup a MRO in Gujarat, with a deal as early as next month. if its LM for C130j/h its the best one can ask. hopefully your idea has been taken up by those concerned.

    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Lockheed-Boeing-and-Airbus-take-off-for-Gujarat/articleshow/45569469.cms

    btw would be glad to get answers to questions in this thread

    thanks

    Joydeep Ghosh

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  62. @rad
    I hope you read this :
    Most of the weight of the GSLV comes from the solid rocket boosters.
    Out of the 630000Kg 430000Kg comes from the 2 S200 boosters .
    The feature of solid boosters is that they have extremely high thrust .The 2 boosters together put out more than 10000KN of thrust .
    In contrast all 8 YF engines on the Chinese LM 3 1st stage together put out 6000KN .
    So in the end the thrust to weight remains the same . But keep in mind that solids are cheap and very simple to handle relative to liquid fueled engines that has a very risky fueling process. It is for this reason that the GSLV 3 will be much cheaper than the LM3 (and even the GSLV 2) because the LM3 is made of 7 individual sections to get to orbit while the GSLV3 is made of just 4 . The GSLV 3 is a very efficient design and a quantum leap from the juggard GSLV 2 (which is basically a PSLV with 4 strap on vikas engines and a cryogenic final stage )

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  63. Once ISRO can lift upto 15 tonnes to GTO most of the ariane 5 commercial launches will be from india as ariane 5 customers see ISRO much more cheaper.

    reliability is a must and often the contracts are inked 5 years earlier.

    as ISRO cryogenic takes 2 years and of we add 1 more to it, from 2017 India can be a reliable launcher for heavy comm sats. but we need to have atleast 8-15 tonnes launch capacity.

    hope India captures most of the launch business.

    And it surprises me why china is no offering launch services as ESA's ariane do?

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  64. also I would like ISRO to be split into R&D division and Manufacturing Division, so that ISRO can concentrate on R&D and can outsource MfG to industry partners.

    ISRO provides huge opportunities for start ups in sat business.

    sat design, mfg, algorithms, component supplies, application dev etc.. at the moment I believe ISRO is doing all these things itself at it's various centers and due to this reason major resources and time is being wasted. ISRO must outsource and encourage start ups and private industry.

    ISRO must solely focus on CRITICAL R&D and CRITICAL MFG only, all other Design, Mfg and dev activities must be delegated to industry.

    Hope my views are valid and sound.

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  65. to Prav
    Thanks man , i forgot about the weight of the boosters , and they do weigh 400 tons alone , I do agree they are more simple and and cheaper than the hydrazine engines and also less noxious, especially handling and more when they blow up.
    The ariane 5 boosters dont have a TVC while ours have which itself is a great feat of achievement as as far as i know. There is no vehicle that relies on tvc from solid boosters alone and no vehicle (modern) that uses just SRB for initial lift off.
    2) please visit the link below and checkout the blog, they have beautiful pics of the launch and a blog where some congrats and bric bats were thrown . Some idiot suggested that the side panels of the capsule could have been made of wood!! there is a rocket scientist who also congratulated india, do visit.I have blogged under the name Radha ramanan.

    http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/12/18/photos-india-test-flies-new-launcher-crew-capsule/

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  66. @rad,
    I have some help for you.

    When you find a resource in google and you want to use that page, pls follow this:

    from google results page go to the direct page AND
    if the URL in the source page is short? OK, use it directly, if not? use URL shortner services.
    Directly posting google result link is quite annoying to readers.


    You appear to be smart to encash the "hard work" you have done there?
    Thanks.

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  67. This is a wonderfully written piece.

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