Thanks to India’s present-day crop
of ruling politicians being afflicted with an incurable strand of the
hand-foot-and-mouth disease, the Indian Navy (IN) now is being made to pay a
heavy price in terms of capability losses at a time when the tempo of its
annual exercises with its international partners is steadily increasing.
Selex Galileo till October
2012 was hopeful of winning a contract for participating in the ‘deep-upgrade
and service life-extension’ of the IN’s AgustaWestland Sea King Mk.42B and
Kamov Ka-28PL ASW helicopters. Along with Rosoboronexport, it had earlier submitted
an industrial participation proposal for the mid-life upgrade of 10 Kamov
Ka-28PL anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters. Selex Galileo had proposed to
install the ATOS-LW combat management system on the Ka-28PL with Selex ES’
Osprey AESA-MMR, which is a low probability of intercept (LPI) radar with high
gain and low sidelobes. Field evaluation trials (FET) of the Ka-28PL with
ATOS-LW system were concluded successfully. Selex Galileo was also selected—following
exhaustive and thorough evaluations on a global scale being conducted by the IN—to
supply the Osprey for 14 Sea King Mk42B helicopters which were to be upgraded
as multi-role platforms for use as both over-the-horizon target acquisition and
airborne early warning. In addition to this, Selex Galileo had in 2012 signed a
contract with the IN to supply ESM suites for six Tu-142M LRMR/ASW aircraft.
Leonardo-Finmeccanica’s UK-based
Selex ES subsidiary has developed the X-band Osprey, an AESA-MMR that
electronically scans 360 degrees without using a “spinning” slotted-array antenna.
It is the world’s first lightweight e-scan system with no moving parts. The
first Osprey has already flown on the first of 16 AW-101 Merlin
helicopters destined for SAR duties with the Royal Norwegian Air Force. The
Osprey has secured two more customers in the US for
fixed-wing applications, starting with Northrop Grumman’s MQ-8C Fire Scout
VTOL UAV. The Osprey’s programmable signals processor (PSP) also
incorporates algorithms from the Vixen air-to-air and PicoSAR air-to-ground AESA-based
radars. It is easier to mount, having air-cooling and no pressurised
waveguides. On the Norwegian AW-101, three antennae are separately located in the nose and
on either side of the helicopter. Space requirements are minimal, and with no
need for a belly-mounted radome, the helicopter’s ground clearance is maximised
for challenging rescue landings on rough terrain. The antenna
distribution is via a multi-array interface, while the radar’s other two black
boxes are the receiver/exciter and the PSP. Two- and four-antenna
configurations are also possible. Each antenna weighs 11.3kg and contains 256
Gallium Arsenide transmit/receive modules. Each antenna provides
120-degree coverage. The radar feeds are handled by a centralised set of
processing boxes, which can manage up to four radar panels (although only three
are needed to provide 360-degree coverage). Besides the functional and
performance improvements offered by AESA technology, perhaps the key advantage
of Osprey is that its arrays can be mounted higher on an aircraft's fuselage
than traditional mechanically-scanned radars. This is particularly advantageous
for use on helicopters where mechanical radars normally have to be mounted on
the underside of the fuselage in order to be able to rotate to provide
360-degree coverage. This puts the radar in harm’s way in case of a hard
landing and also puts major size limitations on the size of the array due to
ground clearance restrictions. Using multiple fixed arrays sidesteps this
issue, while the lack of moving parts greatly improves reliability and dramatically
reduces maintenance requirements.
Meanwhile, the charts below
clearly illustrate the sheer amount of cooperative R & D work that goes
into the development of AESA-MMR technologies, from which various civil and
military families of AESA-MMRs are developed for surface-to-air, air-to-air and
air-to-surface applications, thereby ensuring economies of scale and
guaranteeting the total R & D project amortisation costs.
Adoption of a piecemeal
approach like that of the Defence
Research & Development Organisation’s (DRDO) Bengaluru-based Electronics and Radar
Development Establishment (LRDE) will not get anyone anywhere and will only
lead to the utter wastage of the Indian taxpayer’s money. For instance, one
cannot focus exclusively on developing AESA-MMRs like the AESAR-FCR while
at the same time trying to develop the XtraVision
(XV)-2004 naval MMR with slotted-array antenna.
It will also be interesting to
see how exactly the Indian Air Force (IAF) succeeds in obtaining financial
allocations for in-country product-support activities concerning the NO-36
Byelka AESA-MMR of the FGFA, the IAI/ELTA Systems ELM-2052 AESA-MMR for the
Tejas Mk.2 light MRCA (the Ruskies too are offering Phazatron JSC's ZHUK-AE
FGA-35 AESA-MMR for this platform) and the THALES-supplied RBE-2 AESA-MMR for
the Rafale M-MRCA.
For, till to date, no air force in the world has ever attempted
to accomplish a feat that calls for the procurement of three different types of
AESA-MMRs from three different OEMs for three different types of MRCAs. Well, it
actually ought to be four if one includes the AESA-MMR version of the RLSU-30MK
NO-11M ‘Bars’ that is destined for the Super Su-30MKI.
Meanwhile, the IAF is close to
deciding on the type of air-mobile rapid intervention/light strike vehicles
that are required for the Garud special operations forces. About 80 such
vehicles, armed with 12.7mm heavy machine-guns and lightweight ATGMs (like the laser-guided LAHAT),
are required for undertaking combat search-and-rescue (CSAR) operations inside
hostile territory during wartime.
The IAF has shortlisted Polaris
Defense MRZR-4 ultra-light ATV and Oshkosh Defense S-ATV, both of which can be
carried underslung by either the Mi-17V-5 or the CH-47F Chinook. For CSAR
operations, the IAF, depending on the mission profile, intends to use both the armed
Mi-17V-5s and unarmed CH-47Fs, while the armed Rudra helicopter-gunships—64 of
which are being procured by the IAF—will be acting as escorting pathfinders.
But there is a crucial difference
between the Rudra for the Indian Army and that for the IAF. The former are to be
armed with medium-range ATGMs, while the latter are not. In addition, as the
slides below illustrate, the former have the DRDO-developed and BEL-built
Tarang narrow-band radar warning receivers (RWR), while the latter have
SaabTech-supplied wide-band RWRs. However, both variants have the same
SaabTech-supplied MAWS sensors and laser warning receivers.
In
another development, RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems has commenced deliveries
of 8,356 Spike-SR
shoulder-fired ATGMs to the Indian Army’s SF (Para), Navy’s MARCOS and the IAF’s
Garud SOF formations. Originally fitted with a tandem high-explosive anti-tank
warhead to defeat armoured vehicles equipped with explosive reactive armour, the
Spike-SR now comes with a new penetration blast-fragmentation warhead with a
delay function. This has been designed for use in urban operations, with the
high-explosive fragmentation warhead penetrating the bunker or structure before
detonating with lethal blast effect. The standard Spike-SR had a maximum range
of 1km, but this has since been increased to 1.5km to provide the operator with
greater standoff capability. The Spike-SR weighs only 9.8kg, and the missile is
fitted with an uncooled imaging infra-red seeker and auto-tracker, and thus operates
in the fire-and-forget mode. Once fired, the launcher and its associated day
sighting system are discarded.
Pakistan’s
Growing UCAV Fleet
Photos of a crashed Pakistan Air
Force (PAF) unmanned drone near the Headpaka area in Mianwali June 18, 2016
have at last revealed that Pakistan has become the first export customer of the
Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group-developed Wing Loong-2
UCAV. The crashed UCAV
had taken off from PAF Air Base M M Alam, 6km away from the crash area. Earlier on January 15, another Wing Loong-2
UCAV had crashed in Chiniot.
The Wing Loong-2’s airframe comprises a
slender fuselage with large butterfly fins and a smaller ventral fin, and a
straight centre-section, outboard of which are tapering sections leading to
tips with winglets. The powerplant is a variant of the 600hp WJ-9 turboprop
engine. The UCAV can carry up to 12 laser-guided/TV-guided PGMs in pairs on its
six underwing pylons, with target acquisition/targeting being achieved through an
under-nose optronic sensor turret.
The Wing Loong-2 has a wingspan of 67 feet,
3 inches (20.5 metres), maximum takeoff weight of 9,260 lb (4,200kg) and an
endurance of 20 hours. The stated external payload is 1,060 lb (480kg), while
the service-ceiling is 29,500 feet (9, 000 metres). Three hard-points under
each wing enable this UCAV to carry BA-7 or BA-9
laser-guided air-to-surface missiles, YZ-212 laser-guided bombs, YZ-102A anti-personnel
bombs and 50kg LS-6 TV-guided bomb.
On-board sensor payloads vary, depending
upon customer requirements, and can include an optronic sensor/targetting
system or a synthetic aperture radar, plus radar-warning receivers. Optional
payloads include systems for electronic reconnaissance, electronic
countermeasures, communications relay, photo-reconnaissance, and other
intelligence collection sensors.
The Wing Loong-2 becomes Pakistan’s second
UCAV acquisition, the first being the Pakistan Army-owned Cai Hong-3A/Al Burraq, which was developed by the China
Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics (also known as the 11th Academy), which
belongs to the China Aerospace Science & Technology Corp or CASC (also
known as the 701st Research Institute). The Cai Hong-3A/Al Burraq comes armed
with YC-200 laser-guided guided-bombs and AR-1 laser guided air-to-surface
missiles.
Tracing The Common Lineage Of NORINCO’s ASH-1 & Kalyani
Strategic Systems Ltd’s Bharat-45
In terms of both external looks and performance
parameters, NORINCO of China’s ASH-1 155mm/45-cal towed howitzer and the
Bharat-45 166mm/45-cal towed howitzer from India’s Kalyani Strategic
Systems Ltd (KSSL) are identical. And that’s because both are derivatives of
the baseline GC-45 155mm/45-cal towed howitzer that was originally designed by
the Canada-based Space Research Corp (SRC), which was created and owned by the
legendary ballistics expert, Dr Gerald Bull, since the mid-1970s.
The
GC-45’s general design emerged after two decades of work by Dr Bull with fin-stabilised,
extended-range full-bore (ERFB) ammunition: a pointed
shell with much lower drag at supersonic speeds.
For long-range applications Dr Bull had added a base-bleed system
(originally invented in Sweden) that could be screwed onto the standard shell, as
well as an even longer-range artillery projectile with a rocket booster. The GC-45
towed howitzer designed by Dr Bull to fire such projectiles had a 23,000 cubic
cm (1,400 cubic inches) chamber, a 45-calibre rifled barrel with
1/20 right-hand twist fitted with a conventional muzzle-brake. Its
breech was a conventional screw with interrupted thread. In 1977, Dr Bull came in touch with South Africa’s state-owned ARMSCOR
holding company, which subsequently designed a new mobile mounting that was
able to handle the increased recoil. It used a sole-plate to lift the gun-carriage
to take the four wheels off the ground. The chassis had the option of being
powered by a small diesel engine acting as an auxiliary power unit, driving the hydraulics that could set up the
howitzer in two minutes, and move it short distances. The resultant
155mm/45-cal towed howitzer became known as the G-5. Meanwhile, Dr Bull outsourced
series-production of 155mm ERFB projectiles from the Spain-based Santa Barbara
under a US$30 million contract. These were later shipped directly from Spain to
South Africa in order to avoid the then prevailing international arms embargo
against South Africa. The G-5 entered service in 1982.
In
1982 itself, NORICUM, the subsidiary of Austria’s VOEST-Alpine AG, purchased the design rights to the GC-45 after SRC
moved to Brussels from Canada. NORICUM made a number of design re-engineerings
to the baseline GC-45 design, and as a result the GHN-45 155mm/45-cal towed
howitzer emerged. First export customer of this howitzer was Iraq, which placed
a $300 million contract for 110 GHN-45s, along with 41,000 rounds of 155mm ammunition
whose production was outsourced by Dr Bull’s SRC from Belgium-based PRB.
Deliveries were made in 1984 and 1985. The number of GHN-45s supplied to Iraq
was eventually 200. Since both Iran and Iraq were
under a UN-imposed arms embargo at that time, the GHN-45s were shipped to Iraq via
Jordan.
Meanwhile, three years earlier, in 1980, in response to an
engineering contract awarded to SRC by China’s state-owned China North
Industries Group Corp (NORINCO), Dr Bull began fabricating the155mm/45-cal
GC-45’s prototypes with the help of Santa Barbara of Spain. By 1983 these were successfully
field-tested by China’s PLA Army in the desert region of Baotou in the Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region, following which NORINCO began series-producing them
under the designation PLL-01.
NORINCO’s 674 Factory (Harbin First
Machine Manufacturing Limited Company), 123 Factory (Heilongjiang Hua’an
Industry Group Company) and 127 Factory (Tsitsihar Heping Machine Shop) were
the principal production authorities of the PLL-01 and its related ammunition family since 1987. This was the PLA
Army’s first field
artillery howitzer to have adopted the NATO-standard 155mm barrel diameter
instead of the Soviet-/Russian-standard 152mm.
For export, the PLL-01 later became known as
the ASH-1, with 18 of these being sold to Algeria in 2014 along with NORINCO-supplied
Type 702D meteorological radars, Type 904-1 weapon locating radars, and
Battalion/Battery Command Post vehicles.
In 1986, NORICUM was
renamed NORICUM
Maschinenbau und Handels GmbH, and in October 1989 it was renamed again as Maschinenfabrik
Liezen AG (MFL). Now, fast-forward to 2012 when India’s KSSL imported
from MFL a service version of the GHN-45 (which has since been renamed as the
Bharat-45), and at the same time also bought, knocked down and transported to
India an entire field artillery industrial production facility from RUAG of
Switzerland.
At Mundhwa near Pune, a previous heat-treatment workshop is today
a facility for making 125mm and 155mm barrels, breeches and muzzles, making it
India’s only private-sector company, and the second one in the country, apart
from the Kanpur-based production facility of the state-owned Ordnance Factory
Board, to have this capability. Production-engineering machinery imported from RUAG
can produce barrels up to 9 metres in length, while the rifling and
autofrettage machines can make bores ranging from 105mm to 8-metre long 155mm/52-cal.
High-strength steel alloys for the barrels are sourced from the neighbouring Kalyani
Carpenter Special Steels.
Thus, the only major difference
between the ASH-1 and Bharat-45 today is in the arena of vectronics suites:
while the former uses NORINCO-developed vectronics, for the Bharat-45 the
vectronics suite comes from Israel’s ELBIT Systems. But while both towed
howitzers are comparable in performance, in the global export market, NORINCO
undoubtedly has a distinct edge, thanks to its ability to provide total
solutions, i.e. not only field artillery howitzers, but also a wide range of
155mm ammunition, guided-projectiles, their electronic fuzes and bi-modular
charges, along with command-and-control/fire-direction systems.
IAF Moves Ahead With S-125 Pechora
SAM Upgrade
A much welcome spinoff from
the DRDO’s two-decade long R & D activities for the Akash-1 MR-SAM
programme has now resulted in the development of an indigenous upgrade package
for the Indian Air Force (IAF) remaining S-125 Pechora SAM systems that will
extend their service-lives by another 12 years.
Restricted tenders worth US$272
million to upgrade 16 of the original 30 squadrons of the IAF’s S-125 Pechora
SAM systems under the ‘Make in India’ programme were floated in May 2016 and
were sent to TATA Power SED, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Defence, Offset
India Solutions, Amertec Systems Pvt Ltd, Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL), Bharat
Electronics Ltd (BEL) and ECIL. While the V-601 missiles will be refurbished by
BDL with the help of Russia’s OJSC Concern Almaz-Antey, the existing analogue fire-contol
systems will be fully digitised by Indian OEMs, following which they will be
integrated by BEL with the IAF’s IACCCS network.
BEL will also deliver the
Rohini S-band 3-D CARs and related motorized command-and-control posts that
will replace the older P-19 early-warning radars. Amertec Systems Pvt Ltd will
supply the digitised LRUs and related ATEs for the upgraded SNR-125 pulse-Doppler
tracking, fire-control and guidance radars. Deliveries
will begin 42 months after contract signature.
However, this upgrade contract
does not in any way postpone or stall the IAF’s plans for procuring 18 squadrons
of Barak-8 MR-SAMs and LR-SAMs.
The Indian Air Force’s S-125 Neva (export name Pechora)
uses the V-601 (or 5V27) missile has a length of
6.09 metres, a wingspan of 2.2 metres and a body diameter of 0.375 metres. This
missile weighs 953kg at launch, and has a 70kg warhead containing 33kg of HE
and 4,500 fragments. The minimum range is 3.5km, and the maximum is 25km. The
intercept altitudes are between 100 metres and 18km. Radars used for the original
S-125 included the following:
P-15M(2) TROPA 1RL13 C-band
target acquisition radar, which comprised a single antenna on a tethered
latticework mast. It was employed to improve low altitude coverage, but also to
permit use of the radar in heavily forested terrain where the height of the
foliage canopy exceeded the height of the antenna phase centre in the P-15. The
P-19 DANUBE 1RL134 was the improved 2-D UHF follow-on to the
P-15 with a range of improvements.
SNR-125 I/D-band tracking, fire-control and guidance radar, which uses
a pair of fixed scanned trough antennas to generate flapping fan shaped beams,
but the design is inherently SORO with a separate transmit antenna mounted
between the characteristic chevron arrangement of trough antennas. Optical
adjunct tracking using the 9Sh33A Karat 2 television telescope has been
installed on later variants, initially the SNR-125M1. The antenna at the
top of the turret is used for the low power missile FMCW uplink channels. The
antennae functions are, respectively:
* UV-10: Transmit for target and missile
tracking, Transmit/Receive for rangefinding, Transmit/Receive for initial
target acquisition, Receive for clutter cancelling channel. The boom mounts a
cluster of feed horns, including a rotating scanning feed, each producing
unique mainlobes. The scanned acquisition beam mainlobe is 1° wide and swept
through a 15° arc in elevation at 25 Hz, the mainlobe for target tracking, transmit
and rangefinding receive is 10° wide.
* UV11 F1 and F2: Receive antennas for target
and missile transponder beacon tracking. These produce 1° x 15° fan shaped
mainlobes which sweep through a 15° arc.
* UV-12: Missile uplink antenna for the FMCW
12 Watt command link.
The SNR-125 was designed to acquire targets using
only bearing and range inputs from an external 2-D acquisition radar, such as a
P-12/18 or P-15M. When acquiring a target, the radar head is rotated to the
target bearing and the UV-10 antenna scanning feed engaged to produce a 1° wide
pencil-beam swept in elevation. Once the target is acquired the radar is
switched into tracking mode, using the UV-10 antenna to transmit, the UV-10 to
receive for ranging, and the scanning UV-11 chevron receive antennas for angle
tracking. The radar head is mechanically steered in azimuth and elevation to
maintain track. The radar provides manual tracking, automatic tracking and
television angle tracking modes. The system provides five missile guidance
control laws, TT (CLOS), PS, MV (LoAlt), K (surface target attack) and DKM
(ballistic). Three missile uplink signals are employed, K1 and K2 for pitch/yaw
steering, and K3 for fuse control. Russian doctrine in the presence of heavy
jamming was often to cease emitting and use the scanning receiver to effect angle
tracking of the jammer, acquire the target with the TV telescope, and perform a
range unknown missile shot against the jammer in CLOS mode. Due to the addition
of a clutter canceller and analogue MTI circuits, the SNR-125 has significantly
better clutter rejection performance. Cited low altitude capability is against
targets as low as 20 metres (~60 feet AGL).
PRV-11 Vershina E-band height-finder radar.
The Indian
Army’s 48 motorised 9K33 OSA-AKM SHORADS have since 2006 been upgraded by Poland’s
Wojskowe Zakłady Uzbrojenia SA, with BDL refurbishing the 9M33M3 missiles with the help of Russia’s JSC Izhevsk
Electromechanical Plant KUPOL subsidiary of
OJSC Concern Almaz-Antey.
BrahMos-A Takes To The Skies
BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd) and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) on June 25, 2016
successfully demonstrated the structural and electrical integration of the
BrahMos-A supersonic multi-role cruise missile (MRCM) with the Su-30MKI
heavy-MRCA.
The maiden demonstration
flight, carried out at HAL’s Nashik Division facilities, involved carriage of the
2.55-tonne BrahMos-A. Inflight missile ejection/launch tests will follow in the
near future, followed by test-firings by the year’s end.
The maiden flight took
place in the presence of HAL’s CMD T Suvarna Raju, BrahMos Aerospace CEO and MD Sudhir Kumar
Mishra, and Daljeet Singh CEO of HAL’s Nashik Division. Mishra congratulated
the joint R & D team of HAL, DRDO, IAF and BrahMos Aerospace for achieving
this technological feat, which will go down in the history as the world’s first
combination of supersonic MRCM and heavy-MRCA. He further noted the immense
contribution of V S N Murthy, Project Director (BrahMos-A), and the three
Deputy Project Directors—Gp Capt M K Srivastava, Gp Capt S Mondal and Gp Capt K
N Santosh.
The 290km-range BrahMos-A has been
designed to enable the Su-30MKI penetrate
deep inside hostile airspace for delivering deadly blows to heavily defended vital
installations from standoff ranges. A lighter version of the BrahMos-A, called
BrahMos-NG, is also under development. This variant will be destined for
M-MRCAs like the Rafale, FGFA, MiG-29K, and Jaguar IS/DARIN-3 deep
interdictors.
DAC Approvals Of June 2016
India’s Ministry of Defence
(MoD) on June 25, 2016 approved the much delayed purchase of 145 BAE
Systems-developed LW-155/M-777 heli-portable ultralightweight 155mm/39-cal
howitzers (UFH) worth about Rs 5,000 crore, and also the series-production of an
initial 18 OFB-built and developed Dhanush 155mm/45-cal towed howitzers out of
the 414 units the Indian Army requires. The MoD’s Defence Acquisition Council
(DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, took up 18 proposals worth
an estimated Rs.28,000 crore for consideration and discussions. As a result,
the DAC also decided to accord Acceptance of Necessity (AON) standard to the
Indian Navy’s (IN) plans for procuring six next-generation missile vessels
(NGMV) under the ‘Buy Indian’ category for Rs.13,600 crore.
The direct industrial offsets,
under which BAE Systems will invest about US$200 million, will be pursued
independently with Mahindra Defence. While the first 25 UFHs will be procured
off-the-shelf, with deliveries commencing within six months of contract
signature, the remainder will be licence-assembled at the Assembly Integration
and Test facility that BAE Systems will commission in partnership with Mahindra
Defence.
OFB will deliver three
production-standard Dhanush howitzers for user-exploitation by June 30, an
additional three will be handed over by late September.
The DAC also approved a Rs.386
crore project for modernisation and augmentation of facilities at naval
dockyards and naval ship repair yards. Acquisition of five diving support craft
for Rs.150 crore was also approved. These catamaran-type vessels will be capable
of fully supporting operational/training dives in harbours and coastal waters. The
DAC also approved the procurement of indigenous cockpit procedures trainers worth
Rs.500 crore for the IAF’s Jaguar IS deep-penetration strike aircraft, and the setting
up of an indigenously developed electronic warfare range for the IAF at a cost
of Rs.1,300 crore.
Yet-to-be-resolved procurement
decisions include those concerning the upgrade of the IN’s Sea King Mk.42B and
Kamov Ka-28PL ASW helicopters, procurement of 16 ten-tonne shipborne NMRHs,
procurement of 16 shallow water ASW vessels, procurement of eight GRP-hulled
MCMVs, and the procurement of 15 mobile missile coastal batteries (MMCB) for
defence of the coastline against attacks from the sea.
What is both absurd and surprising is that the DAC did not decide on
whether to opt for a single design for both the NGMV and SW-ASW vessel
requirements. While the IN will eventually acquire 12 NGMVs (to replace
the existing 10 existing 477-tonne
Project 1241RE guided-missile corvettes, of which the first five were acquired
off-the-shelf from Russia between 1987 and 1991, while six were subsequently
licence-built by Mazagon Docks Ltd and Goa Shipyard Ltd at a unit cost of US$35
million), the 16 SW-ASW vessels with heli-decks are meant to be a new
capability accretion. The IN has specified that the range of the NGMV should be not less than 2,800nm
at sustained economical speed and 1,000mm at maximum speed. Max speed of the
NGMV, according to the IN, should not be less than 35 Knots, while the maximum sustained
speed should not be less than 25 Knots. In addition, the NGMV must carry a
minimum of 8 cruise missiles, while for air-defence, the vessel should be
fitted with a SR-SAM-type point-defence missile system (PDMS) for providing
credible near-360-degree anti-missile defence coverage. The PDMS should also be
able to engage sea-skimming anti-ship cruise missiles with a maximum speed of
Mach 3. In addition, a remotely-controlled, 15km-range 76/62 main gun within a
stealthy, faceted turret and using both radar and optronic fire-control systems
is also required, as is a close-in weapon system (CIWS) using similar fire-control
systems for low-intensity maritime operations (LIMO). Also specified is a
countermeasures dispensing system that should be capable of firing chaff in
all-round direction in distraction, seduction and centroid modes. The IN will
also in future install active-kill anti-torpedo systems.
For the SW-ASW vessel
requirement, the same hull design of the NGMV can easily be used, with the only
difference being the absence of cruise missiles on the former, which in turn
creates the space for accommodating a light twin-engined helicopter or a VTOL
UAV, plus remote-controlled autonomous surface or underwater surveillance
vehicles equipped with acoustic sensors. In addition, there is scope for both
types of vessels being equipped with identical integrated masts, PDMS and CIWS
suites.
When it comes to cruise
missiles for the NGMVs and the MMCBs, two indigenous vertically-launched
options are available. The first is the projected BrahMos-NG, while the second
is an anti-ship cruise missile version of the Nirbhay LACM. Both these missiles
will in future house an indigenous X-band monopulse imaging seeker that can use
different target recognition algorithms for attacking both hostile warships at
sea, as well as static installations on land.
193 comments:
Here is the 'COOL' Elbit's SupervisIR video that Prasunda talked about earlier, it's REALLY COOL, Don't Miss it..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q_RRnGHPY0
Selex Galileo till October 2012 was hopeful of winning a contract .....thorough evaluations on a global scale being conducted by the IN—to supply the Osprey for 14 Sea King Mk42B helicopters which were to be upgraded as multi-role platforms for use as both over-the-horizon target acquisition and airborne early warning.
Leonardo-Finmeccanica’s UK-based Selex ES subsidiary has developed the X-band Osprey, an AESA-MMR that electronically scans 360 degrees without using a “spinning” slotted-array antenna.....
We all Know Leonardo has been " Vinced " and " DECODED " by the Indian Ministry, so no more SMILES, i mean Selex, for the IN Navy.... So what NEXT Prasunda, i mean what's the next Viable option for the IN??
Hi
1) Can 2052 Radar be used in F18 if that is also selected ? That can save a lot of money and tech in package .
2) What is status of InSAS Excalibur and when its testing will be over??
3) Parikkar said Helina is 6 months away from induction is that correct??
To BIRBAL: Trust the Israelis to come up with a SOLUTION that revolves around the ELM-2022ES AESA-based radar.
To VISHAKH: 1) That radar can go on board any aircraft, but will the aircraft manufacturer allow it when it already comes equipped with AESA-MMRs supplied by US-based OEMs? And who will foot the bill for systems integration? 2) LoLz! Field-trials of small arms & ammo take as long as 6 years! 3) How can that be when the definitive design was unveilled only at the DEFEXPO 2016 expo & this design has not yet been test-fired from any helicopter so far? Field-trials & user-evaluations for such guided weapons last for at least 3 years at the very least. How long did it take for the Nag ATGM to be subjected to field-trials & user-evaluations? If Parikkar says that the HELINA is 6 months away from being subjected to field-trials then he's talking sense. If he's talking about service-induction within 6 months, then I'm afraid he knows ZILCH about PGM test & evaluation processes & is therefore bullshiting.
Hi Prasun,
Thanks for the update from France, seems lot of Radar option available wonder when will we develop one (I know trying to be optimistic). Which is the best one we can gets our hands on also any new missiles on display please update. Well one more thing you had said you will be posting about Russian black project aircraft please update that as well. Thank you once again
@Prasun but I clearly remember the Helina undergoing live fire trials ... And this was more than a year back .
Prasun K. Sengupta said...
" Trust the Israelis to come up with a SOLUTION that revolves around the ELM-2022ES AESA-based radar."
As the Saying goes One's LOSS is Another's GAIN...
About the IAI ELM- 2022 ES Airborne Maritime Surveillance AESA RADAR:
http://defense-update.com/20141025_elm2022es.html ,
http://trishul-trident.blogspot.in/2014_05_01_archive.html, and the VIDEO..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGS1Gk7DJ64
Just COMPARED Both the RADARS
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JzEdtD4_6OM/V2McwMIMJZI/AAAAAAAAK5c/Pn6Hw2biKDovLGv3sEROqCbAGm1Enl0wACLcB/s1600/Osprey%2Bnaval%2BAESA-MMR-1.jpg , for the Selex ES’ Osprey Naval AESA-MMR , AND
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rgG-aAfHgXA/U2qxMbSIoPI/AAAAAAAAHFA/nPeFbZV34j4/s1600/ELM-2022ES-1.jpg , for the EL/M-2022ES AESA-MPR,
To me Both LOOKS Similar in dimensions and operating modes...except for the MECHANICAL scanning in the horizontal plane for the EL/M-2022ES AESA-MPR, which is NOT required on the Osprey...
I think IAI WON'T have to do much work to make their AESA-MPR to be like the Osprey...I think they can come up with a SOLUTION pretty QUICKLY.... What do you say Prasunda ??
Prasunda,
Why is confusion there with 4 AESA MMRS? Sukho 30 is heavy MRCA it is main desktop computer and need to upgrade it. LCA is light MRCA so it is our own indigenous smartphone so it would be nice to make it cutting edge. PAKFA and Rafale are both MMRCA laptops so why we need 2 laptops? Maybe PAKFA is cutting edge 5th gen windows laptop while Rafale is previous gen Apple laptop. Both are good but why we need two laptops? So we should go for only two AESA families: Isreali and Russian.
Thanks,
Parthib B.
So defense preparedness facing some speed breakers now. Until Israel comes to rescue situation would be in worse condition.
What are your thoughts on Pak-Afgan border clashes at Torkham? Is there any possibility of full scale military confrontation b/w the two in future?
India wants to buy 100 Avenger UCAVs from US www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2016-06-14/india-eyes-jet-powered-predator
Every thing in Indian defence deals is so pathetically slow that by the time its inducted the technology gets outdated.
I am yet to hear conclusion and final word on any deal be it Rafale, M777, Apache, HWTs to name a few. At present its all talk and talk. Frustrated.
Only exception being P8I and ATAS.
To PRAV: That was the Nag ATGM's initial HELINA derivative with 4 thruster rockets being test-fired from a Rudra prototype when it was found that the thrusters could damage the cockpit transparencies of the helicopter. Hence the decision to develop a new version of HELINA minus the thrusters & with a new rear rocket nozzle that was displayed at DEFEXPO 2016.
hi prasun
Does the entry into the MCTR enables us to further improve the range of the brahmos and club missiles ?. If so then we can ask russia to supply us the enhanced version of the klub missiles ?.
PrasunDa,
(1) Rajnath Singh said yesterday that Coast Guards will purchase 38 Coastal Surveillance Radars. Who is the vendor? I suspect Rajnath Singh reads your blog as well, coz you had mentioned about coastal security related hardware several times.
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=146265
(2) Will we see NIRBHAY missiles in Kolkata Class destroyers or at least Vishakapatnam Class?
(3) More importantly,since you are in France do take care because English, Russian Neo Nazis/Fascist football hooligans are known to target Indians/Asians.
Regards,
VIKRAM
Der Prasun,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgLDDsK1H0Y
Very good video about who is ISIS?
Thanks
S.Senthil Kumar
To RAT: By the time an indigenous radar option becomes available, 80% of the reqmts will have been fulfilled by foreign OEMs, just like the BTT. Just look at the content of the HTT-40 BTT: AMLCD displays & EFIS are from Canada’s CMC, engines from Honeywell (the TPE331-12B turboprop engine), propellers are imported, actuators are from CASA-Mondo of Italy. Only the airframe is of Indian origin & make. And yet the ‘desi’ bandalbaazes are claiming that the indigenous content on HTT-40 is close to 80% & that almost 50% of the components are manufactured by private players of the Indian aerospace ecosystem! For as long as such bandalbaazes live in a state of denial & refuse to acknowledge the bitter truth, no serious attempt at indigenization can be expected from any quarter.
To PARTHIB: If you want only AESA-MMRs of Israeli & Russian origin, then by all means do try convincing the French to install & integrate non-French AESA-MMRs on the Rafale & find out for yourself what the asking price in monetary terms is for such work. While Russia’s Tikhomirov Scientific Research Institute of Instrument Design (NIIP) is the OEM for both the NO-36 Byelka & the AESA-MMR version of the NO-11M/RLSU-30MK, Phazatron JSC is the OEM for the Zhuk-AE FGA-35 AESA-MMR that will go on the MiG-29Ks during their mid-life upgrades. The EL/M-2052 will go on the Jaguar IS/DARIN-3 & Tejas Mk.2, while the RBE-2 will go on the Rafale. Thus, 5 different types of AESA-MMRs from 4 different foreign OEMs will enter service, with each of them requiring their own purpose-built MRO facilities—a cost-prohibitive exercise never before attempted by anyone else. Even in Europe & North America, the OEMs for AESA-MMRs are all based in those continents & this in turn greatly reduces product-support costs & hence acquiring multiple types of AESA-MMRs for airborne platforms there becomes affordable.
To DASHU: Yes, & the speed-breaker is principally the monetary unavailability. The time has at last come for making some clearheaded hard-choices: either waste money on acquiring a new-design SSK with AIP or acquire additional Scorpene SSKs with AIP fitments; either waste money on a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier or spend that money on acquiring the urgently reqd fleet of SSNs; either waste money on acquiring C-295 tactical transports or utilise those funds for acquiring additional C-130J-30s & a few more EMB-145s as executive transports for senior armed services officials; either acquire turboprop-powered MRMR/ASW aircraft or standardise on the P-8I. The list goes on & on.
BTW, do watch this interesting press-briefing given by the DG of ISPR given on 15-6-2016:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihDGTkx_mFw
The maps very clearly show how the PA only blocked only the access points inside FATA & not those along the Durand Line (as I had explained a few months ago), which clearly permitted the TTP elements to escape with their families over the Afghanistan. And the PA today has the gall to claim that it has executed the world’s best-ever COIN operation! What kind of excellence is achieved when one alienates one’s own population & then uses airpower & artillery fire-assaults to annihilate them?
To VARUN: Well, all I can say is that Pakistan is at last getting a taste of its olwn medicine. After crying all these decades about India’s fencing of the IB & LoC, it is now crying foul about not being able to do the same on its western border! As to what is really at stake here, it was explained yesterday by Hamid Karzai himself in an interview to the BBC. You can watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxyANJc7qfw
As for the ground-reports from various border CIQ posts, watch this:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4gnjfw_islamabad-tonight-15th-june-2016_news
To VED: Only the FMS deals are swiftly cleared by the CCNS since there’s ZERO probability of any hanky-panky there. As for others, it’s all due to pure mismanagement by the MoD’s civilian bureaucracy & the politicians seemingly heading the MoD.
To RAD: The BrahMos-1 has a range of 550km if all its fuel tanks are filled up. But now all those that have already been produced have a range of only 290km, meaning half their fuel tanks are left empty. Once they go for relifing 10 years after their service-entry, these fuel tanks will be filled up & then all of them will have 550km-range. Missiles of the Klub family will not be able to undergo such range enhancements, but since they are ASCMs a longer range greater than 290km is not desirable. Instead, the existing 3M-14E LACMs will be replaced by the 1,200km-range Nirbhay LACM in the years ahead, starting with the SLCM version. After all, the Nirbhay is just a longer-range Indian clone of the Russian 3M-14E.
To VIKRAM GUHA: 1) I will refer you to the DEFEXPO-2016 Show Report website containing photos of the DRDO/LRDE-developed radar. That’s the one Rajnath Singh was talking about. 2) Nope, not on those DDGs. But the Nirbhay’s first naval application will be as an SLCM. 3) VMT, but don’t worry, I left Paris 2 days ago & unlike the Brits, I don’t have a penchant for hanging around or within the beer pubs where such incidents usually take place.
Dear Prasun,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZZD9Wh-CzE
This video link exposes Sept 9/11 truth. I hope once you watched fully you will change your mind as an insider Job.
Please comment.
Thanks
S.Senthil Kumar
Sir,
I am unable to get how on planet earth one can claim they doing COIN op just by sitting on higher grounds or mountain heights and watching the city or village.
How anyone can claim, clearing an area without going door to door. There are only two possibilities exist::: Pakistan developed some new COIN, or in all years India was doing wrong COIN op by deploying soldiers in every chowk of cities and villages in J&K.
To ARPIT KANODIA: That's because the WHOLE WORLD refers to such operations as LIC, or low-intensity conflict, while only the PA calls it COIN operations. COIN ops never impose collective punishments by levelling villages en masse with pulverising firepower. But that's exactly what the PA has done in order to avoid friendly casualties. And that's exactly why although there are only 10,000 hard-core TTP fighters now inside Afghanistan, they are accompanied by at least 300,000 of their family-members who have also sought refuge. What this means is that these TTP fighters have already prepared themselves for waging LIC for the next few generations against Pakistan. Since such LICs last for at least 34 years, if one starts from 2002 as the base-year, then terrorist incidents inside Pakistan will continue till at least 2036.
Also, do browse through these:
Latest US CRS report on Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons:
https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL34248.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/opinion/sunday/yes-there-have-been-aliens.html?smid=fb-share&_r=2
http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/ast.2015.1418
Meanwhile, the Aussies too have realised at long-last that the future of undersea warfare lies in nuclear propulsion:
https://www.aspi.org.au/publications/agenda-for-change-2016-strategic-choices-for-the-next-government/Agenda-for-change-2016.pdf
And for those seeking show news from EUROSATORY 2016, here are the 5 show dailies:
http://www.janes360.com/images/assets/223/61223/EUROSATORY-D1-v06.pdf
http://www.janes360.com/images/assets/223/61223/Eurosatory-d2-v05.pdf
http://www.janes360.com/images/assets/223/61223/Eurosatory-d3-v01.pdf
http://www.janes360.com/images/assets/223/61223/Eurosatory-D4-v01.pdf
http://www.janes360.com/images/assets/223/61223/Eurosatory-D5-v01.pdf
Hi Prasun, have you seen the condition of any Sea king in IN inventory? They are rusted, 30-40 year old machines outliving their technical lives. They are primarily sub hunters for the navy. Assigning them a new mission role of AEW is complete waste of money for two reasons. 1. There is a need for them to continue anti-sub operations since there are no replacements in sight. 2. AEW missions need extended airborne hours – depleting remaining airframe hours on already old machines.
Ka-28 also face the same obsolescence issues like Sea-kings and will need to be retired soon.
What is needed is replacement of all the above with S-70 or preferably MH-60R.
Tu-142 are indeed white albatross. Most of them are neither airworthy nor desired after induction of P-8I with significantly superior performance. What is the point of upgrading them?
Hi
CAN'T IA AND IAF BUY SPYDER SR FOR THERE NORMAL SHORT RANGE MISSILE FOR REPLACING SAAB GUSTOV RECOILESS GUN ? AS THESE ARE FIRE AND FORGET AND CAN TAKE TARGETS WHICH THESE GUNS CAN'T ? ALSO BUYING AND MAKING IN LARGE NUMBER CAN ALSO REDUCE PRICES ....
Hi
1) Nirbhaya missile failed last time , is that problem found and rectified??? and when next test is slated to take place??
2) Is india looking to take Husky Submarine from Russian as base for SSK?? when design work will start in India?
3) Sorpene submarine next in line for purchase would be of what tonnage and any extra features except Fuel Cells??
To DJAC: LoLz! Are you saying that external looks determine & dictate the total technical service-life (TTSL) of any airborne platform? FYI kindly do check such matters with a licenced aircraft engineer before jumping to such ill-informed conclusions. Rotary-winged platforms don't pull high Gs unlike combat aircraft & therefore helicopter airframes, especially utility platforms, have tens of thousands of airframe lives left & they can always be re-lifed by replacing their corrosive or fatigued sub-structures. The only limiting factors are the TTSLs of the dynamic components like the engine & gearbox whose TTSLs can't be extended. Hence, all-new engines & gearboxes have to be installed. On the Ka-28PL or even Mi-25/Mi-35, for instance, the TV3117 engines & their gearboxes can easily be replaced with the VK-2500 engine & related gearbox. That's why you till this day see even WW-2 era transports like the DC-3/C-47 Dakota flying without any hitch, especially when upgraded with the 'Bassler' turbo-upgrade package.
Secondly, you seem to be under the impression that naval shipborne platforms like the Sea King or Ka-28 are role-specific. FYI mission avionics retrofit suites available nowadays can transform a role-specific helicopter into a NMRH. Radars like the Osprey or EL/M-2022ES are AESA-MMR, i.e. they're multi-role radars that can perform interleaved operations at the same time, i.e. naval target-search, OTH targetting as well as AEW & C, with all the respective air/surface situation pictures being displayed on two PAMLCD displays. And with the availability of autonomous surface ROVs equipped with winch-operated dunking sonars, one doesn't require helicopters equipped with dipping sonars for sub-hunting. Today once an acoustic contact has been registered, long-range warship-launched heavyweight torpedoes like Varunastra or SeaHake Mk.4 are available for chasing the target sub. There's just no need even for helicopters equipped with lightweight torpedoes or MAD sensors to go chasing subs.
Hi
1) INS SINDHUKESARI has gone for repair and modernise . What level of modernisation will take place ? Will it have USHUH Sonar system and any missile firing capability will be added?
2) Will Noise level will also be reduced including stealth ?
To VISHAKH: Whhhhhhaaaaaat!!! Spyder-SR is a SHORADS for air-defence. Carl Gustav is an 84mm shoulder-fired LAW. How can you compare a SHORADS with RCL? 2) The PROBABLE (not definite) problem has been diagnosed found, but whether or not it has been rectified will be known only after the next test-firing. The follow-on Scorpenes will all be of the same tonnage. Only difference will be that instead of housing diesel-engines, the battery-based AIP will be used. INS Sindhukesari is going only for a periodic refit that involves overhauls for the outer hull & inner pressure-hull & for the diesel engines. After its return, its existing periscope will be replaced with the L-3 KEO-supplied optronic mast. Noise-level/acoustic signature can't be reduced unless an AIP-based propulsion system is installed, which will not because Russia doesn't yet have a proven AIP solution to offer.
For those interested in the ongoing Afghan-Pak border tensions, here's an interesting backgrounder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QinULHBwSt4
And for those who want to have a good laugh, watch this street gunfight in Peshawar which took place yesterday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRONSGr2jnQ
This is eerily similar to the abduction of Kulbhushan Jadhav:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/world/asia/hong-kong-bookseller-lam-wing-kee.html?_r=0
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-bookseller-idUSKCN0Z21GG
hi prasun
I never knew that the brahmos fuel tank was half filled .What stops us from just adding more fuel as we are the assemblers at least. The MCTR will now facilitate the tech know how from russia and we can now make the nirbhay into a better missile faster rather than wait for the drdo guys to shoot 1 missile every year, and take 20 years to get it right ?
Do we need help to launch the nirbhay from a submarine as it involves a lot of new tech?
PLease give us your take on the htt-40 , from what i observed , it has got a more powerful engine than the pc-7, and it take of performance was wonder full. what about the 80% local input?. The engine , prop, seat are imported.
To RAD: What stopes us? It's called playing by the rules. If not, then do you want India to incur Russia's wrath by violating the bilateral understanding? One must remember that BrahMos Aerospace is a JV company that's the OEM, hence Russian technocrats are there in the final integration complex. No one can therefore do such things in hiding & nor should one do so. Nirbhay can be launched from both 533mm torpedo tubes as well as from VLS cells. Regarding the HTT-40, yes the Honeywell TPE331 engine offers superior hot-and-high performance, but at a much greater cost, i.e. it is a tempremental engine & not so forgiving as the PT6 of Pratt & Whitney Canada. 80% local input in terms of hardware cvontent is total hogwash, as I explained earlier above.
To ANUP: It's the Spike-SR, & not the Spike-MR that is often compared with the Javelin ATGM. Contract was inked in late 2014 & I had written about it in a previous thread at that time. As for IAC-2, no procurement contract for anything has been inked to date with anyone. In fact, the entire IAC-2 project is most likely to be postponed indefinitely since that will save the money that's urgently reqd for initiating work on the six-unit SSN programme.
For those who are interested in spooks & the intelligence wars, watch this highly informative new two-part series called Spymasters: CIA in the Crosshairs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M-wDG8kpRU&hd=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiRFbeQsofI&hd=1
HI
Sorry for Typo : Spike-SR can be used instead of Carl Gaustav and 80000 short range missile that IA is planning ?? These missile can be used to take out bunkers, building , terrorist and vehicle from safe distance of 1.5 KM ?? Will the cost be very high ??
Hi Prasun,
1.When will the much awaited super sukhoi upgrade program going to start? the time has come for a deep mid life upgrade. I had read your article on the super 30 program From air dominance to air supremacy. It was back in 2011. So many years have gone by and the upgrade program is yet to commence. can you give some timelines on this project?
will the mki get sparkling new Izdeliye 117s powerplants as you had earlier said or it will be limited to mision sensors and avionics.
2.Now that leonardo wil be blacklisted and it being a stakeholder in MBDA, what will replace the PARS-3lr atgm for the Rudra and LCH ?Will we go for Spike ER or LR or NLOS for these two helos. helina has a range of just 7 km and clearly we are going to need a longer ranged atgm.
3. The 4th LCH prototype doesnt have a self defense suite installed. without the definitive self protection suite how can it achieve ioc? The LCH doesnt even have any exhaust IR suppressors installed . Can you shed some light on this self defesne suite and suppressor.
4. Will LCH ,Rudra get a Dircm . spectrally balanced flares are slowly but surely getting obsolete in the face of 4th gen IIR air to air missiles. Music Dircm from Elbit is a good option.
5.PAF is getting AIM-120C with an e pole range of 120 km. They may get the c7 variant with a 160 km max range in the immediate future. while the max ranged active air air missile we are having is the 80 km ranged RVV-AE. and semi active 120 km R-27ET procured from Ukraine. As such is IAF going for longer ranged aam from Russia like the newer K-77M, R77M1 variants and newer active R-27E long burn Alamos? It is always better to be able to outrange and outshoot your opponent and set your own terms of engagement. With Rafale we will be initially getting the 60 km ranged MICA series and later the 120 km Meteor.
6.Is there currently any Israeli proposal to license produce the Spice series of smart pgms here in India under Make in India programme? Is the Drdo developed 1000 kg 100 km glide bomb in series production ?
how likely do you think it is, that the aussies will go for nuclear propulsion for subs?
what are their options if they do decide to go that route? france, brazil, us?
if such a scenario does indeed play out - what could the potential consequences be? other non-nuclear states (excluding brazil) following them?
To my utter surprise, at least a Hindi Channel does not makes any differentiation between General Reginald Edward Harry Dyer Vs Sir Michael O'Dwyer. How Shaheed Udham Singh may be feeling.
Hi
Boeing CEO has said they only have 1 C17 left and no more . What are the options for IAF if current Russian Heavy lift planes are going to be converted tanker from IL76 ?
To AMARDEEP: Nothing personal, because the questions you asked regarding the S-400 & JAS-39 Gripen were answered by me several times before when others too had asked such questions.
To VISHAKH: Regarding the debate between ATGMs versus LAWs, kindly show me any army in the world that has totally discarded LAWs/RPGs in favour of ATGMs. On the C-17A versus IL-78MD90 comparison, do compare the internal cabin width & volume of the two transports & you will get the answers you seek. IL-78MKIs can be converted to transports while the IL-76MD-90 too can be converted into tankers with the availability of 'quick-fix' ro-ro packages. C-17A final-assemvly line can always be re-opened by Boeing once a certain minimum number of orders are placed by a collection of new/existing C-17A operators.
To BHOUTIK: It all depends on who the SSN supplier will be. The US, UK & France are all potential suppliers. The Brazilian PWR-powered Scorpene is still under development & will therefore not be proven for quite some time. Thus, the Aussies will find the Brazilian option quite risky & will therefore be more inclined to lean towards proven solutions.
To RITESH: Most of your questions were already answered before quite a few times when others had asked them as well. Regarding BVRAAMs, they don't fly straight in a linear or longitudinal trajectory, but make use of proportional navigation to reach the targetted aircraft. Hence, the question of one BVRAAM outrunning another doesn't even arise. That's not how BVR combat takes place.
Also, don't be misled by such remarks (“If you want aerospace technology to come here and construct here, though I don’t commit anything for F-18. Let me put the disclaimer, that we are definitely in the process of developing one or two ‘fighter Make in India’ programs.“) & their insinuations by the desi bandalbaazes. Thus, rest assured that there will be no F/A-18E/F or JAS-39 Gripen ever entering service with any Indian operator. Instead, what the RM was hinting towards was the Rafale MMRCA's licenced-final assembly & the Tejas Mk.2 L-MRCA's R & D. A third option likely to be exercised will be the co-development & co-production of the 'Combat Hawk' between BAE Systems & HAL. Therefore, all those desi hustlers looking forward to milking the foreign OEMs by publishing speculative spin-stories & obtaining advertisement revenues in return, TAKE A HIKE, BUZZ OFF!!!
@Prasun After you mentioned the local content on the HTT 40 . I took a look at the super tucano . Which has a similar level of foreign content , however the tucano is lauded as an excellent trainer as well as a cheap COIN aircraft , is not worthwhile for HAL to continue developing it the(HT 40)?A start must be made somewhere right ..
To PRAV: LoLz! Let's distinguish between the narratives of Embraer & HAL, as this will clear the air. Firstly, Embraer & Brazilian journalists never make any claims about the quantum of indigenous content on the Super Tucano, while HAL & the desi band of journalists never tire of making absurd & indefensible claims on the quantum of indigenisation. Secondly, Embraer hasn't yet developed or built any 4th generation MRCA while HAL is doing so with ADA's help. Therefore, if HAL wants to yap about its technological edge in military aviation R & D/production, it can always do so WRT Tejas LCA. To therefore go ga-ga over developing a puny little BTT like the HTT-40 is only indicative of a sense of low self-esteem. Surely HAL can do much better as it has the wherewithal to prove its capabilities & achievements in far greater areas. Hence, to use the example of the HTT-40 programme as one from which a start has to be made is pointless & stands discredited as an example. Thirdly, none of the 3 armed services of India has any plans for using armed military aircraft during COIN operations. Armed BTTs have been used by others in the world for straffing & these were not during COIN operations, but rather LIC missions. Lastly, if the idea was to make the HTT-40 more appealing from a techno-financial matrix standpoint for the IAF & IN, then the PWC-built PT6 engine should have been selected instead of the Honeywell TPE331, since this would have ensured commonality with the existing BTT fleet of PC-7 Mk.2s & would also have reduced the HTT-40's direct operating costs. But, by not doing so, the HTT-40 today becomes a more expensive platform to operate & maintain when compared to the PC-7 Mk.2. I can think of no other air force in the world that operates two distinctly different fleets of new-generation BTTs. Why? Because its's a financially suicidal option. But if this elementary fact-of-life doesn't dawn on the MoD's civilian decision-makers & they insist on service-induction of the HTT-40, then I can only foresee dark days ahead for the IAF in terms of financial resource availability.
Having said all this, I'm all in favour of OEMs like HAL developing their own line of products that can be competitively offered for the global export market regardless of whether anyone in India procures it or not, so that at least the Super Tucano can face some competition. But again, this is easier said than done, since HAL will always be hardpressed then to explain how come no Indian operator has procured this aircraft, especially if it were to have superior operating characteristics in comparison to the Super Tucano or the PC-7 Mk.2, PC-9 or PC-21.
Sir, I beleive my comment was lost from a moment ago.
The jist of it was
1) Why are we wasting our time/money on upgrading the junk Sea Kings and Ka-28s?
2) When will we get the S-70Bs?? It has been too long since the process begun, I don't know what the IN is playing at.
We need modern NMRHs ASAP.
To BEMUSED: 1) Already explained that above yesterday. 2) Where's the money for it? For as long as the spending levels in the revenue account increase, there will be a corresponding decrease in the availability of funds in the capital account of the defence budget.
Sir,
Rafale is very expensive. Why not buy the AESA Mig29 instead? Please explain???
Thanks
Ravinder
"To therefore go ga-ga over developing a puny little BTT like the HTT-40 is only indicative of a sense of low self-esteem."- spot on. It's like a 2 year old gets hold of a piece of paper and scribbles all over purporting to be his/her daddy/mummy. Do we laugh? yes because it's only a baby that has taken his/her first step but we accept it as they says because in their eyes it IS what they claim it to be.
Imagine now if an adult started this same baby business! It's also called keeping up with the Jones'. Nothing concrete, nothing innovative, nothing there to justify and yet "they have it so I will have my own". Actions and in actions like these are giving the world plenty to have a belly laugh about - a billion plus reasons in fact!
Dear Prasun,
Is it true that India government politely turned down the offer of gawdar port from sultan of oman and then it was sold to Pakistan in 1958? What is the logic behind it? Chahbahar is off course a great investment; but Gawdar would have been ours.
Dada.. What about agtm? When we will order it?? Will it be spike mr or javelin? Any timeline?? What's the progress on Rafale? Faded following this contract!
@Prasun
Ah so as usual chest thumpers ruin everything ...
Embraer and the Brazilians are quietly confident in their capabilities as they have tasted commercial success a long time ago.
By a start I meant ... HAL should pursue "civilian/military" aircraft and helicopters that are low hanging fruit instead of dreaming about 5th gen MRCAs.
On one point however... Isn't the engine on the dornier the same as the one selected for the HTT 40 , won't that help bring down cost ? Or is that engine different WRT to it's use in a 2 engine aircraft ?
IMO while work has started on a small turbine engine and a helicopter engine HAL should also start work on an engine that can power the likes of the HTT 40 which can also be used in future UAVs (to achieve the economies of scale ofcourse) . Is that a good idea in your opinion?
Hi
Is HUSKY RUSSIAN 5th Gen Submarine is finalised for IN SSN Project ?? What are the charatertics of the submarine tonnage, speed and stealth ?? When the wok will start at LnT for development of Indian version ? Will it use IN USHUS Sonar or Russian make and pump jet or propeller for propulsion??
Is French Bracudda not considered for SSN for IN??
Dear Prasun,
http://www.dawn.com/news/1265482/droning-mullah-fazlullah
Excellent article by Pervez Hoodbhoy.
Thanks
S.Senthil Kumar
Sir,
This is in many circles that CartoSat-2C is fully military dedicated satellite. I dont know but ISRO even removed the 'C' from satellite name, and mysteriously calling they launching only CartoSat-2. How that is possible when CartoSat-2 already in orbit?
Officially, ISRO calling the next successive launch of CartoSat-2B as 2E, not 2C. I dont know why ISRO creating such confusion over names.
Further, it claimed this military satellite will be launched in SSO, with revisit time in 3-4 days.
But if I am correct, then military should launch it in LEO across equator to reduce the revisit time to hours instead of days.
This doesnt matter a military sat always remain in sunshine.
To ARPIT KANODIA: The Cartosat family of satellites had secondary military applications, like development of GIS-based topographical maps for battlefield management systems & terrain navigation maps. It is the RISAT family of satellites with on-board SAR sensor package that are primarily meant for military surveillance, since their SARs can see through cloud-cover & hence offer superior surveillance capabilities.
BTW, did you see photos of the crashed drone of the PAF on June 18? Here's the photo:
http://nation.com.pk/digital_images/large/2016-06-18/paf-s-unmanned-aircraft-crashes-near-mianwali-1466242012-5700.jpg
And here's the video-clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmhZc-Y2r_w
Going by external looks, this is none other than Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group’s Wing Loong-2 turboprop-powered UCAV. Another identical vehicle had crashed on January 15 this year while taking off from the same air base (PAF M M Alam) in Mianwali.
This finally explains why the IAF has since the last quarter of last year been so interested in acquiring UCAVs, albeit of a superior type, like the General Atomics Avenger turbofan-powered UCAV!
To PRAV: The TPE331-12 is a new-generation engine that's totally different from the earlier versions of this engine powering the Do-228-201s of the IAF & IN & ICGS. Furthermore, primary air base or naval air base or ICGS air base for their respective Do-228s are at different locations & are not co-located with the IAF's air bases housing flying training aircraft. This translates into new workshops & spares warehouses to be built at the IAF's flying training air bases, creation of engine test-cells, etc etc. The small turbofan earlier called LAGHU SHAKTI & now known as MANIK is meant specifically for UAVs, & this is being developed by GTRE. But HAL's own in-house HTFE-25 turbofan R & D programme also has UAV/UCAV applications, according to HAL.
To RAVINDER: Can the MiG-35 undertake terrain-hugging flights? And compared to the Rafale's external payload capacity, what is the MiG-35's external payload-carrying capacity?
To SOUBHAGYA: Yes, it's all true. But in those days it was all about geo-politics, whereas today investments in projects like the Chah Bahar FTIZ are all about geo-economics. One therefore cannot compare the two situations/circumstances.
TO VISHAKH: I'm not aware of any SSN called HUSKY. All the publishable data on Russia's next-gen SSN was uploaded by me in an earlier thread dealing with seabed surveillance systems.
To ARPIT KANODIA: Now expect all Pakistani chat-forums to go into a tizzy after reading my comment above on the Wing Loong-2 UCAV!
Hi
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russias-next-two-submarine-projects-feature-some-very-exotic-15618
This is Husky submarine SSN design and fits the dimensions IN is looking for....
Have just uploaded the narrative above with details on the PAF's Wing Loong-2 UCAV.
Sir,
Mig35 has 7000kgs payload and has low level flight capability. This is close enough to Rafale capability.
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/this-extremely-low-level-flyby-by-a-polish-mig-29-is-ju-1760308293
Thanks,
Ravinder
To RAVINDER: The Rafale can carry up to 9 tonnes of offensive payload. It also does terrain-hugging flights. The MiG-35 or even the Su-30MKI are not designed for terrain-hugging flights. Low-level flight means flying about 500 feet above the terrain, not 50 feet above the terrain.
Hi,
Why IAF is not ordering present PAK-FA ?. Replace it with next version free of cost, like we replaced SU-30MK with SU-30MKI.
Please tell us what are the other terrain-hugging fighters. ?
Hi Prasun,
Thanks for the reply one more question arises as you have updated earlier the Bramhos and Nirbhay are both Russian origin is it possible that some technology spin off from Bramhos like engine can be used after Russian approval to increase the speed say not by Mach 3 but at least mach 1 or 1.2 to give it greater kill potential just thinking of ground hugging supersonic missile will have higher kill potential than a subsonic one as time to detect and deploy counter measure will be less? Need your thoughts on this.
@RAVINDER The availability factor of the MIG will have to be taken into consideration also the effectiveness of the ASEA platform on it when compared to the Rafale.
Dear Prasun,
http://idrw.org/saudi-imam-2-hijackers-lingering-911-mystery/
Please comment on the above link.
Thanks
S.Senthil Kumar
Hi,
Very interesting 200 year old Jewish prophecy by Vilna Gaon
http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/54943/200-years-ago-war-between-turkey-russia-prophesied-sign-redemption-jewish-world/#eCVCX8wJs8Rokmcm.97
“When you hear that the Russians have captured the city of Crimea, you should know that the times of the Messiah have started, that his steps are being heard. And when you hear that the Russians have reached the city of Constantinople, you should put on your Shabbat (Sabbath) clothes and don’t take them off, because it means that the Messiah is about to come any minute.”
According to the Kloisenberger Rebbe, in addition to the Russian military presence in the Turkish city of Istanbul, the Ba’al Shem Tov foretold another sign of the impending arrival of the Messiah – “the Russians will come, they will come and be together with the sons of Ishmael.” That is, when the Russians join forces with the spiritual descendents of Ishmael, who today are identified as those of Islamic descent, it’s another sign of the coming of the Messiah.
Prasun Da,
Since your advice on matters related to defense, aerospace, economics are regularly sought by the desi media can you please let me know if it is necessary for Freelance Journalist in India to get themselves registered with any Government agency?
For example the TV news stations have to get themselves registered with the I&B Ministry.
Thank You
Another excellent thread, Prasun ji!
I have to ask your opinion about the so-called strategic think tanks, like the Center for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) for example. Are these organisations any good? Do they really perform any role (direct or indirect) with regard to actual military developments and evolution of tactics or equipment-procurement? Or are they little more than a news/views agency?
http://www.claws.in/
To GESSLER: These think-tanks for the most part serve only as post-retirement nests for senior armed forces officials & bureaucrats & during their seminars, all these senior citizens get together, reminise about old times, & enjoy free breakfast, luncheons, High Tea & dinners. They make money by hosting seminars on various topics & get the foreign OEMs to sponsor such events. In terms of intellectual inputs, however, these think-tanks offer ZERO input. I would therefore lend far greater credence to institutions like the National Defence College, United Services Institution & Training Commands of the three armed services, which serve as incubators of new doctrines & warfighting concepts. Seminars organised by these institutions are far more incisive & comprehensive in covering the subject matters.
BTW, I have already e-mailed the stuff on the PAF's Wing Loong-2 UCAV (as it is narrated above in this thread) to all the media outlets & TV channels, desi & phoren. Some have responded back with gratitude & have sought a few clarifications. Let's see which Indian TV channel breaks the news.
Sir plz bring some news about small arms being developed by DRDO or OFB or being acquired by Army.What is present status of MCIWS/AAR,Ghatak, cornershot,kalantak etc.MSMC is under trial for more than 7 years.
@Prasun ..Why do you think that our govt institutions never think of cost saving WRT to economies of scale ease of logistics etc ? Is there a lack of experience or "education" in such subject matters for our decision makers .... Forget the politicians aren't IAS officers there that understand and explain such things ?
@GESSLER Think tanks ruined thinking .... They are of no use as they are invariable beholden to their donors.
Also please throw me/us a bone .. I asked you about the seminar conducted by the IA post that excercise (whose name Ive forgotten) that discusses the tactical nuclear warhead threat from pakistan . Is there anyplace I can read up on it ?
To PRAV: LoLz! That's because such decisions are always underpinned worldwide by legislation enacted by the political decision-makers. In India's case, the decision-makers are simply ignorant about such matters, to the point that even common-sense is proving to be elusive. Unless the directives come from the top, the armed forces can never be expected to take initiatives of their own, unless the service chiefs enjoy the total support from their political masters. One must, after all, take note that armed forces around the world are supposed to be the 'best trained', and not the 'best educated'. The onus therefore falls on the civilian political class to articulate the necessary directives & for the bureaucracy & technocrats to devise innovative ways of implementing them. In other words, the strategic defence review should be the point-of-departure. Everything else ought to flow from that.
Regarding bthe seminar that you asked before, it ws held by the United Services Institution & the topic of discussion was limited war under a nuclear overhang. There are no on-record publishable written materials on this topic for obvious reasons, one of them, being the absence of formnal written directives from the MoD regarding the conduct of future wars in the subcontinent. Hence, no armed service will dare to go on-record & explain how & where exactly limited wars will be fought. But at the same time, when one hears official statements about future wars being fought with rapidly deployable Brigade-sized independent mechanised combat groups (backed up by Brigade-sized field artillery fire-assault formations), it automatically means that the days of total mobilisation of Corps-sized formations are already over. Henceforth, a series of high-intensity battles aimed at causing severe attrition losses to the adversary through combined AirLand campaigns will be fought along a wide, dispersed frontage to degrade the adversary's warfighting capability/capacity. On the western front, since Pakistan has traditionally concentrated its forces along the Punjab/J & K border areas, future battles too will be fought in these areas stretching from Sialkot right up to the northern end of the LoC. Since the majority of this terrain is composed of either highlands or mountain-ranges, usage of battlefield TNWs of any type will be ineffective & even counter-productive. TNWs can bring in destructive value-addedness in plains-based warfare. Hence the IA & IAF will not allow this to happen & will instead undertake offensive operations that suits them best.
desi & phoren??
FOREIGN? HEHE..
Hi
How is India planning to buy 90 planes of rafales if current cost for 36 fighters is 40% higher than F18 due to large number produced . Cost being high factor won't tilt towards F18 compared to Rafales??
Won' buying F18 and asking for consultancy and development for AMCA and AURA from Boeing better based on T50 of korea when they asked to develop Lockheed ???
100% FDI in Defence and Aviation finally. Any tangible benefits other than generating lots of local jobs ? Am asking in terms of Indian IPRs .
Sir jee BTW, you have already e-mailed the stuff on the PAF's Wing Loong-2 UCAV (as it is narrated above in this thread) to all the media outlets & TV channels, desi & phoren, Congratulation for that but did you checked this link
http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/drones-crash-lot-militarys-safety-lessons-may-help-civilians-f1C8932488
And the link you posted for the Chines WL-2 crash in Pakistan is actually the remains of a Predator B "Reaper" drone, sprinkled across the Arizona mountainside near Nogales, in this April 2006 photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Just my two cent, thought to bring this to your notice.
Prasun da
1. you say 'But at the same time, when one hears official statements about future wars being fought with rapidly deployable Brigade-sized independent mechanised combat groups (backed up by Brigade-sized field artillery fire-assault formations), it automatically means that the days of total mobilisation of Corps-sized formations are already over. Henceforth, a series of high-intensity battles aimed at causing severe attrition losses to the adversary through combined AirLand campaigns will be fought along a wide, dispersed frontage to degrade the adversary's warfighting capability/capacity.' but you also say that plans are afoot to denuclearize Pak; in that case if and when that happens IBG based fighting doctrine will go for revision for sure but then what will be the next strategy??
2. you said you maailed to Indian TV channels news about Chinese pak drone , good chance only ndtv and zee will follow up on that
3. I think sindhughosh class S55/56/57 have neared their 35 yr limit so they will receive a good bye by 2020, the remained 6 may tag along till 2030 in current upgraded configuration. No more money should be spent on them and instead focus should be on more Scorpene Kalvari class 6+3 or 4.
4. You may still say IN wants SSN but what has BARC/DAE done for IN (they dont have basic design for the reactors assuming Arihant class reactors are different) to shift its focus to SSNs
5. i had earlier said that work on 65k INS Vishal may not start before 2025 you say the same now, but i think work on jit wont start untill the aircraft that will from it is deiced, my guess is it will be Rafale M (Govt must hurry or france may close the M's line)
lets hope for best
thanks
Joydeep Ghosh
Dear Prasun
you mention in the post that iaf shall acquire 64 rudra gunships. does this imply that the gunship is tested and ready for induction. i had earlier also raised this question based on my google research to you. you had informed that only 2 rudra gunships have been acquired. so does this imply that now this will be 64. what kind of time line can be expected.
To NIO777: VMT for the heads-up & I have already uploaded 2 images of the latest crash. They confirm more than ever that the crash was that of a Wing Loong-2, & not the Wing Loong-1 as is being widely speculated.
To UNKNOWN: When you had asked about the Rudra, I had stated that the Army's version was facing difficulties in service-induction due to unavailability of ATGMs. Also, at Aero India 2013, the public ceremony of handing over a Rudra prototype was the Army version. The IAF did not want any suchhanding-over ceremony & therefore quietly accepted its Rudra variant, which will be used for CSAR &^ not for close air-support. Therefore, the IAF's Rudras won't have the ATGMs for now.
Dear Prasun,
What is happening on the proposed torpedo for P75? Seahake or F21? I remember you said Black Shark. No offence.
Secondly after inducting 120 Tejas with proposed configuration is there scope for Tejas Mk2 in IAF? I think no as AMCA will be pursued with some participation from interested foreign cos.
Lastly You said that Rafale orders will be increased beyond 36. Will it not be advisable to bet on FGFA rather than on Rafale?
hi prasun
the chinese have made a super computer having about 93 peta flops. They have used their own processor . Where did they get the know how from and the FAB technology ? THe congress arse holes dint care a shit about super comps , i just hope modi wakes up and energizes this field , we have the brains definitely. I believe each IIT and top engineering institutions should have a mini super comp at least.? There a big noise made about super comps and then suddenly things went quite ?. what happened??.
hi prasun
what ails the wingloon uav, design fault or pakistani incompetence?
To VED: LoLz! As I had explained earlier, the DCNS-assembled F21 is nothing but the Black Shark itself. Only difference is that Black Shark was assembled by WASS, while the F21 is assembled by DCNS. So, no offense given & none taken on that issue. As for Tejas Mk.1, numbers contracted to date are only 20 of the SP-series, out of which only 10 have been funded & the first 4 SP-series are due for handover later this year, probably August. The figure of 120 being talked about concerns the Tejas Mk.2 & LCA (Navy) Mk.2 as of now. So far, only 99 F414INS6 turbofans have been ordered, & no large orders have been placed for the F404-GE-IN20 that power the Tejas Mk.1/LCA (Navy) Mk.1. So, by doing the math, one can easily conclude that the large nos of Tejas MRCAs being talked about for service-induction all concern the Tejas Mk.2/LCA (Navy) Mk.2. As for AMCA, let's first see how the IAF goes about the induction of the FGFA into service before deciding on the AMCA.
The FGFA as specified by the IAF will not be ready in prototype form until 2020, with its definitive powerplant & avionics suite. Therefore, far better then to invest in the Rafale & Super Sukhoi projects so that the IAF's immediate operational reqmts are met.
I personally don't see any money left at all from the defence budgets in the years to come to pursue anything to do with the AMCA, expect for incurring costs for producing fanciful brochures containing generalised data. However, if any Indian or NRI tycoon decides to take the risk of financing the AMCA's R & D effort, I'm all for it, although in my reckoning no such tycoon will be forthcoming.
To RAD: Do go through this:
India is developing a supercomputer by spending $60 million to predict the monsoon with greater accuracy, and it hopes to have it up and running by next year. The new supercomputer will use 3-D modeling to predict how the seasonal rains will develop. M Rajeevan, India's earth science secretary, did not say which companies will manufacture the computer, though he said that it will be 10 times faster than the current system, which was developed by IBM. India's farming sector is heavily reliant on the monsoon season, which runs from June to September. The monsoon accounts for more than two-thirds of the country's annual rainfall, and accurate predictions could help farmers identify the best time to sow their crops. More accurate monsoon forecasts could boost farm production by up to 15%. In 2015, agriculture accounted for about 18% of India's GDP, according to the World Bank. India's current forecasting system, first introduced during British colonial rule, is based on a statistical model that combines historical patterns with data collected from satellites, radar, and observatories. The country's meteorology office has struggled to deliver accurate forecasts in recent years, most notably when it failed to predict a major drought in 2009. India has also seen two consecutive years of drought, though the meteorology office has predicted that this year's rains will not affect farm output. "In the last one decade we've gained a greater degree of precision in forecasting rains," Rajeevan said, "but monsoon still remains a very complex weather system which only God has the ability to understand fully."
Regarding the Wing Loong-2 UCAV, it appears to be faulty final-assembly, which led to loss of telemetric control of the platform. This is the 2nd such crash. The PAF wanted the turboprop-powered UCAV so that it can cruise at far higher altitudes over the highlands & mountainous terrain over FATA & eastern Afghanistan & not be affected by strong headwinds or crosswinds.
Sir,
How much these Chinese SATCOM based drones are capable? And how we rate them against western drones like Predator and Reaper?
And what should be Indian response? I even dropped hope the DRDO able to make even first flight of Rustom-2 even in this year.
So, what should be Indian response,, buying Reaper and Avenger??, including funding and buying Avenger based Directed Energy Weapon system like such
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Energy_Liquid_Laser_Area_Defense_System
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0dHKWjXn-E
Prasun da,
can the development (regarding RE Metals) be seen in conjunction with Modi's visit to the Tesla plant last year?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Govt-to-discuss-with-industry-atomic-offshore-minerals-policy/articleshow/52747148.cms
Thanks
To ARPIT KANODIA: The Wing Loong-1 UCAV of the type sold to Iraq had recently demonstrated its ability to launch weapons when commands were given by SATCOM 1,000km away. members of the Wing Loong-1 family have already been sold to Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE & Algeria, and now Egypt wants them too. So, all in all, a pretty aggressive marketing campaign by CATIC that has produced tangible results. As for India's response, the IAF wants turbofan-powered UCAVs like the Avenger, & not Predators or Reapers. On top of that, HAL is developing a turbofan-powered UCAV called Ghatak, which will probably be powered by a variant of the HTFE-25 turbofan now under development. Clearly, therefore, the way of the future calls for turbofan-powered UAVs & UCAVs to be inducted into service. These UCAVs can also be expected to be equipped with RWRs, LWRs, MAWS & countermeasures dispensers.
To BLACURRANT: I think that visit had more to do with electric propulsion technologies for automobiles.
To ARPIT KANODIA: The problem with platform R & D in India is the timely availability of fully instrumented test-ranges & air bases. Hence, while platform development gets underway, the air bases housing all the test & telemetry tracking infrastructure lags behind by few or several years. For instance, the air base in Sulur should have been developed way back in the previous decade itself & it shoild have become the Indian counterpart of the USAF's Edwards AFDB or the US Navy's facility at Patuxent River. Same goes for the UAV facility in Chitraguda. If this doesn't happen in a synchronised manner, then the left hand won't ever know what the right hand is doing.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/made-in-india-f16s-on-radar-thanks-to-fdi/article8756876.ece?homepage=true
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/isro-gears-up-to-test-scramjet-engine/article8756849.ece?w=alauto
Dear Prasun,
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/06/india-embarrassing-north-korean-connection-160620195559208.html?ref=yfp
Now they are bringing new story to tarnish Indian Image.
Please comment.
Thanks
S.Senthil Kumar
Prasun do you think that the F 16 Is going to be assembled in India? A dated plane like the F 16 can but be only of use to mollycoddle the US to a certain extent.And would it be worth it to waste scarce resources on such a project? The Rafale deal is yet to be sealed.Can you throw some light on the reasons why?And as usual presstitutes are having a field day making all sort of conjectures!
Hi Prasun,
Do you think there is any possibility of F16s being assembled in India given that it is unlikely the IAF will ever opt for them?
Best Regards
Raj
Prasun'da thanks for telling us that spike-sr deliveries started. I have few question I wanted to ask you for sometimes.{1}Do you think Prasun'da that M1128 mobile gun system or stryker can be useful in Leh-Ladkah as a fire support weapon? {2} How effective S-400,HQ-9,HQ-16,BARAK-8 is in mountains terrain?can they pickout target from background clutter? like in Tibetan plateau? {3} Is there any plan to develop any fast attack boat like plan type-22 houbei class? thanks in advance.
Dear Prasun,
http://www.rediff.com/news/report/pakistan-exposed-its-selling-nuclear-stuff-to-n-korea-china-knew/20160622.htm
Another Porkistan Exposed Story.
Thanks
S.Senthil Kumar
Mr. Prasun, request your opinion on the following articles
http://www.financialexpress.com/article/world-news/pakistan-continuing-to-sell-nuclear-materials-to-north-korea-reveal-us-sources/293261/
http://www.financialexpress.com/article/india-news/india-nsg-bid-chinas-u-turn-now-wants-to-play-a-constructive-role-in-discussions-live/293057/
Sir,
Your view on this
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/06/india-embarrassing-north-korean-connection-160620195559208.html
Here the University website http://www.cssteap.org/
Interestingly, this is UN funded University, not ISRO's or by DAE. So, how we helped them? If these guys passed out from some IIT-K or TIFR or ISRO's IIST, then obviously India helped them. But how from a UN funded University?
Prasun,
Is there any truth in the F-16 report? The Hindu is usually a more credible source on defence matters among the main Indian papers.
To ARPIT KANODIA & SENTHIL KUMAR: LoLz! GIS-related remote-sensing technologies & their studies have NOTHING to do with development of WMD capabilities, rest assured. For strategic targetting purposes, what';s reqd most are high-resolution SAR imagery so that the target recognition algorithm on the SAR seekers inside the MIRVs can be pre-programmed. As for navigation, remote-sensing courseware never teach anyone how to develop accurate inertial navigation systems of the type used by ballistic missiles. Hence, that story you've highlighted has obviously been written by someone who's clueless about how strategic targetting is achieved & what's reqd for making ballistic missiles more accurate in terms of CEP.
To FINANCEBLOGGER & SENTHIL KUMAR: This is laughable, because if Pakistan is allegedly manufacturing nuclear WMDs, then by implication all those China-supplied production-engineering hardware should be inside Pakistan. So, if Pakistan is now re-routing all such hardware to DPRK, then by implication Pakistan does not require such hardware that's meant for nuclear WMD production. In other words, no nuclear WMD materials or components have been, are being or will ever be produced in Pakistan. It only proves my earlier assertion about all of Pakistan's nuclear WMDs being wholly imported from China.
Prasunda,
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/how-pay-pensions-and-sloth-eat-up-indias-defence-funds/articleshow/52843465.cms
Seems to be rational approaches if implemented accordingly. What do you think?
Thanks, Regards
To THE INDIAN, RAJ & COMMON SENSE: LoLz! That story is quite speculative & delusional & the proof of all this is in the first 2 paras of the story:
American military manufacturer Lockheed Martin could soon be producing F-16 fighters in an assembly line based in India, taking advantage of the new liberalised FDI conditions announced by the government on Monday.
If the legendary American fighter is deployed with the Indian Air Force after local production, it would signal a historic shift in India’s military posture that could dramatically affect the country’s relations with China, Pakistan and other nations.
Like I had explained before, never place your bets on a story that contains 'could' & 'if' & 'may'.
Dear Prasun,
Sincere thanks for clearing my misconception regarding Black Shark torpedo. I didn't knew that. Hope the decision is made soon.
Thanks again on clearing my doubts regarding Tejas. I was assuming that the Tejas MK1A will be ordered for 100 examples. However due to different nomenclature on versions the confusion arose.
Has all the issues been fixed for Tejas mk2 Like choice of AESA radar, SPJs, MAWS, etc..
Also need to know if Israel 2052 AESA radar is better proposition than what is recently being offered by SAAB regarding their GaN AESA radar which they claim to be the first to be made operational in Gripen NG. Do you think SAAB has some value proposition ?
Thanks and Regards
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/science/10-things-to-know-about-Isros-20-satellites-mission/listshow/52862888.cms
The answer to the second portion of my question remains? However let me add-on to the question.The 100%FDI now cleared for foreign firms appears to be the answer to manufacture Rafale in India?Do You also agree on this?
Sir ji, have the VVIP B777s been handed over to the IAF by Air India as of yet? I thought the decision had been taken last year itself as our had reported in mid 2015 but now the media is saying that the DAC will only now meet (June 25) to clear this deal. Thus u assume they will be in IAF service by only 2018 at this point?
Hi Prasun,
(Sorry I mistakenly posted my question on an old article...)
You say (maybe rightly) that the IN will eventually choose the F21 after the Black Shark concellation. So what to think about the recent papers stating that the SeaHake was favoured?
Maybe the F21 is not satisfaying (not commissionned in France yet)...
But if it really is the German torp, don't you think such a choice might be legally problematic since the SeaHake had been rejected from the previous tender process?
Best,
To DASHU, GOPU & PRAV: Have just uploaded above the comparative marketing practices of Chinese & Indian OEMs when it comes to field artillery howitzers. This should answer quite a few questions that you all had raised in the past.
To SANCHUN YATON: I can't speak for those newspapers & what their sources of information are, but my source of information is the Indian Navy.
To Anon@9.37PM: These things take time to move. Like I said earlier, after the DAC has cleared a proposal, it takes 47 months on average to move to contract signature stage.
To THE INDIAN: The Rafale deal is definitely on since the IAF wants a twin-engined MMRCA. To the best of my knowledge, neither the JAS-39 nor the F-16 is twin-engined.
To VED: Saab's home-grown AESA-MMR & IRST solutions are still 5 years away from prototype-testing. The EL/M-2052 is available today & has been selected for not only the Jaguar ISD/DARIN-3, but also for Tejas Mk.2 & LCA (Navy) Mk.2.
To UJJWAL" The tail has been wagging the dos since May 1998, & not just recently. Unless a Strategic Defence Review exercise is undertaken, it will always tantamount to 'arming without aiming'.
To ARH-93: 1) The best indirect fire-support armoured vehicles available today are the ones with fibre-optic anti-armour missiles that can go up to 50km away. Then there are armoured vehicles with breech-loading 120mm mortars. As part of the Nag's iterative R & D process, the DRDO must explore ways of developing a fibre-optic wire-guided version of Nag with at least 20km range. 2) MR-SAMs & LR-SAMs are only effective over flat terrainb & that too against aircraft flying at medium altitudes. If an aircraft resorts to terrain-masking flight by flying low & through valleys in mountains, then no radar will be able to track them or illuminate the target continuously. This is where IIR-guided SHORADS comes into play. 3) The SW/ASW vessel & NGMV will both be high-speed vessels carrying appreciable weapons fitments.
Hello Prasun,
Good-day,
Had please wanted to ask what is the state of local anechoic tile (for subs) R&D and production in India?
Also, could the acoustic signature of the Kilos not be somewhat appreciably improved by using newer-gen anechoic tiles on them?
Thanks,
Dan
To DAN: What R & D? They have been in series-production in India since the late 1990s itself. Proceed to the thread dealing with the Milestones of the S-2/Arihant SSBN project & you will see there the slide of the company that makes them. The company is called RESISTOFLEX.
Prasun,Is there a likelihood that as a quid pro quo the Russians will ask that we purchase the Amur/Kalina/Varshavyanka class of submarines as Project 75I.I would also appreciate your opinion about the government action taken in strengthening the undersea fleet of Indian Navy!
Prasun da
good to know that you introduced blog moderation, it was long time coming. just one question this time, why is china hell bent on stopping Indias entry into NSG
thanks
Joydeep Ghosh
Prasun da
i also feel that if China succeeds in stopping india's NSG bid it will adversely affect economics between the 2 nations
thanks
Joydeep Ghosh
Hi long time how ru
I wanted to ask , Indian irbm , icbm are not mounted in tels , this affects there mobility seriously.
Even if Indian missiles are meant to be fired from near their storage locations isn't it a handicap , considering during alert state they are supposed to be able to be dispersed for better survibility
What stops us from procuring Russian tels.
There was a photo of a new launcher for cannesterized agni 5 etc but it looks like it will be hooked to a trailer .
It is very disappointing, way go for half hearted measures.
What's ur take on these.
Dada with reference to your recent update will IA place order for Bharat45..if no ...then why did Baba Kalyani go for all the hasstle...he seems to be very gung ho on MII defence hype of modi sarkar..
Dear Prasun,
http://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/with_friends_like_these_turkey_russia_and_the_end_of_an_unlikely_7048
Good Analysis about Turkey-Russia Alliance.
Thanks
S.Senthil Kumar
Hello Prasun Da,
I had few doubts regarding the Unmanned Surveillance Aircraft , Generally what would be ideal height and flight time , An Airforce would be interested suppose say IAF would it be interested in (Pilatus PC-7 as an unmanned platform ?)
Dear Prasun,
What is the status of lca navy mk2 and IAF tejas mk2 development as GE424 ins6 have already started arriving in 2015?
Do you see any major project in near future which will be ordered to Indian private co.s'? The likes of Kalyani group, Mahindra defence, Reliance even with JV with foreign co. are yet to get any order.
Kindly update on some key defence deals (which we could track) which are expected to get final go ahead in next three years before the term of this Govt. comes to end.
lastly what in your opinion is the best option for project 75I?
To VED: Both variants of the LCA Mk.2 light MRCA are still in the detailed design stage. Yet to be decided are factors like whether to go for TVC nozzles or canards for supermanoeuvrability.
As for private-sector companies, the MoD under RM Parikkar has so far been unable to come up with firm, clear directives/policy guidelines regarding private-sector participation as prime contractors. For instance, when it comes to the tactical comms system (TCS), there's no clarity yet on whether it will be 3G or 4G. Without TCS there's no BMS, BSS or F-INSAS. Thus, everything else has gotten stuck. Then, one one hand there's the partnership of TATA, L & T & HCL for the TCS, while on the other there's BEL teamed with ROLTA. BEL continues to lobby with the MoD by claiming that it alone can ensure OPSEC for the IPRs of the TCS, BMS, BSS & F-INSAS & therefore the private-sector players cannot be the custodians of the IPRs. Again, decisive intervention here by the MoD is totally missing because the pathetic civilian politicians are afraid of rubbing the industrial trade unions the wrong way. The same goes for those who want to built howitzers because the MoD has already decreed that barring the LW-155/M-777 UFH, all other howitzers will be supplied solely by OFB. So where in the hell are there any prospects for the private-sector OEMs to become major weapons suppliers? Consequently, everyone now falsely hopes that India will continue to muddle through.
To TECHNOLOGY, PHOTOGRAPHY & TRAVEL: As a rule, present-day UAVs % UCAVs do missions that are DULL, DRY, DIRTY & DANGEROUS. In India's case, since there are adequate numbers of imported Israeli MALE-UAVs powered by piston-engines, the time has now come to graduate to a higher level, i.e. procuring turbofan-powered UAVs & UCAVs for the IAF & IN. Since such vehicles will be operating from existing air bases & naval air bases, speed of deployment is of the essence to reach the area of operations & this is where turbofans offer superior performance in terms of cruise speed at medium altitudes & higher altitudes.
To MAGICBULLET: If you look at the global marketing efforts for field/rocket artillery systems, you will notice that in almost all cases, only those OEMs that offer total solutions bag the contracts. This means the OEM not only supplies the howitzers, but also the related range of ammo, BMCS modules, WLRs & meteorological radars. Examples include NEXTER Systems, BAE Systems, Rheinmetall, DIEHL, NORINCO & Denel Group. In case of firms like KSSL, it suffers from several deficiencies. Firstly, if it makes a howitzer then it ought to be test-fired at an instrumented range. If KSSL seeks access to the ranges of the DRDO & IA, then the reply coming back will say the schedule is fully booked for the armed forces & no time-slots are available. So there ends all prospects of in-house prototype development. Next, KSSL can supply only shell forgings to the OFB, but cannot make ammo rounds because A) it isn't allowed access to explosive chemicals because MoD rules authorise only the OFB to do such work & B) it cannot build ready-to-use electronic fuzes because the MoD will allow this privilege to only the OFB & ECIL. For the same reason, KSSL cannot make BMCS modules. Lastly, the MoD has decreed that the OFB will be the sole nodal agency for producing all kinds of 45-cal & 52-cal howitzers. Two years ago I had even uploaded an advertorial of the OFB in which this was officially stated.
If this is the state of affairs where there's no clarity on military-industrial policies, I can only conclude that companies like KSSL or TATA or L & T or Punj Lloyd are all wasting their time & money by offering homegrown field artillery solutions, because inside the MoD there are no takers for such offers. Even when it comes to an all-DPSU affair, there's utter confusion. For instance, while the OFB has already developed the 52-cal version of the Dhanush 155mm towed howitzer, we still see the DRDO wasting money on trying to develop the ATAGS. Any industrialist watching all this can only describe such state of affairs as MAYHEM.
To LACHIT: Yes, indeed you have been MIA for quite some time (LoLz!). The principal problem here is the unavailability of locally developed multi-axle heavy-duty vehicles. China for instance had 15 years ago bought a plant from Belarus lock,stock & barrel for such heavy-duty vehicles, had disassembled that entire factory in Belarus & had it shipped back to China. In India's case, the launchers are still being towed by trucks that are either supplied by BEML-TATRA or Volvo or Ashok Leyland.
Here are some more interesting tit-bits for you to browse through:
About the on-going NRS in Assam:
http://www.theweek.in/theweek/statescan/illegal-migrants-assam.html
http://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/unmade-in-their-india/297295
http://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/from-the-pillbox/297297
About the construction troubles being faced in North Eastern Frontier Railways in Manipur & Nagaland:
http://www.theweek.in/theweek/statescan/railway-network-northeast.html
On defective ammo being stored at CADs:
http://www.theweek.in/theweek/current/ammo-amok.html
To GESSLER: Everything one needs to know about ISRO's RLV-TD & Scramjet:
http://www.frontline.in/science-and-technology/growing-wings/article8704636.ece
http://www.frontline.in/science-and-technology/design-process-has-been-validated/article8704727.ece
To THE INDIAN: LoLz! The Ruskies are not stupid. They know there's much more money to be made from the SSN programme than the now-defunct P-75I project. The Russians are therefore rightly focussing on earning dollars/Euros & not cents. Prevailing financial realities & operational necessities dictate that the IN go for six SSNs & not six AIP-powered SSKs. The IN can always exercise the option for acquiring three additional MDL-built Scorpenes that would be powered by AIP.
Dear Prasun why Akash Sam system is using outdated command guidance and why Indian air force is planning to upgrade vintage Sa 3 pichora. Vinod
Thanks for the links Prasun ji, both interesting reads.
In other news, the results are coming out : Britain has voted to leave the EU. It seems PM Cameron has resigned. What a turn of events!
Your thoughts on the economic/military ramifications for UK in light of the results?
Will these be the Russian designed new types as you had earlier brought out? What is the class name and can you please throw some detailed light on it?
To RAT666: Brazil, Switzerland, Turkey, Austria, Ireland, New Zealand were against India's entry into the NSG. Russia was never part of it. Neither the pipeline nor the 4 Mi-36 attack helicopters will see the light of day. Certainly not at a time when, despite bombastic claims by the Pak military establishment, Karachi continues to burn & haemmorhage. Here, watch the desperation of the citizens of Karachi:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWKJ349nU4c
PrasunDa,
Need to know two things from you:
(1) Is it necessary that all existing NSG members have to be on board before a new member can be accepted? India had support of 38 members & still did not made it.
(2) According to Bandalbaaz Times (also known as Economic Times) MoD is awarding Rs.29,000 crores of Naval contract tomorrow. Who according to you will win the contract for the NGMV? I hear it will have to be Made in India.
Thanks,
VIKRAM
Prasun
Im still trying to see the point of the NSG! especially for India!?, the Govt and Media coverage given to this for India's is extensive and bloated
Thanks for the links
But the thing is I stopped reading and watching most of Indian news .
Not good for health and mental wellbeing. Most of them written and produced by scikularist Leftist ignoramus and crap self appointed intellectuals.
As regarding the Bangladeshi influx I have lived in NE for a long time and can vouch for the illegal migration and demographic attack.
When U ask a Bangladeshi migrant where they R from they always answer I am from dhubri or hailakandi.
Lolzzz it seems the reproduction capability of the people living in dhubri and hailakandi are ALIEN and definitely not human and of these world.
I will share a incident
I met a Bihar Muslim gentlemen who had returned to India after living 30 years in middle east, and we had a conversation and I found out he was a rational man who was aware and critical of the faults in islam and I was frankly surprised , considering he was a 6 time hajji and 4 times mini hajji (I cant recollect the exact Arabic word)
and then 3 Bangladeshi immigrants entered our compartment, he suddenly laughed and told me
one month back he and his wife was returning from siwan bihar and when they entered Assam a family had entered their compartment , he started conversing with them he asked the 50 + years old fellow where he is from answer was hojai then he asked "you have many children's". the bangladeshi man hesitated and was clearly embarrassed, but still he replied "no they are my wives".
f**k 7 of them 7 freaking wives
he saw a young girl (13-15 years old) sitting near the corridor , so he asked this must be ur daughter , the Bangladeshi replied "no she is my wife".
the man told me he was flabbergasted and regretted having asked the question.
his wife later told him they were illegal Bangladeshis.
Bangladeshis are very easy to spot and very different from the NE native Muslims whose lifestyle are more human like lol.
I also remember local people catching a ice-cream seller who was so dumb that he admitted he was a bangladeshi having arrived from Bangladesh 1 year back.
solutions are there to tackle bangladeshis
1.send them back (highly unlikely )
2.convert them to Hinduism in return for Indian citizenship (possible)
or maybe wait for a war with Bangladesh in the future lol
@lachit,
Why do we need to fight with everyone of our neighbours?
The bengalis of west bengal and bangladesh are exactly the same. stop being a racist!!!
For NSG, every member has to agree. There were 6-8 members that did not agree PERIOD
RAT666
To VINOD: Why? Simply because several more of India’s neighbours are also using similar systems. As for the Pechora SAM upgrade, I’ve explained it above in a new section of the narrative that I uploaded a few minutes ago.
To GESSLER: Well, never underestimate the country that introduced the concept of Pvt Ltd Co i.e. private-sector to this world, through the East India Company. Therefore, expect the UK now to conclude a FTA with India ASAP over the next 12 months.
To THE INDIAN: Yes. The name or project no have not yet been made public. Externally, it will resemble a scaled-down Project 885 Yasen SSGN, but internally it will be totally different in terms of layout & on-board systems. Class names don’t emerge until the vessel enters service.
To RAD: The Ruskies are already helping us to extend the range of BrahMos-1 to 550km, especially after India’s entry into the MTCR. China got all its data & industrial help on ramjets from Ukraine, not Russia.
To VIKRAM GUHA & G: If you’re looking for contextualization of India’s application for NSG membership, then it’s all beautifully explained here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy0ycrz2EZI
To VIKRAM GUHA: Are you referring to this report:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/rs-1-lakh-crore-defence-purchases-on-manohar-parrikars-mind/articleshow/52875093.cms
It only lists out all the projects that are to be discussed, & not approved. Since 2014, this govt has awded contracts only for those projects that involve domestic manufacturing. More than 80% of contract awards so far account for domestic production. The only ones likely to be approved in the near future involve the B.777 conversions for VVIP flight, & the procurement of 145 LW-155/M-777 UFHs. Other than that, kindly refer to the explanation on the S-125 Pechore SAM upgrade project that I’ve just uploaded above with related slides.
To LACHIT: LoLz! Compared to what others are going through in the immediate neighbourhood, I would say India still remains the cherished paradise! Therefore, there’s no need to acquire headaches about what’s transpiring inside India. Regarding the NRS, interesting thing is, what if these illegal Bangladeshis leave Assam & migrate to other Indian states down south or in the west? How will they be vetted out & identified? Regarding the holy pilgrimages, during the non-Haj season, the visits to Mecca are called UMRAAH.
Hey Prasun I went to see some videos of the Yasen class and in the process came across this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMvaBKLXVuc and similar videos by defence whatever. I never needed male incontinence pads but some of the claims and carefully edited news made me laugh so much each time I think of it I will lose bladder control hence the pads - well my manpads! LOL Being patriotic is good but these guys are pathetic. Wishful thinking passed on as hope! Instead of being patriots these morons are being fartriots making Indians laughing stocks around the world. Does India have potential to match the West or even exceed? I believe so - but potential is not capability. Many Indian brains are behind many Western progress but that is largely due to better programs, planning and management. You said it well India is absorbed in arming without aiming - all the so called defence modernisation is aimed at fighting an invisible hand. The bureaucrats seem to know they ought to defend against something or someone but without knowing who and how they seem to go for sticks, clubs and N weapons - whichever works. If only there were strong leaders who will demand heads today before Headlines something would work.
Prasun I am writing an article elsewhere but am needing informed factual data. You said not only are there Saudi led Sunnis against Iran led Shias but within the sunnis there are anti Saudi factions. Can you please tell me which countries belong to the Iran group, who belong to the Saudis and who are against Saudis and Iran both? Also Is there gas or oil or both projects that are of interest to China, Turkey and Russia in the middle East? Thanks in advance
@RAT666
Don't bother to lecture me again.
I like bangladeshis very much but in Bangladesh.
Send me your address I will send some Bangladesh immigrants on my expense so that you can welcome and share your home with them.Soon NSG will the last thing in your mind lol.
Why R U jumping over NSG as if U R foreign secretary or something , me posting about illegal Bangladeshis will stop India from getting into NSG , or will U miss out on the tender for building a nuclear reactor.
Get real or chew on some ratkill
@prasun
Illegal Bangladeshis have their own jihadi deedi to take care of them in WB.
She took in some before .
In other states lots of problem will be for them since they r easily identifiable, negative side west Bengalis will get caught in the crossfire.
Anyways best option for them convert into Hinduism, most practical solution for them.
I will be alive till next 10 years, so will get to see the reality rather then speculate now.lolzzz
@ lachit
Time to be a LACHIT Borphukan my friend......BUT the Difference between the SARAIGHAT Battle and NOW is that this Battle is on LAND not Water and the ENEMY now is UNARMED but with a very powerful ARMOUR....it starts with the letter R......
Pierre Zorin said...
..... I never needed male incontinence pads but some of the claims and carefully edited news made me laugh so much each time I think of it I will lose bladder control hence the pads - well my manpads!..... Hahaha...Nice Sense of HUMOR buddy....
Prasun K. Sengupta had written
" However, this upgrade contract does not in any way postpone or stall the IAF’s plans for procuring 18 squadrons of Barak-8 MR-SAMs and LR-SAMs."
Prasunda how many Firing Units will be there in each squadron given that upto 6 MLUs will be there in a Firing Unit as wriiten in here
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s1V_ac1NT4M/V22lMA-O_EI/AAAAAAAALFI/I9-JkBBAmcQq4gsvwdPz5RBTxEHldpIbwCLcB/s1600/Barak-8%2BMR-SAM%2Bconfiguration%2Bfor%2BIAF.jpg
Is it true one MLU comprise of 8 Ready-to-Fire Barak-8 missiles?
How many squadrons of SPYDER system the Indian Army is planning to acquire??
hii prasun sir,
im newbie to ur blogspot. i really appreciate ur diverse knowledge on many subjects and very much interested in knowing abt many things. i just want to know more abt our history in S&T,Intelligence,political history and wars that our country fought with our neighbors.So lets start with our nuclear R&D from 60's n 70's 1)how did we really get this tech? did we really develop? regarding death of nuclear pioneer homi baba? 1970&1998 nuclear tests ?which countries were involved in giving r helping us gain this tech? and our state of our nuclear delivery weapons
Regards
G T
Dear Sir,
Greetings of the day!!
Eagerly waiting for your thread on black projects for Russian or erstwhile USSR in response to US black projects.
Also eagerly waiting for your rebuttal on Dr. Ashley Tellis papper on IAF Air Power and additional information on Black Star SSTO as well as Flux-Liner ARV.
Thanking you in anticipation,
Regards
Pinkal Shah
Interesting reading http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2016/06/23/supporting_indias_entry_to_the_nuclear_suppliers_group_nsg_109473.html
http://www.popsci.com/great-underwater-wall-robots-chinese-exhibit-shows-off-sea-drones
http://www.popsci.com/first-picture-chinas-secretive-new-submarine-type-093b
Sir,
Why the world (and even India) now silent about China-Pakistan WMD nexus.
This is proved beyond doubt that from Chasma, Pakistan transfer all spent fuel to China, China have a unsafeguarded reprocessing facility with capacity of reprocessing 50 tonne-heavymetal/year. Which means production of around 0.5-1 KG of Pu per year for Pakistan .
Even after there are cases when Pakistan sending equipments like triggering mechanism to DPRK.
Now we even know Companies itself that supplying WMD equipment & material to Pakistan.
""""They added that that nuclear materials supplied to the PAEC by Chinese entities have also found their way to North Korea, and that the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA) recently received a written complaint that supplies of a Chinese company, Beijing Suntech Technology Co. Ltd, were being diverted to North Korea by the Pakistani authorities."""""
"""""In another alarming revelation, informed sources said Pakistan has been giving North Korea equipment which has a direct bearing on producing nuclear weapons. Sources said Beijing Suntech manufactures Vacuum Induction Melting (VIM) furnaces that find application in refining hard metals such as uranium and plutonium, which are used in making nuclear warhead cores. Pakistan is known to have procured these items from China and has passed them along to North Korea."""""
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-is-selling-nuclear-materials-to-N-Korea-and-China-knows-it-US-sources-say/articleshow/52867989.cms
Sorry i meant Khushab not Chasma.
To VIKRAM GUHA: Answers to the questions you had asked yesterday:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/defence-ministry-manohar-parrikar-us-howitzer-artillery-2875799/
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Defence-ministry-gives-nod-for-purchase-of-145-ultra-light-howitzers-from-US/articleshow/52916016.cms
Sir,
I want to ask an another question.
Did DRDO developing anykind of laser or GPS based rounds for Dhanush? Similar to what Excalibur and GP6?
As I am unable to find anything on such? And if answer is no, then why not Indian Army demanding such solutions?
I dont know but, this is wonderful Forward Artillery observer pinpointing target using laser.
Hi Prasun da
You had rightly said to Vikram Guha yesterday only and it came true today..The BJP govt has been very slow when it comes to defence..Carbine procurement still in limbo..Navy helicopters hanging for a long time..Rafale deal yet to be final..some tenders canceled..transport aircraft still not final..country air defence still obsolete..Only big deal this Govt has done is Chinnok and apache.I think this Govt is doing avaerage and not that good..even on economy,BJP s center of attarction is doing ok and not booming ...Parikkar is just a litte upgraded version of Antony..he has been a disappointment..
Can you shed some light on what is going to happen to the CQB carbine procurement? The 16 helicopters from US for navy? and the aircraft for which airbus and tata are offering C295?
hi prasun
it seems the Brahmos has been test flown on the su -30. Is the target data generated by the SAR mode of the radar or previously input . Can the sukhoi radar do basic target search up to 500km so as to make use of the full envelope of the brahmos.?
does the brahmos, make the longrange ramjet missile project redundant ?.
Is worth upgrading these old soviet missile whose characteristics are well known.?
Thanks Prasun Da.
Once again your predictions are bang on. DAC indeed cleared the purchase of M777.
(1)I am sorry, I should have provided the link yesterday. So here it is, it refers to 6 Next Gen Missile Vessel but doesn't say which foreign vendor will be awarded the contract
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/defence-ministry-nod-to-buy-145-ultra-light-howitzers-worth-rs-5000-crore-from-us/articleshow/52917637.cms
(2) Also read on Vijainder Thakur's twitter post that Indian Navy might purchase Directed Energy Weapons from US. Any truth in it?
Thanks again
VIKRAM
To RAD: Yes indeed it has & have just uploaded the data & related slides above, which will hopefully be enough dope to keep you high-n-hooked-on over this weekend (LoLz!). The SAR mapping mode of the RLSU-30MK NO-11M 'Bars' PESA-MMR will acquire the static target, following which new positioning coordinates will be fed into the BrahMos-A's on-board Tamam-supplied RLG-INS. Only then will be the BrahMos-A become ready for launch. About 20km away from its designated target, the BrahMos-A's on-board SGH X-band SAR monopulse seeker go in active mode for scanning for the target & once its target recognition algorithm obtains a positive fix, the missile will home in in a top-attack mode. The 290km-range supersonic BrahMos-NG now under development will be the next-generation standoff PGM for the IN & IAF. No need therefore for any other ramjet-powered missile. The S-125's target illuminators are as powerful as those of the MIM-23B I-Hawk & the only way to avoid being hit by the SAM is to either duck & fly at tree-top height, or abort the mission.
To VIKRAM GUHA: Not from the US, but from Israel. The DRDO too is working on new-generation laser effectors that can be both truck-mounted as well as on shipborne turrets.
To ARPIT KANODIA: No, the DRDO has yet to do any practical work on developing such rounds. The key technology to be mastered here is the system-on-chip that contains an embedded GPS transponder (transmitting & receiving positional coordinates from the IRNSS GPS constellation) that will need to be interfaced with the projectile's trajectory-control system. This same technology will also have to find application on board Nirbhay cruise missiles & Sudarshan LGBs, thereby making them dual-mode guidance PGMs.
Sir, The Brahmos-A Sukhoi is not the first heavy mrca and supersonic MRCM combo. The Russians have already achieved this on the Su-33 flanker D. It can carry a Zh-41 Mach 4.0 ascm on its centreline hardpoint.
DAC also cleared a proposal for armoured fighting vehicle protection and countermeasures thru the indigenous route. Does this include only BMP-2 IFV or tanks too? Will it include armour upgrades like add on applique composite and new gen era along with slat armour and hard kill APS suite or just the APS system. pls explain .
To RITESH: When was the Su-33 last seen in flight? The entire Su-33 fleet has been decommissioned & the Russian Navy will no longer use it & has instead opted for the MiG-29K. So, in terms of availability, the Su-30MKI/BrahMos-A combination remains the only operational capability today. Even the Yakhont/Su-30SM combination has not yet been fielded by Russia. The DAC approval for issuing RFIs for self-protection suites for armoured vehicles applies only to the first 310 T-90S MBTs of the IA. It will include laser warning sensors & APS.
To VIKRAM GUHA & RAD: Have updated the narrative above with additions regarding the NGMV, SW-ASW vessel reqmt & the MMCB reqmt.
To BIRBAL: As the number of SAMs go up with the availability of VLS cannistered rounds, the number of MLUs per Battery goes down from six to four. One Sqn will therefore have 12 MLUs with a total of 98 cannistered Barak-8s.
Prasunda THANKS for the answer... And REALLY Very GOOD upload regarding the NGMV, SW-ASW vessel reqmt, NOT to be found anywhere else, that I think will REALLY keep all of the Blog readers HIGH-n-Hooked-on over this weekend........:)
CMNs C-Sword NGMV's Design looks abit like the US Navy's DDG1000 specially on the front and looks sexy.... Who do you think has the highest chances of WINNING the contract?? I remember you saying that the Visby class of NGMVs has Higher chances of winning...!!
Which SR-SAM system do you think has HIGHER chances of getting SELECTED for the type point-defence missile system (PDMS) ?? Is it going to be the Python-5 SAM system OR the C-DOME or Barak-1 or some others..!! I think i remember you once saying that IIR-guided SAMs provides BETTER anti-missile defence coverage than radar guided ones... Correct me if i am wrong.
Have a NICE weekend Prasunda.
Brahmos on Su-30MKI was long awaited. Thanx, it is getting fulfilled now.
Prasun'da If everything goes alright by 2030 IN is going to field (3 Kolkata,4Vizag,7P-17A) total 14 new capital ships.So is there a chance that IN can order a light frigate based on kamotra class with BARAK-8,MF-STAR just like the design GRSE proposed for Phillippines navy ? ALSO Prasun'da if a SU-30mki with its EL/M-2060p sar pod picks out enemy movements can it relay that data straight to a tank crew, artillery battery?
hi prasun
a report ask for a anti ship missile able to stop a mach 3 missile . What are the options for india regarding that.
why cant the forces use armour cladding on the sides of buses carrying them , albeit with a weight penalty and stop losses to men , more importantly morale.
hal claims they went about integrating the brahmo?s without the help of irkut the original developer, another lie.? Who made the pylons for it?.
The only way to get a system on a chip for gps irnss guided projectiles is to get help from Israel. You cant trust the drdo guys for another 10 years to develop that . I believe it has to with stand some mind boggling 20,000 g`s ? prasun please elucidate.
Sir..What's the status of Nirbhay and Rustom..we barely get to hear anything positive on them through open-source...what are the bottlenecks that are restraining us technology /people/process/
Hi Prasun,
What's your take on China opposing Indian's entry into the NSG plenary session held recently.
Regards,
Anand.
The Brahmos A still has 290Km range. Now that India is a member of the MCTR club can't the range now be extended? India leased the sole Akula because of the MCTR restrictions. Should this not now be possible for India to buy it outright and a subsequent one with combat armour? What other options are now on the cards now that the MCTR restriction has been dealt with?
The Brahmos A is same as the ground or sea launch? except that is to program to be Air to surface. yes? as there reports of ground test done for the Brahmos A as in the case for the Astra
A Nutter Q: Can this be used to hit an air target (Over kill!!) as we have cases where an USAF F15 took out an Iraq AF Chopper with an LGB
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/nsg-appoints-nuclear-envoy-to-panel-for-india/article8774222.ece
---It happens that India's hope for entry in NSG is not over yet. How much whining be made by some section of our media.
@Pierre Zorin
Buying Akula & its cruise missiles is not the problem of MTCR, but of NPT.
Hello Prasun,
Can India defend its NSG membership without signing NPT??? If yes, why not Pakistan? The question is logical.
1) Can the G3OM chip on the Brahmos be used on future PGM and smart artillery rounds?
2) Is the YJ-12 and YJ-18 in operational service? The Chinese have also reverse-engineered the P-270 Moskit, under the name CX-1 (not to mention reverse-engineered Kh-55). What platforms are these missilles for? The French also have a supersonic air-to-ground missile with the nuclear ASMP-A. I'm guessing the IAF will want to nuclearize the Brahmos-A.
3) It's the Indian decision makers fault if they want to depend solely on the OFB. It's akin to shooting oneself in the foot if you ask me. It boils down to whether labour unions or national security is more important. If private defense companies want to grow, they need continual investments to expand their capabilities. However, investments are based on guaranteed future sources of revenue, and the MoD is not willing to guarantee anything. Thus, headlines like 100% FDI are meaningless when the MoD can't even send the right signals.
4) Why does the IN heavily depend on ship-based ASW vessels when most submarines could technically use their cruise missiles at standoff ranges or even their HWTs if they were cornered?
5) Now that India is in the MTCR, can India co-develop the Arrow ABM system with Israel? And technically, is the land-based SM-3 ABM system on the table?
6) Is the IN's future SSN class currently being built in Russia?
Is there a requirement for the RQ-4 or MQ-4C ISR platforms?
http://china-defense.blogspot.jp/2016/06/run-loud-run-shallow.html
--- is this unusual for China?
Ground Reports on Pakistan’s Frontier Corps at Various Western Border Locations:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM1eJG9TtuY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZD32Cz6o7g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhbSjLi7cHs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-nEVRKSiJk
Picturesque ISPR-produced documentary on PA’s air-maintenance from Skardu using AS.550 Fennec: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZb-ro4ai7U
Sindh Police’s SSU SWAT Unit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRxhNemyQao
To BHOUTIK: Not at all. The flotilla is on its return journey back to its homeport at Yulin in Hainan Island after completing its 6-month-long operational patrol, which began last December. I was tracking it all along.
To SOUBHAGYA: How can India sign the NPT when China keeps insisting that India can sign the NPT only as a non-nuclear weapons state? The compromise is for India to become an associate member of the NPT as was proposed by Dr Mohd El Baradai of the IAEA in the previous decade.
To G: BrahMos-A is lighter than BrahMos-1 because the former does away with the booster of the latter. BrahMos-A is an autonomously self-guided missile & only in the terminal phase is its X-band SGH seeker activated. So how can it function as an AAM? It isn't a beam-rider like any BVRAAM or LGB.
To PIERRE ZORIN: Why should the BrahMos-A require range extension beyond 290km when the IAF has already inducted into service the 550km-range BrahMos-1 Block-3 that is surface-launched from MALs?
To ANAND: China has left the door half-open for India's entry into the NSG by saying that it is open to exploring out-of-the-box solutions. By this it means it wants India to give something back in return, i.e. renounce its claims to PoK so that the CPEC can be saved & by consequence Pakistan's nuclear WMD arsenals can remain safe. But India won't bite since the prospect of a Pakistan armed with submarine-launched ballistic or cruise missiles is an unthinkable option. Even the US, Russia, UK, France & Israel & other members of the NSG barring China are against the prospect of Pakistan acquiring a survivable sea-based nuclear WMD deterrent, since Pakistan after acquiring this capability, will use it to claim leadership over all other 'brotherly' Muslim countries. That's why several Muslim countries too are opposed to Pakistan's quest for acquiring SLBMs & SLCMs. So, we just have to wait for 2018 when Pakistan will have to be de-nuclearised & only after that the coast will be clear for India to become a signatory to the NPT & also become a member of the NSG.
To BIRBAL: The best PDMS option remains a VL-Python-5.
To PIERRE ZORIN: Watch this beautiful documentary, aired recently, on the Shia Hazaras of Afghanistan's Bamiyan province & how/why they cherish (unlike those sub-continental morons who claim that civilisation with Mohd bin Qasim's conquest of Sindh) their Buddhist civilisational legacy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9M2IZkk3s4
Hi Prasun,
I stumbled upon this link recently. Any truth in this?
https://storify.com/drgpradhan/ajai-shukla-a-journo-a-runaway-col
Best Regards
Raj
Sir wtf is this:
http://www.aviationindia.net/2016/06/no-air-force-one-for-pm-modi.html?m=1
Air India will continue to operate the PM' Air India one when they switch over to B777s??? WTH?? How is this a safe option and why has the PM made such an unbelievably stupid decision? There is a reason the IAF were pitching to operate these birds themselves. What will happen now is no different to the present arrangement wherein the 777s will be part of the regular Air India fleet and pulled out for PM/President use when needed. Will these birds even feature the full defence suite and interior customisation that is possible with this arrangement? Look at Air Force one it is 24/7 with USAF meaning they can ensure every nut and bolt is correct and they know what has been done to the plane.
And the worst part of all this is that the pilots will be COMMERCIAL pilots not military IAF pilots, what stupidity is this? What do commercial pilots know about performing this kind of high risk mission?
Unbelievable, what chamchas we are.
Dear Prasun,
http://idrw.org/brexit-happened-due-jihad-says-hafiz-saeed/
LET is telling because of Jihad Brexit Happend. Is it True.
Please comment.
Thanks
S.Senthil Kumar
Prasun,
See this:
http://www.livefistdefence.com/2016/06/revealed-the-lca-tejas-that-the-iaf-has-chosen.html
Has the F414 engines from GE for Tejas MK-2 has not been ordered yet?
To HANUMAT: LoLz! The writer is contradicting himself. This is what he had uploaded earlier:
http://www.livefistdefence.com/2010/10/ge-statement-f414-powered-lcas-mission.html
And then there are these:
https://www.ge.com/in/sites/default/files/GE-India-aviation-factsheet.pdf
http://www.janes.com/article/52873/india-expects-first-engines-for-tejas-mk-2-to-arrive-by-year-end
http://idrw.org/ges-f414-ins6-engine-for-tejas-mk-ii-on-schedule-ceo-of-ge-india/
http://www.airforce-technology.com/news/newsindia-jet-engines-tejas-lca-supply-contract-us
Prasun da,
the following article strikes a positive, upward note on Pakistan's economy though the author's view on CPEC maybe wrong. Kindly comment.
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0Z50XQ?utm_content=buffer04642&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Also, Iran's economy still seems to be in doldrums, what are your thoughts?
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/06/iran-industry-mercantile-exchange-trade-drops-rouhani.html
Thanks
To ANUP: For the time-being kindly accept this explanation: I have been to & seen the future & have returned back to the present.
AFTER that event really takes place, I will be in a position to reveal the real truth, provided I'm still alive by then (since no mortal human being can predict his/her time & date of death).
All contracts already inked with Finmeccanica's subsidiaries will be honoured & serviced.
To BLACKURRANT: The detaline of that article was over 1 week old, meaning the story was drafted a fortnight ago! Situation & circumstances have changed since then, especially in Karachi. Law-and-order situation is still quite bad because countrywide de-weaponisation isn't taking place, nor are the Sindh Rangers being allowed to venture out into interior Sindh, where there are more than 2,200 unregistered Madrassas functioning. Of course the pumping of some US$6 billion in concessionary loans by China for constructing coal-fired thermal power stations & some hydel power projects will help Pakistan overcome its now critical power shortages by early 2019, which in turn will spur industrial growth. But agricultural sector indicators show that the majority of the workers in this sector remain unemployed due to negative growth in this sector, especially for fiscal year 2015.
Iran, blessed with rich hydrocarbon resources, will be able to pull through, unlike Pakistan. The short-term cirsis of Iran is in turn a boon for countries like India, since India being a buyer of Iranian crude, can in turn prevail on Iran to continue with the practice of barter-trade, i.e. procuring consumer goods in large quantities from India similar to what Iran had done during the sanctions regime.
Prasun K. Sengupta said...
To ANUP: For the time-being kindly accept this explanation: I have been to & seen the future & have returned back to the present.
.....haha GOOD sense of HUMOR Prasunda
AFTER that event really takes place, I will be in a position to reveal the real truth, provided I'm still alive by then (since no mortal human being can predict his/her time & date of death).
.....I wish the Prophet lives on for another HUNDRED years to ENLIGHTEN us..
Pierre Zorin said...
Yes saw it. So sad and so true. ....American Zbigniew Brzezinski sowing the seed of Taliban : I quote "you will prevail because your cause is right and God is on your side" to thousands of Muslim Afghan Mujahideen. Today the US claims to be the champion of freedom and democracy and yet almost the entire world has become unsafe due to American interference and the old British divide and rule doctrine! "
This is what happens when one works through ANOTHER'S Mind, when one doesn't have his/her own Thinking Power.... CHAOS, DISORDER, MAYHEM.... whatever you want to call, in Prasunda's words HEADLESS CHICKEN...
It seems the timeline that you foresaw WRT to the Tejas is corect. Even HAL admits that 20 LCAs will be complete only by 2018 at the earliest . At this rate the the number of this version of the LCA will not number more than 40 (being optimistic) . It is becoming obvious that the IAF is waiting on the MK2 and going slow on the MK1 no matter what the chest thumpers would have you believe.
Pakistan will be de-nuclearised after 2018 because before that it will become stark clear that Pakistan666 has supplied and passed on the nuke items and relevant technologies to the North Korea. North Korea itself will be able to expose these details to the world with corresponding proof. Then after Israel, Russia and US will take on Pakistan to successfully cleanse out their made in china nukes. Bhopali AQ Khan will be painfully twisting in his grave.
Thanks to YouTube I can visit events such as Eurosatory. If anyone has any doubts as to how far technologically IA is lagging then they ought to attend such events. Of special interest was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5B55Vz0Hek - Israeli offers. Instead of running around like a headless chook the mandarins in MoD ought to focus on strategic thinking - form an alliance with a partner such as Israel and learn the wares. But I guess if one didn't know what one is aiming at how will one know what weaponry to arm oneself with! Sheer courage, manpower and will are the three things have pushed on the armed personnel but technologically it's like islands of excellence in the sea of mediocrity.
http://www.janes.com/article/61829/india-looks-to-germany-s-atlas-elektronik-for-heavyweight-torpedoes
Dear Prasun, is it just speculation?
Hi
As per news india has offer for F21 and Sea hake mod 4 from Germany.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYvt3tU2yqU
This video showcases 140 Km version of sea hake ER torpedo . Is this torpedo of interest to IN as this can be used using GPS navigation.
Hi,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M85TPulhURE
Video from 5:40 sec . Lockheed martin new miniature missile against rockets . Can this be used at borders to destroy rockets fire from pakistan side???
Prasun Da,
1. According to this ET report, India is still interested in Israel's Arrow 2. Any truth in it?
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/india-joins-mtcr-7-things-the-country-stands-to-gain/articleshow/52934056.cms
2. India was supposed to purchase the MQ 4 Triton from US. Is that deal going to happen? It seems India is more interested in purchasing Predator .
Thanks,
Vikram
To VIKRAM GUHA: LoLz! Such fairy-tales can only emanate from someone who perceives herself as being 'Alice in Wonderland'. The writer's News-Desk Editor should have asked her to reconcile her 'perceptions' with all that which is now in the open domain about the IAF's & RM's interest in the Almaz-Antey S-400 LR-SAM's still-under-development TBN versions. I would have loved to watch the story-writer's totally perplexing & horrified facial expressions. 2) Why should the IN be interested in acquiring something that's very much similar to what it already has in the form of Heron-1s? Truth is, both the IAF & In want to graduate on to the next capability-stage, i.e. turbofan-powered Avengers from US-based General Atomics.
To VISHAKH & VED: Looks like these 'desi' journalists have yet to discover the existence of a product called the F-21 torpedo from DCNS! Whay does one do with a 140km-range torpedo when even a combination of hull-mounted panoramic sonars & towed-array sonars can give a warship an underwater surveillance outreach of no more than 20nm?
To PRAV: 2019 will be a more realistic figure. And even these 20 SP-series will all be IOC-standard. None of them will have OBOGS or fully retractable inflight refuelling probe or MAWS or internal ASPJ or wide-band RWRs. Neither will the follow-on 20 in FOC configuration will be built because HAL has secured approval to develop a re-engineered Tejas Mk.1 to SOP-18 design standard which HAL claims will be lighter by 750kg. Exactly how HAL will achieve this target without stretching the Mk.1 airframe by 1 metre (which is reqd if all the above-mentioned add-ons are to be internally accommodated) remains to be seen.
It will also be worthwhile to list out in chronological order all the milestones related to the R & D cycle & FSED cycle of the LCA Mk.1. Only then will one be able to gain a true perspective & contextualisation of the entire R & D effort.
hi prasun
you have mentioned that the sonars and towed arrays cant detect subs above 20nm ie aprox 37 km . There have been reports that the atlas towed array and the sonars do detect subs at a distance of 100km way above the ranges of some torpedoes . In That case why would atlas and others design torpedoes that have 100km plus range? It can be used by firing a torpedo at a naval base say vizag while staying 140 km away and silently leave the area.
what is the actual model of predator that is being imported , the B or C version? there seem to be a lot of conflicting reports?.Will th e US allow it to be armed?.
hi prasun
Is the claim that the new helina seeker 640 x 512 IIR was developed in india by imarat true or false ? I believe we imported the previous one from france .will it be use full to develop a SALH version of the helina which would be cheaper and hence have a capacity like the hellfire?.
Varunastra now has been officially handed over to Indian Navy or officially inducted in Indian Navy. Why'm asking, has Navy tested this torpedo and satisfied with its performance and also all the objectives achieved.
How you can compare Varunastra with its equivalent class.
Dear Prasun,
http://idrw.org/rm-manohar-parrikar-hand-varunastra-torpedo-indian-navy-today/
http://idrw.org/india-looks-germanys-atlas-elektronik-heavyweight-torpedoes/#more-100003
Indian Made varunastra torpedo is Success. Then Why Indian Navy if looking for Germany’s Atlas Elektronik.
Please comment.
Thanks
S.Senthil Kumar
Hi
Varunastra heavyweight torpedo has been selected.
1) What are its specifications and how it stacks against latest torpedoes F21 and Sea Hake 4 ?
2) Does it has Fiber Guided option also ??
3) Will it start replacing Russian torpedoes in IN warships or new warships will use it ??
4) Is there MK2 in pipeline as well ??
5) Can it be used with Scorpene Submarines or INS chakra etc ??
Hi
http://www.indiandefensenews.in/2016/06/russia-suspends-co-development-of-il.html
IS this correct that MTA development has suspended from HAL side??
hi prasun
The varunastra torpedo has been handed over to the navy. How good is it ?. is there some outside input?. Did we make the all important silver zinc batteries?. what would be the approx range?.
Do we have the means to make a full fledged combat management system like the one on the scorpene that integrates all sensors etc?.Is it not better to go with the leaders ie Atlas and develop, sensors like towed array , sonars etc with TOT.
http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2016-06-28/l-3-reports-first-flight-emarss-m-prototype-us-army
Does the IA intend to field such cost effective ISR system with IAI offering its ELI-3120 and Lockheed Martin with its Dragon family of ISR systems on Beechcraft KingAir 350 platform or other suitable aircraft.
Basically you are looking at the MK1-SOP18, being operational sometime in 2022 (especially if you stretch it by 1m). By that time some of the su30 could be retiring too. Will it replaces these too?
RAT666
Sir, another security threat to Pathankot AFB. Since last attack what are the steps taken up by air force to foil/contain such attacks. Are air force personnel trained to counter this without any outside help. Who are responsible for security of air force bases? How additional security arrangements are being catered? Security staff are retired army personnel or serving AF staffs? If AF force staffs, specially technical personnel are engaged in security duty then how is AF managing maintenance task of its fleets? Kindly reply. VMT in advance.
Makes good reading of different blogs. Would be appreciated if the author of the site gives more in-sights in to the Armaments under the anvil of the Indian MoD so as to spirit up the youngsters to be both looking forward. Understand the Brahmos is much more than the 290 Kms as some engine capacity is left vacant. Thats good news for the foes as they are kept guessing and may go to the graves thinink all along.
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