Russian Air Force to Receive 30 New Fighter-Bombers by 2015

(RIA Novosti) – The Sukhoi aircraft maker will deliver a total of 30 Su-34 Fullback strike aircraft to the Russian Air Force by the end of 2014, the Defense Ministry said.
The Su-34s are manufactured by the Novosibirsk aircraft plant, part of the Sukhoi holding, located in Russia’s Siberia region.
“The current [2013] year plan on the delivery of 14 [Su-34] aircraft under the state defense order will be fulfilled, and the plant has promised to deliver another 16 fighter-bombers next year,” the ministry said in a statement Friday citing a report by the Novosibirsk plant.
The Air Force is due to get a total of 124 Su-34s by 2020 under two contracts with the Sukhoi holding. According to official data, 29 series-production Su-34s have been delivered to the Russian military so far.
A two-seat derivative of the Su-27 fighter, the Su-34 can carry a payload of up to eight tons of precision-guided weapons over 4,000 kilometers.
The aircraft will eventually replace all of the ageing Su-24 Fencer strike aircraft in service with the Air Force and the Navy

Experts brainstorm on anti-submarine systems

Stealth submarines capable of launching long-range missiles are a threat in any naval warfare scenario. Enhancing the detection capability of the anti-submarine warfare systems is of vital importance in such situations.

Indian Navy experts and scientists and engineers from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) met to discuss the challenges in the development of airborne systems and sensors involved in anti-submarine warfare at a national workshop in Kochi on Friday.

"Unlike the threats from the surface and air during any naval war, the threat that comes form under water, from submarines, is the most unpredictable. The biggest advantage in war at sea is having airborne surveillance systems mounted on aircraft or helicopters operating from ships," said the Indian Navy's assistant chief of naval staff (ACNS), Rear Admiral D M Sudan.

Delivering the inaugural address at the workshop, he said that the Navy always supported indigenization in its systems and worked closely with DRDO scientists so that user-inputs can be incorporated in the systems at the design development stage.

"The helicopter-mounted dunking sonar is ideal for detecting submarines. Once the submarine is detected, the helicopters can launch an attack on their own or along with the ship. This is a big advantage against a submarine hiding in the waters," he said, adding that lot of progress has been made on the low frequency dunking sonar (LFDS) which is being developed by DRDO's Kochi-based Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL).

Replying to a query on the sidelines of the workshop, Rear Admiral Sudan said that reorganization of the DRDO into clusters, as recommended by the Rama Rao committee, will help in the laboratory-industry-services relations in the development of indigenous systems.

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) director (R&D) John P Zacharia, in his keynote address, spoke on the need to indigenize and maintain the quality of every bit of the system. "All our computer systems have a micro-processor developed by us. Just like you see the Intel processor for all MS systems, we have fabricated our own and named it Vikram 1601. So no company in the world can hold our work to ransom by denying us technology. We don't use anything from outside. Every bit and piece is developed by our own R&D," he said. - Times of india

China gives Arunachal archers stapled visas

The visa row between the two countries returned to haunt two young archers from Arunachal Pradesh as they could not a board a flight to China on Thursday to participate in the Youth World Archery Championship since they were carrying stapled visas.

An Archery Association of India (AAI) official told TOI on Thursday that the two archers — Maselo Mihu and Sorang Yumi — were the only ones in the 30-member contingent to have been issued stapled visas for the event starting in Wuxi on Saturday.

"We had applied for visa for 24 archers and six officials. All of them were given proper visas apart from these two girls. Twenty-eight of them got their visas at 4 pm while we kept waiting to get visas for these two Arunachal Pradesh girls. We got their stapled visas at 6pm. When we asked the embassy officials about it, they said it will do. They told us to ask the girls to keep the stapled visas carefully," AAI official Gunjan Abrol said.

"But when we reached the airport to catch the 11 am flight, the airlines authorities advised us against sending these two girls since they ran the risk of being deported back to India. The girls were bitterly disappointed to find themselves in such a situation for no fault of them. AAI president VK Malhotra is aware of the development and he will take up the matter with the ministry of external affairs on Friday."

 

Times of india

Helicopter Dhruv clocks 1,00,000 flying hours

The country's first indigenous chopper, Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH -Dhruv), designed, developed, produced and maintained by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to meet the requirements of military and civil operators, today achieved a new milestone of clocking one lakh cumulative flying hours.

The landmark was achieved early in the day today by the IA 3104 of 301 Army Aviation Squadron (Spl Ops).

"It is a proud moment for us that Dhruv has proved its mettle over the years. India is the sixth nation in the world to have the capability to develop helicopters of this class.

Dhruv has been exported to Ecuador, Mauritius, Nepal and Maldives," said HAL Chairman R K Tyagi.

"One lakh hours flown by the machine is an awesome feat to achieve. It is a dream machine for any pilot", said Lt Col Kapil Agarwal who completed the landmark flying hours.

ALH is being operated by the Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Coast Guard, BSF and state governments since 2002, said an HAL statement.

Currently, more than 132 Dhruv helicopters are serving the Indian Defence Forces. HAL has also built 12 civil variant Dhruv helicopters and they are being used by its customers.

According to Bangalore-headquartered HAL, Dhruv is extremely useful to the Indian defence forces in meeting the arduous tasks in the terrains of Himalayas like Siachen Glacier and Kashmir.

It played a key role in rescue operations after the tsunami (2004), flash floods at Leh (2010), earthquake at Sikkim (2011) and the biggest ever helicopter based rescue operation undertaken by Indian defence forces in flood and rain-hit areas of Uttarakhand recently, the defence PSU said.

ALH Dhruv is an all-weather helicopter which can carry 10-16 people at heights of 10,000 feet.  It is a multi-role, multi-mission new generation helicopter in the 5.5 tonne weight class and meets Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) specifications, the company said.

HAL said Dhruv has demonstrated its capability in long distance flights, vertical climb and in maneuvering.

The advanced technology features incorporated in the design of Dhruv include hinge-less main rotor and bearing-less tail rotor, integrated dynamic system encompassing main gear box and upper controls in a single housing, higher powered Shakti engines, integrated architecture display system (glass cockpit), duplex automatic flight control system and redundancy with twin-engine, dual hydraulics and controls.

It also has advanced avionics (communication, navigation & surveillance) and mission systems.

"All this makes Dhruv, a versatile multi-mission, multi-role helicopter capable of operating in all-weather and extreme climatic conditions with high degree of reliability and survivability", the statement said.

NDTV

India test-fires nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile from Odisha

India on Monday test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile with a strike range of 350km from a test range at Chandipur, about 15km from here.

The surface-to-surface missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher in salvo mode from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range at about 9.14am, defence sources said.

"The missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the total launch activities were carried out by the specially formed SFC and monitored by the scientists of DRDO as part of practice drill," the sources said.

"The missile trajectory will be tracked by the DRDO radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations located along the coast of Odisha," they said.

"The downrange teams onboard the ship deployed near the designated impact point in the Bay of Bengal will monitor the terminal events and splashdown," they said.

Inducted into India's Strategic Forces Command in 2003, the Prithvi II missile, the first missile to be developed by DRDO under India's prestigious IGMDP (Integrated Guided Missile Development Program) is now a proven technology, said a defence source.

"The launch was part of a regular training exercise of SFC and was monitored by DRDO scientists," the source said.

Such training launches clearly indicate India's operational readiness to meet any eventuality and also establishes the reliability of this deterrent component of India's strategic arsenal, the source said.

Prithvi is capable of carrying 500kg to 1000kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twine engines. It uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvering trajectory.

The last user trial of Prithvi-II was successfully carried out from the same base on August 12, 2013.

Times of india

India Begins Indigenous Anti-Tank Missile Development Amid Javelin Talks

India has begun working on an indigenous man-portable anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), despite a U.S. proposal to co-produce the Javelin ATGM.
The project — a third generation Nag missile — is unlikely to derail the proposed Javelin deal, which is in only the preliminary stages of negotiation with the U.S., an Indian ministry official was quoted as saying by Defense News.
The Indian Army has a requirement for more than 20,000 third generation man-portable ATGMs, and all attempts to procure them from foreign countries over the past eight years has not been successful.
Israel’s offer of its Spike ATGM was rejected in 2007 because it was the only vendor to respond to the tender. The U.S., meanwhile, refused to transfer technology last year after a proposal to buy the Javelin on a government-to-government basis.
The full details of Washington’s latest Javelin proposal have not been released, but the U.S.wants to sell around 6,000 units within one year of the signing of the contract. In the future, the US would explore co-production of the Javelin and, at a later stage, work on the co-development of an ATGM tailor-made for India, according to Defense News.

The U.S. would also transfer Javelin technology, including the manufacture of the warhead, rocket motor, propellant, guidance and seeker, but no algorithms for guidance.
A team from Raytheon and Lockheed Martin has briefed the Indian MoD on the possibilities to be explored in the Javelin project, an Indian MoD official was quoted as saying in the report.
A Lockheed Martin says Javelin is better than any other man-portable ATGM because it is ejected non-explosively, which is useful to the Indian Army in higher terrain, the report added.
DRDO, meanwhile, has begun work on the Nag missile, which would weigh only 16 kilograms compared to Javelin’s 26 kilograms, the DRDO official was quoted in a report.

The man-portable version of the Nag missile is simpler than the vehicle-mounted version and, as such, could be developed in the next three years.
The Indian Army uses second generation, French-made Milan and Russian-made Konkurs ATGMs, which have a range of less than 2,000 meters.

Defensedworld

IAF Planning fighter plane base in Nyoma in Ladakh, IAF chief Browne says

As part of efforts to build up military infrastructure along the border with China, the IAF on Friday said it plans to develop a fighter aircraft base at Nyoma in Ladakh and is upgrading seven airfields for carrying out 24X7 operations in the northeast.

The service is also considering extending the runway length and upgrading the Kargil airfield close to the Line of Control with Pakistan, its chief NAK Browne.

"Nyoma is an important location for both the Army and the IAF in the south east of Ladakh where we have good weather all round the year... The cost of developing the air base would be around Rs 2,173 crore and it will take 4-5 years to develop it," he said, addressing the 81st Air Force Day press conference.

Browne said the proposal for developing the Nyoma air field was mooted in 2010 with the landing of an An-32 transport aircraft there. It is right now with the finance ministry and is expected to be taken up by the Cabinet next month, he said.

"All types of aircraft including fighters, helicopters and transport aircraft would be able capable of being deployed and operated from there," he said.

Browne said the airbase, located at an altitude of around 13,000 feet, is lower in height than the Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) at Daulat Beg Oldie but was higher than the air bases in Leh and Thoise.

The IAF had recently created a record of sorts by landing its C-130J Special Operations aircraft at the DBO ALG, which is situated at an altitude of over 16,000 feet and is close to Depsang Valley where Chinese troops had infiltrated and pitched the tents for 21 days earlier this year. - Times of india

Russia Considering Offering India Airliner Assembly Deals

(RIA Novosti) – Russia could agree on a deal to start assembling Sukhoi Superjet 100 and Irkut MS-21 passenger jets in India, an official at the Russian Economic Development Ministry said Friday.
Russia is considering a number of projects to promote the country’s airliners “with the possibility of cooperating in their production,” said Yevgeny Popov, who heads the ministry’s department of Asia and Africa, adding that this concerns both the Sukhoi Superjet 100, now being built in Russia, and the next-generation Irkut MS-21, due to enter production in a few years.
He did not provide more details.
Popov made the statement ahead of the 19th meeting of the Russian-Indian intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation in Moscow on Friday.
According to Indian experts, assembling the Russian passenger jets in India could cut production costs per plane by 40 percent, Popov told journalists.
The Superjet 100 is a medium-haul passenger aircraft capable of carrying 75-95 passengers developed by the Sukhoi Corporation in cooperation with US and European aerospace companies.

The MS-21 is a family of twin-engine jet airliners still under development by the Irkut and the Yakovlev design bureau, part of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation. It has a capacity of 150-212 passengers.
India has a long history of building Soviet and later Russian aircraft under license at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), going back to the MiG-21 in the 1960’s, but has only assembled military types. HAL is currently license-building the Russian Su-30MKI strike aircraft in India.

US submits list of 10 defence technologies for transfer to India

The US has submitted a list of 10 defence technologies for transfer to India, bringing it into a small group of closest allies with which America shares such sensitive details without export control.

Informed Indian sources confirmed that the Pentagon has submitted a list of 10 sensitive technologies for transfer from US to India.

New Delhi is "reviewing" these offers and would get back to the United States soon, with its response, they said.

Meanwhile, the US has sought opinion from its strong defence industry to identify next set of technologies which could be shared and transferred to India.

According to US sources, the number of such defence technology transfers could cross 90.

Deputy secretary of defence, Ashton Carter, who is leading unleashing of the defence ties between India and the US through the defence trade and technology initiative, said the US has submitted a white paper explaining where India falls within US export control system.

"The paper we sent them covered several key areas from export controls rules themselves to end use monitoring and the need to identify proposals for co-production and co-development," he said at the Center for American Progress.

"We have demonstrated repeatedly that we can release sensitive technology to India. We've adapted our system in ways that will speed our release process for India, especially in the department of defence, recognizing that for, of course, all partners, this process is subject to case-by-case review and there will always be some technologies that we will keep to ourselves," Carter said.

"We changed our mindset around technology transfer to India in the department of defence from a culture of presumptive no to one of presumptive yes," he said.

Asserting that India has been brought at part with closet of its allies, Carter said the Obama Administration has now included India in the list of "so called Group of Eight" that receives the best of the technologies without export control.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who recently met US President Barack Obama, has said steps have been taken to expand the India-US ties and move away from a buyer-seller cooperation to joint development and production in the field of defence.  - Times of india

US makes India groundbreaking defence offer to co-develop next-generation Javelin antitank capability

In a move reflective of growing defence ties between the two, sealed during last week's visit here of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the US has made India a "groundbreaking collaborative defence proposal" to co-develop with India a next-generation Javelin antitank capability, according to a top defence official.
The proposal addresses a key military requirement for both armies and is an unprecedented offer the US has made unique to India, Deputy Defence Secretary Ash Carter,said Monday at the Centre for American Progress, a Washington think tank.
The Javelin is a manportable, fire-and-forget, antitank missile employed by dismounted infantry to defeat current and future threat armoured combat vehicles.
Carter, who with Indian National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon heads the two countries' Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTI), said the US is committed to continuing to put new ideas on the table. He was reviewing Friday's "successful meeting" between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama, "the strong and rapidly growing defense partnership between the US and India, as we execute.... the rebalance, so-called, to the Asia Pacific region."
Asserting that US and India are "destined to be partners on the world stage," he said, "we're each big, complicated democracies. We move slowly, but over the long run we also move surely. And that to me is the trajectory for us and India in the defence area."
During a trip to India last month he had delivered a second round of potential capability areas of cooperation proposed by US industry. In India, Carter also made sure to hear from senior Indian industry representatives about their ideas for increasing private-sector partnerships.
The push to reach the next level of defence collaboration and co-development with India comes after 15 months of effort between the countries to overcome bureaucratic obstacles to such work under DTI, Carter said. Among the advances made possible through DTI, Carter said, involved export controls. "We have demonstrated repeatedly that we can release sensitive technology to India," Carter said. "We've adapted our system in ways that will speed our release process for India," he added, "especially in the Department of Defence, recognizing that for . all partners this process is subject to case-by-case review and there will always be some technologies that we will keep to ourselves."
Areas of progress include technology transfer, licensing agreements, license exceptions, end-use monitoring and others. "We've also taken unprecedented steps to identify forward-leaning proposals by industry, from industry on both sides for defence items to be co-produced and-the true measure of our common goal-co-developed by the US and India," Carter said.
These include a maritime helicopter, a naval gun, a surface-to-air missile system and a scatterable antitank system, all of which were discussed with Indian officials during his recent visit, he said. "In each instance," Carter noted, "the United States has fast-tracked these projects to ensure that our internal processes are ready to go as soon as the Indian government wants to move forward."
US and Indian research and development experts also play a critical role in areas that include the cognitive sciences and others in which the defence department would incentivise increased cooperation by US defence researchers, the deputy secretary said. "I let the Indian government know last week that I will be incentivising US researchers who seek and find Indian partners in key research areas we identified previously," he added. "We'll ensure that those innovative projects receive priority funding. This is an approach we've only ever taken with the United Kingdom and Australia, and now India will join that company."

 dna india

IAF looking to induct seven more C-17 aircraft: Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne

The Indian Air Force is looking forward to add to its fleet seven more C-17 heavylift aircraft which are capable of ferrying tanks and artillery guns close to the borders with China and Pakistan.
"As far as the transport fleet is concerned, we are looking at inducting six additional C-130J and seven C-17s in the near future," IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne said.
"Also in the pipeline is the procurement of 45 Medium Transport Aircraft, presently, under joint development between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Russia," he said in an interview with Defence Ministry's Sainik Samachar magazine.
India already has placed an order for 10 C-17 aircraft from the US Air Force worth over Rs 20,000 crore and three have already been inducted at its Hindan air base near here.
A C-17 has the capability to land at short airfields such as the Daulat Beg Oldie advanced landing ground in Ladakh sector and carry 150 combat-ready troops to a distance of 4,200 km in one go.
Meanwhile, the IAF chief said the three services are working towards creating a separate command to tackle threats and issues in the Cyber arena which will soon be sent for approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security.
"The Services are working towards the formation of a Tri-Services Cyber Command and a comprehensive draft CCS note has been worked out along with the requirements of manpower and financial costs," he said.
"An interim structure for the cyber command would be formed after the approval of the Defence Ministry and the full fledged command structure would take shape only after the CCS approval," the IAF chief stated.
The IAF chief said the proposed Cyber Command would be fully integrated with the other existing national structures of cyber security.
Browne said with the induction of latest equipment and platform, the force has emerged as a strategic force from being a tactical one earlier. Similar proposals to have a Special Forces command are also pending for approval by the government.

indian express

Akash will protect Pune from aerial threats

DRDO-developed surface-to-air missile system installed at Pune air force station; to be made operational in two months.
Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Pune station will be more secured as Akash, a surface-to-air weapon system, will be made operational in a month or two.
Pune is the second air force station to get the Akash system after Gwalior. “The system has been installed at the Pune air force station and will be made operational in two months,” said Air Commodore Surat Singh, air officer commanding air force station Pune on Monday. 
The IAF started the induction procedure of the weapon system and accordingly 90 per cent of the work has been completed. Vajra squadron has been deployed at the Pune air force station for operations of Akash weapon system and they are currently undergoing training.

What is Akash?

The system has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under its integrated guided missile development programme.

IAF officials at Pune air force station said, “This is the first indigenous surface-to-air missile system and it is lighter compared to earlier Pechora system. The system is connected to radar system which can locate any aerial threat and accordingly will activate the missile. The range of the missile is 30 kilometres,” added IAF officials.

Why Pune deserves it?

Installation of Akash system at Pune Air force station holds significant importance as Pune air force station currently has two squadrons- 20 squadron (Lightening) and 30 squadron (Rhinos) of Sukhoi- 30 MKI.

The base holds importance due to its strategic location as it is situated in the western part of the country.

High-rises around IAF base may cause mishaps

t one end, when the work of the ambitious project of the Indian Air Force — Modernisation of Air Field Infrastructure (MAFI) — is expected to commence in Pune air force base from December, officials are concerned that the increasing number of constructions around the base may cause problems.

Under MAFI, modern Instrument Landing System (ILS) will be installed in Pune. But the high-rise structures constructed by flouting safety norms can cause problems to ILS which can lead to major mishaps.

The project involves upgradation of 30 air bases of Indian Air Force in the country. A pilot project is being carried in Bhatinda. Pune will be the second base where the project will be carried out by the IAF.

Air Commodore Surat Singh, air officer commanding of Pune air force station, said, “The high-rise buildings constructed in close vicinity of the base may block the signals sent by ILS which can cause major mishaps.” Singh added, “To avoid illegal construction activities around the base, we are having constant dialogues with the civic administrations and making sure that the safety norms are not violated.”

Group Captain A Bhadra, chief operations officers of the Pune air force station, said, “According to a gazetted notification of 2007, no construction is permitted within 100 metre range from the boundary wall. The permission is granted to three to four floors within 100 to 500 metre from the boundary wall. However, high-rise constructions which have come up before 2007 are considered legal and we cannot do much about them.”

Flight schedule may be hampered

Group Captain A Bhadra said that flight schedules may be hampered due to the project work. “Initially, the excavation work will be carried out on both sides of the runway without hampering the operations. But once the cable laying work starts, the runway will have to be kept close for eight to ten hours. Most of the work will be carried out during night time due to which night schedule of civil flights is likely to be hampered,” he said.

Air Commodore Surat Singh said that once the MAFI project is completed, it will benefit the civil flight operations.

The ILS will help civil flights for better landing even in low visibility. CAT2, a new airfield landing system will improve air space management. Besides, an embedded lighting also will be installed along the runway.

 

DNA