Russian MiG-29 fighter jet crashes, two killed

Two pilots were killed on Thursday when a Russian Air Force MiG-29 fighter jet crashed in the Astrakhan region on Thursday, law enforcement sources said.
“At 4.43 p.m. the aircraft went off the radar screens around 43 km from the town of Akhtubinsk in Astrakhan region,” the source said.
The crash site has been located and an Mi-8 rescue helicopter is on its way to the site.
Akhtubinsk is home to the Russian Air Force’s test and tactical evaluation center, but it is not yet known if the aircraft came from that base.

(RIA Novosti)

IAF to increase level of its force in Andaman and Nicobar

New Delhi, Jun 23 (PTI) In the backdrop of increasing Chinese activities in the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean region, the Indian Air Force is planning to increase the level of its forces in the Andaman and Nicobar islands."Of course, we are but in a planned manner. Its not immediately over a next two or three plans we have to build up Andaman and Nicobar islands," IAF Chief Air Chief marshal P V Naik told reporters here.The IAF chief was responding to queries about the need to build up its assets in the island territory in view of the activities of other forces there.The IAF has in the recent past operated its frontline SU-30MKI air superiority aircraft from its bases in Car Nicobar islands.Reports in the past have suggested that the Chinese Navy has been active close to the Coco Islands in Myanmar and has been operating there.To strengthen its defences, India has already set up a tri-services command under a three-star officer in the region close to the South East Asian countries.IAF has been strengthening its presence in the South to protect the country's interests in the Indian Ocean Region.With the induction of force multipliers such as the mid-air refullers, the Air Force has expanded its strategic reach and is capable of carrying out long range operations.PTI AJD AD

IBN Live

India shortlists PARS 3 LR system of MBDA

PARIS (BNS): The PARS 3 LR guided missile system of MBDA has been short listed for the Indian Army's future air-to-ground missile requirement, the company announced at the Paris Air Show on Wednesday.

Hindustan Aeronautical Limited has already received a proposal from the MBDA Deutschland for its PARS 3 LR multi-target, long range weapon systems for HAL's Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH DHRUV).

“I am delighted that the Indian Army has short listed PARS 3 LR for its procurement project. This represents a further confirmation of the close partnership MBDA has developed with India over the years,” Werner Kaltenegger, Managing Director of MBDA Deutschland, said.

The successful industrial trials confirm the high level of reliability of the PARS 3 LR guided missile system, he added.

Recently in April 2011, three PARS 3 LR firings were carried out from a German Tiger helicopter at the Vidsel test range in Sweden by MBDA Deutschland for its export campaign in India.

All three missiles were equipped with live warheads and all three struck their intended targets at the optimal hit points.

Two firings were carried out within one minute of each other, the first against a static target at a range of 7,000 m and the second against a moving target at a range of 700 m. The third firing was carried out with the helicopter in fast forward flight against a static target at a range of 7,000 m.

Brahmand

'Oz may lift ban on exporting uranium to India'

Melbourne: In a bid to strengthen bilateral ties, Australian government could review and lift the long standing ban on uranium export to India later this year, a media report said on Thursday.

"Later this year, the (Julia) Gillard Government is likely to take two very big decisions affecting relations with the US and India. It will provide much greater access for US military forces to northern Australia. This could ultimately lead to US ships being based in Australia.

"And it will likely lift the ban on selling Australian uranium to India. Both decisions should be seen against the backdrop of China," The Australian said.

Expert on foreign affairs Greg Sheridan in the article said: "I now believe senior ministers within the Gillard government will make a serious attempt to change this policy at Labor Party's national conference in December."

A resolution could take one of two forms -- it could simply allow an exception for India, with appropriate safeguards or allow federal cabinet the authority to make an exception where it wants to, provided various safeguards were met.

"Earlier this year, Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna met the Australian authorities including Resources Minister Martin Ferguson where the uranium talks were raised."

Australia had maintained its stand on not selling uranium to India as it has a policy of exporting the radioactive element only to the signatories of NPT.

The report cited that all big nuclear nations were now offering nuclear trade with India and the US had signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with India and secured support for this from Nuclear suppliers group.

"This is not an issue about the security of uranium supply for India. Rather, it is a determination to make the leap to real strategic partnership with India.

"New Delhi is too proud to make a public fuss about Australia's uranium policy, and the hypocrisy of our selling uranium to China while we refuse to do so for India. But the Australian position is a huge road block to a real strategic partnership," the report said.

The expert said that it was of first order importance for Canberra as commercially India was Australia's next China.

"Indian investment is already making a big difference in our resources sector," the report out.

It further commented that even more importantly the US-India-Indonesia-Australia relationship was essential to Canberra's ability to manage successfully the growing power of China.

"The only way we can become of genuine strategic consequence to India is through fulfilling a historic role of providing energy security, and in particular uranium. Such a policy reform would mean a big fight for the Gillard government with the Greens and with the far Left of its own party," the report added.

PTI / Zeenews

CAE-built C-130J simulator for IAF to Arrive in Feb 2012

(Defenseworld) : The C-130J full-mission simulator being designed and manufactured for the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be ready for training by February 2012. It will be installed at the Hindon Air Force Station near New Delhi.
CAE is currently developing the C-130J simulator for the IAF under subcontract to Lockheed Martin, who is providing the simulator to the IAF as part of the overall acquisition of six C-130J aircraft.

The C-130J simulator for the IAF is currently at the CAE USA facility in Tampa, Florida, where it is undergoing software and systems integration as well as final assembly and testing.

The simulator is scheduled for power-off at CAE?s facility this October, at which time it will be shipped to India. The C-130J full-mission simulator for the IAF is on-schedule to be ready-for-training in India by February 2012.
?Over the past two decades, CAE has delivered more training systems for the C-130 than any company and we will be pleased to welcome the Indian Air Force to the long and growing list of militaries who train their Hercules aircrews on CAE-built simulators,? said Martin Gagné, CAE?s Group President, Military Products, Training and Services.

No plan to buy F-35: Govt

(The Financial Express) : India has officially put a full stop to the frantic US pressure to enter the $10.4-billion race for 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA). Reacting to media reports that the US may offer F-35 fighter jets to re-enter the MMRCA race, the official spokesperson in the ministry of defence (MoD), Sitanshu Kar, told FE that, “We have progressed a lot in the MMRCA programme, we have crossed a lot of stages that have become part of history.”
“It is too late in the day for any new entrant,” said a senior Indian Air Force (IAF) officer on condition of anonymity.
Industry sources, agreeing with the government’s decision not to allow any new entrant in the already closed race, said: “It is a very interesting situation. The trials are over. The commercial bids are expected to be open shortly. Discussions on offset commissions are progressing well. While one government is offering its best machine, it will be India’s call finally.”
However, the source added that “it will be unfair to the shortlisted contenders”.
The government has shortlisted the European consortium Eurofighter’s Typhoon and the French Dassault’s Rafale fighter aircraft.
Lockheed Martin’s offering, the F-16IN, was eliminated from India’s $10.4 billion, along with rival Boeing’s F-18IN Super Hornet offering. The MMRCA deal was touted as the ‘mother of all defence deals’ in the international defence industry.
Though the Indian Air Force never seemed very interested in the F-16 Falcon from the US-based Lockheed Martin, one of the several reasons for the aircraft not being in the race could be the fact that fact that Pakistan also flies F-16s. Also Lockheed Martin could have run into problems in meeting the industrial offset provisions, given its lack of penetration in India.
India has been invited to F-35 events. With potential US order numbers dropping, India could have joined the elite programme. However, India chose to join hands with Russia for its Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) programme, which offers a semi-indigenous alternative.
The F-35 jet is still in development and the planes would cost about $133 million each. The Pentagon plans to buy more than 2,400 of them, which means that at an estimated $382 billion, it is Pentagon’s most expensive weapons programme ever. A rough estimate has it that at $133 million per unit, the cost of acquisition for the MMRCA would go up by 50 per cent should the IAF opt for the F-35. This would inflate the $11-billion MMRCA tender to $17 billion.

Antony for indigenous weapon systems suited to Indian climate

(IBN Live) : New Delhi, Jun 22 (PTI) Observing that imported weapon systems come with "hidden costs, time and cost overruns", Defence Minister A K Antony today asked the domestic industry to develop systems as per the country's climatic conditions. "Imported systems and technology come with hidden costs, time and cost overruns," he said while addressing a seminar on standards for quality and empowerment here. Antony said imported weapons did not always suit India's climate and technology should be developed keeping in mind Indian conditions. "There have been instances where systems developed by other nations work well in cooler climates and at lower temperatures, but the efficiency of the product and technology goes down in nations with warmer climate like ours," he said. Antony said to achieve the exacting quality standards of our armed forces the defence industry needed to invest more in Research and Development. "Both the Defence PSUs as well as the emerging private sector will have to invest more in Defence R&D, something like the pharma sector has done," the Minister said. He said there is need for investing in defence industry, more so in terms of faith and confidence in capabilities. "We must gradually reduce our reliance on foreign suppliers considering that transfer of technology is easier said than done," he said. The Defence Minister said the defence forces must be given the choice among the best technologies available as "greater competition will lead all the participants in the Defence Sector to raise productivity levels � both in terms of quality and quantity," he said.

Raytheon in $23 million deal for India military air traffic upgrade

(The Economic Times ) : LE BOURGET, PARIS: Radars and missiles major Raytheon has bagged a $23.2 million contract from Tata Power Strategic Electronic Systems in a programme to automate air traffic management systems of the Indian Air Force .

Company officials taking part at the Paris Air Show here, said the contract was part of the IAF's project for modernization of its airfield infrastructure (MAFI). The project aims to make all IAF air bases capable of handling all types of modern transport and fighter aircraft at all times. Tata Power Strategic Electronic Systems is the prime contractor of the project, which is undertaking the programme to upgrade 30 airbases of IAF in the first phase of the project.

Raytheon also has tie-ups in India with L&T and BEL, and is eyeing a bigger presence in India in the long term.

In the MAFI project, Raytheon Network Centric Systems will supply a variant of its globally deployed AutoTrac family of air traffic management systems. Raytheon NCS command and control systems vice president Andy Zogg said the company's AutoTrac system would provide IAF with a modern automated systems backbone for easier and rapid incorporation of new tools and functionality as they become available.

The US-based $25-billion Ratyehon has a presence in electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the area of sensing, and offers a broad range of mission support services, among others.

The Indian defence market has attracted the attention of defence and aerospace players at the Paris Air Show here, particularly in the backdrop of projections that the country's defence market could be in the range of $ 80 billion over the next 4-5 years. There are also expectations among participants here that the Indian defence sector would opt for unmanned air vehicles, tactical missiles destroyers and more radar-based warfare systems in the coming years.

China Plans Aircraft Carrier Test Next Month

  

(NavalToday) : China is planning an initial sea trial of its first aircraft carrier next month, a Hong Kong newspaper said Tuesday, a move likely to further worry neighbors amid heightened tensions over territorial disputes.
Some form of limited testing of the ship is planned to coincide with celebrations of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party on July 1, the Hong Kong Commercial Daily said.
The newspaper reported earlier this month that a top general, Chen Bingde, told it that the carrier was being outfitted, the highest-level confirmation by the secretive military that work is under way. Chen refused to give a timetable for its completion.
China has spent the best part of a decade refurbishing the former Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag after it was towed from Ukraine in 1998, and the carrier program has been widely known for several years.
Activity aboard the ship, docked in the northern port of Dalian, has picked up in recent days, with photos on military enthusiast websites showing workers removing heavy equipment from its sloped flight deck.
The newspaper said the ship will be formally launched next year on Oct. 1, China’s national day, after workers complete the installation of weapons systems and other equipment.
The still-unnamed ship was bought as an empty shell without engines, weapons systems, or other crucial equipment and isn’t believed to have traveled before under its own propulsion. Years of sea trials and flight training are needed before it will be fully operational.
Once launched, it is expected to primarily serve as a training vessel for the navy and for naval pilots, while China moves swiftly to build its own carriers.
The carrier’s move toward operability raises the stakes for Washington, long the pre-eminent naval power in Asia, and jangles the already edgy nerves of China’s neighbors upset with what they see as Beijing’s more assertive posture in enforcing claims to disputed territories.
Over the past year, China has seen a flare-up in territorial spats with Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam and seen its relations strained with South Korea — all of which have turned to Washington for support.
(chron)

Russia blasts U.S. Navy maneuvers near Georgia

(RIA Novosti) :Russia is outraged at the maneuvers of American USS Monterey cruiser carrying the AEGIS air defense system near the Georgian coast on the Black Sea, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The U.S. warship arrived for joint exercises with Georgia as part of the Phased Adaptive Approach program designed to shape the European segment of the U.S.-led project to build a global missile defense system, the Trend news agency said.
"The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier expressed concern that along with negotiations on cooperation in the global air defense system, [the U.S.] is conducting simultaneous 'reconnaissance' operations near the borders of our country," the ministry said.
Russia has been deeply concerned over U.S. plans to deploy a European air defense system near the Russian borders, saying it threatened its national security. Washington said it needed the system as a shield against possible threats from Iran or North Korea.
"And now this American warship has demonstratively entered the Georgian port of Batumi," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Relations between Russia and Georgia have been complicated in the past decade. Russia has traditionally supported Georgia's breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, while Georgia has been looking to join NATO. In 2008, Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war over the two breakaway Georgian republics, after which Russia recognized them both as being independent states.
"Whatever the explanations are, it is clear that the Georgian authorities will see the incident as encouragement for their ambitions for revenge against the Russian allies of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which is unlikely to help stability in the region," the ministry said.
Russian diplomats said they expected a more constructive approach from U.S. authorities, which would help provide security in the South Caucasus and the Black Sea region as a whole and respect the interests of all local countries.

US may land deal for re-engining of Indian Air Force's Jaguar too

(The Economic Times ) : The US is likely to be the prime beneficiary of yet another lucrative military contract, after the defence ministry withdrew its commercial tender for the re-engining of the Indian Air Force's Jaguar Deep Penetration Strike Aircraft last month.

New Delhi is likely to proceed through the Foreign Military Sales route as the existing defence policy does not allow procurement from a single vendor.

The latest development is likely to propel the US-based diversified conglomerate Honeywell, which was one of the two vendors invited to supply new engines, as the prime contractor for the new engines, especially after British engine-maker Rolls-Royce pulled out of the competition in March 2011. The tender for the re-engining of the Jaguar aircraft, which was cancelled by South Block last month, has been estimated at $670 million, and calls for the supply of between 200 and 250 engines.

"Commercial tenders cannot end up in a single-vendor situation. This (Jaguar re-engining tender) is likely to be a government-to-government deal," a ministry source said on the condition of anonymity.

For the Jaguar re-engining programme, Rolls-Royce, the world's second-largest engine-maker, had offered its Adour MK-821 engine, an upgraded version of the Adour-811 engines that are currently powering the fleet.

In an emailed response to queries sent by ET, the Westminster, London-based company said it has informed the government, IAF and state-owned defence undertaking Hindustan Aeronautics that it "will not be responding to the RFP".

"The IAF RFP issued in November last year and later confirmed at the Bid Conference in Delhi now calls for a new engine not an upgraded engine," the company said in a statement.

However, Honeywell has elected to stay in the competition, through its offering, the F125-IN Turbofan engine. "Honeywell remains fully committed to supporting the Indian Air Force and the Indian Ministry of Defence in their procurement process for an engine upgrade for their fleet of Jaguar aircraft," Pritam Bhavnani, president, Honeywell Aerospace India, wrote in an email.

The IAF, currently, has about 125 Jaguar strike fighters, but the existing engines on the aircraft have been deemed underpowered as per modern-era battlefield requirements, and a decision to install brand-new engines with greater thrust, has been taken.

With Honeywell still angling for the contract, New Delhi is likely to work directly with Washington for the supply of the engines, with the deal being concluded at the government-to-government level, according to informed sources.

The IAF wants to retain its Jaguar fleet and have been insisting that new engines will increase its longevity. Operationally, the the Jaguars have been used by the IAF, with a great degree of success during the Kargil conflict, in conjunction with its Mirage-2000 fighters.

However, upgrades of existing fighter fleets have not met with much success in recent times, with the Mirage-2000 retrofit seemingly in limbo, as the government continues to be at logger heads with French defence vendors Dassault and Thales over costs.

India to get Nerpa Akula-II N-submarine this year: Official

(Hindustan Times) : India would receive its first new generation Nerpa Akula-II class nuclear attack submarine, which is undergoing sea trials in Russia, by the end of this year, a top Russian official has said. "The Nerpa will be handed over to the Indian Navy on lease by the end of this year," Director of Federal Service for
Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS) Mikhail Dmitriyev was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. "Currently the submarine is undergoing sea trials, where the Indian crew is checking the functioning of its all systems and mechanism and are honing their skill for operating the vessel," said the official dealing in foreign military cooperation.
Under a $ 650 million confidential deal, part of the aircraft carrier 'Admiral Gorshkov' package, Russia is to give India the Nerpa on a 10-year lease, to be inducted as INS Chakra.
The Soviet-designed Shchuka B (Pike), NATO codenamed Akula-II, is claimed to be Russia's 'quietest' submarine avoiding detection by enemy sonars.
The Nerpa was to join the Indian Navy as early as 2008. However, an accident in November 2008 delayed the induction of the submarine.
During the sailing trials in the Sea of Japan, 20 people sleeping in the sailors compartment were killed by the deadly mixture of Freon gas due to the unauthorised manipulation of automatic fire extinguishing system.
It led to delay in the formal induction of the submarine by the Russian Navy for subsequent lease to the Indian Navy.
A court of inquiry had established that a cheaper lethal mixture of Freon was filled in the system, which instantly killed the sailors and technical staff of the shipyard.
Had there been normal more expensive Freon gas in the system, the crew would have enough time to put on gas masks and safely leave the sleeping compartment, the probe had revealed.