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June 12, 2014

First Scorpene submarine to be ready by Sept 2016: Admiral Dhowan

Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Robin Dhowan has said that the construction of French-origin Scorpene submarines at Mazagon Dock is progressing well, with the first submarine now scheduled to be delivered by September, 2016.

Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of a Naval Investiture Ceremony on Thursday, Admiral Dhowan said while the Navy intended to take delivery of the first Scorpene diesel-electric submarine, built under Project 75, in September 2016, it would also ensure that the intervening period between delivery of the remaining five was minimised.

Asked about the arrest of two people in an LTC documents forgery case involving 30 navy officials by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Admiral Dhowan said whenever such instances came to the Navy’s notice, it carried out thorough investigation and took decisions based on their outcome.

On the proposed government move to ramp up foreign direct investment (FDI) in the defence sector, he said it was the government’s call and the force would follow “whatever decision taken by the government”.

He said the Navy would host Prime Minister Narendra Modi on board the newly-inducted aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya on Saturday. “We intend to take the PM on board the carrier and showcase various operational activities undertaken by it.”

Admiral Dhowan said the carrier was fully operational and its integral fleet of MiG 29 K fighter jets flown by Indian naval pilots fully integrated to the platform.

The Admiral said operating at sea was not an easy job, but despite the harsh working conditions, navy personnel always wore a smile on their faces. “We are proud of our officers and men.”

At the investiture ceremony earlier in the day, he stressed the importance of team work and training in operating complex platforms in multi-dimensional force.

The Admiral awarded unit citations to destroyer INS Ranvijay, landing ship INS Shardul, submarine INS Sindhuvijay and sail training vessel INS Sudarshini. Shore establishments Naval Ship Repair Yard (Kochi), air station INS Rajali, Naval Aircraft Yard (Kochi), and INS Kadamba, base depot of naval base at Karwar, also received unit citations.

Lieutenant Commander Shailesh Tyagi, a marine commando, was awarded Nao Sena Medal (NM) for gallantry for the second time; while Commander KM Arun Kumar and sailor Krishna Kumar were presented NM for gallantry.

The Hindu

Green nod for radar station at Narcondam in Andamans

After granting green clearance to a major naval infrastructure project at Karwar along the western coast, the environment ministry has now given its go-ahead to install a radar station at Narcondam in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The project was pending for long despite repeated requests from the defence establishment which wanted to install the radar at the strategic location in view of suspected Chinese presence and "listening post" on nearby Coco Island.

Though Coco Island in the Bay of Bengal belongs to Myanmar, China is learnt to have set up extensive infrastructure there.

Environment minister Prakash Javadekar told TOI that the radar project was of strategic important to India. "Only 8-10 people will be employed at the station. It will not in any way affect the natural environment there," the minister said, wondering why such an important project was kept pending for so long under the previous government.

Referring to Coco Island, Javadekar had said on Monday that China has a presence there. "If China is sitting in front and is doing something and we can't even monitor, the country cannot run like that. So these kinds of projects, which are of importance to the country's security, we have started clearing on a priority basis," he had said while addressing reporters at the Indian Women's Press Corps.

Green activists, however, objected to the project when it first came into the public domain a couple of years ago. Pointing out that Narcondam is home to around 300 Narcondam Hornbill, a rare bird found nowhere else in the world, they had demanded that the project not be cleared as it would affect the rare species. They had said clearance to the radar project would be the "death knell for Narcondam Hornbills".

The green signal to the radar station comes after the environment ministry gave clearance to Phase-IIA expansion of the futuristic Karwar naval base in coastal Karnataka, which is designed to give India both strategic depth and operational flexibility on the western seaboard against Pakistan.

The Cabinet Committee on Security had cleared the around Rs 13,000 crore Phase-IIA expansion of the base over two years ago but it was stuck for want of environmental clearance. After the Rs 2,629 crore Phase-I, the Karwar base can berth 11 major warships and 10 yardcraft. The warships include aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. The Navy will be able to berth 32 major warships and submarines after Phase-IIA is completed by around 2020.

Defence news

Road projects along China border to get fast-track approval

After giving two quick green clearances to defence projects, the environment ministry has now decided to fast-track road projects along India-China border. These road projects within 100 kilometres of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) are crucial for troop movements and other related developments for security point of view.

A decision on environmental and forest clearances on building defence infrastructure in areas in the 100 km-range from the LAC can be taken by the state governments concerned, environment minister Prakash Javadekar said. "Construction of roads within 100 kilometres of Line of Actual Control will be given fast-track approval", said the environment minister Prakash Javadekar. A policy in this regard will be formulated very soon, he told reporters. The 4,056-km-long LAC with China touches four states — J&K, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim.
Interestingly, it is the second such decision keeping China in mind.

The ministry has earlier given its go ahead to set up a radar station at Narcondam in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

The project was pending for long despite repeated requests from the defence establishment which wanted to install the radar at the strategic location in view of suspected Chinese presence and "listening post" on nearby Coco Island.

Though Coco Island in the Bay of Bengal belongs to Myanmar, China is learnt to have set up extensive infrastructure there.

Referring to the delays in grating clearances to such vital projects under previous government, Javadekar said, "Delays in Defence projects were due to case by case decision making process. We'll make policy laid decisions. We will put policies in place".

"We are evolving new ways of solutions to the existing problems of environment clearances. We are evolving policy based solutions", he said after his meeting with defence secretary R K Mathur.Mathur met the environment minister with the list of other remaining projects which includes many minor infrastructure projects (permanent stations) for the Coast Guard along western and eastern coasts.

Javadekar is learnt to have assured him that his ministry is committed to stop delays in granting nod to such important projects which are important for national security.- Times of india

June 10, 2014

India to fortify defence along China border, 50 new posts being planned in Arunachal

In a major step to fortify defences along the China border, over 50 new border posts are being planned for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Official sources said a proposal for creating 54 modern posts for the ITBP is under consideration of the Union home ministry after the border guarding force recently submitted a proposal in this regard.

"The home ministry has in principle given its nod for the proposal which is being processed," the sources said.Arunachal Pradesh shares a total of 1,126 km of its international border with China, second in length after Jammu and Kashmir which has a 1,597 km long frontier with India's eastern neighbour.

As part of modernization and better border management planning of India's security mechanism along this border, prone to a spate of incursions, the posts will be, under the proposal, equipped with all the basic gadgets that the troops require to position themselves at these icy heights.

"The new border posts will be solar powered and have space to not only accommodate the regular ITBP guards but also to house a small squad of reinforcements in case of emergencies. The posts will have satellite phone connectivity," the sources said.At present, India has 142 border posts along this 3,488 km long frontier with other border states being Himachal Pradesh (200 km), Uttarakhand (345 km) and Sikkim (220 km).

Arunachal Pradesh, at present, has close to 30 ITBP border posts but a need has been felt to bolster the presence of the paramilitary men in order to meet border challenges and future commitments, they said.

The new posts, the sources said, will also help reduce the distance between two ITBP locations thereby enabling the patrols to coordinate better and keep a tight vigil in this sector which has seen instances of incursions from the other side in the past.

With more posts coming up, a fresh contingent of troops will also be posted to man these locations, which are expected to be sanctioned soon by the home ministry.
According importance to the Arunachal part of the Indo-China border, a sector headquarter (SHQ) of the ITBP has been created in the state capital of Itanagar with close to 10,000 men under its command since 2004, the year when the force was tasked with the job of guarding of the border in this area.

A few posts of the force are located at glacial heights of 9,000-18,700 feet in this sector and they have to face heavy snow and blizzard conditions for a number of months in an year.

The ITBP, a 50,000 personnel strong force, was raised in 1962 in the wake of the Chinese aggression. - Times of india

Government says environmental sanction for defence projects a priority

Environment clearance of national security and defence projects will be taken up on a priority basis and given sanction, the government said on Monday while announcing that the Navy's ambitious Project Seabird in Karwar has been approved.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar also said that on the lines of recently announced online process of submission of applications for environmental clearance, the ministry will initiate a similar process online for "forest clearance" from August 1.
"There is Project Seabird in Karwar. For defence, it is a very significant project....Mumbai is a target as well....An alternative is required and that is why it is a very ambitious and a project of very strategic importance. That too was pending. We have sanctioned it," he told reporters at Indian Women's Press Corps in New Delhi.
Project Seabird (Karwar Naval Base) will be one of the larger naval bases of India and will be completed in two phases. It will house various warships including India's largest warship and aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. Noting that environment was not a "one-way traffic", the minister said that he has decided to give priority to pending defence projects as he thought that if country was secure, then environment will be secure and people will be safe.
"That is why I gave priority to them and started seeing files and many of them I have approved as well," he said. Giving examples of other such pending projects which his ministry is taking up on a priority basis, the minister said that if one goes beyond Andamans, there is a Coco Island which is under Myanmar's occupation but most of the infrastructure there is of China.
"Just in front of that island, there is our Narcondum Island. One radar station has to be established on that island in which 8-10 employees will be stationed. There is no other thing which will create disturbance in the natural environment there....
"....And if China is sitting in front and is doing something and we can't even monitor, the country cannot run like that. So these kinds of project which are of importance to country's security, we have started clearing on a priority basis," Javadekar said.
He said that many projects like establishment of posts for coast guard too had been pending for years and the ministry has started taking up such projects as well as giving importance to keep the long coastline of the country secure especially after the Mumbai attacks.

- DNA

June 9, 2014

BrahMos missile test-fired from warship INS Kolkata

India on Monday successfully test- fired the 290 km-range BrahMos supersonic anti-ship cruise missile from the country's largest indigenous warship INS Kolkata off the coast of Karwar in Karnataka.

The Mazagon Dockyards Limited-built INS Kolkata is yet to be formally inducted into the Navy and will have the capability to launch 16 BrahMos missiles in one go when it enters operational service.

The missile was test-fired from INS Kolkata, which is a new ship under Project 15-Alpha series, off the coast of Karwar on Monday morning and all the parameters were met during the test, defence officials told PTI here.

INS Kolkata is the first of its class of warships in the country and is undergoing extensive trials before its planned induction into the Navy in July, they said.

The Navy has already deployed BrahMos weapon systems on several of its warships including the Russian-origin Talwar Class vessels.

The missile is expected to be carried by all future destroyers and frigates of the Navy and it is also being developed to be offered to the maritime force for being deployed on submarines, the officials said.

The missile has also been inducted into the Army and the Air Force and is being readied for firing from a Su-30MKI combat aircraft.

The weapon system will also have its land version inducted into the Air Force. The Army has deployed it in both the eastern and the western fronts along the borders with both China and Pakistan.

The Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace has developed several variants of the missile for different kinds of warfare and is now developing a much-faster hypersonic version of the weapon system. - Times of india

Indian Army places first Small order for Indian Bofors

Even as summer trials for the indigenous 155mm guns, made on the lines of the Bofors howitzers, are planned this month, the army has placed a part order with the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) to make 20 pieces of these howitzers. This is over and above the guns that are being put up for trials.

"This indicates that the army will be finally inducting the indigenous Bofors. We have already begun procuring material to meet this order" said MC Bansal, chairman of OFB, during a visit to National Academy of Defence Production (NADP). The institute trains officers joining the Indian Ordnance Factory Service (IOFS) cadre.

"We are confident that the guns will pass summer trials also, as there is no room for any doubt. This may be followed by a bulk order of more than 100 guns" said Bansal. So far, as many as 1,800 shells have been fired during the trials, which is probably the highest ever. There was one incident of barrel burst last year, but that was due to defective ammunition in the shell, and not because of the gun's design, Bansal stressed.

OFB is currently designing the 155:45 mm calibre guns, but work is also underway to develop 155x52mm guns, which would have a better range, said Bansal. The army is scouting the global market for the higher calibre guns. Though he did not specify a time frame for it, Bansal said that it is a gradual process and so far certain subsystems of the 155:52 mm howitzer have been developed.

Bansal said OFB will also soon put up carbine machine guns developed jointly with Defence and Research Development Organization (DRDO) for trials. Earlier, there were plans to develop the weapon with Singapore-based ST Kinetics, but the project could not take off following a commission scandal.

He said work on developing the indigenous assault rifle has also been put on the fast track. "There were stoppages during the firing trials conducted last month, but it is a part of product development, and will be come over" said the OFB chief.

At the same time, DRDO has been asked to make certain modifications in the multimodal hand grenade also planned to be manufactured by the ordnance factory. There were problems related to the timing of explosion once the grenade's pin is taken off, which has to be addressed before going ahead with bulk production, said Bansal.

On the government plans to have 100% FDI in the defence sector, he said OFB does not see it as competition, since certain components of strategic importance that do not pass economic feasibility will continue to be made in the ordnance factories.

Defence news

June 5, 2014

Snapshot: Sukhoi 30, Rafale jets at the 5th Indo-French air exercise in Jodhpur

The fifth Indo-French air exercise named 'Garuda-V' began on June 2 at Jodhpur Indian Air Force station. In the joint exercise frontline fighter aircraft of both the countries are taking part.

Indian and French Air Force pilots at a mission briefing during the ongoing Exercise Garuda-V.

IAF Sukhoi 30 and FAF Rafale aircraft lined up during the ongoing Exercise Garuda-V.

IBN Live

June 4, 2014

Modi briefed about INS Arihant, propels India to elite Nuclear club

Earlier this year, India’s first indigenously built nuclear submarine quietly pushed out of its base for sea trials, its 6,000-tonne, 111-metre bulk powered by an 83-megawatt uranium reactor.Earlier this year, India’s first indigenously built nuclear submarine quietly pushed out of its base for sea trials, its 6,000-tonne, 111-metre bulk powered by an 83-megawatt uranium reactor. The submarine is capable of lurking effectively undetectable at depth almost indefinitely, as long as there is food for its 110-man crew. In early 2015, if all goes well, INS Arihant will get the nuclear missiles it is designed to carry.

India will join a club of just six nations with nuclear submarines carrying ballistic missiles — and a doctrinal headache.

For more than a decade now, India has kept warheads separate from the missiles that carry them, in an effort to prevent accidents. In times of crisis — like the 2001-02 standoff with Pakistan — delivery platforms and warheads have been brought together, but by some accounts, even then, they were not mated or joined together for delivery.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was briefed on classified reports calling for a full-time four-star General to take charge of India’s nuclear arsenal — and the case of Arihant explains why.

Nuclear challenge
Last week, Mr. Modi received the most secret briefing he would get — on his role as head of the Nuclear Command Authority, which is empowered to order the nuclear missiles on the Arihant, along with other weapons in the strategic arsenal, to be fired. Mr. Modi, government sources say, was briefed on progress in the submarine tests, as well as the status of the missiles that will arm it.

In March, the Defence Research and Development Organisation conducted the first test of the K-4 missile —capable of delivering a two-tonne nuclear warhead on targets up to 3,000 kilometres away.

Fitted four apiece on to the three nuclear submarines India plans to operate, K-4 will ensure that the country has what experts call an assured second-strike capability — the capacity to ensure retaliation even if the rest of the arsenal is wiped out in a surprise first-strike.

India’s nuclear arsenal, as that of Pakistan, has been physically separated from the delivery platforms — the missiles controlled by the Army, and soon the Navy, as well as the Air Force’s combat jets. The logic is simple: keeping warheads and missiles apart reduces the risks of accidents or unauthorised use.

“For obvious reasons,” says Arun Vishwanathan, a leading nuclear-weapons expert at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, “a nuclear submarine is going to have to carry warheads as well as missiles. This raises significant issues of control, which need to be worked out.”

In addition, nuclear submarines can lose contact with their bases — and officers must decide if this has happened because of technical problems, or because their nation has been obliterated. In 1961, the Soviet submarine B-59, believing that war had broken out, almost fired a 10-kilotonne warhead at the U.S. Flotilla; sub-commander Vasili Arkhipov, one of three officers who had to consent to the decision, alone demurred — averting a nuclear apocalypse.

There are also risks of accidents involving nuclear weapons on board ships and submarines: dozens of warheads ended up at the bottom of the sea during the Cold War, and though technology has improved, it is not fail-safe.

Defence news

India, Russia in talks to upgrade Sukhoi-30MKI with New AESA Radar

The Indian Air Force’s advanced Su-30 MKI aircraft may undergo yet another round of upgradation involving its radar in the near future.The Indian Air Force’s advanced Su-30 MKI aircraft may undergo yet another round of upgradation involving its radar in the near future.

Top officials from India and Russia are meeting here for two days beginning on Thursday to chalk out the maintenance plan of several Russian military hardware being used by the Indian armed forces. A Russian proposal on the upgradation of Su-30 MKI is on the table.

The two sides had few rounds of initial discussions on India’s front-line fighter jet that needs to be upgraded. “We will demand further improvement in the radar system,” a source familiar with the discussions told Deccan Herald.

From warships, submarines, tanks to fighter or transport aircraft, maintenance of a large number of Russian military platforms being used by the armed forces is one of the perpetual problems for New Delhi, which inducted these platforms in the last few decades.

The Indian delegation will be headed by Defence Secretary R K Mathur and will have representatives from three services. The Russian side will have representatives of the military industry and the government.

The discussion between New Delhi and Moscow comes in the wake of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's admission of critical problems in some of the Su-30 mission computers and head-up display systems, supplied by the Russians.

In February, a HAL official informed Irkut Corporation on multiple cases of “repeated failure of mission computer”. The head up display multi-function display too were blanked off in flight. The problems were visible in two configurations of the aircraft.

“As the displays blanking off is a serious and critical issue affecting the exploitation of aircraft, it needs corrective action or remedial measures on priority,” wrote the official from HAL’s Aircraft Upgrade R&D Centre at Nasik in a confidential letter to Irkut’s deputy director of supplies and after sales service division. The Air headquarters was kept in the loop.

When asked, HAL chairman and managing director R K Tyagi said, “Very few aircraft reported problem of mission computer failure and blanking-off HUD which was of initial batch.”

"The issue was intermittent in nature and related to old software version. The issue has been addressed by upgrading the software version by Russian side and by replacement of the mission computer and head up display wherever they have been found un-serviceable during ground checks. Till date no such incidence has been reported from any IAF base with upgraded software version,” Tyagi said.

Defence news

June 3, 2014

MMRCA deal: Rafale negotiations expected to be wrapped up in 3 months

India is closer to finally sealing the almost $20 billion MMRCA (medium multirole combat aircraft) project to acquire 126 French Rafale fighters, which IAF has identified as a top-priority for the Narendra Modi government.

Defence ministry sources said the final commercial negotiations for the MMRCA project, which IAF considers "critical" to retain its air combat edge against Pakistan and maintain "dissuasive deterrence" against China, can now "be wrapped up in the next three months".

In the backdrop of IAF making do with just 34 fighter squadrons, when at least 44 are required, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha called on PM Modi on Monday, barely a few days after he briefed finance and defence minister Arun Jaitley. On Tuesday, the IAF chief will again make "a detailed presentation" to Jaitley on the operational preparedness and different modernization projects of his force.

The worry is that the final negotiations with French aviation major Dassault for the MMRCA project have proceeded at a slow pace since Rafale was "down-selected" over its rivals in January 2012.

Sources, however, said the work of three subcommittees dealing with technical maintenance (IAF will fly the fighters for 40 years), offsets (Dassault will have to plough back 50% of the contract value back into India) and transfer of technology (ToT) has now been completed.

Under the MMRCA project, the first 18 jets will come in "fly-away condition", while Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd is to manufacture 108 fighters in India over six years. In fact, after months of wrangling, Dassault and HAL could finalize the work-share agreement only in February this year, under which the defence PSU will now have a 70% role.

"With offsets, work-share, warranty, liquidity damages and other issues resolved, the CNC (contract negotiation committee) now has to settle the final costs before the draft contract can be readied for the government's final approval," said a source.

If the MMRCA project is inked in the next few months, the first 18 jets will come to India from mid-2016 onwards. The jets built by HAL, in turn, are expected to begin rolling out from 2018 onwards. HAL will initially deliver six jets per year, which will go up to 20 per year later.

When the MMRCA selection process was initiated by MoD in mid-2007, the overall project cost was pegged at Rs 42,000 crore or $10.4 billion for 126 fighters. But with inflation being factored in, it could zoom upwards of the $20 billion mark by the time it's completed.

Mother of all defence deals:

* August 2007: MMRCA global tender floated after long delay

* April 2011: American F/A-18 'Super Hornet' and F-16 'Super Viper', Swedish Gripen and Russian MiG-35 fighters ejected after extensive field trials

* November 2011: Commercial bids of Eurofighter Typhoon (EADS) and French Rafale (Dassault) opened

* January 2012: Rafale declared winner (lowest bidder) on both unit cost as well as "life-cycle costs" (cost of operating the fighters over a 40-year period, with 6,000 hours of flying) . - Times of india

June 2, 2014

Modi govt must act fast to save India’s depleting submarine fleet

The Narendra Modi government will have to get cracking on a four-pronged strategy if it wants to rescue the country's underwater combat arm from sinking any further.

Defence ministry sources say the new political dispensation should ensure there are no further slippages in the ongoing project to build six Scorpene submarines at Mazagon Docks, the long-delayed global tender for six new-generation submarines is issued, life extension for at least five ageing submarines is fast-tracked, and the long-term plan for nuclear submarines gets the requisite support.

The finance ministry is often blamed for being a "big obstacle" for military modernisation plans. But with Arun Jaitley straddling both MoF and MoD as of now, there is "hope" the "detailed action plan" for the submarine fleet will be swiftly cleared. Jaitley, on being asked by TOI if there was "a conflict of interest" in handling both the ministries, replied, "Well, I see it as supplementing of interest."

It is certainly required. Navy is down to just nine operational diesel-electric submarines, with another four stuck in long repairs and refits. All the 13 submarines are over 20 years old, while eight of them have crossed 25. India, in fact, is fast losing its underwater combat superiority over Pakistan, which has eight submarines, and falling further behind China with over 50.

For starters, there is the long-pending "Project-75India" to acquire six stealth submarines, armed with both land-attack missile capabilities and air-independent propulsion (AIP) for greater underwater endurance. Though this over Rs 50,000 crore project was granted "acceptance of necessity'' in November 2007, the global tender to select the foreign collaborator is yet to be even floated with the file being tossed between the two ministries.

"Since early-April, it's now again with MoF. The tender or RFP (request for proposal) can be issued only after first the MoF and then the cabinet committee on security approves it," said a source.

The urgency is required since it will take at least three years to select the foreign collaborator, and another seven to eight years after that for the first submarine to roll out. The first two submarines will be directly imported to save time, while three will be constructed at MDL in Mumbai, and the sixth at Hindustan Shipyard in Visakhapatnam.

Then, there is the ongoing Rs 23,562 crore Scorpene project at MDL, already running over four years behind schedule. The first Scorpene is now slated for delivery by November 2016, with the other five rolling out thereafter every 8-10 months. The Rs 1,800 crore contract to buy 98 heavy-weight torpedoes to arm the submarines is also yet to be inked.

On the nuclear front, Navy wants three SSBNs (nuclear-powered submarines armed with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles) and six SSNs (nuclear-powered attack submarines but without ballistic missiles) in the long term.

The force currently operates only one nuclear-powered submarine, INS Chakra, acquired on a 10-year lease from Russia for almost $1 billion in 2012, but it's not equipped with long-range missiles due to international treaties.

India's first indigenously produced nuclear submarine, INS Arihant, is yet to head for extensive sea trials after its reactor went "critical" last August. Two follow-on SSBNs, one already named INS Aridhaman, are being constructed under this advanced technology vessel project. - Times of india