S-400 deal may be finalised by March 31

India and Russia could be just weeks away from signing one of the biggest defence deals between the two sides in recent history, said two senior defence sources this week.

The contract negotiations for the purchase of the S-400 Triumf long range air defence systems are in the final stages, and are expected to be closed by March 31.

India is planning to buy five systems that is expected to cost about ₹39,000 crore and is considered one of the most potent Surface to Air missile systems in the world. It can track and shoot down a range of incoming airborne targets at ranges of upto 400km.

“We expect to conclude the S-400 contract within this financial year,” a defence source said.

In 2016, the two countries had concluded the Inter-Governmental Agreements for five S-400 systems and four stealth frigates after which the contract negotiations began to conclude a commercial contract.

Another defence official said they expect to wind up the cost negotiations within the next 10 days.

Officials termed the negotiations as “very complex” as there were thousands of pages of documentation to be discussed. Russia has already conveyed to India that the deal should not have any offset clause as it is a strategic system.

For India, deploying the S-400 means that Pakistani aircraft can be tracked even when they are flying in their airspace. This will significantly beef up India’s alert levels in securing the country’s air space. The systems will be operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF).

China which has signed a $3 billion deal for six S-400 systems in 2014 has begun taking delivery of them. In December 2017, Turkey signed an agreement for two systems.

 thehindu

Russia says in talks with India on helicopters, frigates supplies

India is negotiating purchases of Russian Mi-17 helicopters and Project 11356 frigates, a Russian official said Monday.

These negotiations "are proceeding and they are at different stages," Vasily Kozhin, aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin for military-technical cooperation, said in an interview with Rossia-24 TV channel.

The Mi-17 is a medium twin-turbine transport helicopter, which also has an armed gunship version and is considered one of the world's most advanced military helicopters.

The Project 11356 guided missile frigate is a multipurpose warship armed with powerful weapons capable of hitting various types of targets.

Last year, Indian media reported that Russia and India were holding talks on a contract for 48 Mi-17 choppers.

The two countries were also reported to have reached an agreement on the deliveries of three Project 11356 frigates.

Kozhin said that India is Russia's "major privileged partner."

India is the only country with which Russia has signed a plan for strategic military-technical cooperation until 2020 and India ranked the fifth in terms of the volume of Russian arms exports last year, he said.

Kozhin said India and Russia have "very large programs of strategic cooperation," including the development and production of modern fighter jets, main battle tanks and cruise missiles.

 xinhuanet

India Wants to Link Its Rebooted Fighter Jet Tender to Future Stealth Fighter Development

The Indian Air Force reportedly is set to formally reboot its plans to purchase nearly 115 fighter jets within weeks, but it may tie any final contract to a demand that it also receive technical assistance for its domestic fifth generation fighter project. This decision would seem to confirm ongoing reports that India is not happy with the progress of its existing stealth fighter deal with Russia, might again give Lockheed Martin an upper hand since it is already building the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and could just further complicate the already protracted attempts to get any new aircraft.

On March 11, 2018, The Hindustan Times reported that India would begin sending out official requests for information to companies looking to submit bids on the fighter jet tender by the first week of April. In February 2018, it emerged that the India Air Force would halt an existing plan to buy 114 single-engine fighter jets and rewrite the requirements to open the deal up to twin-engine designs, as well. The revised deal will now include the winning firm to transfer potentially sensitive technology to support the Indian military’s fifth generation fighter program, known as the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).

“We have asked the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) to prepare a list of technologies they need help with for the AMCA,” the unnamed individual told The Hindustan Times. “There will be clear clause on the transfer of those technologies in the contract.”

India’s efforts to procure new fighter jets have already been a saga spanning more than decade. This new tender will be the third formal attempt to purchase the aircraft since 2007. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has been officially working on the AMCA project since 2010, with a goal of having a flying prototype by 2025.

With immediate contract field now open to both single- and twin-engine designs, the competition will most likely including American manufacturers Boeing and Lockheed Martin with their F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and F-16IN Viper respectively, the French Dassault Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon, Sweden’s Saab Gripen-E, and at least one Russian aircraft, such as a variant of the MiG-35 Fulcrum-F or Su-35 Flanker-E. The F-16IN appeared to have the lead over the Gripen-E in the previous-single engine tender.

As we had noted in the past, there were a number of good reasons why a twin-engine design might turn out to be the new favorite. Most importantly, the Indian Air Force is already buying 36 Rafales. French authorities have been pushing India to begin negotiating a new deal for a second tranche of 36 more jets, but so far India has not made any official announcement about any additional purchases.

The French jet and the F/A-18E/F are also emerging as the front-runners in an Indian Navy competition to purchase new fighter jets for its presently planned fleet of short-takeoff but arrested recovery (STOBAR) aircraft carriers, as well as the catapult assisted takeoff but arrested recovery (CATOBAR) types it wants to build in the future. If both services were to operate the same aircraft, or variants with a high commonality in basic components and mission systems, this could cut logistics and sustainment expenses and offset the typically higher costs of twin-engine aircraft compared to single-engine types.

As such, it looked initially that Boeing and Dassault had the most to gain from the changes to the Indian tender. But the inclusion of the stealth fighter technology transfer requirement could change the calculus yet again.

If nothing else, this could be a signal that India will be less inclined to consider any offering from Russia. The Indians and the Russians have been working together on fifth generation fighter jet development for some time, there have been repeated reports that the Indian Air Force is frustrated with the lack of results from the Su-57 stealth fighter project and more recently there has been the suggestion that authorities in New Delhi might finally scrap that work altogether. It was possible that the Kremlin’s otherwise curious decision to send a pair of its prototype jets to Syria in February 2018 was in part to try and demonstrate more significant progress with that program.

Of the remaining likely contenders, only some are actively working on low-observable aircraft. Not all of them are doing so at the same level or are developing a fifth generation fighter specifically.

Boeing has been working on some limited low-observable upgrade options for the Super Hornet, as well the latest models of its F-15 Eagle, such as fully-enclosed weapons pods or conformal add-on bays. This level of technological knowhow may not be enough to satisfy the DRDO’s desire for broader help with the ACMA.

While Dassault has been working on stealthy unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAV), European aviation consortium Airbus – which supports production of the Typhoon in various countries – has been the firm more actively working on France’s future fifth generation fighter project. Regardless, French stealth fighter and UCAV programs are also in partnership with Germany and the United Kingdom, respectively, which could add another hurdle in sharing any appropriate technical information with the Indians.

Saab has been quietly working on the Swedish Air Force’s Flygsystem 2020 stealth fighter project for at least a decade now, but the exact status of that development is unclear. In 2013, the company did sign a deal to support Turkey’s fifth generation TFX project.

Lockheed Martin is the only competitor actively producing a fifth generation fighter jet, the F-35, which could give it a leg up again in the competition. The Maryland-headquartered company had already made a particularly appealing pitch in the last iteration of the competition, stating that if its F-16IN won, it would establish a joint production line with Indian manufacturing conglomerate Tata to build jets for the Indian Air Force and use that same domestic assembly line to churn out additional aircraft for export elsewhere. On top of that, it said it would consider working with Tata to build Viper components even if the contract fell through.
It is conceivable that the firm might now propose a new deal wherein India buys conventional F-35As for the Indian Air Force and gets additional help with the ACMA. Lockheed Martin might then also offer the short and vertical takeoff capable F-35B or carrier-focused C models as options for the Indian Navy's tender.

The U.S. government will have to approve any deal involving an American company and this might be a more complicated procedure with regards to the sensitive technology in the F-35. American authorities will have to gauge whether or not they believe it is in the country's best interests to give India access to and details about low-observable design features and manufacturing processes, as well as advanced avionics, radars, sensor systems, data links, computer networks, and other mission systems.

However, President Donald Trump and his administration have shown much greater willingness to explore selling Joint Strike Fighters more broadly, including to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, already. The administration has also looked to bolster its ties with India in general, making the country a centerpiece of its new Afghanistan and South Asian policy goals. It's not hard to imagine Lockheed Martin getting approval for a deal to sell dozens of F-35A, B, and C models to the Indian government, which could potentially help in further driving down the plane's unit costs, which is a major goal for the U.S. military.

But India may not be as interested in buying any foreign stealth fighter as it is in getting assistance for the domestic ACMA. In February 2018, there were reports that Indian authorities had requested a classified briefing on the Joint Strike Fighter, but the next month Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa publicly denied those claims.

This episode followed a Press Trust of India report in January 2018 that suggested Lockheed Martin was considering establishing a production line for the F-35 in India. The company subsequently said that report has misstated remarks from one of its executives and added that there were no plans to build even a less expansive final assembly and checkout facility, or FACO, in the country. At present there are FACOs in Italy and Japan supporting the international Joint Strike Fighter program.

And even if India were to receive U.S. government approval to purchase the F-35 and pursue that option, it’s not clear what kind of technological information Lockheed Martin might truly be willing to transfer in the end and to what degree. Most importantly, as it stands now, with the exception of Israel, all the countries taking part in the Joint Strike Fighter project have found themselves linked in large part to a multi-national logistics and information chain thanks to the jet’s on board computer brain, called the Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS).

This has already prompted concerns in a number of countries about how much sensitive data the jets are collecting and potentially sending to Lockheed Martin or the U.S. government or if they might be shut off from software updates or other critical data in an emergency. At the same time, even when working with the U.S. military, Lockheed Martin has been especially keen to keep control over as much of its proprietary network architecture as possible.

The U.S. military has similarly shared concerns about whether or not this level of connectivity puts the United States’ own capabilities at risk. Foreign computer networks may be more vulnerable to cyber attacks and espionage or could be deliberately linked to systems that might feed information on to hostile nations. Turkey, for instance, wants to connect its future F-35s to the rest of its integrated air defense net, which will eventually include Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile systems.

Similar considerations could easily apply to requests for technology transfer from any other entrant into the revised Indian fighter competition. In turn, it seems very likely that linking both requirements together could easily slow down the overall process, even after India picks a winning design, due to the need for complex negotiations. The Indian purchase of just 36 Rafale jets for the country’s air force experienced significant delays due to disputes over technology transfer and local production and that deal remains clouded in controversy.

All of this comes as the Indian Air Force is increasingly in desperate need of new fighter jets, whether they be advanced fourth generation or stealthy fifth generation designs. Since 2001, the service has made it clear that it has a standing requirement for more than 100 aircraft to replace a host of aging types that are increasingly literally falling out of the sky.

India is also facing increasing challenges from China, which is expanding its influence in Asia and elsewhere around the world, as well as the need to provide a credible defense against long-time rival Pakistan. According to The Hindustan Times, China has approximately 60 squadrons of combat aircraft, while Pakistan has 25.

The Indian government has said that, in order to counter those potential threats and perform other necessary missions, the Indian Air Force needs at least 42 squadrons of combat aircraft itself. At present, it has 31, down from 33 in 2017, and that number is almost certain to continue to drop dramatically over the next decade unless something changes.

It’s seems increasingly clear that India cannot afford to wait much longer to acquire additional aircraft. And whether or not it will be able to rely on a domestic project, even with foreign assistance, to produce a stealth fighter design in a timely manner isn’t guaranteed, either.

Fifth generation fighter jet programs have historically shown themselves to be exceptionally costly and time consuming, even for manufacturers with histories of building stealthy aircraft. India’s own effort to develop a much less complex indigenous fourth generation type, the Tejas, has been beset by both technical and bureaucratic hurdles. That aircraft, as it exists now, has largely failed to meet expectations despite more than two decades of work, with the Indian Navy rejecting the idea of buying a carrier based version of it outright.

As it stands now, India is clearly pushing ahead with its desire to use this fighter jet tender to help expand its on domestic production military aviation capacity and capabilities. At a certain point, it may have to temper those goals with the increasingly pressing need for capable combat aircraft, but its not clear whether that would do anything to get past the country's otherwise historically dysfunctional or erratic procurement process.

 thedrive

Basic Rafale cost Rs 670 crore, says government to take on Congress

The Centre on Monday declared that the Rafale fighter aircraft contracted by the Narendra Modi government comes with a price tag of Rs 670 crore per plane, far less than the Rs 1,670 crore that the opposition Congress has been alleging.

The government chose to come out with the basic price through a written answer in Parliament by the Minister of State for Defence, Subhash Bhamre.

“The cost is approximately Rs 670 crore at prevailing exchange rate in November 2016 without associated equipment, weapons, India specific enhancements, maintenance support and services,” he said in response to questions from MPs Ravi Prakash Verma and Neeraj Shekhar.

The minister admitted that it did not include the cost of the trappings for arming the fighter jet. “The IGA (Inter-Governmental Agreement) for supply of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft envisages supply of aircraft in fly-away condition along with associated equipment.”

Congress has been alleging for weeks that the government has contracted the Rafale at hugely inflated prices. The total cost of the deal for the 36 Rafales is about Rs 59,000 crore.

The Congress claimed the UPA government had negotiated a price of Rs 526 crore per aircraft when it was processing a requirement for 126 aircraft.

 newindianexpress

UN rights body silent on plight of terror victims, say Pandits

Displaced Kashmiri Pandits today accused the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCHR) of maintaining silence on the plight of 3.5 lakh displaced Kashmiri Hindus and other victims of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in J&K.

Community members alleged that the rights body was showing selective concern for human rights in the state and was not taking into account the mayhem being created by terrorists and separatists for the last 28 years.

“Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, UNHCHR High Commissioner, is maintaining silence on the issue of human rights violations of Pandits. This is unacceptable to the victims of militancy,” alleged Ashwani Chrungoo, president, Panun Kashmir, a representative body of minority Hindus, at a meeting held here today.

He expressed satisfaction over the response of the Indian representative to Pakistan at the UN Human Rights Council session.

Panun Kashmir said the recent statement of Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu that the J&K issue should not been seen as a political issue was a nice rebuttal to Pakistan, which had raked up Kashmir at a human rights meeting recently.

JL Kaul, vice-president, Panun Kashmir, said no mandate was allowed to anyone to negotiate with the unity and integrity of India in Jammu and Kashmir.

Virender Raina, national spokesperson, Panun Kashmir, said Pandits had been longing for a Bill on Hindu temples and shrines.

“The demand of the Hindus of Kashmir to preserve, protect and promote their cultural and religious tradition of thousands of years is an important concern not only for the Hindus living in J&K, but also those across the nation,” he added.

 tribuneindia

IAF speeds up hunt for new fighter jets to add muscle

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is likely to start the process of inviting foreign military contractors to build fighter jets in the country under the government’s Make in India plan in the next four weeks , a person familiar with the project said.

This multi-billion-dollar project to build 114 jets will be “directly linked” to the development of an indigenous futuristic stealth fighter – the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), the person added.

The air force plans to issue a request for information (RFI) before DefExpo-2018 — a military systems exhibition by the defence ministry — opens in Chennai on April 11.

“The document will not specify the number of engines the jets should have, leaving the field open for makers of both single- and twin-engine planes,” said the person who asked not to be named.

An earlier plan involved pursuing two separate projects to build single-engine and twin-engine fighters in India but that distinction has been discarded now.

The RFI is the first step towards finding a new warplane for the air force and global plane manufacturers will respond to it with operational features and technical parameters of their platforms. That will pave the way for the air force to make a case for getting the ministry’s ‘acceptance of necessity’ (AoN) – the government’s stamp of approval to pursue a military programme.

“After the AoN comes, we could either opt for a government-to-government deal or put out a tender. Both options are open at this stage,” said a senior officer tracking the air force’s modernisation on the condition of anonymity.

The manufacturer that India finally decides to collaborate with will have to commit to transfer of technology not only for the fighter to be built in India but also for the AMCA that is on the drawing board.

“We have asked the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to prepare a list of technologies they need help with for the AMCA. There will be clear clause on the transfer of those technologies in the contract,” said the officer quoted above.

Experts say the full-scale engineering development of the AMCA up to the prototype stage will take upwards of a decade and its flight first could take place around 2030.

India had floated a global tender for 126 planes more than a decade ago but it was cancelled after Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared in April 2015 that India would directly buy 36 Rafale jets from France.

Six fighters took part in that contest before the Rafale and the Eurofighter made it to the last round.

The new competition is also likely to be among Rafale, Eurofighter, MiG-35, F/A-18, F-16 and Gripen.

“The technology has evolved during the past decade. In their present form, F/A-18 and Gripen NG would not have been rejected in the older contest,” the officer said.

The air force wants to speed up the project as the count of its fighter squadrons has shrunk to 31 compared to an optimum strength of 42-plus units required to fight a two-front war.

The Chinese and Pakistani air forces operate at 60 and 25 fighter squadrons respectively.

 hindustantimes

Macron's engine offer for Tejas aimed at powering more Rafale sales

Joint statements on state visits tend to be drab in nature and point 10 of the joint statement after French President Emmanuel Macron's ongoing visit to India seems just as innocuous. But its content is of serious significance to the direction of India's defence strategies, which have long been criticised as convoluted.

It reads “The leaders noted ongoing discussions between DRDO and SAFRAN on combat aircraft engine (For details, visit www.mea.gov.in).” Safran, a major French defence and technology supplier, has been attempting to pitch its engine technology to India for more than a decade, in competition with its American and European rivals.

These attempts have been aimed at the DRDO's flagging Kaveri project, which aims to develop an engine for the Tejas fighter. In 2008, The Kaveri was officially 'de-linked' from the development of the Tejas, given numerous delays and performance shortfalls and a fresh batch of F404 engines were ordered from GE in the US.

GE also won a contract worth $822 million to supply a newer engine, the F414, for the Tejas' projected MK2 derivative; the first two of 99 F414 engines on order reached India in 2017. GE has also touted the F414 for India's future fifth-generation fighter, called the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), which remains at concept stage.

However, work on the Kaveri project still continues. Ten days before Macron's visit, a French newspaper reported Safran was offering its M88 turbofan engine to India to revive the Kaveri project. The M88 powers the Rafale fighter, 36 of which are on order for India and which is at the centre of another political storm.

On the face of it, the French offer, valued at approximately euro 1 billion, seems to make eminent sense, in addition to providing a technology boost to DRDO.

The M88 is an advanced engine with a modular design, making maintenance easier and increasing operational availability, unlike Russian systems, which currently dominate Indian Air Force service. Furthermore, using a common engine type for the Rafale and Tejas would rationalise the Indian Air Force's vast and diverse logistics inventory, improving serviceability of aircraft while also lowering costs, as technicians and engineers would be dealing with common electronics, lubricants and other parts.

Pertinently, such an engine deal would also lead to cost amortisation for future Rafale orders—which the IAF has been keen on—and also give the French fighter an advantage in an ongoing Indian Navy competition to buy 57 aircraft.

However, embracing such an 'engine deal' should be done cautiously.

In its weight category, the M88 competes with the EUROJET consortium's EJ-200, which powers the Eurofighter Typhoon, and the F414; all three systems offer similar features.

The French engine has the disadvantage of lower order volumes compared with the other two, and consequently would have higher purchase costs. The F414 engine is regarded as having the lowest purchase cost of the three, as it is in service with the US Navy's Super Hornet fighter and has been ordered by South Korea and Sweden for their future fighter programmes, in addition to the Tejas MK2, as mentioned previously. With the US Navy and South Korea expected to use the F414 for decades, its 'growth' potential is considerable and the large order volumes would mean the engine would have a competitive price.

Another factor going against the French offer is how, or when, exactly an M88-powered Tejas will fructify would be difficult to envisage as the current set of 123 fighters intended for purchase by the IAF are powered by the American F404 engine. With development of the Tejas Mk2 proceeding slowly, modifying the fighter for a totally new engine is expected to lead to even more delays given the need for testing and possible design changes to its air intakes and fuselage.

An optimistic in-service date for such an M88-powered Tejas variant would be well past 2025, by when the type's basic design would be obsolete. While it can be argued that the M88 could be used for the AMCA, the level of IAF and government commitment to that programme remains unclear.

Therefore, it would be prudent to argue that deal to buy or co-develop Safran engines for the Tejas will help boost Rafale sales more than it would assist India's indigenous programmes.

 theweek

France to push for more submarines under Navy’s $8-b ‘Project 75 India’

France will be making a strong and fresh pitch for building additional submarines under the Navy’s P-75(I) or ‘Project 75 India’ programme for $8 billion after the successful induction of first Scorpene-class submarine into the Indian Navy in December last year.

Securing additional orders for French defence conglomerate Naval Group (formerly DCNS) is going to be the topmost agenda of their Defence Minister Florence Parly, who is accompanying President Emmanuel Macron in his maiden India visit starting on Saturday, sources told BusinessLine on condition of anonymity.

Parly is going to raise this issue with her Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman during a meeting on Saturday after the summit-level bilateral talks between Macron and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sources said.

Earlier in a letter to Sitharaman, the French Defence Minster had stated that commissioning of the first Scorpene submarine on December 4, 2017 by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd. in partnership with Naval Group was a “shining illustration of the exemplary nature of our technological and industrial cooperation” and that the French government and Naval Group are very keen to support the Indian Navy in making this programme a “big success”, sources said quoting the letter.

Parly also informed Sitharaman that the Naval Group has also responded favourably to the request for information (RFI), under Strategic Partnership (SP) Model, for the new P-75 (I) programme, sources added.

The P75 (I), which is a follow-on for $3.75 billion P75 or Project 75, was announced in October 2014. In 2016, the Navy issued a request for information to six global submarine makers to build six advanced submarines with air-independent propulsion (AIP) technology under the P75 (I) project.

Apart from the AIP technology, which enables the submarines to stay under water for a longer period, these proposed submarines will also have a vertical launch system. Additionally, a brand new cruise missile will be fitted as the main anti-ship missile.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Reliance Defence are the only two private shipyards that were short-listed to participate in the programme. They are likely to be contending for the project now under the SP policy.

Under P75 MDL and Naval Group had been engaged in making six Scorpene-class submarines under a transfer of technology arrangement since 2005. So far only the first boat – INS Kalvari – has been inducted into Navy’s fleet while two more – INS Khanderi and INS Karanj – are undergoing sea trials.

India has plans to build a fleet of 24 submarines for the navy. Currently, the Navy operates 14 conventional and two nuclear-powered submarines.

 thehindubusinessline

F-16 partnership plan with India stands: Lockheed’s Vivek Lall

Vivek Lall, Vice-President (Strategy and Business Development), Lockheed Martin, is hopeful that the F-16 fighter jet programme is going to take off in India even as the company is supporting government-to-government discussions and engaging with Indian companies about F-16 industrial opportunities. In an interview with BusinessLine, Lall elaborated how setting up a production line of these fighter jets in India under the government’s flagship ‘Make in India’ campaign, is going to provide an unprecedented opportunity to redefine its position at the global aerospace ecosystem. Excerpts:


Now that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has gone on record stating that the government will push Tejas for IAF. Do you see it as a setback for F-16 Block 70?

Our proposed F-16 partnership with India stands firm. The F-16 remains the only aircraft programme in this competition with the proven performance and industrial scale to meet India’s operational needs and ‘Make in India’ priorities. No competing aircraft comes close to matching the F-16’s operational effectiveness and industrial success. The F-16 Block 70 is an opportunity for India to redefine its geopolitical, military and industrial power and relationships with the US and other leading nations for generations to come.


The Defence Ministry is expected to soon release a fresh tender that will expand the competition now in the fighter jet project. What will be your next step?

The Indian government has not yet issued formal requirements. We are continuing to support government-to-government discussions and engage with Indian companies about F-16 industrial opportunities. The F-16 provides unmatched manufacturing, sustainment, upgrade and export opportunities for Indian companies of all sizes, including Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises and suppliers throughout India.


Some of the common objections against the F-16s have been that firstly, it is only a refurbished version of the old model while the basic platform remains the same and secondly, it is used by India’s enemy countries…

The F-16 continues to aerodynamically outperform its competitors and advanced technologies are continually integrated into the F-16. Block 70 mission systems are completely new and leverage technologies from the F-35. That combination explains the enduring success of the F-16 program. Till date, 4,588 F-16s have been produced for 27 different countries. A case in point is Bahrain’s recent agreement with the US government to purchase new F-16 Block 70 aircraft for the Royal Bahraini Air Force. Those aircraft will be built at our facility in Greenville, South Carolina.

The unmatched size, scope and export potential of the F-16 puts India at the helm of the world’s largest and most diverse aerospace ecosystem. The F-16 ecosystem includes approximately 3,000 operational F-16s flying today with 25 leading air forces, including the US Air Force, and we see additional F-16 production opportunities totalling more than 400 aircraft if India selects the F-16.


Do you plan to offer F-35 to India and do you think the Indian Air Force needs such a plane?

Any discussions regarding potential new F-35 customers begin at the government-to-government level. It is not our place to speak on behalf of the US government or the Indian government.


How will Lockheed Martin now to leverage its business in India?

While Lockheed Martin is indeed proposing an exclusive F-16 production line in India, we’re looking to build far more than aircraft. We are looking to build trust, new partnerships and capabilities that strengthen India’s economy, national defence and strategic relationship with the US for the next half century and beyond. Lockheed Martin has partnered with India for more than 25 years and we’re eager to strengthen and grow that relationship with long-term, strategic partnerships that achieve ‘Make in India’ objectives and deliver advanced, affordable capabilities that position India for the future.


Are there any plans by Lockheed Martin to make a 100 per cent FDI proposal in India?

We are still awaiting formal requirements from the Government, which will define FDI and related government policies.

 thehindubusinessline

Rafale deal win-win but details can't be revealed, says France's Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said the Rafale deal with India was a win-win approach and its details could not be revealed for commercial reasons.

"The negotiation was a win-win approach. Your government made very good negotiations in the interest of India," Macron said in an interview to India Today news channel ahead of his maiden visit to the country.

"You have commercial agreement and you have competitors. And these competitors are not supposed to know some details of the deal because it will not be good for the company for commercial reasons."


The interests of people of India were "well defended" by the Indian government "from economic point of view and strategic point of view" in the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets, Macron added.

"It is a very good agreement. It is for your security because it is best aircraft. And it is best way to be protected in the current environment," he said.

About the demand by the opposition in India to disclose details of Rafale deal, Macron said: "In our alliance between Indian and France, we don't reveal some information when they are sensitive for business reasons. The absence of answers on some technical issues is due to commercial agreements for the interest of different companies."

"You have some discussions to be organised by the Indian government and (it) reveals some details of the deal, they consider which could be revealed to the opposition and Parliament. I am not the one to interfere in such issues. But definitely you have commercial sensitivity."

 business-standard

Sale of more Rafale jets high on French President Macron’s India agenda

Notwithstanding the controversy in India over the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets, the French are going to push New Delhi for a follow-on order of 100 or more of such warplanes under ‘Make in India’ during the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron.

The bilateral summit-level meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Macron will take place on Saturday. While all issues concerning India-France Strategic Partnership will be discussed, cooperation in defence is going to be the main focus from the French side, sources told BusinessLine.

Macron, on a three-day visit, will be accompanied by CEOs of almost all top French defence firms. This includes the chief of Dassault Aviation Eric Trappier; Chairman and CEO of Naval Group Hervé Guillou; Thales CEO Patrice Caine; and Safran Group CEO Philippe Petitcolin.

The follow-on order for 100-150 more Rafale jets is likely to be one of the topmost items in Macron’s agenda.

According to diplomatic sources, the French are treating the recent controversy around the purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft as an “internal political matter” of India.

The French are pushing India to go for another programme where Rafale will set up a production line here to address the needs of the Indian Air Force as well as augment defence exports from India.

Although India signed the $7.8-billion deal to acquire 36 Rafale jets, manufactured by Dassault Aviation, in fly-away condition with the previous French government, the present Macron administration has also been pushing to expand the deal.

During the visit of French Defence Minister Florence Parly to India in October last year, the issue of a follow-on order for Rafale was taken up. However, India has remained non-committal on the matter.

The French are also going to push for a follow-on order for three or more Scorpene-class submarines during the talks. This will be over and above the six Scorpene submarines that are being developed in India at a cost of $3.75 billion under the Indian Navy’s P75 programme by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) under technology transfer from Naval Group, sources added.


FTA push ::

Both sides will also be discussing the long pending free trade agreement between India and European Union, including the bilateral investment treaty that has become a cause of concern for some of the French companies operating in India, sources said.

On Sunday, Macron and Modi will be jointly chairing a summit meeting of the International Solar Alliance which will be attended by 25 heads of state.

Macron will also be visiting Agra and Varanasi.

 thehindubusinessline

Navy researches ways to build stealth submarines

A group of 30 officers from Indian Navy will engage in an elaborate research at the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) here with a view to reduce vulnerability of military submarines and ships to detection by the enemy from noise and vibrations generated by propulsions that run them.

Commodore A K Sinha (retd), DIAT registrar, who also specialises in submarines, told TOI on Tuesday, “The naval headquarters recently communicated to us the need for a collaborative research project on this aspect. As of now, 30 naval officers are pursuing advanced postgraduate studies at DIAT and these officers, along with the institute’s professors, will work on the project.”

Sinha said, “The project, to be directly monitored by naval headquarters, is at a primary stage and we are working on various aspects related to it. Our laboratories will play a key role as they have modern equipment essential for carrying out such research. The practical aspect of the project will be carried out by the navy on its ships and submarines.”

Element of stealth is critical to military submarines which are designed to move around undetected under the sea and surface only in situations where they need to establish radio contact or perform data communication with their respective headquarters.

A senior navy officer, who did not wish to be named, told TOI over phone, “Every ship and submarine is equipped with different types of propulsion system and each of these systems generate a particular type of noise or vibration underwater. Using sound navigation and ranging, better known as sonars, the enemy can identify the type of ship or submarine, distance and its speed. Reducing or tweaking propulsion sound of ship and submarine will give a big operational advantage.”

He said, “Modern generation stealth submarines are difficult to track. The submarines of Class A212 of German Federal Navy or Saab A26 of Swedish Navy have been designed in such a way that they hardly make any noise, emit almost no heat and minutely reflect radar or sonar signals. To develop such systems, researchers need to carry out studies so that we can develop such systems indigenously.”

Another senior navy officer said, “Propulsions generate maximum noise and vibrations under water. If you equip ship or submarine with silent propulsion, you will have to compromise on speed and longevity of the vehicle. Therefore, having a new propulsion system which will generate less noise and vibration and at the same time have no effect on other functioning of ships and submarines is critical.”

timesofindia