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Indian Airforce A-50 EI Spotted

The Hindu News Update Service

New Delhi (IANS): Seventy-five years after its formation, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has finally broken the gender barrier with a young woman reaching out to the skies as its first woman flying officer. Kavita Barala logs in another first this Jan 26 when, in a moment for posterity, she salutes India's first woman president Pratibha Patil.

Barala, who is from Jaipur, is determined to add more firsts to her career. The determined young officer has her sights set on learning to navigate the frontline fighter jet Sukhoi-30 and becoming the first female co-pilot of a multi-role aircraft.

Barala's story is one of grit and determination. Though the choice of becoming a navigator in the IAF was open to women since they were inducted into the force a decade-and-a-half ago, no one had opted for the branch till now.

"When I joined the Air Force Academy at Dundigal (Andhra Pradesh), I came to know that no woman has opted to become a navigator, so I decided to take the plunge. I completed my training successfully and became a navigator," Barala told IANS.

The navigator's job is challenging. The navigator has to be aware of the aircraft's position at all times. The responsibilities include planning the journey, advising the pilot of the estimated timing to destinations while en route, and ensuring that hazards are avoided.

Standing at a mere 5.3 feet, Barala personifies the generation of Indian women who want to fly high in the sky.

She completed her training as navigator in 2008 for AN-32 transport aircraft and is currently undergoing training for navigating during bombing and relief operations at the Agra air base.

"Once my training is over I would like to get training for navigating Sukhoi-30," said Barala, who is in her early 20s.

After she trains to navigate Sukhoi multi-role fighter aircraft, she will become the first Indian woman to sit as co-pilot in the cockpit of the fighter jet.

Barala's decision has inspired other women to follow suit. Two women in her batch have opted for navigation.

"After me, two more women have opted to be navigators," Barala said.

The IAF currently has 784 women officers who work in all branches, barring the fighter stream.
 
India Declines Offer of Free Data Link - Defense News


India Declines Offer of Free Data Link

NEW DELHI - The Indian Defence Ministry has rejected Israeli firm Rafael's offer to develop an operational data link (ODL) for the Indian Air Force fighter fleet free of charge, instead awarding the contract to Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), which bid $4.2 million.

Both companies bid on the project in response to a global tender issued in 2006. U.S. company Lockheed Martin bid $8 million. All three vendors were technically qualified in their bids and went through trials over the last two years.

A senior Defence Ministry official said Rafael's offer could not be technically accepted because there was no value consideration, and IAI's had to be considered the lowest bid. Some bureaucrats, however, favored the Rafael offer.

Defence Ministry sources said the decision also was based on security considerations as the ODL will be a secretive solution, and giving it to Rafael for free would not have appeared ethical.

The senior ministry official added that the ODL is only for a pilot project for the Air Force's network-centric warfare program, adding that there will be repeat orders given to IAI, which will include transfer of technology.

The ODL is the first stage in the Air Force's ambitious plan to create a network-centric warfare capability with advanced data and voice networking over the next 10 years, a senior Air Force official said. The system will enable units to share critical information, including data from the battlefield, allowing speedier decisions.

In the ODL pilot project, the Air Force plans to network selected aircraft and ground stations to obtain experience in developing standard operating procedures, integrating platform mission computers and training operational and maintenance personnel.

The ODL network-centric warfare program will be carried out in phases, and the entire program is scheduled to be operational by 2012. Under this project, fighter aircraft; transport aircraft; helicopters; surveillance platforms, including the Advanced Warning and Control Systems being acquired from Israel; UAVs; and space and ground radars will be networked. These Air Force assets will be looped into the main network-centric warfare project, the Aerospace Planning and Execution system.
 
Air Force Modernization: Network Centric Capabilities High Priority; Dedicated Satellite to be Launched 2010

The Air Force Chief gave candid replies to questions dealing with the Indian Air Force modernization programme here in New Delhi over the weekend. Here are the salient points from that press briefing:

Network Centric Capability

-- IAF has plans to put in place an integrated air command and control system by the end of 2009
-- Dedicated satellites for the IAF to be launched in 2010
-- Complex Grade RADAR facilities to be developed/acquired over the next few years, which is to be followed by an application of a network of sensors that will add a new dimension to IAF's operational capability

-- Training patterns have already been upgraded

-- In the next few years, most inventory would either have been upgraded or replaced

-- IAF is bullish about the HAL LCA-Tejas fighter project and operations are to begin by 2010-11

-- Inter-governmental agreements for the design and development of the Fifth Generation Fighter Jet have been concluded

-- Induction of Jaguars, MIG-27s, MIG-29s and Sukhois with upgraded avionics have been accelerated
 
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India Declines Offer of Free Data Link
By vivek raghuvanshi
Published: 19 Jan 16:43 EST (21:43 GMT)

NEW DELHI - The Indian Defence Ministry has rejected Israeli firm Rafael's offer to develop an operational data link (ODL) for the Indian Air Force fighter fleet free of charge, instead awarding the contract to Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), which bid $4.2 million.

Both companies bid on the project in response to a global tender issued in 2006. U.S. company Lockheed Martin bid $8 million. All three vendors were technically qualified in their bids and went through trials over the last two years.

A senior Defence Ministry official said Rafael's offer could not be technically accepted because there was no value consideration, and IAI's had to be considered the lowest bid. Some bureaucrats, however, favored the Rafael offer.

Defence Ministry sources said the decision also was based on security considerations as the ODL will be a secretive solution, and giving it to Rafael for free would not have appeared ethical.

The senior ministry official added that the ODL is only for a pilot project for the Air Force's network-centric warfare program, adding that there will be repeat orders given to IAI, which will include transfer of technology.

The ODL is the first stage in the Air Force's ambitious plan to create a network-centric warfare capability with advanced data and voice networking over the next 10 years, a senior Air Force official said. The system will enable units to share critical information, including data from the battlefield, allowing speedier decisions.

In the ODL pilot project, the Air Force plans to network selected aircraft and ground stations to obtain experience in developing standard operating procedures, integrating platform mission computers and training operational and maintenance personnel.

The ODL network-centric warfare program will be carried out in phases, and the entire program is scheduled to be operational by 2012. Under this project, fighter aircraft; transport aircraft; helicopters; surveillance platforms, including the Advanced Warning and Control Systems being acquired from Israel; UAVs; and space and ground radars will be networked. These Air Force assets will be looped into the main network-centric warfare project, the Aerospace Planning and Execution system.

India Declines Offer of Free Data Link - Defense News
 
FREE is always danger !! May be pakistan can try and give its data to Isreal
 
FREE is always danger !! May be pakistan can try and give its data to Isreal

oh no It seems it is planted by them in the news media may they wanted this FREE thing to leverage this some where else.
 
14 january 2009

NEW DELHI - With relations between India and Pakistan on the downside after the Nov. 26 Mumbai terror attacks, the Indian air force has received the first of three Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft from Israel ahead of schedule.

Air force sources said the first of the aircraft, fitted with an Israeli Phalcon radar on a Russian Il-76 aircraft, was expected by March, but arrived from Israel on Jan. 11. It is currently based at Agra Air Force station, near here.

Under the $1.1 billion deal signed in March 2004, three Israeli early warning radar and communication systems are to be integrated with the Ilyushin heavy military transport plane to give India AWACS capabilities. The deliveries were to begin in November 2007, then later postponed to the end of 2008 and then to March 2009, sources said.

The Israeli Phalcon AWACS will enable the Indian air force to carry out tactical surveillance over a radius of 400 kilometers and collect surface target information deep inside Pakistan while still operating in Indian airspace. The AWACS are later to be networked to other air force assets through a dedicated satellite.

India also is developing its own AWACS through the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which signed a deal in July for the purchase of EMB-145 aircraft from Embraer of Brazil to be used as the AWACS platform.

Three EMB-145 aircraft are to be modified and carry the Active Array Antenna Unit, developed by DRDO, on the aircraft's fuselage.

Currently, the tactical surveillance job is being carried out by a variety of Israeli-made UAVs.
 
Air defence drill in Feb

Air defence drill in Feb


Express News Service
First Published : 24 Jan 2009 09:25:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 24 Jan 2009 02:37:35 PM IST

BALASORE: The Indian defence scientists are preparing for a crucial air defence exercise involving country’s one of the sophisticated interceptor ballistic missiles, next month. The exercise will feature two missiles - a target and another interceptor.

For the first time the target missile will be fired from a ship in the Bay of Bengal and the interceptor, which will be fired from the Wheelers Island, located off the Orissa coast, would kill the target outside the atmosphere.

Concerned about the threats emerging from Pakistan in the wake of the November terror attack in Mumbai and the predominant position of China, the defence scientists, who are upset over the recent failure of the cruise missile BrahMos’s user trial at Pokhran, are leaving no stone unturned for the interceptor’s successful launch.

‘‘The threats from the sea have become a major concern for the country. So now our focus is on the interceptors.

The exercise is aimed to boost the country’s air defence systems and provide the country an air defence shield,’’ said a defence scientist.

India has already conducted tests of both the versions - ‘exo-atmospheric (outside the atmosphere) and endo-atmospheric (within the atmosphere) - of the interceptor ballistic missiles in the past. ‘‘During the earlier exo-atmospheric test the interceptor had killed an incoming missile at an altitude of around 50 km. This time an attempt would be made to destroy a long range missile at an altitude of nearly 80 km. The enemy missile will be a modified version of Dhanush,’’ said a source in the integrated test range (ITR) at Chandipur.

‘‘Though the exercise was planned to be conducted in December last it was deferred due to delay in allotment of a ship,’’ the source informed.

‘‘The exo-atmospheric missile, which has been renamed ‘Pradyumna’ has a killing probability of above 99 percent. It can also carry a warhead of about 25 kg. After two or three tests it would be ready for deployment by 2011,’’ said the scientist.
 
Free? No Thanks! India Chooses Datalink Development Partner
26-Jan-2009 11:55 EST


Datalinks are an under-rated but critical technology set for any modern military. In simple terms, a datalink provides virtual circuit and datagram services that guarantee reliable, simultaneous, multi- channel transmissions. They can include voice, data, imagery, and video, and are generally encrypted for obvious reasons. These services may allow a soldier with a V-RAMBO wrist device to get streaming video from a UAV, or a strike aircraft to receive target information directly from troops on the ground via the ROVER system. Weapons with 2-way datalinks can be re-targeted in flight. Advanced uses of datalinks even include implementations like NATO’s Link 16 standard, which allow targets identified by one radar or aircraft to appear on others’ displays.

The Indian Air Force recently put out a contract for datalink development. In the ODL pilot project, the Air Force plans to network selected aircraft and ground stations by 2012, as a first step and training opportunity. Over the next 10 years, they plan to equip their fighter fleets, transport aircraft, helicopters, AWACS and maritime surveillance aircraft, UAVs, and key radars…

The long-term potential for this contract is significant, though technology transfer requirements shrink the total effort’s long term value to any foreign partners. Even so, this could become a very significant contract for any weapons manufacturer. Deep knowledge of India’s datalink structure could give that manufacturer’s weapons an advantage in future competitions, especially if compatibility becomes a built-in, zero-cost feature of their upgrades and future weapons.

RAFAEL already builds airborne datalinks, and is a globally competitive designer and producer of weapons. India already uses their Python, Derby, and Barak missiles, among others. Thinking quickly, RAFAEL made India an offer: they would do it for free. Other bids reportedly included Israel’s IAI at $4.2 million, and Lockheed Martin at $8 million.

Defense News reports that some bureaucrats favored the Rafael offer in this lowest-bidder competition, but in the end, India refused. RAFAEL’s offer was disqualified because there was no value consideration, which meant that IAI’s bid became the lowest. A bid of even $1 might have stepped around that technical rule, but there was also some uneasiness concerning the ethical appearance of a free or nearly-free offer.

The offer certainly made sense from RAFAEL’s point of view, but an offer that’s too good creates problems of its own. Perhaps, in retrospect, the best option would have been a $1 million bid, or a bundling deal with an existing weapon purchase.

It doesn’t matter now, because India’s decision is made, leaving these events as an interesting lesson for industry vendors.

Free? No Thanks! India Chooses Datalink Development Partner
 
Roy's Russian Aircraft Resource

The order for 80 Mi-17V-5 military transport helicopters intended for India will be placed at OAO Kazan' Helicopter Plant. As the official Tatarstan Republic server reports, the enterprise's deputy general marketing, sales ands service director, Vitaliy Vasyutkin, made the announcement.

A decision that the helicopters for India will be assembled in Kazan' was adopted initially, the top manager emphasized. In his opinion, such a choice is explained by the fact that "there have not been and are no other type of rotary-winged aircraft manufactured in this country except Kazan's. "They make a fine showing of themselves. The contract will be fulfilled in 2010 - 2013. Indian specialists will arrive in Kazan' to accept the helicopters," Vasyutkin specified.

As the plant's marketing director emphasized, "along with the Indian contract there are order of different federal structures being fulfilled and to be fulfilled." "So it is not surprising that the Kazan' Helicopter Plant has not stopped hiring qualified workers," Vasyutkin specified.

It is recalled that it became known in December 2008 that Russia and India entered into a contract for the delivery of 80 Mi-17V-5 military transport helicopters. The contract was signed as a result of the discussions of Russia's president Dmitriy Medvedev and India's prime minister Manmohan Singh.

An agreement in principle on the purchase by the Indian air force of the Mi-17 helicopters was reached in March 2007 at a meeting of the Russo-Indian intergovernmental commission on military and technical cooperation.

The Mi-17V-5 assault transport is a modification of the Mi-8MT helicopter developed taking into account combat experience. In particular, drop time, which is especially important in combat conditions, has been minimized. Thus, 36 men can get out of the helicopter in only 15 seconds. Moreover, the Mi-17V-5 is equipped with a non-parachute assault system ((SISTEMA BESPARASHYUTNOGO DESANTIROVANIYA)) that allows lowering ((SPUSK)) four men simultaneously.
 
ADA plans to develop medium combat aircraft with IAF

ADA plans to develop medium combat aircraft with IAF

Bangalore, Feb 03: Aeronautical Development Agency, a Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) lab, plans to design and develop a medium combat aircraft with "stealth features" in partnership with Indian Air Force, an ADA official said on Tuesday.

"We are working with (Indian) Air Force as to what their requirement is", ADA Director P S Subramanyam told PTI here.

"They (IAF) are also coming forward to evolve the specifications of medium combat aircraft...what we call next generation fighter aircraft,"
Subramanyam said.

He said it would be in the 20-tonne category, twin-engine aircraft, likely to be powered by the Kaveri-Snecma engine. "It will have stealth features," he said.

"It's going to be a joint activity (between ADA and IAF) from beginning", Subramanyam said, adding "it's good that even Air Force is also feeling that we should take up this programme".

Meanwhile, he also said the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas has started flying with weapons, and integration of radars would be completed by next month.

"Once I do that, more or less system development activity (of LCA-Tejas) is completed", he added.

Bureau Report
 
IAF chief advice SWAC to be on alert

Indian Air Force chief F H Major on Monday advised the IAF Commanders' of South Western Air Command (SWAC) to maintain a very high level of operational preparedness keeping in mind present geopolitical situation.

Addressing Annual Commanders' Conference of SWAC in Gandhinagar, Major gave a broad overview of latest geopolitical situation prevailing around our neighbourhood to the IAF officials of SWAC, sources in IAF said.

Major advised the IAF officials "to maintain a very high level of operational preparedness at all time".

There is also a need for complete synergy between the three services (Army, Navy and the Air Force) to meet the security challenges, Major added.

Major's statement assumes significance due to the fall out of the Mumbai terror strikes.

Annual Commanders' Conference of all air force units under SWAC was inaugurated by Major at Gandhinagar. All Commanders within the geographical limits of SWAC in the
states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are attending the conference.

As per sources, Major further said that the government was committed to modernisation needs of the Air Force and all efforts are being made to put this on a fast track.

"As the Air Force capabilities are growing and in transition, the Government is taking effective steps to induct new high tech equipment, without financial constraints", Major said.

He indicated that as the Air Force is in transition, all personnel have to continuously update their knowledge and training status.
NDTV.com: IAF chief advice SWAC to be on alert
 

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