Indian Build Up

[Contrarian]

Much more detailed Article:

India is close to finalising a 1.5 billion Euro deal for retrofit of its 52 frontline Mirage-2000 fighter planes to give them a fresh lease of life for 25 years and arming them with futuristic new 'Matra Mica' air-to-air missiles.

"The deal, which will provide for mounting a joint tactical information datalink system (JTIDS), compatability with helmet-mounted sights for off-bore-sight heat-seeking missiles and long-range sensors, is almost at the finalisation stage", top IAF officials told PTI today.

The upgradation, to be undertaken in India starting next year would involve complete change of radar systems, combat display systems and electronic warfare system of the French-made Mirages, which together with multi-role Sukhoi 30MKI, form the bullwark of country's air combat power.

The retrofit is to be undertaken jointly by a French-Indian consortium comprising the aircraft makers Dassault, weapons systems integrator Thales, missile manufacturers MBDA and India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

"It is a mid-life upgradation", said an IAF officer, observing a similar retrofit programme was also in the final stages for IAFs Russian-supplied MiG-29 fighters.

"The first of the retrofitted Mirages would start being re-delivered to the IAF by 2010 and the entire fleet of 52 fighters would be back in operational flying by 2011," he said.

The first Mirage-2000 squadron of the IAF took shape in 1985 and since then the multi-role fighters have seen action in 'Operation Pawan' in Sri Lanka as well as 'Operation Vijay' in Kargil in 1999.

Upgradation would be done squadron-wise to ensure that the bulk of the fighters were ready for operations if need arises, French officials said.

European defence major Thales is also involved in supplying few hi-tech combat systems for the MiG-21 upgradation programme being undertaken with Russian and Israeli help.

The major components of the Mirage upgrade programme, French sources said, would be installing a new five-display glass cockpit layout borrowed from the Rafale programme and Thales new multimode Radar Doppler multi-target system.

Labelled RDY (in its French acronym) the new system is a more powerful processor that provides multi-target tracking and can guide four Mica air-to-air missiles to different targets simultaneously.

The modernised fighters will also have improved countermeasures suite with new lowband jammer. This system has also been developed for Dassault new range of Rafale fighters.

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Looks like the MLU would be a serious make-over for our Mirages! with parts incorporated from the Rafale!

 

[Contrarian]

The Defence Minister A K Antony informed the Rajya Sabha on November 23, that the Indian Navy would be equipped with the indigenously built Electronic Warfare System codenamed Ellora, by this year end.

The system enables the naval ships to detect enemy presence without giving out their location. The system designed by the Hyderabad based Defence Electronics Research Laboratory (DERL), is being manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

The sophisticated system offers advanced Electronic Counter Measure (ECM) and Electronic Support Measure (ESM) capability enabling the navy's ships to remain undetected from prying eyes, while it is able to perform the crucial task of threat detection.

The Electronic Counter Measure is an active system, which emits radiations from ships or an aircraft to jam or neutralise the enemy radiators, and is used as aerials or pods. Electronic Support Measure functions passively and is used to detect the radiations from radars and analyse it.

Both systems work on electro-magnetic fields.

 

[Bull]

INS Shardul can carry 11 main battle tanks, 10 army vehicles, 500 troops

January 4 will be a day of many firsts for the Navy and the naval base Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kadamba, when Defence Minister A.K. Antony commissions India's newest landing ship INS Shardul.

INS Shardul will be the first ship to be commissioned from INS Kadamba, the Navy's most modern and state-of-the-art operational base at Karwar (on India's west coast).

It will result in an Indian Naval landing ship being based on India's western seaboard for the first time (so far they have been based on the east at Visakhapatnam), and the occasion will also be Mr. Antony's maiden visit to INS Kadamba after assuming charge of the portfolio.

Third of its kind

INS Shardul, which is in the landing ship for tanks-large (LST-L) class, is the third of its kind.

The earlier ships of its class being the INS Magar and INS Gharial, which were built and delivered in 1987 and 1997 respectively.

This class of ships, unlike conventional surface ships, are used to support amphibious operations, carry equipment, cargo and troops.

Accompany forces

They also accompany expeditionary forces during assaults on beaches.

INS Shardul can carry 11 main battle tanks, 10 army vehicles and 500 troops (excluding the ship's crew) for amphibious operations and can achieve a speed of 15.8 knots. It will allow the disembarkation of army vehicles and troops directly onto the beachhead.

The ship is also provided with helicopter landing facilities to accommodate either the United States-made Sea King Mk 42 or the indigenously Hindustan Aeronautics Limited-built Advanced Light Helicopter, Dhruv.

Built by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata, INS Shardul has, according to defence ministry sources, successfully completed HATS (harbour acceptance trials) and SATS (sea acceptance trials).

INS Shardul will be the fifth ship to be based at INS Kadamba, the Navy's futuristic base, which is meant to decongest Mumbai, the Navy's premier bit overcrowded base, with at least 10 ships that are now based at Mumbai being relocated to INS Kadamba

 

[TomCat111]

Somebody, please correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t IA lost 700+ of their own men during 2002 standoff, and that too without Pakistanis shooting a single round?

 

[Adux]

sources please, reputed and fair please

 

[john_holmes]

Come on Adux, let Tomcat get some happiness. If he thinks IA lost 700 men, let it be so.

 

[PakSniper]

I will try to find the source it was less than that., what happend was a indian convoy (mishap happened) and blew it up a few 10X some died but less than 100 (about 300 total., with milita incidents and convoy fire totalled)., I'm trying to get the article out., some said it was milita who attacked it but it came out to be a convoy (mishap). Also not all happened with convoy their were milita and hindu army gun battles aswell when thet tallied the total.

Below is the article of the incident of the convoy but this one doesn't tell the loss., and u might believe it since it's from indian source.

http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/Army/News/2002/02-Jan2.html

Defence Minister suspects sabotage in Bikaner blasts
(Rediff, 12 January 2002)

Defence Minister George Fernandes, who visited the site of January 11th's explosions near an ammunition depot in Bikaner in Rajasthan, said a court of inquiry will look into all angles, including the possibility of sabotage, in the incident. Defence Minister Fernandes, who was accompanied by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, said Gehlot too suspected sabotage. A series of explosions in a convoy of trucks carrying tank ammunition to forward formations claimed two lives and destroyed 1000 tonnes of ammunition. Defence Minister Fernandes and Chief Minister Gehlot spent over two hours going round the site, accompanied by top ordnance experts. They also visited some villages nearby. According to initial reports, highly placed Army sources in Bikaner said an electric spark in one of the 250 civil trucks hired to move heavy ammunition from Bhatinda in Punjab to Ganganagar-Bikaner frontier in northern Rajasthan had triggered massive explosions in the parked convoy gutting as many as 80 ammunition trucks.

The convoy was part of the movement ordered in connection with Operation Parakrama, as the current army mobilisation is codenamed. The convoy was parked in an Army cantonment bay for a short rest when a truck caught fire and the exploding ammunition engulfed all the nearby trucks. Huge explosions echoed round the area with flames leaping as high as 60 to 70 feet sending hundreds of villagers living around the area fleeing in panic. Top Army and civil officials, who rushed to the spot, managed to get the 170 ammunition-laden trucks comprising the bulk of the convoy, to drive away to safety as fire tenders were pressed into service. The sabotage theory has come to surface as the pattern in the mishap is the same as what happened near the Suratgarh ammunition depot last year, army officials said.

At Suratgarh, an army ammunition convoy carrying tank ammunition after the joint Indian Air Force and Army exercise 'Operation Poorna Vijay' had caught fire gutting over 2000 rounds of ammunition. A court of inquiry into the incident is yet to submit its report. This incident incidentally is the third major fire near a forward ammunition depot in the Ganaganagar-Pathankot-Bikaner belt. A mysterious fire at Mamoon near Pathankot towards the end of 2000 had gutted large volumes of tank ammunition after conclusion of forward armoured exercises. Security officials said there had been reports of intrusion by Pakistani agents in these border belts and over the past 3 years a number of arrests have been made.

Army combs Bikaner ammunition depot area
(Times of India, 14 January 2002)

Bomb disposal units of the Army are combing about 10 km area to locate and dispose unexploded ammunitions. Last week a fire had gutted an Army convoy of 70 trucks which were transporting ammunition to the border areas. Six bomb disposal units will be mopping up as many police station areas in two phases, official sources said in Bikaner. In the first phase, they would look for unexploded objects in 100 locations, where the shells are said to have fallen. In the second phase, a block-by-block sanitisation would be made, sources said. Shells of blasted ammunition have already been removed from most of the areas but the district administration is worried about the unexploded objects that might be still lying unnoticed in residential and other areas, they said. Meanwhile, life has returned to normal with residents of ten colonies, who were shifted to safer places following the mishap, returning. Power, water and telecom facilities have also been fully restored in all the affected areas, officials said. About 150 ammunition-laden trucks taken away from the fire site by army jawans have now been parked in vacant areas. The authorities have so far not given the exact number of trucks gutted in the fire.

And plus your own soldiers kill themselves and their superiors., those are some incidents without skrimish and war. :lol1:

 

[EagleEyes]

And plus your own soldiers kill themselves and their superiors., those are some incidents without skrimish and war.

Its nothing to laugh about.

 

[TomCat111]

sources please, reputed and fair please

How about we warm up with this report first?

LM Report 2002

INDIA

Key developments since May 2001: In December 2001, India began laying antipersonnel and antivehicle mines along its 1,800-mile border with Pakistan.... There were at least 332 new mine casualties reported in 2001, and another 180 mine casualties reported between 1 January and 17 June 2002.

 

[john_holmes]

How about we warm up with this report first?

LM Report 2002

INDIA

Key developments since May 2001: In December 2001, India began laying antipersonnel and antivehicle mines along its 1,800-mile border with Pakistan.... There were at least 332 new mine casualties reported in 2001, and another 180 mine casualties reported between 1 January and 17 June 2002.

Where does it talk about fatalities ??

It does not mention about deaths.

 

[PakSniper]

Where does it talk about fatalities ??

It does not mention about deaths.

Now we have to look for the casualty chart., you indians do have a very closed mind don't you.?!?! Like that 70 Convoy truck blowing up, you can expect casualties of course Indian sources aren't going to report this, some of it was covered up quicky. Think outside the box sometimes., casualties could mean injuries or death.

I will try to get the chart of the fatalties., but it will be hard since it was 2002 and I say the chart once., don't worry i'm know it's humilating you guyies can't lay minds, so you going to whine about this to uncle sam?!

 

[Bull]

webby,

this is not a thread for dicussion.its been pinned by the mods for news related to indian buildup.

If there is nothing to contribute then why bother.

 

[vnomad]

Like that 70 Convoy truck blowing up, you can expect casualties of course Indian sources aren't going to report this, some of it was covered up quicky.

Indian sources aren't going to report this? You've quoted Indian sources as far as I can see. And the 70 trucks were parked and not necessarily manned. And one cannot cover up the death of 700 troops or even 300. It isn't possible.

 

[Bull]

NEW DELHI: With Pakistan moving towards inducting its Babur land-attack cruise missile (LACM) into its army, India too plans to step up production of its 300-km range BrahMos multi-role supersonic cruise missile.

Sources said the defence ministry is now looking at increasing the production of BrahMos missiles from the existing dozen or so every year to at least 50 in the near future.

With the air-breathing missile already being inducted into Navy and its "modified" Army LACM version on the way, defence scientists have also begun work to more than double the speed of BrahMos, which already flies at a considerable 2.8 mach, as well increase its strike range. India, of course, is already hawking the missile, developed jointly with Russia under the BrahMos Aerospace joint venture, in the international arms market. The global cruise missile market will be worth around $10 billion in the coming decade.

BrahMos Aerospace's aggressive international marketing has, in fact, led to a squabble with some Russian armament firms, which have accused it of "squeezing" other Russian anti-ship missiles out of the market. "Defence minister A K Antony has assured BrahMos Aerospace that he will sort out the matter soon, possibly during Russian president Vladimir Putin's visit to India in end-January," said a source.

"Countries like Malaysia, Chile, South Africa and Kuwait have already shown interest in procuring BrahMos. Both India and Russia will jointly decide where to export the missile," he added. But coming back to the domestic scene, BrahMos Aerospace wants to augment its production facilities at Hyderabad to meet orders worth Rs 3,500 crore placed by Navy and Army.

Some frontline warships like Rajput-class destroyers have already been equipped with BrahMos vertical launch systems. Moreover, a majority of the new warships, like the three Kolkata-class guided-missile destroyers being built at Mazagon Docks and the three additional Talwar-class "stealth" frigates ordered from Russia, will also be armed with BrahMos.

The delivery of the LACM version, with mobile autonomous launchers, will also begin by end-2007. Army is already raising a special BrahMos regiment under its artillery directorate to handle these "precision" strike missiles.

With another $50-million funding to develop the air version given to BrahMos Aerospace, the design work for configuring these missiles for the Sukhoi-30MKI jets is almost complete now.

"The missile's dummy trials, in a horizontal mode after being dropped from a fighter, will begin in December 2007. These will be followed by actual flight trials, followed by actual deliveries to IAF from 2009," said the source. The eventual plan, of course, is to have nuclear-tipped LACMs, with strike ranges in excess of 1,500 km. Unlike ballistic missiles, cruise missiles do not leave the atmosphere and are powered and guided throughout their flight path.

Apart from being much cheaper and more accurate than ballistic missiles, cruise missiles can penetrate missile defence systems more effectively since they evade enemy radars by flying at low altitudes, virtually hugging the terrain

 

[Contrarian]

IAF woos Jodhpur youth with dazzling air show

Jodhpur, Dec 31 (ANI): The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Sunday put up a dazzling air show here in a bid to woo the youth to join the force.

The show, which was a part of the ongoing platinum jubilee celebrations of the IAF, included breath taking aerobatic and dare devil displays by helicopters of the 'Sarang' Aerobatics Display team and the 'Akashganga' Sky Diving team.

The helicopters performed combination of sorties in the air, leaving the crowd, which included students and families of the air force officials, spellbound.

Wing Commander Kamal Singh said that the main aim of the show was to motivate the youth to join the defence forces.

"Whenever we give this type of demonstration we display the power of the Air Force and tell the people how adventurous it is. We motivate the youth to join us to become an air warrior and join the air force," said Wing Commander Singh.

"The performance of the Air Force was wonderful and we are happy to see it," said Sita, a spectator.

India has the world's fourth largest air force, with more than 700 combat and around 1550 non-combat aircraft operational in it.

The once favoured Indian armed forces are reportedly not attracting the best talent now. The shortage is severe in the army with just around 11,000 officers in a force of 1.1 million-strong. The navy and air force are also facing a shortage, but not as severe as the army.

Expanding employment avenues in the private sector is a major reason for disinterest amongst the youth to take up a career in the armed forces. (ANI)