Indian Build Up

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NEW DELHI, January 24 (RIA Novosti) - The Sukhoi Design Bureau will assist India in testing an air-to-ground version of the Brahmos cruise missile, a RIA Novosti correspondent said Wednesday.

Russia and India established in 1998 a joint venture, BrahMos Aerospace, to design, develop, produce and market a supersonic cruise missile. Sea-based and land-based versions of the missile have been successfully tested and put into service with the Indian Army and Navy.

The company is currently working on the development of an airborne version of the missile, which could be installed on the Sukhoi-30MKI air-superiority fighters of the Indian Air Force.

The Brahmos missile, named after India's Brahmaputra River and Russia's Moscow River, has a range of 180 miles and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 660 pounds. It can hit ground targets flying at an altitude as low as 10 meters (30 feet) and at a speed of Mach 2.8.

A BrahMos Aerospace official said last year that the company planned to make 1,000 missiles over the next 10 years and sell half of them to third countries.

During the sixth meeting of the Russian-Indian intergovernmental commission on military-technical cooperation in the Indian capital on Wednesday, the sides agreed to increase the production capacity of the joint enterprise in order to satisfy the growing demand for this type of weaponry.

In 2000, Russia and India signed a 10-year program on military-technical cooperation, which currently lists about 130 R&D and production projects.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who is a co-chairman of the joint commission, Wednesday called for the development of a draft cooperation program beyond 2010.

"Joint projects in the sphere of military-technical cooperation between Russia and India show a gradual transition from 'seller-buyer' relations to scientific-production cooperation," said Ivanov, who is also Russia's deputy prime minister.

 

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The defense establishment is considering deploying new Arrow 2 missile batteries, in addition to the two currently in place, at sites throughout the country, including in the South, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

On Sunday night, the IAF successfully tested the Arrow 2 system against a missile impersonating an Iranian Shihab-3 carrying a nuclear warhead.

According to defense sources, the IAF plans to test an upgraded version of the missile called the Arrow 2.5 in two months. It is said to carry a larger warhead and to be capable of reaching higher altitudes, where it is safer to destroy nonconventional weapons.

The Post has also learned that Israel Aircraft Industries CEO Yitzhak Nissan will discuss potential exports of the Arrow with his US counterparts during a trip to Washington this week.

While defense officials stressed that no "concrete offers were currently on the table," they confirmed that South Korea, India and Turkey had expressed interest in the US-Israel developed system. Before such a sale takes place, IAI and Boeing would need to receive authorization from the Ministry of Defense and the US Missile Defense Agency.

"The Arrow is the sole operational missile defense system in the world today," one official said. "It is only natural that other countries would be interested in purchasing it."

There are currently Arrow batteries stationed in Palmahim, south of Ashdod, and one in the North, near Ein Shemer. Sunday night's test involved both Arrow batteries, with the one in Ein Shemer using its radar to locate and track the "enemy" missile and the one in Palmahim firing the interceptor.

As a result of Sunday's successful test, the defense establishment is considering the deployment of additional Arrow missiles. The idea would be to position launchers and missiles in key locations - such as near the Dimona nuclear reactor - and to operate them together with the systems located in Palmahim and Ein Shemer.

 

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Indian Navy Buys Six Former US Navy Sea King Helicopters

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In another sign of the growing cooperation between the United States and India, the Indian navy will buy six former U.S. Navy H-3 Sea King helicopters. Naval Air Systems Command and the Support and Commercial Derivative Aircraft program office (PMA-207) were instrumental in this $39 million Foreign Military Sales agreement, signed Nov. 15.

‘‘The Sea King is a great multi-role helicopter and has served in the U.S. Navy for over 40 years,” said Capt. Mark Stone, program manager, Support and Commercial Derivative Aircraft program office. ‘‘It’s not surprising that these helicopters will continue to serve in the Indian navy for many more years.”

The six Sea Kings are currently stored at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC) in Arizona. These same helicopters were flying missions for the U.S. Navy a little more than a year ago.

This process began in late February when representatives of the Indian government visited the Support and Commercial Derivative Aircraft program office for discussions on the possible Sea King sale. The Indian government representatives also took a flight in one of base’s Search and Rescue Sea King helicopters to see what they potentially were going to buy. The next step took place a few months later.

A NAVAIR team, led by Capt. Stone, went to India this past summer to finalize the details with the Indian government on the possible sale of the six Sea King helicopters and their support package. The Indian government agreed to the purchase and the formal paperwork began, resulting in a signed agreement on Nov. 15.

‘‘The helicopters will be sent from AMARC to two different contractors to be completely refurbished before they are delivered to the Indian navy,” said Bob Kelly, the Sea King deputy program manager. ‘‘They will receive a complete inspection of all critical systems, stripped of paint and repainted into Indian navy colors, have a complete functional check flight and then sent to Naval Station Norfolk, Va., for shipment.”

At Norfolk, the helicopters will be loaded aboard the former USS Trenton, an amphibious transport dock that India also recently purchased, to be shipped to India.

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi...&modele=jdc_34


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In another sign of the growing cooperation between the United States and India, the Indian navy will buy six former U.S. Navy H-3 Sea King helicopters. Naval Air Systems Command and the Support and Commercial Derivative Aircraft program office (PMA-207) were instrumental in this $39 million Foreign Military Sales agreement, signed Nov. 15.

‘‘The Sea King is a great multi-role helicopter and has served in the U.S. Navy for over 40 years,” said Capt. Mark Stone, program manager, Support and Commercial Derivative Aircraft program office. ‘‘It’s not surprising that these helicopters will continue to serve in the Indian navy for many more years.”

The six Sea Kings are currently stored at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC) in Arizona. These same helicopters were flying missions for the U.S. Navy a little more than a year ago.

This process began in late February when representatives of the Indian government visited the Support and Commercial Derivative Aircraft program office for discussions on the possible Sea King sale. The Indian government representatives also took a flight in one of base’s Search and Rescue Sea King helicopters to see what they potentially were going to buy. The next step took place a few months later.

A NAVAIR team, led by Capt. Stone, went to India this past summer to finalize the details with the Indian government on the possible sale of the six Sea King helicopters and their support package. The Indian government agreed to the purchase and the formal paperwork began, resulting in a signed agreement on Nov. 15.

‘‘The helicopters will be sent from AMARC to two different contractors to be completely refurbished before they are delivered to the Indian navy,” said Bob Kelly, the Sea King deputy program manager. ‘‘They will receive a complete inspection of all critical systems, stripped of paint and repainted into Indian navy colors, have a complete functional check flight and then sent to Naval Station Norfolk, Va., for shipment.”

At Norfolk, the helicopters will be loaded aboard the former USS Trenton, an amphibious transport dock that India also recently purchased, to be shipped to India.

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi...&modele=jdc_34

 

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In a workshop at Hazira, desi underwater missile launcher gets ready for trial

On the floors of the workshop of a well-known public limited company at Hazira, Project 78 (P78) is getting ready. The engineering works are complete and minor electrical wiring remain to be completed, a task which, according to sources, is scheduled to be finished by the end of the month and formally handed over to the Navy for tests. P78 is not just another engineering project. It is India’s underwater test missile launcher almost entirely indigenously designed and fabricated. It simulates the necessary conditions to launch a cruise or a ballistic missile from a nuclear-powered submarine. In the present instance, P78 is the first crucial step towards strategic weaponisation, since it is being geared to launch a missile tipped with a nuclear warhead. The missile for which the launcher is being readied is the mysterious Sagarika, first thought to be a cruise missile but now, again according to sources, virtually confirmed to be a ballistic missile. A cruise missile is a low-trajectory missile guided to its destination by an on-board computer. The ballistic missile has a high trajectory and transcends the atmosphere to re-enter from above the targeted site. Sources say that Sagarika will come in both versions — cruise and ballistic. It is, however, confirmed to be an advanced clone of the naval version of the Prithvi series. Prithvi-I is land-based, II is air-launched and III, sea launched. The difference is that Sagarika is designed exclusively for being launched from a submarine, hence is an SLBM (SLCM is a cruise missile.) The state of development of the SLBM/SLCM could not be confirmed but what could be confirmed was the targeted date for the test launch of the missile itself. A highly placed source directly involved with India’s prestigious, albeit long-suffering, advanced technology vessel project (ATV Project) — a euphemism for the indigenously being-developed nuclear submarine — disclosed to The Indian Express that Sagarika will have its first underwater flight test in September 2001. According to a retired Naval intelligence source, this means Sagarika is already ready and waiting for tests or in a very advanced state of completion. That is why the frenetic activity to have the P78 underwater missile launcher delivered to the Navy before April 2001 makes sense. The revelation assumes significance since it is the first solid and tangible fulfilment of the aim of the ambitious draft Indian nuclear doctrine to possess a viable and credible ‘‘second strike’’ capability to inflict ‘‘unacceptable damage’’ to an attacking enemy. It is a matter of recognised strategic principle that a viable and credible second nuclear strike capability is vested with sea-launched, in particular nuclear-propelled submarine-launched missiles, because they are difficult to track down using air or surface-launched enemy missiles. The Indian Government has consistently denied the existence of both the ATV project and the development of the SLBM Sagarika with a range of about 300 km. ‘‘Even today, no one is about to admit to the project. However, once the underwater missile test takes place in September, it will be there for the whole world to see,’’ the source said. Sagarika developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), needs to have a nuclear-powered submarine, for conventional diesel-powered submarines do not have the logistics and manoeuvrability to launch the missile from under water. This means that, despite its long and chequered history, the indigenously designed ATV Project is well on course since the ATVP and Sagarika complement each other. This correspondent talked to AK Anand, director, reactor project group of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Anand refused to either confirm or deny it. However, on a recent visit to MAPS (Madras Atomic Power Station) and IGCAR (Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research) sources at Kalpakkam confirmed to this correspondent that the nuclear reactor for the submarine was being fabricated there.

 

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Ruling the Seas from the Sky


Indian naval aviation is ready for a
take-off

By Pravin Sawhney and Ghazala Wahab


After several false starts and prospects of near elimination, Indian Naval Aviation is finally poised to take the big leap in the next couple of years. With the induction of INS Vikramaditya (erstwhile Admiral Gorshkov) in 2008, the naval aviation will also get 16 MiG-29K aircraft. And by the time indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) is inducted in 2012, the navy is also hopeful of getting the naval version of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) which is being built by HAL. In addition to these, the navy has short-listed five global contenders for the long range maritime patrol aircraft; it is also evaluating four proposals for new generation, ship-borne ASW helicopters to replace the older variants of Sea King and in two to three years would be ready to issue request for proposals for a medium range maritime patrol aircraft to replace the ageing Islanders. Not bad for a force, which at one time had to struggle to maintain its air arm. However, as Admiral Arun Prakash (retd) recently said that air power is a sub-set of maritime power, the Indian Navy seems well on course as it inches towards a two aircraft carrier force.

“There is no doubt that naval aviation is moving ahead rapidly,” says Captain G.M. Gopakumar, commanding officer, INS Hansa, the operational base of naval aviation in Goa. “The coming of MiG-29Ks, which have the deep penetration strike capability, will be a huge technological and capability jump for us.” Captain Kumar describes aviation as the ears and eyes of the navy and INS Hansa as the ears and eyes of the western fleet. “We have to be the first ones to get the best information possible and relay it to the operational bases, so it is only natural that we must have the best aircraft.” In preparation for the MiG-29K, Hansa has already commenced infrastructural development. Two new hangers, one simulator and the dispersal would be built to accommodate the new aircraft, of which, says Captain Kumar, one hanger and part of the dispersal would be ready by the end of next year.

It is said that in Goa, the sea is never far, but at INS Hansa you only get glimpses from certain vantage points. What you do get in abundance is constant take-offs and landings, as the naval aviation base also houses the civil airport Dabolim and manages the air traffic control. Given the growing popularity of Goa as a tourist destination, a flight either lands or takes off every few minutes, including private chartered planes bringing the European tourists. It is quite interesting to watch the busy proceedings from the ATC tower which gives a bird’s eye view of the entire air station, its array of aircraft and the expanse of the ocean close to the horizon. The view is breathtaking, not for its beauty but for the buzz. From the ground Hansa looks almost sedentary, much like the city, but from atop it is a whirlwind of flying, both civil and naval aircraft.

Since INS Hansa, which moved to Goa in 1961 after the Goan liberation from Sulur near Coimbatore, is both the training as well as operational base, it keeps very busy. Naval pilots train on Sea Harriers, Kamov 28 and 31, IL-38 and the Kiran jet trainers here. No surprise then, INS Hansa is also called the ‘Cradle of Sea Harrier Pilots’ as the Sea Harrier Operational Flying Training Unit (SHOFTU) was commissioned here on 16 April 1990. Since then the Sea Harrier pilots train at Hansa instead of the United Kingdom. The SHOFTU help in conversion of MiG-21 qualified pilots to Sea Harriers. It also conducts re-familiarisation courses for those who join flying duties after a break. In addition, it also conducts instrument flying sorties towards instrument rating of Harrier aircrews and provides on the job training for technical personnel of the Sea Harrier stream among other things.

Assisting in the training is the Sea Harrier simulator which was installed in 1984 and was updated to Batch II A/C standard in 1997 by replacing all the old computers with state of art Silicon graphic computers. The simulator provides the rookie pilots with the entire mission simulation with dusk/night and day visuals and the experience of flying. Even operational pilots periodically sit inside the simulator to remain current with the aircraft. Simulation provides pilots with situations they are normally not likely to see in the aircraft yet have to be prepared for such as fire, engine failure, bad weather and even enemy aircraft. It also imparts realistic training in interception. During an earlier visit to INS Hansa, the FORCE team had the first hand experience inside the simulator. Within seconds of being airborne the Sea Harrier cruised over the Arabian Sea and was soon grappling with an enemy aircraft. Perhaps, for the benefit of the journalists, the Sea Harrier instructor created as many emergencies as were possible in a 10 minute flight from INS Hansa to INS Viraat. Currently, the frontline Sea Harrier is being made more pilot-friendly. The Blue Fox is being replaced by Doppler radar. The display is going to be in colour to ease identification of objects; the targets will be easier on the eye and it would be easier for the pilots to assimilate the gathered information. Sea Harriers are also going to be fitted with Derby beyond visual range (BVR) missiles.

However, in November, just over a week after the conclusion of the ninth chapter of the Malabar series exercise with the US, INS Hansa was abuzz with excitement caused by the upgraded IL-38 aircraft, two of which recently returned from Russia fitted with the deadly Sea Dragon suites. The IL-38 is a long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine aircraft, which carries torpedoes, depth charges and sonobuoys for anti-submarine warfare and air to surface missiles for surface attack. However, all these capabilities have been enhanced manifold by the SD suite which has transformed it into a formidable platform in air comparable with the very best in the world. “There are six compartments to the Sea Dragon suite, which we call SD1 to SD6,” explains Captain Kumar. And between SD1 to SD6, the IL-38 packs a punch with state of the art Doppler radar capable of tracking 15 contacts; anti-submarine warfare system including low frequency sonobuoys; Magnetic Anomaly Detector; Computer system that networks the airborne platform to the operational base; Infra Red with night vision capabilities; and an Electronic Support Measure system. In addition to this, the new machine also comes packed with two air to surface KH-35 missiles, torpedoes and bombs. “This is a quantum jump from the earlier IL-38,” gushes one pilot, who also suggests that the SD suite has aroused some amount of curiosity among the western navies who want to know what it is all about. Three more IL-38SDs will return from Russia shortly. The upgraded aircraft has a one year warranty from Russia. The Russian team is currently in Goa to facilitate user tests. “Since it is completely a new machine for us, we will like to take our time to see how it works,” says the pilot. Though IL-38s were commissioned in 1977, these upgrades have further enhanced their lives by a decade. With an endurance of eight hours, they are a formidable aircraft for surveillance, intelligence gathering and ASW.

In addition to IL-38s, Hansa houses seven different types of aircraft and a number of support units like Base Support Unit, Air Engineering Department, Air Electrical Department and so on. Among the rotary aircraft are Kamov 28 and 31, Advanced Light Helicopter and Chetak. The fixed wing aircraft include Sea Harriers, Kiran jet trainers, IL-38 (now SD) and Dorniers. Echoing his chief, Captain Kumar says that the biggest operational challenge for them is surveillance and for that they need aircraft with higher endurance as well as a capability to play multiple roles. And towards that end, while the navy is set to procure a number of new aircraft, it is also upgrading the older ones. For instance, Dornier, despite their age, has a good radar and can fly for five hours, which is effective for short range surveillance, casualty evacuation, search and rescue, training as well as transport. Now with a new ESM system, the aircraft can also do ESM surveillance from forward bases and can give close and distant ASW support to the fleet units. The navy plans to procure 11 more of these birds.

Among the helicopters, KA 31 is the latest acquisition and is a short version of an Airborne Early Warning (AEW) platform with the range of 100 miles. At the moment it is networked on data link to the Talwar class of stealth frigates. While there are only two ALH helicopters at the moment at Hansa with the other two being located elsewhere, Captain Kumar feels that more may be procured in the future depending upon their role.

It is clear that naval aviation is poised to take-off in a big way and would play a definitive role in Indian Navy’s quest for a blue water capability. But, for the passionate pilots the allure of naval aviation lie not in the numbers or capabilities, but in the romance of flying off the carrier and landing on it in the middle of a vast ocean; as any naval aviator would swear, the experience is incomparable.

 

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Leased Akulas Advance India’s Blue-Water Plans

By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI, NEW DELHI


After years of negotiations, Indian sources here say, India and Russia have agreed on a five-year, $350 million deal to lease two Akula II-class nuclear-powered attack submarines. The Russian subs will make India the sixth nation to operate nuclear subs, and extend New Delhi’s efforts to build a blue-water navy.

India signed the contract here during the Jan. 26 visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the sources said.

The lease has been in the works for years, and Indian officials have in the past proclaimed that a deal had been done. But this time, sources say, the lease is for real.

Russian officials in Moscow declined to comment.

Details of the lease are closely guarded, but sources said that India will pay Russia about $35 million per boat annually.

The first of the Improved Project 971 boats — known in Russia as the Bars class — will be delivered next year to the Visakhapatnam naval base on the Bay of Bengal. It will likely be the Nerpa (K 152), which was laid down in 1986 at Komsomolsk Shipyard in Siberia, launched in 1994, and reportedly completed in 2006 at Vostok, near Vladivostok.
Russia will also ship to India an undisclosed quantity of Club sea-skimming cruise missiles for the Akulas, sources said. The missiles would have a range of 300 kilometers, according to the sources, who could not say which variant they would be. India currently has the Club-N aboard its Talwar-class frigates and the Club-S 3M54E on its Kilo-class subs.

A group of Indian Navy officers and sailors has spent the past two years at Sosnovy Bor, a Russian Navy training base west of St. Petersburg in Russia, to learn how to operate and maintain the subs, the sources said.
Analysts say the lease of the Akulas and purchase of the nuclear-capable Club missile fit into Indian plans to expand its blue-water presence and to deploy nuclear weapons at sea.

“I don’t think that it will ‘tilt’ the power balance in the regional sense regarding Pakistan, since the IN [Indian Navy] is already pre-eminent in the Indian Ocean,” said Indian Navy Cmdr. Gurpreet Singh Khurana, a fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, the Defence Ministry’s think tank here. “In fact, its deterrent value will serve to maintain the status quo.”

But Khurana said the quiet, nuclear-powered sub, able to dive to 600 meters and hit submerged speeds of 33 knots, “represents an effective sea-denial and deterrent capability to counter any future Chinese submarine threat in the Indian Ocean.”

The lease is part of New Delhi’s drive to expand its sub force, which now includes 16 conventional boats, mostly of Russian design.

Acquisition of the nuclear submarines is likely to further complicate maintenance and logistics for India’s already diverse diesel-electric submarine force, which now includes four German-designed Type 1500 boats, 10 modern Russian-built Kilo subs and two older Russian-built Foxtrot boats.

In 2005, India signed a $3.9 billion deal with France to license-build six Scorpene-class diesel-electric submarines at Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks.

Later this year, India plans to begin seeking six more advanced conventional subs through a global request for proposals. Analysts say the early frontrunner is the 1650 variant of Russia’s Amur-class submarine, an advanced version of the popular Kilo class.
2nd Nuke-Sub Lease

The Akula deal is the second time in as many decades that India has leased a nuclear submarine from Russia. Between 1988 and 1991, India leased the K-43, a Charlie-class nuclear cruise missile sub known in Russia as the Project 670A Skat-class.

Named the INS Chakra, the Charlie-class submarine gave the Indian Navy experience in operating nuclear-powered ships, key to development of India’s indigenous Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) nuclear submarine program.

“The Charlie lease some 20 years ago was intended to give the Indian Navy a taste of operating nuclear boats and to get a better understanding both for design of an indigenous sub, but also the unique logistics burdens of operating nuclear ships,” said Zachariah Mathews, a retired Indian Navy commodore and consultant with Dua Consulting, based here. “What was learned from the Charlie, that is being applied to the Akulas.”

One big difference: While Russian sailors operated the Chakra’s reactor, the Akulas will likely be run by Indians, said Rahul Bhonsle, retired Indian Army brigadier and defense analyst.

India launched the Akula lease talks after the ATV program, which started some two decades ago, dragged on. The dialogue between Moscow and New Delhi has moved forward slowly over the past several years.
Navy officials hope the Akulas will hasten the service’s switch to a nuclear submarine force built around the ATV.

The leased subs will refresh and expand India’s expertise in nuclear submarine operations, tactics and maintenance, said Khurana of the ministry’s think tank.

One naval analyst said two ATV hulls have been ordered from Larsen & Toubro, India’s leading private-sector engineering firm, but could not say when or for how much money. The ATV is now slated for completion in 2011.

New Nuclear Weapons

Operationally, the Akulas will serve as an interim sea-based leg of India’s nuclear triad, introducing a nuclear-armed naval vessel to the region, Khurana and others said.

“A nuclear triad has been contemplated in India for quite some time, and plans to acquire Akula-class submarines fit into the proposed triad scheme,” said Deba Mohanty, defense analyst with the Observer Research Foundation, based here. “Such a desire on the part of India has been debated since the late 1990s, and it has taken a few years for India to eventually sign a deal on the same.”

The Akulas would also improve India’s long-range maritime capabilities, allowing the Navy to keep watch on strategic interests from the Strait of Hormuz to the Strait of Malacca that are shaped by the geopolitics of energy security in the greater Indian Ocean region, and China’s emphasis on naval modernization plans.

India is striving to maintain a maritime balance as Beijing extends its reach by funding the construction of a naval base in Pakistan, Mohanty said.

But Bhonsle said it would take a few years before India could actually deploy a nuclear weapon aboard the Akulas.

“The arrival of a nuclear submarine will only change the power balance as and when India successfully weaponizes the same,” Bhonsle said. “The indications as of now are that this process may take a much longer time than envisaged, another three to five years for certain.”

The lease deal forbids India from using the Akulas in exercises with British, U.S. or other Western navies, sources said. •

Nabi Abdullaev in Moscow and Christopher P. Cavas in Washington contributed to this report.

 

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Navy`s new MiG-29K to have superior capability to SU-30 MKI

Moscow, Jan 25: Indian Navy would take the delivery of the first of its 16 top of the shelf carrier borne MiG-29k, the most powerful fighter jets in the region, in June.

"The first of the mig-29k fighters would be handed over to the Navy here in June," said top officials of the RAC-MiG corporation asserting that the fighter in its capability would surpass the Indian Air Force`s SU-30MKI.

Not only this, the RAC-MiG is offering IAF the same 4 plus generation capability for upgrading the existing 64 MiG-29s. The deal estimated to be worth more than USD 400 million is on top of the agenda during President Vladimir Putin`s visit to India.

In the upgradation, the MiG is offering to extend the beyond visual range engagement of the fighter, complete change of its onboard computers and avionics and giving the jet, in addition to its air to air capability, highly sophisticated system to engage ground targets.

"The upgradation would be of much higher level than the new mig-29smt fighters delivered to some Arab countries," said Givi I Dzhandzhgava, Director General of the Ramenskoye Design Bureau, who would bear the major part of upgradation if it is awarded to Russia.

"We are ready to offer the top of the shelf technology including some new systems like stealth features for the MiG-35 fighters, which would be bidding for IAF`s 126 medium range combat aircraft tenders," Dzhandzhgava said.

On the naval MiG-29ks, MIG officials said that the first fighter would be handed over to Indian Navy in June and would be used for training its pilots and air crew personnel.

"The fighters would reach Indian soil by end of the year, almost a year ahead of the delivery of the carrier Admiral Groshkov renamed INS Vikramaditya," they said.

"Unlike other nations, we are ready to share our frontier technology with the Indians," Dzhandzhgava said .

He said RAC-MIG were also ready to offload major work to Indian private and public sector industry for the MiG-29 upgradation as well as for manufacture of MiG35.

 

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In December 1999 it was announced that India would lease four Tu-22M3 Backfire bombers, with the aircraft slated arrive in India as early as June 2000. India's Tu-142 and Il-38 aircraft will be upgraded in Russia. An initial batch of five aircraft will be sent to Russia and during this period the Tu-22M3s will undertake a maritime role armed with AS-20 Kayak anti-ship missiles. India is making substantial purchases of the Novator 3M-54 Alfa missile to equip Kilo class submarines and its new frigates. It is believed that an air-launched variant will be purchased to arm the Tu-142s currently in service and the six to eight additional aircraft being sought by the Navy. If an air-launched version of the Alfa is procured, it is anticipated that India's Tu-22M3s will eventually be equipped to fire them.

 

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In December 1999 it was announced that India would lease four Tu-22M3 Backfire bombers, with the aircraft slated arrive in India as early as June 2000. India's Tu-142 and Il-38 aircraft will be upgraded in Russia. An initial batch of five aircraft will be sent to Russia and during this period the Tu-22M3s will undertake a maritime role armed with AS-20 Kayak anti-ship missiles. India is making substantial purchases of the Novator 3M-54 Alfa missile to equip Kilo class submarines and its new frigates. It is believed that an air-launched variant will be purchased to arm the Tu-142s currently in service and the six to eight additional aircraft being sought by the Navy. If an air-launched version of the Alfa is procured, it is anticipated that India's Tu-22M3s will eventually be equipped to fire them.

is this the usual source of rumour mills, or do we have any official confirmation on the TU-22M3 and Akula 2,

 

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is this the usual source of rumour mills, or do we have any official confirmation on the TU-22M3 and Akula 2,

The last para states Tu-22 delivery.

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/bomber/tu-22m.htm

 

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Outside View: Where the Mig35 shines
By YURY ZAITSEV
UPI Outside View Commentator
MOSCOW, March 8 (UPI) -- One of the highlights of the recent visit to India by President Vladimir Putin and First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, the previous defense minister, was a discussion on the prospects for the delivery and licensed production in India of the latest Russian MiG-35 Fulcrum-F fighter jet.

The plane made its first appearance abroad at the Aero India-2007 air show, while in Russia it was shown to the public for the first time in January in Lukhovitsy outside Moscow, where the MiG firm's key manufacturing facility is located.

One of the high points of the MiG-35 is its RD-33 vectored-thrust engine, earlier tested on the MiG-29 Fulcrum-A, which gives the fighter its main quality -- maneuverability. The thrust can be controlled in every direction and, most importantly of all, at every speed between the maximum and very low. The plane can fly with its tail forward and do things conventional aircraft cannot do, i.e. evade a missile attack in a dogfight and at the same time move in for the kill itself.

The MiG-35 is the first Russian fighter to have a new, fifth-generation, radar. Called the Zhuk-AE, it features an active phased array antenna developed specially for the fifth-generation fighter. This antenna makes the radar multi-functional. While sending out and receiving signals the radar can also act as a communication system, identify friend or foe, engage in electronic reconnaissance, jam enemy radar, and much more.

The MiG-35 differs from its predecessors (the MiG-29K and MiG-29M2) in having not only a new radar but also the latest optoelectronics. Its digital controls are state-of-the-art. The plane can carry up to 6 metric tons of combat payload to deal with an airborne enemy and strike ground and sea targets.

The MiG-35 is Russia's entry in an Indian government tender for 126 medium-sized, multi-role combat aircraft. Rosoboronexport thinks its chances of winning will be increased by a contract to be signed by the Intergovernmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation for the licensed manufacture of series-3 RD-33 engines in India.

The value of the deal, according to Rosoboronexport's CEO, Sergei Chemezov, will be about $300 million. The engines will be produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), an Indian corporation, with the technical assistance of the Chernyshev Moscow Engineering Plant. Initially, the plan is to assemble the engines from large components to be supplied by Russia. Later, Indian plants will start making components themselves and assembling them.

The MiG corporation also has good chances to increase deliveries of the MiG-29KUB carrier-based fighter to India. Like the MiG-35, it is designed to win command of the air, provide air defense, and engage targets above and under water with conventional and high-precision weapons day and night in all weather. The official presentation of the fighter's export version, attended by the air and naval attaches and other staff of the Indian Embassy in Moscow, took place on January 22 at the airport of the Gromov Institute of Flight Research in Zhukovsky, outside Moscow, practically on the eve of Putin and Ivanov's visit to India.

Trials of the MiG-29KUB began as the Indian government decided to build new Air Defense Ship, or ADS, aircraft carriers, which displace 40,000 metric tons and can handle Russian fighters. The first ship is scheduled to enter service in 2012.

The MiG-29KUB's designer, Nikolai Buntin, says the new model features improved characteristics, more reliable units, a larger fuel supply, and greater combat payload. The cost of one flying hour has been reduced by more than 50 percent, and its flying life increased by over 100 percent. And, of course, advanced technologies have been used in the manufacture of the airframe, the propulsion unit and airborne equipment. The proportion of composite materials in the frame is now as high as 15 percent. The aircraft is equipped with new RD-33MK engines called the Sea Wasp. Compared with the previous model, their thrust has been increased by 7 percent and their service life to 4,000 hours. The engine is digitally controlled, and there are plans to develop new versions of it jointly with India.

As it was presented on January 22, the MiG-29KUB looks to remain at the forefront of the industry for the next 15 to 20 years as far as its intellectual innards are concerned, which are built as an open architecture and module system. This arrangement makes for easy addition of extra airborne equipment and modification without major changes.

The second prototype of the MiG-29KUB is currently being assembled. Both planes will undergo certification tests, which will last six months. The planes are not included among the 16 deck-based jets to be supplied to the Indian navy under a January 2004 contract. India is later planning to buy another 30 jets for aircraft carriers of its own manufacture.

India is certain to remain Russia's key partner in military-technical cooperation for a long time to come. And, as Sergei Ivanov said, Russia and India are now advancing to a new qualitative level of cooperation -- from a "seller-buyer relationship to joint research and co-production."


--


(Yury Zaitsev is an academic adviser at the Russian Engineering Academy. This article is reprinted by permission of the RIA Novosti news agency. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not necessarily represent the opinions of the editorial board.)

 

[Bull]

Quietly, India-Israel ties growing
Rajat Pandit
[ 9 Mar, 2007 0059hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]


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NEW DELHI: Defence minister A K Antony is still shy of visiting Israel due to domestic political sensitivities, which even forced his predecessor Pranab Mukherjee to call off his scheduled visit to the Jewish state in June 2006. But the largely covert strategic cooperation between India and Israel is going full steam ahead.

Following in the footsteps of IAF chief Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi, defence secretary Shekhar Dutt and DRDO chief M Natarajan, among others, Army chief General J J Singh is now in Israel in yet another indicator of the wide-ranging defence ties between the two nations.

With India having bought weapon systems worth $5 billion from Israel in the last five years, the focus is shifting now to more joint R&D projects like the joint development of the Barak-NG anti-missile defence system.

Sources said Gen Singh's 10-day visit to Israel and Italy, with the former being the crucial component, comes at a time when Army is gearing up for a major induction of Israeli UAVs, air defence missile systems, specialised weaponry for its special forces, third-generation thermal imaging and night-vision devices, among others.

Singh will also review ongoing projects with Israel, ranging from mounting of Israeli TISAS (thermal-imaging stand alone systems) on 500 BMP-2 infantry combat vehicles and the massive upgrade of 300 T-72M1 tanks to the production of hand-held thermal imagers and LORROS (long-range reconnaissance and observation systems).

These are just some of the projects taking place in collaboration with Israeli armament firms, the largest of which is the $ 1.1-bn deal for three 'Phalcon'AWACS, which IAF hopes to induct from Nov 2007.

 

[Contrarian]

India in secret arms overture

INDIA is set to expand its military ties with Israel following a secret visit to the Jewish state by the chief of India's 1.2 million-strong army.
General JJ Singh is believed to be in Israel discussing training for elite special forces, joint military exercises and anti-terrorism and infiltration strategies - all issues that go to the heart of India's current security problems with its Islamic neighbours, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Until now, Indian leaders - despite Israel's emergence as the second-biggest arms supplier to the country after Russia - have been wary of openly building ties with Israel for fear of inciting unrest among the country's 150million Muslims and the displeasure of leftist groups within the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition.

Both the Defence Minister AKAntony and his predecessor, Pranab Mukherjee, who is now Foreign Minister, have been on the verge of buying airline tickets to Israel, only to change their minds.

Not so the no-nonsense, tough-talking General Singh, even though, unusually, no official announcement has been made of the visit.

All indications last night were that, as a key figure in the New Delhi power establishment, he is working to build the relationship, even in the face of accusations from al-Qa'ida that India is part of the global "Zionist conspiracy".

After years of fierce, anti-Israel rhetoric by successive Indian socialist governments, India's armed forces are now hugely reliant on military supplies from Israel, preferring them to the clapped-out equipment historically bought from Russia.

India now buys more than $10billion worth of military equipment each year, and as one commentator noted yesterday: "The Israeli imprint is now visible in almost all spheres of the Indian defence forces."

But General Singh's clandestine trip to Israel signals that India is now moving well beyond buying military hardware and is extending co-operation into key areas such as military training.

Israel is seen to be dealing successfully with many of the problems that India is now experiencing with terrorism - cross-border infiltration from neighbouring Pakistan into Kashmir, and into the northeast of the country by separatist groups based in Bangladesh.

According to reports in New Delhi last night, General Singh is likely to set up a scheme for joint operations between special forces of the two countries fighting terrorism.

He will also seek Israeli help with surveillance to stop cross-border infiltration, especially along the Line of Control in disputed Kashmir.
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[Bull]

By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI, NEW DELHI


India will issue a request for proposals in two months to acquire a tactical communication system (TCS) to link theater command areas with deployed troops.

The Indian Army is on a global hunt to acquire the $500 million system by 2012 in three phases.

The request is to be issued to several Indian and foreign defense companies, a Defence Ministry official said. The domestic companies include Bharat Electronics, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro Infotech, Tata Power, Electronic Corp. of India and Indian Telephone Industries.
The foreign companies to be invited include Thales and Alcatel, both of France; EADS and Siemens, both of Germany; Elbit of Israel; Singapore Technologies of Singapore; Sweden’s Ericsson; and U.S. firm General Dynamics.

“The Tactical Communication System, or TCS, will be the Indian Army’s futuristic backbone for a digitized battlefield communication network facilitating the communication application from the theater command areas to the troops deployed up the forward areas,” the Indian Defence Ministry official said.

The project will use a variety of communication applications, including wired or wireless equipment supporting voice, video, data, fax and other value-added services.


TCS is part of the Army’s quest to build a network-centric warfare system, a service official said.

Last year, the Indian Army launched the Army Static Switched Communication Network, called Mercury Thunder — a digital, fully automated, secure and survivable static communication system based on microwave radio, fiber-optic cable, satellite and millimeter-wave communications equipment.

The TCS architecture will comprise secure radios, satellite terminal systems and fiber-optic links, and will have modern protection systems against electronic jamming threats, the Army official said.

The system will be linked with smart antenna systems to support its transmission systems and will be tied to several Army surveillance and intelligence-gathering systems, including the aerostat radar and several unmanned aerial vehicles.

The TCS project is to be completed in five years under three phases. Phase I will be done by the original equipment manufacturer, and Phases 2 and 3 will be handled by the offset partner, which could be any Indian state-owned or private-sector defense company

As part of their ongoing program to establish network-centric warfare systems, the Indian defense forces are inducting various state-of-the-art communication networks like the Integrated Air Command, Control and Communication System (IACCCS) and Delhi Area Defence Centre (DADC). These network-centric systems will use fiber-optics and satellite links for efficient battlefield integration of Army, Air Force and Navy command centers.
Under the IACCCS program, the Air Force will integrate air command, control and communication systems and modernize the existing Air Defence Ground Environment System communications network using fiber-optic media, state-of-the-art radar and communication systems, the Defence Ministry official said.

Under the program, instant feeds can be received from satellites, radar, unmanned aerial vehicles and the airborne warning and control system aircraft to be inducted this year.

In the future, even space-based assets like satellites and surveillance systems will be integrated into the network-centric systems under development, the ministry official added.

The DADC is another air defense system being installed to connect various assets of the Army to defend strategic installations around the capital, Delhi.
Military tactics in the future will depend on how quickly Army commanders can process the information available to them from various sources, and TCS is an advanced battlefield communication system, the Army official said. •

 

[Bull]

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force has inked a major deal to upgrade its 78 MiG-29 fighters.


Under the $800-million deal signed with a consortium of Russia's state-owned Rosboronexport and United Aircraft Corporation, the IAF's fleet of three squadrons of MiG-29 air superiority jets will get their service life extended from 25 to 40 years.


The IAF has seen its squadron strength plunging to an all-time low of 29 squadrons, as against its sanctioned strength of 45 squadrons.


The IAF is also in the final stages of negotiating a 1.5-billion euro deal with French company Thales for upgrading 52 of its Mirage 2000H fighters to extend their service life by 25 years.


The MiG-29 upgrade will include installing beyond visual range air-to-air missiles, new Klimov-33 engines with digital fuel injection, Phazotron Zhuk-ME phased array radar, an all- glass cockpit and aerial refuelling prods.


Initially, two MiG-29s will be sent to Russia for prototype development and the rest will be upgraded in HAL's Nashik-based Ozar plant.


"The upgradation will be completed by 2010," PTI quoted a defence ministry as saying.


The agreement also stipulates the setting up of a service centre in India for the MiG-29s. This centre will also look after the navy's carrier-borne MiG-29K fighters, the first of which will be inducted by the end of 2008.

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