Indian Build Up

[Bull]

With the reliability of India's Soviet-era military hardware becoming a key issue for the armed forces top brass, Western armaments firms are eyeing the possibility of gaining a foothold in the market for refurbishing such equipment to extend their service life.

In a break from the past, even US defence majors like Raytheon have expressed their interest in bidding for programmes to upgrade Soviet and Russian equipment like the Indian Army's large fleet of T-72 tanks and BMP armoured vehicles.

"We have upgraded the US Army's Bradley armoured vehicles and Abrams tanks and we could use the same technology and know-how to refurbish Soviet gear like the T-72 tanks and BMPs," Walt Doran, president of Raytheon Asia, told PTI at the Paris Air Show.

Israeli firms have already established a strong presence in programmes to upgrade India's Soviet-origin equipment, including MiG-series combat jets, artillery guns and other hardware.

But this is the first time that US firms have shown an interest in refurbishing Russian equipment, which forms almost 75 per cent of the arsenal of the Indian armed forces.

Lee Cooper, vice president of Raytheon Technical Services, an arm that specializes in upgrading and improving military equipment, indicated that the expertise gained by the company in refurbishing the gear of the US Marines deployed for the war against terror could be put to use in a potential programme to upgrade the Indian Army's hardware.

"India has a lot of equipment deployed and there are different generations of equipment but our experience could come in handy," Cooper said.

Besides the land-based equipment, US firms have also shown interest in refurbishing the Indian Navy's Soviet and Russian-origin warships, especially in view of the maritime force's plans to focus on network-centric operations.

"It would be a challenge for us to work with the Russian ships and gear but the technological problems can be overcome. The key factor is integrating everything so that the older systems can be used in the future growth path of the Indian Navy," said Jack Costello of Raytheon's Network Centric Systems.

Raytheon has already had "detailed discussions" with the Indian Navy on its plans to establish network-centric systems, company officials said.

 

[Bull]

Samtel Display Systems today inked a pact with European defence electronics major Thales to set up a joint venture to develop sophisticated cockpit displays for military aircraft for the Indian and export markets.

The deal, signed by Samtel chairman Satish Kaura and Thales senior vice president Emmanual Grave in the presence of Defence Production Secretary K P Singh at the Paris Air Show, envisages the production of helmet-mounted and heads-up displays for fixed wing and rotary aircraft.

"This cooperation generates the opportunity for the creation of a joint company in India," Thales said in a statement.

Rajesh Kakkar, vice president of business development for Samtel, said the joint venture was likely to be set up within the next three to six months.

"Thales is a leader in such products and there were certain elements missing in our technology that we can achieve through such a tie-up. The deal will help reduce development time for new products and also allow both Samtel and Thales to take advantage of India's new offsets policy for defence contracts," Kakkar said.

Samtel, which posted a turnover of 300 million dollars last year, has a unit in Germany that is a leading producer of cathode ray tube displays and this will help in the development of new products. "We supply displays to Thales, Rockwell and Elbit of Israel," said Kakkar.

Samtel expects its new deal with Thales to dovetail with its existing Delhi-based joint venture with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to develop multi-function cockpit displays for the Sukhoi-30 combat jets of the Indian Air Force.

"This joint venture is about a year old and the displays for the Su-30MKIs are undergoing final flight trials and are expected to be inducted by September," said Kakkar.

Samtel is also working with HAL to develop similar displays for the Light Combat Aircraft and Intermediate Jet Trainer and upgrades of the IAF's MiG-29s and Jaguar jets.

Thales officials said the deal with Samtel will allow both companies to use their engineering strengths and create new market opportunities.

Thales is currently providing the Indian Navy with head-mounted displays for the MiG-29 jets it plans to induct with the Gorshkov aircraft carrier and has won a contract for supplying six Scorpene submarines.

 

[Adux]

India set to acquire precision bomb technology

Paris, June 21: India's state-run Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is negotiating the acquisition of precision bomb technology from US arms major Raytheon.

Ben Ford, senior manager of Raytheon Missile Systems, told reporters at the ongoing Paris Air Show that the company was in discussions to transfer the technology for the Enhanced Paveway-II Dual Mode GPS/Laser Guided Bombs to the OFB for their indigenous manufacture in India for use by the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Procedural clearance from the US government should be available, he added.

The Paveway, initially developed in 1964, is a standard US Air Force weapon with varying loads for attacking fixed or moving targets. Thanks to its new Global Positioning System (GPS) and laser guidance capability, it can now be dropped exactly as required on a target with an error margin of less than four feet.

During the 1999 Kargil War, the IAF had to make last minute imports of laser guidance kits to bomb Pakistani positions inside Indian territory and two aircraft had to be used to designate and hit any target.

With both the GPS and laser technologies now available on the same bomb, a strike mission could be mounted with less deployment and without any collateral damage.

The IAF's last two chiefs, Air Chief Marshals S. Krishnaswamy and S.P. Tyagi, had emphasised the need for acquiring precision bomb technology.

Ford said that Raytheon had supplied some Paveway bombs to India about 10 years ago but now the discussions were about transfer of technology (TOT) 'of this very potent weapon'. It can be launched from the Jaguar, Mirage 2000 or other IAF jets in any weather condition, and at day or night.

He said that Raytheon had supplied more than 250,000 Paveway variants to the US and other countries and some 50,000 of these had used in battle, most recently in Iraq.

The unique dual mode capability of the Paveway-II offered precision and flexibility 'not available with any other system at present', Ford pointed out.

Bureau Report

 

[Bull]

The surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile BrahMos was today inducted into the Army, making it the first force in the world to possess such a sophisticated system, as President A P J Abdul Kalam asked scientists to work to develop next generation hypersonic version of the missile within the next decade.

The missile, with a range of 290 km, has been developed in cooperation with Russia and was inducted a year ahead of schedule after all its four test firings, including two conducted by army personnel, were flawless.

The early induction of the land version of the BrahMos has apparently been timed to counter development of a longer range but subsonic cruise missile 'Babur' by Pakistan.

With a launch trigger time of just two seconds, BrahMos is hard to detect because of its high Mach 2.8 speed, raising its efficiency to target enemy missile launching sites of the enemy.

Handing over a replica of the missile to Army Chief General J J Singh to mark the commencement of delivery of the missile to the force, Kalam told defence scientists that they should develop the hypersonic version of the missile within the next decade.

This would enable India to maintain force levels in the region as well as be the market leader in Hypersonic missiles, the missile-scientist President said, asking BrahMos Aerospace team to work on developing re-usable missiles.

The missile has pin point accuracy, shoot-and-scoot capabilities, short reaction time and is non-equipment and manpower intensive, according to A Sivathanu Pillai, Chief Executive Officer of the Indo-Russian joint venture.

The missile with cruising range of 15 km, dimension of 9000 MM, can attain speeds of Mach 2.8 and carry a conventional warhead mass ranging from 200 to 300 kg.

The actual delivery of the missile would commence next month, almost a year ahead of the scheduled induction fixed earlier for July, 2008, when two mobile batteries and mobile command post would be handed over to the army.

"Early operationalisation of the missile system has been advanced by one year," a Defence Ministry spokesman said.

India is the first country in the world to field a supersonic surface-to-surface cruise missile. The US, French and Chinese forces have only subsonic cruise missiles in their armoury.

In initial stages of induction, army proposes to raise three regiments of the BrahMos missile system. Special BrahMos groups have already been trained to operate these missiles.

With the induction of BrahMos missile, Indian army is now operating three varieties of surface-to-surface missiles.

The other two are short range quick reaction surface-to-surface Prithvi missile with a range of 150 to 250 km and short and medium range Agni group of missiles with capability to hit targets of over 700 to 1,500 km.

However, while both Prithvi and Agni series of missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, the BrahMos cruise missiles carry conventional warheads.

Kalam, who had himself worked on the country's Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile Programme (IRBM), said "time has come for BrahMos Aerospace to work on Mark-II version of BrahMos" to make India a market leader in hypersonic cruise missiles.

India should develop re-usable missiles within the next decade, the President said, emphasising that the three services should work as a team to evolve the qualitative requirements for such a system in a time-bound manner.

"I visualise long range hypersonic cruise missiles not only delivering payloads, but also returning to base after the mission," Kalam said.

Supporting the idea of export of BrahMos missiles, he called for aggressive marketing of this world class product as the missile has a short shelf life of five years.

Otherwise there would be competitors who wo uld be developing contemporary products, he said.

Turning BrahMos into a hypersonic missile entails incorporating scramjet technology, on which Indian defence scientists are already working to give it capability to attain Mach 8 speeds and to enhance its range considerably.

"The missile has the distinctive capability to fire 12 unstoppable missiles at 12 different targets within 30 seconds," Pillai told PTI.

Army has placed orders for one sub-group, 12 launchers distributed in four mobile autonomous launchers, each carrying three BrahMos missiles.

India has already inducted ship-borne version of the BrahMos missile and defence scientists are working on developing submarine and aircraft launched version of the missile.

 

[Bull]

New Delhi, June. 21 (PTI): President A P J Abdul Kalam today asked BrahMos team to work on developing "Mark-II" version of BrahMos hypersonic cruise missile system and also reusable class of cruise missiles.

"Time has come for BrahMos Aerospace to work on Mark-II version of BRAHMOS so that you will still be the market leader in hypersonic cruise missiles," Kalam said while commencing the delivery of BrahMos missile system to the Army here.

Observing that fast deployment of hypersonic missile systems will be necessary to maintain India's force level supremacy, he said "I visualize long range hypersonic cruise missiles not only delivering pay loads but also returning to the base after the mission, leading to re-usable class of cruise missiles within the next decade".

He said it was time that the three services work with the team of BrahMos Aerospace to evolve such a system in a time bound manner.

The President also asked the BrahMos joint venture firm between India and Russia to aggressively market "world class" product which will have a market shelf life of not more than five years.

"What is market shelf life? Naturally, there will be competitors who would be developing contemporary products which will be detrimental to the market leadership.

"No smart developer can afford to lose the competitive edge which he has generated and hence increasing the orders and continuously improving the products have to be aggressively pursued," he said.

Maintaining that the BrahMos programme was not a "soft" programme, the President said it had been a "hard" programme where a modest 250 million US Dollars were invested equally by India and Russia.

"Today we have an order book worth two US billion dollars and serious business interest exists for order of an equal amount," Kalam said.

The robust design, development and manufacture have been accomplished by the Indian and Russian Research and Development teams, academia and the industries in partnership with Armed Forces, in which the core competencies of both countries were energised, he said.

The President recalled that when India launched SLV-3 and later flight tested AGNI and carried out a nuclear test "we were the fifth or sixth country to develop and test these systems.

"I have all the time been asking, when we can be the first in the world? I am happy that BrahMos has given us that opportunity to be the first in the world," he said.

Kalam congratulated scientists of both the countries who made remarkable contributions in realizing this world class product in time for delivery in global market.

The President said both Russian President Vladimir Putin and he had agreed that the BrahMos joint venture programme was a "great template" for international cooperation.

BrahMos word was derived from the two great rivers -- Brahmaputra and Moskva.

 

[Adux]

Lohegaon to get new Sukhoi squadron by next April

Express News Service

Pune, June 22: The Lohegaon airforce base will get a new squadron of Su-30 MKI by April 2008, Air Marshal K D Singh, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), South Western Air Command (SWAC), said on Friday.

“Pune was primarily developed as a base for the Sukhois and a lot of investment has gone into this,’’ Singh said. Currently Lohegaon airforce base has two squadrons of Su-30 MKI — Lightnings and Rhinos.



The Su-30 MKIs will roll out from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) factory at Nashik. Recently the Jaguar Squadron was shifted and located to Jamnagar airbase in Gujarat for strategic reasons.

Lohegaon airbase is the raising base for Su-30 MKIs and once all the squadrons are raised some of them will be shifted to other airbases in the country. Though IAF has a sanctioned strength of 39.5 squadrons, currently there are only 33 squadrons that are operational.

The phasing out of some of the aircraft and the delay in the production of indigenously developed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) and floating of the request for proposal for 126 multi-role combat aircraft has resulted in the depleting squadron strength.

Meanwhile, the Su-30 MKI s will be shifted out for about nine months to Rai Bareli once the resurfacing of the runway at Lohegaon airbase starts in September. ``Recently we had a meeting with Lohegaon Airport director and it is decided that the resurfacing will start from September 1,’’ Singh said.

However, the expansion of runway has to wait since the issue of acquiring land is pending on the Bombay High Court. ``The State has to acquire the land as it is essential for the expansion,’’ Air Commodore, P Singh said.

The Air Force has also been looking at extending the runway from 8,300 feet now to 10,500 feet along with the resurfacing. The tender for resurfacing was floated in the last week of March.

 

[Adux]

Indian Navy prepares for MiG-29

Only the first prototype of the Indian Navy’s new MiG-29s has flown, but the force’s preparations for the new aircraft are proceeding apace.
The Indian Navy has not operated conventional carrier -based aircraft since the withdrawal of the Hawker Sea Hawk in 1983, after which the STOVL BAE Systems Sea Harrier became the service’s only carrier-based fighter.
Captain GM Gopakumar of the Indian Navy told Flight Daily News that Indian Navy pilots are already flying exchange tours on Indian Air Force MiG-29s, and though delivery of the first INAS MiGs has been delayed from November 2007 until March or April 2008, pilot conversion training in Russia will commence in August.

Training
Indian Navy pilots have also reportedly been undergoing carrier landing and take off training at NAS Pensacola, Florida.
Though the Indian Navy did not buy eight ex-British Royal Navy Sea Harrier FA.Mk 2s when they were retired in March 2006, the Navy has apparently acquired four aircraft for spares use, to help support and sustain India’s existing fleet of FRS.Mk 51s.
The latter are undergoing a major upgrade, with new ELTA radar, missiles and helmet mounted sights. This should allow the ageing Sea Harriers to serve on until 2020.

 

[Adux]

Hypersonic plane to be test flown by the end of 2008


HYDERABAD, JUN 28 (PTI)
The hypersonic plane, one of the most ambitious project of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is expected to be test flown by the end of 2008, a senior official said today.

"The developmental testing and prototype realisation are being pursued now before the test flight planned for the end of next year," V K Saraswat, Chief Controller (R&D), DRDO, told reporters here.

The expertise available at IITs, Indian Institute of Science and other R&D laboratories in the country had been identified, integrated and networked to purse the hypersonic technologies.

The technology demonstrator will be powered by a supersonic combustion ramjet (Scramjet) engine that takes oxygen from the atmosphere and burns liquid hydrogen.

The hypersonic plane will travel 6 to 14 times faster than the speed of sound and will revolutionise space travel.

Saraswat, who is also the Chairman of the Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI), was briefing reporters about the two-day International conference of High Speed Transatmospheric air and space transportation to be inaugurated by President A P J Abdul Kalam here tomorrow.

Asked whether DRDO was looking at International collaboration on hypersonic technology, he said Indian scientists were using international infrastructure in a "complimentary manner to validate our designs and concepts."

The ground tests were in progress on scramjet propulsion system using kerosene fuel, he said.

Meanwhile, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been working on a technology development project for application in Re-usable Launch Vehicle (RLV) aiming towards low-cost access to orbit for launching satellites, the scientist said.

The hyper-plane can take off from conventional airfields, inhale air from the atmosphere as it moves on, separate oxygen and store it on board for subsequent flight beyond the atmosphere.

Several countries including United States, Israel, Russia, China, Japan and Australia are engaged in research in hypersonic technology.

The technology demonstrator by DRDO would be a precursor to Kalam's dream project AVATAR (Aerobic Vehicle for Hypersonic Aerospace Transportation).

The DRDO is working with academic institutions, including the IITs and the IISc and Mishra Dhatu Nigam (Midani) to develop high temperature Nickel-Cobalt alloys and carbon composite materials, which can withstand heat during high- speed flight of the hyper plane.

The two-day conference, being attended by over 200 delegates from all over the country, Japan, Australia, Russia, Israel and South Africa, would focus on technologies to help make space travel cheaper, advanced aerospace systems and hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle, Saraswat said.

Over 50 companies would display their products at the exhibition on aerospace industry.

The conference is being jointly organised by Hyderabad, Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram branches of AeSI and Astronautical Society of India.

The conference would help build future collaborative international linkages for joint development and exchange of information in the design and development of aerospace systems, Saraswat said.



© Copyright PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of any PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent.

 

[intruder]

Looking at DRDO history I honestly feel it is too optimistic

 

[Neo]

India developing new missile variants​

NEW DELHI: India is developing three new variants of missiles with ranges between 5,000 to 5,500 kilometres. These include three-stage variants of Agni, a hypersonic Brahmos and Sagarika, a submarine-launched naval missile, said Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists on Saturday.

The scientists said these fast, long-range and lethal new generation missiles will help India look beyond Asia and gain a foothold in the group of elite countries that possess intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

Before launching the Agni-IV project, scientists plan to conduct two more tests of the 3,000-km range Agni-III missile within the next 18 months. M Natrajan, scientific advisor to the defence minister, told reporters here that a 5,000 km-range Agni was also feasible.

The scientists said they are also planning to upgrade the Brahmos cruise missile from a supersonic to a hypersonic version. iftikhar gilani

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\07\10\story_10-7-2007_pg7_50

 

[Bull]

New Delhi, July 12: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will get much-needed help for its missile programme with the Cabinet approving a new joint venture with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to develop a new range of surface-to-air missiles.


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The joint venture, given the go ahead by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Thursday, will work towards developing an air defence system for the Indian Air Force (IAF) to replace its ageing Pechora missiles. The Israeli help comes after repeated delays in the indigenous Akash surface to air missile project that is still to undergo user trials.

While DRDO remained elusive on details of the agreement, sources indicated that the new generation missile would be based on the Barak missile system currently in service with the Navy. “It is still under discussion. We cannot talk more about it,” DRDO Chief M Natarajan said.

Sources said the air defence system is likely to be a long-range version of the Barak with a range of up to 150 km for protection against a variety of aerial threats. The IAF is looking at 18 new surface-to-air (SAM) missiles systems to replace the Russian Pechora missiles.

The new generation SAMs will be the second range of Israeli missiles to be inducted into the IAF. India had earlier signed an Rs 180 crore deal with Israel to acquire Spyder quick reaction surface to air missile systems for countering threats from low-flying aircraft.

The approval came at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that included Defence Minister A K Antony, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Home Minister Shivraj Patil.

 

[Bull]

New Delhi, July. 12 (PTI): India will jointly develop and co-produce a new generation of medium range surface-to-air missiles with Israel to secure the country's strategic assests from growing threats posed by aerial attacks and the proliferation of missiles in the region.

The setting up of a joint venture for producing the missiles at an estimated cost of Rs 10,000 crore (2.5 billion dollars) was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security, which met here today under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

According to highly placed defence sources, the new generation missile with the capability of hitting aerial targets 70 km away would be developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, Indian Air Force and Israel Aerospace Industries. The DRDO will be the "prime contractor" for the project, which will have an indegenious component of Rs 2,300 crore. The new generation missile will replace the IAF's ageing Russian-made Pechora missiles

 

[BATMAN]

India's defence acquisition extremely poor
9 Jul, 2007, 1258 hrs IST,
By: Rahul Bhonsle
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...sition_extremely_poor/articleshow/2188170.cms

NEW DELHI: Defence acquisition has an indigenous and import component. India's record of defence acquisition in both spheres is extremely poor. The country inherited a large infra structure of ordnance factories from the British which had played a major role in catering to the Armed forces globally during the Second World War.

This was a period when the Indian Army had expanded to over 25 lakh, two times the present strength. 39 ordnance factories supplied equipment worth Rs 5,456 crore to the defence forces in 2006-07 which is 15.8 per cent of the overall capital budget of Rs 3,4380 crore.

Contribution of the 8 defence public sector undertakings and the private sector is also a fraction of our defence requirements. While the focus of the media has been on the DRDO, the country's main defence production agencies the Ordnance Factory Board and the Defence PSUs have escaped scrutiny.

The government's effort to induce competition and culture of efficiency by privatisation through the Raksha Udyog Ratna scheme is also likely to hit a road block. The CPI General Secretary, Mr A B Bardhan has already called it, a matter of grave concern.

Ironically inefficiencies in defence production are acceptable but not privatisation indicating the bane of political priorities where security is being sacrificed at the altar of labour welfare. Deficiencies in indigenous production have to be taken up by expensive imports.

Russia has been benefiting from this slack over the years while Israel which is a new entrant to India is already reaping dividends from inefficiencies in the Indian defence production cycle which is supplemented by the cumbersome process of acquisitions through imports.

Thus it is only firms with large budgets, state support or infinite patience which dare to enter the Indian defence market. Allegations of scams such as Bofors, HDW, Scorpene, coffins and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) have also mired defence imports.

Much work has no doubt been done in putting into place a defence procurement process. This also caters for 30% offsets in all major deals. But practical implementation of the much touted DPP 2006 and offsets is going to be extremely difficult and is likely to lead to major delays in procurement.

Take for instance the 126 fighter deal; there are no capacities in the aviation industry within the country to absorb the 30% off sets that are incumbent on all suppliers. Thus either exception will have to be made or delay in induction of fighters accepted.

In the mean while acceptance of tenders, trials, contracting, supply, transfer of technology and so on will take years, which would considerably weaken the vital factor of, deterrence of the IAF. Looking backwards into the acquisition process may also cause alarm.

Jointness between the services of which the Defence Minister talked in his opening remarks in the Unified Commanders Conference has always been a major issue, as it impacts ownership of assets. Sufficient inter service synergy is essential to avoid the bane of contracts signed by two services with the same firm for the same equipment, instances of which do exist in the past.

But above all the defence ministry cannot function in an atmosphere of ambiguity of resources available. The Eleventh plan document is yet to be approved and going by the experience of the Tenth Plan which was finalized at the fag end of the plan period, not much hope of its early finalisation is expected.

Defence acquisition is increasingly becoming a specialized stream. Pakistan Armed Forces for instance have deployed a large team of about 50 personnel under a Major General for processing acquisitions from the United States. India needs to invest not just in procurement of hardware, but also in developing a dedicated cadre of defence specialists both civil and military for it is better to be pound wise than penny foolish.

 

[Bull]

India and the United States are close to signing an agreement under which their armed forces will provide each other logistics support on a reciprocal basis even as New Delhi may bid to buy another American amphibious warship.

A logistics support agreement is in the final stages, said top Pentagon officials now on a visit to the country. They also said that Washington had offered the giant landing ship, USS Nashwill, to the Indian Navy.

"We have put the offer to the Indian Navy," Lt Gen Jeffrey B Kohler, director of the Defence Security Cooperation Agency in the US defence department told media persons. The amphibious warship is of the same class as the 17,000 ton USS Trenton that was bought by the Indian Navy.

Referring to the logistics support agreement, Kohler said the accord had been put up to the Cabinet Committee on Security. The Americans usually describe such a pact as an 'acquisition and cross-services' agreement.

It was listed as a logistics support agreement at the suggestion of India, he said.

"The agreement will ease joint operations by the armed forces of the two countries during exercises and in coming to the aid of people struck by natural calamities," Kohler said, making it clear that the accord did not in any way imply the stockpiling of weapons on each other's soil.

"The armed forces of the two countries are having frequent interactions and face immense difficulties by way of fuel supplies and other logistics. With such an agreement in place, it would ease things for both militaries," he said.

The US has signed similar agreements with 65 countries, including a recently concluded pact with India's neighbour Sri Lanka [Images].

Referring to the warship Nashwill, Kohler said the vessel recently underwent a major overhaul in the US. Once Washington received a response from New Delhi, which Kohler said he believed 'is on its way,' the American authorities will approach the US Congress to clear the sale.

Kohler said talks were also being held with the navy for supplying sub-systems and strategic components for India's new range of warships.

Asked about progress in talks for the sale of the Patriot III anti-missile system to India, the US officials said though New Delhi was participating as an observer in the development of the new system, it had not indicated any preference for the equipment as yet.

Kohler was accompanied to India by Rear Admiral Jeffrey W Wieringa, who will succeed him soon.

The officials held parleys with top officials, including Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt, Defence Production Secretary K P Singh, Director General (Acquisitions) S Banerjee and senior navy and IAF officers.

They said US armament majors were keen to enter the Indian arms market in a 'big manner.'

These companies have frontline technology and want to compete in all major defence procurement deals, 'ranging from fighters to naval warships and systems, missiles to land systems,' they said.

Asked whether the US is ready to take on the 50 per cent direct offsets that India has announced for the jet fighter deal, Kohler said: "The US government is not involved. It is up to our companies to take on the challenge."



There are no offsets in US defence purchases, but the 50 per cent offsets announced by India would prove a challenge for any company bidding for the deal, the officials said.

On the delay and price escalation in the sale of the USS Trenton, the US officials said this was due to some extra work ordered by the Indian Navy.

 

[Bull]

USS Nashville (LPD-13), an Austin-class amphibious transport dock, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the city in Tennessee. Her keel was laid down on 14 March 1966 by the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company of Seattle, Washington. She was launched on 7 October 1967 sponsored by Mrs. Roy L. Johnson, and commissioned at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, on 14 February 1970 with Captain Frank R. Fahland in command.

Nashville's various assignments have included four Caribbean Amphibious readiness Groups, Mediterranean Amphibious readiness Groups, Persian Gulf Amphibious Readiness Groups, Mine Countermeasure Task Group, NATO North Atlantic Operations, and training assignments with the Fleet Marine Force Atlantic.

On 16 January and 17 January 2006, she was the first vessel to receive the landing of an unmanned robotic RQ-8A Fire Scout helicopter.[1]

In July 2006, she was sent to Lebanon as part of the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group transporting the 24th MEU to assist with the evacuation of U.S. nationals from the country[2], after a conflict erupted between the Israeli military and Hezbollah militants. On July 20, 2006, it landed the first Marines on Lebanese soil since 1984.[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Nashville_(LPD-13)