Indian Build Up

[Bull]

They will destroy incoming missiles





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Missiles to destroy incoming missiles closer to earth's surface on the cards
First test will take place in first half of 2007, says DRDO scientist
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


NEW DELHI: "India is developing a complete suite of air defence missiles to destroy all types of hostile missiles," a top Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist said here on Saturday. After successfully conducting a test aimed at intercepting intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBM) in the exosphere (upper-most layer of atmosphere) last month, India is now working on missiles capable of destroying incoming missiles closer to the earth's surface.

The first test would take place in the first half of 2007. DRDO would then undertake the development of missiles with both capabilities. "The entire project is likely to take three years to complete," said V. K. Saraswat, Chief Controller of DRDO's Missiles and Strategic Systems Division. The shorter-range interceptor missile would have double the range of the American Patriot missiles.

Interception


Dwelling on the interception by the liquid-fuelled Prithvi missile, Dr. Saraswat said the decision to destroy a missile at a distance of 50 km was undertaken in view of the likely threat perception from IRBMs. Defence scientists were looking at a pack of six missiles to decisively intercept the enemy missile with a kill probability of 99 per cent. They felt two missile batteries would be enough to defend a large city such as Delhi or Chennai.

The project on developing missile interception capability began three years ago. After several simulations and changes in guidance and control software, the target missile was launched on November 19 this year and intercepted electronically. This gave DRDO the confidence to conduct a live test a week later. However the planned launch could not take place because the software to check the health of the subsystems diagnosed the seeker as faulty. "We therefore decided to delay by a day to conduct reconfirmation tests,'' said Dr. Saraswat.

Except for the long-range tracking radar, all other elements were "totally home-grown'' by 35 private and public sector companies. Three million lines of code were written in India for the Mission Control Centre, the hub of software and hardware systems. A shadow centre was set up to take over if the original centre got destroyed or inactivated. Transmission links to the interceptor missile were based on jam-proof CDMA technology and multiple data transmission links were set up so that if one was jammed the others could function. In this trial, various data transmission and control centres were spread over a distance of 1,000 km.

The DRDO modified the Israeli Greenpine radar to enable it detect IRBM missiles with a velocity of 5 km per second from a distance of 600 km. There was no warhead in the interceptor missile but the radio pulse accurately detected the target missile and the high speed of the collision destroyed it completely.

Good beginning


"Our programme is to build technology to enable a proper ballistic missile defence. We feel we have made a good beginning. This should be crystallised through repeated trials. The kill probability has to be very high because it is generally assumed that hostile missiles would be carrying nuclear warheads,'' said Dr. Saraswat

 

[Bull]

Brazil has shown interest in becoming the first foreign nation to procure the 300-km range Brahmos cruise missile.

Commander of the Brazilian army Gen Francisco Roberto De Albuqurque now on a six-day state visit here today visited the Brahmos aerospace complex in Delhi cantonment. He also held discussions with the Brahmos project director S Pillai.

The South American nation has shown interest in acquiring the sea as well as surface to surface version of the Indo-Russian missiles.

While, the sea version of the missile has already entered service with the Indian Navy, the surface to surface version of missile has been cleared for induction early next year.

The Brazilian Chief of Defence Staff held discussion with Chairman Chiefs of staff Committee S P Tyagi, Army Chief J J Singh, Naval Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt.

He also called on the Defence Minister AK Antony.

During his stay in India, De Alburqurque will visit counter insurgency warfare school in Mizoram, Eastern Command headquarters, Line of control in Jammu and Kashmir and Agra

 

[Bull]

The proposed acquisition would be worth more than Rs 30,000 crore.

NEW DELHI: In a bid to shore up the country’s naval strength, the Indian Navy is exploring possible avenues of acquiring several stealth warships from European shipyards. And if everything goes well, it would be one of the biggest military contracts in recent times.

The Request for Information (RFI), the first formal step in the process of military acquisition, has been issued to about a dozen European and Russian shipyards. The proposed acquisition would be worth more than Rs 30,000 crore.

Confirming the issue, Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, said it was prompted by the delay in acquisition of modern equipment that set in during the past two decades due to constraints on defence budgets and other factors, and the inability of Indian shipyards to deliver quickly.

However, “It is not necessary that we will take this route,” Mehta said. The other available option is for Indian shipyards to step up warship production to meet the projected force levels.

The RFI is for a set of seven stealth frigates, each costing about Rs 4,000 crores. According to a proposal, the first ship would be built in the foreign shipyard, while the rest six would be built at Mazagon Docks Limited in Mumbai or at Garden Reach Shipyard in Kolkata.

The project, called P-17A, is envisaged as the next generation ships of the ongoing Project 17 Shivalik class multi-role stealth frigates.

The first Shivalik class ship is expected in early 2007. Though the cabinet approved it in 1997, the Shivalik class construction was delayed by a few years owing to various factors. Project 17 envisages a total of 12 ships, and the seven ships for which the RFI has now been issued would form a part of the project.

The Indian Navy recently has been looking at both domestic construction and foreign acquisition of warships to make up for the shortcomings. India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier is under construction in the Kochi Shipyard, while another carrier is being readied in Russia.

After acquiring three Talwar class guided missile frigates from Russia, the Navy is awaiting three more ships of the same class, but with an advanced technology from Russia. These three ships are expected to join the Navy sometime in 2011. By middle of next year, the massive US landing platform dock Trenton would also join the naval services. A total of 30 warships in slated to join the Navy in a decade

 

[Bull]

Development work on country's surface to air Akash guided missile has been completed and the system is ready for trials by the Indian Air Force, Defence Minister A K Antony told Rajya Sabha today.

"After the user trials, the missile will enter production and induction," the Minister said in a written reply.

He said Nag, the fourth generation anti-tank missile, was also ready for user trials by the army.

On Trishul missile, Antony said all development work had been completed and the DRDO was in dialogue with the IAF for possible induction.

He said before this the DRDO and the IAF would jointly develop the user trial criteria.

To a question by Vijay Darda whether Government recently had taken a review of major DRDO projects like missiles, artillery location radars and Arjun Main Battle Tank, the Minister said though no particular review had been undertaken, projects of DRDO were subject to review by various committees.

"Even experts from outside are invited to carry out such reviews," he said.

 

[Bull]

More tests required: DRDO





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Repeated tests will prove the system's potency
System comparable to Israeli Arrow and Russian S-300V
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


NEW DELHI: The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists were guarded about the successful mid-air missile interception over the Bay of Bengal on November 27, but defended the interception system's capability against competing products and technologies.

A ``good beginning'' had been made but only repeated tests would prove the system's potency. Many more tests were required to intercept missiles on different flight paths. They were yet to increase the interception capability to over 50 km by changing the range parametres or putting the missile on ships. The high closing speed of the interceptor missile left very little reaction time. This implied further improvements. ``A single successful experiment does not mean deliverance,'' said a scientist. Besides, the DRDO is yet to configure target information delivery from satellites and, therefore, has to depend on ground-based radars. ``We have conducted the test to prove the technology. We are yet to convert it into a delivery system because of these reasons,'' he added.

DRDO's missile and strategic systems chief V. K. Saraswat was confident that the indigenous system was comparable to the Israeli Arrow and the Russian S-300V anti-missile missiles. Both countries along with the U.S. (Patriot) have been trying to sell their missiles to India.

``We intercepted at 50 km while the Arrow does that at 40 km. According to my interpretation, any lower than that and it will go in our landmass,'' he said. As for the Russian S-300V, ``we have studied their capability in a big way and its radars and other network cannot engage missiles of this class.''

He said the liquid fuel technology was not a drawback as in the 1950s and 1960s. A liquid fuel missile can be filled at any depot in any part of the country. ``The liquid fuel technology of today does not impair reaction time or performance. There is no handicap at all. It has an equivalent life of seven years as compared to a solid fuel missile.

 

[Bull]

PUNE: An expert committee from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) has ruled out any structural modification to the advanced Sukhoi-30 MKI, if it has to be fitted with the supersonic Brahmos cruise missile.

The development assumes significance as the IAF had expressed reservation on the feasibility of fitting the three-tonne missile on a Su-30 MKI, saying the excessive weight was incompatible for the fighter fleet.

In May, A. Sivathanu Pillai, the chief controller (R&D ), DRDO, had told TOI that decks have been cleared to conduct the first trials of the air-to-land version of Brahmos from a Sukhoi-MkI fighter jet by next year end.

“A joint team of experts from the IAF, the Sukhoi Design Bureau, Brahmos Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited was constituted to conduct a feasibility study,” a senior official told TOI , confirming the development.

“The expert committee has come to the conclusion that no structural changes are required in the aircraft to fit the Brahmos,” the official said. Experts are now working to accommodate at least two missiles in the aircraft, he added.

“The challenge is to try and fit one missile under each of the two wings of the Su-30 MKI,” the official said, adding that the integration trials of a dummy missile are scheduled in the first quarter of next year.

Efforts are also on to modify the control panel in the cockpit, which will allow the pilot to fire the missile at ease. With the induction of the 290-km range cruise missile, the city is poised to emerge as the country’s top strategic defence base. The IAF’s Lohegaon base here is the only one with two squadrons of the Su-30 MKI.

 

[Bull]

This would be a first of sorts for the Indian Navy. Three ships to be delivered by Mazgaon Docks Limited (MDL) to the Indian Navy will have LAN connections with a 10g backbone.

A veteran in developing ships for the Indian defence, MDL had invited tenders for the project in 2005. The ships are being developed at the Mazgaon Docks.


CMC bagged the contract last Friday. The order is valued at Rs 7.4 crore.

Arvind Kumar, account manager at CMC said, "We will install LAN for three ships to be developed by MDL for the Indian Navy. We will do complete network integration for these three ships."

He added, "10g is a very special requirement. Installed in rare cases, the 10g backbone helps faster transmission and processing of data."

At present, most networks run on 1G platform and midrange servers from HP.

The OEMs for the project would be Dlink Foundry for switches and backbone, and passage components, HP for servers and Microsoft for software.

Kumar refused to divulge more details and said, "It is confidential since the ships are being developed for the Indian Navy."

The project involves two-tier network architecture with core and zonal switches. The zonal switches would be strategically implemented and connect to the core switch over 10G Ethernet over fiber. The delta connectivity created due to redundant link would also provide load sharing for entire traffic life.

Other bidders for the project were Wipro, HCL and Adlink (Singapore).

The project will be completed in three phases. Each ship will be taken up independently per phase.

 

[TomCat111]

PUNE: An expert committee from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) has ruled out any structural modification to the advanced Sukhoi-30 MKI, if it has to be fitted with the supersonic Brahmos cruise missile.

Watch out US Navy, here comes the unbeatable aircraft-carrier killer..........

 

[TomCat111]

This would be a first of sorts for the Indian Navy. Three ships to be delivered by Mazgaon Docks Limited (MDL) to the Indian Navy will have LAN connections with a 10g backbone.

Watch out US Navy, here comes the Navy killing hackers' geek brigade ridding on LAN connections with a 10g backbone..........

 

[Contrarian]

well...atleast watch out PN which does not even have computers on its ships let alone lan and other things

 

[solid snake]

India's rapid modernization of its military is very worrying for me as a Pakistani. India's Navy is far far superior to PN which would play a big role in case of war between the two nations.

 

[Bull]

India and Russia have signed a deal to upgrade the Indian Air Force's MiG-29 fighters and extend their service life.

Under the 850-million-dollar deal, Moscow-based aircraft corporation MiG will change the engines and avionics of 66 MiG-29 jets, AVN military news agency reported.

The deal to upgrade the MiG-29s comes after three of the jets crashed in India this year.

The IAF currently has three squadrons of MiG-29 jets that were inducted between 1986 and 1996. Following the mid-life upgrade, their technical life would be extended from 25 to 40 years, sources said.

The upgrade will also enhance the capabilities of the Russian-made jets as they will be fitted more powerful radars, advanced avionics and a new variant of their engine.

The MiG-29s will also be fitted with air-to-air refuelling capabilities to enhance their endurance and range.

 

[Bull]

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is planning to conduct ground tests for the country’s first flight version of a Supersonic Combustion Ramjet (Scramjet) engine in Hyderabad next year. This is will be followed by the first Scramjet flight test in 2008.

The design of a flight version of the Scramjet engine is on and it will be ground tested in 2007, followed by a flight test a year later, Chief Controller R&D (Service Interaction), DRDO, Dr Prahlada, told The Indian Express on the sidelines of a conference on ‘Air Breathing Engines and Aerospace Propulsion’ at the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) here on Tuesday.

As per plan, the flight test will be carried out onboard an indigenous platform, a prototype of which has already been developed by DRDO. “The vehicle will be 7-m long and we have already developed a prototype for the test. It will enter a 20-second long flight to go up to mach 7,” Dr Prahlada said. DRDO has already ground tested a scramjet engine to speeds in excess of Mach 2, he added. A Scramjet engine makes it possible to design smaller, lighter and faster aircraft as it takes oxygen needed for fuel combustion from the atmosphere itself instead of carrying liquid oxygen.

 

[Bull]

The Border Security Force (BSF) has filed a patent application for a low cost jammer that promises to thwart remotely triggered landmine explosions. Not only is the invention a first in the history of paramilitary outfits in the country, it has several advantages over the expensive ones currently in use.

Termed Dhanush, the equipment costs only Rs 20,000 and needs to be placed on a vehicle to disrupt the electronic signals from remote transmitters to the buried landmines. Around three hundred sets have already been produced and given to the CRPF, AP government and the BSF field units in Manipur and J-K.

The Indian Patent Office has already published the application in its journal as per the established procedure for the purpose of inviting objections. Usually, three years is required for granting patent from the date of filing of application.

The need for such an equipment was felt due to heavy casualties every year from landmine explosions. In 2001 alone, 21 men lost their lives in Kashmir, in addition to the 111 injured. An official involved in the project said, “The need for a low cost jammer was felt as the jammer jeeps are too expensive at Rs 49 lakh each and cannot be of any use to jawans. In contrast, Dhanush can be produced on a mass scale and all vehicles equipped with it.” Weighing around 12 kgs, the jammer runs on a 12 volt cell for four hours which can be recharged with the vehicle battery. It emits jamming signals at a fixed frequency corresponding to the range usually used by militants. Not more than two days are needed to manufacture one set, a researcher explained, since all ingredients are available in the country except a transmitter named Icom that is imported from Japan.

Dhanush was originally conceived by former BSF director general Gurcharan Jagat who supposedly took the cue from Punjab supercop K P S Gill. Gill encouraged officials to improvise on available equipment and introduced bulletproof tractors to take on militants hiding in sugarcane fields. The research was initiated four years back at a makeshift laboratory of the BSF’s communication wing in New Delhi. The first one was a little expensive at Rs 38,000. Two imported transmitters were used in it. Further research resulted in the elimination of one transmitter bringing the cost down.

 

[Bull]

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.

It also plans to arm 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 finalization stage," top IAF officials said.

The upgradation is to be undertaken in India starting next year.

It would involve complete change of radar systems, combat display systems and electronic warfare system of the French-made Mirages.

It together with multi-role Sukhoi 30 MKI, 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.