Indian MoD likely to cancel Light-Utility Helicopters Contract due to Corruption Charges

[XYON]

Oh Bhai is there anyone in India who is NOT corrupt??

Indian MoD likely to cancel light-utility helicopters contract - Army Technology

he Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) is likely to cancel the national army's light-utility helicopters (LUH) procurement contract following allegations of bribery.
The move comes after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against the army aviation corps brigadier VS Saini and other unknown army officers for allegedly attempting to favour a company competing to win the contract in return for €5m, the Times of India reports.

A CBI spokesperson, Kanchan Prasad, said: "The matter came to notice when an unsigned note was recovered during a search by Italian prosecutors at the residence of Guido Hashcke's (the alleged middleman in VVIP chopper scam) mother, which allegedly says that the brigadier in-charge of flight evaluation can tilt the decision in the favour of the Italian firm, but was asking for €5m in return"

An unnamed senior defence ministry official was quoted by DNA as saying, ''cancellation of the deal seems imminent.''

An unidentified senior army official said: ''If the government cancels the deal once again, it is going to be a major setback for the preparedness of the army, which is making all efforts to match China's capabilities on the eastern front.''

Covering procurement of 197 helicopters for replacement of the army's ageing Cheetah and Chetak fleet, the INR30bn ($482m) project has already been cancelled after being virtually finalised in December 2007.

Widely used for reconnaissance and casualty evacuation operations in forward locations and high-altitude areas, such as Siachen, Ladakh, North Kashmir and the Northeast, the Cheetah and Chetak helicopters have flown 12 to 15 years more than their original airframe life.

The French-built helicopters are considered 'death traps', as 12 pilots have died in Cheetah crashes over the past five years.

 

[Jai_Hind]

Good move by CBI..., killed the snake before it can cause any harm..... High time to get HAL built LUH

 

[janon]

Actually not a bad thing, IMO. They ought to increase production of the Dhruv, and as a short term measure, use the Dhruv in the LUH role until HAL's LUH takes shape, which is not too far away. That will lead to massive savings now, and in future as well, because we would not need to sustain two different helicopters for the same role. Double the order for home made LUH, double the production rate of Dhruv - after all there is a long order book for the Dhruv as well, so once HAL LUH is ready, the interimly used Dhruvs can be transferred to their regular duties.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Actually not a bad thing, IMO. They ought to increase production of the Dhruv, and as a short term measure, use the Dhruv in the LUH role until HAL's LUH takes shape, which is not too far away. That will lead to massive savings now, and in future as well, because we would not need to sustain two different helicopters for the same role. Double the order for home made LUH, double the production rate of Dhruv - after all there is a long order book for the Dhruv as well, so once HAL LUH is ready, the interimly used Dhruvs can be transferred to their regular duties.

I am inclined to agree with this idea. MoD should both increase the orders for Dhruv and at the same time give HAL a "big kick in the pants" to ramp up production of Dhruvs and keep the schedules asked for. In the meanwhile HAL can continue work on its LUH project. If HAL's LIH is found acceptable, then naturally the orders for it also will flow in. We may be ab;le to bypass imported LUHs in that event.

 

[Agent_47]

Actually not a bad thing, IMO. They ought to increase production of the Dhruv, and as a short term measure, use the Dhruv in the LUH role until HAL's LUH takes shape, which is not too far away. That will lead to massive savings now, and in future as well, because we would not need to sustain two different helicopters for the same role. Double the order for home made LUH, double the production rate of Dhruv - after all there is a long order book for the Dhruv as well, so once HAL LUH is ready, the interimly used Dhruvs can be transferred to their regular duties.

Say HAL LUH get IOC by 2017,Can they produce them at a rate 60 per year to complete the order in 5-6 years? (380 nos)

 

[janon]

Say HAL LUH get IOC by 2017,Can they produce them at a rate 60 per year to complete the order in 5-6 years? (380 nos)

It will get IOC a lot before that, the expected date is 2015. Maybe you meant FOC, for which 2017 seems plausible. Remember, this is a light heicopter, so not likely to take a lot of time between IOC and FOC, like the Tejas.

60 seems too high, given their production capacity as of now. But if they can invest a lot in infrastructure by then, it is possible. Then again, I don't know if there is such a big hurry, that they need to get the entire 380 in 5-6 years - frankly, I doubt if the forces would be able to absorb that many in such a short time, even if they could produce that fast.

If we ramp up Dhruv production now, and invest amply in the LUH production line, I am pretty sure this need for a foreign LUH can be made redundant. And we would spare a lot of cash too, in addition to streamlining our assets and building indegenous capability and self reliance.

 

[GR!FF!N]

Good News..now,fast track the LUH project.we'll get a successful platform like Dhruv.though I wonder why India is refraining procuring Kamov-226??shouldn't they be declared automatic winner??(single vender deal may be the problem).we even have production line for them...

India to Assemble Russian Mil, Kamov Helicopters | Business | RIA Novosti

 

[sancho]

Good move by CBI..., killed the snake before it can cause any harm..... High time to get HAL built LUH

A good move by CBI to investigate any possible corruption case, but eve if the officier will be found guilty, it would be nuts to cancel the LUH deal on that bases, since the outcome of the competition was not changed (AW helicopters were not shortlisted). So no matter what the VVIP helicopter case is, or if the officer really had asked for money, these cases have no relation to the LUH competition as it is now.

It will get IOC a lot before that, the expected date is 2015. Maybe you meant FOC, for which 2017 seems plausible.

That's not correct, it is said that the first flight of LUH prototypes will be in 2015 and depending on how much changes are needed afterwards, we will have to see if IOC in 2017 is feasable or not. Compare it with the first flight of LCH for example, the design issues and changes that were needed afterwards to meet the development goals..., so we can't just say it will be available in no time, only because HAL has some mock up versions now.
What bothers me even more, is that HAL didn't even got a useful production number for Dhruvs currently, to meet the orders and requirements, so how can we expect to use Dhruvs as a stop gap instead?
I would love to see TATA be included in the production of the foreign LUH, next to HAL. That would take away a good chunk of HALs workload and they can focus more on their own LUH too. Not to mention that TATA today is very experienced in the licence production of helicopter parts for Sikorsky, or Agosta Westland.

 

[Agent_47]

It will get IOC a lot before that, the expected date is 2015. Maybe you meant FOC, for which 2017 seems plausible. Remember, this is a light heicopter, so not likely to take a lot of time between IOC and FOC, like the Tejas.

60 seems too high, given their production capacity as of now. But if they can invest a lot in infrastructure by then, it is possible. Then again, I don't know if there is such a big hurry, that they need to get the entire 380 in 5-6 years - frankly, I doubt if the forces would be able to absorb that many in such a short time, even if they could produce that fast.

If we ramp up Dhruv production now, and invest amply in the LUH production line, I am pretty sure this need for a foreign LUH can be made redundant. And we would spare a lot of cash too, in addition to streamlining our assets and building indegenous capability and self reliance.

As @sancho said 2017 is more realistic time for production and 197 helicopters contract was suppose to conclude in 5-6 years.
How can Dhruv replace role of light choppers?

 

[janon]

As @sancho said 2017 is more realistic time for production and 197 helicopters contract was suppose to conclude in 5-6 years.
How can Dhruv replace role of light choppers?

Just like a Rafale can do the work of an LCA, albeit at higher cost. I suggested that as a temporary measure, to tide over the time when the Cheetah/Chetaks have to retire, and the LUH hasn't come in numbers. Dhruv is homemade, cheap to procure since we already have the ecosystem in place to operate it, and our pilots are already trained to fly it. So use them for a few years in the LUH role, until the LUHs arrive. Using them in that role for 25 years would prove expensive, but using them for five years and then having one LUH for 25 years, instead of maintaining two different LUHs for 25 years may actually save money.

 

[JayAtl]

so the logic is to punish the Indian army and homeland security?

why not punish the the guys on the indian side and levy a fine against the company for twice what they would have paid?

AND asking for vs. giving into his demands are two separate things.