Indian Naval Aviation: Modernisation and Opportunities

[nitesh]

Indian Navy to buy 37 anti-sub choppers - National News – News – MSN India - News

The Indian Navy is all set to strengthen its air fleet by acquiring 26 Sea King anti-submarine and troop carrying helicopters and 11 Kamov-28 choppers.

The Defence Ministry will soon issue the request for proposal (RFP) to procure these 37 anti-submarine helicopters. The contract for choppers is worth Rs.14, 500 million.The ministry has finalised global tenders to acquire troop carrying and anti-submarine helicopters as well as to upgrade its fleet of Sea King and Kamov-28 helicopters, a senior naval officer said.

He also said that the delivery of 12 single-seat MiG-29K and 4 two-seat MiG-29KUB would start by the year-end. They will be later deployed on the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier being refitted in Russia.

The first batch of four aircraft for the Navy is likely to fly into the naval air station at Goa.The officer also said that the Navy is also looking for its own Airborne Early Warning Aircraft.

The navy operates 14 Sea King and 12 Kamov anti-submarine helicopters. In addition, the Sea Kings are also used for reconnaissance, search and rescue operations, and for ferrying personnel and supplies.

Meanwhile, in a major drive to modernise the armed forces and expand aviation wings of the Services, the Defence Ministry today issued a RFP to procure 197 helicopters. The proposed procurement is worth Rs.30, 000 million.

The armed forces will modernise their helicopter fleet by 2010 by replacing the age-old Cheetah and Chetak, which have been in service for last 40 years.

 

[nitesh]

The Hindu : National : U.S. set to bag contract for Navy surveillance planes

U.S. set to bag contract for Navy surveillance planes

Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI: The U.S. is set to bag a multi-billion dollar Indian Navy contract for maritime surveillance planes, with both sides deciding to put the contentious issue of signing an end user agreement on the backburner.

A Boeing-led consortium had concluded all technical and price negotiations for the $ 2.2 billon contract and the proposal would now be taken to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for approval, said Ministry of Defence sources.

This would be the second major military aviation contract signed with the U.S. this year. Both were in areas, once the preserve of the Russians. The first contract was for six all-weather all-terrain C-130 J military transport planes with Lockheed Martin. All military transport planes in the Indian armed forces’ inventory were of Russian origin. Similar all long-range surveillance planes were from Russia and the Boeing P-8i maritime reconnaissance planes would be breaching that suzerainty.

The sources said if the Navy was satisfied with the planes, repeat orders could be placed in future.

A sticking point in the deal was the end user agreement which made inspection of the sold platform mandatory to ensure that the technology was not passed on to the wrong hands. India objected to this. Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta, said: “The U.S. may have this kind of [end user] agreements with everyone. I don’t believe in that. We pay for something and we get some technology. What I do with it is my thing.”

Instead of stretching the negotiations because of differing views on the agreement, the two sides decided to revisit it later. This was because the first plane would arrive four years after the contract was signed, leaving enough time to discuss and conclude the end user’s agreement. It could not be confirmed whether India would sign a package deal on end user agreements on all high-tech contracts. The end user agreement was in the eye of the storm earlier this year when the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) panned the Indo-U.S. deal for a huge second hand troop landing ship. “[The] restrictive clauses raise doubts about the real advantages from this deal. For example, there are restrictions on the offensive deployment of the ship and permission would be given to a foreign government to conduct an inspection and inventory of all articles transferred under the end-use monitoring clause of the Letter of Agreement,” the CAG report on INS Jalashwa (formerly USS Trenton) said.

However, U.S. Navy Secretary Donald Winter had denied the sale was accompanied by a ban on its use for offensive operations, adding that the U.S. did not limit the use of warships sold to other countries in support of their national defence objectives.

The U.S. wanted India to sign the End Use Monitoring Agreement besides the Mutual Logistic Support Agreement, the Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CIS MoA). It argued that these pacts would lead to better operational and business ties at the military level between both countries.

 

[ejaz007]

U.S. set to bag contract for Navy surveillance planes
Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI: The U.S. is set to bag a multi-billion dollar Indian Navy contract for maritime surveillance planes, with both sides deciding to put the contentious issue of signing an end user agreement on the backburner.

A Boeing-led consortium had concluded all technical and price negotiations for the $ 2.2 billon contract and the proposal would now be taken to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for approval, said Ministry of Defence sources.

This would be the second major military aviation contract signed with the U.S. this year. Both were in areas, once the preserve of the Russians. The first contract was for six all-weather all-terrain C-130 J military transport planes with Lockheed Martin. All military transport planes in the Indian armed forces’ inventory were of Russian origin. Similar all long-range surveillance planes were from Russia and the Boeing P-8i maritime reconnaissance planes would be breaching that suzerainty.

The sources said if the Navy was satisfied with the planes, repeat orders could be placed in future.

A sticking point in the deal was the end user agreement which made inspection of the sold platform mandatory to ensure that the technology was not passed on to the wrong hands. India objected to this. Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta, said: “The U.S. may have this kind of [end user] agreements with everyone. I don’t believe in that. We pay for something and we get some technology. What I do with it is my thing.”

Instead of stretching the negotiations because of differing views on the agreement, the two sides decided to revisit it later. This was because the first plane would arrive four years after the contract was signed, leaving enough time to discuss and conclude the end user’s agreement. It could not be confirmed whether India would sign a package deal on end user agreements on all high-tech contracts. The end user agreement was in the eye of the storm earlier this year when the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) panned the Indo-U.S. deal for a huge second hand troop landing ship. “[The] restrictive clauses raise doubts about the real advantages from this deal. For example, there are restrictions on the offensive deployment of the ship and permission would be given to a foreign government to conduct an inspection and inventory of all articles transferred under the end-use monitoring clause of the Letter of Agreement,” the CAG report on INS Jalashwa (formerly USS Trenton) said.

However, U.S. Navy Secretary Donald Winter had denied the sale was accompanied by a ban on its use for offensive operations, adding that the U.S. did not limit the use of warships sold to other countries in support of their national defence objectives.

The U.S. wanted India to sign the End Use Monitoring Agreement besides the Mutual Logistic Support Agreement, the Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CIS MoA). It argued that these pacts would lead to better operational and business ties at the military level between both countries.

:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::

 

[Keysersoze]

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A sticking point in the deal was the end user agreement which made inspection of the sold platform mandatory to ensure that the technology was not passed on to the wrong hands. India objected to this. Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta, said: “The U.S. may have this kind of [end user] agreements with everyone. I don’t believe in that. We pay for something and we get some technology. What I do with it is my thing.”

]

Hmmm The chief of naval staff may object to it as much as he likes. The Americans are not the same as the 90's Russians. ANd if it becomes issue then I can see this deal going the way of a few other procurements in that it will be about 10-20 years late.
Also the Plane won't be in service till around 2012 (The USN getting first dibs) so the first planes won't be around for a good few years yet.

 

[Contrarian]

Hmmm The chief of naval staff may object to it as much as he likes. The Americans are not the same as the 90's Russians.

We have already cleared this issue with them. Instead of their regular End User Verification Agreement that they sign with everyone which includes on-site inspections and surprise checks, they will get only guarentees in India.

India will not allow either of those kinds of things for any equipment it buys from the US, what it is willing to provide is access to user records and guarentees instead. And India has already signed this with the US, to clear the road for buying other equipments from the US.

US might not be the 90's Russia, but this is not the 90's India either.

 

[prithvi]

Hmmm The chief of naval staff may object to it as much as he likes. The Americans are not the same as the 90's Russians.

We have already cleared this issue with them. Instead of their regular End User Verification Agreement that they sign with everyone which includes on-site inspections and surprise checks, they will get only guarentees in India.

India will not allow either of those kinds of things for any equipment it buys from the US, what it is willing to provide is access to user records and guarentees instead. And India has already signed this with the US, to clear the road for buying other equipments from the US.

US might not be the 90's Russia, but this is not the 90's India either.

Righto Malay.... Given the situation in which Commercial Aviation has dig itself in... I guess many of the older doctrine ... will simple get washed away with economic reality

 

[nitesh]

India to exercise the options for Additional 30-36 Mig-29K/UBs

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Links in Russian.

This is very interesting news. India planning to field a second carrier sooner than expected??? (Not counting the Viraat)

 

[Contrarian]

I dont think so...I think they eventually just had to buy more MiG 29K's anyway. The present number is too low. They need more just to practice in the new Carrier Training Facility they are building in Goa, let alone have some for replacements if needed on the Vikramaditya.

Secondly, i dont think the N-LCA will fructify. I have my doubts, i think they will eventually arm the IAC with MiG 29K or its derivatives. This depends on the MRCA tender as well.

And P.S: This news is not confirmed, so dont read too much into it.