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Israel to upgrade 150 UAVs for India under Rs 50 billion project
NEW DELHI The Indian Air Force (IAF) is planning to join hands with an Israeli firm to upgrade the UAVs of the three services under a project worth over Rs50 billion to enhance their snooping capabilities. Separately, the IAF is also planning to phase out MiG-27 aircraft by 2017.
The three services operate a fleet of more than 150 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) procured from the Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) over the last few decades.
Under the Rs50-billion project, we will upgrade the capabilities of the UAVs in all the three services with the help of the original equipment manufacturer IAI, a senior IAF official said.
The IAF flies the Israeli-made Searcher II and Heron UAVs for reconnaissance and surveillance purposes and about 100 Searchers are in operation on Indian borders in western, northern and eastern regions.
After the upgrades, the IAF would be capable of operating these aircraft from far-off distances and control them through satellite communication system, he said.
The IAF has been saying in the recent past that it wants to increase the number of UAVs in the force and a team has also been formed at the Air Headquarters which is looking at the requirement of these machines in the force, the official said.
The army also operates a sizeable number of UAVs and has deployed them in borders along the western and eastern fronts.
The army was the first to induct UAVs in the 90s starting with Searcher Mark I and Searcher Mark II which could operate at an altitude of 15,000 feet and finally the Heron, which could operate at 30,000 feet.
The IAF followed it after some time to acquire the Searcher Mark I, Searcher Mark II and the Heron UAVs. The navy has also three operational squadrons of the Israeli UAVs deployed along both the eastern and the western sea board.
The IAF concerned over recurring problems in MiG-27 combat aircraft engines, is planning to phase out these Russian-origin planes by 2017.
IAF operates about 80 (four squadrons) of these aircraft in its fleet and due to the recurring problems in their engines, it had to ground all of them after a crash about two years ago.
We are planning to phase out the MiG-27s, of which around 80 are still in service, by the year 2017, senior IAF officials said.
IAF has deployed two squadrons each of the aircraft in Jodhpur in Rajasthan and Kalaikunda in West Bengal.
About two years, a study was conducted to check the problems in the engines of the aircraft and it was found that the R-29s engines have developed some defect which was very difficult to be corrected, they said.
After the report, IAF took a considered decision about retiring these aircraft from operational service in a phased manner, the officials said.
The first to be phased out would be the two squadrons based in Kalaikunda and then by 2017, the remaining two deployed in Jodhpur would also be on their way out of the force, they said.
The squadrons based in Jodhpur had undergone upgrades at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited recently and that is why they have more life left in them, the officials said.
Oman Tribune - the edge of knowledge
Indian Air Force, IAI To Upgrade 150 UAVs : Defense news
NEW DELHI The Indian Air Force (IAF) is planning to join hands with an Israeli firm to upgrade the UAVs of the three services under a project worth over Rs50 billion to enhance their snooping capabilities. Separately, the IAF is also planning to phase out MiG-27 aircraft by 2017.
The three services operate a fleet of more than 150 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) procured from the Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) over the last few decades.
Under the Rs50-billion project, we will upgrade the capabilities of the UAVs in all the three services with the help of the original equipment manufacturer IAI, a senior IAF official said.
The IAF flies the Israeli-made Searcher II and Heron UAVs for reconnaissance and surveillance purposes and about 100 Searchers are in operation on Indian borders in western, northern and eastern regions.
After the upgrades, the IAF would be capable of operating these aircraft from far-off distances and control them through satellite communication system, he said.
The IAF has been saying in the recent past that it wants to increase the number of UAVs in the force and a team has also been formed at the Air Headquarters which is looking at the requirement of these machines in the force, the official said.
The army also operates a sizeable number of UAVs and has deployed them in borders along the western and eastern fronts.
The army was the first to induct UAVs in the 90s starting with Searcher Mark I and Searcher Mark II which could operate at an altitude of 15,000 feet and finally the Heron, which could operate at 30,000 feet.
The IAF followed it after some time to acquire the Searcher Mark I, Searcher Mark II and the Heron UAVs. The navy has also three operational squadrons of the Israeli UAVs deployed along both the eastern and the western sea board.
The IAF concerned over recurring problems in MiG-27 combat aircraft engines, is planning to phase out these Russian-origin planes by 2017.
IAF operates about 80 (four squadrons) of these aircraft in its fleet and due to the recurring problems in their engines, it had to ground all of them after a crash about two years ago.
We are planning to phase out the MiG-27s, of which around 80 are still in service, by the year 2017, senior IAF officials said.
IAF has deployed two squadrons each of the aircraft in Jodhpur in Rajasthan and Kalaikunda in West Bengal.
About two years, a study was conducted to check the problems in the engines of the aircraft and it was found that the R-29s engines have developed some defect which was very difficult to be corrected, they said.
After the report, IAF took a considered decision about retiring these aircraft from operational service in a phased manner, the officials said.
The first to be phased out would be the two squadrons based in Kalaikunda and then by 2017, the remaining two deployed in Jodhpur would also be on their way out of the force, they said.
The squadrons based in Jodhpur had undergone upgrades at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited recently and that is why they have more life left in them, the officials said.
Oman Tribune - the edge of knowledge
Indian Air Force, IAI To Upgrade 150 UAVs : Defense news
