Manohar Parrikar to discuss next generation AWACS, French missile deal next week

[sudhir007]

Manohar Parrikar to discuss next generation AWACS, French missile deal next week | idrw.org

The Defence Ministry is set to decide on going ahead with a Rs 5,200 crore strategic programme to develop a next generation of airborne warning and control systems (AWACS) that will act as a major force multiplier for the Indian Air Force (IAF), giving it a deep insight into enemy territory.

The large size AWACS programme, different from an ongoing Embraer-based airborne early warning and control system (AEWCS), is being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and will initially be for two aircrafts, an order that will be increased after successful development.

Sources said that the strategic project is set to come up for discussion with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at a key meeting this week in which DRDO will make its case for allocation of funds to go ahead with ordering a platform and initiating work.

The minister is also likely to discuss a partnership between France’s MBDA and the DRDO to develop a new class of Short Range Surface to Air Missiles (SR-SAM) under the much delayed Maitri programme.

The discussion will come days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Paris where the estimatedRs 30,000 crore programme is expected to be raised. The Maitri programme was first discussed as a government to government deal in 2007 but there has been little forward movement since 2013 when a Memorandum of Understating (MoU) was signed with DRDO.

On the AWACS project, a call will have to be taken on the platform that will be chosen. While the smaller AEWCS is based on the Embraer aircraft, DRDO requires a larger wide bodied aircraft for the AWACS programme.

Sources say that the only response that DRDO got to a tender for the project last year was from Airbus for the A 330 aircraft. A special sanction will be needed for the project to go ahead with a single vendor situation.

 

[anant_s]

Any details on capability of this new radar (range etc) and how it is different from existing Phalcon system? Going by the news it looks like India is trying for three types of systems DRDO AEWCS, A-50 based one and this new in between system.

The discussion will come days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Paris where the estimatedRs 30,000 crore programme is expected to be raised. The Maitri programme was first discussed as a government to government deal in 2007 but there has been little forward movement since 2013 when a Memorandum of Understating (MoU) was signed with DRDO.

No news about Rafale!

 

[sudhir007]

Any details on capability of this new radar (range etc) and how it is different from existing Phalcon system? Going by the news it looks like India is trying for three types of systems DRDO AEWCS, A-50 based one and this new in between system.

No news about Rafale!

Dassault: Work on India Rafale Sale 95% Done

PARIS — Work on completing an Indian contract for acquiring the Rafale fighter jet is taking time, but 95 percent of the paperwork is done, Dassault Aviation Chairman Eric Trappier said.

The deal to purchase 126 Rafales is now "95 percent completed," with the French company working with the Indian authorities to review thousands of contract pages, Trappier said Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported.

Trappier was speaking at Istres, southern France, as Dassault and Thales handed over the first two upgraded Mirage 2000 fighters to the Indian Air Force. The modernization deal, reported by La Tribune to be worth €1.4 billion (US $1.5 billion), is for 51 fighters.

"I would like to go faster [but] it is an enormous contract," Trappier said. "As I have said before, I prefer that we are taking our time now … rather than have problems later."

Dassault looks to its 60-year ties with India, forged with the company's sale of the Ouragan fighter in 1953, to help close a deal on the Rafale.

"India is Dassault Aviation's first export client and the historical relationship we nurtured with the Indian Air Force has spanned 60 years, growing from strength to strength," Trappier said in a statement.

"The Rafale is the next logical step," he said.

Thales, an electronic systems company, worked with Indian partners to modernize the Mirage and would extend the ties.

"We are ready to continue developing this teamwork in the future," said Pierre-Eric Pommellet, executive vice president at Thales and head of Defense Mission Systems.

India seeks to strengthen the domestic industrial base with the "Make in India" policy.

Dassault sees Indian work on the Mirage as helping prepare the ground for the proposed local assembly of Rafales. The Indian partner, state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., (HAL), will continue the modernization contract for the remaining 49 Mirages.

HAL would be the local co-contractor for assembling the Rafale.

Thales upgraded the radar, electronic warfare and mission computer on the Mirage.

 

[$@rJen]

this guy is always discussing something but no results on the urgent requirements... i thought he would rescue the military but seems like he's performing worst that St.Antony in procuring arms..