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Endangered

IAF contract: Top officials of US firms to receive key document

Monday November 28 2005 00:00 IST

NEW DELHI: With the government all set to issue requests for proposal (RFPs) for massive fighter aircraft contract in the first week of December, top executives of the American F-16 Falcon and F/A-18 Super Hornet programmes are scheduled to be in New Delhi next week to receive the RFP document. The deal for 126 multi-role fighters is worth over $5 billion.

Boeing's Chris Chadwick, vice-president of the F/A-18 Super Hornet programme and managing director of Lockheed-Martin Global Inc., Royce L. Caplinger, will receive the RFP documents when they are issued in early December. The companies' response, to be submitted shortly after that, will be a summary of their final offer in terms of systems involved and is critical to their inclusion in equipment trials that will follow.

Boeing and Lockheed-Martin are up against French Mirage-2000-5, Russian MiG-29M2 and the Swedish JAS-39 Gripen for the contract. The visit of the two senior executives from Boeing and Lockheed-Martin comes shortly after the Indo-US Defence Policy Group (DPG) had a fruitful meeting in Washington between November 21-23.

Sources at Boeing and Lockheed-Martin said Defence Secretary Donald R. Rumsfeld and Pentagon's foreign military sales chief Lt Gen Jeffrey B. Kohler had allowed the companies to put on offer their latest aircraft systems.

For the IAF, the five aircraft on offer are the best in the market, but opinion within the force is divided. While some officials wish to go for Mirage-2000-5, a variant of which the IAF already operates, radicals at the Air HQ feel that going for the F/A-18 Super Hornet and to a slightly lesser extent the F-16 Falcon, will push the IAF towards the best next generation American fighters.

Endangered

Unmanned Ground Vehicle ready to flush out terror

Pune: A remote-controlled vehicle armed with a lethal machine gun enters a danger zone, surveys it and flushes out the 'threat' by some quick and accurate shooting. But the prototype of the Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) developed by Ahmednagar-based Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (VRDE) is doing more than that.

The UGV is on a constant upgradation programme.

Though scientists at the establishment are tight-lipped about it, sources confirmed to The Indian Express that a military-capable UGV’s prototype has been tested successfully.

"The vehicle can be very useful for the Army to cut down troop-loss, specially in counter-insurgency operations," said a source on condition of annonymity.

The UGV is remote-controlled by a 'pilot' car. It is fitted with an automatic machine gun on the roof and cameras. The cameras send real time images to the pilot car, which enables it to control the UGV’s movements. The vehicle is protected by a bullet proof 'suit' that ensures minimal damage under light enemy fire.

The 'pilots' can move the UGV through small alleyways or building complexes to recce and map out the layout.

The fairly accurate machine gun can be used to neutralise threats.

"The Army has been eagerly looking for such a vehicle," the source said.

But even as the VRDE waits for the Army order for the vehicle, it is contantly upgrading it.

In fact, a conference of experts from across the country has also been planned in January to get more inputs for the project.

Topics like control, communication, vision system, sensors, navigation, platforms, security and safety of UGVs will be discussed at the conference. Plus, different applications of UGVs like material handling, surveillance, mine detection, recon, planting bombs and toxic site survey will also be discussed.

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Warships on a goodwill mission

KOCHI: Two ships of the People's Liberation Army of China arrived here on Monday on a goodwill visit and for joint naval exercises. Shenzhen, a Luhai class guided missile destroyer, and Weishanhu, a fleet-auxilliary ship, will be here for four days. They came in from Karachi. They will go on to Thailand.

Never before would the BTP berth of the Cochin Port Trust have witnessed as many visitors in a span of a few minutes. As the ships drew close, banners reading `Indian Navy welcomes PLA Navy,' embellished with pictures of dragons, unfolded. Children of the Navy Childrens' School waved flags of the two countries, and the bands of both the navies played. Shenzhen fired gun salutes before entering the harbour.

On board the Chinese ships was present Rear Admiral Han Linzhi, Deputy Commander of the South Sea Fleet and other PLA officers. Rear Admiral Rajender Singh, Chief of Staff of the Southern Naval Command, and other officers received the ships. Rear Admiral Singh inspected a guard of honour on board Shenzhen. Defence Attache of China Sr. Col. Li Zhao was present.

The Indian Naval band played the marching tunes of `Indian Fleet,' `Colonel Bogey' (an old British marching tune) and `Trombon King'. Later, the two bands got together and played a couple of tunes. The guests were clicking away on their cameras.

The Chinese delegation handed over to their Indian counterparts mementos picturing a celebrated woman General of the Song Dynasty at the Peking Opera and the PLA band performing at the Tiananmen Square.

Later, at the Naval Base, Sun Yuxi, the Chinese Ambassador to India, and the commanding officers of the two ships, called on Vice-Admiral S.C.S. Bangara, Flag Officer Commanding in chief of the Southern Naval Command.

Between them the ships have a crew of 544. The destroyer is equipped with surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles. It has a Harbin Z9C helicopter on board. During their stay here till December 1, there will be exchange of visits between Indian and Chinese Navy personnel to the ships and training schools. INS Gomati is among the Indian ships that will take part in the joint exercises.

There will be social functions and sports activities. The guests played their band at the Naval Base auditorium in the evening.

In 2003, Indian naval vessels had taken part in joint exercises with Chinese vessels.

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Navy's UAVs set to patrol country's seas

The dozen-odd UAVs will become operational on January 6

KOCHI: The Navy's first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) squadron, which will patrol the country's seas, will be operational on January 6.

All the dozen-odd UAVs have been imported from Israel. Training of the personnel manning the UAV squadron has been going on at the Southern Naval Command here, which is the Navy's training command, for several months. The squadron, currently called Intensive Flying and Training Units, will be based in Kochi, though its reach will be far beyond the immediate sea.

Vice-Admiral S.C.S. Bangara, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Chief of the Southern Command, told a news conference on Monday that the Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash would commission the squadron.

"The UAVs are extremely useful in getting real-time information about what is going on in our seas," Vice-Admiral Bangara said. "They can see even at night," he added. They can spot smuggling, spying, illegal fishing, shipwreck and fishermen in dangers, senior naval officers said. The UAVs could be handy in rescue operations in case of a disaster like the tsunami.

Vice-Admiral Bangara said the Southern Naval Command had recently hosted three bilateral exercises with foreign navies — French, American and Chinese. The Indo-French exercise, called `Varuna,' was on mine-sweeping and measures to counter mines. Two ships of the Chinese Navy are currently berthed at Kochi. They will have a `passage exercise' with Indian ships.

The joint exercise with the U.S. Navy, on salvage operations at sea, was an extensive one.

The exercise, called Salvex, had resulted in the recovery of an aircraft that had gone down in the sea four decades ago.

Caution against high-rises

Vice-Admiral S.C.S. Bangara has cautioned against high-rise buildings coming up in the vicinity of the naval airport here. The high-rises posed a threat to flight safety. He pointed out that the Aircraft Act of 1934, periodically amended, placed restrictions on structures coming up in the proximity of airports. The Director-General of Civil Aviation also set certain height safety norms.

He noted that the Directorate of Air Routes and Aerodromes's guidelines stipulated height restrictions within a radius of 20 km from airports. The heights varied depending on the location as well as the distance from the airport.

Vice-Admiral Bangara hastened to add that the Navy had not, on its own, curtailed any high-rise constructions. "These are not restrictions imposed by the Navy, but those stipulated by Government of India's agencies."

He also said that the Kochi Corporation's temporary garbage-dumping yard on the Wellingdon Island was causing difficulties.

The dumping yard attracted birds and this posed a threat to flight safety.

However, he hoped the Corporation's proposed solid-waste treatment plant at Brahmapuram would take care of this problem. The Kochi Mayor had on Monday met him to discuss the issue. He said the problem arising from the use of large cranes at Cochin Port had now been solved. The cranes fell within the flying funnel of the naval airport and hence were a flight safety threat.

An understanding had now been reached with India Gate Terminal, the agency operating these cranes. The agency would alert the Navy whenever they used the tall cranes, and the Navy on its part would let the agency know of its flight schedules.

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India set to market Brahmos missile

India is set to emerge as a strong player in the more than $30 billion annual global defence market with at least two of its products being set to create waves internationally.

In the world of dirty politics which goes along with the arms deals and the murky side of the paybacks involved, India is being aided by two of the world’s most powerful arms manufacturing countries — Russia and Israel. India is pinning hopes on the supersonic Cruise missile Brahmos and the advance light helicopter Dhruv to make its presence felt in the international market as a serious arms manufacturing player.

For, Dr A Sivathanu Pillai, chief controller of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and chief of the Brahmos project, marketing the missile is a task which brings out great inspiration in him.

A joint Indo-Russian production, the missile is far superior to the subsonic missiles which all other countries have around the world and can hit the target at least four times faster than them, he says.

Talking to a select group of journalists, Dr Pillai pointed out that Brahmos would be ready for market by 2007, the time by which both India and Russia would also have put at least 18 satellites in space as part of the Glonas project to help the movement and tracking of the supersonic missile.

The world’s only supersonic missile is also considered to be superior than the American Tomahauk Cruise missiles.

At a recent meeting between the defence officials of the two countries in Moscow recently there was also agreement on allowing India to market the missile as there are already enough inquiries with New Delhi with regard to it. Dr Pillai points out that there is a huge market available in the West Asia, Far-East, Africa and Latin America for India to sell these missiles.

Brahmos Aerospace, the Indo-Russian joint venture based in New Delhi, which manufactures the missile in its factory in Hyderabad, has been exhibiting the weapon at various international shows, the latest being in Thailand last month. India has also made a presentation for Brahmos in South Africa and Chile.

In fact, Chile could be the first buyer of Brahmos and has also shown an interest in Dhruv which actually showcases the Indo-Israeli defence cooperation. The multi-purpose machine, manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and fitted with avionics from Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), is being aggressively marketed by India and Israel under an agreement that’s the first of its kind signed by an Indian defence organisation.

The anti-Israel lobby in India may not like it, but the strategy has put India in the international defence market, particularly in Latin America, with Chile showing the way. Chile has a longstanding defence relationship with Israel into which India has tapped successfully.

“We submitted a joint proposal with Israel to the Government of Chile to sell the Dhruv helicopter,” say Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials here. “IAI has an office in Santiago (Chile’s capital) through which we work.” This happened just last year and the result was the current negotiation to sell 30 choppers.

Dhruv has attracted international attention for two reasons. One, it’s probably the only multi-utility helicopter in the market, built for civilian as well as military use. Two, at Rs 20 crore apiece, it is the cheapest in its class. Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Singapore are the other countries that have evinced interest in Dhruv.

While Dhruv may be a certificate of India’s growing abilities in defence manufacture, Brahmos is a technological breakthrough. Based on Russian design, and with Russian engineering support, the missile has a cent per cent strike rate. It can be fired from a plane, submarine, ship, or land also.

Russia and India have kept the range of Brahmos below 300km, with a maximum warhead weight of 300kg to ensure that it does not violate the Missile Technology Control Regime.

Endangered

'Dhruv - a fail-safe chopper'

BANGALORE: The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) claims that its indigenously designed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv is a ‘fail-safe’ chopper.

Though all variants of ALH had been grounded after a minor mishap four days ago, the public sector aircraft manufacturer is upbeat for proving the chopper’s crashworthiness.

In a first accident involving Dhruv, HAL Rotory Wing pilot, Wg Cdr Krishna, who was flying at 5,000 feet experienced a tail rotor malfunction. He was able to land safely.

Normally, any helicopter with such a failure at that height would have gone into a spin and crash landed.

“The problem is specific to this particular helicopter and is nothing to do with entire fleet that will start flying after exact cause for mishap is identified. After a mishap, grounding of aircrafts of the same family is the normal practice world over,” HAL Rotary Wing Chief Test Pilot Wg Cdr C D Upadhyay told this website’s newspaper.

The accident took place near Karimnagar in AP around 11 AM on Friday when the military registered helicopter took off from Hyderabad. At an altitude of 5,000 feet, Krishna faced an in-flight emergency when the chopper lost its directional control due to tail rotor failure.

Krishna showed exceptional professionalism by taking correct action and landing it in a field. Though it tilted towards to one side on landing, all six occupants were safe.

“The accident has certainly proved crashworthiness of ALH. When a tail rotor malfunctions, it is a grave emergency. But in this case the chopper landed safely,” said Air Marshal (Rtd) K Sridharan, President, Rotary Wing Society of India.

HAL Chief Test Pilot gives all the credit for safe landing to the pilot and to the machine.

“The design of the chopper, including clear cockpit visibility and crashworthiness of its fuel tanks helped to land it safely,” said Krishna, who has 5,000 hours to his credit and has flown 16 types of helicopters.

He has also been instructor at IAF Test Pilot School in the city twice. Meanwhile, an inquiry is on to find out the reason for the rotor failure.

Endangered

European consortium pushes Typhoon for IAF contract

Wednesday November 30 2005 00:00 IST

NEW DELHI: Just days before the government opens bid for one of its largest arms purchase, of 126 multirole fighter aircraft, European defence consortium EADS made a quick last ditch effort on November 25 to push the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter into the $5 billion sweepstakes.

The Typhoon, a higher-end multirole fighter built jointly by UK, France, Germany and Spain, and set to be their frontline fighter in the years to come, was considered as an option late last year by the UPA government during the visit of the then British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.

However, considering that the IAF is looking for a medium-range multirole fighter, it was decided that the longer range and considerably more expensive Typhoon would be unsuitable for its immediate needs.

South Block sources indicated that the unsolicited offer by Washington for Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet might have encouraged the European firm to make a final attempt to formally propose Typhoon for the competition. The Typhoon was rejected last year on the same grounds as the French Rfale, which was offered alongside Mirage-2000-5.

The fact that this will be New Delhi's largest single purchase of fighters has seen countries offering their latest aircraft. Russia, which will field its MiG-29M2 for the bid, has unilaterally offered the MiG-35, a much-improved variant, which is still to be fully operational.

Endangered

US firms lobby India

US manufacturers are trying to persuade the Indian government to ease proposed new offset requirements that would make it difficult for them to compete for military aircraft procurements including next-generation fighters.

Industry sources say a committee set up by New Delhi to draft a national offset policy is recommending direct offsets worth 30% and technology transfers worth 90% for all future imports, in addition to co-production.

US companies have been lobbying India individually and collectively under the US-India Business Council not to implement the offset policy.

New Delhi plans to implement a new offset policy by year-end, but sources say the defence ministry could ignore it.

Sources say if the proposed offset policy is enforced, small US companies would not be able to do any defence business in India and large companies would have trouble competing against European and Russian manufacturers.

India is planning to hand shortlisted manufacturers a highly anticipated tender for at least 126 new fighters next month.

Endangered

Air cover for para militaries in Counter Terrorism operations

While the Centre is planning a major reorganisation of the paramilitary forces, it has also been decided to give them Indian Air Force support in day-to-day anti-terrorist operations, starting on the Indo-Bangladesh and India-Myanmar borders, and eventually being extended to the northern and western sectors.

Air cover has so far been provided to army operations on sensitive sections of the Line of Control, but growing illegal crossings and infiltration, and a rising pattern of low-intensity terrorist warfare, has forced the government to expand the scope of border management, and the BSF will be at the centre of it, supported by ITBP, the CRPF and others.

The reorganisation of the paramilitary forces involves creating a separate stream of elite special troops drawn from them and the army, force strengths will be increased commensurate with the growth in population mandated by the UN, and it is also likely that the army will gain greater control over all these various anti-terrorist units and elements.

Endangered

India pledges to help modernize Nigerian army

The Indian army is to help train and modernize its Nigerian counterpart as part of efforts to improve military cooperation between the two countries, General Joginder Singh, chief of army staff of the Indian army said on Monday.

"India, as the second largest army after China in the world, will share our equipment modernizing skills with its Nigerian counterpart to enable it meet its future challenges," the official News Agency of Nigeria quoted Joginder as saying.

"We cannot fight today's wars with yesterday's equipment; your equipment have to be upgraded and modernized to meet the challenges of tomorrow," he told his Nigerian counterpart Martin Luther Agwai in Nigeria's capital Abuja.

The Indian general is on a five-day visit to Africa's most populous country which he said was to explore the opportunity to enhance military cooperation and share experiences in training exercises.

Singh noted that India intended to have close future ties in almost all areas to enhance the military to military cooperation.

Responding, Agwai agreed with his Indian colleague that the Nigerian Army's priority "is training and retraining of the officers" and that the Indian army's professional experience would be of immense benefit to Nigeria.

"The strength of the Indian army is a stabilizing force not as an alternative government," he was quoted as saying.

The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the Indian army's strength stands at approximately 1.3 million, while Singh is the first Indian chief of army staff to visit Nigeria in the past 30 years.

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Exercise Shows India’s Network Capabilities

India’s Army has been working for the last two years to equip its land platforms with state-of-the-art sensors and weaponry, all aimed at creating an effective network-centric warfare (NCW) force. That effort was put to the test this month during Operation Desert Strike, a joint exercise with the Air Force that demonstrated how the Army’s weapon systems worked with each other as well as with those of its sister service.

The 10-day exercise began Nov. 10 and involved 25,000 soldiers. It was observed by military attachés from 40 countries, including Bangladesh, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and United States. The exercise for the first time blended information from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), aircraft and ground troops that was delivered instantly.

Gen. Joginder Jaswant Singh, Army chief, said during the exercise here that by 2008, the Army will be a complete offensive force with the majority of the infantry, armored, artillery and mechanized units’ weaponry networked.

During Desert Strike, the Army and Air Force used a variety of networked sensors, electro-optical devices, thermal imagers and advanced battlefield surveillance systems. The two services displayed some of the modern weaponry along with Russian-built T-90 tanks, Israeli Searcher Mark-II UAVs and air defense systems.

The Indian Air Force fired precision-guided munitions, cluster bombs and anti-tank missiles from Mirage 2000, MiG-27, Jaguar and MiG-21 fighter aircraft as well as Mi-35 helicopters.

The exercise was planned to increase the combat power of the existing hardware by networking sensors, decision-makers and shooters to increase the speed of command and tempo of operations, a senior Army planner said.

Singh said that apart from building offensive NCW capabilities, the Army has begun implementing protective measures against nuclear and chemical warfare threats.

The Army planner said Singh’s modernization plan calls for a number of new weapons to be procured in the next three years. The service plans a multimillion-dollar buying spree that will include a tactical communications network, land-based electronic warfare (EW) systems, EW systems for UAVs, airborne synthetic aperture radar systems and other equipment.

The Army currently uses only the Searcher UAV as its primary means of gathering intelligence.

The Army planner said India does not possess in-house capabilities to build the sensor grids and command-and-control systems necessary for effective NCW apparatus. The only indigenous component is the Artillery Command and Control System (ACCS), built by state-owned Bharat Electronics, Bangalore. A few ACCS prototypes are operational with the Army.

Endangered

Russia Denies Missile Technology to India

Russia has told the Indian Defence Ministry it will not include technology transfer as part of its planned sale of Igla surface-to-air missile systems, the second such denial within two months.

In late September, Russia said it would not give the technology with India’s purchase of the Smerch Multibarrel Rocket Launcher system, and reduced the order from 69 pieces to 46.

In addition, Moscow has threatened to force a renegotiation if India does not sign a contract by December for the sale of 1,100 Igla missiles along with the launcher systems, said an Indian Defence Ministry official. The official said the ministry put off signing the contract after Russia refused to transfer the technology early this month.

A senior executive here with Moscow-based arms export agency Rosoboronexport said talks on the sale of Igla missiles and launchers to India faltered because the Indian government is not prepared to pay technology fees for the upgraded missiles.

Defence Ministry sources said Russia is hardening its position toward India on arms sales, saying the two countries must sign an intellectual property rights agreement.

The Defence Ministry was negotiating to buy 1,100 Igla missiles, 120 digitized Igla launchers, 12 Igla mobile testing stations, 12 Igla unit trainers, three Igla room trainers and 120 heavy motor vehicles for Igla launchers for $200 million, along with technology transfer to Bharat Dynamics, Hyderabad.

The Indian Army, which uses Igla missiles in its air defense system, is negotiating for an improved version of the missile, said an Army official.

The improved variant has a 2-kilogram, high-explosive warhead. Its range and speed are increased by a new seeker and aerodynamic improvements, which enable it to hit faster targets. It has a range of 5,200 meters and a ceiling of 3,500 meters, employs a better guidance system and is well-protected against electro-optical jammers, said the Indian Army official.

The Army needs to upgrade its air defenses, a sizable portion of which is grounded because of obsolescence and a lack of spare parts, said the Army official.

The Army operates a variety of air defense systems, mostly of Soviet origin. These include the Russian-made Kvadrat mobile surface-to-air missile system, the Osaka surface-to-air missile system, the Strela-1 system, the Pechora system, the Igla, the Shilka and Tanguska self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, and guns like the L-70, which is more than 30 years old.

Endangered

Russia evinces interest in Indian Army's 'Sathi'

Russia and Israel have evinced keen interest in 'Sathi', the indigenously developed electronic gadget which proved handy for Army personnel to receive and transmit voice and data messages with least chance of intercepting.
Bangalore-based Encore Software Chairman and CEO Vinav L Deshpande, presenting his company's profile at the 'IT innovation in India 2005,' organised by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) here today, informed that the product, developed by his company with funding from the Indian Army, got wide attention from various countries.

'Sathi' with MP3 player and new dimension military technology, rechargeable through both solar and vehicles, had demonstrated Indian Army's strategic leadership to the world, he added.

Mr Deshpande said the Army had signed an agreement with Encore Systems to market the product outside the country and share the revenue. It was also agreed to keep apart some of the sale proceeds for further enhancing its quality and value.

Stating that its price was low when compared to a similar product in the United States, which was inferior in both hardware and software capability, he said the device sought to address the lack of precise information on location of soldiers and teams in the battlefield and any lack of operational and graphic picture to commanders directing the conduct of battle. It would provide accurate information about location during deployment of military missions within 20 metres and provide military commanders with operational picture every few seconds. Military commanders could thus respond to sudden developments by modifying operational plans real time, he added.

The first leg of the event was held in Pune on November 21.

Endangered

India's Defence Minister: Improve Quality, Or Else

At a recent international arms conference in New Delhi, Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee warned domestic arms makers to sharpen their skills or perish in the face of intense competition from foreign rivals in a globalizing world. AFP reports that the warning came amid reports of military complaints over the quality of hardware and spare parts supplied by India's own arms industry.

The warning is valid to a point, and private sector procurement is finding a niche in India. Still, there may be less here than meets the eye.

According to AFP, India opened defense production to the private sector in 2001, and permits direct foreign investment of up to 26% in joint projects. State-owned defense firms annually procure goods worth 120 billion rupees ($280 million) from private businesses, while state-owned ordnance factories outsourced production work worth 190 billion rupees ($443 million) to private companies.

DID Op/Ed:

India's software development community, which boasts more Level 5 CMMI firms than anywhere else in the world, shows that quality is not a foreign concept to Indian organizations per se.

As DID has noted in our coverage of India's annual Ministry of Defense report, however, large segments of India's arms industry are government-owned. Given the number of jobs (read: votes) dependent on these enterprises, the political reality is that closing these firms or even substantially reducing their workload would be extremely difficult. As such, threats of competition and closure are unlikely to mean very much to large sections of India's defense industry.

DID has also covered India's new foreign procurement rules, with their high levels of required local industrial offsets, and its procurement system difficulties that include development programs and other projects that miss their completion targets by over a decade.

Exhortations alone will not fix underlying systemic problems, and the incentive patterns that contribute to them. This is as true in India as it is everywhere else in the world.