Originally Posted by Endangered

Singapore seeks airbase on hire

New Delhi, Nov. 9: The Kalaikunda air force station is for hire. Singapore’s air force has asked for use of its facilities and is negotiating a price with the Indian government.

The airbase is currently hosting contingents of the Indian and US air forces for the latest edition of the Cope India series of exercises. Outside its perimeter, Left supporters are protesting against India’s alleged military tie-up with the US.

Air Force Station Kalaikunda was built by the British for the Royal Indian Air Force in the Second World War. Through this year its facilities have been modernised and it is now upgraded to international standards and has the wherewithal to host crews from foreign air forces.

The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) used the Kalaikunda airbase for an exercise with the IAF last October.

That exercise, called Sindex ’04, was based out of Gwalior, the IAF’s bigger and probably more sophisticated airbase capable of hosting foreign crews. It was in Sindex ’04 that the IAF exercised with F-16 Fighting Falcons for the first time in the country.

But more than giving the IAF a foretaste of the F-16s, Sindex ’04 also provided the RSAF contingent with valuable space to exercise in. The island nation and city-state has a hinterland that is only a fraction of India’s. That does not afford its modern air force the airspace to conduct drills and manoeuvres of combat aircraft.

Such exercises need a lot of airspace. The IAF’s Sukhoi 30 Mki, MiG 29 and Jaguars and the USAF's F-16 CJ Fighting Falcons currently engaged in Cope India are flying from the new tarmac and runway of Kalaikunda — just 130 km west of Calcutta — and are using Indian airspace over the Bay of Bengal and also over the hinterland.

Kalaikunda is close not only to the Bay of Bengal but also to a field firing range for mock ground-attack raids.

Kalaikunda — called KKD in the air force — is home to the Eastern Air Command’s 5th wing. It has a stellar role in the country’s military history and was the home base of the last squadron of Hunter aircraft. Now it is the home base of the MiG 27 fighter aircraft. The Pakistan Air Force claimed to have bombed it during the 1971 war.

The airbase has camouflaged hangars — a feature that marks many military establishments.

During the Second World War, the British established several such airbases in the eastern region to conduct raids against advancing Japanese and also for operations to transport aid to parts of China.

Eastern and northeastern India have a number of abandoned airfields built by the British. Kalaikunda was never allowed to run into ruin.

Upgraded facilities in KKD now include state-of-the-art navigational aids, a new tarmac, a freshly laid runway and billets for the crew.

Specially built air-conditioned billets are being used for the first time to host the American pilots, technicians and engineers of the F-16 fighter aircraft and the E-3 Sentry Awacs that have flown in from their bases in Misawa and Kadena in Japan.

KKD can also accommodate a large number of aircraft. Most of the work to upgrade KKD was done by the Military Engineering Services (MES), a wing of the army that caters to all three armed forces.

So impressed was the Singapore Air Force with the potential of Kalaikunda after Sindex ’04 that they made the offer to use it and pay for the facilities.

The Singapore Air Force has also offered to bear the cost of such exercises that are meant essentially to train their own crews but will also give the Indian Air Force the experience that is necessary to hone skills of pilots.

For the Indian Air Force, such a deal will also mean opening up a revenue stream.

Originally Posted by ajaybhutani

I have stopped googling for latest news on indian military and eco.. thanks to ur threads.. good work dude

Originally Posted by Neo

It would appear that one can also add the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet to the list of aircraft under serious consideration by India - and the AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter as well.


Apache Longbow
(click to view full)On another front, the Indian Air Force has an expressed need for 80 new attack helicopters. ENS also reports that the US will soon offer its top of the line AH-64D Apache Longbow to fill that need. The IAF is in the market for light and agile assault helicopters for possible use in counter-insurgency operations, and HAL's indigenous Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) is estimated to take at least another decade before it will see service.

DID Op/Ed Thoughts & Analysis:

If India does proceed with its attack helicopter project, the Apache Longbow will likely have company. Competitors ranging from the Russian Mi-28 Havoc and IAI/Kamov Ka-50/52 Black Shark, to the Eurocopter Tiger, South Africa's Denel Rooivalk, and Bell AH-1Z King Cobra, et. al. can be expected to express interest; many of these contenders will also bid if allowed. The Apache Longbow's expense has given other allies pause before, and India's defense budget is limited and subject to political pressure. It will be interesting to see whether attach helicopters becomes a serious procurement priority for India, and if so what kind of cost pressures enter into the equation.

Originally Posted by indianguy4u

Hi garry,
How does kamov faces up against apache? I had seen one prog on discovery about apache that it could destroy a small town singlehandedly.

Originally Posted by Garry

Well in helicopters Russian products are very competitive.

I would guess that .... However probably Longbow will not be the most expensive variant as it is now.... Kamov is just recently acquired by Oboronprom - no more cheap helicopters, and no more internal cut throat price competition....

Probably Kamov Black Shark would be priced with some premium to Longbow as it exceeds it in ALL capabilities/specifications while Mi-28N will be priced with discount to Longbow while matching it in capabilities.

Kamov would be then positioned as tanks/helicopter killer and reconnaisance helicopter. Its capabilities allow it to kill any of existing attack helicopters, perform attack functions much better than any, and even protect infantry/tanks from CAS (though Pakistan don't have them).... The best set of capabilities among any attack helicoptes!

Hence Indians will have the choice - cheap but simple Mi-28N for attack or expensive and sophisticated Ka-50/52 for attack/reconnainsance and helicotper/CAS killer role.

Originally Posted by Garry

Yes but Appache carries less weapon load, has slightly less speed, slightly lower cieling, slightly lower range and much lower maneuvrability. In addition to it its radar has less range and capabilities. I am not sure here but Hellfire missiles probably have less range than ataka-9. It does not have system which allows flying full speed only few meters above the ground with automatic terrain scanning. Lastly it does not support ejecting for its crew..... and slightly less armor plating.

its strong arguments would be - battle proven + requres less training for pilots due to simplier one rotor system and availability of two pilots.

In battle, Appache was designed to fight ground targets while Black Shark was assumed to protect tank colunms from attack helicopters and CAS..... its radar is made to detect and track air targets and shoot R-27M missiles. Adding there VERY high maneuvrability, which allows it to turn 180 in just 2 seconds on full speed it is made to kill helicopters and slow CAS.

There are week sides of Black Shark
1) Complicated usage requires long period of training for pilot
2) sophisticated co-axial system means higher volume of maintenance hours....
3) it is not open architecture for using weapons and radar.....
4) co-axial system means that you can not dip down on high speed and autorotation mode like aircraft does.... it may lead to overlapping of blades and death of a pilot.
5) Black Shark price will probably be higher than Longbow......

ps. Higher weapon load means that Black Shark may destroy a bit larger town than Longbow......

Originally Posted by indianguy4u

Originally Posted by Endangered

Alright I understood; will try to be restricted; I hardly talk here; In fact I just dun like to talk or shoot my opinion; coz it might be hard for some guys out here to accept or digest; oops here I go as a cool guy

Originally Posted by Endangered

I understood and happy to see the way you guiding me; be around and watch Indian military updates it’s all my pleasure to update and no more dialogs from me in short distance