Endangered

Tejas Makes Successful First Flight With Stores

Tejas Prototype Vehicle (PV-1) made a successful first flight with two 800 Ltr drop tanks slung under the wing stations. The flight is significant on several counts. This is the first time Tejas carried any stores other than the Air-to-air missiles which are part of its operational clean configuration. The flight also proved the functionalities of the on-board Stores Management System (SMS) as well as the Control Law (CLAW) of the Integrated Digital Fly-by-wire Control System in the ‘Heavy stores’ mode. Accordingly, today’s flight achieved a significant milestone for the programme, taking it closer to operational clearance for induction into service.

Tejas PV1 was flown by the National Flight Test Centre Test Pilot, Wg Cdr N Tiwari and the Test Director for flight was Wg Cdr M Prabhu. A Jaguar trainer aircraft of ASTE Air Force flown by Wg Cdr RR Tyagi and Sqn Ldr Sangwan was used as chase for this landmark flight.

The flight lasted for about 45 minutes during which the mobile telemetry developed by the National Flight Test Centre for out station flight trials was also checked out.

URI

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jaguar

looks sexy with that paint job

Endangered

Delivery of British Hawks likely by this month: IAF

Bangalore, Sept. 8 (PTI): The first of the 66 advanced fighter jets that India buys from the UK is likely to be delivered within this month, the Air Force chief said Friday.

Air Chief Marshal, F H Major, said the country would start receiving the jet trainers by the end of this month or first week of October. India had placed the order in 2003 at a cost of US$ 1.3 billion.

"India is currently in the process of a comprehensive capability building exercise...military aviation is in the process of a major transformation. You will not recognise the IAF five years down-the-line," he said while delivering a lecture on "Strategic aerospace power: technological and maintenance challenges" on the occasion of NAL (National Aerospace Laboratories) foundation day.

"IAF is now making a serious attempt to reduce its complex, multiple inventories. We want lesser types so that it's easier to maintain," he said.

Under the proposed MRCA (multi-role combat aircraft) deal, India would purchase 126 more fighters. This would throw up a "golden opportunity" for Indian aerospace industry to flourish like never before as it offered Rs 22,000 crore as offsets - 50 per cent to the approximate project cost of Rs 45,000 crore.

URI

Endangered

USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) transits in formation for a joint photo exercise during exercise Malabar 07-2.

070905-N-6106R-352 BAY OF BENGAL (Sept. 5, 2007) - USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) transits in formation for a joint photo exercise during exercise Malabar 07-2. Kitty Hawk Carrier Strike Group is taking part in exercise Malabar 07-2, a multinational exercise that includes naval forces from India, Australia, Japan, Singapore, and the United States. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Stephen W. Rowe

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Shipwreck

Govt appoints independent monitors to vet major defence deals

The Times of India
10 Sep 2007, 1659 hrs IST,PTI

NEW DELHI: Independent monitors have been appointed to vet all major defence deals of value exceeding more than Rs 100 crore, Defence Minister A K Antony informed Lok Sabha on Monday.

He said three independent monitors had been appointed after consultations with the Central Vigilance Commissioner as required under provisions of the pre-contract integrity pact, which all defence suppliers have to sign with the government.

In a written reply, the Minister said the three monitors appointed so far are T R Prasad, former Cabinet Secretary, P C Rawal, former Secretary to the Government of India, and Hemendra Kumar, former Special Secretary to the Government.

The Defence Minister told the House that the Government had finalised 28 cases pertaining to contracts for purchases made during Kargil war on which action would be launched.

He said these cases had been made out after being pointed out by the Comptroller and Auditor General in its report submitted in 2001.

The Minister said out of the cases referred to the CBI for scrutiny of Kargil war purchases, the agency had registered two regular cases.

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Shipwreck

BAE, Indian Firm To Upgrade Anti-Aircraft Guns

Posted 09/11/07 12:20
By Vivek Raghuvanshi, NEW DELHI, DefenseNews.com

Bae Systems SWS of Sweden and India’s state-owned Ordnance Factories Board (OFB) will start a development project to upgrade L-70 anti-aircraft guns.

No formal order has been given either to Bae or the OFB to upgrade the guns, and last year, the Indian Army rejected a prototype of an upgraded gun developed by the OFB and Bharat Electronics.

A senior OFB official said they would develop another prototype of the L-70 upgraded anti-aircraft gun and hope to win a Defence Ministry order. The Army has about 2,000 L-70 guns bought in the 1960s. Initially, the Indian Army only wanted to upgrade 800 guns and buy new guns overseas to replace the rest.

The guns were made in Sweden in the late 1960s and upgraded in 1995 with a Bharat digital fire-control system. Their rate of fire has been increased from 240 to 300 rounds per minute by state-owned defense research laboratories under the Defence Research and Development Organisation.

The mechanical subsystem is being developed by the ordnance factories, and the final integration is to be carried out by the gun carriage factory at Jabalpur.

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Shipwreck

India’s Purchase of Anti-Air Missiles Faces Scrutiny

Posted 09/03/07 19:43
By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI, NEW DELHI
DefenseNews.com

The Indian Air Force’s planned purchase of 18 Spyder Low Level Quick Reaction Missiles (LLQRMs) from Israel’s Rafael Armament Development Authority may be in jeopardy.

Defence Ministry officials here have asked that the estimated $325 million procurement plan be reviewed by the Central Vigilance Commission, the government’s anti-corruption agency.

Ministry officials called this a routine step.

But other ministry sources said there had been complaints that defense agents illicitly influenced the bidding process, in which Rafael beat out MBDA, the European missile firm.

Ministry officials conceded that the decision to buy the Rafael missile might be voided and the competition held anew.

Rafael and MBDA emerged on the short list for the job earlier this year, part of a group of bidders from France, Israel, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Indian Air Force officials are changing their requirements, asking for 36 more missiles and adding that they should be auto-loaded into their launchers, unlike the current manually loaded Spyders.

The Air Force officials said Rafael might be given the contract if the Spyder can operate with an autoloader.

India began looking to foreign firms after its homegrown Trishul LLQRM was rejected by the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Begun in 1984 by India’s state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation, the missile failed to hit targets on the 9-kilometer range in more than two dozen tests over the last two years, an Air Force official said.

The missile is supposed to travel a speed of at least Mach 3; avoid countermeasures; and knock down aircraft, helicopters, UAVs and precision-guided munitions. If the missile misses, it is to re-engage within two seconds.

The LLQRMs will replace about 100 Russian OSA self-propelled anti-aircraft missile launchers. Simply replacing the OSAs would have cost about $200 million, Air Force officials said.

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jaguar

ISRO to set up Rs 1,600-cr satellite navigation system

HYDERABAD: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is developing a India-specific navigation system in the lines of the Global Positioning System (GPS) at an investment of Rs 1,600 crore.

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), comprising seven satellites, will be ready in 2011-12, ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said on Thursday.

The indigenously developed system will serve the country’s specific needs, providing infrastructure for generating data on position, navigation and timing. The data can also be used for various other applications such as agriculture, civil aviation and fisheries.

“We have already begun work on the system. It will be totally under our control. As part of the project, three satellites would be placed in the geo-synchronous transfer orbit while the remaining four would be in geo-stationary orbit,” Mr Nair said.

At present, the Global Positioning System is controlled by the US defence department. Russia is also in the process of restoring its own navigation system of 24 satellites, Glonass, by 2009. Besides, Europe is building a satellite navigation system, Galileo, consisting of 30 satellites, which would be ready in 2012-13 .

For next year’s Chandrayaan 1 mission, ISRO may co-operate with Japanese Aerospace Exploratory Agency (Jaxa). “Jaxa’s lunar mission will take off soon and we are looking at using their data for our lunar mission. In return, we have offered them the tracking facility,” Mr Nair said.

Chandrayaan 1, according to an agency report, will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on April 9, 2008. “We are looking for a launch on April 9,” project director Mylswamy Annadurai was quoted as saying by PTI. A launch windows are available for the next two days in case the launch does not happen on that day, Mr Annadurai told the media.

ISRO is also planning to launch a radar imaging satellite (Risat) in the second half of 2008. “Around Rs 250 crore is required for the Risat mission. It is envisaged to augment the operational remote sensing programme in the country mainly enhancing agriculture and disaster supportrelated applications,” Mr Nair said. It already has a joint venture with Jaxa for sharing and using available space data for disaster management in Asia. “We are currently building a database for the project ,” Mr Nair said.

ISRO collaborates with 26 countries for various missions and space applications. This includes $60-million project for African countries. These countries will make use of space technology for various applications.

China is also looking at collaborating with ISRO for building applications for agriculture and land management. It is also in talks with the Indian agency for using our training facility in Dehradun for space technology.

ISRO to set up Rs 1,600-cr satellite navigation system- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

henna

could a women be a weapon systems officer..?

pranabrulez

never heard of it..

sohamsri

Any updates on the kaveri engine ?

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Yusuf

India is looking for a newer more powerful engine. So that means the kaveri is getting nowhere.
That gets me to another point. The Kaveri engine was to replace the 404. Now if the 404 itself is not sufficient, then why go on developing the kaveri?