Bharat Rakshak

Hobbes

Excellent article from Saurav Jha in Swarajya: How To Neck The Necklace Key excerpts: While the Gulf of Aden operations may have crystallized the Chinese leadership’s thinking in favour of obtaining permanent basing rights to sustain a maritime presence near vital sea lines of communication, China i...

Hobbes

Newb question on GT vs. nuclear propulsion: The LM-2500 G4 is reported to have a shaft power output of ~36 MW. The Vikrant class uses four GTs for a net shaft power of ~144 MW. The Arihant's reactor is rated for 83 MWt. Assuming a steam turbine efficiency of 35%, this translates to a shaft power ava...

Hobbes

Interestingly, Wikipedia says the Vikrant is the first of two such carriers: The Vikrant class (Sanskrit: विक्रान्त) (formerly Project 71 Air Defence Ship (ADS) or Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC)) is a class of two aircraft carriers being built for the Indian Navy. The two vessels are the largest ...

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Conspiracy theory from Bharat Karnad, for what it's worth: Is the Naval air force better, more nationalistic than IAF? Highlights: There are curious goings-on in IAF when it comes to its dealing with indigenous and Russian aircraft. Is the Indian Air Force so institutionally set against the Tejas ai...

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While we're expending a lot of effort in discussing the FOC, which is delayed for reasons beyond the DRDO's (current) control, the actual area of concern lies elsewhere. HAL has been contracted to deliver the first 20 units to the IOC-2 standard, which is something that has already been achieved. Ou...

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tsarkar, in what way was R77 disappointing ? This article by Carlo Kopp sheds some light on the issue: .... The most recently exported missile in the Asia-Pacific region is the Vympel R-77 RVV-AE (AA-12 Adder), the "AMRAAM-ski". This missile, with unique lattice controls, is a modern BVR ...

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Forget the AVs,at least we have relatively healthy numbers,but the IA hasn't even decided upon which infantry weapon it's going to need for the future. The IA also gets the biggest chunk of the def. budget,but is the money being spent judiciously? We have an army of 1.25 million that has enough amm...

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Latest update on LCA from Saurav Jha: * The four things Holding up Tejas Mk-1 FOC are : Derby trials. Python trials. IFR and the new radome. Looks like the gun firing tests are over. I thought the Python was a potential replacement for the R-73, which has already been tested on the Tejas. Do they wa...

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^Exactly what is going to happen. What I would give to see the scene when the retarded old fools in the DGMF have to explain their nonsense in financial terms. the answer I hope Modi and his national security team take a hard look at the corrupt dealings of these traitors in the army and deal with ...

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Saurav Jha has some updates on Twitter: * Not an inch should be yielded in FGFA negotiations. * After what has happened with Armata the Russians know that they don't have much bargaining room on the PAK-FA/FGFA. * The FGFA is a game changer in Asia. It will allow India to establish air superiority r...

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looks like uttam has a long way to go if 1.5 is going to use EL2052 radar. the israelis will smell a good opportunity to supply EL2052 for Mk2 also once they have the foot in door and try to overwhelm the 1.0 Uttam with features since they have a 10 year head start + access to US parts cots I think...

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Ajai Shukla's contribution to the debate: Squandering away the Myanmar advantage He's using his pulpit for some self-aggrandizement, as in In 1986, as the intelligence officer of an army brigade in Nagaland, I oversaw the first Indian army patrol that went into Myanmar. With clearance from Yangon, w...

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Some interesting takeaways from the tender document: 1. The bidder needs to be registered as a manufacturing/ development organization for aero engine components/ assemblies. 2. Prior certification with CEMILAC, DGAQA and MSQA required (does not specify and/ or though) 3. Partners to produce annual ...

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Considering the glacial speed of events in the DGMF, it is entirely possible that the document was created several months ago in a pre-Armata time, and hastily modified to accommodate the Armata style multiple product-single chassis concept, hence the "medium tank".

JMT...

Hobbes

seriously, we can consult for the problems of LCA given such expertise on the forum. let us put a BRF team (UB saab, vina, ramana and shiv ji), and get a public driven management council on this project. ultimately, we also need proxy and resident consultant (vina?) in bengaluru who can directly co...

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There are missile & UAV components (particularly engines) that would become available, not just from the US but also UK & France. Our domestic UAVs & missile systems will get export access to foreign markets with the opportunity of carving out their own cost competitive niche. Would thi...

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Some confusion here. ^^^^^ ₹15,000-cr gun deal in L&T, Kalyani crosshairs. <snip> The Pune-based KSSL is participating in three (of four) artillery gun programmes announced by the Indian government in partnership with Elbit, and is also currently making two guns entirely on its own. At Mundhwa n...

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^^^^ That is a spot-on analysis. This is what has been bedeviling the Arjun as well as the LCA. I'm optimistic about the Forces changing their points of view and working to bridge the user/ builder gap, considering the positive changes we've been seeing in their attitude towards radars, the AE&W...

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GD-> Vikky was not designed and built as an Aircraft carrier in the 80's. It was a missile carrier which could carry a few STVOl aircraft. There was major structural work to convert it to Aircraft carrier from 2004-14. It is a clear misfit it was the best of the bad choices we had. the only plus po...

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Aaaand, here it is, ladies and gentlemen; the Saab "Make in India" offer for the Grippen, for whatever it is worth:

http://www.stratpost.com/saab-offers-ma ... ipen-video

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HAL should never re-invent or get into R&D. They should rather r&d on "product and production engineering" concurrent engineering etc. and feed back into product/production life-cycles. If they do have some capabilities on r&d, then it is time to merge those projects into DRDO...

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..... IA seems very comfortable having tech parity and 1:1 ratio with the Pakis wrt tanks and IFVs..since china has closed the tank/ifv/atgm gap with russia Unable to get your meaning, saar. What does India's parity and comfort level in armour against TSP have to do with China's closing the armour ...

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Now while the Tejas Mk-I does boast many frontline technologies, its aerodynamic performance unfortunately cannot meet the 1995 ASR in its entirety. Truth be told the ASR agreed upon by ADA at the time would in any event have been difficult for the Mk-I to achieve in its current state with or witho...

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The IA will gladly extend & widen the rail carts that the Armata will be transported on, but could not do the same for the Arjun. Anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Not to mention strengthening the bridges and transport network and all the other things they said they couldn't do f...

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... If it is unhappy with just 36 Rafales,then it must tell the GOI to cancel this deal and use the $7B to buy larger numbers of more affordable aircraft,options for the same price,72 MKIs,120 MIG-29UGs,and increase the number of LCAs. And of course, it is important to parrot the party line with ju...

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...... Reg. the Rafale,and IAF unhappiness,it's part of the IAF's own making. Theyw ere lukewarm to the LCA and had good reasons for doing so,one must admit What good reason? Sure, you can term the current issues with HAL's production capabilities (or lack thereof) a reason, but the IAF was at its ...

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Spinster was commenting that all these versions being peddled are the same Gerald Bull GC-45 (Gun Canada-45 calibers) gun variants. Re M-777 I can understand titanium forging requires extra heavy duty presses (>25,000 tonnes force). However machining and the associated recoil systems are well withi...

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Haah. Finally something to warm the cockles of my heart. Just got off watching Karan Thapar's program with him interviewing former Air Chief Marshals Fali Major and PV Naik. ............... I watched the video on YouTube last night. P V Naik actually came out very reasonable. He explicitly stated t...

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^ Single engine approaches for a carrier landing even for F-4 and F-18 is highly risky, can't say about Hornet but F-4 was never certified and even instructs against single engine landing. The F-4 was retired 20 years ago, while the Mig-29K is a current type. Technology and engines have advanced si...

Hobbes

Any chance the radar for the LCA-1P could be the Uttam, given that it is nearing testing, and the report of the Elta radar is the usual DDMitis?

Hobbes

The 2033 time frame datum is from a USN website. How reliable is it, and what are the chances that the Vishal will actually come in significantly earlier, say around 2025?

Hobbes

Bit of a left-handed compliment by him here, though: Asked whether he was satisfied with the Tejas' performance, the defence minister replied he was "satisfied to a certain level". Now, what does that mean, and what are the causes of his dissatisfaction beyond that "certain level"...

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Poona Horse was equipped with T-55s during the Battle of Basantar in 1971. That said, while famous for 2nd Lt. Khetarpal heroic last stand, for sheer scale it is far overshadowed by Asal Uttar, 1965 where the PA's elite armoured division was ripped open by the IA's Centurions & Shermans playing...

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The Indian space agency is set to test its sophisticated, indigenously-built, multi-object tracking radar (MOTR) on a rocket flight next month while formal commissioning is expected to take three months time, said a senior official. Is there any cross-pollination or cooperation between the radar se...

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From what I see on the Sun Group website, they are ...a leading principal investor and private equity fund manager in Russia, India and other emerging and transforming markets. The founding shareholders of SUN are part of an Indian family group that has been active in India for more than 100 years a...

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Oh, one thing that seems to have been overlooked in Vivek Raghuvanshi's troll at http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/land/vehicles/2015/05/07/india-tank-fleet-grounded-arjun-army-imported-components-drdo/70963382/: The Indian Army was forced to buy the 124 Arjuns by DRDO so that the Avadi facto...

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The Atlantic Council's take on the Armata: http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/russia-s-new-super-tank#.VU9VGOJD78c.twitter Key extract: Unlike the T-90 and T-72B3, the Armata's design and capabilities mirror the threats it is intended to face. The Armata incorporates modern principles o...

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<Tinfoil Hat On>
Pointless speculation...I wonder what the relationship is between Gopalaswamy and Matheshwaran, given the remarkable synchronization between their thoughts, almost like they're part of the same chorus line.
<Tinfoil Hat Off>

Hobbes

Saurav Jha tweets about the Pinaka II being tested at Balsore. He confirms a range of 60 km. Tweet at https://twitter.com/SJha1618/status/594053028438638592 . Saurav Jha ‏@SJha1618 20h20 hours ago New Delhi, Delhi ARDE's Pinaka MK-II rocket being tested at Balasore. Has a max range of just over 60 k...

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:rotfl: Vayu-2/15.LCA feature by AM Matheswaran.Traces the evolution of it from HF-24/Gnat era. Fundamental mistakes in concept,a light aircraft that brings with it performance v.similar to the aircraft it is replacing ,MIG-21,with no great capability increase to meet current and future needs. Mk-1...

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