Indian Military Aviation

Bala Vignesh · Post by **Bala Vignesh** » 05 Mar 2010 22:52

Rahul M wrote:bala if so I must have missed it. do you have a link ?
TIA.

No sir i don't.. it was hearsay... sorry...

Craig Alpert · Post by **Craig Alpert** » 06 Mar 2010 01:20

$100 Mln Avionics Upgrade for Mi-17's Helicopters

The request for proposal (RFP) or tender, for the avionics upgrade of the Indian Air Force (IAF)'s Russian medium-lift twin-engine utility Mi-17 helicopters, has been issued to American Honeywell, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and the Russian State Export Agency. The 100 million dollar upgrade would primarily be a cockpit upgrade in the almost two-decade old choppers, where state of the art LCD screen, touch screen and other features would be installed in the cockpit, so as to reduce attention of the pilot from the cockpit.

Around 100 Mi-17 helicopters will be fitted with the new generation avionics. Since the engines would not be changed or upgraded, therefore life of the helicopter is not expected to increase, said a source.
The choppers are primarily used for troop insertion/extraction, casualty evacuation, logistic supply, search and rescue, reconnaissance and observation, in high altitude areas like Siachen Glacier and have also been part of UN missions abroad,

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 06 Mar 2010 01:24

sir kyun bhai ?

Bala Vignesh · Post by **Bala Vignesh** » 06 Mar 2010 23:05

Rahul M wrote:sir kyun bhai ?

Respecting seniority...

...

Jagan · Post by **Jagan** » 07 Mar 2010 05:17

Kedars pics from VayuShakti

what - no roundels?

More pics at Vayu Shakti 2010

VishalJ · Post by **VishalJ** » 07 Mar 2010 06:15

I was recently browsing photos on A.net & i came across this photo shot in May 2008 -

The frame is in primer so i just though that it may be going to IAF & hence i tried looking up other photos of it reg'n - c/n.

What i find surprising is that there are other photos of it shot as early as February 2007 - all in The UK, upon furthur researching about this airframe (Source: http://www.scramble.nl/milbase.htm) i discovered that it was delivered to IAF in October of 2009.

WTF ???

Can someone please explain the reason for that ?

Thanks - Vishal

Jagan · Post by **Jagan** » 07 Mar 2010 06:23

Vishal,

Thats the first IAF Hawk A3480 - and there was a report that it was retained to do some instrumentation testing and was delivered quite late - infact probably the last of the British built Hawks to be inducted

Bala Vignesh · Post by **Bala Vignesh** » 07 Mar 2010 14:04

Jagan Garu,
The link given for the vayu shakti gallery is throwing up an database error...

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 07 Mar 2010 14:42

Are the pics posted above available in higher resolution?....These ones don't cover the screen of my laptop completely

Kakarat · Post by **Kakarat** » 07 Mar 2010 14:49

And can the BR watermark be moved to some corner like Kedars

Kersi D · Post by **Kersi D** » 07 Mar 2010 16:11

Rahul M wrote:kersi saar, the MOFTU and OCU still have them IIRC.

Not aware. But the -21FL etc are not in frontline service, to the best of my knowledge.

K

sumshyam · Post by **sumshyam** » 07 Mar 2010 18:20

Hal's 10.5 mil $ claim for jet trainer rejected

The increasing acrimony over India's troubled acquisition of the Hawk advanced jet trainer (AJT) has come to a head with BAE Systems summarily rejecting license-build partner HAL's $10.5-million claim for various slippages encountered during the early part of the ongoing licensed production programme. Following a report about the said claim in a newspaper, I asked BAE's India spokesman about the status of the claim. He replied, "This claim was rejected as we believe that the requirements of the contract had been met. In the limited number of cases where delivered items needed rework, this was done in accordance with the contractual provisions."

HAL first made the claim in June 2009. After attempting to get HAL to withdraw the claim and continue with the license build, BAE has finally officially refused to compensate HAL for various glitches in the license build contract that had cost implications for the latter. The BAE spokesperson further said, "HAL is now in an advanced stage of series production of the world's most successful advanced jet trainer that is revolutionising the training provided to the IAF's frontline fighter pilots. We believe the parties should focus on continuing this success story."

Gaur · Post by **Gaur** » 07 Mar 2010 19:12

rohitvats wrote:Are the pics posted above available in higher resolution?....These ones don't cover the screen of my laptop completely

Considering the distance at which they were taken, I am pretty amazed at the present resolution itself. Kedar must have a pretty good camera.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 07 Mar 2010 20:22

rohitvats wrote:Are the pics posted above available in higher resolution?....These ones don't cover the screen of my laptop completely

He has deliberately reduced the resolution, and you might get a high res pic if you contact him

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 07 Mar 2010 20:38

Kersi D wrote:
Rahul M wrote:kersi saar, the MOFTU and OCU still have them IIRC.
Not aware. But the -21FL etc are not in frontline service, to the best of my knowledge.

K

yep. even OCU has been number plated, someone here wrote.

Bala Vignesh · Post by **Bala Vignesh** » 07 Mar 2010 21:00

^^^It was Jagan Sir...
And i probably confused OCU with MOFTU...

Aditya G · Post by **Aditya G** » 08 Mar 2010 03:01

Dhruv's cousin Uh-72 aka EC 145 aka BK 117 has become a hit with the US Army:

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-d ... field.html

...The US Army received its 100th UH-72 Lakota yesterday with an atypically lavish delivery ceremony. ....

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 08 Mar 2010 03:34

nice Aditya

good reminder of how good a pedigree Dhruv has

and the UH 72 has a Indian name to boot

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 08 Mar 2010 04:40

Suryaji - all unkil's choppers have had native american/first nations names and assume will continue to do so for some time (there are around 450 tribes still recognised i think)

Jagan · Post by **Jagan** » 08 Mar 2010 05:31

Lalmohan wrote:Suryaji - all unkil's choppers have had native american/first nations names and assume will continue to do so for some time (there are around 450 tribes still recognised i think)

I suspect Surya is referring to Indian-INdian rather than Native-American-INdian when he mentioned the name.. Lakota sounds like some gaali a north indian or a telanganite would come up with..

In telugu - the word Dakota is used freely to describe - Old - RAmshackle - Useless.. I am assuming it comes from the Dakota aircraft.. maybe there is some other explanation...

Jagan · Post by **Jagan** » 08 Mar 2010 06:23

nukavarapu wrote:
Jagan wrote:In telugu - the word Dakota is used freely to describe - Old - RAmshackle - Useless.. I am assuming it comes from the Dakota aircraft.. maybe there is some other explanation...
Interesting, I never heard the word "Dakota" all my life
Maybe the effects of growing up outside AP .

or maybe it was a hyderabadi slang / thing.. heard the word dakota used along with car, house etc .. in a way its equivalent of 'chettha'

Kartik · Post by **Kartik** » 08 Mar 2010 06:45

seriously superb pics by Kedar Karmarkar..great to see these pics from Vayu Shakti 2010.

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 08 Mar 2010 06:56

Pics are orgasmic onlee.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 08 Mar 2010 07:17

Jagan wrote:Kedars pics from VayuShakti

Vat munition is this?

ooops

just saw the heading of the photo - it's the Betab

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 08 Mar 2010 07:24

Jagan wrote:Kedars pics from VayuShakti

More pics at Vayu Shakti 2010

A brilliant collection! Well done Kedar!

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 08 Mar 2010 11:08

shiv wrote: ooops just saw the heading of the photo - it's the Betab

Ya...betab to open a couple of new ones to PAF...

andy B · Post by **andy B** » 08 Mar 2010 11:56

Kedar amazing pics boss great work indeed.

I have a minor nitpick in title of one of the pics

The one below says that the explosion is the result of the delayed fuse of the Betabs digging in before exploding.

I always thought that munitions like the Betab and Durandal would never have a major kaboom explosion but more so a smallish puff as it digs into the concrete and explodes unleasing its energy underneath and spreading cracks in the concrete which would form craters.

The explosion below resembles a lot more to a HE explosive or even a fuel air burst

http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/media/VS2 ... 3.jpg.html

Bala Vignesh · Post by **Bala Vignesh** » 08 Mar 2010 20:18

Aditya G wrote:Dhruv's cousin Uh-72 aka EC 145 aka BK 117 has become a hit with the US Army:

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-d ... field.html

...The US Army received its 100th UH-72 Lakota yesterday with an atypically lavish delivery ceremony. ....

Looked up the UH-72.. But no where is it mentioned that its related to the Dhruv...

Shameek · Post by **Shameek** » 08 Mar 2010 20:28

andy B wrote:I always thought that munitions like the Betab and Durandal would never have a major kaboom explosion but more so a smallish puff as it digs into the concrete and explodes unleasing its energy underneath and spreading cracks in the concrete which would form craters.
The explosion below resembles a lot more to a HE explosive or even a fuel air burst <snip>

Hazarding a guess here. It is possible that for the exercise they did not actually have a concrete structure like a runway. So the Betabs just penetrated soft ground/sand and then blew up causing that big dust cloud.

jamwal · Post by **jamwal** » 08 Mar 2010 20:39

When is LCH coming ? It's been a long time

Nayak · Post by **Nayak** » 08 Mar 2010 22:54

Courtesy vayu

manjgu · Post by **manjgu** » 08 Mar 2010 23:09

andy b .. you have to remember that there was no concrete to penetrate... its on the firing range my boy...the rockets penetrated sand and only sand/dust billowed out.. this smoke/explosion is indeed from the runway cratering munitions.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 08 Mar 2010 23:25

Bala Vignesh wrote:
Looked up the UH-72.. But no where is it mentioned that its related to the Dhruv...

Shhh. Dhruv is adopted.

Bala Vignesh · Post by **Bala Vignesh** » 08 Mar 2010 23:28

chetak wrote:
Bala Vignesh wrote:
Looked up the UH-72.. But no where is it mentioned that its related to the Dhruv...
Shhh. Dhruv is adopted.

.. On a serious note, could someone please enlighten me as to how EC145 and Dhruv are related? I mean they appear to be nearly the same design but i remember a German Anti tank chopper with the same principle design back in the late 90's and early 00's..

Added later- I just assumed that the Dhruv and that german helicopter had used an advanced design concept or something...

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 08 Mar 2010 23:57

Bala Vignesh wrote:
chetak wrote:
Shhh. Dhruv is adopted.
.. On a serious note, could someone please enlighten me as to how EC145 and Dhruv are related? I mean they appear to be nearly the same design but i remember a German Anti tank chopper with the same principle design back in the late 90's and early 200's..

Bala Vignesh ji,

The Dhruv is basically of MBB design. The german design team was resident in HAL helicopter division and most of the work was done there. The genes of other MBB designs can be found in the Dhruv because the smart germans did not reinvent all the wheels.

People may or may not want to acknowledge it now.

A majority of the Dhruv problems stem from the fact that an over confident and cocky RWRDC ( in whatever form and function it existed earlier) took over ( snatched!! ) the uncompleted MBB project and made a dogs breakfast out of it. Politely put, Glory was sought but glory was not found.

A lot of dented halos and broken angels wings was to be found lying around in those days.

Bala Vignesh · Post by **Bala Vignesh** » 09 Mar 2010 00:01

Chetakji,
Thanks for the Info... Never knew this part of Dhruv's history...

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 09 Mar 2010 00:01

this was dhruv's long-lost brother. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MBB/Kawasaki_BK_117
dhruv's lineage is clearly from this one although it is larger in all aspects.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 09 Mar 2010 00:14

Bala Vignesh wrote:Chetakji,
Thanks for the Info... Never knew this part of Dhruv's history...

They keep it very quiet saar.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 09 Mar 2010 00:16

Rahul M wrote:this was dhruv's long-lost brother. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MBB/Kawasaki_BK_117
dhruv's lineage is clearly from this one although it is larger in all aspects.

I was part of a small team that did preliminary evaluation of the BK 117 for the Indian Coast Guard. Very nice machine.

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 09 Mar 2010 07:12

Sikorsky bullish on India, eyes $500-m orders]