Bharat Rakshak

I don't get it.Why start the disinvestment process just before HAL gets major orders like the MMRCA,LCH,PAK-FA ?
If the government delays this process till some of these orders are completed won't HAL be worth more and won't the government make more money ?

Q:Does HAL's net profit is returned to GoI?

It is only a 10% stake--GoI will still own 90%. But it is a light bulb moment, an admission that HAL needs an injection of outside expertise, specially in project management. Something IAF has been complaining about for years. There is a realization that if left alone, HAL will make a mess of the critical major projects on the burner, like Rafale, FGFA, LCA2 etc. A timely though still too timid move IMO but a turning point for Indian aviation industry. If things go well, GoI will have a minority stake in a decade or less.

if they start with 10%, it will take at least a generation (25-30 years) before the govt's stake falls anywhere close to 50%. minority stake is a long way away, let alone a decade. a decade is like a week when it comes to disinvestment.

It doesn't make a difference. Today you talk of more money due to MMRCA etc.. tomorrow it will be PAKFA, day after AMCA, after that something else. The point is, the "value" doesnt change, the price changes and is offset by inflation. The quicker disinvestment occurs, the better run HAL will become. Is giving 10 or 20% more money to the babus (who will probably pocket it anyway) more important than increasing efficiency and advancing technology through innovation?

Thanks for the explanation.You are probably right.

Why can't HAL be privatized? Is it some great surprise that a gov't owned company is not as well managed as its foreign privately owned competitors? Are there any gov't owned fighter manufacturers in the world ( other than communist China) ? The IAF is not satisfied with HAL's performance. So lets import foreign management practices but keep gov't ownership of HAl. Brilliant absolutely brilliant.

The small private ownership represents an outsize kick. There will no longer be any way to hide stuff under the carpet and the big bosses will be forced to answer questions and explain things. Even this small disinvestment is a major victory over the powerful entrenched bureaucracy and vested interests. IMO, it is still a long dark tunnel but now we can see a light at the end of it. My suspicion is that GoI was warned by Dassault who were appalled by what they must have seen at HAL. They would have talked directly to the lower-level engineers, not just the top guys, to gauge the overall level of competency and preparedness.

More than foreign, Indian private companies are now on the cutting edge of management practices and in the best position to catapult HAL into the international big leagues. But efficiency aside, just being answerable in a "perform or perish" environment is a powerful incentive to do your job or find someone who can. This is absent at HAL. The writing has been on the wall for a decade at least but nobody bothered because the easy money was flowing. The only party that has any say other than the useless babus and politicians is the IAF, the actual end user, and they have very low confidence in HAL. It was shocking and disheartening to see HAL crowing about getting a big license building opportunity from Dassault. Being the biggest arms importer is a matter of shame for a country like India, but the easy money is drying up and it is finally crunch time. The same story is being played out at other defense PSUs so let's see what happens.

What I don't understand is how long does one stick with the same method of operation when the desired results are not forthcoming? The current MIC in in India results not only in imports of nearly every non-strategic weapon system including propeller driven planes and assault rifles. If an arms embargo were placed on India tomorrow how long of a conventional war could it fight before having to decide between fission bombs and throwing stones? Now the useless MOD wants MDL and a foreign shipyard to build India's next tranche of subs. This despite several Indian private shipyards wanting to participate. L&T can fabricate the hull for the Arihant but not a conventional sub?

The chimps at MOD know if L&T competes on an equal footing with MDL, it will be the end of MDL. Aack thoo!

I am concerned at this analogy. be it 1 paisa or $1trillion.. scam is a scam. as said, the values (not monetary) are all that matters. increasing efficiency and advancing technology need not happen only by paying bribes to babooze.

If there are still new age youngsters in the old age shoes of bribing to get even a small share of freedom, then I am really concerned at our nation's future. It does not matter if HAL does it or Tata does it, under some other banner. The same shaming will continue to happen and grow into a giant monster.

We will ever be slaves to firangi technology as it is slowly becoming the case starting from GTRE's give up!

so the babu speak sense only lasted for few seconds/hours I guess. did they fire their strategic consultant? and back to being baboozed!

http://www.bharatrakshak.com/NEWS/newsr ... wsid=17324
The MMRCA saga is well known, and it has taken decade to finalize to Rafale. Now, that is all done with no priority at all!?

I am surprised at the budget balance speak as for the arrears collected over the years, the budget is all washed away.. this is the reason, every one keeps baying that we don't spend in time, lose it!

suddenly we have a new finance consultant throwing away the strategic consultant. when will this stupidity stop? only when public maturity at large becomes a stay.

Microwave Masters

http://www.frontline.in/stories/20120309290412000.htm

Defence major DCNS of France signs Rs 310-cr deal with SEC.

DCNS, the French defence major has signed a partnership sub-contract with SEC Industries for the manufacture of Scorpene submarine components. The deal is worth €50 million (approx Rs 310 crore). This is a significant win for the Hyderabad-based, private sector manufacturer of key defence components. In addition to executing the contract, SEC Industries will benefit from the transfer of technology from the French company.

DCNS, is one of Europe's leading shipbuilders. The over 350-year-old company, has bagged a huge contract from India to supply six Scorpene attack submarines, which are under construction at the Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL), Mumbai.

SEC Industries has upgraded its facilities near Hyderabad to meet the needs and standards of DCNS for the components and assemblies that it will manufacture for the naval submarine. The first batch of a dozen employees (total 40 employees) from the company is in France to get trained at the facilities of DCNS , said Mr D. Vidyasagar, Managing Director of SEC Industries.“We have to execute the contract in four years. We will gain in technology terms, infrastructure and trained manpower,” he told Business Line.

SEC Industries, which is over 50 years old, is also well equipped to take advantage of the defence offset clauses which provide big opportunities to Indian industry. It is already in partnership with IAI of Israel for manufacturing a number of products like shipping containers, ground data terminal trailers, refuelling carts, hook arresting systems etc.During the last two years, exports to Israel from the company have been over Rs 20 crore, said Mr Vidyasagar.

The company has signed agreements to make equipment for heavy duty launchers from Belarus and other defence products from Ukraine to tap the offset and defence export market, he added.

This is one cute (for the fear of offending Dr.) picture two guys on the lower left are playing peak-a-boo. third guy in the mittle is the refree.

Software guys will be thrilled to know to know that pair-prog concept is used bery bery effectively by hal.
from tarmak

^^^ wonder what those two guys with backpack and Jeans are doing in the Factory floor?

DRDO's NSTL seems to be on the verge of realizing multiple products. Fortunately for them, the Navy might deploy them quickly and place subsequent orders in larger numbers...

The above quote from Frontline article... multiple Torpedoes on the horizon apart from TAL.

See original article @ http://www.frontlineonnet.com/stories/20120323290509800.htm

Another Gem from TSS, again in the Frontline!!!

This time about the NPOL, Kochi... he calls them the "Eyes and Ears of the Indian Navy"
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/stories/20120323290510000.htm
A good read, very informative...

The link to this informative article given by Arnabh is probably wrong, here is the corrected URL
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2904/stories/20120309290412000.htm

Gene therapy for soldiers



Guess the "it can" could be read as "it can, down the lane, sometime in the far future". Sincerely hope otherwise.

Indian army tanks get 'All seeing eye'

certain excerpts

Does that mean this product is licensed from Israel, or that Israel has the Indian commercial version( that would be impressive-India transferring a technology to Israel)? Or are the two devices independent of one another?

It probably means that an Indian payload was asked to be incorporated in the aerostats procured from Israel and they agreed.

^^^ though the article does not mention that technology has been procured from israel, it mentions

So this could mean that this product has been sold to israel (hope this to be true), it could also be part of offset package from israel. i mean as part of offset package, israel may have bought this product(maybe a plain commercial transaction with no tech transfer).

Meanwhile
Nigerian navy delegation visits Goa Shipyard Ltd
Hopefully various private shipyards which were shown the door by government take cue and aggressively pitch for contracts especially across africa and build technology base.

NO! This simply means that Israel installed a commerical grade version which in BRF lingo would mean a Dumbed Down version. Either the Yehudi's didn't have clearance from their big brother to install this on air ballons or the mil grade was deemed too expensive (highly doubt that!) by India. Take your pick!

Looks like algorithms for video tracking are available publicly. The Condensation Algorithm. Leaf blowing in the wind looks pretty impressive. SDREs would lap up this shit up like curd rice and not even burp.

The most disgusting sentence I came across on BRF.

Thanks for the links though, I will be on them for sometime.

tata 8x8
What is the Air defense gun system shown here. I remember it to be a stationary AAA German system.
But that coupled with a Tata platform is something I have never heard of.

DRDO requests for more funds
Link

hoping against hope that tejas mk2/arjun mk2 dont get hit

Ordnance Factory to invest Rs 15,000 cr for modernisation.

Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) plans to invest Rs 15,000 crore towards modernisation of its factories in the next five years.

Ordnance Factories Board , which has a total of 41 factories including two newly-set units in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, expects a turnover of Rs 12,000 crore this fiscal, as compared with Rs 11,200 crore last year. Having invested Rs 1,600 crore to procure plant and machinery at its new units during the first four years of the Eleventh Plan period, The OFB would invest another Rs 500 crore this fiscal, Mr S.D. Dimri, Chairman, Ordnance Factories Board, said.

“We are planning a total investment of around Rs 15,000 crore for the modernisation of 41 factories as a part of the 12th Five Year Plan.
Demand has doubled (Defence sector) over the last two years,” Mr Dimri said.

is that tata thing the oerlikon skyshield? I guess rheinmetall owns oerlikon now
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Be0oKlgHeIc/T ... gun_01.jpg

one of the things I have been howling about for a decade+ now. essential to back up spyder in static defence , and to supplement protection for army units - our zsu and tunguska numbers are very low, this would be cheaper and less complex.

DRDO Young Scientist Award 2011 winners Listed with achievements.

AGNI 6 hmmm.. Tracking?

Dont they discuss allocations with heads of dept before presenting this budget?

Looks like gap if DRDO chief finds out what is his allocation from the press!