Bharat Rakshak

hopefully the TSPA would not wind up with most of these stuff for free

The IAF is inducting 139 Russian Mi-17 V-5 medium lift helicopters, for an estimated $2.4 billion. The workhorse Mi-17, which transports 26 soldiers in combat gear, or four tonnes of supplies to high altitude posts, has been in IAF service for decades, but the new-model V-5 is a vastly superior machine, with new engines, rotor blades and avionics. An IAF order for 80 Mi-17s is already being delivered, which is likely to be followed by an order for 59 more. Fifteen American CH-47 Chinook heavy lift helicopters will be bought to replace the IAF's Russian Mi-26 helicopters, of which just three to four remain serviceable. The Chinook, built by Boeing, has seen extensive combat, most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan. The IAF has evaluated the helicopter and is pleased with its avionics and power, which allows it to accurately deliver 50 fully-equipped soldiers, or a payload of 12.7 tons, on to the roof of a house or the edge of a cliff. The IAF has also completed trials for the purchase of 22 medium attack helicopters, and homed on to Boeing's AH-64 Apache.
Attack helicopters, which operate from close behind the forward troops, provide immediate fire support -- cannons, rockets and anti-tank missiles -- to soldiers that encounter the enemy, providing them a battle-winning advantage. The IAF and army have also placed a Rs 7,000-crore order for 159 Dhruv Mark III utility helicopters. These have been designed and built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, which builds 36 Dhruvs each year. There is an estimated need for more than 350 Dhruvs for the Army, IAF, coast guard and paramilitary forces. The Navy is buying an additional 50 light, twin-engine helicopters, most probably from AgustaWestland. The Dhruv does not meet its needs since its composite rotors cannot be folded up for stowing the helicopter in a warship's tight confines. In addition, the navy is procuring another 91 medium, multi-role helicopters to replace its vintage Sea King fleet, which flies from larger frigates and destroyers. A global tender is out for 16 helicopters, to which another 75 have been added. Riding on the Dhruv's success is HAL's Rudra, a heavily armed version of the Dhruv, which carries a cannon, rocket pods, anti-tank missiles and a full suite of electronic warfare equipment. The army and the air force will buy 76 Rudras.AL is also developing the Light Combat Helicopter, of which 179 are on order (IAF 65; army 114).
This 5.5-ton light armed helicopter features the Shakti engine, the Dhruv's dynamic components (main rotor, tail rotor, and the gearbox), and the weapons suite that is being developed on the Rudra. The LCH will be a high altitude virtuoso: taking off from Himalayan altitudes of 10,000 feet, firing guns and rockets up to 16,300 feet, and launching missiles at UAVs flying at over 21,000 feet. The military's other bulk requirement is for 384 light utility helicopters, or LUH's, to replace the army and IAF's obsolescent Cheetahs and Chetaks.
This has been divided into two streams: 197 LuHs are being bought off-the-shelf through a global tender; and 187 LuHs are being developed and built in India by HAL.

NEW DELHI – India's defense ministry has shortlisted a consortium of three private-sector companies for a 100 billion rupee ($1.8 billion) communication systems project for the armed forces, senior company executives said Thursday. The consortium of Larsen & Toubro Ltd., HCL Infosystems Ltd. and Tata Power Co. will compete with state-run Bharat Electronics Ltd. for the contract, said M.V. Kotwal, head of the heavy engineering division at Larsen. The move to shortlist private companies for a major defense contract indicates ...
The deal is a landmark one since it's the first time the private sector is being involved in the development of a strategically important system," Tata Power Managing Director Anil Sardana said. Mr. Sardana said that trials will be conducted to test the robustness of the system and that the entire process of developing the system and deciding on the vendor is likely to take 12-18 months. The Tata group company, one of India's biggest power generation companies, will participate in the project through its strategic electronics division. Mr. Sardana said the structure of the partnership between the three companies would be decided once there's clarity on which company would handle what specific part of the task. Larsen's Mr. Kotwal also said that the company is eyeing opportunities to become involved in other major strategic military projects, such as development of futuristic infantry combat vehicles.

At the beginning of this year Russia and India concluded the package of contracts to the tune of one billion dollars for the delivery of tanks and artillery shells, anti-tank missiles of various types and other ammunition for the Ground Troops
...
At the beginning of this year Russia and India concluded the package of contracts to the tune of one billion dollars for the delivery of tanks and artillery shells, anti-tank missiles of various types and other ammunition for the Ground Troop
...
For the provision with weapons of the current staff the Indian army lacked several thousands of anti-tank missiles of Russian types alone, and the available Indian capacities could not cover this deficit, the expert explained. Along with Russia India buys ammunition in European countries and Israel and concluded a very massive contract for the supplies of anti-tank missiles at the cost of more than one billion dollars with Israel last year, the expert said. He does not rule out that the purchases of such rapidly used weapons as ammunition will be continued by Indian military, particularly from Russian suppliers in the future.
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Given budgetary trends I have no doubt the Indian Army will get into a very cosy relationship with DRDO.

In fact it has already happened to an extent. Watch this space.

The IAF will go hammer and tongs on DRDO to get up to speed on propulsion. GATET will yield results.

The Indian Navy will continue to strengthen its cooperative relationship with the domestic &D establishment.

NAVY

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., was awarded June 29 a $145,090,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of 34 harpoon missile bodies; two encapsulated harpoon certification training vehicles; 41 tactical air launch all up rounds (AURs) for the governments of Saudi Arabia (20) and India (21); eight exercise AURs for the governments of Saudi Arabia (5) and India (3); four captive air training missiles (CATMs) for the government of India; three spare guidance control units for the governments of Saudi Arabia (1) and India (2); two SLAM-ER CATMs for the government of Korea; 68 shipping containers for the governments of Taiwan (36), Saudi Arabia (15), India (15), and Korea (2); and associated harpoon hardware for the U.S. Navy and the governments of Australia, Korea, Japan, Canada, Chile, Pakistan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. Work will be performed in St. Charles, Mo. (34.6 percent); St. Louis, Mo. (20 percent); McKinney, Texas (8.9 percent); Toledo, Ohio (5.5 percent); Lititz, Pa. (2.4 percent); Elkton, Md. (2.2 percent); and various locations in (13.8 percent) and outside the continental U.S. (12.6 percent). Work is expected to be completed in December 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-12-C-0103).

Oh my GOD, super duper bumber T-90 don't have APU when junk Arjun Has it ! It is evil BRF conspiracy. Let's cancel Arjun orders and give them to T-90s. Even if T-90s don't have ammo or barrels, we can throw few thousand crore more at it.

Aerospace and defence companies are increasingly choosing India for their overseas research and development investment - leaving China far behind.

And, according to research by consultancy PwC published on Tuesday for presentation later this week at a Farnborough air show industry leaders gathering, India is also closing the gap on China to become the second-leading country for manufacturing investment.

Of 54 R&D investments made by the top 50 aerospace and defence companies worldwide between 2000 and 2011, 12 projects went to India, seven to the USA, six to Russia, five to the UK and just four to China. Most of those Indian investments came during the past five years, indicating an accelerating interest in the country as what PwC global aerospace and defence leader Neil Hampson calls the partner of choice for "collaborative" R&D, which is likely to be followed by manufacturing partnerships.

Of 114 foreign manufacturing investments made during the same period, China claimed 23 - just three more than India. The US attracted 15 projects, and Mexico 10.

DCNS, a leading French firm in naval defence, is looking for tie-ups with Indian companies for production of equipment for Scorpene submarines, six of which will be delivered to the Indian Navy between the end of 2013 and 2018.

Disclosing this to The Hindu, its executive vice-president and Chief Operating Officer, Bernard Planchais, and Managing Director of DCNS India, the company’s Indian subsidiary, Bernard Busisson, said that around $75 million worth of equipment for the submarines would be produced indigenously by entering into partnerships with Indian companies.

The company had already entered into contracts with three Indian firms, including Hyderabad-based SEC.

They said more than 100 Indian companies were identified for prospective tie-ups. Following an evaluation, discussions were on with more than 30 firms. He said there were no offset clauses when the Scorpene deal was signed. But DCNS was committed towards manufacturing indigenous equipment by local companies through transfer of technology.

Describing “as very good” the progress made so far on the submarine project, Mr. Planchais said the pressure hulls of the six submarines would be ready by the end of 2012, and the first submarine would be launched by the end of 2013. The first submarine is expected to be commissioned into the Navy by 2015.

DCNS is also bidding for Indian Navy’s requirement for ‘LPD’ (Landing Platform Dock).

He said the company was making equipment for tapping ocean energy. The first prototype of a 16-meter wide turbine to produce tidal energy was ready. Each turbine would generate two MW of power. It was also building a prototype (one MW) for a floating wind turbine, which would be ready by the end of the year.

With the company keen to expand its footprint in India, Mr. Buisson hoped that the Indian government, in its 2012 Defence Procurement Policy, would allow foreign companies to fulfil offset obligations through non-military projects even when the main agreement is related to military projects.

Indian law requires that at least 30 percent of arms must be purchased from domestic suppliers. This allows the country not only to secure a share of the value-creation, but also to acquire more know-how.

Such a sentiment may sound like a desire to one day produce in India the products offered by foreign manufacturers. But it is a blessing for the German arms industry. German export laws impose requirements on arms exports that are viewed as restrictive when compared to those of other countries. As such, German arms companies have resorted to exploiting loopholes in the laws: They are only too happy to set up joint enterprises with companies in the target countries so that they can manufacture products there. Individual parts delivered to these countries are not subject to the same strict regulations that apply to finished products.

The company already supplies components for the "Dhruv," a helicopter capable of laying landmines

When it comes to arm purchases, India is already a global power

n air conditioning company based in India wants to add climate controls to Russian-made tanks sold to Middle East and African militaries.

Officials at Fedders Lloyd Corporation Ltd. say they have already supplied over two thousand military grade ruggedized air conditioning and heating systems for mine-protected vehicles and main battle tanks for the Indian Army, like the T-72M1 Ajeya, T-90S Bishman and the Arjun [TFPE DDM?]. The company is also in the process of supplying air conditioning and heating units for 150 armored ambulance vehicles – both tracked and wheeled versions — and mobile radar stations.

The challenges include the extremely hot and dusty conditions of the Indian deserts. One requirement of the power units for HVAC systems on tanks like the Russian T-90 or T-72 is that there still be power for the air conditioning as well as moving the gun and turret when the main engine is shut down, Sridharan said.

Mehta told your 4GWAR editor that most Russian equipment sold to India or African nations had only heating units. “The Russians never picked up expertise in air conditioning,” he added. Mehta said Fedders Lloyd has retrofit Russian equipment with air conditioning units for Bangladesh, and countries in the Middle East and southern Africa.

The defence ministry today cleared a proposal worth over Rs 12,000 crore to procure 56 transport aircraft for the Air Force to replace its fleet of vintage Avro planes. The first 16 aircraft will be procured off-the-shelf from foreign vendors who will have to partner with a local private or public sector firm, they said.
The next 16 aircraft will have to have 30 per cent indigenous component while the remaining 24 planes will have 60 per cent locally-procured and produced items.

Asked why the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was not be involved in the project, they said the PSU was already burdened with projects such as the SU-30MKI production and upgrades of IAF aircraft fleet including the Mirage, MiG 29 and Jaguar aircraft.

Forgings major Bharat Forge Ltd (BFL) has begun trial production of forgings in titanium and specialty steels for application in the aerospace industry.

“Products are being identified and we will begin trial production for some aircraft manufacturers,” he said, adding that this was being done at the existing facilities since the sector required heavy investments and approvals usually took two to five years.

India’s government-owned electronics giant, Bharat Electronics (BEL), will sign a joint venture with France’s Thales next week to manufacture air defense components, AIN has learned from a senior defense official. The venture is expected to start operations within 18 months.

BEL may then become part of the global supply chain for Thales. Under earlier license deals with the French company, BEL has built Thales LW04, DA08 and ZW06 naval radars. BEL will hold a 74-percent share in the joint venture and Thales the balance, because the Indian government does not allow direct foreign investment of more than 26 percent.

Thales will contribute its expertise in system engineering, integration and testing, along with some technology transfer. At a recent defense show in India, Thales demonstrated its capabilities in air defense solutions, force protection, missile systems and rocket systems, including a mobile ground C4I system for complete airspace surveillance out to 80 km (49 miles) and its mobile short-range air defense system. BEL has been a major player in the electronics field in India, with a history of manufacturing radars for the military.

Thales recently won a contract from India to upgrade 49 Mirage 2000s (two were lost recently) to bring them to the full Mirage 2000v5 Mk 2 standard. The deal includes an RDY-3 radar with greater air-to-air and air-to-ground capability, a new night-vision-compatible all-digital cockpit, and improved electronic warfare systems. While it is not yet clear whether the joint venture will manufacture components for the RDY-3, Thales is most likely to tap its offsets commitment with this venture.

India’s defense procurement process requires offsets of at least 30 percent, so it is likely the joint venture will also satisfy offsets associated with India’s selection of the Dassault Rafale for its medium multi-role combat aircraft requirement for 126 fighters. Thales is a major partner in the Rafale program.

Work on the Mirage upgrades will be performed by Dassault, manufacturer of the aircraft, along with Thales as weapons systems integrator, MBDA as missile supplier and India’s Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL). The first two Mirages will be refitted in France, the next two by HAL in India under French supervision and the remainder by HAL. Delivery of kits will stretch until 2018, the defense official said.

Interview with Vyacheslav Trubnikov, member of the governing board of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences

"I Believe that Russia’s Only Real Strategic Partner is India”