BOM spotters were on standby for the past 30 mins, then she changed course
![Evil or Very Mad :evil:](./images/smilies/icon_evil.gif)
![Evil or Very Mad :evil:](./images/smilies/icon_evil.gif)
![Evil or Very Mad :evil:](./images/smilies/icon_evil.gif)
Only issue is the "firm" quantity required is too small: 56 planes. The IAF needs to combine the replacement of both 56 x HS-748s and 105 x An-32s into that order. Plus, the IN could also standardise on 24 x Medium MPA fleet on this new type. Apart from the services, national civilian carriers could also add to the tally. I would think at the minimum there should be a "potential" 200 units order (w/ 60 firm order) for it to be viable for a lead private sector involvement.
The military helicopter that made an emergency landing at 24 Area Stadium in Yellendu of Khammam district on Thursday.– PHOTO: G.N. RAO
A military helicopter equipped with modern gadgets including electronic security systems, made an emergency landing at 24 Area Stadium in Yellendu town on Thursday after it developed a technical glitch.
Sources said that the HAL-designed chopper (J4064) hovered above the coal town for quite some time before landing at the stadium around noon. The chopper, carrying three personnel of the Indian armed forces, was on its way to Hyderabad from Visakhapatnam. The chopper crew alerted their higher ups in Hyderabad who in turn requisitioned the services of technicians from HAL, Bangalore. Meanwhile, police officials rushed to the spot and made security arrangements at the stadium.
We meed to keep in mind that there are two programmes in the transport aircraft dommain. One is this HS-748 replacement to be made by the Private sector and the other is the HAL MTA. The 100+ AN-32s that you have added to the light transporter tally are in fact to be replaced by the HAL MTA. And we are projected to buy only 40 of these(the claim that the Russians are going to buy another 100 is a load of bull and thankfully HAL is now admitting that). Fact of the matter is that neither programme have enough numbers to become sustainable. The best thing to do would be to just choose one and try to maximize our gains form it.srai wrote:Only issue is the "firm" quantity required is too small: 56 planes. The IAF needs to combine the replacement of both 56 x HS-748s and 105 x An-32s into that order. Plus, the IN could also standardise on 24 x Medium MPA fleet on this new type. Apart from the services, national civilian carriers could also add to the tally. I would think at the minimum there should be a "potential" 200 units order (w/ 60 firm order) for it to be viable for a lead private sector involvement.
Geat news about IOC. Hope it has good range and/or drop tanks to increase range too.mody wrote:The engine is AL55I.
If HAL can really manage the IOC for IJT, within the next 3-4 months, it will significantly improve their case for the HTT-40 development.
Even IAF will be forced to go along and abandon its push for additional 100 plus Pilatus, if IJT sitara gets the IOC shortly.
If it happens as is being projected by HAL, it will surely be great news for Indian aviation Industry.
I was referring to the load carrying capacity of an AN-32. I remembered 3.5 tonnes as the number but Google tells me its that maximum payload is 6.7 tonnnes (http://www.antonov.com/aircraft/transpo ... erformance).Rahul M wrote:err rohit, the an-32 has a max T/O wt of 27 tons.my one big gripe with the MTA is that it wont be able to carry any modern ICV, which would all weigh on the 20-25 t bracket.
This ignores India's massive regional transport market over the next 20-30 years. It also ignores the fact that both the An-32 and Avro were originally civilian passenger aircraft. While the military requirements could actually grow to 200 or more if one counts the expanding needs of our air force, navy, army, RR, BSF, CRPF, CG, NSG, RAW etc, this will be dwarfed by our needs in the civil regional transport space which could be 4 or 5 times larger at least. We should ideally choose a single aircraft type that will be flexible enough to meet all these needs and can be produced in the hundreds in dozens of plants throughout India. We need something like the Airbus C295 or the Bae 146/Avro RJ series. The C-27 Spartan is purely a military aircraft with limited civil roles perhaps in the mountainous areas.mody wrote: Build 80-100 C-27J in India for replacing the An-32s and Avro's...
...This will complete the An-32 and Avro replacement. All the planes would also end up having the same engines.
I agree. However, the difference is the number of years of experience deploying those engines and watching them fail in myriad ways. That said, I am sure that GTRE has leapfrogged many generation of this learning by trial - better to learn from others mistakessrai wrote:I can understand your point of view if India was trying to start jet engine research now. At this point through the Kaveri engine, GTRE and associated labs have accumulated around 30 years of R&D experience on building a jet engine. This is not something to let go to waste.
Good. Now let's put it to use in parachuting road building equipment in the Himalayas.indranilroy wrote:Video of the 16-tonne heavy drop system (HDS) being air dropped from an IL-76 aircraft.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=510038499093480
Amazing sight. Reminds me of the Russians airdropping a complete tank with its crew insideindranilroy wrote:Video of the 16-tonne heavy drop system (HDS) being air dropped from an IL-76 aircraft.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=510038499093480
NEW DELHI: The ongoing diplomatic kerfuffle over the Devyani Khobragade episode is no hurdle as far defence deals with the US are concerned. India and the US have inked another mega contract, the $1.01 billion one for six additional C-130J "Super Hercules" aircraft, while some others are being finalized.
Defence ministry sources said the "letter of offer and acceptance" for the six new four-engine C-130Js, which will be delivered within three years, was signed on Friday under the US government's "foreign military sales" (FMS) programme.
IAF already has six C-130Js tactical airlift aircraft, ordered for $962 million in 2007, which are based at the Hindon airbase on the outskirts of Delhi. The six new C-130Js, also configured for "special operations" as the first six, will be based at Panagarh in West Bengal.
Panagarh will also house the headquarters of the new mountain strike corps, christened XVII Corps with a total of over 80,000 soldiers, being raised by the Army in a project worth around Rs 90,000 crore. This new corps will plug operational gaps along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) as well as give "some serious ground offensive capabilities" against China for the first time.
The rugged C-130J, as also the bigger C-17 Globemaster-III strategic airlift aircraft acquired from the US, can even land at a small forward airbase on a semi-prepared runway. Crucial to counter China's massive build-up of border infrastructure, this capability was amply demonstrated when IAF landed a C-130J on the Daulat Beg Oldi airstrip in eastern Ladakh, at an altitude of 16,614-feet just seven-km from the LAC, in August this year.
The US has already bagged deals close to $10 billion over the last decade in the lucrative Indian defence market. The other deals on the anvil are the ones for 22 Apache attack helicopters, 15 Chinook heavy-lift choppers, four P-8I maritime patrol aircraft and 145 M-777 ultra-light howitzers, together worth another $4 billion or so.
"The CNC (contract negotiation committee) for the Chinooks has completed its work, while the one for the Apaches is on the verge of finalization. The M-777 howitzers' contract was stuck on the offsets proposal but is now being sorted out," said a MoD source.
That's not all. The US is also in the contention for the over Rs 15,000 crore project to equip the 355 infantry battalions of the Indian Army with third-generation, shoulder-fired anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs).
After the US initially created roadblocks in the transfer of technology (ToT) for its "Javelin" ATGMs, India had turned to the Israeli "Spike" ATGMs for the project, which will involve an initial import of the tank-killing missiles followed by ToT to defence PSU Bharat Dynamics for indigenous manufacture.
But the A K Antony-led Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC) last month put on hold a decision on clearing the Israeli case after the US offered a joint project to manufacture the next-generation of ATGMs. "The MoD will consider both the American and Israeli projects now and choose the one which suits India better," said the source.
India finalizes agreement for GE 414 engine for indigenous Light Combat Aircraft
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DRDO Director General (and Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister) Dr VK Saraswat told India Strategic in an interview that the agreement with GE was signed recently, and that he expected the aircraft to be a success for both the IAF and Navy.
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It has taken nearly two years for the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which had selected the engine, to work out details like how and how much of the engine will be produced in India. A production contract is now being worked out between GE Aviation and HAL, which will manufacture them, in this regard.
Honeywell's F 125N engine was also selected recently to upgrade IAF's Jaguar aircraft, and a production arrangement is now being discussed. This engine will empower the aircraft to fly over high mountains, which at present, the Jaguars cannot do.
GE, which is already supplying its LM 2500 gas turbine engines for some newer Indian Navy ships, was given the necessary clearance by the US Government. It will supply an initial lot of 18 engines while the remaining will be progressively assembled/ made in India.
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Under the GE-ADA contract, GE is to supply the latest version of the 414 engine beginning 2014, with improved Full Authority Digital Electronic Control (FADEC), single Crystal blade design, single engine safety features, and other electronic advances. The basic engine design, as it is used now for instance on the US Navy’s F/A 18 E/F Super Hornets, would stay the same but as new innovations are developed and adopted, they would also be passed on to India.
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Details of the exact costs of ADA/HAL-GE arrangement is not known but an unconfirmed tender bid figure was mentioned at US$ 822 million.
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DRDO is also in discussions with Boeing to acquire an aircraft testing wind tunnel, talks for which are still going on, according to Dr Saraswat.
"The CNC (contract negotiation committee) for the Chinooks has completed its work, while the one for the Apaches is on the verge of finalization. The M-777 howitzers' contract was stuck on the offsets proposal but is now being sorted out," said a MoD source.
That's not all. The US is also in the contention for the over Rs 15,000 crore project to equip the 355 infantry battalions of the Indian Army with third-generation, shoulder-fired anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs).