Indian Naval Aviation

[Cybaru]

P-8I makes more sense at those prices! It can also cover far more ground. Three to four C-295s equal one P-8I. This is twice as expensive as the P-8I. It probably makes sense at ₹800 - ₹1000 crore or so. Nothing more.

[Rakesh]

P-8I makes more sense at those prices! It can also cover far more ground. Three to four C-295s equal one P-8I. This is twice as expensive as the P-8I. It probably makes sense at ₹800 - ₹1000 crore or so. Nothing more.

Six more P-8Is are in the pipeline. At what stage in the acquisition process, I do not know.

[Kartik]

P-8I makes more sense at those prices! It can also cover far more ground. Three to four C-295s equal one P-8I. This is twice as expensive as the P-8I. It probably makes sense at ₹800 - ₹1000 crore or so. Nothing more.

Six more P-8Is are in the pipeline. At what stage in the acquisition process, I do not know.

It makes ample sense to order these P-8Is. Boeing is already making noises that with the bulk of the P-8 production for the US Navy done, the line will eventually go idle. Once that happens, the IN will only be able to order C-295 based MPAs.

[Manish_P]

We missed the bus with the C17. We should not repeat the mistake with the P8I.

It's really impressed in it's relatively short stint.

[srai]

Again India can design and build its own AEW&C and other specialized aircraft upgrades. So can it with MMRPA.

There are enough P8I inducted and on order to cover immediate needs.

Use the time provided to build its own.

[Rakesh]

MH-60R ‘Seahawks’ to be Commissioned into The Indian Navy as The INAS 334 Squadron
https://indiannavy.nic.in/content/mh-60 ... 4-squadron

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/Varun55484761/status/1763 ... 34444?s=20 ---> Six MH-60R multi-mission helicopters to be commissioned into the Indian Navy in March. MH-60Rs have commenced operation from various ships, including INS Vikrant, for fleet exercises and operations. They achieved their full combat capability in a short span and are integrated with the Indian Navy.

[Rakesh]

Upcoming Video...

Commissioning Ceremony of MH 60R Squadron - INAS 334 'Seahawks'

[Rakesh]

Upcoming Video...

Commissioning Ceremony of MH 60R Squadron - INAS 334 'Seahawks'

Full video has now been uploaded. Please scroll up to the original post to see it.

[Rakesh]

VIDEO: https://x.com/livefist/status/1765243156604301408?s=20 ---> India's Romeos get a new squadron INAS 334 today in Kochi.

VIDEO: https://x.com/indiannavy/status/1765361 ... 23590?s=20 ---> INAS 334 Seahawks. The first MH-60R squadron commissioned into the Indian Navy on 06 March 2024 at INS Garuda, Kochi.

[Rakesh]

Why do people feel the need to stand in front of platforms - while taking a picture - is a total mystery to me. No one is interested in seeing you. Move out of the way please! What would have been a wonderful picture, got ruined by the reporter standing in the way!

https://x.com/sidhant/status/1765353455567372444?s=20 ---> Travelled on board Indian Navy's aircraft carriers INS Vikramaditya & INS Vikrant and reached Minicoy, Lakshadweep for inauguration of Indian Navy's latest base, INS Jatayu this morning. Coming soon with the ground report & the force Indian Navy is. @WIONews

[Rakesh]

For once, Doordarshan did its job! Great set of photos.

https://x.com/DDNational/status/1765386 ... 69471?s=20 ---> Indian Navy's first MH-60R Squadron, INAS 334 'Seahawks,' was commissioned today at INS Garuda, Kochi, with Admiral R Hari Kumar present. Captain M Abhisheik Ram leads the squadron.

[NRao]

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/alpha_defense/status/1768 ... 57812?s=20 ---> Ministry of Defence signed a contract with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on 15 March 2024 for Mid Life Upgrade (MLU) of 25 Dornier aircraft along with associated equipment for the Indian Navy at a cost of ₹2,890 crore.

[Rakesh]

INAS 321 Angels celebrated its 55th raising day on 15 March 2024. She was raised on 15 March 1969.

https://x.com/IN_WesternFleet/status/17 ... 18092?s=20 ---> The Angels celebrate 55 years of excellence in the skies! Here's to many more years of soaring success and operations!

[Rakesh]

India's MH-60R Seahawk Choppers: A Game-Changer In Submarine Warfare | Battle Cry

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/Mishra__Deepak1/status/17 ... 6377692377 ---> Indian Navy Dornier Do-228 with an unusual hump aft of the upper fuselage. Looks like some sort of SATCOM. Does anybody have any ideas?

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/Mishra__Deepak1/status/17 ... 6377692377 ---> Indian Navy Dornier Do-228 with an unusual hump aft of the upper fuselage. Looks like some sort of SATCOM. Does anybody have any ideas?

https://x.com/FighterPiloting/status/17 ... 3169729686 ---> Rukmini

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/NewsIADN/status/1782615644921291091 ---> Upgraded Ka-28 helicopters to soon rejoin Indian Navy. Russia has delivered 2 Ka-28s - out of 10 - after overhauling in 2023. They are getting advanced sensors upgrade now in India.

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/alpha_defense/status/1791007961198035184 ---> Indian Navy has released a RFI for Indigenisation of 274 by type consumable spares being utilised on MH60R helicopters towards providing life cycle support for the next 25 years through Indigenous sources.

[ashishvikas]

India, France to begin negotiations this week in mega Rs 50,000 crore 26 Rafale Marine jet deal
https://aninews.in/news/world/asia/indi ... 528142127/
28 May 2024

[Rakesh]

India, France to begin negotiations this week in mega Rs 50,000 crore 26 Rafale Marine jet deal
https://aninews.in/news/world/asia/indi ... 528142127/
28 May 2024

As Navy starts cost negotiations for Rafale M, India could learn from France
https://theprint.in/defence/as-navy-sta ... e/2105546/
28 May 2024

[Rakesh]

Indian, French governments negotiating 26 Rafale marine jet deal
https://aninews.in/news/world/asia/indi ... 614123414/
14 June 2024

https://x.com/ajitkdubey/status/1801515505167253858 ---> India, France kickstart imp negotiations on the 26 Rafale deal.

Important points:
1. French DGA and Indian Defence ministry acquisition officials in meeting
2. Deal expected to cost more than Rs 50,000 crore
3. Indian Navy to base aircraft at Vizag on eastern front
4. India trying to get a better deal from the 2016 project

[Ankit Desai]

Base price of Rafale agreed upon, fighters for Navy to have India-specific enhancements

Navy team has already visited Ambala air station where IAF has kept one squadron of Rafales to understand commonalities of maintenance that can be pursued.

India and France have agreed upon the base price of the 26 Rafale M fighters, which will come with several specific enhancements sought by the Navy to enable them to operate from both indigenous and Russian-origin aircraft carriers.

-Ankit

[maitya]

^^^^^^^^^^ Something is missing wrt this.
Whatever happened to all that calc of 57 (IAF) + 26 (Navy) demand coming close to the minm-100 requirement to setup an mfg-line in India - which in itself was tied to the AMCA Engine Joint-dev program etc.

[Kartik]

Base price of Rafale agreed upon, fighters for Navy to have India-specific enhancements

Navy team has already visited Ambala air station where IAF has kept one squadron of Rafales to understand commonalities of maintenance that can be pursued.

India and France have agreed upon the base price of the 26 Rafale M fighters, which will come with several specific enhancements sought by the Navy to enable them to operate from both indigenous and Russian-origin aircraft carriers.

-Ankit

Good to hear that one of the key issues, that of the base price is agreed upon based on the IAF baseline with inflation factored in. I'm assuming that the inflation catered to is that prevalent in France.

The inflation that was taken for the Rafale deal for the IAF, was the inflation in France, which was much lower (2.5-3% lower) than the standard escalation rate that was used in previous import deals. That alone saved the Indian exchequer close to USD 1 billion, as was disclosed by ACM RKS Bhadauria during his podcast with Smita Prakash.

If only the IAF becomes pragmatic enough to close MRFA and ask for a joint deal with the IN to take total numbers to 100 and ask for local assembly. But pragmatism and MRFA are not compatible.

[Rakesh]

^^^^^^^^^^ Something is missing wrt this.
Whatever happened to all that calc of 57 (IAF) + 26 (Navy) demand coming close to the minm-100 requirement to setup an mfg-line in India - which in itself was tied to the AMCA Engine Joint-dev program etc.

1. Contract signing of Navy Rafale M will result in Rafale ending up on top in the MRFA contest.

2. Contract signing of Navy Rafale M will result in an assembly (screwdrivergiri) line in Nagpur *

3. Contract signing of Navy Rafale M will result in Safran partnering with GTRE for the AMCA engine joint-dev program.

P.S. Jawed Ashraf (current Indian Ambassador to France) has just got his new appointment ---> Deputy NSA in the Govt of India. He will be working with Ajit Doval * and S Jaishankar *, both of whom have had significant G2G meetings over the AMCA engine joint-dev program. Connect the dots, read the tea leaves or however the saying goes...

P.S.S. One nation, one OEM to fulfill multiple strategic requirements. That is the NaMo way!

*Rafale Fighter Jets To Roll Out From Mihan-SEZ In Nagpur, says Gadkari
http://m.timesofindia.com/articleshow/107196397.cms
28 January 2024

*DRDO and Safran to develop engine for indigenous stealth fighter
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ ... 090271.ece
27 Feb 2022

India and France are close to concluding a deal, likely in the next couple of months, for the joint development of a 125KN engine for the indigenous fifth generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) under development, according to defence officials. The collaboration is between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and French engine maker Safran. “External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar discussed this issue with French Defence Minister Florence Parly during his visit to Paris [last week]. We expect to have an agreement in a month or two,” a defence official said.

*Doval holds talks with French President's advisor, focus on PM's visit
https://www.business-standard.com/india ... 785_1.html
06 July 2023

[srai]

^^^
Whatever happened to the first JV Kaveri/Snecma that was supposed to have occurred as part of the G-2-G 36 Rafales deal? A decade has gone by since then …

[Rakesh]

^^^
Whatever happened to the first JV Kaveri/Snecma that was supposed to have occurred as part of the G-2-G 36 Rafales deal? A decade has gone by since then …

Safran had hired someone for this JV. See this link ---> viewtopic.php?p=2110043#p2110043

Safran then completed her technical audit and advised DRDO on what needed to be done. It involved money, which we balked at. That is the rough overview. Maitya-ji might know more. Safran then redirected her offsets to ventures like this ---> https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hy ... 036732.ece

Safran, IMVHO, reneged on the offset contract. But Safran has re-engaged with DRDO for the JV for the AMCA turbofan and as indicated in my post above, high level G2G meetings have occurred. My hope is that the GOI has smarted from the first round and will ensure that all the I's are dotted and the T's are crossed for the JV for the AMCA turbofan.

Regardless of what Safran did, we penny pinch for flying test beds (less than a billion $ for a pair of used B747s or A340s) and investments in infrastructure for turbofan development...but we blissfully piss away large sums of money (in tens of billions of $$) for JVs with OEMs to conduct screwdrivergiri on foreign platforms and execute offsets from them. Weird and twisted logic. We want crown jewel technology handed to us on a silver platter.

Added Later: I found this, which ties into the para right above...

DRDO, French company talks on Kaveri jet engine crash
https://www.drdo.gov.in/drdo/sites/defa ... st2019.pdf
15 August 2019

[maitya]

^^^
Whatever happened to the first JV Kaveri/Snecma that was supposed to have occurred as part of the G-2-G 36 Rafales deal? A decade has gone by since then …

<snip>
...
Safran then completed her technical audit and advised DRDO on what needed to be done. It involved money, which we balked at. That is the rough overview. Maitya-ji might know more.
...
<snip>

Ah!! The Eco-2/3 Core snake-oil salesman-giri again ... those interested (and with some patience) can go thru these series of posts by JayS and moi:
Post - 1
Post - 2
Post - 3
Post - 4

Short and sweet summary is:
1) Safran recommendation was "... here take this core, and you can build your own LP and A/B systems around it and then put a shiny "Made in India" label on it ..." - IAF saw thru it!!

2) Later, when above was not going thru, in a hurry to close the "consultancy" work (and cash-in the consultancy fees), pat came the "follow-on" recommendation:
" ... no problem found jee, you should go ahead and build the turbofan and see how it comes about it ..."
Knowing our MoD fully well, that such a recommendation devoid of solid-performance number guarantees*, will be surely given a quite burial, they did exactly that.

Everybody happy ... future Turbofan joint-dev-in-name-of-ToAsT-giri remains intact for Safran et all.

*Note - you see, it's impossible for our MoD baboons to comprehend stuff like ab-initio and gen-leapfrogging-R&D effort and solid performance guarantees are essentially oxymoronic, even for established turbofan houses.
Oh well, here I go again ...

[Rakesh]

Indian Navy Rafale jet deal in sight

[Rakesh]

After IAF, Navy Lines Up For Rafale. 26 Rafales For India's Aircraft Carriers

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/manupubby/status/1810550538443915694 ---> Rafale M Deal: India negotiating lower acquisition price after Rs 56,000-cr offer by France.

[Manish_P]

^ They better do it fast... might be a bit tricky with the new left government in France

[Rakesh]

^ They better do it fast... might be a bit tricky with the new left government in France

viewtopic.php?p=2624613#p2624613

[Manish_P]

^ They better do it fast... might be a bit tricky with the new left government in France

viewtopic.php?p=2624613#p2624613

Noted, sir. But the loony left and logic don't necessarily go together. For virtue signalling they can take stupid decisions. Why else would a company like H&K which deals in products which kill, refuse to sell it's products to us. A recent example - the new labour goverment in Al-bartannia is under pressure not to supply arms to Israel.

[Aditya_V]

^ They better do it fast... might be a bit tricky with the new left government in France

I think Dassault is powerful enough to make sure it's interests are not compromised, in rhe US AOC, Ilhan Omar and all squad members vote in Favour of Israeli aid bills, the deep state in the West is not stupid like in India where any good project is sabotaged.

[Manish_P]

^ They better do it fast... might be a bit tricky with the new left government in France

I think Dassault is powerful enough to make sure it's interests are not compromised, in rhe US AOC, Ilhan Omar and all squad members vote in Favour of Israeli aid bills, the deep state in the West is not stupid like in India where any good project is sabotaged.

Yes. The french are more ruthless than the anglos... despite their self-branding image of equality, fraternity and what not..

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/IN_WesternFleet/status/18 ... 1532008450 ---> #𝑭𝒍𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈𝑶𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 - 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒐 𝑹𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒃𝒐𝒘!

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/indiannavy/status/1823702026599194940 ---> Soaring high with the Tricolor at INS Garuda, Kochi on this 78th Independence Day. The pride of our nation shines through the Tiranga as we take to the skies. Let every heart beat with the spirit of freedom.