http://www.dpaonthenet.net/article/1521 ... plane.aspx
Saab Aeronautics needed to find a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solution to replace its custom system for interfacing to line-replaceable units (LRUs) in Saab Aeronautics simulators.
Saab Aeronautics needed to find a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solution to replace its custom system for interfacing to line-replaceable units (LRUs) in Saab Aeronautics simulators.
Rakesh wrote:I do not see the wisdom in going for the Gripen E. I do not see what that plane can offer. Unless they are hedging their bets that the Tejas Mk2 will not arrive on time.
Modi’s Sweden visit may get us Gripen, but Air Force needs more
https://www.thequint.com/voices/opinion ... a-pakistan
Just a week before the RFI of 6 April, a group of former IAF chiefs and other strategic thinkers met at Delhi Forum For Strategic Studies to confront the IAF’s dwindling combat fighter strength, which would plummet from the present 27/31 squadrons to 24 combat squadrons by 2032. It was decided that former IAF chiefs would seek a meeting with PM Modi and apprise him of the growing crisis. The request was to immediately order an IAF capability review against a two-front collusive threat, and simultaneously order a government-to-government ‘Make in India’ contract for the single-engine Saab Gripen of Sweden, for establishing a new production line integral with transfer of technology but avoiding the tedious MMRCA tendering process, which it has already gone through. This route was explored tentatively in October 2016 along with Lockheed Martin’s F-16 but the project vanished mysteriously. This forum’s recommendations were given to the press and copies sent to the IAF.
Question, albeit tubelightly .Rakesh wrote:We will offer the latest F/A-18: Boeing India Chief
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ne ... 505309.ece
Boeing is hopeful of grabbing the $15-billion deal to sell 110 fighter jets to the Indian Air Force (IAF) by offering its latest and most advanced F/A-18 Super Hornet. In an interview with BusinessLine on the sidelines of the DefExpo 2018, Boeing India President Pratyush Kumar said that the company will be offering its latest twin-engine F/A-18 Super Hornet to India, the price of which will be much cheaper than the French Rafale. He also said the fact that the RFI - this time - puts emphasis on the operational aspect of the fighters than technical specifications makes it more interesting. Kumar also said Boeing is set to build the F/A-18s in India under the ‘Make in India’ programme should it get the order to supply the entire 110 warplanes. Excerpts:
Q. The Indian Air Force has finally issued the long-awaited request for information (RFI) to procure 110 fighters under a $15-billion deal. Will Boeing be offering the F/A-18 Super Hornets?
A. Yes, we will. I think it is a well thought out RFI. It broadens the aperture without restricting the number of engines which will make the competition much more vigorous and give Indian Air Force the option to consider different platforms with different capabilities. What I really like about this RFI is that it asks about the kind of operational requirements that they need to have rather than technical specifications. With too much focus on technical specifications, the operational part gets ignored.
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Two possibilities exist;Karan M wrote:These are the same chaps who did all they could to scuttle the LCA program, and now, they are trying to do the same to the LCA Mk2. Hope they are shown a polite response saying, kindly leave these decisions to the current Govt.
Growler is done. No longer made and is not on offer.ArjunPandit wrote:Another thing that goes for F18 is the growler version. Not sure how much will that require integration with Indian systems, but that fact that such thing exists may be something that even IAF would be keen on
Are you sure it is no longer made?Rakesh wrote:Growler is done. No longer made and is not on offer.ArjunPandit wrote:Another thing that goes for F18 is the growler version. Not sure how much will that require integration with Indian systems, but that fact that such thing exists may be something that even IAF would be keen on
Let me get back to you on this, as there is more to the story of the Growler. Right now FGFA cancellation is more important and its relationship to this fighter purchase of 110 birds.ArjunPandit wrote:Are you sure it is no longer made?Rakesh wrote: Growler is done. No longer made and is not on offer.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/08/super-h ... boost.html
First off....I fully expect that above link to go into subscription mode, but you can access the entire article from the Broadsword blog fairly soon (if it is already not up).Chinmay wrote:The FGFA is dead
I expect the former group to triumph. I believe there is a transitional shift going on in the Indian Armed Forces - but primarily in the Air Force and the Navy. The C-130, C-17, P-8I, AH-64, CH-47, Rafale (and other Western platforms) are changing the old way of doing things. The old way is dealing primarily with reliability issues of Russian hardware - the entire MiG-2x series and the Su-30MKI story is well known to all. One can argue that the transitional shift could have occurred with the M2K and the Jaguar as well. But the transitional shift lies in *HOW* India is acquiring these platforms. Now we have PBL-type agreements, with India insisting that the fleet has a guaranteed availability at any point in time. That is new to India, but the opposite experience is something India is well versed with.The IAF has been split down the middle on the FGFA. Broadly, flying branch officers of the “French school”– whose careers have centred on the Mirage and Jaguar fighters — have tended to oppose the FGFA. Meanwhile, officers from the “Russian school”, their careers grounded in the MiG and Sukhoi fleet, have supported the FGFA.
I rest my case As said by many on BRF, license manufacture of any bird will give India zero value. What India has done (and is doing and will be doing) with the Tejas, far outweighs license manufacturing any aircraft - Russian or Western.These challenges were expected to imbue Indian engineers with genuine design skills, of a far higher magnitude than the lessons learnt from licensed manufacture.
Do you remember Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa's statement on the J-20? He states that they can detect the J-20 from several kilometers away. The IAF realizes that creating a true 5th generation stealth aircraft is not just slapping on some sharp angles on a plane. There is much more to that. If the Russians are finding PAK-FA challenging, the Chinese are surely having a terrible go at it with the J-20. That will not be the status quo forever, but the IAF thinks there is a bit of cushion (time) available to India. One can argue, how soft that cushion really is. But that is semantics, for now.Karan M wrote:Rakesh exactly. The lure of ready imports is a mindset which has yet to leave many in the old gen brass. These guys will gladly talk of how Gripen is an example of cooperation, how India made a mistake going it alone and then also turn and state how Tejas engine is imported and hence it is not indigenous. This cognitive dissonance is a big reason for not supporting indigenous programs and buying half ready imports which take a decade to mature, by which time, the PLAAF will come up with J-30 and the IAF will then make a stern presentation to some Parliamentary Committee, stating the only way is some stealth- MRCA v3.0.
Lockheed Martin Corp. will provide latest combat jet technologies including a target tracking device aboard the F-16 aircraft that it plans to offer to India in its bid for the world’s largest order from the Indian Air Force.
The global defense giant will offer jets equipped with the advanced radar which is fitted on its fifth-generation combat jet, the F-35, as well as a helmet-mounted tracking system and a new radio data link system, Vivek Lall, vice president for strategy and business development at Lockheed Martin said Wednesday.
The bid also comes with an offer to shift its lone production line for F-16s from Fort Worth, Texas in the U.S. to India as it takes on competitors Saab AB and Boeing Co. The variant being pitched is the F-16 Block 70.
“There are a lot of technologies that come into the F-16 from F-35 and F-22, including the latest radar on these platforms,” Lall said in an interview. “It is a contemporary, state-of-the-art platform.”
Getting state-of-the-art fighters is crucial for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the South Asian nation faces increased risks from neighboring Pakistan and China at a time when the Russian MiG jet -- India’s mainstay -- is being phased out. As part of that plan, India sought proposals from global manufacturers for 110 combat planes, a deal worth at least $15 billion.
Defense Modernization
The jet order is an attempt to modernize the South Asian nation’s defense forces, a plan which could cost as much as $250 billion over a 10-year period ending 2025. And Modi wants a significant part of it to be done locally under his ‘Make in India’ campaign, which aims to promote domestic manufacturing.
Lockheed Martin sees a huge export potential to provide over 200 F-16s to the global market if India chooses the aircraft, Lall said. The winner of the combat jet tender will be required to establish a production line within three years.
”We already see a global rise in the demand for F-16 from the 25 air forces around the world that already fly them. This export potential for the F-16s could be met through the exclusive production line we propose to put up in India,” Lall said.
Lockheed Martin has received the request for information from India for the F-16s to meet its air force requirement, he said
“There are a lot of technologies that come into the F-16 from F-35 and F-22, including the latest radar on these platforms,” Lall said in an interview. “It is a contemporary, state-of-the-art platform.”