Indian Space - News Folder - January 2004

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shiv
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Indian Space - News Folder - January 2004

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Please observe the following guidelines:

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Thanking You in advance for your cooperation.
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Israel Expands Space Cooperation With India, Starts Galileo Talks
[Aviation Week & Space Technology, January 2004]


By Neelam Matthews in New Delhi

Israel is planning to expand collaboration with India in the space arena, and is negotiating a role in Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system. The Israel Space Agency (ISA) and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) signed an agreement last month that will allow ISA to launch a telescope payload on an Indian experimental telecom spacecraft, GSAT-4, in late 2005. The telescope package, dubbed Tauvex, consists of three 32-kg. (70-lb.) telescopes designed to study black holes, the formation of stars and other astronomical phenomena. Developed by Tel Aviv University, Tauvex will piggyback on a prototype Geo-Aided Navigation (Gagan) payload being developed under an agreement with the Airports Authority of India that is intended to create an Indian version of the U.S. Wide Area Augmentation System (AW&ST Oct. 27, 2003, p. 31). Originally set to be launched by a Russian vehicle but delayed because of budget constraints, the $14-million Tauvex project was reconfigured for GSAT-4 at a cost of $4.7 million, Israeli officials said. India will launch the payload free of charge, in return for the right to share data. ISA and ISRO also said they have started preliminary talks to cooperate jointly on micro-satellites, either by combining assets or jointly developing new payloads. ISA Director General Aby Har-Even said the agencies are looking at micro-satellites in the under-150-lb.-category using electric propulsion. He did not elaborate. Israeli Science and Technology Minister Eliezer Sandberg confirmed that Israel has begun negotiations with Europe to participate in Galileo, which India and China have already agreed to join. Sandberg said European Space Agency officials are expected to visit Israel this month to study ISA activities that could contribute to the program. "We hope to have [a deal] soon." Har-Even acknowledged the outcome of the talks could hinge on several factors, including the relatively small number of end users in Israel compared with India and China.
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Indian Government Provides Boost for Bharat Dynamics
[Aviation Week & Space Technology, January 2004]


By Neelam Matthews in New Delhi

Government-owned manufacturer Bharat Dynamics Ltd. (BDL) has received a boost through an order to upgrade a massive stockpile of missiles accumulated by India during the past two decades. The upgrade includes antitank missiles with a 10-year shelf life and surface-to-air missiles such as the OSA and Pechora that are safe up to 15 years. Officials said refurbishment would save up to 80% of the cost of building replacements. The breakup of the former Soviet Union, India's longtime weapons supplier, is a factor in the country's drive to undertake the missile refurbishment on its own. Its goal is to save money and build a technology infrastructure to sustain its ambitions of becoming an export source for missiles or their components. "Following the Soviet breakup, air defense requirements by Russia are disintegrating, and there is, as a result, a nonavailability of parts," a BDL official said. "We cannot afford to buy new systems." Despite the drive for missile independence, Russia remains a prime source for Indian armaments. Defense Minister George Fernandes said recently that India continues to import surface-to-air missiles from that country, but he declined to comment on whether India is self-sufficient in indigenously produced air attack missile defense systems.

The upgrade effort will not be universal. SA-2s are not being overhauled but SA-3s are "a priority at the moment," a Defense Ministry official said. BDL manufactures a variety of weapons, including India's own Prithvi-I and Prithvi-II surface-to-surface guided missiles. Until recently, delays in manufacture of indigenous missiles were blamed on a lack of money, outdated production facilities and personnel shortages. BDL found it hard to develop export markets because it was working under restrictive licensed-manufacturing agreements. The company's priority is to export components and subcomponents of Milan and Konkur-M antitank guided missiles. "India is increasingly being seen as an outsourcing hub for missile technology components because our labor is cheap and quality good," a company official said. But there's skepticism about what progress BDL is making in terms of production and developing a technology base. "Every factor of expansion depends and works on economies of scale and volumes," one senior staff member said. "Only then can we get transfer of technology." One official said the current effort amounts to filling "temporary gaps" and offering "alternate technologies for the time being as we are in a phase of transition."

BDL is seeking international alliance partners for missile manufacture, technology transfers and joint ventures. Last February it signed a memorandum of understanding with EADS' MBDA subsidiary toward that end. The agreement covers development, manufacture and export of missile systems, including the anti-tank, surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles, and an agreement that looked at manufacturing systems at one-third the market price. But BDL's lack of research and development growth has been a drawback and is attributed to its slow adaptation to technology developments and competitive pricing. "Attempts to get the government to reinvest profits into R&D have proved futile," one official said. U.S. sanctions related to India's nuclear testing program brought ground trials for the Project CMDS (countermeasure dispensing system) to a halt because aircraft flares could not be obtained. With sanctions lifted, the ground trials have been completed and flight testing is set to meet a mid-2004 target to field the CMDS, which has yet to be officially named. Besides its military work, BDL is seeking applications for police and paramilitary customers for its guided-missile simulators and small-arms projects. The company expects them to cost 40% less than their U.S. counterparts. It has orders for 30 simulators from police forces. The simulators will be BDL's big display at the Asian Aerospace exhibition in Singapore next month.
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