India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

[derkonig]

^
You haven't answered the question yet?
Which commie in India is patriotic (towards India)?
Our Commies love anything anti-Hindu & therefore by extension, anything anti-India.

[Rahul M]

it's actually in the reverse order.

Commies are anti-Indian and hence anti-hindu.

[Sanku]

Hindu; Hindustani; Indian same thing in different languages actually!!

[Rahul M]

Plz, no more posts on this topic here.

I am sorry for having continued it.

[KSubramanian]

Interesting news.. Part of a series that was promised on Shukla ji's blog. I think this marks the change in DRDO that we all were looking forward for. More accountability but more importantly more interaction (and hopefully support) with the end user.

A new engagement with military

THE NEW DRDO PART 1


Ajai Shukla / New Delhi May 29, 2008, 23:14 IST

The success, last December, of the Defence R&D Organisation's Akash missile, which proved its ability to shoot down an enemy fighter 25 kilometres away, is a happy ending to a dismal tale. The Akash development programme, like others from the 1980s and 1990s, is a decades-long story of managerial and technological blunders, from which the DRDO is now drawing valuable lessons.

Under fire from the military and the media, and under scrutiny from a Review Panel set up by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the DRDO has instituted fundamental changes in the way it will now approach equipment development. In a series of exclusive interviews with Business Standard, top DRDO officials — the Chief Controllers, who head its various divisions — have outlined their new approach.

The most far-reaching change is an institutionalised forum — called the Services Interaction Group — in which the DRDO will work hand-in-hand with the military to identify the technologies, and weapons systems, which the DRDO laboratories must develop. The Services Interaction Group has already created its first "technology roadmap", which lists out the equipment the DRDO will develop over the 11th and 12th Defence Plan period, ie from 2007-2017.

That roadmap took more than a year to finalise; the process began at the beginning of 2007. A DRDO sub-committee called the G-FAST (Group for Forecasting and Analysis of Systems and Technologies) began consulting with almost 50 DRDO laboratories across the country, to make a draft technology roadmap.

Meanwhile, the three services, working together in the headquarters of the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS), produced their technology wishlist. Then, through several sittings in the DRDO's headquarters, the DRDO and the IDS agreed upon a final technology roadmap, which the DRDO would implement.

Such cooperation is routine in countries where defence is planned systematically. In India, however, the DRDO has long been at loggerheads with the services, which have complained about not being consulted about equipment that they must eventually use.

This communication gap was glaringly evident in the Akash missile programme; after the DRDO developed all the Akash launchers, radars, and command systems, the Army demanded higher mobility by fitting them into T-72 tanks.

The DRDO, having framed the Akash requirements unilaterally, was taken by surprise. Dr Prahlada, the DRDO's Chief Controller (R&D) explains, "It's not a joke to put the missile radar on a tank. It was a double challenge: having developed a cutting-edge radar, we then had to squeeze it into a tank, with all the problems of space, ruggedness, and high temperatures.

You can't even put an air conditioner, like in a wheeled vehicle… So instead of 12-15 years (to develop the Akash), we took 20 years; just to make sure the Army gets it on a tank."

But now, there's a joint process. The DRDO and the IDS have divided 100 of the most important technologies they need into three different categories:

# Category 1. Technologies that the DRDO will develop in-house. These are strategic technologies and systems, such as missiles, hypersonics, and unmanned fighter aircraft, which no country usually provides to another.

# Category 2. Technologies that the DRDO will develop in partnership with academic institutions. The CSIR, IITs, and universities will assist the DRDO with fundamental research, to overcome the DRDO's shortages of manpower and facilities.

# Category 3. Technologies that the DRDO will develop with foreign partners, since they are beyond the capabilities of the country's existing scientific base.

This is the first time that such rigour has been applied to the procedure for identifying projects and deadlines. In committing itself in this manner, the DRDO is displaying a new confidence.

Senior DRDO scientists admit that they had traditionally avoided a joint roadmap because there was little certainty of being able to deliver on a project. If the project was successful, it would be brought to the user when it was nearly ready; if it failed, it could be quietly buried without any fuss.

Now, however, there will be transparency and accountability, and regular reviews of how long-gestation projects are progressing. Says Dr VK Saraswat, Chief Controller of Missiles and Strategic Systems, "This is a consultative process and it doesn't stop. It is a continuous process. Every year we update it."

[sanjaychoudhry]

[quote]Defence to be $100 billion industry by 2022: Report

The Indian defence industry could be the seventh highest spender in the world with a budget of $36.2 billion (Rs 1,54,800 crore) by 2016, according to a recent Frost & Sullivan report. The military procurement programme including the MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) market is predicted to exceed $100 billion by 2022. This year, the defence industry will import equipment worth an estimated $12 billion, the report said.

The government of India aims to procure 70% of its defence requirements from indegenous sources by 2010. Commodore AJ Singh, naval adviser, High Commission of India said that the Indian Air Force is among the biggest buyers in the international market. The Indian defence industry is undergoing a massive procurement programme with nearly 40 ships to be constructed.

Frost & Sullivan has also predicted that the offset potential would reach to $10 billion by 2013. Currently, India imports defence goods from Russia and is also the third largest customer of UK after Saudi Arabia and the USA for defence exports.

Dr Pracheesh Mathur, MD, Raytheon India said, “Even though the defence industry is trapped in the bureaucratic web, the procurement programme is ambitious and defence is the best industry to invest in.â€

[A Sharma]

Flight trials of Lakshya with PTAE-7 perfect

Bangalore: A s u c c e s s f u l flight trial to demonstrate the enhanced altitude ceiling for Lakshya aircraft powered by PTAE-7 engine marked a major milestone in the development of the engine with Mist System of Lubrication.
The PTAE-7 was flown successfully to an altitude of over 9000 m (reaching an altitude of 10.18 km as per ITR data). Earlier, a flight at 9 km altitude had been carried out with the PTAE-7 engine with the Closed Loop Oil Lubrication System. The contracts signed by HAL with various users are for supply of Lakshya powered by PTAE-7 engine with the Mist System of Lubrication.
With this, all parameters specified in the Inter Services Qualitative Requirements (ISQR) have been demonstrated for Lakshya powered by the PTAE-7 engine.

[Katare]

Flight trials of Lakshya with PTAE-7 perfect

Bangalore: A s u c c e s s f u l flight trial to demonstrate the enhanced altitude ceiling for Lakshya aircraft powered by PTAE-7 engine marked a major milestone in the development of the engine with Mist System of Lubrication.
The PTAE-7 was flown successfully to an altitude of over 9000 m (reaching an altitude of 10.18 km as per ITR data). Earlier, a flight at 9 km altitude had been carried out with the PTAE-7 engine with the Closed Loop Oil Lubrication System. The contracts signed by HAL with various users are for supply of Lakshya powered by PTAE-7 engine with the Mist System of Lubrication.
With this, all parameters specified in the Inter Services Qualitative Requirements (ISQR) have been demonstrated for Lakshya powered by the PTAE-7 engine.

Finally some good news on completion of Lakshya! They must invest in this PATE seriers to make many more varients of engine for plethora of UAV's/CMs that India would need in coming decades.

[ramana]

Have we seen this before?

Changing Times? India's Defence Industry in the 21st Century

Pdf from Bonn.

And

India's Defence Industry

Old but good stuff.

[gogna]

Flight trials of Lakshya with PTAE-7 perfect

Bangalore: A s u c c e s s f u l flight trial to demonstrate the enhanced altitude ceiling for Lakshya aircraft powered by PTAE-7 engine marked a major milestone in the development of the engine with Mist System of Lubrication.
The PTAE-7 was flown successfully to an altitude of over 9000 m (reaching an altitude of 10.18 km as per ITR data). Earlier, a flight at 9 km altitude had been carried out with the PTAE-7 engine with the Closed Loop Oil Lubrication System. The contracts signed by HAL with various users are for supply of Lakshya powered by PTAE-7 engine with the Mist System of Lubrication.
With this, all parameters specified in the Inter Services Qualitative Requirements (ISQR) have been demonstrated for Lakshya powered by the PTAE-7 engine.

isn't this old news?

PTAE-7 jet engine trial successful
By Our Staff Reporter
Wednesday, January 24, 2001

BANGALORE, JAN. 23. The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) today announced the successful trial of the indigenously-designed and developed remote-controlled PTAE-7 jet engine and the state-of- the-art jet fuel starter (JFS) fitted in the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), with the JFS demonstrating its starting capability on the main engine of the LCA during its maiden flight.

With the success of PTAE-7, the first turbo jet engine developed in the country, India joined a select group of nations, including the United States, Russia, France and the U.K. that have developed this class of engine.

Designed and developed by the Engine and Test Bed Research and Design Centre, Engine Division, HAL, Bangalore, the jet engine will power the pilotless target aircraft, Lakshya, developed by the ADE.

Lakshya is to be used for ground-air, air-air and ship-air missile target practice. The flight is commanded from the ground by telemetry and the aircraft can be recovered by parachute, both in land and water. The aircraft is provided with two targets on a 1.5 km-cable, and in case of emergency, auto recovery is possible. The maximum flight time is 50 minutes and a maximum life of 10 recoveries is envisaged.

PTAE-7 is a single shaft, lightweight, low-cost, short-life engine. The engine comprises a four-stage transonic axial compressor, a single-stage turbine, an annular flow combustion chamber and 16 fuel flow burners.

The PTAE-7 develops a thrust of 380 kg.f at ISA sea level static conditions with a specific fuel consumption of 1.15 kg./kg.f/hr. It has a length of 1,270 mm. and a maximum diameter of 330 mm., and weighs 65 kg. The engine is designed with materials and features for protection against seawater corrosion so that it can be used again after its recovery from sea.

Two of the engines were tested successfully three times at Balasore in Orissa in December. Each time, the engine was recovered from the sea, refurbished and re-run on the ground.

According to HAL officials, most of the critical qualification tests for the JFS have been completed. On completion of the tests, flight clearance was given for it in LCA, TD1 and TD2 aircraft for development flight trials.

Designed and developed by HAL's Engine and Test Bed Research and Design Centre, the JFS (GTSU-110) has the capability to provide inflight starting of the LCA main engine up to an altitude of 6 kms. The JFS also demonstrated its capability to start at Leh, the highest altitude airport in the world, during extreme cold conditions.

The designs were initiated by Mr. T.V. Vareed, founder and erstwhile Chief Designer of the Engine Design Bureau.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/01/24/st ... 24000y.htm

[Nayak]

New DRDO: An engagement with the military

Ajai Shukla in New Delhi


June 02, 2008

This is the first of a four-part series on the DRDO, which has instituted fundamental changes in the way it will approach equipment development.

The success, last December, of the Defence Research and Development Organisation's Akash missile, which proved its ability to shoot down an enemy fighter 25 kilometres away, is a happy ending to a dismal tale. The Akash development programme, like others from the 1980s and 1990s, is a decades-long story of managerial and technological blunders, from which the DRDO is now drawing valuable lessons.

Under fire from the military and the media, and under scrutiny from a review panel set up by the defence ministry, the DRDO has instituted fundamental changes in the way it will now approach equipment development. In a series of exclusive interviews with Business Standard, top DRDO officials -- the chief controllers, who head its various divisions -- have outlined their new approach.

The most far-reaching change is an institutionalised forum -- called the Services Interaction Group -- in which the DRDO will work hand-in-hand with the military to identify the technologies, and weapons systems, which the DRDO laboratories must develop. The Services Interaction Group has already created its first "technology roadmap", which lists out the equipment the DRDO will develop over the 11th and 12th Defence Plan period -- from 2007-2017.

That roadmap took more than a year to finalise; the process began at the beginning of 2007. A DRDO sub-committee called the G-FAST (Group for Forecasting and Analysis of Systems and Technologies) began consulting with almost 50 DRDO laboratories across the country, to make a draft technology roadmap.

Meanwhile, the three services, working together in the headquarters of the Integrated Defence Staff, produced their technology wish-list. Then, through several sittings in the DRDO's headquarters, the DRDO and the IDS agreed upon a final technology roadmap, which the DRDO would implement.

Such cooperation is routine in countries where defence is planned systematically. In India, however, the DRDO has long been at loggerheads with the services, which have complained about not being consulted about equipment that they must eventually use.

This communication gap was glaringly evident in the Akash missile programme; after the DRDO developed all the Akash launchers, radars, and command systems, the army demanded higher mobility by fitting them into T-72 tanks.

The DRDO, having framed the Akash requirements unilaterally, was taken by surprise. Dr Prahlada, the DRDO's chief controller (R&D) explains, "It's not a joke to put the missile radar on a tank. It was a double challenge: having developed a cutting-edge radar, we then had to squeeze it into a tank, with all the problems of space, ruggedness, and high temperatures. You can't even put an air conditioner in a wheeled vehicle� So instead of 12-15 years (to develop the Akash), we took 20 years; just to make sure the army gets it on a tank."

But now, there's a joint process. The DRDO and the IDS have divided 100 of the most important technologies they need into three different categories:

Category 1: Technologies that the DRDO will develop in-house. These are strategic technologies and systems, such as missiles, hypersonics, and unmanned fighter aircraft, which no country usually provides to another.

Category 2: Technologies that the DRDO will develop in partnership with academic institutions. The CSIR, IITs, and universities will assist the DRDO with fundamental research, to overcome the DRDO's shortages of manpower and facilities.

Category 3: Technologies that the DRDO will develop with foreign partners, since they are beyond the capabilities of the country's existing scientific base.

This is the first time that such rigour has been applied to the procedure for identifying projects and deadlines. In committing itself in this manner, the DRDO is displaying a new confidence.

Senior DRDO scientists admit that they had traditionally avoided a joint roadmap because there was little certainty of being able to deliver on a project. If the project was successful, it would be brought to the user when it was nearly ready; if it failed, it could be quietly buried without any fuss.

Now, however, there will be transparency and accountability, and regular reviews of how long-gestation projects are progressing. Says Dr V K Saraswat, chief controller of missiles and strategic systems, "This is a consultative process and it doesn't stop. It is a continuous process. Every year we update it."

Next in the series: Technology first, weapons later

[uddu]

Flight trials of Lakshya with PTAE-7 perfect

Bangalore: A s u c c e s s f u l flight trial to demonstrate the enhanced altitude ceiling for Lakshya aircraft powered by PTAE-7 engine marked a major milestone in the development of the engine with Mist System of Lubrication.
The PTAE-7 was flown successfully to an altitude of over 9000 m (reaching an altitude of 10.18 km as per ITR data). Earlier, a flight at 9 km altitude had been carried out with the PTAE-7 engine with the Closed Loop Oil Lubrication System. The contracts signed by HAL with various users are for supply of Lakshya powered by PTAE-7 engine with the Mist System of Lubrication.
With this, all parameters specified in the Inter Services Qualitative Requirements (ISQR) have been demonstrated for Lakshya powered by the PTAE-7 engine.

isn't this old news?

No. This seems the response to import PTA's. Some news report was posted claiming that the Lakshya is not capable of operating in high altitude and requires import of PTA's from foreign countries. Now no imports and no money in pocket.

[Ananth]

Hey Gogna, Please reduce the size of youtube url in your location, it is screwing formatting.

[Nayak]

New DRDO: Technology first, weapons later

Ajai Shukla in New Delhi

June 03, 2008

This is the second of a four-part series on the DRDO, which has instituted fundamental changes in the way it will approach equipment development.

Part I: New DRDO: An engagement with the military

It was a typical Defence Research and Development Organisation press conference, at the Aero India 2007 show in Bangalore in February 2007. Brushing off questions about the Light Combat Aircraft that had already been 24 years in the making, DRDO chief M Natarajan announced a clearly unachievable 15-year target for building an even more high-tech Medium Combat Aircraft, advanced trainer jets, and a fleet of Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles that will fly without pilots to fight aerial battles by remote control. Most experts agreed this was science fiction� without the science.

But now the DRDO is bringing back the science. Steering away from ambitious targets, the DRDO has decided to announce new programmes only after completing the development of all the technologies that underpin them. After bruising criticism from the military, the media and parliamentary bodies, the DRDO is fundamentally changing the way it does business.

In the series of exclusive interviews granted to Business Standard by the DRDO's top scientists, there is a clear realisation of the damage caused by failing to meet the huge expectations generated by A P J Abdul Kalam (DRDO chief through most of the 1990s) for programmes like the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, the LCA programme and the Arjun tank.

The blame for this failure, say DRDO scientists, lay with being caught short of technology by the Missile Technology Control Regime, which placed tight sanctions on India from 1988-89 onwards. The Akash system, to name just one, was delayed for years, because they unexpectedly found themselves having to engineer crucial radar components, which they had hoped would be available from the international market.

"Today, there is a shift from purely building systems, to equally focusing on creating the technologies of the future," explains V K Saraswat, the DRDO's chief controller of missiles and strategic systems, who oversees key programmes like the Agni ballistic missile and the Anti-Ballistic Missile system.

"When there is a limited focus on a particular programme, generic technology development takes a back seat. But no organisation can sustain future growth unless you have built technologies for the future systems which are going to emerge."

To boost technology development, the DRDO has organised its laboratories in 'clusters', each cluster developing a particular kind of equipment, eg missiles, aeronautics, or life sciences. Within each cluster, some laboratories develop weapons programmes, while at least one laboratory focuses exclusively on developing technology for the others in that cluster.

In the missile complex in Hyderabad, for instance, the Defence R&D Laboratory and the Advanced Systems Laboratory develop India's entire range of missiles. Meanwhile, a third laboratory, Research Centre, Imarat concentrates exclusively on developing crucial missile technologies, eg ring laser gyroscopes for the navigation systems of a ballistic missile that must accurately hit targets 3,500 kilometres away.

The missiles that will run on these technologies will only be announced after the technologies are perfected. Saraswat admits he is working on a 5,000-kilometre range Agni-5 missile, with multiple warheads that can manoeuvre and send out decoys to confuse enemy anti-missile defences. But the DRDO, he says, will only announce that programme, and ask the government for funding, when all the technologies are in place.

The DRDO is accumulating technology not just from its laboratories, but from a range of establishments across the country: IITs, universities, and government and private science and technology establishments. Nobody will admit it on record, but even India's space programme indirectly validates key DRDO technologies. The recent launch of 10 satellites from the PSLV-C9 rocket is not dissimilar to launching decoy warheads from a military ballistic missile.

For now, the optimistic announcements of Aero India 2007 have been shelved, while DRDO laboratories work on the technologies that will power those complex systems. Dipankar Banerjee, chief controller, aeronautics and materials sciences, says the MCA has not even reached the 'concept studies' stage yet. And the technologies that will go into the UCAV are still being worked upon.

Banerjee explains, "We need to mature the technologies (for the UCAV) first. Only then can we go to the Indian Air Force with a proposal. We don't want the entire project to become hostage to one technology that gets held up."

The DRDO has clearly decided that developing technologies is at least as important as developing weapons systems. V K Aatre, DRDO chief from 2000-04, had said, "Weapons programmes and technologies have to maintain equal pace." Only now is the DRDO heeding his advice.

Next: DRDO's plan for an eye in the sky

[Nayak]

DRDO's plan for an eye in the sky

Ajai Shukla in New Delhi

June 04, 2008

This is the third of a four-part series on the DRDO, which has instituted fundamental changes in the way it will approach equipment development.

Part I: New DRDO: An engagement with the military

Part II: New DRDO: Technology first, weapons later

The so-called "war on terror" since 2001 has debunked much of the conventional wisdom about what military equipment a country needs to protect its citizens.

But one piece of equipment that has repeatedly proved its relevance is the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, a remotely piloted aircraft that circles several thousand feet over a target area, continuously relaying high-definition pictures to a monitor, far away.

The UAV has shown, in counter-insurgency and in anti-terrorist operations as much as in war, the critical importance of an 'eye in the sky'.

Unsurprisingly then, India's Defence R&D Organisation -- despite having radically curbed its traditional eagerness to develop even non-essential systems -- is going ahead with developing UAVs.

The DRDO has sent out expressions of interest to several private sector companies, including the Tata Group, L&T and Godrej [Get Quote] & Boyce, for manufacturing Medium Altitude Long Endurance UAVs, which will be developed by the DRDO. These MALE UAVs will fly at tens of thousands of feet, watching targets for more than 24 hours continuously.

There are several firsts in the MALE UAV programme. It will be the first aeronautical programme in which the DRDO will partner a private company; since independence, public sector giant, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, has monopolised this sector.

This will also be the first time a production agency (the private company that wins the contract to manufacture the UAVs) will work with the DRDO right through the development process, so that the production run can begin without any hitches.

Significant as those landmarks are, the most interesting part of the MALE UAV programme is the decision-making process, which the DRDO has adopted, in consultation with the military. This was revealed to Business Standard in a series of interviews with top DRDO scientists.

In deciding on India's fleet of unmanned aircraft, the DRDO and the military first zeroed in on UAVs that no country would sell. They agreed to develop micro-UAVs, which a soldier can carry on his back and quickly launch; and also complex Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles, which carry full weapon-loads to strike aerial and ground targets.

A greater dilemma was over mid-sized UAVs; countries like Israel are eager to sell India MALE UAVs. But eventually, says DRDO chief controller of aeronautics and materials sciences, Dipankar Banerjee, it was decided to develop, rather than buy, MALE UAVs for two main reasons.

Firstly, the large number of UAVs the military requires creates a powerful commercial logic for a private company to manufacture them. And secondly, the DRDO feared that import of MALE UAVs might be blocked.

Banerjee explains, "We have to see what is possible under the Missile Technology Control Regime, which bans the transfer of technology and products with more than 300 kilometres range and 500 kilograms payload. And so, there may be MTCR controls that prevent us from acquiring MALE UAVs. We also recognise that the technology that we develop for the MALE UAV will go into the UCAV."

Notwithstanding the fears of technology sanctions, the DRDO knows that India's growing leverage as a major arms buyer is making sensitive technologies easier to access.

Technology planners in the DRDO say they are increasingly relying on components assembled from COTS (commercially available off-the-shelf) equipment; the DRDO will develop only strategically vital components and carry out the technologically challenging task of "systems integration", i.e. assembling a multitude of components into a functioning military system.

Before the end of June, request for proposals will be floated for the MALE UAVs. This project will be an important test for the DRDO's new thinking, it will, equally be a test for the concept of bringing a private sector company into a major project as the DRDO's industry partner.

[Katare]

It seems DRDO is trying to follow my massa land employer's model. I work in corporate research lab of my company where 4K scientists, technicians and other support staff work only on developing new technologies (new materials, processes and analytical tech). These people are not tasked to make any product just technologies in support of the “business division’s R&D labs who are responsible for developing new products.

[putnanja]

Israel outsources $100-mn composites for UAVs to India

[Tilak]

Hey Gogna, Please reduce the size of youtube url in your location, it is screwing formatting.

Since when did URL's in Profiles become Okay?. Is this a new trend that or am I missing something.


Major indigenisation of military aviation
Sandeep Dikshit

Total investment will be Rs. 22,000 crore; thrust on design and development
Design and development will be the thrust area
Mega tender for 350 imported helicopters slashed

NEW DELHI: In a move that could make overseas defence companies uncomfortable, the government has embarked on a major indigenisation of the military aviation sector. The total investment will be Rs. 22,000 crore and the bulk of the amount is to be spent on design and development of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.

The programme envisages increasing the workforce in the sector to 2,600. One-third of the new additions will be design engineers.

“Design and development will be the thrust area. While licensed production leads to a maximum value addition of 45 per cent, this route will increase the percentage to 80,â€

[sombhat]

Major indigenisation of military aviation

Great, I think we should do the same for tanks, ICVs and the Big Guns.

[Nayak]

DRDO's secret technology wish list

June 05, 2008

This is the last of a four-part series on the DRDO, which has instituted fundamental changes in the way it will approach equipment development.

Part I: New DRDO: An engagement with the military

Part II: New DRDO: Technology first, weapons later

Part III: DRDO's plan for an eye in the sky

Symbolising the Defence Research and Development Organisation's transformed approach to technology is its new direction towards that holy grail of defence technology: the cutting-edge fighter aircraft.

Already, the DRDO-Hindustan Aeronautics Limited combine that is developing the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, has asked global aerospace majors for help in developing key systems -- the engine, flight controls and aircraft radar amongst them -- which are delaying the entire LCA programme.

And now, in a series of interviews to Business Standard, the DRDO's high priests of technology -- the chief controllers of various divisions -- frankly admit that foreign technological assistance will be essential for India's planned aircraft development programmes: the Fifth Generation Fighter Programme, the Multi-Role Transport Aircraft and the Light Combat Helicopter amongst others.

Dipankar Banerjee, chief controller of aeronautics and materials sciences, explains that a foreign partner will be vital for speeding up delivery; an Indian programme would eventually deliver, but the time frame would be unacceptable to the military.

Banerjee acknowledges, "I don't in the future see a programme without a strong foreign partner. The timelines would be enormous� So I don't see a future without a strong foreign partner in the area of fifth generation combat aircraft."

This new outreach from a traditionally inward-focused DRDO is rooted in a realistic assessment that the international sanctions regimes have loosened; global arms majors are eager to provide technologies that can fill in gaps in the DRDO's own technology bank.

The organisation's top scientists believe that the only laws and agreements that continue to restrict technology inflows are:

* The Missile Technology Control Regime.
* The US Department of Commerce's Control List, which lists dual use technologies.
* The ITAR, or International Trade and Arms Regulations of the US.
* The US Department of Energy, Atomic Energy Control Lists.

And even these logjams, it appears from the DRDO's discussions with the US government and arms corporations can be officially bypassed.

For example, Lockheed Martin has offered the DRDO assistance in developing India's anti-ballistic missile ABM) shield, a complex system that the DRDO has successfully tested, but which still holds major technological challenges.

The DRDO is listening carefully to this new talk from a potential technology ally. Says Banerjee, "We have a perception that there could be greater inputs in terms of the variety of technology to DRDO programs from (external) sources from out of the country� much of this has arisen from the interactions with the United States."

Now the DRDO has generated a top-secret 'technology wish list', which must be obtained from foreign partners. V K Saraswat, chief controller, missiles and strategic systems reveals, "The document highlights the technology areas in which we would like to have cooperation. This will not be divulged, in case foreign technology developers start clamping down on those (technology) areas."

But still unresolved is the issue of how the identified technology will be obtained. The DRDO wants these technologies to be obtained as a part of offsets; foreign vendors who obtain any contract for supplying defence equipment, must provide the DRDO with high end technology that features on its wish list.

Saraswat reveals that the ministry of defence's director general (acquisitions) has already been given that list of technologies, "to help people to take decisions about what are the areas which we have to negotiate, when we negotiate offsets".

But the MoD feels differently. It has stated publicly that vendors are unlikely to part with cutting edge technology as a part of offsets; instead, the MoD will include its technology requirements in the contract document and pay for it up front.

The request for proposals for supply of 126 medium fighters (worth about $11 billion) has specified the technology that will be provided and paid for. The draft of the new Defence Procurement Policy of 2008, which will be promulgated shortly, does not allow for high technology to be included as a part of offsets.

Either way, the DRDO's new technology wish list will form the basis for technology inflows.

[A Sharma]

Army to try its hands on Nishant before induction

In a major step towards giving the Indian Army discrete aerial reconnaissance and target acquisition capabilities, Nishant, the DRDO's pilotless aircraft, will soon be put through pre-induction trails.

The Army is expected to take Nishant, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), for "confirmatory and training trials before induction" within a month. "The trials are scheduled to be held shortly," officials of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) said today.

Designed to perform discrete aerial intelligence gathering and for acquiring targets on land and air, Nishant would be put to use by the Indian Army in forward areas in Jammu and Kashmir, for gathering electronic intelligence and for electrooptical reconnaissance.

In a battlefield, Nishant can help Army units to acquire targets to direct heavy artillery shelling and for guiding fighter aircraft to fire rockets and drop precision bombs at enemy positions and in an anti-tank role.

"Pre-induction trials are mandatory to affirm the satisfaction of the end-user, the Army, before these UAVs are inducted and deployed in operational areas," the sources said.

The Army had in October 2005 placed an order for ground support systems and 12 Nishants, currently under limited series production at Bangalore-based Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE).

"Of the 12 Nishants on order, the ADE has already got four of the UAVs ready for delivery to the Army. These aerial vehicles will be used to provide hands-on traning to Army personnel and for confirmatory trials," a DRDO official said.

At present, Indian Army is using the Israeli 'Heron' UAVs in operational areas, including Jammu and Kashmir for aerial reconnaissance and during anti-terrorist operations.

Nishant, a remotely piloted vehicle (RPV) designed and developed by ADE, has an endurance of four to five hours and a range of 100 km in its primary roles.

Flying at a speed of 40 to 60 metres per second, the UAV is capable of relaying data in real time to the army units moving foward in a battlefield condition.

It can carry a payload of 45 kg with its integrated sensor package of Forward Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR), laser ranger and 35 mm mini pan camera, which was developed at CSIO, Chandigarh. The 360-kg RPV is powered by ALVIS AR-801 55 bhp engine.

The Central government had in 1988 decided that DRDO would develop UAVs and had sanctioned Rs 34 crore with a foreign exchange component of Rs 8 crore towards the project.

The state-owned aviation major, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), too, has developed another indigenous UAV, Lakshya, which is now in production lines.

[A Sharma]

Mahindra Newsletter

NEW MSMV FACILITY IN FaRIDABAD
MDS-Land Systems is in the advanced stages of setting up a Mahindra Special Military Vehicles (MSMV) facility at Faridabad. This facility will have modern facilities for R&D, prototype fabrication and system integration of vehicles for military use. This is the first such facility in India in the private sector.

[sanjaychoudhry]

First jet lab in steel city
- Aircraft engines earlier with Air Force to be used for training

Jamshedpur, June 13: The state is all set to get its first modern jet lab at Indian Institute of Aeronautical Science here with two trainer engines.

Procured from New Delhi at an estimated cost of Rs 6 lakh, the engines’ claim to fame is their stint with the Indian Air Force earlier. While the Hunter engine was employed with the air force, the second model, which now lies dismantled at the lab, is a Russian turbo propeller.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080614/j ... 409844.jsp

[sunilUpa]

'Fifth generation fighter aircraft will fly in March next'

Bangalore (PTI): The country's 'ambitious' fifth generation fighter aircraft will fly during March next, M Natarajan, Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister, said on Saturday.

Efforts were on to identify a Russian company to provide weapons and electronic warfare systems, Natarajan, who is also the Secretary, Defence Research and Development Organisation, said while participating in the inauguration of the Defence Avionics Research Establishment's new campus here

Conceptualisation studies have begun on Medium Combat Aircraft (MCA) he said. "We are in the process of evolving a design for MCA", Natarajan said.

AoA onlee..

[gogna]

Antony warns against overdependence on foreign suppliers while inaugurating new DARE Complex in Bangalore
Shiv Aroor with pictures

[rrao]

Army to try its hands on Nishant before induction


The state-owned aviation major, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), too, has developed another indigenous UAV, Lakshya, which is now in production lines.

Lakshya is not basically a UAV. its a pilot less target aircraft used for missile target practise.PTA itself is not the target, rather a tow body tethered to it. PTA is developed by ADE and not HAL. HAL developed the Engine for PTA called PTAE-7! HAL is the production agency for PTA LAKSHYA.

[sunilUpa]

X posting...

Govt allots Rs2,500 cr for Agni-V

NEW DELHI :The Union government has sanctioned Rs2,500 crore for developing the country’s most ambitious missile, a nuclear-capable Agni-V with a range of 5,000 kilometres — one step short of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Agni V is expected to emerge as a credible key nuclear delivery weapon in about seven years time.

Sources said a high-level committee headed by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh sanctioned the budget for Agni-V, the biggest indigenous single missile project, a few days ago.

Sources indicate, as reported earlier by DNA, the government is not willing to consider development of a full-fledged ICBM that has a range of over 8,000 kilometres.

Concerns about international pressure are holding India back from developing an ICBM. Given India’s space capabilities and success in developing launch vehicles, it is no technological challenge for India to develop a full-fledged ICBM.

Agni-V should be ready for test flights in “about four years,” said a dependable source. DRDO would primarily add one more stage to the two-stage Agni-III missile for creating Agni-V and improve upon its other systems. Agni-V would be a three-stage Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) with solid propellants.
It would have a range of 5,000 kilometres, according to the DRDO’s notification given for political approval.

The design of Agni-V is expected to be ready in about two years, and the first test could be anytime in three to four years.

[sanjaychoudhry]

VCs now take a shot at defence sector

India Rizing Fund, a first of its kind venture fund for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) making defence equipment, has received the approval from FIPB and the government to kick off its plans to raise Rs 550 crore with subscriptions from foreign investors.

The Mumbai-based fund, which is promoted by the former director and India head (specialist finance) at ANZ Investment Bank, Rajesh Narayan, plans to raise $100 million (Rs 400 crore) initially, keeping provisions to scale up investments by $200 million (Rs 800 crore). It has a 10-year duration, with an option to increase it by four more years.

"Our first closing is likely to be in October and the final closing by December this year," Mr Narayan told ET. More such funds may be created in the future for investment into the Indian defence production sector. The fund is close to tying up with about six foreign investors in their bid to raise money.

"India is one of the largest defence markets in the world and now with the sector opening up, it presents immense possibilities for foreign investors seeking a foothold in the industry. The existing production capacity, mainly with the PSUs, large private players and the ordinance factories, is inadequate to meet the requirements of Indian armed forces and the offset opportunity. There is a need to create a broad-base ecosystem of companies," Mr Narayan added.

India Rizing Fund is the first and the only Sebi-registered fund dedicated to investing in Indian Defence SMEs and R&D. Investment would be made in SMEs that are vendors for these products.

Many SMEs supply components, technology and designs for such products. Investment focus as per defence scheme is 90% of corpus in defence SMEs and 10% of corpus in defence R&D.

The move comes at a time when multinationals are vying for multi-billion dollar defence deals from the Indian government, which also includes mega orders for fighter aircraft.

The proposed scheme will offer two categories of units of par value of Rs 10 lakh each to investors and Rs 100 each for promoters and management of the company. Funds from the scheme will be invested in niche areas of defence production which include tanks, aircraft and war gaming simulators, as well as radars, military aircraft, missile launch systems and howitzer guns.

Advisors to India Rizing Fund include Rana Kapoor, founder and MD of Yes Bank, Rahul Chowdhary, CEO, Tata Strategic Electronics, Lt Gen VJ Sundaram, leader, flight vehicle design team of Prithvi missile, and former RBI deputy governor Vepa Kamesam.

According to industry estimates, there are around 6,000 SMEs registered with a Defence Ministry arm contributing extensively to projects like the Light Combat Aircraft and Arjun Main battle tank.

Experts point out that with India planning to acquire multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA), SMEs can benefit from the offset obligation of such a defence deal, under which, the selected aircraft manufacturer has to source 50% of the components from India.

Indian defence SMEs are also expected to benefit from a government target of sourcing 70% of defence requirements from indigenous sources by 2010.

link

[sunilUpa]

HAL secures order for ambulance version of ALH Dhruv from Peru

This mountain country has placed an order for two Dhruv's, as the ALH is known, in a heli-ambulance version.

The 5.5-tonne Dhruv will be used by the country's health services and will be sold at a price of Rs40 crore apiece. This, according to industry sources, is about 10-15 per cent lower than comparable machines in this class.

[sunilUpa]

Samtel, DARE develop multi-functional displays for Su-30 fighters

New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) Samtel Display Systems has become the first Indian company to indigenise multi-functional displays (MFDs) for the Sukhoi Su-30 combat jets of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and has received clearance for their flight testing, it was announced here Monday. The MFDs have been jointly developed and manufactured with the Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE), an arm of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

They will now be flight-tested by the Regional Centre for Military Airworthiness (RCMA) at Nashik in Maharashtra, following which the IAF will put them through flight trials.

Initially, the Samtel-DARE MFDs were subject to extensive ground tests on a Su-30 integration rig. The tests were conducted during both daylight hours and in the night to evaluate the display characteristics of the MFD under varying light conditions.

Four test sorties were undertaken at an altitude of approximately 40,000 ft with the indigenous MFD for its evaluation, “and no failure was observed”, a company statement said, adding: “Samtel will implement minor improvements suggested by the flight crew.”

Commenting on the landmark achievement, Samtel group chairman and managing director Satish Kaura said, “The flight testing of the indigenous MFDs underscores Samtel’s commitment to produce high quality, high performance avionics equipment and systems for our customers both in the Indian and international arena.

“It reinforces our endeavours to develop and provide indigenous technology developed to meet Export market and defence offset requirements by overseas clients,” Kaura added.

[Sid]

^^ but doesn't Samtel specializes in CRT based displays. That will mean this MFD will be CRT based too?

AFAIK, isn't CRT based MFD outdated and being replaced by LCD screens?

[Vipul]

IIRC, Samtel had achieved some breakthrough on developing flat panels for TV's.

[A Sharma]

Samtel MFD

[A Sharma]

DRDO Newsletter for June

DRDO Newsletter for July

Technology for Productionisation of Composite Barrel of 84 mm Lightweight Launcher developed by Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune, was transferred to OFB on 29 April 2008.

Picture of SUDARSHAN in July issue

Vehicles Research & Development Establishment (VRDE), Ahmednagar, has designed and developed Light Armoured Troops Carrier Vehicle for use in counter-terrorist operations. The chassis used in the basic vehicle is Tata 713 vehicle which is bulletproof with all round protection through a 6 mm jackal armour against small arms, 45 mm thick bullet-proof windshield glasses, splinter-proof protection for floor against blast, and firing ports for offensive retaliation, etc.
Shri R Shankar, Director, Combat Vehicles and Engineering formally handed over the ToT documents of the carrier to Tata Motors at a function held in the backdrop of DEFEXPO-08 at Tata Pavilion in the presence of Dr CL Dhamejani, Director VRDE.

[sunilUpa]

DRDO Newsletter for June


Picture of SUDARSHAN in July issue

.

Looks like a guided bomb (most likely laser guided). You can faintly make out two anchor points on the body for attaching to Hard point of wings. Interesting position of 4 wings.

The same newsletter also talks about indigenously developed laser seeker kits.

[Kakarat]

It looks like a LGB

[Juggi G]

In Pune, a Defence Institute gets a Civilian Makeover
Indian Express

[sanjaychoudhry]

Defence works to unmanned vehicle production, DEMA comes of age

First lot of ‘off-the-shelf’ products to include mini UAV and fuses for armaments; land sought at Talegaon, Dehu Road for Defence industry cluster

For over 15 years, the city-based Defence Equipment Manufacturers Association (DEMA), a consortium of 38 small and medium enterprises, developed and tested sub-systems and components as required by the Defence sector. Realising that the time has come to graduate into active production, DEMA is now working on the first lot of ‘off-the-shelf’ products which will include a mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and fuses for armaments, to be ready by 2010.

“Now we will be developing and producing multi-disciplinary systems and put them up for ‘off-the-shelf’ purchase,” said DEMA President D S Kamlapurkar. Around 10 of DEMA’s members have formed a separate manufacturing entity —- by the name of DEMA Mechatronics — which will engage in the development, manufacturing and marketing of the complete systems.

By 2010, DEMA Mechatronics plans to build up the capacity to produce around 100 UAV’s and 2 lakh variable time fuses and around 50,000 proximity fuses per year. “We will initially manufacture around 2 lakh variable time fuses and gradually increase the number to 5 lakh per year,” said Kamlapurkar. “We are also venturing into indigenous production of proximity fuses.”

“The UAV will be an upgraded version of the Vihanga Netra, the first effort of the DEMA consortium using Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) funds,” said Yogendra Jagirdar of Jagirdar Aeroproducts, which is in charge of designing and making the UAV aircraft, its field-testing and operation. “This will be our second attempt at manufacturing UAVs after the Vihang Netras,” he added.

There will be additional features like night vision compatibility, map overlays and the ability to lock on to a target. It will be a wheeled version, compact compared to the Vihang Netra, and weighing 25-40 kg. It will possess a range of 10 km, an altitude of 1.5 km and a speed of 100 km per hour.

Dema is planning the UAV for the civil sector as well. “The UAV can be used for non-defence forces as well, like the police or even paramilitary troops for surveillance,” said Kamlapurkar.

While fuses and UAVs are DEMA’s priority projects for full-fledged production right now, some of its members are also involved in producing moving targets and the association will gradually delve into the production of smart weapons.

“At present the Vihang Netra is being used as a moving target and we are planning to produce more targets for defence use. We also plan to produce smart mines, which are activated by remote, shoulder rocket launchers etc. The technology is already a part of some other products and we will just have to adapt them to develop the proposed products,” explained Kamlapurkar.

Dema has been requesting the Ministry of Defence and the State and Central governments to grant 5-100 acres for a Defence industry cluster near Pune. “The plan is to allocate each unit on one-acre plots. We have located land at Talegaon and Dehu Road,” said Kamlapurkar who added that DEMA would be sending a detailed proposal on the cluster demand to the MoD soon.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news ... ge/333063/

[sanjaychoudhry]

Indian scientists evolve avalanche prediction system

In a boon for armed forces personnel deployed in high-altitude areas, defence scientists have developed a system for forecasting avalanches with maximum accuracy to enable corrective measures to be taken. The system, developed by researchers of the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), can predict any given day as an “avalanche day” or “non-avalanche day”.

The system, tested on a 60-km stretch of a new road being developed between Chowkibal and Tangdhar, some 200 km from Srinagar, an area prone to avalanches, has proved to be 80 percent accurate, its developers say.

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/sci ... 72979.html

[vishwakarmaa]

Samtel LCD.