Military Acquisitions, Partnerships & Developments

renukb · Post by **renukb** » 28 Sep 2008 15:58

IAF to procure MI-17 V5 choppers from Russia

Chandigarh, Sept 25 (PTI) The Indian Air Force is likely to add MI-17 V5 medium lift helicopters in its fleet as negotiations to procure them from Russia are in final stages, a senior IAF official said today.

"Our negotiations are in the final stages with Russia. In the next three months, we will sign a contract with them. After two-three years of signing of the contract, we will start the procurement of these helicopters," Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Maintenance Command, Air Marshal Gautam Nayyar told reporters here.

These would replace MI-8 helicopters, which have outlived their life, he said, adding once these machines are procured, they will help tide over the problems faced by helicopters in high altitudes of Siachin and Ladhak.

He said the MI-17V5 will have modern avionic equipment and their engine performance will be better than the existing helicopters.

"They will be very effective in the high altitude areas. MI-17V5 will gradually replace the MI-8 helicopters of IAF," he said, adding at present "we have 50 MI-8 and their estimated life span is 35 years. However, they all are 38 years old and we will replace them with 80 MI-17V5." To a question, he said in India there are 13 Base Repair Depots (BRDs) that look after the maintenance of air crafts and other related equipment and Rs 500 crore would be pumped in over the next few years for their upgradation and modernisation.

To another question, Nayyar admitted that IAF was not getting enough quality engineers as IIT graduates are not forthcoming. But he hoped that with the implementation of the sixth pay commission, things would change and graduates from premier institutions would choose IAF as a career.

He also said that the IAF was also planning to open a Rs-200 crore world class engineering college in Bangalore. PTI

renukb · Post by **renukb** » 28 Sep 2008 16:03

Russia and India Agree to Transfer of Key Technology for T-90 Tanks

After two day-long intensive deliberations between the two countries, Russia has agreed to supply specifications of the T-90 tank barrels to India by the end of this year. The delay has prevented India from commencing production of the T-90 tanks at its own Avadi Heavy Vehicles Factory.

According to Defense Ministry Spokesman, Sitanshu Kar:
“The talks were held in a highly professional manner. Sides expressed their readiness to take all the necessary measures to further develop cooperation on a mutually beneficial basis.”

What does this new agreement with Russia mean for India?

The agreement promises a new independence for India as that country will soon be able be to produce these weapon platforms indigenously without the help of Russia. The two countries signed agreements for the delivery of almost 1,200 T-90 tanks for the staggering cost of 1.2 billion US dollars. The deal, which will conclude over the next five years, also provides to India the transfer of technology for the production of another 1,000 to 1,500 tanks. Moscow has also agreed to full product support for the production of these tanks.

The agreement clarifies the position of the Indian army, which is forced to continue to rely on mainly Russian tanks. The indigenous Indian Arjun tanks, have not yet passed important induction trials.

What does the future hold for both countries?
The joint development of a 5th generation fighter aircraft may also be in the works. Although the aircraft design has not been finalized, the two countries have agreed to ensure that this new fighter plane will be in service by the year 2015.

And for the rest of us, what kind of tanks can we expect to produce in the next five years or so? I for one don’t know, and wouldn’t venture a guess, but maybe somewhere there’s someone who….wants to make a deal?

renukb · Post by **renukb** » 28 Sep 2008 16:06

Russia may sell more MiG-29K carrier fighters to India

MOSCOW, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - Talks on additional deliveries of MiG-29K Fulcrum-D carrier fighters to India will start in the near future, the president of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation said Wednesday.

Russia and India signed a contract on January 20, 2004, stipulating the delivery of 12 single-seat MiG-29K and four two-seat MiG-29KUB by 2009, to be deployed on the Admiral Gorshkov, currently being retrofitted in Russia for the Indian Navy.

There is an option in the contract to supply an additional 30 fighters by 2015.

"The negotiations on the Admiral Gorshkov delivery will end sooner or later, and we hope in the near future to start talks on additional delivery of MiG-29K fighters to India," Alexey Fyodorov said.

However, the head of Russia's state technology corporation, Sergei Chemezov, said that it was premature to talk about a deadline for the Admiral Gorshkov delivery.

"The evaluation of additional work on Admiral Gorshkov modernization has not been done yet and it is too early to hold talks on the completion," he said.

India, one of the biggest buyers of Russian weaponry, has been upset by a series of delays in Russia's reconfiguration of the Admiral Gorshkov from a vertical-takeoff platform into a classic aircraft carrier.

After long-running delays and disputes, Russia and India agreed in February to raise refit costs for the aircraft carrier, berthed at the Sevmash shipyard in north Russia for the past 12 years.

The carrier, renamed the Vikramaditya, is to replace India's INS Viraat carrier, which although still operational is 50 years old.

India agreed the $1.5 billion deal for the Admiral Gorshkov in 2004. Moscow has since demanded an additional $1.2 billion, which New Delhi replied was "exorbitant."

The contract to deliver the Admiral Gorshkov to India, signed by state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport with the Indian Navy, covers the modernization of the ship and equipping it with modern weaponry, including MiG-29K Fulcrum aircraft and Ka-27 Helix-A and Ka-31 Helix-B anti-submarine helicopters.

namit k · Post by **namit k** » 28 Sep 2008 16:10

renukb wrote:Russia and India Agree to Transfer of Key Technology for T-90 Tanks

After two day-long intensive deliberations between the two countries, Russia has agreed to supply specifications of the T-90 tank barrels to India by the end of this year. The delay has prevented India from commencing production of the T-90 tanks at its own Avadi Heavy Vehicles Factory.

According to Defense Ministry Spokesman, Sitanshu Kar:
“The talks were held in a highly professional manner. Sides expressed their readiness to take all the necessary measures to further develop cooperation on a mutually beneficial basis.”

What does this new agreement with Russia mean for India?

The agreement promises a new independence for India as that country will soon be able be to produce these weapon platforms indigenously without the help of Russia. The two countries signed agreements for the delivery of almost 1,200 T-90 tanks for the staggering cost of 1.2 billion US dollars. The deal, which will conclude over the next five years, also provides to India the transfer of technology for the production of another 1,000 to 1,500 tanks. Moscow has also agreed to full product support for the production of these tanks.

The agreement clarifies the position of the Indian army, which is forced to continue to rely on mainly Russian tanks. The indigenous Indian Arjun tanks, have not yet passed important induction trials.

What does the future hold for both countries?
The joint development of a 5th generation fighter aircraft may also be in the works. Although the aircraft design has not been finalized, the two countries have agreed to ensure that this new fighter plane will be in service by the year 2015.

And for the rest of us, what kind of tanks can we expect to produce in the next five years or so? I for one don’t know, and wouldn’t venture a guess, but maybe somewhere there’s someone who….wants to make a deal?

I am sure this agreement happens only when India agrees to pay more in some kinda joint development maybe of future tanks,pakfa,maybe acquisition of 30 more mig29-naval and its pricing will be disclosed later or we agreed to pay more for platform ticket of gorshkov

namit k · Post by **namit k** » 28 Sep 2008 16:12

^^ oops just missed the news

kit · Post by **kit** » 29 Sep 2008 15:43

Cross posting this.. there is something about the Indian military projects.Are the chinese able to manipulate the Indian procurement / induction of weapon platforms via their industrial network ? Wont that be a type of assymetric warfare ? Delays are expected but inordinate ones ? right from phalcons to the Gorky ..

arun · Post by **arun** » 29 Sep 2008 18:57

X Post.

Rakesh may not after all have the expensive responsibility of distributing Mithai in tonnage quantities

:

Defense chief says Russia does not export nuclear submarines

29/09/2008 16:55 NEW DELHI, September 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has no plans to export nuclear submarines, the country's defense minister said on Monday during his visit to India.

Asked to comment on media reports on alleged plans to export nuclear submarines, in particular to India, Anatoly Serdyukov said: "The press discusses lots of things. We do not export nuclear submarines." …….

RIA Novosti

uddu · Post by **uddu** » 29 Sep 2008 20:17

"The press discusses lots of things. We do not export nuclear submarines." …….

No export only lease for 10 years.

renukb · Post by **renukb** » 04 Oct 2008 18:31

US offers India $375 mn deal for smart missiles

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/New ... 558962.cms

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon has notified the US Congress of its offer to sell India CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons (SFW) worth $375 mn to help the "Indian Air Force to develop and enhance standardisation and operational ability with the United States".

"This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to strengthen the US-India strategic relationship," the Pentagon's Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) told the US Congress Sep 30, a day before the Senate approved the India-US civil nuclear deal.

It will also help "improve the security of an important partner, which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace and economic progress in South Asia," the agency said, assuring lawmakers "the proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region".

The proposed sale comes three weeks after US offered India a $170 mn deal for the sale of two dozen Harpoon air to ground anti-ship missiles during Defence minister A K Antony's visit to Washington.

"India intends to use the Sensor Fuzed Weapons to modernise its armed forces and enhance its defensive ability to counter ground-armoured threats.

"The missiles will assist the Indian Air Force to develop and enhance standardisation and operational ability with the United States. India will have no difficulty absorbing these missiles into its armed forces," the DSCA said.

"There will be no adverse impact on US defence readiness as a result of this proposed sale," it added.

The SFW - a 1,000-pound class weapon - is designed to accurately detect and defeat a wide range of moving and stationary land and maritime target threats with minimal collateral damage, while not leaving a single hazardous dud.

India, DSCA said, "has requested a possible sale of 510 CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons, 19 CBU-105 Integration test assets (12 live tails, seven inert tails) and five CBU-97 Integration test assets as well as associated equipment and services". The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $375 mn.

New Delhi, the agency said, has requested offsets for the deal, but at this time agreements are undetermined and will be defined in negotiations between India and the contractor. The prime contractor will be Textron Systems Corporation of Wilmington, Massachusetts.

Textron Defence Systems describes its SFW as "the first and only combat-proven, clean battlefield weapon of its kind in US Air Force inventory".

The SFW contains 10 BLU-108 submunitions, each with four smart Skeet warheads, for a total of 40 warheads. One SFW can simultaneously detect and engage many fixed and moving land combat targets within 121,400 sq mts.

This wide-area capability enables the SFW to halt an invading force and attack air defence sites while significantly reducing the number of aircraft sorties, it says.

Designed for stand-off deployment from a wide selection of aircraft, SFW's versatility and superior lethality make it the weapon of choice for anti-armour, destruction of enemy air defence and many other combat missions.

SFW can be deployed from US or North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) tactical aircraft in all weather conditions, day or night, and is presently certified on most US Air Force fighter and bomber aircraft.

Each smart Skeet warhead can defeat a variety of moving and stationary targets, from heavy armoured battle tanks, soft-skinned vehicles to maritime threats. Many of these include parked aircraft, mobile radars and jammers, air defence vehicles and support vehicles.

sum · Post by **sum** » 04 Oct 2008 18:41

What is this SFW? How is it that the IAF has suddenly decided to buy this given that there was not even a rumor of the IAF needing such a weapon?

Kakarat · Post by **Kakarat** » 04 Oct 2008 19:54

CBU-97/CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapon -FAS

Kakarat · Post by **Kakarat** » 04 Oct 2008 20:02

Discovery Channel Future Weapons: Sensor Fuzed Weapon
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=p-216-Y6Cac

sunilUpa · Post by **sunilUpa** » 04 Oct 2008 22:50

Wow, those are deadly. Two aircrafts loaded with those beauties can obliterate an armored formation. Iraqi republican guards did find that out during the Second war.

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 04 Oct 2008 23:07

But but but they won't let us test

Arun_S · Post by **Arun_S** » 04 Oct 2008 23:35

uddu wrote:
"The press discusses lots of things. We do not export nuclear submarines." …….
No export only lease for 10 years.

Saar, in my rustic mind the lease in multiple units of 10year each till EOL is same as buying the big whale of a boat. Sure the Russians will keep or sell the metal scrap after EOL. Why raise eyebrows by exporting nuclear powered submarines?

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 05 Oct 2008 02:19

sanjaykumar wrote:But but but they won't let us test

What do you mean?

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 05 Oct 2008 02:52

The US has agreed to sell next generation weapons, signifying a great deal for those willing to read the tea leaves. This is a quantum change in India-U.S. relations yet there are those who can only see that they will let India test LESS with the nuclear deal (as opposed to letting India test MORE without the deal).

kit · Post by **kit** » 05 Oct 2008 06:14

Sensor Fuzed Weapons : Straight from the horse s mouth !

http://www.textrondefense.com/products/ ... ed/sfw.htm

targets within a 30-acre coverage area

kit · Post by **kit** » 05 Oct 2008 06:17

Data sheet on SFW for the nerds

http://www.textrondefense.com/pdfs/data ... asheet.pdf

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 05 Oct 2008 06:27

SFW ?! WOW !

btw, drdo has said it was working on a multiple target A2S weapon.

sum · Post by **sum** » 05 Oct 2008 09:00

Rahul M wrote:SFW ?! WOW !

btw, drdo has said it was working on a multiple target A2S weapon.

Wonder what end user agreements do these new SFW weapons come with?

To be used only for trainings and demos and not in real wars?

AnantD · Post by **AnantD** » 05 Oct 2008 09:46

To be used only for trainings and demos and not in real wars?

Why don't we ask TSP what end user agreements these come with; after all they threw all the US weapons at us, not once but two times in 65 and 71.

vavinash · Post by **vavinash** » 05 Oct 2008 11:25

AnantD wrote:
To be used only for trainings and demos and not in real wars?
Why don't we ask TSP what end user agreements these come with; after all they threw all the US weapons at us, not once but two times in 65 and 71.

And faced sanctions from US during the war while russia kept supplying us with weapons.

AnantD · Post by **AnantD** » 05 Oct 2008 11:37

And faced sanctions from US during the war while russia kept supplying us with weapons.

If sanctions were that important, would it not have stopped them after 1965? Besides, the damage was already done.

When the US supplied India LGB's to blast the TSPA from Tiger Hill in Safed Sagar, I'm sure we faced the same issue.

vavinash · Post by **vavinash** » 05 Oct 2008 11:46

AnantD wrote:
And faced sanctions from US during the war while russia kept supplying us with weapons.
If sanctions were that important, would it not have stopped them after 1965? Besides, the damage was already done.

When the US supplied India LGB's to blast the TSPA from Tiger Hill in Safed Sagar, I'm sure we faced the same issue.

It did, we started the 71 war. It is a open secret. We castrated them because russia had our back. The LGB's were british not amrerican.

AnantD · Post by **AnantD** » 05 Oct 2008 11:55

Please get your facts right:

With the Israel providing around 100 Laser-guided bomb kits to the Indian Military, the air force chose to make maximum use of this and retaliated with regular sorties on Pakistani occupied bunkers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Safed_Sagar

I realize you would have preferred our British friends to have supplied the LGB's, but they were US supplied LGB's, Israel does not make any LGB kits. The Bombs were probably WWII british with US Paveway kits attached supplied by Israel (for expediency because time was short).

Israel does not supply these without a US request to do so.

vavinash · Post by **vavinash** » 05 Oct 2008 12:00

Might be right but still doesn't change the facts. US cannot be trusted in case of war.

AnantD · Post by **AnantD** » 05 Oct 2008 12:06

US cannot be trusted in case of war.

Thats why any deals with the US are based on offsets and build up of inventory. You can't have stuff donated by the US and then expect the US to resupply when they want the war to stop.

Besides, the Phalcon coming from Israel has lots of joint tech with the US which is why the US vetoed China and Okayed India. I would send these back and not use them in war time.

vavinash · Post by **vavinash** » 05 Oct 2008 12:24

Offsets? Keep dreaming. Nothing worthwhile will be transferred. Yes I have doubts that phalcons secrets are already with the chinks courtesy the israelis.

AnantD · Post by **AnantD** » 05 Oct 2008 12:35

I don't think you understand what offsets mean.

Besides, if the Chinese steal and the Israeli's sell for cash, what does that have to do with US intention.

Since no country can be trusted in times of war, except who ever you think we trusted in the past, India is only going to have to make everything itself, and that is not going to be the case since even the US imports defence equipment. A lot of computer chips are made in Japan, and the USAF Air Refueller contract was initially given to Airbus.

Anyway, you can live in the past. Goodnight.

sunilUpa · Post by **sunilUpa** » 05 Oct 2008 17:55

He is completely getting confused b/w ToT and Offset. Any way SFW CBU-105 is game changer, and IAF wants to buy in good numbers too. Buy them sign the end user agreement and use them when needed as you wish.

Baljeet · Post by **Baljeet** » 05 Oct 2008 18:49

sanjaykumar wrote:But but but they won't let us test

Sanjay
Testing time will come. War is still over and above the horizon, preparations are begining. Only if Indian Politicians will pull their head out of their Arse they will see clear light.

renukb · Post by **renukb** » 05 Oct 2008 20:04

AnantD wrote:Besides, if the Chinese steal and the Israeli's sell for cash, what does that have to do with US intention.

Can Israel do or act on anything, with out the US permission?

Vikram_S · Post by **Vikram_S** » 06 Oct 2008 00:53

they routinely do. trick is not to get caught. when they got caught they had to stop working with china. but till then they enjoyed selling previous gen technology to china for much $. technology hungry china was ok with even that. they had python4, but they sold python3 license to china.

renukb · Post by **renukb** » 06 Oct 2008 12:04

they routinely do.

No they can't. May be a wink here and there by the unkle...That's about it. Us has to do that for various reasons.

arun · Post by **arun** » 07 Oct 2008 12:15

This takes the grand total of SMERCH launchers on order to 80

:

Russia to deliver another 18 Smerch rocket launchers to India

satya · Post by **satya** » 07 Oct 2008 14:11

This takes the grand total of SMERCH launchers on order to 80 :

Russia to deliver another 18 Smerch rocket launchers to India

38 were ordered in past . Add another 'additional' 18( as per this news report now so total is 56 ) not 80 .

ovein · Post by **ovein** » 07 Oct 2008 16:35

Russia's UAC to co-develop hypersonic BrahMos missile only if Russian Air Force interested news

Moscow: Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) will participate in the joint development of a new cruise missile with India only if the Russian Air Force opts for it, so said the head of this umbrella organisation for Russian aircraft manufacturers last week.

"Our participation will be certain only if we receive an official request to equip Russian fighters, the Su-MKI in particular, with these missiles. So far we have not received such a request," said UAC president Alexey Fyodorov.

The UAC includes Ilyushin, Tupolev, Sukhoi, Antonov and Mikoyan, as well as companies involved in distribution of aircraft. It was set up last year to streamline the country's aircraft-building industry.

Last month, Russia and India announced plans to jointly develop a hypersonic cruise missile, now dubbed as the BrahMos-2 . The new missile will have a top speed of over Mach 5 and will match similar developments taking place around the world.

BrahMos Aerospace is a joint Indo-Russian venture that designs, produces and markets BrahMos supersonic missiles, whose sea and land-based versions have been successfully tested and inducted by the Indian army and navy.

The head of BrahMos Aerospace, Dr A Sivathanu Pillai, had said earlier that the joint venture had finished development of an airborne version of the missile and was awaiting suitable modification of Su-30MKI fighters for trials.

As with most Russian projects, the modification programme is considerably behind schedule with Sukhoi designers caught up with development work on the Su-35 fighter programme.

The BrahMos supersonic missile is capable of carrying a conventional warhead of up to 300 kg (660 pounds) to a range of 290 km (180 miles). It can hit ground targets flying at an altitude as low as 10 meters (30 feet) at a top speed of Mach 2.8. It is unique in that it is the only supersonic missile currently in service any where in the world.

BrahMos Aerospace has said that Indian armed forces could purchase up to 1,000 of these missiles over the next decade, and would also look towards exporting 2,000 to other countries in the same period.

http://www.domain-b.com/aero/mil_avi/mi ... force.html

JaiS · Post by **JaiS** » 07 Oct 2008 19:31

IAF takes up mammoth infrastructure repair across India

Nagpur, October 7: IAF will spend Rs 500 crore for its base repair depots spread across the length and breadth of the country.

The maintenance command of the Indian Air Force (IAF) has taken up a large scale infrastructure development programme worth Rs 500 crore, for its base repair depots (BRDs) spread across the length and breadth of the country, a top IAF official said on Tuesday.

“The offset clause inserted by the Union Defence Ministry in the Defence Procurement Programme (DPP) 2008 will help the maintenance command in carrying out infrastructure development,” IAF Maintenance Command Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Air Marshal Gautam Nayyar told said in Nagpur.

The offset clause makes a vendor invest 30 to 50 per cent back in public sector undertakings (PSUs) or indigenous industry in the country, he said.

Under the programme, the vendors (mostly foreign) are obliged to transfer specific and engineering drawings to the command, which was not available earlier. Earlier, it was restricted to reverse engineering, Nayyar said.

The infrastructure development programme launched recently will be completed by year 2011, he said adding that for the maintenance command the next 5-10 years are very crucial for carrying out developmental activities.

The maintenance command has taken up massive upgradation of its existing fleet of aircraft, Nayyar said.

The MiG-21 fighter planes, which earned a bad name due to frequent crashes, have been upgraded to Bison at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Nashik leading to reduction in number of crashes, he said.

Jaguar aircraft upgradation is under progress at HAL, Bangalore while negotiations are underway for Mirage upgradation with the original equipment provider from France.

Initial upgradation will be carried out in France and later at HAL, Bangalore, he said.

MiG-29 upgradation contract has already been finalised with a Russian company and will be done at 11 BRD in Nashik, Nayyar said.

Negotiations are on for upgradation of transport aircraft AN-32 with Ukraine. After initial work in Ukraine, the transport plane will undergo upgradation at 1 BRD in Kanpur. With this, the life of an AN-32 will be enhanced from 25 to 40 years, he said.

About helicopters, Nayyar said the MI-8 machines, which are nearing expiry are being replaced by MI-17 choppers, which have night vision (capability) goggles (NVGs).

IAF has plans to set up a first-of-its-kind engineering college in Bangalore where students after completion of standard 12, will be directly admitted to various branches of engineering to be inducted in the air force later, Nayyar said in reply to a question.

But the proposal is awaiting clearence from the finance ministry, he said.

Raj Malhotra · Post by **Raj Malhotra** » 07 Oct 2008 21:58

A Sharma wrote:[url=http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=617150]
Negotiations are on for upgradation of transport aircraft AN-32 with Ukraine. After initial work in Ukraine, the transport plane will undergo upgradation at 1 BRD in Kanpur. With this, the life of an AN-32 will be enhanced from 25 to 40 years, he said.

About helicopters, Nayyar said the MI-8 machines, which are nearing expiry are being replaced by MI-17 choppers, which have night vision (capability) goggles (NVGs).

Upgradation of An-32 will be massive programme, which may require something like 200+ engines. Further we have been purchasing hyuge number of Mi-17s and even current purchase of 80 helos mean around 160-200 engines.

I think we should take ToT for licensed manufacture of these engines as we did for Mig-29 engines. Atleast there will be some value addition from our side apart from screw driver assembly at BRD