Indian Military Aviation

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 02 Apr 2009 01:55

India’s Air Force One, not the real stuff

If you’ve seen a close-up of Air Force One in a Hollywood thriller, the Rs 312-crore Indian version of the US president’s Flying Oval office comes across as somewhat of a disappointment. The Boeing 737-700, specially configured for Indian VVIPs, lacks the splendour of the most prominent symbol of the American presidency.

Anurag · Post by **Anurag** » 02 Apr 2009 02:06

The guy is delusional!

srai · Post by **srai** » 02 Apr 2009 04:20

Kartik wrote:...

its not a question of whether or not they are on par or even better than the Hawk. the point is that the IAF first insisted that the Hawk met ALL its requirements, and had all American parts switched (so that it was more reliable from a future sanction proof supply POV), which is why it was alright in the first place to pay a slight premium to get them in place of the MiG-AT, L-159, etc. and now all of a sudden, after inducting the Hawk with much fanfare, they're looking at a new AJT ! there was no issue with BAe as a supplier, because they're not like the US when it comes to being unreliable and sanction prone.

besides, its not like an AJT is going to be used to train pupils in Star Wars kind of warfare. they are to train pilots the basics of transonic flight and basics of combat, before they graduate onto more complicated fighters. and while the Hawk's airframe may be older than the Yak-130 (and its clone, the M-346), T-50, etc. its not like the IAF is going to use its AJTs for frontline combat. all training is done using simulations through avionics on all of these AJTs, and the Hawk 100 series have the same facilities, where mock bogeys are generated on the simulated radars on the MFDs..you don't require a radar on the AJT, you can simulate one with software ! if you do require a radar, then why issue an RFP to MiG-AT or Yak-130, which are also radarless ? why issue an RFP to BAe all over again at all ?!

if there were some shortcomings in the Hawk Mk.132 (which I find hard to believe, since its one of the most modern Hawks around), then it made much more sense to make efforts to tackle the shortcomings by upgrading the avionics in the second batch, instead of again going through another AJT procurement process.

the GoI should've put an end to this circus, where every other bloody aviation company has an IAF RFP in its hands. and I'm not exaggerating here ! Boeing, Bell, Dassault, Saab, MiG, EADS, Kamov, Mil, Agusta Westland, Alenia, Yakovlev, KAI, Lockheed Martin, BAe, Eurocopter are all in receipt of some tender from the IAF/IA. its like a child who wants to test every single toy in the shop and refuses to down-select at least a few to reduce the time/effort spent in the selection process or reduce the number of types to reduce the maintenance/logistics/training/ headaches..I can hardly believe it that just a couple of months ago, ACM Major had stated that the IAF wanted to reduce types in inventory.

the only explanation that makes sense to me is that the IAF is trying to drive down the follow-on order price from BAe by making it appear that they're willing to induct a new type if the price of Hawks are not favourable.

IMO, IAF would be stupid to acquire all new AJTs at this point! Just think about all the induction process (pilot/maintenance training, infrastructure setup, parts stockpiling, HAL production line setup, etc.) it will have to go through ... all over again.

Didn't Su-30MKIs also have supply/parts issue during their induction process? ... it had to do with tires and engine wear/tear issue if I remember. IAF should also have asked for a new tender rather than ordering additional 40 MKIs

It is probably just to get a good bargain on the price of the Hawks.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 02 Apr 2009 05:47

Preparedness hit by chopper delay, have to live with it: Air Chief

...
“Any such delay affects our operational preparedness. But I suppose we have to live with this,” he said, answering questions at the sidelines of a function to induct VVIP transport aircraft in Delhi.

...

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 02 Apr 2009 07:10

I think BAE may have shown attitude with followon order assuming that they have got IAF by it's balls. IAF issued a new RFI forcing BAE to compete for the order that it assumed was already in it's pocket. Eventually the order might go to BAE but with different terms and conditions, they may even have to throw in a few more free goodies to ensure they win the order.

Or

Some babu/Brass decided that he didn't get the share of loot when initial order was signed and he is not going to get any in followon order since terms are all set. He decided to issue a new RFI

sum · Post by **sum** » 02 Apr 2009 09:05

IMO, IAF would be stupid to acquire all new AJTs at this point! Just think about all the induction process (pilot/maintenance training, infrastructure setup, parts stockpiling, HAL production line setup, etc.) it will have to go through ... all over again.

If its not the hawk for the follow-on order and a actual tendering process will happen, expect the IAF to enjoy the existing 66 Hawks as the sole AJT for the next decade atleast....I honestly dont see a new AJT being selected by tenders before 2015 atleast(going by our procurement speed)!!!

narayana · Post by **narayana** » 02 Apr 2009 10:08

NRao wrote:
narayana wrote:I think Hawk also has a clause not to use the trainers in war situation,something unacceptable to any buyer but because of the long delay and urgency of AJTs.IAF has gone for them,but now they have other options but the question is what about Maintenance and Logistics costs of a Entirely new kind of trainer and what benefits we will get from them.
Nope.

For ANY AJT to be war capable, one HAS to remove the front seat of the trainer ........................ to accommodate a war-capable radar. This has to be planned for. Those ACs that cannot go through this conversion cannot be used in any "war".

I am not sure what the Hawks came with. IIRC they can be used in ground attack (not as a trainer) only). But, I could be wrong.

Rao Sir,i remember that Hawk can be used to even deliver Nukes on Porki Land,Many People were skeptical in UK to sell the Hawk to subcontinent which is already a Nuclear flashpoint.with some modifications Hawks can be used in combat also,IMHO the total sq strength of IAF includes the second line aircrafts like Hawks

Nihat · Post by **Nihat** » 02 Apr 2009 10:32

Cool down Manasvi

The point he was making was with regards to UK being skeptical about selling Hawks to India which may be used for Combat purposes or to deliver Nukes and that is not the Kind of Role UK would want it's trainers to be put to , perfectly valid point IMHO.

narayana · Post by **narayana** » 02 Apr 2009 10:35

Manasvi wrote:
Rao Sir,i remember that Hawk can be used to even deliver Nukes on Porki Land,Many People were skeptical in UK to sell the Hawk to subcontinent which is already a Nuclear flashpoint.with some modifications Hawks can be used in combat also,IMHO the total sq strength of IAF includes the second line aircrafts like Hawks
why the use of phrase like 'i remember', 'people skeptical in UK' to make a point. why dont you make it stronger with links and evidence instead of hot air arguments.

'nuclear flashpoints'.

The subcontinent is already nuclear flashpoint when china tested its first nuke. why do you think that Hawks (if they are nuke capable) will 'hawks can be used to even deliver nukes on porki land' and not on chicom?

We already had nuke capable mirages and other aircrafts. why the a trainer AC is gonna make sucha big difference? what is a meaningful point you are making?

Manasvi why lose your hair on my comments,instead of telling me, try to add link which will show Hawk cannot be used in combat,if you can search on BRF you can find that Hawks can be used to deliver nukes.and you may have Agni,Prithvi,Mirage,TU-22m etc etc etc. to deliver nukes,but those guys didnt want it to happen it through their sale.and "why?" you better ask them.

Just let me know whats your point

Do you say that Hawk cannot be used in Combat?
or
Do You say that there was no resistance on UK side on Hawk sale to India?

narayana · Post by **narayana** » 02 Apr 2009 10:44

Nihat wrote:Cool down Manasvi

The point he was making was with regards to UK being skeptical about selling Hawks to India which may be used for Combat purposes or to deliver Nukes and that is not the Kind of Role UK would want it's trainers to be put to , perfectly valid point IMHO.

Thanks Nihat,My point was that there could have been some pressure or invisible arm twisting of IAF on the backend,to use Hawks only for Training Purpose,but IAF wants them to be Dual Use,this could be a reason for going for a completely new RFP,though not available in public domain

Ravishankar · Post by **Ravishankar** » 02 Apr 2009 10:57

Western Air Command achieves 'zero' accident rate this year

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/00 ... 021032.htm

narayana · Post by **narayana** » 02 Apr 2009 11:40

Manasvi wrote:Why an INVISIBLE hand of UK will arm twist IAF when those invisible hands allowed sale of Jaguars and even allowed production licence to manufacture them in India. Did people of UK objected to sale of licence to India 'coz the Jaguars will be used to deliver nukes?

According to Janes' India can easily deliver 20 KT using Mirage/MiG/Jaguars.

Nihat, why People of UK, the Invisible Hands will have problems when they have cateogorically sold a platform decades earlier to deliver nukes on errr...porkiland only.

By the way, the Jaguars are considered to be the best platform for Nuke Delivery by Royal Air Force which is manufactrued by the same BAe who manufacturers Hawk Trainer.

Some Common sense is required here,Jaguar sale was done decades earlier but we are nuclear power only in 1998 "officially"

narayana · Post by **narayana** » 02 Apr 2009 12:00

For those lazy hands who cannot google for themselves

http://www.vectorsite.net/avhawk.html
The deal had dragged out for almost two decades, being most recently delayed by sanctions imposed on India after that nation conducted nuclear tests in 1998, and then by war tensions with Pakistan. The first 24 will be built by BAE, with the remaining 42 license-built by HAL in India. First deliveries were in late 2007, with all machines to be delivered by 2010.

narayana · Post by **narayana** » 02 Apr 2009 12:54

Manasvi wrote:whether IAF arm twisted that invisible hand to provide the Hawk Trainers after India Became Nuke power?

And why it dragged for 20 years before being a nuke power?

And why finally it was signed and then given the licence to manufacture too? were people of UK were convinced enough? That is too after just 5 years of being a nuclear power?

Mate You are utterly confused,do you stay in "Jantar Mantar" ?
for all your why?,who?,what?,how?,which? you should look for your answers.as i told earlier common sense is required to understand jaguar sale.

I dont want to waste my time on this anymore.2 points i want to make

1.UK was skeptical about sale of Hawks to india and their use in any combat
2.Hawk can be used in combat mode

If you differ any of those add relevant post

Anantz · Post by **Anantz** » 02 Apr 2009 13:13

Officials, however, dismissed the criticism saying that the Hawk was a trainer jet and met Indian needs.

This points out that some segment of the British had reservations about the possible use of Hawk in combat operations! Hence they tried to justify it by saying that it was a trainer jet!

narayana · Post by **narayana** » 02 Apr 2009 13:14

Manasvi wrote: (Now, gentleman you are going personal, if am ignorant and stay at jantar mantar, why dont you educate me without using irrelevant personal and emotional phrases like 'i remember', 'invisible armtwisting', 'at the backend'?)

hey Manasvi nothing Personal mate,but i dont understand what made you pull your hair,thats all,i didnt mean that you stay at jantar mantar and are ignorant,i just wanted to say that you seem to be confused like you are in a maze not knowing where to go.
Having said that,as a add-on Tony Blair is busy with his Menicure and Pedicure these days,Answers to your question is in your post itself

It said attempts to push arms sales to India "at such a sensitive time'' contradicted Britain's plea for peace in the region and Mr. Jack Straw's "apocalyptic warning'' of a "nuclear conflagration'' over Kashmir.

k prasad · Post by **k prasad** » 02 Apr 2009 13:28

KiranM wrote:
sum wrote:Given that most of the detection equipment will be Amriki itself, wonder how many American bugs will we be able to catch? (There will be tons planted)
IMHO, the easiest approach will be to build a 'silent cabin' inside the plane. No emissions to leak out of it. All sensitive discussions can happen inside it.

This I feel is better than hunting for bugs and not being sure if all are discovered.

During the height of the cold war, when the Khans were building their embassy in Moscow, they went the whole hog and started the construction of a super-hi-tech, fortress type building, where no unfriendlies (of any type - human or rf) could enter. That was of course, till the building was almost completed and the debuggers came for a check. The moment they switched on their machines, they started humming away in glory. The clever russians had put bugs everywhere - the panelling, wiring, even in the steel itself.

So after some discussion about whether to pull the whole building down, they decided to build an extra 'silent'-citadel right on top, keeping the bugged area as is, rather than painstakingly remove every bug.

narayana · Post by **narayana** » 02 Apr 2009 13:41

Manasvi wrote: are you still confused?

Not me but i am sure you are,i come to this conclusion after you quoted a 26 March 2001 article for a RFP in 2009,if there was bribery then why this was planned.use sense atleast sometimes.

HAL to make 57 more jet trainers

HAL to make 57 more jet trainers for IAF, navy (Lead)
August 14th, 2008 - 9:09 pm ICT by IANS -

Bangalore, Aug 14 (IANS) The Indian defence acquisition council has approved procurement of 57 additional Hawks, the advanced jet trainers (AJTs), for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the navy from the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Air Chief Marshal F.H. Major said here Thursday. Of the 57 additional Hawks, to be manufactured by the HAL aircraft division in its Bangalore complex, the air force will induct 40 and the navy 17 of the naval variant in phases.

If there was bribery UPA would have jumped the gun in this election season,as it says Sense is required here

narayana · Post by **narayana** » 02 Apr 2009 15:04

Ok,I insulate myself from manasvi's Rants

The reason for RFP could be one of the following

Briber scandal as Refered by Manasvi
Ruled out
Reason:- there was no info regarding this and there were plans for induction of more Hawks

Any Change in IAF Requirements
Atleast not in Public domain,the RFP is issued to same set of vendors who were approached before hawk was selected

Lack of spares
A Possibilty,the importance of the extension of the contract was oxygen for the Hawk Production line,the indian contract saved 27,000 jobs,or else the plant would have been closed.UK would have taken a extra step to make spares available as there was news of extending contract for 57 more AC

Change In Terms of Use
A possibility as there was a section in UK which was skeptical of its dual use,and with recent 26/11 and chances of a Indo Pak War.

narayana · Post by **narayana** » 02 Apr 2009 15:05

Your smartself using the phrase 'jumping the gun'

Jumping the gun means : Jump to a conclusion before the information is revealed.

May i also advise you to hone up your english skills and placing punctuation marks at correct places?

manasvi You are losing

.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 02 Apr 2009 15:18

the worry about hawk use for nuclear war role came from leftie liberal citizens AND NOT FROM HMG, who were desperate for export sales and couldn't care less if hawks were used for lawn mowing in rajpath. no sensible air knowledgable person will contemplate using hawks in a serious strike role, let alone nuclear. however, the hawk can fulfil a useful 2nd line strike air defence role for us in the Eastern and Southern sectors

narayana · Post by **narayana** » 02 Apr 2009 15:28

Lalmohan wrote:the worry about hawk use for nuclear war role came from leftie liberal citizens AND NOT FROM HMG, who were desperate for export sales and couldn't care less if hawks were used for lawn mowing in rajpath. no sensible air knowledgable person will contemplate using hawks in a serious strike role, let alone nuclear. however, the hawk can fulfil a useful 2nd line strike air defence role for us in the Eastern and Southern sectors

Exactly LalMohanji,we dont need hawks to parcel nukes to Porkiland,we have any enough proven delivery methods,if Hawks cannot be used as for second line defence then it will effect IAF sq strength and planning.i dont say that this is the only reason but my point all the time was that it can be considerable

If spares were really a problem this could have been solved at inter govt level,we are living spares shortage since time immemorial with the ruskies.

Drevin · Post by **Drevin** » 02 Apr 2009 16:47

the only explanation that makes sense to me is that the IAF is trying to drive down the follow-on order price from BAe by making it appear that they're willing to induct a new type if the price of Hawks are not favourable.

Hawk is one of the best agreed .... but not sure about the strategy you are suggesting ... these waters are deeper than they look at first glance ... I'd wait for more news. I am surprised why we didnt consider yak130/m346/t50 in the first place ...

Nirmal · Post by **Nirmal** » 02 Apr 2009 17:20

Could it be that IAF has floated a new RFP for trainers because of following reasons:

1. IAF probably will retain Hawk as its' trainer, hence thier re-tendering Bae again but want to extract following:
a) Price Advange and 'Freebies'.
b) 30-50% 'Offset' which the original contract was not subjected to and the same terms would have been applicable to ' follow-on' order similar to 40 SU30MKi order.
c) Advantage of choosing a new upgraded version for no additional cost.
just my 2 cents.

Sid · Post by **Sid** » 02 Apr 2009 20:26

India created such a big infrastructure and manufacturing base for HAWK and still ended up canceling it???

If we are canceling this order due to spare parts problems, then why Indian media make such a big ho-halla when we face spares/maintenance issues form Russia.

Now new RFP will bring in new trainer, new logistics, new infrastructure, new maintenance.... just for another 50-60 aircraft? on the one hand they talk about reducing the aircraft type and other hand keep buying like hell.

If they have so much money then please donate some to "Greedy Indian Relief Fund" (GIRF chairman hat on).

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 03 Apr 2009 07:52

Ok,I insulate myself

Can we trust you to run for PMship of India?

karan_mc · Post by **karan_mc** » 03 Apr 2009 08:25

Nirmal wrote:Could it be that IAF has floated a new RFP for trainers because of following reasons:

1. IAF probably will retain Hawk as its' trainer, hence thier re-tendering Bae again but want to extract following:
a) Price Advange and 'Freebies'.
b) 30-50% 'Offset' which the original contract was not subjected to and the same terms would have been applicable to ' follow-on' order similar to 40 SU30MKi order.
c) Advantage of choosing a new upgraded version for no additional cost.
just my 2 cents.

Price hike of the Current Version already available with India was the reason further orders where not placed

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 07 Apr 2009 03:15

Airfield to be reopened in east Ladakh

New Delhi: After successfully reopening the Daulat Beg Oldi and Fuk Che airfields in Ladakh last year, India is now working vigorously to operationalise the Neoma Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) this year for the Indian Air Force (IAF), close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.

...

k prasad · Post by **k prasad** » 07 Apr 2009 21:41

Nirmal wrote:Could it be that IAF has floated a new RFP for trainers because of following reasons:

1. IAF probably will retain Hawk as its' trainer, hence thier re-tendering Bae again but want to extract following:
a) Price Advange and 'Freebies'.
b) 30-50% 'Offset' which the original contract was not subjected to and the same terms would have been applicable to ' follow-on' order similar to 40 SU30MKi order.
c) Advantage of choosing a new upgraded version for no additional cost.
just my 2 cents.

K Mehta and I discussed this when we met... the options that we closed on, apart from the freebie thing are:

1. They are genuinely looking for a new type - however, this seems very wierd. Additionally, the spares issue didnt seem severe at all when i spoke to ppl from HAL, AF and BAe - they said that it was just handing over issues between HAL and BAe, and could be fixed.

2. Trying to drive down the follow on order cost + offsets.

3. The IAF is looking for a genuine LIFT capability, with a lot more weapons training options, which the present hawk doesn't really have - hence, the follow on order, with the contract thingy meant to prevent allegations of corruption etc etc... the problem being that training pilots on fighter aircraft would be problematic, especially when our numbers are down, and plus, it is quite expensive.

sum · Post by **sum** » 07 Apr 2009 21:47

3. The IAF is looking for a genuine LIFT capability, with a lot more weapons training options, which the present hawk doesn't really have

If this is true, wonder how this makes the "professionalism" of the IAF look?

How can one suddenly decide that they wanted a different thing after taking 20+ years to select the incumbent?

Im sorry but if it isnt a bargaining tactic (and also not a spares related issue as Prasad-saar was mentioning), it reflects very poorly on the IAF....

k prasad · Post by **k prasad** » 07 Apr 2009 22:02

sum wrote:
3. The IAF is looking for a genuine LIFT capability, with a lot more weapons training options, which the present hawk doesn't really have
If this is true, wonder how this makes the "professionalism" of the IAF look?

How can one suddenly decide that they wanted a different thing after taking 20+ years to select the incumbent?

Im sorry but if it isnt a bargaining tactic (and also not a spares related issue as Prasad-saar was mentioning), it reflects very poorly on the IAF....

That may not be the case sum... indeed, given that the Hawk contract was going on for 20 years, I'd doubt that IAF had much else to do - additionally, I think they are ok with the present hawks, but want more, upgraded hawks to serve a different purpose of LIFT - the present ones are good for training cadets in supersonic jet flying, but only ok for combat training.

Plus, I'd think that till about 2-3 yrs ago, the IAF ppl must have thought that the fighter trainer versions were ok for combat training - i guess that they must have started seeing the cost. I see Major's hand in this... if this is indeed so, it is quite an astute move. Not only does it save money, and leaves more numbers for CAS and CAP, but also ensures that when new pilots get into the fighter cockpits, they don't waste flyng hours to learn the ropes of jet combat, but rather to get to know taht machine.

Do note that my post was just speculative, and trying to see the options- dont take it as a fact.

sum · Post by **sum** » 07 Apr 2009 22:04

Do note that my post was just speculative, and trying to see the options- dont take it as a fact.

Given the An-124 load of info you have given in the AI-09 thread, i usually take every word you type as gospel truth onlee

Vivek K · Post by **Vivek K** » 07 Apr 2009 22:44

We're floating a lot of RFPs but no POs! An RFP can be issued and cancelled anytime (as shown by IAF et al). The MRCA is nowhere in sight so the LIFT/SHIFT will be even further away.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 08 Apr 2009 07:06

sum wrote:
3. The IAF is looking for a genuine LIFT capability, with a lot more weapons training options, which the present hawk doesn't really have
If this is true, wonder how this makes the "professionalism" of the IAF look?

How can one suddenly decide that they wanted a different thing after taking 20+ years to select the incumbent?

Im sorry but if it isnt a bargaining tactic (and also not a spares related issue as Prasad-saar was mentioning), it reflects very poorly on the IAF....

er sum - it was not the IAF that created a 20 year delay for the Hawk.

But let me say something off topic and possibly wrong here - I am just guessing.

If you look at the major arms exporting nations of the world you find that the biggest consumers of arms are generally the nations that manufacture and export them as well. Domestic consumption is huge while foreign sales are the icing on the cake. This is true for most nations except India, for whose enormous armed forces - MOST of the stuff is imported.

In other words India is a huge country with the mental attitude of the small arms importing nation like Nauru, Fiji and Sri Lanka. Our "non aligned" buddhi ensure that we feel equal equal to nations like Nauru, Fiji and Sri Lanka but we import like no other country in the world.

Countries like Nauru Fiji and Sri Lanka have miniscule arms needs compare to India and they do quick deals in which a few millions of dollars of greasing palms gets the deal done in weeks. I am dead certain that all arms exporting nations have vast sales depts dedicated to greasing foreign palms.

In India'; case - palm greasing has to be enormous - maybe tens or hundreds of millions and spread out among a huge number of people. Add to this the "dharmic objectors" who say "No palm greasing allowed"

When you have an internal war in India between the people who take kickbacks and those who want to see clean deals you get a gridlock. And while that gridlock exists we see news items provoked by competing interest that say

Russia armtwistng India
Israel bribery scam
US helicopter scam
Sweden artillery scam
Hawk spares scam

It is impossible for us to say how much of this is genuine and how much is planted.

India's huge arms need, combined with a culture of admiring phoren and importing phoren, and our small nation mentality with lack of any confidence in our own works against us.

*If we make arms - the users lack confidence in them
*If we import arms - Indians lack confidence in the imports because they accuse others of taking bribes.

This is the story of the Indian arms industry.

sarang · Post by **sarang** » 08 Apr 2009 08:21

I agree. that's the core issue which I don't understand the thinking behind it.

That is exactly what I am trying to say in Military acquisition thread.

sum · Post by **sum** » 12 Apr 2009 09:30

BSF buys 8 Dhruv helicopters

Kochi: The Border Security Force (BSF) has embarked on a major expansion of its air wing in a bid to give a thrust to its border patrol and internal security roles in a context of stepped up vigil along the country’s borders. The force intends to add eight helicopters and three fixed-wing medium lift transport aircraft to its existing fleet. The fleet now includes six MI-17 helicopters, an Embraer, two King Air and two Avro aircraft.

“We are acquiring eight Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH). Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) started deliveries in March and our pilots are training in various academies in the country…,” M.L. Kumawat, the BSF Director General, told The Hindu in Chennai during an exclusive interaction recently.

The Cabinet has given its nod for the BSF acquiring transport aircraft, and the force is considering its options. “In the meantime, we will hire aircraft from Air India to carry out the job,” said Mr. Kumawat.

Shortages overcome

The air wing had hit an air pocket owing to dire shortage of pilots. This brought down the serviceability of its choppers to an all-time low. “Unfortunately, we had a shortage of pilots and were not in a position to fly more than one of our six helicopters at any given time. But things have turned around in the last couple of months and the situation is now looking up,” said Mr. Kumawat.

“We have given our helicopters to the naxalite-affected States for surveillance and also to airlift counter-insurgency troops. They have also been used for action against Pakistan intruders, particularly fishermen who ventured into our territory regardless of warning. By means of slithering operations in the Sir Creek area, we have foiled their attempts and caught their assets. From intelligence gathered by the Air Force and the BSF, it is obvious that they are no longer coming into the Sir Creek area,” he said. However, the force continues to carry out aerial surveillance in the region to thwart attempts at seaborne infiltration.

Among the soldier-friendly measures that are under way is betterment of living conditions in the border out posts (BOPs). “BOPs are to BSF what police stations are to the police. We want to make them congenial, liveable and worker-friendly,” said Mr. Kumawat.

JaiS · Post by **JaiS** » 15 Apr 2009 04:28

India's only five-star general turns 90 today

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 16 Apr 2009 06:17

Plan to modernise IAF airfields runs into rough weather.

A project worth Rs 1,200 crore for a much needed modernisation of airbases across the country has entered troubled waters with competitors approaching the Defence Ministry's Vigilance Department against “unfair practices” in the selection process.

The project, which includes an air traffic management system, navigational aids and an airfield lightning system for 30 frontline airbases of the Indian Air Force (IAF), was sanctioned last year with six bidders vying for the mega deal.

However, the selection process is set to get delayed with competitors pointing to 'discrepancies' in the technical evaluation process that led to the short listing of all six bidders. The Vigilance Department of the Defence Ministry was approached and it is learnt that inquiries have been sent to the Air Force asking it to clarify its stand.

Competitors have alleged that the requirements of the Air Force in the original tender were diluted to accommodate all companies. It has also been alleged that several top companies, including Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Larsen and Toubro (L&T) did not take part in the competition even after being invited by the IAF due to loopholes in the tender document.

While all six bidders, which included consortiums of Indian companies with foreign firms, were short listed for the project, the complaint says rules have been diluted that helped at least two companies qualify for the final round of commercial negotiations.

In one instance, one of the companies in the consortium bidding for the contract has been blacklisted by a South Asian country for providing faulty runway lightning equipment. In the other case, it has been alleged that the Indian company that is the lead integrator of the project has a turnover of less than 1/10th of the contract value, ignoring financial guidelines.

The modernisation project includes the setting up of an Instrument Landing System, Tactical Air Navigation System, Communication Equipment and a CAT 2 airfield lightning system.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 16 Apr 2009 08:11

India's only five-star general turns 90 today

sum · Post by **sum** » 16 Apr 2009 08:30

A project worth Rs 1,200 crore for a much needed modernisation of airbases across the country has entered troubled waters with competitors approaching the Defence Ministry's Vigilance Department against “unfair practices” in the selection process.

Not again...

IIRC, Indian defence procurement must be the easiest in the world to sabotage with not much effort needed by external powers to ensure Indian forces do not get much needed equipment!!!!