Indian Military Aviation

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 09 Mar 2010 07:38

andy B wrote:Kedar amazing pics boss great work indeed.

I have a minor nitpick in title of one of the pics

The one below says that the explosion is the result of the delayed fuse of the Betabs digging in before exploding.

I always thought that munitions like the Betab and Durandal would never have a major kaboom explosion but more so a smallish puff as it digs into the concrete and explodes unleasing its energy underneath and spreading cracks in the concrete which would form craters.

The explosion below resembles a lot more to a HE explosive or even a fuel air burst
http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/media/VS2 ... 3.jpg.html

Apart from that I would expect that a series (at least 4 in the picture of Su's dropping them ) of betabs would result in a serial string of explosions to crater a length of runway. One hole just ain't enough.

manjgu · Post by **manjgu** » 09 Mar 2010 08:29

shiv... the dimensions of the hole are quite astounding ( the depth and radius) ....

Kartik · Post by **Kartik** » 09 Mar 2010 09:04

Nayak wrote:

Courtesy vayu

thanks Nayak !

Kartik · Post by **Kartik** » 10 Mar 2010 00:14

First 5 An-32s of the IAF arrive in Kiev for their modernization.
link

15:17 GMT, March 9, 2010 On March 4, 2010, the first batch of 5 military transport aircraft of Indian Air Force arrived to “Kyiv” airport.

They will be overhauled and modernized at facilities of 410 Plant of civil aviation State Enterprise (Kyiv). The representative office of India has been established at the Plant 410.

On June 15, 2009, the contract on modernization of 105 AN-32s fleet of Indian Air Force was signed. According to this agreement, the first 40 airplanes will be upgraded in Ukraine, the other 65 ones – at BRD-1 aviation plant of Indian Air Force in Kanpur (Northern India).

Till present, ANTONOV’s specialists completed issue of design documentation as for modernization of the Indian AN-32. The airplanes will be fitted with up-to-date equipment providing higher level of flight safety, including air collision avoidance system, ground proximity warning system, satellite navigation system, distance measuring equipment, upgraded radio altimeters, new radar with two multifunctional indicators, new oxygen system and improves seats for crew members. As a total, 25 positions of new equipment will be installed. As D.S.Kiva, General Designer, noted “achieved agreement on modernization of Indian AN-32s is the result of big preliminary work. Certainly, it is a very important step in strengthening of cooperation between our countries. Besides according to the contract thousands of people will be engaged in fulfillment of these works during more than 5 years”.

After modification the trials with the installed equipment will be carried out. On the results of the tests, the airplanes will be shown to the Indian customer.

It was decided to modernize AN-32 because at present it can not be replaced with the other one. This airplane was especially designed on the order of Indian government to be operated from/to the elevated airfields (up to 4500 m above sea level) and under hot climate conditions. Often AN-32s are the only aircraft able to provide connection between mountain settlements and big cities. In India AN-32 was called “Silver Horse” for its high maneuverability and reliability.

whats the part about the "Silver Horse" ? I never heard of the An-32 being called that..

Vivek K · Post by **Vivek K** » 10 Mar 2010 01:20

What is so special with the AN-32 upgrade that it could not be performed locally? Couldn't Tanaeja Aerospace have done this with some TOT and training? Or do we like to throw our money around?

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 10 Mar 2010 01:47

since when does taneja have this kind of capability ?

Vivek K · Post by **Vivek K** » 10 Mar 2010 09:12

Can that not be developed? Is it that specialized? My question was - "what is so special about the AN-32 upgrade that it is being done by Ukraine"? And why is there no effort to develop a pvt sector co. to relieve HAL? We have to start somewhere. Why not with this?

Bheem · Post by **Bheem** » 10 Mar 2010 09:18

Vivek K wrote:Can that not be developed? Is it that specialized? My question was - "what is so special about the AN-32 upgrade that it is being done by Ukraine"? And why is there no effort to develop a pvt sector co. to relieve HAL? We have to start somewhere. Why not with this?

Agree!!!!!!!!! If required some experts could have been hired from Ukraine.

Vivek K · Post by **Vivek K** » 10 Mar 2010 09:46

There are a lot of Indian aviation professionals performing quality work. Taneja should know how to get hold of qualified persons.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 10 Mar 2010 11:16

vivek ji, it would have been too much of a jump for them and I highly doubt taneja itself would want it. they need to cut their teeth on simpler projects first, production of the turbo-prop trainer for IAF for example. they are still a long way away and will have to prove competence in other simpler areas before they get a shot at a critical deal like this. the AF transport fleet is not really a good place for experimenting. you have to understand that even HAL didn't do it and the most likely reason is that they don't have access to each and every design manual of the an-32. as of now, taneja doesn't even come into the picture.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 10 Mar 2010 14:05

Rahul M wrote:vivek ji, it would have been too much of a jump for them and I highly doubt taneja itself would want it. they need to cut their teeth on simpler projects first, production of the turbo-prop trainer for IAF for example. they are still a long way away and will have to prove competence in other simpler areas before they get a shot at a critical deal like this. the AF transport fleet is not really a good place for experimenting. you have to understand that even HAL didn't do it and the most likely reason is that they don't have access to each and every design manual of the an-32. as of now, taneja doesn't even come into the picture.

Boys,boys,

What about the IPR of the original manufacturer? He has pre eminent and enforceable (?)rights.

If any upgrade is done in India without involving the original manufacturer, the future price of things will escalate and also the goodwill of a lot of other companies will simply evaporate.

We already have well documented evidence of such fiascoes in India.

I have visited taneja. Such a presumed technical and design capability simply does not exist with them and will not for many many years, if at all!!

The AN 32 upgrade is not such a simple matter as it is being made to sound.

If you need to build such capabilities, why not HAL and why private sector?? Let them, if need be, upgrade themselves and face the market risk. Despite what we all say, HAL is actually a very good and technically sound organisation, with decades of structured experience.

Of late the management has become politicized with chairmen vying for padma bhushans and what not.

The airplanes will be fitted with up-to-date equipment providing higher level of flight safety, including air collision avoidance system, ground proximity warning system, satellite navigation system, distance measuring equipment, upgraded radio altimeters, new radar with two multifunctional indicators, new oxygen system and improves seats for crew members. As a total, 25 positions of new equipment will be installed.

No manufacturer in the whole wide world will part with design data to even attempt a very small portion of the kind of work detailed above.

Even if there were Ukrainians available who would free lance for this type of work, a few would certainly wind up dead with a bullet to the head, quickly cooling the ardor of the others.

The eastern bloc heavies are certainly not going to idly sit by the Don watching the swans glide by while their dollars are being collared by some retired ex Antonov freelancer!!

Would you??

rushiamit · Post by **rushiamit** » 10 Mar 2010 22:08

Any idea when LCH will fly.. It was suppose to fly somewhere in end of Feb...

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 11 Mar 2010 00:51

precisely chetak sahab. but I do hope taneja and similar co's graduate, someday.

p.s. what happened to the other pvt aero player, kumaron industries ?

jaladipc · Post by **jaladipc** » 11 Mar 2010 01:06

rushiamit wrote:Any idea when LCH will fly.. It was suppose to fly somewhere in end of Feb...

HAL developed super duper visual stealth hide LCH from the media cameras.So far LCH has made 13 sucessfull flights since december 2009(the date HAL announced that LCH will fly)

Kartik · Post by **Kartik** » 11 Mar 2010 05:12

Not directly related to Indian aviation, but certainly of great interest to us as this could allow India to add 1 squadron of MiG-29s quickly.

The intention of Malaysia to sell MiG-29 fighters in use by the Air Force, has attracted the interest of countries. The main objective is to reduce maintenance costs. And it should start the search for a new vector of air superiority.

Defense Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that 10 fighters will be sold in June 2010 while the other six aircraft will be sold at the end of next year.

"Interested bidders agree that the purchase of these aircraft will be manufactured in Russia through the whole lot," said Zahid.

He said the sale would depend on rEquere defined in the sale and that the agreement should be signed by the governments of Malaysia and Russia and also need to accept a Security Council United Nations, which has a regulation that does not allow the sale of military equipment to countries that can offer threats international security.

Iraq is the only country with enough money deserperadamente fighters seeking high performance for its air force with sales of arms has to go through the "riddle" of the UN. It is worth mentioning that Iraq intends to have at least one squadron hunting operational until the departure of Americans from their territory and that fact should occur in 2009/2010. Iraq in order to implement its intent already requested the sale of a batch of F-16 fighter used what was denied by the U.S. forcing the country use serive in search of fighters that were sent to maintain the country during the regime of Saddam Hussein)

However, Zahid refused to reveal the identities of the countries concerned.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian government is preparing to launch a competition to choose a new platform to replace its air superiority fighter MiG-29. Five participants will be notified of that request. The MiG-29 that are still being sold are capable of flight by more than 20 years. The main reason for the sale is to reduce the annual maintenance cost of these fighters represent. "We do not keep any for posterity in a museum," said Zahid.

Zahid said that the Parliament in October, the Malaysian government bought MiG-29 by a relatively low value in 1993, then considered the most capable and versatile fighter in the world.

Two aircraft were involved in accidents in 1998 and 2005.

So it seems that Malaysia is indeed selling its MiG-29Ns whereas a recent news report indicated that they would keep them in service as they couldn't afford a new fighter to replace these. These were originally MiG-29s built during Soviet era but not delivered to the VVS, stored and then sold to Malaysia in 1993. They still have relatively low to medium hours on the airframes thanks in part to low availability, which would mean that they could easily last another 15 years if maintained properly. Assuming that they've flown 100 hours per year (just a guess, the actual figure could be lower), they'd each have used up around 1500-1700 hours on their airframe. That leaves another 1500-2000 hours on these MiG-29Ns..

The IAF has adequate infrastructure and experience to handle these and so it should snap these up, put them through the MiG-29 UPG upgrade, re-engine them with the RD-33 Series 3 and that way add another multi-role Fulcrum squadron to the existing 3. Will be the most cost-effective solution for the interim and definitely far cheaper than those 12 Mirage-2000-5s that the IAF wanted from Qatar which it eventually didn't get. Considering the bad press given to the MiG-29, only previous or current MiG-29 operators will be interested in these, and they should be available for cheap.

In a recent issue of Combat Aircraft, Hungary's experience with the MiG-29 was being related in an article. The article basically seems to validate that the reason for the Fulcrum's rather poor reputation in the maintenance department was in major part due to the parent company MiG and the state of USSR era factories that supplied spares, rather than the fighter itself (although lower MTBF and MTBOs are a contributing factor).

The Hungarians had a very bad experience with their Fulcrums and are now looking to retire their fleet as well, even though they're less than 20 years old mostly. But there are several reasons given, including their own fault.

For instance after getting their Fulcrums, they didn't even set up hangars for these (maybe the Russian reputation for rugged airframes was taken too far), instead letting them be exposed to the elements for the most part. Corrosion became an issue and several of their Fulcrums had the vertical stabilizer corrosion issue that came up with Russian air force Fulcrums a year ago. They also had conscript airmen rather than professional airmen, who were new to aircraft maintenance and didn't follow procedures strictly, leading to some aircraft having bizarre issues that grounded them- such as the issue with ice formation on exposed Fulcrums. The conscripts were instructed to remove all ice before starting a Fulcrum, but they didn't have fuel to start the jet heaters, so they instead used brooms to break the ice formed. As a result, the honeycomb material used in the elevators, rudders and other control surfaces were permanently damaged and needed substantial repair.

The MTBF and MTBO for key components was low and they suffered the same pathetic spares supply from MiG that the IAF did in the 1990s. This was said to be true for both complex parts that were needed for RD-33 engines, auxilliary gearbox, radar, etc. as well as some basic spares like the film that is used by the equipment used for onboard diagnostic monitoring. As a result, several airframes were cannibalised to keep others flying, and in time with those cannibalised aircraft not getting back spares, they were pretty much written off. The times that they did get spares from some Soviet era factory, they were said to be of poor quality and high price. This was quite similar to the IAF's issues although what irked me a lot then was that MiG even had the bloody temerity to blame the IAF for buying spares from "spurious" Central Asian vendors when it itself was unable to provide life-time support for its own fighter. I think they burnt quite a few bridges with the IAF with those remarks despite being the party to blame.

Generally, few Hungarian Fulcrum airframes were airworthy and consequently their pilot pool was having a very difficult time keeping currency. They had to make up hours by flying the L-59 Albatross instead. The result showed up in an air-show crash where the pilot suffered g-LOC and crashed. It was then revealed that he had only had 9 hours on the MiG-29 for that entire year before the ill-fated sortie. With the introduction of the leased Gripens, several things have been changed. Hangars are in place, conscription ended resulting in trained professionals, and aircraft availability and the pool of qualified pilots has increased.

Vivek K · Post by **Vivek K** » 11 Mar 2010 09:02

Rahul M wrote:vivek ji, it would have been too much of a jump for them and I highly doubt taneja itself would want it. .........

Rahul I understand your point. I am apalled though how the taxpayer is taken for a ride in every defence procurement and also that Indian Industry is so full of non-players.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 11 Mar 2010 09:56

Vivek K wrote:
Rahul M wrote:vivek ji, it would have been too much of a jump for them and I highly doubt taneja itself would want it. .........
Rahul I understand your point. I am apalled though how the taxpayer is taken for a ride in every defence procurement and also that Indian Industry is so full of non-players.

Vivek K ji,

Patience.

Very qualified and committed Indian companies are swarming into the market place with the 30% offset clause that has been at last written into defence contracts. The goras are handicapped and they have to by force go with large, well managed, technically competent and financially sound Indian partners.

HAL and other PSUs are painfully aware of this and have to fight for their place in the sun, if not their very survival.

It's all for the good onlee.

sumshyam · Post by **sumshyam** » 11 Mar 2010 20:50

Indian AF To Buy 12 AgustaWestland AW101 Helos

Italy's AgustaWestland has signed a 560 million euro contract to supply 12 AW101 helicopters to the Indian Air Force, the firm announced March 11.

The contract for the helicopters, which will perform government transport duties, covers a five-year support deal and initial crew and technician training, the firm said.

AgustaWestland, a unit of Italy's Finmeccanica, has previously signed a joint venture with Tata Son for the production of the AW119 Koala, which it is proposing for the Indian Ministry of Defence's Reconnaissance and Surveillance Helicopter (RSH) program.

The helicopters will be built at the company's facility in Yeovil, England. Deliveries to India are scheduled to be complete by 2013 said a company spokesman.

In its statement, the firm said the Indian military helicopter market could be worth 5 billion to 6 billion euros in the next 10 years, involving purchases of 600 helicopters. The firm currently provides support, training and upgrades to the Indian Navy for its Sea King helicopter fleet.

AgustaWestland said more than 180 AW101s have now been ordered. Helicopters already in service in Italy, the U.K., Denmark, Portugal, Japan and Canada have now totaled nearly 200,000 flight hours.

The European machine was selected last year having beaten out competition for the VIP order from U.S. rival Sikorsky offering the S-92.

sumshyam · Post by **sumshyam** » 11 Mar 2010 20:51

Russia-India military transport plane could be ready by 2018

A new Russian-Indian military transport plane could make its maiden flight by 2018, the head of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) said.

Russia and India signed an intergovernmental agreement on the joint development of a multi-role transport aircraft (MTA) in 2007. The cost of the $600-mln project is being equally shared by the two countries.

"We are at the initial stage of the project. Maybe in 6-8 years we shall have the prototype aircraft flying," Ashok Nayak said in an exclusive interview with RIA Novosti.

The MTA project will be implemented by a Russian-Indian joint venture, co-founded by Russia's arms exporter Rosoboronexport and United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and India's HAL.

An agreement on the formation of the JV is expected to be signed during the current visit of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to India.

"A green flag has been shown at this point...the work will progress very fast for the formation of the joint venture," Nayak said, adding that all necessary documents had been agreed on by both sides.

Moscow and New Delhi will have an equal share in the development and production of the aircraft. The aircraft is expected to be assembled in both Russia and India.

"Initially we expect to produce about 205 aircraft of which 30% will go on the world market," the HAL chairman said.

The MTA will be most likely developed on the basis of the Il-214 twin-engine military transport aircraft designed by the Ilyushin Design Bureau.

The new aircraft will feature a takeoff weight of around 55 tons, flight range of 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) and a payload of up to 20 tons.

Vivek K · Post by **Vivek K** » 11 Mar 2010 20:54

2018?? 8 years hence? That is ridiculous!

sumshyam · Post by **sumshyam** » 11 Mar 2010 21:00

Vivek K wrote:2018?? 8 years hence? That is ridiculous!

ok...may be you are damn right..but here is something about A400M....from wiki..!

The project began as the Future International Military Airlifter (FIMA) group, set up in 1982 by Aerospatiale, British Aerospace, Lockheed, and MBB to develop a replacement for the C-130 Hercules and Transall C-160.

They have a link in their support...you can refer to that also.

Anyhow..who knows what time they talked of...Most probable time, Optimistic time or just Pessimistic time.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 11 Mar 2010 21:01

2018?? 8 years hence? That is ridiculous!

how so ?

anyway, I would have loved to see the payload go up to the 25 tonne mark. I hope the cargo hold is large enough to accommodate any ICVs we are likely to have in the future, which would likely be in the 20-25 tonne category.

Vivek K · Post by **Vivek K** » 11 Mar 2010 23:54

8 years to first flight. How many to IOC and FOC?

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 12 Mar 2010 00:03

another 4-5 years.

Vivek K · Post by **Vivek K** » 12 Mar 2010 00:06

It will take more than a decade for LCA to complete hours to IOC. Is it fair to expect FOC of MTA in 4-5 years?

Bala Vignesh · Post by **Bala Vignesh** » 12 Mar 2010 00:07

so the MTA is going to be operational from the second quarter of this century and serve till the tail end of the tird quarter...
My question is, if the project is based on an pre existing design, why is it taking 8 years to come to prototype???

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 12 Mar 2010 00:15

fighters do take longer since they operate at the limits of flight capabilities and hence expansion of envelope (which takes the bulk of time and effort) has to be done very slowly and cautiously.
our general inexperience in these things didn't help either. all components in general on a fighter has to give higher performance at a lower margin of tolerance than what is expected from a transport.

in fact 5 years for a transport aircraft is a "very" conservative estimate, the A400 for example was originally expected to go into production from 2009 itself, within a year of first test flight in 2008. of course this was before funding constraints and other issues screwed up everything.

bala, pre-existing design doesn't mean pre-existing aircraft. it means an idea only. like the LCA design has existed since early 90's. the nitty gritties take time.

sumshyam · Post by **sumshyam** » 12 Mar 2010 07:40

Govt quietly inks Rs 3,726cr deal for 12 VVIP helicopters

NEW DELHI: VVIPs sure like to travel in plush and secure comfort. After getting three desi versions of US President's 'Air Force One', the Indian President and PM will now also get 12 swanky helicopters for VVIP travel on the lines of 'Marine One'.

The defence ministry has quietly inked a Rs 3,726-crore deal to acquire 12 three-engined AW-101 helicopters from AgustaWestland, a unit of Italian major Finmeccanica, for IAF's elite Communication Squadron, which ferries around the President, PM and other VVIPs. "All the 12 helicopters will be delivered in three years or so," said a source.

The government's VVIP helicopter contract comes after the Rs 727-crore deal for five mid-size Embraer 135BJ Legacy jets in September 2003 and the Rs 937-crore contract for three Boeing Business Jets (BBJs) in October 2005, with advanced self-protection suites to guard against missiles and other threats.

The new helicopters will replace ageing Russian-origin Mi-8s and Mi-17s in the Communication Squadron, just like the Legacy jets have replaced the old HS-748 Avros and the BBJs the two 737-200 aircraft bought in 1983.

While not as hi-tech as Barack Obama's "Marine One", the call sign of the US Marine Corps helicopter which ferries the US President, the Indian AW-101 helicopters will have self-defence systems like missile-approach warners, chaff and flare dispensers and directed infra-red electronic counter-measures to protect the VVIPs on board.

The AW-101 helicopters were pitted against the American Sikorsky's S-92 Superhawks during extensive field trials held in 2008, which the US firm later claimed were unfairly biased against it.

shukla · Post by **shukla** » 12 Mar 2010 08:21

Great.. approve expensive comfortable rides for VVIP's and deny IAF mid-air refuelers coz they are too expensive.. Perfect!

Bheem · Post by **Bheem** » 12 Mar 2010 09:34

Almost all the news items continue to talk about MRTA at 55 tons but the specs sheet shown by HAL at last Aero India talks about 68 tons MTOW. Also the engines are now speculated to be CFM or PS-90A, which would also mean that the MTOW should be around 68 tons with growth potential to about 80-90 tons. Can somebody do the comparison of the dimensions of MTA with A400, C130, Airbus 320, Boeing 737 etc to get an idea of its MTOW and future growth potential??

ASPuar · Post by **ASPuar** » 12 Mar 2010 15:05

sumshyam wrote:Govt quietly inks Rs 3,726cr deal for 12 VVIP helicopters

NEW DELHI: VVIPs sure like to travel in plush and secure comfort. After getting three desi versions of US President's 'Air Force One', the Indian President and PM will now also get 12 swanky helicopters for VVIP travel on the lines of 'Marine One'.

The defence ministry has quietly inked a Rs 3,726-crore deal to acquire 12 three-engined AW-101 helicopters from AgustaWestland, a unit of Italian major Finmeccanica, for IAF's elite Communication Squadron, which ferries around the President, PM and other VVIPs. "All the 12 helicopters will be delivered in three years or so," said a source.

The government's VVIP helicopter contract comes after the Rs 727-crore deal for five mid-size Embraer 135BJ Legacy jets in September 2003 and the Rs 937-crore contract for three Boeing Business Jets (BBJs) in October 2005, with advanced self-protection suites to guard against missiles and other threats.

The new helicopters will replace ageing Russian-origin Mi-8s and Mi-17s in the Communication Squadron, just like the Legacy jets have replaced the old HS-748 Avros and the BBJs the two 737-200 aircraft bought in 1983.

While not as hi-tech as Barack Obama's "Marine One", the call sign of the US Marine Corps helicopter which ferries the US President, the Indian AW-101 helicopters will have self-defence systems like missile-approach warners, chaff and flare dispensers and directed infra-red electronic counter-measures to protect the VVIPs on board.

The AW-101 helicopters were pitted against the American Sikorsky's S-92 Superhawks during extensive field trials held in 2008, which the US firm later claimed were unfairly biased against it.

Thats 66 million USD each!

Mindboggling. Why does the SPG need these to protect our VVIPs?

Bala Vignesh · Post by **Bala Vignesh** » 12 Mar 2010 16:15

Actually sir its the other way around... The VVIP's need it so that the SPG can protect them...

Brando · Post by **Brando** » 12 Mar 2010 16:34

You can already see these helicopters sitting in some god forsaken hangar barely used, poorly maintained and falling into a state of disrepair in a few years.

Good bye taxpayer money!

Jagan · Post by **Jagan** » 13 Mar 2010 04:30

Mandatory reading for anyone interested in Avionics integration, procurement operations and contract negotiations

http://tkstales.wordpress.com/2010/03/0 ... rin-story/

(not to mention the deja-vu regarding BAe refusing to support at a key stage of the project!)

shukla · Post by **shukla** » 14 Mar 2010 17:04

To counter Chinese threat; Air Force base in State mooted

According to a highly placed source, the State Government has been approached for its approval in connection with the survey work to be conducted for setting up the proposed Air Force base in Manipur. The Air Force base which would be used for the purpose of surveillance and other security reasons has been proposed in Manipur to counter increasing threats from China in India and more particularly in North East region.

Disclosing that the proposed Air Force base in Manipur would be set up not in the valley but in the hills, the source explained that radar and other sophisticated equipments would be installed and there would be facilities for helipad at the proposed Air Force base whose main responsibilities would be to monitor aircrafts flying from across the border and other illegal activities. Similar proposal for setting up base of the Indian Air Force has also been put before the Government of Mizoram, the source disclosed, adding that Air Force authority has given more preference to Mizoram.

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 14 Mar 2010 19:56

Where is LCH gurus. Why is it no where to be seen or have I missed some good news?

Craig Alpert · Post by **Craig Alpert** » 15 Mar 2010 07:58

Indian Air Force Signs €560 Million Contract For 12 AW101 Helicopters - Strengthening AgustaWestland’s Growth Strategy For the Indian Market

Vivek K · Post by **Vivek K** » 15 Mar 2010 08:13

Narayana Rao wrote:Where is LCH gurus. Why is it no where to be seen or have I missed some good news?

IAF's requirements included the Romulan Cloaking device since the Chinese are in talks with the Klingons and it is expected that the J-10s and the JF-17 bunder will soon be cloaked.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 15 Mar 2010 08:55

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... aw101.html A dedicated conference room on board, the option of flat-bed seating, hi-tech entertainment systems and secure communications. These are just some of the tantalising features that AgustaWestland is planning to integrate into an ultra-luxurious variant of the AW101.

hope they would not be using this for taking aerial survey of flood hit, hunger stricken poor people.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Mar 2010 09:35

mostly for electioneering and roaming around figuring how to destabilize hostile state govts. roman consuls and patricians travelling to restive and uncivilized provinces in the levant.

being a civilian mod of the EH101 Merlin....this is a seriously powerful and
big copter with long range. instances of copters going down in bad weather wont
be seen here if they maintain it well. seaborne csar and asw helis have good
bad weather and nightly flying profile.