Still not there yet....SSridhar wrote:Nag hits target in 3 seconds
~Ashish...Final trial in July....
It is expected to be inducted by the Army after conducting final validation trials in the deserts of Rajasthan next month.
Still not there yet....SSridhar wrote:Nag hits target in 3 seconds
~Ashish...Final trial in July....
It is expected to be inducted by the Army after conducting final validation trials in the deserts of Rajasthan next month.
European missile manufacturer MBDA says it will Transfer all the “Sensitive” Technology India Requires to Produce the Maitri Short-Range, Surface-to-Air-Missile, such as The Seeker and Thrust Vector Control System.
India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) will be prime on the project, with Bharat Dynamics Ltd. as the production partner. The choice of radar will be an Indian one.
This is the first co-development by MBDA outside of its core partner countries. “Ours is an open strategic partnership, which is not the case [with] others,” says Loic Piedevache, head of MBDA in India, perhaps referring to the agreement by India and Israel for a longer-range version of the extended-range Barak ship defense system for the Indian Air Force.
MBDA is looking at 30 projects in India, ranging from the request for information (RFI) stage to active trials. They include M-2000, SM-39 Exocets (36 Nos) for Scorpene submarines, and the ATAM (Air-To-Air Missile) for the Advance Light Helicopter (ALH).
Having won the ATAM (84 Nos) project for the ALH in 2006 for the army and the air force, the first firing has been performed using mock-ups. “We are waiting for live firing at the end of the year,” Piedevache says. Based on the Mistral 2 “fire-and-forget” missile with its advanced infrared seeker, the ATAM was developed by MBDA as the first helicopter-borne air-to-air missile system.
“We hope the ATAM will be fitted on the Light Combat Helicopter when it is ready, as there will be commonality in the equipment, benches, [and] spares,” Piedevache says.
ATAM is lightweight, providing the capability to intercept both helicopters and fighter aircraft at a range of up to 6.5 km. (4 mi.).
MBDA says it is in discussion with the Indian Defense Ministry for offsets for the Mica missile as part of the Mirage 2000 upgrade. Jaguars (100) are also on offer for the upgrade of the advanced short-range air-to-air missile (Asraam). The Indian air force wants to replace the Matra R550 Magic-II short-range missile with Asraam missiles. The year-old RFP is under technical evaluation.
Meanwhile, an agreement was signed in December last year with MDL to transfer production of the Milan anti-tank missile to India.
Piedevache says India is the biggest in terms of priority and “will soon become part of the MBDA structure. We don’t want to be a supplier but want to be involved in co-production, indigenization and have a footprint here. India is the fifth pillar in our structure after the four domestic countries [U.K., France, Italy, and Germany.]”
MBDA will announce its joining with a local partner by end of the year, Piedevache says. “[The] private sector has industrial capacity,” he says. “Many of them want to be in the missile sector and are looking for tie-ups. Our cooperation agreement will be after we get approval of the French government to locally develop and transfer design and production.”
The seeker and electronics comprise almost 90% of the cost and value of missiles. Russians took India to the cleaners in the Brahmos deal. We paid them around US$ 350 million for the missile which was already ready and they have still refused to transfer technology for seeker, ramjet and booster. The Brahmos deal has inspired all the foreign companies to start offering their products under the garb of JV with DRDO. How is it different from license manufacturing is a moot point.Juggi G wrote:MBDA Eyes Stronger Ties With India
Aviation WeekEuropean missile manufacturer MBDA says it will Transfer all the “Sensitive” Technology India Requires to Produce the Maitri Short-Range, Surface-to-Air-Missile, such as The Seeker and Thrust Vector Control System.
India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) will be prime on the project, with Bharat Dynamics Ltd. as the production partner. The choice of radar will be an Indian one.
This is the first co-development by MBDA outside of its core partner countries. “Ours is an open strategic partnership, which is not the case [with] others,” says Loic Piedevache, head of MBDA in India, perhaps referring to the agreement by India and Israel for a longer-range version of the extended-range Barak ship defense system for the Indian Air Force.
MBDA is looking at 30 projects in India, ranging from the request for information (RFI) stage to active trials. They include M-2000, SM-39 Exocets (36 Nos) for Scorpene submarines, and the ATAM (Air-To-Air Missile) for the Advance Light Helicopter (ALH).
Having won the ATAM (84 Nos) project for the ALH in 2006 for the army and the air force, the first firing has been performed using mock-ups. “We are waiting for live firing at the end of the year,” Piedevache says. Based on the Mistral 2 “fire-and-forget” missile with its advanced infrared seeker, the ATAM was developed by MBDA as the first helicopter-borne air-to-air missile system.
“We hope the ATAM will be fitted on the Light Combat Helicopter when it is ready, as there will be commonality in the equipment, benches, [and] spares,” Piedevache says.
ATAM is lightweight, providing the capability to intercept both helicopters and fighter aircraft at a range of up to 6.5 km. (4 mi.).
MBDA says it is in discussion with the Indian Defense Ministry for offsets for the Mica missile as part of the Mirage 2000 upgrade. Jaguars (100) are also on offer for the upgrade of the advanced short-range air-to-air missile (Asraam). The Indian air force wants to replace the Matra R550 Magic-II short-range missile with Asraam missiles. The year-old RFP is under technical evaluation.
Meanwhile, an agreement was signed in December last year with MDL to transfer production of the Milan anti-tank missile to India.
Piedevache says India is the biggest in terms of priority and “will soon become part of the MBDA structure. We don’t want to be a supplier but want to be involved in co-production, indigenization and have a footprint here. India is the fifth pillar in our structure after the four domestic countries [U.K., France, Italy, and Germany.]”
MBDA will announce its joining with a local partner by end of the year, Piedevache says. “[The] private sector has industrial capacity,” he says. “Many of them want to be in the missile sector and are looking for tie-ups. Our cooperation agreement will be after we get approval of the French government to locally develop and transfer design and production.”
Your feelings are not germane to the discussion. I would normally totally ignore such posts, but since you have made a habit of making these rather gratuitous "everything is rotten" post at a rather regular frequency I think it is time that some one pointed it out to you.I have a feeling that all these JVs are just a method to push imports under JV label.
Oh really? Were you sleepwaking when you posted the same article in another thread?Raye wrote:Checkout this old article and this website
Admins plz delete if repost
Sadly in India there is little confidence in the boffins!PMO BEAT
By R. Prasannan
Manmohan Singh tried to be even-handed while giving away the National Technology Day awards to DRDO scientists. He commended their work on missiles, tanks, aircraft, electronic warfare, radar and communication systems. Then he went ballistic: “Our current level of self-reliance in defence R&D is less than our capabilities.”
DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat, who has shot down incoming missiles endo- and exo-atmosphere, made an interception bid within the solemn atmosphere: “...The responsibility for self-reliance should be shared by all stake-holders of MoD [ministry of defence],” meaning the brass-hats and the babus.
Another ICBM from the PM: “...Some defence projects have been delayed... DRDO [should] learn from these experiences and work more closely with the armed forces....”
Saraswat's ABM: “DRDO neither has the power to impose its products on its customer nor the mandate or capacity to produce the developed systems all by themselves.” A point missed by those who compare defence scientists with space and atomic scientists! Space savants don't have to sell their PSLV to anyone. DRDO has to 'sell' Tejas, Arjun and Lakshya to phoren-crazy customers.
Saraswat then launched his own ICBM at the brass-hats: “...While the temptation may be overwhelming to field proven, state-of-the-art imported systems, they [the services], too, have a role to play in the economic and industrial growth of the country.”
Defence scientists have been saying ad nauseam that the services should order local ware in bulk for the industry to grow. But the Army has ordered just 120 Arjun tanks and the Air Force 40 Tejas warjets. No plane-maker in the world, save Hindustan Aeronautics, would set up assembly lines for 40. The services say the systems have to be proven 100 per cent.
No such problem when importing! The MiG-29, indeed the world's finest interceptor, was bought eyes closed when Gorbachev offered it for the first time outside the Warsaw Pact. The Sukhoi-30, the world's best plane of its class, had not even flown when India committed to buy 230.
Qualitative requirements (QR) are diluted if the foreign seller reduces price. But no dilution for Arjun, come hell, highwater or Pakistan's Al Khalid tank. QRs are upped for local ware, midstream. Some missile caught the fancy of IAF in 2004 and the QR for Tejas was changed, after the prototypes had clocked hundreds of test hours. The entire wing, made of locally-invented composite material, had to be re-engineered from square-one on the graph sheet. Nag, the third world's first top-attack anti-tank missile, is still in the lab because the generals asked for a longer range, after it had completed trials.
The Navy asked DRDO to build an electronic warfare system in the 1980s. When DRDO delayed, the Navy went for import. The Public Accounts Committee was horrified that the Navy had “firmly stuck to the short time-frame given to [DRDO] while liberally revising the delivery schedule of the foreign vendor”.
Indeed, DRDO men need to be pulled up. They bite more than what they can chew. They promise the moon, and deliver meteors. They think of themselves as product-developers; they should be technology-developers. Hopefully, the Rama Rao report, which A.K. Antony is implementing, will rectify the lacunae.
Tailpiece: In the 1930s, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin ordered the Royal Air Force to take Hampdens and Wellingtons even before the prototypes had been tested. He sent the Bristol Beaufort into production straight from the drawing-board. When the Luftwaffe locusts came to bomb Britain into Stonehenge age, the RAF pilots raced to meet them in more than 10,000 rookie planes. That trust, which the brave-hearts had on the wise-minds of their country, created 'the finest hour'.
prasannan@the-week.com
ramana-jiramana wrote:Sadly in India there is little confidence in the boffins!
Anyway watch the space I think the PM is seized of the matter and is driving the reform.
9 Jun 2010 8ak: DG Artillery under the Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Army) has released 3 RFIs related to ammunition. Two of them are in relation to smart ammunition - Trajectory Correctible Ammunition (TCM) and Terminally Guided Munition (TGM).
8ak did an article on 11 May 2010 that "Less than 1% of Indian munition is Precision Guided". So it good to see that the Army is seriously considering this purchase. The following is a tech primer. 8ak's detailed report "Challenges in India's Artillery Modernisation Program" will be released on Jun 14 which will be tech primer, operating guide and summary of artillery tenders, all in one.
In conventional munition, a fuze is attached to the shell and acts purely as a detonation device which controls whether the munition bursts after a set time, after penetrating the target or at a particular distance from it. In case of such conventional ammunition, the probability of hitting the target is directly proportional to the distance from the gun. There are currently two main ways to make munitions more accurate.
a) Provide navigational information to the munition. Using GPS/INS information, the shell can correct its line and range for improved accuracy. This is trajectory correctible munition (TCM) like BAE Bofors Bonus now under development.
b) Since the target could have moved by the time the co-ordinates reach the gunner, the second method is that instead of getting locational information, the sensors instead get information from the target. In case of the Copperhead or Russian Krasnopol, which are laser guided, the target has to be highlighted with a laser designator, possibly by a forward observer. Since the munition is guided by emissions from or bouncing off the target, it is called Terminally Guided Munition (TGM).
When there is no one to illuminate/highlight the target, sensors IR/MMW can be fitted in to the fuze/shell so that it can identify the target itself. In case of the now discontinued Sadarm system this was done via a IR/MMW sensor fuzed submunitions over the target. This top-attack munition could take out a tank.
But these methods are expensive. Each Excalibur shell in use by the American's in Afghanistan is $80,000 - 100,000. Also, most countries have huge ammunition stockpiles that are not refreshed unless used in war or discarded due to obsolescence. Hence, there are precision guided kits that are basically a replacement for the fuze. These mostly have GPS/INS capability and cost less than $3,000 and offer similar CEPs as that of TCMs.
Use of precision weapons reduces the amount of ammunition required to achieve the mission and hence huge reduction in inventory and related logistics. So it is easy to think that this could be the end of dumb ammunition. But it is not because at short ranges dumb munitions may be just as effective, they are much cheaper and can be used in combination with smart ammunition. For eg a commander may choose to first use a few precision rounds and then follow up with 'steel rain' to create psychological fear in the enemy and destroy other lower value targets/infrastructure. Hence, IHQ (Army) has simultaneously issued a RFI for a 120mm mortar system. US company ATK also offers precision capability in mortars.
The tenders can be found on tenders.gov.in Key people who are expected to respond are BAE Systems, Raytheon, Israel's IAI and Russia's KBP Instrument Design Bureau.
The Army version of the Akash missile system, valued at Rs 12,500 crore ($2.8 billion), has been cleared for induction by India’s Defense Acquisition Council (DAC).
The India military services’ combined orders of the Defense Research and Development Organization-developed Akash, including two radars, have a total worth of Rs 23,300 crore. This is an unprecedented defense order for a DRDO-developed weapons system, and the biggest order ever for DRDO’s tactical missile and radar systems.
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“We have decided to split the IAF and Army orders between BEL and BDL to encourage competition within Indian industries and also to increase the synergy between the work centers,” the official said.
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The DAC had earlier approved Rs 2,800 crore worth of 3-D Surveillance-cum-Acquisition Radars, independent of the missiles, for all three services.
“Seventy radars have been ordered, each costing Rs 40 core,” the official said. In addition, the Indian Army has ordered Rs 1,500 crore of Weapon-Locating Radar, each costing Rs 50 crore.
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The Akash missile systems consist of a launcher, a missile with a 25-30 km. range, control center, multifunction fire control radar and supporting ground equipment.
<OT>Prem Kumar wrote:Fantastic news!! Its also heartening to see a move to promote competition between BEL and BDL (even though they are both DPSUs). In line with the latest MOD policy on defence production.
Aditya,Aditya_V wrote:Any idea how many sqaudrons come to the Army with this order?
Great news, IAF was to get around 1000 missiles and 8 squadrons for Rs. 5500-6500 crore, I think that the army order should give it around 2000-2500 missilesAditya_V wrote:Any idea how many sqaudrons come to the Army with this order?
Question to gurus!The 2.55-tonne BrahMos supersonic anti-ship missile has been modified, shedding 500 kg and getting a new ignition engine to fire the missile at high altitudes.
Wow that's cheap I'm ordering one tooDAC had earlier cleared an Akash order worth Rs 6,500 for the Indian Air Force (IAF), with Bangalore-based Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) as its system integrator.
Are these kits Indian designed ones or the ones that we got through TOT from raytheon.
What part of this sentence from above link was incomprehensible to yourajsunder wrote:Are these kits Indian designed ones or the ones that we got through TOT from raytheon.Juggi G wrote:DRDO : Indian Laser Guided Bomb Kits Successfully Tested By IAF
Shiv Aroor
The Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) has successfully designed, developed & carried out the user trials of laser guided bomb kits at Pokhran with the participation of the IAF.
please feel free to educate me about 'the ones we got through TOT from raytheon.'rajsunder wrote: Are these kits Indian designed ones or the ones that we got through TOT from raytheon.
http://www.indiastrategic.in/topstories13.htmRahul M wrote:please feel free to educate me about 'the ones we got through TOT from raytheon.'rajsunder wrote: Are these kits Indian designed ones or the ones that we got through TOT from raytheon.
Even i had my doubts about the article, and that is the reason why i asked the knowledgeable members if they knew whether the technology was a Indian built or the one that we got from Transfer of technology.Rahul M wrote:it was clearly a testing the waters type of article that doesn't even talk of any concrete proposal, how can you conclude that we got TOT from raytheon based on just this report ? there are hundreds of such proposals floating around, only a handful ever see the light of day.
Within 2 yrs and no additional budgetThe missile will have an intercept range of 30-35 km, or a little over 10-km more than the Mk-I version. Apart from extending range, the Mk-II project mandate will be to increase accuracy of the missile's guidance system and the fire control system, push up the missile's performance, agility, speed, efficiency and accuracy. This will involve tweaking of almost all major systems, including the missile itself, signal processors etc.