BAE Systems ready to help India build Bofors guns

Dean McCumiskey, Managing Director and Chief Executive of BAE Systems’ India operations told StratPost his company would be open to discussing any question of technical assistance the OFB might require, in its attempt to execute the designs and technology documentation transferred to it as part of the old Bofors howitzer procurement.

BAE Systems has said it is ready to provide assistance to India’s Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) in its endeavor to build artillery guns on the basis of the technology of the Bofors FH77 B02 howitzer, transferred to it as part of the aborted procurement in the 1980s. BAE Systems owns the howitzer unit of the erstwhile Swedish company.

Dean McCumiskey, Managing Director and Chief Executive of BAE Systems’ India operations toldStratPost his company would be open to discussing any question of technical assistance the OFB might require, in its attempt to execute the designs and technology documentation transferred to it as part of the old Bofors howitzer purchase, cut short because of the infamous corruption scandal.

The OFB has been tasked with the manufacture of 100 howitzers to be built using the technology transferred to it by Bofors.

Besides providing drawings and manufacturing instructions as part of the technology documentation transferred, Bofors was also required to provide technical support in understanding and executing the documentation, as part of the contract. But since the deal was cancelled, there was no move to execute the license production of the technology and build the howitzer in India.

Defense Minister A.K. Antony told Parliament earlier this month, “The government had secured the right of transfer of technology during the purchase of Bofors guns. Though all the technological documents as per the ToT contract were received by OFB from M/s AB Bofors, the Transfer of Technology was not carried forward as the dealings with the technology provider; (M/s AB Bofors) were suspended. Further, no indent was placed by Army on OFB for manufacture and supply of complete gun system.”

Consequently, India never requested any technical support from Bofors or any of its successor companies, the agreement for which lapsed several years back without any move to extend its validity.

StratPost understands from sources familiar with the technical details of the Bofors artillery procurement that it would be ‘almost impossible’ to make use of the documentation without assistance and support from the original designer and producer. There are also questions as to the availability of components and subsystems in the market, which has moved on from analogue to digital. Systems that would likely require redesign altogether could include the computer, range finder, gyro and positioning system.

BAE Systems currently makes the FH77 B05 howitzer, a significantly advanced version of the system supplied to India

Source:STRATPOST

Moscow May Help India Build Closed-Cycle Submarines

Russia has offered help India build air-independent (closed cycle) propulsion systems for installation in Amur 1650 class submarines and also to equip future possible joint Indian-Russian built vessels, Viktor Komardin, the deputy head of Rosoboronexport's delegation said at the Defexpo Indian defense show on Tuesday.

The Amur 1650 is one of several contenders, including the Scorpene (France), Type 214 (Germany) and S-80 (Spain) in a tender for the Indian Navy for six subamrines with a total value of $11.8 billion.

"Russia is currently completing tests of a new air-indepedent propulsion system, which could be installed not only on the Amur 1650 but on jointly developed boats," Komardin said. "This is a critical factor for the Indians. So our chances here are good," he added.

Rosoboronexport, Russia's defense sales holding, has already offered India its Amur 1650 boat, which started trials with the Russian navy in 2010. The Amur has an armament of multirole torpedos and Klub anti-ship missiles, and can also strike land-targets with advanced cruise missiles, which may include the India-Russian Brahmos. "These missiles which the Indians want can only be supplied by Russia," Komardin said.

The Amur 1650 has a good chance of winning the tender, Komardin claimed, thanks to its ability to remain submerged for over 25 days using its air-independent propulsion, and also its long-range weaponry. Similar foreign boats can only stay submerged for 15-20 days.

Russia is currently evaluating the Lada class air-independent submarine, a derivative of the Amur 1650. In 2010 the Lada class submarine St Petersburg entered service with the Russian Fleet.

The Russian Fleet Commander Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky told RIA Novosti previously that the first Russian air-independent boat, based on a similar design, the Projet 677 class, could enter service in 2014. Two such hulls are currently under construction at the Admiralteiskie Verfi shipyard in St Petersburg, which could be fitted with a closed-cycle propulsion system.

An air-independent propulsion system is currently being rapidly developed by specialists from the Rubin submarine design bureau.

Air-independent submarines, usually using hydrogen-orygen fuel cells, are quieter than conventional diesel-electric boats, and do not have to surface or use snorkel tubes to breathe air, which makes them vulnerable to detection by radar and other sensors.

Source:

RIA Novosti

Sukhoi Su-30SM: An Indian Gift to Russia’s Air Force

Russia’s Defense Ministry has ordered 30 heavy Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter planes. Given that the same model has been exported to India for more than 10 years, this choice seems both logical and pragmatic.

Thirty 30’s

The Defense Ministry and the Irkut Corporation, an affiliate of the United Aircraft Corporation, have signed a supply contract for 30 Su-30SM multirole fighter aircraft, a Defense Ministry spokesman told journalists Thursday, March 22. “Under the contract, Irkut Corporation will build for Russia’s Ministry of Defense 30 planes of this type by 2015,” he said.

© RIA Novosti.

Su-30 Multirole Fighter

Rumors that Irkut, a long-standing exporter, may supply several dozen fighter aircraft to the Russian Air Force began circulating late last year. Now the rumor has become a reality – a contract in black and white.

But why did the Defense Ministry choose the Su-30’s? After all, they have been mostly supplied to customers abroad rather than to the Russian Armed Forces, where just a few planes of this type are in use.

The Su-30, properly speaking, is an entire family of aircraft and the most famous Russian-made (not to be confused with Soviet-made) fighter plane outside of Russia. It was developed in the Soviet Union on the basis of the Su-27UB combat trainer aircraft as a command plane for Air Defense air regiments flying ordinary Su-27 interceptor aircraft.

In 1993, its export version, the Su-30K, was developed, sparking record demand and the sale of several hundred planes.

The family is further subdivided into two parts: the “Chinese” Su-30MKK/MK2, which were produced in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and exported to Venezuela, Indonesia, Uganda, Vietnam, and of course China; and the “Indian” Su-30MKI, manufactured in Irkutsk and purchased by India, Algeria and Malaysia. 

The model ordered by the Russian military is a “localized” version of the “Indian” Su-30MKI. Earlier, Komsomolsk-on-Amur delivered to the Air Force four “localized” Su-30MK2’s.

A flying multi-tasker

As a basic platform for the multirole heavy fighter aircraft, the Su-30MKI is remarkable primarily for its universality. It boasts a so-called “open architecture”, making it relatively easy to add new systems in the basic electronic equipment and to use advanced guided weapons (supplied by different manufacturers). 

Su-30MKI (Flanker-H) multirole fighter

The Su-30MKI sports a Russian radar and optic locator, French navigation and heads-up display systems, Israeli EW and weapon-guidance systems, and Indian computers.

The “Chinese” line is based on a different logic that prescribes parallel installation of new systems that fall short of full integration.

Most likely, the military is attracted by how easy it is to add different weapons and equipment to the Su-30MKI, transforming it into an attack fighter-bomber, a heavy interceptor aircraft, or something else.


Who placed the order?

It is hard to pinpoint who exactly ordered these 30 aircraft. The contract was signed by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Irkut President Alexei Fedorov. After the signing ceremony, Serdyukov commented that the planes would “increase the Air Force’s combat power.”

By contrast, Fedorov went on record as saying last summer that the Defense Ministry was going to order 40 aircraft. Later the press reported, citing the Irkutsk aircraft plant’s general director Alexander Veprev, that the deliveries were likely to be made in two installments: the first 28 aircraft were intended for the Air Force and another 12 as an option for naval aviation. Air Force C-in-C Alexander Zelin confirmed the figure of 28 in fall 2011.
As we can see, the first batch of Sukhoi-30’s has been purchased. The remaining 12, as some military sources intimated to the press, were intended for the Black Sea Fleet’s naval aviation.

Given that naval aviation has seen cuts in combat aircraft, it seems logical to reinforce it with heavy Su-30SM two-seaters that are efficient both in air-to-air combat and against ground and surface targets.

Thus far, however, there is no mention of plans to buy the Su-30 for the Navy. Possibly the option will be realized later.

Exporters’ courtesy

There is another simple explanation for choice of the Su-30MKI. Irkut has been churning out these planes for 10 years thanks to its completely streamlined production method. This means that its products are of high quality, relatively cheap (which pleases the Defense Ministry in particular) and will be supplied on time.

It is one thing if, in order to make 30 aircraft, you have to breathe life into an idling plant, to fine-tune (or develop anew) your technological method, buy additional equipment, and – still worse – hire personnel. But it’s quite another if you have been manufacturing standardized aircraft for years and years and can easily divert your workforce to produce an “improved” modification for your own country’s Air Force. The cost of this batch on the side is dramatically lower.

This approach (buying quickly and on the cheap what can be produced immediately) has been growing in popularity in the Russian military. We have mentioned the Su-30M2 combat trainer aircraft intended for the Russian Air Force. The same goes for the carrier-based MiG-29K, which in its present form was developed for the Indian Navy.

This approach is logical in its own way. The military expects certain fundamentally new models that are being tested with some degree of success. The Air Force is eying the T-50, the fifth-generation fighter aircraft, and the Navy has been trying to get into shape its Lada project involving the construction of non-nuclear submarines. The Land Forces have boycotted the purchases of all currently existing armor models, urging manufacturers to invent something totally new.

In the meantime, the Armed Forces will buy cheap, mass-produced, well-equipped, if ordinary, military hardware, like the Su-30SM.


SOurce:RIA Novosti.

India - IIT Kanpur makes prototype of lunar robot for ISRO

Moving a step ahead in a nationally relevant space project, the IIT Kanpur has developed a prototype of a lunar robot for ISRO mission to the moon. The project, which was started in 2010 has a larger objective to send a mobile robot to the moon for performing experiments and
developing maps of the lunar terrain.
There were fundamentally two components which had to be completed by IITK, Dr Ashish Dutta, Associate Professor of mechanical engineering said. This included the structured light based 3D map generation of lunar terrain that is being carried out by Dr. K.S. Venkatesh, Associate Professor of Electrical engineering.

“As there is no ready made map of the lunar surface, the focus is to use structured light to generate a map of the lunar terrain after landing. Based on the map the robot is expected to move from one point to another for experiments,” Dr Dutta told HT.

The second component is kinematics and path planning. After the map is generated the robot has to move to a desired location. As the lunar terrain consists of dust, rocks etc the robot has to choose the safest path to travel by.

The focus of this part is to analyse all the possible feasible paths and then choose the best path in terms of safety and least energy consumption, he said, Underlining the major challenges confronted he said the lunar terrain consists of rocks, ash and craters.

Planning motion in such an environment is extremely difficult, as there is no scope of mistakes.

Besides the gravity on the moon is 1/6 that of earth and hence the design has to consider this sub gravity conditions.

Source:HT

India’s spy satellite to be launched in April

A wholly Indian-built spy/surveillance satellite – Radar Imaging Satellite (Risat-1) – that can see through clouds and fog and has very high- resolution imaging is slated for launch in April, a senior official of the Indian space agency has said.An official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said thorough tests were being done on the Risat-1. “The Risat-1 is put to thermal vacuum test (a test to check the satellite’s functioning in space environment). It is a complex microwave satellite being built for the first time in India. The satellite is expected to be launched in April,” the senior official told IANS, not wishing to be named because of the organisational rules.

In earlier satellites, one major component, the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) was imported, but in Risat-1 that has also been developed in India.

He said Risat-1 is the first such satellite being built by India and is a bit complex compared to other remote sensing/earth observation satellites built and sent up earlier.

According to ISRO officials, Risat-1 at 1,850 kg is the heaviest microwave satellite to be built by India.

The satellite would be used for disaster prediction and agriculture forestry, and the high resolution pictures and microwave imaging could also be used for defence purposes.

Risat-1 will have all weather, day and night imaging capability.

The satellite’s synthetic aperture radar can acquire data at C-band.

ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan had said last October that the space agency would launch two more satellites – Risat-1 and SARAL – before 2011-end. But that did not happen. He also said two more satellites – AstroSat and Aditya – will be launched in 2012-13.

Remote sensing satellites send back pictures and other data for use. India has the largest constellation of remote sensing satellites in the world providing imagery in a variety of spatial resolutions, from more than a metre ranging up to 500 metres, and is a major player in vending such data in the global market.

In 2009, ISRO had launched 300 kg Risat-2 with an Israeli built SAR enabling earth observation on all weather, day and night conditions. The satellite can look through clouds and fog.

With 11 remote sensing/earth observation satellites orbiting in the space, India is a world leader in the remote sensing data market. The 11 satellites are TES, Resourcesat 1, Cartosat 1, 2, 2A and 2B, IMS 1, Risat-2, Oceansat 2, Resourcesat-2, Megha-Tropiques.

According to ISRO officials, the rocket that would sling Risat-1 will be the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle’s (PSLV) upgraded variant called PSLV-XL.

The rocket would weigh around 320 tonnes at lift-off and will be the third such expendable rocket to be sent up by ISRO, and first time to launch a remote sensing satellite.

ISRO had used the PSLV-XL variant (rocket with extended strap-on motors than what the base model has) for its moon mission (Chandrayaan-1) in 2008 and for launching its communication satellite GSAT-12 in 2011.

The PSLV is a four-stage (engine) rocket powered by solid and liquid propellants alternatively. The first and third stages are fired by solid propellant and the second and fourth stages are fired by liquid propellant.

ISRO has developed three PSLV variants. The first is the standard variant weighing around 290 tonnes with six strap-on motors measuring 11.3 metres with a fuel capacity of nine tonnes.

The other two rocket variants are the PSLV Core Alone without the six strap-on motors and PSLV-XL with longer strap-on motors measuring 13.5 metres having a fuel capacity of 12 tonnes of solid fuel.

Source:IANS

Sukhoi pitches its Superjet 100 for India, Asia Pacific market

Sukhoi, the Russian defence aircraft holding company, on Thursday showcased their Superjet developed through its civil aviation arm.

The Superjet 100 developed by Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, a joint venture of Sukhoi and Alenia Aeronautica Company, has been commercially rolled out last year serving airliner Aeroflot and others.

It now commands an order book of 170 plans and the company sees itself signing up in India for new orders including with Aviotech Pvt Ltd, of Hyderabad, Mr Vladimir Prisyazhnyuk, President of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, said.

Aeroflot and Pearl Aviation, the latter of the US are amongst those who have placed 30 orders each thus far.

Before showcasing their aircraft at the India aviation show, Mr Prisyazhnyuk, speaking through an interpreter said, in the year 2000 the stakeholders of Sukhoi decided to venture into civil aviation aircraft by developing it through a separate venture. Accordingly, with over 65 global alliance partners and technical support from Boeing, this aircraft has been developed.

ASSIDUOUSLY TESTED

This aircraft is pretty unique in term of its features and overall size. Its development was a reality through collaborations with the likes of French company Powerjet, Honeywell, Hamilton Sundstrand and Thales Avionics. “The flights have been tested over the years and deliveries have begun. We are now looking at the opportunities in India,” he said.

The test pilot Mr Andrey Kurov, who was associated with the testing of the aircraft over the years, explained that it has been tested in most adverse conditions including with over three inches of ice on the wings.

The company is also developing a long range version of the aircraft along with other variants of this regional aircraft.

Source: The HIndu

Defence budget hiked by more than 17 pc

With several defence deals including the one to procure 126 combat aircraft for the IAF expected to be clinched this year, the Defence Budget was today substantially hiked by more than 17% to Rs 1,93,407 crore from last year’s Rs 1,64,415 crore.Of the total outlay, over Rs 79,500 crore would be spent on procuring modern weapons systems and military hardware.

This allocation is based on the present needs and any further requirement for the security of the nation would be made, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said.

The deals which are likely to be signed this year include 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA), 145 Ultra Light Howitzers (ULH), 197 Light Utility Helicopters and others weapons and systems for the three services.

Presenting the budget, Mukherjee said that Rs 1,93,407 crore has been allocated for defence forces of which over Rs 79,500 crore would be earmarked for capital acquisition.

India plans to spend over USD 100 billion on defence acquisitions in the next five to 10 years.

Source: PTI

India advances air force modernisation

ut while the French are in prime position, there is a long road ahead. Media reports suggest the companies and nations behind the Eurofighter Typhoon are willing to cut their price in a last-ditch attempt to thwart a Rafale deal, and there are persistent rumours the USA hopes India will drop the MMRCA process altogether and buy the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II instead.

© Indian Defence Ministry Dassault should not take victory for granted, yet

In addition, recent precedents suggest a Dassault win is far from certain. In 2007, Eurocopter was poised to clinch a 197-aircraft tender for light utility helicopters, but the competition was abruptly cancelled owing to allegations of irregularities in the selection process. In another example, New Delhi selected the Airbus Military A330 multi-role tanker transport, but its purchase was cancelled after its finance ministry raised concerns over the price tag.

However entertaining outside observers have found the $10-20 billion MMRCA competition, it is impossible to understate the winner's crucial role in the modernisation of the Indian air force. Despite its significance, however, MMRCA is only one element in a broad effort that also includes major indigenous combat aircraft, a competition for new tankers, and enhanced airlift capabilities. The Indian navy is also modernising, with new aircraft carriers in the pipeline and ambitious plans to improve oversight of India's vast oceanic frontiers.

"Adding a capable, reliable, high-end jet to India's fighter force will be transformational," says Teal Group analyst Richard Aboulafia. "Most of the Indian air force is comprised of either lighter, older planes such as the [Mikoyan] MiG-21 or Sepecat Jaguar, or heavier, but not completely reliable, Sukhoi Su-30s.

"The best part of their fleet is the 50 or so Mirage 2000s, which are almost medium fighters and relatively modern. India has never had a significant force of capable, reliable planes. Whether they get Rafales or Eurofighters, they'll get a significant number of modern, medium/large capable jets. That represents a major qualitative improvement."

Certainty of this qualitative improvement has moved closer with Dassault's coveted L1 status, but it is not yet within the grasp of either the French or their customer. By late February, the Indian defence ministry had still not made a formal announcement on Dassault's L1 status, and was uncertain about the timeframe for this. "Nothing is official yet," according to a defence ministry source.

Assuming the formal granting of L1 status for Rafale, final negotiations between Dassault and the Indian government's Contract Negotiation Committee (CNC) could take between six months and one year. According to defence ministry tender guidelines, a CNC should comprise individuals representing the stakeholders involved in an acquisition. In the case of MMRCA, an industry source believes the air force, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) and other key parties will be represented.

The CNC will conduct a two-stage negotiation. The first will deal with details such as contract language and deliverables, the second with pricing. On clearing the CNC, the contract will need the approval of the Defence Acquisition Council and India's finance ministry. Finally, the package will go before India's Cabinet Committee on Security, which will give the final sign-off.

"The L1 price is not necessarily the price you will win with," says the source. "There will be multiple stakeholders involved in the decision and negotiations."

Aboulafia also questions the true cost of the MMRCA deal, as the winner is required to plough 50% of the contract value into offsets.

"India needs to understand the cost of offsets," he says. "While technology transfer and local manufacturing sound good, they are an extremely expensive mark-up to an already pricey aircraft deal. The selection of the 'lowest cost' aircraft is somewhat surreal. Nothing about this project is low cost at all, so it's like choosing between a Ferrari and a Lamborghini on the basis of the sticker price."

Under the terms of the award, 18 aircraft will be delivered in a flyaway condition, with 108 to be built under licence by HAL. Although the Rafale has struggled in late-stage negotiations in Brazil and the United Arab Emirates, recent French wins on the subcontinent bode well for the successful conclusion of Dassault's MMRCA campaign.

In July 2011, the company won a long-awaited $2.2 billion deal to upgrade the Indian air force's Mirage 2000H fighters to its Mirage 2000-9 standard. In early January, missile-maker MBDA confirmed a deal to equip the modified aircraft with Mica air-to-air missiles, although an official contract has yet to be signed.

One of India's major goals in the MMRCA competition is to boost its indigenous aerospace sector, but media reports from the subcontinent frequently suggest the country continues to struggle with high-profile programmes such as the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) Tejas light combat aircraft and the Dhruv advanced light helicopter.

Despite conveniently achieving initial operational capability only weeks before last year's Aero India show in Bengaluru, the Tejas is reportedly nowhere near achieving final operational capability, although it conducted about 240 test flights in 2011.

A naval variant of the Tejas, unveiled in 2010, has yet to conduct its first flight, despite a programme official's confidence last year that the aircraft would fly in October or November 2011. Indeed, The Hindu newspaper recently quoted Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Verma as saying the ADA had "let the service down" with the naval version of the Tejas. After completing initial test flights, the aircraft will still need to prove itself capable of ramp-assisted take-offs and arrested landings for carrier-based operations.

© Lockheed Martin The Indian air force has received all six Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules ordered in 2008, and is in talks to obtain six more

Meanwhile, New Delhi is co-operating with Sukhoi to develop the fifth-generation fighter aircraft, a variant of the company's PAK-FA/T-50 design. It has also conducted a study into the indigenous fighter known as the medium combat aircraft (MCA), which would be a stealth type similar to the F-35.

Both plans are highly ambitious and could yield fruit, but the record of HAL and the ADA with the relatively basic Tejas suggests an extremely challenging development period for both fighters, especially the MCA.

Aside from a cloudy outlook on the fighter front, India's acquisition of a new basic trainer has also been delayed. India's Cabinet Committee on Security was due to approve a deal to buy 75 Pilatus PC-7 Mk IIs as flyaways, with another 106 produced under licence by HAL. A protest by the South Korean government has apparently delayed this deal, with the Korea Aerospace Industries KT-1 having also been involved in the competition. However, an industry source says questions from the Ministry of Finance about the tender are behind the delay.

Any hold-up in the procurement is troublesome for the air force, which suffers a profound capability gap in basic training and arguably needs a new capability more urgently than any other type. The service's HAL HPT-32 Deepak basic trainers were grounded in July 2009 following a series of crashes.

However, India appears to be making progress with its renewed competition for additional tankers, with Airbus Military confirming in January that the nation had completed trials of the A330 MRTT and rival Ilyushin IL-78MK. The air force plans to acquire six tankers initially, followed by more to augment its existing active inventory of seven Il-78s.

An off-the-shelf purchase of attack helicopters is also progressing, with Boeing confirming at the Singapore Airshow in February that its AH-64D Apache Longbow is poised to win a 22-aircraft contract after seeing off Russia's Mil Mi-28. India's air force also plans to obtain 65 HAL light combat helicopters with deliveries to start in 2013-2014.

Transport is proving to be a bright spot for the Indian air force. It has received all six Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules ordered in 2008, and is in talks to obtain six more. India will also begin receiving 10 Boeing C-17s in 2013-2014, and 105 Antonov An-32s are being steadily upgraded with significantly improved avionics.

Work is also well under way on India's Boeing 737-based P-8I maritime patrol aircraft. In February, Raytheon announced it has delivered the first APY-10 surveillance radar for the aircraft, eight of which will enter navy service. The radar is specifically customised for India, with its surface search capability built on with air-to-air and weather modes. India is obtaining eight P-8Is.

While India appears to be doing well with the acquisition of key support aircraft, its main challenge remains to fill out its fighter squadrons and obtain a modern basic trainer. The situation will only grow more challenging as Pakistan increases its force of Chengdu/Pakistan Aeronautical Complex JF-17 Thunders, and China develops its high-altitude airfields in the Himalayas. The Indian air force's future MMRCA fleet is essential to counter these threats.

Four-hour Bollywood movies are great fun while they last, but all the singing and dancing account for nothing without a decisive finale.

Source:Flightglobal

NFC to set up critical facility for ISRO

Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), the main supplier of fuel for India’s nuclear power programme will now set up an exclusive facility to produce niobium, a key material with critical applications in the space and nuclear industry.

The Rs 30-crore facility will be funded by the Indian Space Research Organisation. To be located in its campus in Hyderabad, the centre will produce three tonnes per year of niobium and supply it to ISRO, according to Mr R.N. Jayaraj, Chief Executive of NFC.

The NFC has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, part of ISRO recently. Work will begin this month and the project would be ready for commissioning in the next 12-18 months, Mr Jayaraj told Business Line.

We get Niobhat when niobium is alloyed (combined) with hafnium. This alloy can withstand very high temperatures. It is used in the nozzles of spaceships, which need to be in space for long time. Hence, the critical nature of the product, explained Mr Jayaraj.

NFC has developed the technology to make both niobium and zirconium. The alloy of niobium and zirconium is used to fabricate the coolant channels of nuclear power reactors, which carry the fuel rods, whose burn up results in the generation of power.

NFC has also forged collaboration with C-Met and Midhani in getting the final product—Niobhat ready. NFC will make niobium thermite, and C-Met, Hyderabad will produce hafnium thermite. Finally, Midhani, the Defence public sector undertaking, here will manufacture the alloy.

Source:The hindu