India-built sub-assembly on US Navy's combat planes

New Delhi : An India-built electronic sub-assembly will be part of the US Navy's combat planes, a statement said Wednesday as Indian companies step up efforts to be part of the global defence supply chain.

The sub-assembly provides the cockpit flood lighting compatible with the aircraft's night vision imaging system (NVIS).

American aerospace major Boeing has delivered the first EA-18G Growler aircraft fitted with a cockpit sub-assembly produced by Indian public sector defence electronics major Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to the US Navy on May 3, a statement from the firm said.

Boeing has also extended a contract signed with BEL for another year for supplying the sub-assembly for Boeing military planes.

Boeing had awarded BEL an initial contract in March 2011 for work on F/A-18 Super Hornet combat plane cockpit sub-assemblies.

That contract included options to renew annually for up to four years. "As a result of BEL's demonstrated performance, Boeing recently exercised an option to renew the contract for another year," it said.

"BEL continues to demonstrate its capabilities and its position as a valued partner to Boeing," Boeing Defence, Space and Security in India vice-president for international business development Dennis Swanson said.

"BEL's work on P-8I, Super Hornets and Growlers is another example of how Indian companies are becoming a part of the global supply chain while Boeing helps them expand their opportunities across the global aerospace industry," he said.

Other EA-18G parts produced by BEL include a complex-machined stowage panel for the joint helmet mounted cueing system connector cable and an avionics cooling system fan test switch panel with an NVIS-compatible floodlight assembly.

Some of these cockpit sub assemblies also will be installed on Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.

In addition to its F/A-18E/F and EA-18G work, BEL provides Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) interrogators and Data Link-II communications systems for the Indian Navy's fleet of P-8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft.

India is buying 12 P-8I planes to boost its maritime domain awareness. The initial contract for eight of these planes were signed in January 2009.

Boeing and BEL also partnered to establish the analysis and experimentation centre in Bangalore in 2009.

The centre is a resource for collaboration, experimentation and discovery where the two companies work together to help the Indian armed forces understand the potential operational impacts of new system concepts, innovative technologies, and emerging and evolving processes.

Source:IANS

Agni-VI to be ready by mid 2014

Before the din that was kicked off after test firing of the much-touted Intercontinental Range Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Agni-V was settled down, India is gearing up to go for the maiden development trial of Agni-VI missile within next two years notwithstanding international reactions and pressures.

Being developed by the DRDO, the new generation ICBM Agni-VI will have a strike range of 8,000 km to 10,000 km. A reliable source told ‘The Express’ that the drawing and designing work of the most advanced missile had been started.

“It will be a three-stage missile and taller than the Agni-V. The design is just taking shape and other sub systems are under development. If everything goes as per the programme, the missile will be ready by mid 2014,” said the source.

A scientist associated with the project said unlike the bulky Agni-III, the new generation Agni-VI missile will be more trendy and sleek, so that it can be easily carried to any place and deployed as and when required.

While the length of the missile would be reportedly around 40 meters as against Agni-V’s 17.5 meter, its diameter will be 1.1 meter, which is almost half of Agni-V. The missile’s launch weight would be around 55 tonne.

The Agni-VI is said to be the latest and most advanced version among the Agni series of missiles. It will have the capability to be launched from submarine and from land-based launchers. The DRDO is also working on integrating Agni-V with submarine.

The new missile will also carry more number of warheads than any other versions. While Agni-V can carry up to three nuclear warheads, sources said the next missile in the series can carry even up to 10 nuclear warheads, capable of hitting multiple targets simultaneously.

After the first test launching of 5,000 km range Agni-V missile while many had raised question about its ICBM capabilities, though it can hit the target anywhere in Asia, Africa and Europe except America, the development of Agni-VI would definitely be a befitting reply to them.

Apart from the Agni-VI’s ground version, the DRDO is also simultaneously working out for its underground variant. The submarine launched version of the missile will arm the Arihant class submarines of the Indian Navy. This missile with a strike range of 6,000 kilometers can carry a payload of one tonne.

“We are seriously contemplating to enhance the reach of our strategic missiles. The development of Agni-VI will be a step forward to accomplish the goal. With the present strength we are capable of developing the inter-continental ballistic missiles which can hit targets beyond the range of 10,000 km,” added the scientist.

Source:CNN IBN

Indian naval ships visit Haiphong in Vietnam

Two Indian naval ships, the INS Shivalik and INS Karmuk, commanded by Rear Admiral Ajit Kumar P, who is also the Eastern Naval Commander, docked in Haiphong port city on May 19.This is the fifth visit to Haiphong by the Indian ships, aiming to reinforce the friendship and cooperation between India and Vietnam, as well as between the two navies.

The Indian delegation is scheduled to pay a courtesy visit to leaders of the Haiphong municipal People’s Committee, the High Command of Military Zone 3 and the Navy High Command. They will also conduct an exchange with students from the Vietnam Maritime University, and offer gifts to children in the Hoa Phuong orphanage.

The Indian navy leaders will visit Hanoi and pay tribute to late President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum, in addition to doing some sightseeing in Haiphong and Halong Bay.

The ships will conclude their visit to Vietnam on May 23.

SOURCE: VOICE OF VIETNAM

Stage set for Akash Test

India is all set to carry out a user specific test of surface-to-air anti-aircraft missile ‘Akash’ from a defence base off the Odisha coast.

�The Government had cleared the project for induction in the Armed forces in January 2008. After years of rejection for faults in the missile system the Army greed to induct the modified version of the missile. It was inducted into the Air Force on March 3. Defence Minister AK Antony had handed over the missile to the IAF.

Sources on Tuesday said the indigenously developed missile would be flight tested from the launching complex no. II of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-sea in the third week of this month. The test would be conducted by the Army.

“Preparation for the mission is in full swing. This time the missile would target a Pilot-less Target Aircraft (PTA). Both the Akash and PTA teams have been camping here for a fortnight now. If everything goes according to the plan, the missile will be test-fired on May 20,” a source said.

Akash is a mobile, multiple-target handling and medium range air defence missile developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). The missile system is uniquely configured and customised both for Indian Army and Air Force. It has a strike range of 30 km and can be fired from both track and wheel platforms.

The missile system has been configured to be part of the futuristic network-centric operation, most of the operations having been made automated. The missile, which has a launch weight of 720 kg, a length of 5.8 metres and a diameter of 35 cm, can carry a payload of 50 kg. It can fly at a speed of around 2.5 Mach and can reach an altitude of 18 km.

The missile is supported by multi-target and multi-function phased array fire control radar called ‘Rajendra’, capable of tracking 64 targets and guiding up to 12 missiles simultaneously.

The Akash system is comparable to the Patriot system of the USA. It can destroy manoeuvring targets such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), fighter aircraft, cruise missiles and missiles launched from helicopters.

Director of Public Interface and DRDO spokesperson Ravi Kumar Gupta said the missile which will be used for the test has been randomly selected from the production lot.

“Earlier all its developmental and user trials have been conducted successfully. This test is important as the user will test its performance and effectiveness,” Gupta added.

Source:IBNLive

India-Himalayas as viewed by RISAT-1

India-Student-designed sounding rocket launched

THIRUVANTHAPURAM, MAY 13: 

The Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (Terls) here has launched ‘Vyom,’ the first sounding rocket designed and realised by students.

B.Tech students of Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (lIST), Thiruvananthapuram, designed and realised the sounding rocket.

EXPERT GUIDANCE

Experts at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) here and faculty members of IIST provided guidance and supervision. Infrastructure of VSSC too was made available.

The main objective of the launch was to flight test the solid motor and the accelerometer payload developed for the project, a spokesman for VSSC said.

The objectives were satisfactorily met in the maiden launch, he said, and the rocket reached the expected altitude.

He added that 26 undergraduate students, including 10 alumni of the 2007 batch who are at present scientists/engineers in ISRO centres, actively contributed to the project.

A steering committee comprising IIST-VSSC mentors reviewed the preliminary design of the rocket.

The respective launch vehicle design review teams of ISRO cleared the design of all sub-systems.

PROVEN PROPELLANT

Vyom had an overall length of 2.3 meters, maximum outer diameter of 207 mm and a lift-off mass of 88 kg.

It used solid motor with ISRO’s proven hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene propellant, with a new grain configuration conceived by the students.

The payload was a tri-axis accelerometer designed and realised by the students under the guidance of the advanced technology vehicle and sounding rockets project of the VSSC.

It works on a low 5-V power supply and a low-cost power switching module and uses S-band antenna transmission system.

WELL-TRAINED

VYOM has helped students to learn many lessons, much beyond what is written in text books on rocket propulsion, aerodynamics and flight dynamics, payloads, manufacturing, integration and launch operations and above all the concepts of systems engineering and the spirit of team work.

They also benefitted by exposure to the rigour and the openness of ISRO’s design reviews, the test and evaluation standards and the strict adherence to quality norms followed in ISRO.

Thus, the spokesman said, students have been well-trained to take up the challenges they are going to take up in different ISRO centres.

Source:The Hindu

Russia ready to set up Mig Plant in India

New Delhi, May 13: A defence ministry delegation is expected to leave for Moscow shortly to finalise, arrangements for the purchase of Russian Mig Supersonic Jet Fighters for the Indian Air Force. Talks have been going on for the purpose between India and the Soviet Union for some time and India is now understood to be anxious to obtain fighter planes of comparable performance in view of the supply of F-104-g jets to Pakistan by USA.

The Government had explored possibilities of buying similar US British or French fighters, but the foreign exchange problems and the question of early delivery are understood to have come in the way. The advantages of the Migs — that they are much cheaper than comparable western supersonic jet fighters and that the Soviet Union is understood to be ready to set up a plant in India for the manufacture of Migs — are understood to have impressed India in favour of these planes.

Source:DC

India's missile defence shield ready: Defence Research and Development Organisation

New Delhi:  India has developed its own missile defence shield which can be put in place at short notice to protect at least two cities, bringing the country at par with an elite group of few nations. The shield, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has been tested successfully and an incoming ballistic missile with the range of up to 2,000 kms can be destroyed. 

"The Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) shield is now mature. We are ready to put phase one in place and it can be put in very short time," DRDO chief V K Saraswat told PTI in an interview.

He said the shield, as part of phase one of the programme, can be put in place in two cities in the country, where the infrastructure is available. However, the two places have not yet been identified and the selection will be made at the political level. The DRDO used variants of Prithvi missiles as simulated targets and successfully intercepted missiles in test-firings.


The system was first test-fired in November 2006 elevating India into the elite club of countries to have successfully developed an Anti-ballistic missile system, after United States, Russia and Israel.

"We have carried out six successful launches and demonstrated the capability for 2,000 km targets. We have demonstrated it in two layers that is endo-atmospheric (inside the Earth's atmosphere) and exo-atmospheric (outside the Earth's atmosphere)," Mr Saraswat said.

The DRDO chief said the Indian missile defence system is comparable with the US Patriot 3 system, which was successfully used during the 1990 Gulf War against Iraq.

He said all the elements such as long-range radars and tracking devices, real-time datalink and mission control system required for the missile system have been "realised" successfully.

Under the phase two of the project, the premier defence research agency would upgrade the system to handle ballistic missiles with range of 5,000 km. This phase is expected to be ready by 2016.
 
The system required for phase-II of the project is being developed, he said, adding that for this purpose, ships are being built from where the target missiles would be launched.

Talking about the advancement of the system, he said the missile defence shield has been "automated" to an extent where human intervention would be required only if the mission has to be aborted.

As part of its efforts to protect itself from enemy missiles, India is developing this two-tier BMD which can intercept enemy missiles at altitudes of 80 km and 150 km.

The DRDO is thinking of intercepting the missiles at higher altitudes as it would give it more response time in case the first attempt is a miss and the second layer of the system can be put into action. 

The world's most economical missile programme?

The recent launch of the Agni 5, the intercontinental ballistic missile, makes it a good time to look at how the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is managing its finances and funding for ambitious projects.

IndiaSpend carried out a 10-year study of available figures and found DRDO seemingly achieved a lot, with little. While we can’t establish direct time and cost correlations between the Rs 70,009-crore spend (including establishment costs) over a decade on DRDO and all the expenses on actually developing or testing missiles, it should come close.

The fact is for approximately $14 billion in 10 years, India has seemingly developed various kinds of missiles, drones, radar systems and carried out all kinds of research and upgradation on armaments and fighting gear.

USA missile spends
In contrast, USA’s unmanned aerial vehicle projects, the UAV Predator and the UAV Reaper, alone have a total project cost of $2.38 billion and $11.8 billion, respectively. On the other hand, the Trident II, has a total programme cost of $39 billion, the Tactical Tomahawk Cruise Missile has a cost of $6.8 billion and the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) has a total project cost of $5.7 billion, according to www.costofwar.com.

Once again, both the UAV and the missiles may be chalk and cheese comparisons when it comes to capability and a host of other defence-related parameters. So, the idea is to provide contrasts, not compare in absolutes.

DRDO financials
On the other hand, the total value (Defence Ministry’s Annual Report 2011-2012) of the systems/technologies/ products that the DRDO has included in the defence services or is in the process of inclusion is computed at Rs 1,30,000 crore, or $26 billion, till now.

The DRDO’s mandate is to design, develop and produce state of the art weapon systems and allied equipment for the defence services, as well as provide technology solutions. This year, its budget is Rs 10,636 crore, including salaries for its staff and other miscellaneous expenses, as well as the capital outlay. Heads like pays and allowances of personnel, stores, and training account for Rs 5,996 crore in 2012-13.

The capital outlay, meant for modernisation and development, is effectively Rs 4,640 crore, an increase of Rs 12 crore over last year, when it was Rs 4,628 crore. Interestingly, the actual expenditure in 2010-11 was Rs 4,965. Thus, in 2011-2012 there was a decrease of Rs 337 crore.

DRDO & others
The pension budget for the three services (Army, Navy, Air Force) in 2012-13 is Rs 38,973 crore. The salary budget for these services is Rs 55,838 crore. The capital outlay for these three services in this year’s Budget is Rs 57,893 crore, just for components like land, construction, aircraft and aero engines, heavy & medium vehicles and other constructions.

DRDO’s revenue expenditure, on the other hand, is paltry, which is normal keeping in mind its manpower. DRDO’s pays and allowances is only Rs 2,237 crore, while training gets Rs 15 crore. ‘Research and development’ gets Rs 1,150 crore. However, the capital outlay is Rs 4,640 crore, which seems a lot less than compared to its requirement.

A few achievements this year are outlined below:

Missile systems

• Surface-to-surface Prithvi II missile was successfully flight tested, that too, with accuracy on June 9, 2011. We already have three versions of Prithvi, with ranges of 150 km, 250 km and 350 km.
• Agni I successfully flight tested on December 1, 2011, and Agni II on September 30, 2011. Agni IV was test-fired on November 15, 2011, and Agni V was successfully launched last week.
• Long-range, surface-to-air missile, a joint initiative between the Navy and Israel, is complete and under delivery.
• Medium-range surface-to-air missile, an initiative between the Air Force and IAI, Israel, was developed.
• Brahmos Supersonic Cruise Missile is developed for the Army, Navy and Air Force and already installed in four ships. It is also being installed in five more naval ships. The installation of Brahmos in Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter planes is in progress.
• The indigenously developed Astra Missile is completed, and flight trials on Sukhoi 30 MKI’s are completed.
• Surface-to-surface missile Prahaar successfully flight tested on July, 21 2011, and has achieved terminal accuracy.
• Helina, an anti-tank missile for advanced light helicopters, undertook a flight trial on October 17, 2011.
• Shaurya Missile, with a range of 700 km, was launched on September 24, 2011, and has achieved accuracy.

All these missiles have been successfully flight-tested during the year. Prithvi and Shaurya are examples of a few missiles that have been upgraded from previous versions.

The Integrated Guided Missile Development Progr-amme, another important agenda of the DRDO and the brain child of former President A P J Abdul Kalam, was aimed at self sufficiency and had secured approval in 1983.

Agni, Prithvi, Trishul, Nag and Akash are the missiles completed under this programme. Finally, in January 2008, the programme was closed, as the goal of achieving self reliance in missile technology was achieved. Most of the achievements this year are upgradation in technology and strength.

Aeronautics

• The medium-altitude, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Rustom I was indigenously developed and has seen successful flight tests.
• The Airborne Early Warning and Control System was indigenously produced and took its first flight on December 6, 2011. It includes active electronic and radar scanning antenna and is considered a major milestone. India is now one of the select countries that have this system.

Electronics

• Rohini, the three-dimensional surveillance radar system, was developed for the Air Force. It is built in accordance with the latest digital technology and would increase airspace awareness manifold.
• Revathi, another surveillance radar system, is developed for Navy with highly optimised structure and accuracy.
  These are a few important achievements of the DRDO in 2011. However, the list does not end here. The specialty of DRDO lies on other aspects of the defence services as well.
• Data Analysis and Pattern Recognition has been developed and handed to the Navy. This is aimed at creating a database that would analyse data mining and statistical testing.
• Varuna, an interceptor, has been installed and given to the Navy. It can detect and intercept the activity of 500 radar emitters simultaneously.
• Stride, a convoy jammer system is developed and used by the Army and paramilitary forces. It can prevent detonation of radio controlled improvised explosive devices or IEDs.
• 110 Arjun Tanks have been handed to the Army till now, compared with the 124 demanded previously. A total of 90 per cent of the Arjun Tanks were indigenously developed at the Indian Ordinance Factory in Avadi, Chennai, by the Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment, a wing of the DRDO. It is estimated to cost approximately Rs 2,500 crore. The remaining 14 tanks would be handed over by mid- 2012.
• Power output of T 72 tanks has been upgraded from 780 hp to 1,000 hp to enhance mobility.
• INSAS rifle and LMGs have been redesigned to increase lethality. The Army has already carried out user trials.

The DRDO has been achieving its targets every year. This is evident if you take a look at the ministry’s Annual Report 2011-2012, which speaks of achievements in 2010. For instance, in 2010, the DRDO had successfully tested three missiles, the Dhanush, the Akash and the Nag.

However there are allegations of time and cost overruns against the DRDO. For instance, a report says the IGMDP was sanctioned Rs 389 crore for developing five missiles. But till 2007, only two were ready and required an additional Rs 1,770 crore. With the stress on ‘buy and make Indian’, the push is on private Indian manufacturers and defence public sector undertakings. The technology for such measures is provided by the DRDO, but with a small budget.

Source:Business Standard