India's New Killer Machine P-8i

Boeing to build 10 C-17 airlifters for India

Boeing said Wednesday that India's defense ministry has signed an agreement with the US government to buy 10 Boeing C-17 transports, making India the plane's largest international customer.

Boeing said that under the deal, India will take delivery of its C-17 Globemaster III airlifters in 2013 and 2014.

The US aerospace giant's announcement followed unofficial news earlier this month that the big sale, approved by the US Congress in May 2010, was in the pipeline.

India Approves 10 C-17 Purchase Deal Having Worth Nearly 4.1 Billion Dollar

The Indian Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the country’s final arbiter on defense and security issues, has approved the purchase of ten C-17 Globemaster III heavy lift aircraft.

The order is expected to be worth USD 4.1 billion.

Indian Foot-Prints Emerging On PNS Mehran Naval Base Attack

The Footprints of circumstantial evidence regarding the terrorist attack on the Mehran base clearly show the involvement of Indian intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Senior intelligence sources told The News that this was a joint venture, accomplished by RAW certainly with the consent of CIA and a group of al-Qaeda who are being used by the anti-Pakistan lobby.

“Even at this very initial stage, the agencies engaged in the investigation of the attack have got hold of some concrete indications to prove the involvement of foreign hand in the debacle,” one source said. He said that it could easily be calculated who was the prime beneficiary of the shattering strike.

“The militants attacked the base and mainly targeted the P-3C Orion aircraft as they had instructions to destroy them,” he said, adding that it was on record that India had opposed the US provision of these aircraft to Pakistan.

Another source said that the only major beneficiary of the annihilation of these planes was India as Pakistan has been deprived of one of its major assets.

India Certified First Dhruv Helicopter Simulator

The Helicopter Academy to Train by Simulation of Flying (HATSOFF), the joint venture owned equally by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and CAE, today announced that its simulator cockpit for the civil/conventional variant of the Dhruv has been certified to Level D, the highest qualification for flight simulators, by India's Directorate General Civil Aviation(DGCA).

The civil/conventional Dhruv simulator cockpit has been integrated with the CAE-built full-mission simulator currently in operation at HATSOFF. The simulator features CAE's revolutionary roll-on/roll-off cockpit design, which enables cockpits representing various helicopter types to be used in the simulator. This is the world's first-ever full-mission simulator for the HAL-built Dhruv helicopter.

"We are very proud of achieving Level D certification for the world's first simulator representing the indigenously developed HAL Dhruv helicopter," said Wg Cdr (Retd) Chandra Datt Upadhyay Vr.C., Chief Executive Officer of HATSOF. "We look forward to welcoming the Indian Air Force and other civil operators of the Dhruv in offering simulation-based training that will undoubtedly prove to be a safe and cost-effective method for training Dhruv helicopter aircrews."

India to Boost Blue-Water Warfare Capability With Two New Stealth Frigates

The Navy continues to hone its war-fighting capabilities despite being stretched in coastal security and anti-piracy operations. The force is now on course to soon induct two more deadly stealth frigates to bolster its growing "blue-water" warfare capabilities. 

Sources say the 6,200-tonne indigenous stealth frigate INS Satpura is likely to be commissioned in June-July, while the Russian-built 4,900-tonne INS Teg should finally be ready for induction by September-October. 

These long-awaited warships will come at a time when Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma has stressed that "maintenance of war-fighting abilities" remains the "top-most priority" for his force despite the "large number of peacetime commitments (anti-piracy, coastal security and the like) at hand". 

"With the security situation being fluid, we need to maintain the organizational ability to deploy warships, submarines and aircraft at immediate notice," said Admiral Verma, at the naval commanders' conference here on Tuesday. 

INS Satpura and INS Teg will certainly boost combat capabilities, packed as they are with sensors, weapons and missile systems, coupled with their stealthy nature due to "vastly-reduced" radar, infra-red, noise, frequency and magnetic "signatures" to beat enemy detection systems. 

Indian Radar Systems

Rohini Radar:

The Central Acquisition Radar (3D-CAR) is a 3D radar developed by DRDO for use with Akash SAM. The 3D CAR was developed as part of a program between DRDO and Poland's PIT to develop a family of mobile, S-Band 3D radars. 

The areas of cooperation were in developing the Planar Array and general architecture. The Indian variant is the 3D CAR, a medium range surveillance radar for Akash at Group level, intended to provide high mobility and comprehensive high and low level coverage. The Polish versions, are the TRS series of S Band mobile radars such as the TRS-17 and TRS-19. The original Indian (3D CAR) and Polish (TRS 17) radars shared the basic architecture and antenna but differed in terms of purpose designed transmitter/receivers, and signal processing equipment. The TRS series for instance can track 120 targets, while the Indian radar tracks 150.

Rajendra Radar:

The Rajendra Multi-Function Phased Array radar system, designed at the Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), part of DRDO, is currently in production at Bharat Electronics Limited. This is named after India's First president Dr. Rajendra Prasad.

The LRDE is working on the Rajendra III radar for the Indian Army.[1] Rajendra III is a slewable phased array radar based on the T-72 chassis. As of 2007, the BLR-III vehicle on T-72 chasis was ready for a track test. The Phased array antenna is fabricated at Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Ghaziabad. Collimated beam pattern and s/s cure for all 16 spot frequencies has been taken.

Current orders for the Rajendra and its derivatives are at least 32 units, considering the order for 2 Squadrons of the Akash system by the Indian Air force and the indent for 28 Weapon Locating Radars by the Indian Army.

 

INDRA Radar:

The Indian Doppler Radar (INDRA) series of 2D radars were developed by India's DRDO for the Army and Air Force. The INDRA-I is a is a mobile surveillance radar for low level target detection while the INDRA-II is for ground controlled interception of targets.

INDRA-I is a 2D mobile surveillance radar for low level target detection. The radar is housed in two wheeled vehicles. Some of the main features are automated Track While Scan (TWS), integrated IFF and high scan rate for high speed target detection. The radar is produced by Bharat Electronics Limited and inducted into service. The INDRA-I was a landmark project for the DRDO, as it was the first large radar system designed by the organization and produced in number for the defence forces. The Indian Air Force operates thirty INDRA-I's whereas the Indian Army also has several.

INDRA-II

It is a variant of INDRA radar for ground controlled interception of targets. The radar uses pulse compression for detection of low flying aircraft in heavy ground clutter with high range resolution and ECCM capabilities. The radar has been produced by Bharat Electronics Limited and is used by Indian Air Force and Army. Seven INDRA-IIs have been ordered by the Indian Air Force.

 

Aerostat Radar:

India has recently acquired Aerostat radars. The entire system is divided in major parts. Firstly, the aerostat balloon which has been acquired from Israel and second part is the payload on board the balloon which consists, advanced programmable radar (APR), Electronic Intelligence (ELINT), Communication Intelligence (COMINT) and V/UHF radio telephony equipment and Identification Friend or Foe (IFF). It has the capability to be integrated with AWACS and ground air defence environment and funtion as a command and control centre. Depending upon the payload the theethered balloon can be raised to the height between 10000 feet to 16000 feet.

The system gives a seamless radar cover of 300 km plus at low level along with good RT range and requisite ELINT. The system could be termed as static AWACS. Off course it comes with some vulnerabilities and limitations, like weather, wind speeds, lightning & thunder, launch & recovery periods are vulnerabilities. Its virtues also make it a prime target for enemy therfore it needs to be protected by exclusive air defence weapons. But we hope that the advantages of such system would outlast the limitations.

GreenPine Radar:

India had acquired and deployed two Green Pine radars around July 2002 and another one in August 2005.[33] The Swordfish Long Range Tracking Radar of the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation is an acknowledged derivative of the original Green Pine.[34]

The Indian government has sought to purchase the complete Arrow system since 1999,[3] but in early 2002 the U.S. vetoed Israel's request to sell the Arrow 2 missiles to India,[4][33] exercising its right as a major funding contributor.[35] U.S. officials argued that the sale would violate the Missile Technology Control Regime.

Swordfish is an Indian Long range tracking radar specifically developed to counter ballistic missile threat. It will be a part of India's ballistic missile program. First testing of this radar was in March 2009. Main aim of the test was to validate the capabilities of the indigenously developed Swordfish Long Range Tracking Radar (LRTR). "The missile to be hit will be fired from a longer distance than it was in the earlier test. DRDO tested whether the radar could track the incoming missile from that distance or not" said a member of the project.

Swordfish Radar:

Swordfish is an acknowledged derivative of the Israeli Green Pine long range radar, which is the critical component of that country's Arrow missile defence system. [1] However, it differs from the Israeli system as it employs Indian Transmit Receive modules, signal processing, computers and power supplies. It is also more powerful than the base Green Pine system and was developed to meet India's specific BMD needs.

Indian Army : Weapon Locating Radars:

The BEL Weapon Locating Radar (WLR) is a mobile artillery locating Phased array radar developed by India. This counter-battery radar is designed to detect and track incoming artillery and rocket fire to determine the point of origin for Counter-battery fire.

The WLR has been jointly developed by DRDO's Bangalore based laboratory, LRDE and the Government owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). The sub-systems have been fabricated by BEL based on the DRDO designs and delivered to LRDE for integration.

 

GS 100:

French defense avionics company Thales and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) have announced a deal for supply of 19 Ground Smarter GS-100 low level portable radars to the Indian Air Force.

India initiated procurement of low level radar systems for the IAF in 2003.

Finalization of the contract was announced during the 2009 Dubai Air Show.

"This contract reinforces our position in the Indian region as a major supplier of air defense radars," said Richard Deakin, Thales senior vice president and head of the air systems division. "BEL is a leading supplier of defense electronics systems and subsystems and plays a leading role in a number of major Indian defense programs."

Under the TOT deal, Thales will build the initial six radars at its Limours facility, southwest of Paris. BEL will build the remaining 13 radars in India.

Details of the project and GS-100 capabilities are listed at my knol Thales Ground Smarter GS-100 radars for IAF.

Russia to lease nuclear submarine to India

Russia will lease a nuclear powered submarine to India before October, a Russian Navy Staff admiral said on Wednesday.

Previous media reports said that the K-152 Nerpa attack submarine had already been transferred to India on a 10-year lease.

"The submarine is completely ready for transfer. An Indian crew is currently training aboard with Russian instructors," the admiral - who requested anonymity - said.

The training course includes the launching of cruise missiles, he added.

"This should be completed before October: We're running late as it is," the admiral said.

Twenty sailors were killed onboard the submarine as the K-152 Nerpa was undergoing sea trials in the Sea of Japan in November 2008. A fire extinguishing system malfunctioned leading to the discharge of a toxic gas.

The boat is now fully operational after repairs.

Indian Su-30mKI To Get AESA Radar Under Super- 30 Modernization project

HAL will start modernization of last batch of 40 Sukhoi Su 30MKI under “Super -30” Project from 2012. Russian and Indian Specialist are still working on technical performance, under this Project Indian government will be allocating close to US$2.4 billion for Deep Modernization for all the Sukhoi Su30 MKI fleet currently but these upgrades will be carried out only on newly built Su-30, which will be last batch of Su-30 to join IAF.  

This first 40 aircrafts will also get, strengthening of air frame to enable them to carry near 2.5 tonne, Air launched version of Brahmos , Indian air force have already provided two Su-30MKI aircrafts in 2010 to carry out such modification to the airframe and Air launch variant is also ready only integration with airframe is left . Under “Super -30” Project, Su 30MKI will get Russian Phazotron Zhuk-AE Active Electronically Scanned Array AESA radars along with new onboard mission computers, electronic warfare systems and new Russian BVR Missiles rumored to be Novator K-100 missile also known has “AWCS Killer ” and also India’s own Astra BVR Missile. 

SU-30MKI Multi-Role Fighter

First EMB-145 Rolls Out For DRDO AWACS

Embraer presented the first of three EMB-145 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) platforms on Feb 21 to representatives of the Indian government at a ceremony held at its headquarters in São José dos Campos, Brazil. Based on the proven Embraer ERJ 145 regional jet, the aircraft features an in-flight refueling system, SATCOM capability, a significant increase in electrical and cooling capacities, and a comprehensive set of aerodynamic and structural changes. These improvements will allow the installation of the advanced electronic systems currently being developed by DRDO under CABS’ coordination.

Tejas Fighters Will Be Raised In Bangalore

The first squadron of the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas will be raised in Bangalore.

The Aircraft and System Testing Establishment (ASTE) will conduct a series of tests before the aircraft is inducted into the Indian Air Force.

Commandant of the ASTE, Air Commodore BR Krishna said that two pilots have been identified by the Bangalore-based flight testing establishment for carrying out extensive tests.