Air version of Brahmos readied for tests on Sukhoi jets: Official

TIRUCHIRAPALLI (TN): The faster air version of the successful supersonic BrahMos cruise missile is being readied for tests on the Sukhoi-30 jets and the weapon is expected to be formally inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) by 2012, a top official said.


A final shape to the hypersonic missile BrahMos-II project being executed by the Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace would emerge shortly, the company CEO and Managing Director A Sivathanu Pillai told reporters.


Project authorities are awaiting the modified Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft that would be fitted with the sophisticated missile which can travel at speeds between Mach 5 and Mach 7. (Mach 1, which is the speed of sound, is equal to roughly 1,200 km per hour).


After being fitted on an aircraft, BrahMos-II will be the only cruise missile with the capability of being launched from land, sea and air, Pillai said.


The design team had already been lined up and discussions would be held shortly between the joint venture partners on investments, sharing of technical responsibilities, administration and sharing of manufacturing facility infrastructure, he said.


On the new version of BrahMos, Pillai said the preliminary exercise for its induction into the IAF is already on.


The design and development of this version had been fruitful and the advanced missile, which weighs 0.5 tonne less than that of the three-tonne land version BrahMos, was ready.


BrahMos, which has a capability of carrying 300 kg conventional warheads at a speed of around 2.8 Mach, has already been inducted into the Army and the Navy.


Pillai said he was hopeful that the target for induction of the air version set for 2012 would be achieved

Amit Aneja takes charge as Commandant of AFA

Hyderabad, Sept 1 (PTI) Air Vice Marshal Amit Aneja today took over as the Commandant of the prestigious Air Force Academy (AFA) at Dundigal here.

AFA, is a premier IAF training institute where flight cadets are imparted quality training to become officers in the flying, technical, administration, logistics, accounts, meteorology and education branches of the Indian Air Force.

AVM Amit Aneja was commissioned in the Indian Air Force as a fighter pilot in December 1976. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, the Air Officer has flown over 3,000 hours which includes operational flying in various front line fighter squadrons.

His flying experience includes flying on Kiran, Hunter, Gnat, MIG-21 and Mirage-2000 and he is a qualified Flying Instructor.

The Air Officer is a post graduate in Defence and Strategic Studies and did the higher command course.

FLIR gets $7.2 million surveillance order from the Indian Air Force

September 1, 2009--FLIR Systems (Portland, OR) received a $7.2 million U.S. Government Foreign Military Sale (FMS) order for the Indian Air Force. The order includes FLIR System's Star SAFIRE(R) III infrared multi-sensor surveillance systems, training and related services. The units delivered under this award will be installed on C-130J Fixed Wing Surveillance Platforms in support of Indian Ministry of Defense airborne missions.
This FMS order represents the first fixed-wing sale of FLIR's multi-sensor systems to the Indian Ministry of Defense. Work on this order will be performed at FLIR's facility in Wilsonville, Oregon and deliveries are expected to be completed by 2011.
"This order, the result of FLIR's world-class products and significant investment in regional support and training, demonstrates our ability to penetrate new international markets," said Earl R. Lewis, president and CEO of FLIR Systems. "We are pleased the Indian Ministry of Defense has chosen FLIR products for their critical homeland security and national defense missions and look forward to collaborating with them in the future."


FLIR Systems designs, manufactures, and markets thermal imaging and stabilized camera systems for a wide variety of thermography and imaging applications.

Hopes, dreams take wing as Air Force declares results

New Delhi Outside the gates of the Indian Air Force base at Race Course road, hundreds of young boys are waiting — some walk around to pass time, others sit on the pavement fighting the muggy monsoon day with ice creams.

These are aspiring Airboys, waiting for the results of the Air Force exam. Newsline joins in to ask what motivated the youngsters to apply for the Air Force.

Answers vary from Air Force being the dream they nurtured for years to a hunt for a secure job and a good livelihood. There are also some who are attracted to the idea of flying, uniforms and guns, while some turned up, well, just like that.

Most aspirants are from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and other neighbouring states and the crowd outside the building displays a mix of opinions and emotions:

For Amit Dalal, 18, from Haryana, Air Force was a dream since childhood and it turned into an aim as he grew up. As he grew up, it turned into his aim. “I always wanted to be in the Air Force and now my dream can come true,” he says. Though Dalal is applying for a non-technical job, he wants to fly fighter planes one day. “I will do it,” he avers.

Sonu Naresh, 18, wants a secure government job. His plan includes not just the Air Force but also the Navy and other defence forces. He knew all about the tests even before his neighbouring bookstore in Ghaziabad started selling the forms. “I want to get a government job and a steady income. Life will be then on a track,” says Naresh, who wants to retire before he is 30. “The pension will keep coming every year and I will do my own business,” he says.

Hem Chandra Pandey, 17, wears glasses and is dressed in formals. Pandey, an NCC cadet from Jharkhand, likes discipline and that is why he turned to the Air Force. “I want to be in the Air Force because I want my life to be disciplined. I want everything to be in order,” says Pandey, a B Com student at the Kumao University in Jharkhand. He aims to be a commissioned officer.

It is 1 pm and the result is being announced. From the two batches of 500 applicants, only 48 have been selected. Hope gives way to dejection and for some, a resolve to try again.

Near a plinth, Vinay Kumar, 18, gets up to go back home in Ghazipur, UP. He has not been selected. His father is already walking ahead, sad that his son didn’t make it. Kumar, though, is coming here next year again and before that he will apply for the Navy as well. For Kumar, a career in defence runs in the family. “My father is in the Army, my uncle in the Navy and even my grandfather was an armyman. I have always wanted to be in the Air Force or Navy,” he says. Kumar lost out this year by one mark. “I will do it because I have to,” he says as he follows his father.

Lockheed Martin to fund Delhi undergrads’ next-gen UAV

NEW DELHI - Impressed by the talent of a group of engineering undergraduates who won top honours at an international competition for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), US aerospace major Lockheed Martin announced Tuesday it would fund their efforts to create a new generation machine that would have civilian and military applications.

“Here is a group of students who are undergraduates and have worked on a technology they don’t even have classes on,” said Ray O. Johnson, Lockheed Martin senior vice president and chief technology officer, while announcing the company would ink a deal with the Delhi Technology University (DTU), to which the 10 students belong.

“We will provide the broad parameters of the design requirements to be implemented by the students,” he added.

While congratulating the students, Johnson said: “This partnership is one more example of Lockheed Martins long-term commitment to India and the partnerships which we seek to develop and nurture.

The company will provide the student group with Lockheed Martin-generated design space to structure their efforts. The team will be required to make an initial design and then develop a flying prototype - with the drones hopefully going into production by the Commonwealth Games in October 2010.

These will be ideal vehicles for carrying out aerial surveillance at the Games’ venues and also for controlling traffic, P.B. Sharma, the vice chancellor of the DTU, which was previously known as the Delhi College of Engineering (DCE).

Sharma, along with other DTU faculty, had guided the 10 students who won the director’s award for the best team effort for demonstrating a successful flight of a UAV at the 2009 Association of Unmanned Vehicles System International (AUVSI) Student Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) competition.

Explaining the salient features of the new UAV, Rochak Chadha, a third year student of electronics and communications engineering, said the effort would be to increase its endurance to 10 hours from an hour the existing machine can stay aloft.

It will also run on an electric motor against the present petrol engine, we will downsize the autopilot and change the camera system for greater resolution and clarity, Chadha added.

Speaking about what motivated the team to start work on the existing craft, Chadha said: Technology for UAV’s is woefully lacking and the defence forces have to import these from Israel. We wanted to work on the ultimate level of robotics and to create something that was commercially viable.”

The global UAV market is currently estimated at $3.4 billion and has the potential to rise to $7 billion in 10 years, he added.

Asked if the defence ministry has been approached for potential purchase of the UAV, Sharma replied: The defence ministry and ADA (Aeronautical Development Agency) are aware of our capabilities. But more than that, there is tremendous potential for the machine in the civilian sector.

Utilise spare time in social services

ALLAHABAD: Calling upon the youth to devote themselves to nation building, Colonel Kaushal Chaturvedi, group commander of Allahabad NCC group while flagging off a boat expedition from Saraswati ghat here on Tuesday advised them to utilise their spare time in social services.

The pullin-cum-sailing boat expedition on two whaler boats is being conducted by Varanasi Naval Unit NCC under the aegis of UP NCC Directorate, Lucknow.

30 cadets of Varanasi NCC unit and senior sailors of Indian Navy are participating in the 410 kilometre long expedition which will pass through Mirzapur, Chunar, Varanasi and Ghazipur before culminating at Ballia on September 10.

The main objective of the expedition is to impart adventure sports training to cadets. They would also be engaged in spreading awareness about river Ganga and pollution control among people living near the river bank. The expedition will also provide opportunity to rural youth to know more about the Indian Nay.

Colonel Harjeet Singh, group commander, Varanasi NCC conveyed his good wishes to the participants while Lieutenant Commander Pramod Dutta and Commander SK Singh of Indian Nay were also present on the occasion. A large number of NCC cadets of Allahabad alongwith the locals cheered the expedition team.

Pipavav Shipyard to focus on defence, oil and gas sectors

Bangalore: Private shipbuilder Pipavav Shipyard Ltd, co-promoted by engineering firm Punj Lloyd Ltd, will focus on building ships for the defence and oil and gas sectors, a top executive said.

The shipbuilding firm, India’s newest in the private sector, is looking to tap into a portion of the big projects lined up by the Indian Navy, estimated to be worth Rs50,000 crore to be spent in the next 15-20 years.

“Going forward, we will position ourselves as a builder of defence vessels and ships used to support oil and gas exploration activities along the coast,” Bhavesh Gandhi, vice-chairman of Pipavav Shipyard, said Mint over the phone from Mumbai.

Gandhi said the new focus on the defence and oil and gas sectors had nothing to do with the fact that the global commercial shipbuilding business has not been in good shape in the past 12 months.

“It is just that the demand in these two sectors is so huge that it requires a company of large scale and size with modern infrastructure to undertake the job,” he said. “We are at the right place, at the right time to service the needs of these two sectors.”

Pipavav has applied for a tender floated by the Indian Navy to build seven ships, including patrol and training vessels.

Gandhi said Pipavav will have tie-ups with specialists in naval shipbuilding on a project-by-project basis. “For instance, we will outsource design for naval ships from global firms specializing in this area,” he said.

He added that the firm had a large contingent of people involved in building naval ships in Russia and Germany.

As the firm grows, Pipavav Shipyard plans to raise at least Rs550 crore through an initial public offering between 17 and 24 September.

In July, it won a $112 million (around Rs545 crore) contract from state-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd to build 12 ships that will be used to support its drilling operations.

The firm has also secured contracts worth $1.1 billion to build 26 dry bulk cargo ships from global fleet owners such as Setaf SAS of France and Avgi Maritime Services SA of Greece.

The shipyard, which has the largest dry dock facility in the country, is equipped to build oil super tankers.

A dry dock is a large dock from which water can be pumped out, and is used to build or repair a ship below its waterline.

India drops anchor in the Maldives

NEW DELHI - For some time, India and China have eyed each other's influence in the Indian Ocean region, which has significant strategic, military, transport, energy and commercial interests for both countries.

The recent three-day visit of Indian Defense Minister A K Antony to the Maldives for a meeting with President Mohammed Nasheed is viewed as one more step by Delhi to increase its presence in this important region.

Defense engagements between India and the Maldives are described as of those between "good friends and equal partners". Antony said the Maldivian authorities "expressed concerns over

the crucial tasks of safeguarding and protecting their vast exclusive economic zone while stating its need to develop and enhance maritime surveillance and aerial mobility capabilities".

To allay the fears raised by Male, Indian navy and coast guard warships will patrol the pirate-infested waters of the Maldives. This will also help Delhi secure the Andaman and Nicobar chain of islands.

While the immediate reason for enhanced defense cooperation is to build military assets in the Maldives to guard against terrorists and pirates, observers also view India's military positioning in the Indian Ocean island nation as a furtherance of its longer-term military deterrence against China.

India has for some while talked of a naval base and a listening post in the Maldives to contain Beijing's growing muscle in the region.

Further, the Maldives being a Muslim country, India is wary about the influence that Pakistan may exert, including the possibility of infiltration by terror cells to launch attacks in India, as has happened in Bangladesh. New Delhi has thus been looking to set up an intelligence base in Male.

"India and the Maldives have agreed on a series of measures to step up defense cooperation between the two countries,'' an Indian Defense Ministry spokesperson said of Antony's visit.

Officials have said that regular Dornier surveillance flights and an air force station, as well as military helicopters and 26 coastal radars, are part of the security plan. A 25-bed military hospital in Male has also been pledged by India.

India may also set up a network of ground radars on major atolls of the Maldives. linking them with the Indian Coastal Command. This would bring the Maldives into the eye of India's coastal security setup and within the security network of its armed forces.

India is concerned over bases being set up by China in its neighborhood, which have been described as a "string of pearls'' around India's neck that could easily be tightened should the need arise.

In Gwadar, Pakistan, China is developing a deep-water harbor that could be used by its expanding fleet of nuclear submarines. Ports and other infrastructure projects are being developed by China in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

India has been particularly unhappy about the deep-water port in Hambantota on Sri Lanka's south coast, being built with the help of the Chinese. After being beaten in Myanmar, Delhi is also wary that Chinese energy firms are going to make a dash for Sri Lanka's oil and gas sources in the Mannar Basin. China is already building two naval bases in Myanmar. Major Chinese investments are also being made in East Africa, Kenya and Tanzania.

Over the long term, Chinese naval officers speak of developing three ocean-going fleets to patrol the areas of Japan and Korea and the western Pacific, the Strait of Malacca and the Indian Ocean.

Not to be left wanting, India has already established a new listening post that has begun operations in northern Madagascar, a large island off Africa's east coast. The monitoring station is to gather intelligence on foreign navies operating in the region by linking with similar facilities in Mumbai and Kochi located on India's west coast and which are the headquarters of the India navy's western and southern commands, respectively.

The station is India's first in the southern Indian Ocean and is significant due to the increasing oil traffic now going round the Cape of Good Hope off South Africa via the Mozambique channel. India has also set up a monitoring facility at an island it has leased from Mauritius situated to the east of Madagascar.

The latest defense agreements with the Maldives only strengthen such moves.

The Maldives comprises over 1,000 tiny islands, out of which about 200 are inhabited; over 640 kilometers separate the northernmost island from the southern islands. The island chain is about 400 nautical miles from the Indian coast.

Relations between India and the Maldives have always been good. The country's independence in 1965 from Britain was first recognized by India, and the country has emerged as a high-end tourist destination, especially for Western travelers.

In 1988, New Delhi extended quick assistance when the island nation faced a coup. In 2004, India was the first to send relief when it was hit by a tsunami. In 2006, India gifted a fast attack craft to the Maldives.

Powering the seas

Powering the seas remains a crucial cog in India's ongoing defense modernization exercise that is estimated will cost more than US$100 billion.

The Indian navy is looking to produce at least 25 underwater vessels valued at $20 billion to meet challenges across the Indian Ocean. The government plans to invest over $15 billion over the next 10 years on warships.

India's first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine, INS Arihant, was launched for trials last month. This is part of the $3 billion plan to build five submarines and complete the triad of nuclear weapons launch pads - from air, land and sea platforms.

Built under the Advanced Technology Vessel project with Russian help, INS Arihant is expected to be commissioned around 2012. India will be the sixth country after the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain to possess a nuclear-powered submarine.

Meanwhile, construction of the highly advanced Scorpene submarine is progressing at the upgraded Mazgon Dock (Mumbai) under a $3.5 billion deal for six such French submarines.

India has developed a submarine-launched supersonic missile, a modification of the BrahMos cruise missiles, a capability limited so far to advanced nations such as the US, France and Russia.

Ship- and land-launched versions of the cruise missiles BrahMos are being inducted into the navy and army. The state-controlled Defense Research and Development Organization is also undertaking a joint development project with Israel Aerospace Industries for a surface-to-air missile for use by ship or on land.

In early 2007, India purchased the 36-year-old warship, the USS Trenton (rechristened the INS Jalashwa) from America. It has a gross tonnage of 16,900 tonnes and cost $50 million.

The INS Jalashwa is the first-ever warship purchased from the US and the second-biggest that India now possesses, after aircraft carrier INS Viraat.

Indian navy commanders have steadfastly tried to impress the political leadership about India's need for at least three aircraft carriers, for the eastern and western seaboards, while the third maybe be refitted and upgraded to secure strategic interests that stretch from Africa's eastern coast to the Malacca Strait.

INS Viraat, which as per earlier plans should have been junked by now, has been refitted to operate for five more years, by which time India hopes to have procured more sea carriers. India's 40,000-tonne indigenous aircraft carrier being built at Cochin Shipyard, Kochi, Kerala, will be ready in 2015-2016.

Despite India's efforts to hasten the procurement of the refurbished 44,570-tonne Admiral Gorshkov from Russia, undergoing a refit at the Sevmash Shipyard in north Russia, the ship armed with MiG fighter jets will only be available by 2013. India and Russia are yet to work out the final cost of the Gorshkov's refit, with Moscow wanting nearly $3 billion and India prepared to shell out a little more than $2 billion.