Indian Defence Industry Development

Air Force to Get Brahmos. The Govt. has cleared Rs 11,600 Crore Agreement for formal induction of the Brahmos missile into the IAF. It has also cleared two more regts of the supersonic land attack system to the Army.

The missile is already in service with the Navy and Army. This is the first time that a surface-to-surface version of the missile will be inducted into the IAF.

Brahmos Aerospace, a joint venture between the DRDO and Russian company. This is to develop and manufacture of advanced versions of the cruise missile that can be launched from aircraft, submarines, ships and land. Brahmos is capable of attaining speeds between 2.5 and 2.8 mach, it has a range of about 290 km .

Indian Light Combat Helicopter(LCH). India has flight-tested a prototype of the LCH successfully.

"The maiden test flight of the LCH on 29 Mar 2010 was successful. Though it was a short haul lasting about 20 minutes, the performance was good," said the CMD, HAL.

The 5.5-tonne attack helicopter copter is an Air Force derivative of HAL's Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), known as Dhruv. The LCH can operate at altitudes up to 6,000 m. It has Shakti engine, developed by HAL in partnership with Turbomeca, France.

HAL plans to supply about 150-175 units of the LCH to the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Army which already operates the military version of Dhruv for various functions.

The LCH will be equipped with advanced weapons systems , helmet-mounted targeting system, EW Systems. It will incorporate a number of stealth features and crash-worthy landing gear for better survivability. It will have a narrow fuselage, with two crew stations.

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100% FDI in Defence Sector

It could be a 'wishful thinking' to reach 49% figure and a 'red herring' of a special variety etched differently. MOD remains firm on 26% FDI generally enhanced on case-to-case basis.

Sukhwindar
Svipja Technologies

India to Get Second AWACS Today

India will receive another Israeli-made Phalcon Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AWACS) today, giving it the second 'eye in the sky' for enhanced surveillance.

The second AWACS will arrive in Jamnagar in Gujarat and will be based in Agra.

With the arrival of the second AWACS, officials said the IAF can keep an eye on both the Eastern and Western Fronts.After the induction of the third system, India would be able to virtually cover the whole nation at one go.

The system, primarily used for detection of incoming hostile cruise missiles and aircraft from hundreds of kms away, can also direct air defence fighters during combat operations against enemy jets. It also helps detect troop build up across the borders.

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Credit: PTI.

Indigenous Effort in A & D

India's Public and Private Sector would have a much bigger role to play in the production of defence equipment in the near future if the country is to achieve near-self-reliance, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said on 17 March after commissioning the ICGS ‘Vishwast' at the Goa Shipyard Limited. Our desire is to strive for more self-reliance in this critical area.

“We should reduce reliance on other countries and make more space for Indian industries in both the Private and Public Sectors,” he said.

The bottom line is, while underlining the growing importance of the Private Sector in the area of defence equipment production, it would not mean the weakening of the Public Sector. Private Sector production in the A & D is to be add-on. Defence equipment supply to other friendly countries should also be on our agenda.

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Credit: The Hindu.

Transparency and ‘Value Receipt’ in Offset Projects

Offsets are to flow in India in the next 5-10 years. This could give rise to ‘scandals’ if not handled prudently. It is important that offsets drive value to the Buyer in a transparent and accountable manner without compromising professional integrity in the Offset System which includes all the ‘players’ both in India and abroad.

Offset projects should be screened with the same diligence as the main contract. This would need an ‘organisation’ that should be capable of conducting ‘due diligence’ on a number of offset projects, large number in most cases, with each project evaluated and valuated with ‘buyer-country-fit’ to get real value of the offsets.

All ‘leakages’ need to be plugged while evaluation is under way.

DOFA-MOD and DAC have to ‘mediate’ effectively. It is no secret that most of the offset agencies quite often are not very experienced to handle the offset projects. If required, professional help from ‘neutral experts’ can be taken. Defence Industry Units, both at home and abroad, are quite burdened with their routine schedules; offsets are extra work, need extra professional staff.

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‘Relax Hi-Tech Export Control’, India to US

In the 7th High Technology Cooperation Group held in Mar 2010, India again asked the US to liberalise its export control regulations which restrict ToT to India. India feels that there could be no better partner than India to galvanise its High-Tech.

"We see this as yet another area where Indian and US interest converge and, as a reliable and strategic partner, we look forward to seeing enhancement of trade in such goods and technologies between our two countries and removal of remaining Indian organisations from the Entity List. It is anomalous that a body like ISRO, which is developing several collaborations with NASA, should continue to be on this list," Nirupma Rao, Indian Foreign Secy, said in the Group.

With the US Government's recent decision to undertake a thorough export control review to increase High-Tech exports, Ms Nirupma Rao said, "We noted the announcement of a National Export Initiative - to reform the Export Control System for American strategic, High-Tech Industries, so that their competitiveness is enhanced without compromising the country’s national security”.

India needs a close co-operation with the US in High-Tech Strategic Areas.

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Indian Defence Industry Development

LCA. India is likely to induct the LCA into the Air Force by March 2011, as per the Indian Defence Minister A. K. Antony. LCA is an advanced technology, supersonic, multi-role, air superiority fighter, single-seat, single-engine, lightweight, all-weather ac designed for air-to-air, air-to-ground and air-to-sea combat roles. The IAF has already inducted 20 LCAs at the Operational Clearance Stage. They need more than 200 LCA-type ac.

Nag (Cobra) Missile/ATGM. It is a third-generation (Gen-3) - fire-and-forget- missile. Its optical guidance system is virtually jam-proof. It will be inducted into the Indian Army shortly. Has a range of 500 m to 3000-4000 km. Can be fired at night. Developed by the DRDO under Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) which was initiated in 1983. The IGMDP has the Agni and Prithvi ballistic missiles; the Akash and Trishul anti-aircraft missiles; and the Nag ATGM to its credit.

Sukhwindar

Indian Defence Industry Development

Issues are falling in place after the recent Def Expo 2010. The Govt./MOD has made its stand clear on certain matters. Some of the important developments are listed in the succeeding paras.

FDI in Defence. As articulated in this Blog from the very beginning, the Govt. may allow higher FDI than 26% on case-to-case basis, but the 26% limit remains.

Basic Trainer Planes. India is to procure 75 Basic Trainer Planes. As per Reports, RFPs have been floated to EADS PZL (PZL-130-TC-11 Orik), Raytheon (T-6 Texan), Grob Aircraft Company (G-120TP) , Embraer’s Tucano, Pilatus (PC-7 or PC-/9), Finmeccanica (M-311), and Korea Aerospace Industries (KT-1). Later, 106 ac will be built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)”.

Russia-India Co-operation. Are likely to sign 4 b USD defence contracts. These are to be three contracts incl retrofitting the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier, possibly during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to India.

NBC Simulator by Navy. The Navy is setting up a NBC defence training facility for its personnel. Request for Information (RFI) has been issued.

Brigadier(Retired) Sukhwindar Singh
http://www.indiandefenceindustry.com/
(An e-Hub for India Defence & Aerospace Ecosystem)
Credit: USIBC and Its News Agencies.

TCS to BEL?

There is a report in the Business Standard today captioned 'MOD Sidelines Pvt Sector in Crucial Defence Project'. There is a logic in engaging DPSUs, or OFB for sensitive projects though the defence sector participation is open to the Private Sector. Reasons are not difficult to understand. The MOD on case-to-case basis could decide the project clearance. It is therefore not very difficult to appreciate why should BEL be in the lead for getting the TCS project.

BEL can be the main integrator with technology taken from the DRDO and Others incl from abroad. Also MSMEs get their share as vendors of components and subsystems. BEL as a DPSU is best placed to evaluate security needs of our main stay comn system like TCS, and monitor in various stages of its integration.

In fact in EW-intensive battle environments, TCS procurement ‘must’ be categorised as, “Make — Strategic, Complex and Security Sensitive Systems”, and funded accordingly.

If the decision comes through the way it is being reported in the Press, it would be highly pragmatic – no one should be very ‘doubtful’ of the DPSUs and the DRDO in certain abilities, or technologies.

Defence Projects, as I have said elsewhere on this Blog, are 'not a purely business decision’.

Sukhwindar

India Defence Budget: 2010-2011

"Secure Borders and Security of Life and Property Fosters Development”. The Defence Minister proposed to increase the allocation for defence to Rs.147,344 Crore. This includes Rs.60,000 Crore for Capital Expenditure. Any additional requirement for the security of the nation will also be provided for.

The allocation for OFB has been slashed by Rs.1,835 Crore to Rs.1,999 Crore against Rs.3,834 Crore in the previous fiscal.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) receives a hike of Rs.881 Crore to Rs.5,260 Crore from its revised allocation of Rs.4,379 Crore in the FY.

India Defence Budget 2010-2011