Defence Offsets India Until Oct 2010

Three US companies have hogged at least 42 per cent of recent national military contracts worth nearly Rs 39,000 crore (around $8.78 billion at current exchange rates). The contracts were given out between March 2008 and October 2010.

Boeing, Lockheed Martin and GE Aviation totally won contracts worth around Rs 16,631 crore ($3.75 billion) among 13 overseas companies that won different orders from the Government.

Of the US suppliers, Boeing topped the pack with 21 per cent of the orders given, worth $2.1 billion and likely to go up (around Rs 9,314 crore), followed by Lockheed Martin with 11 per cent of the contracts worth $1 billion (Rs 4,434 crore) and GE Aviation 7 per cent at $650 million (Rs 2,883 crore), says a just-released KPMG-American Chamber of Commerce report on the Indian Defence sector.

The recent deals clinched by the US companies include - the P-8I Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft from Boeing; C 130J transport planes from Lockheed Martin; GE's engines for the light combat aircraft Tejas; Harpoon anti-ship missiles and ultra light howitzers.

Offsets from the three US companies alone amount to around $1.1 billion, out of a total of $2.6 billion from all the 13 companies listed. These are for the products and services related to the contracts that Indian companies will export, in a move aimed at encouraging collaborations, building up indigenous capabilities and make them part of global Defence supply chains.

Click for the Report: Defence Offsets India Up till Oct 2010

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India's UAV Rustom I Takes to Air

India has flown the homegrown Rustom-1 unmanned aerial vehicle for the first time.

Developed by the DRDO Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), the 30-min. flight took place on Oct 16 from a Taneja Aerospace and Aviation Ltd. airfield at Housr, near Bangalore.

“Notwithstanding erratic weather conditions, the UAV had a perfect textbook flight, meeting all mission parameters,” says Dr. Prahlada, Chief Controller at DRDO. It flew to a planned altitude of 3,000 feet.”

The Rustom-1 has autonomous features such as GPS-controlled waypoint navigation. With a maximum endurance of 15 hr., Rustom-1 can carry payloads up to 75 kg. (165 lb.) and climb up to 25,000 ft.

The UAV’s datalink was designed and developed by DRDO’s Defende Electronics Applications Laboratory, located in Dehradun, while the airframe was made by Coimbatore-based private firm Zephyr. DRDO hopes that Rustom-1 will act as a stepping stone for future programs such as the medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV project Rustom-H and an unmanned combat aerial vehicle project.

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India-Russia Co-operation for 5th Generation Aircraft

India and Russia will jointly produce 5th Generation Aircraft (FGA) at an estimated investment of about $ 25 billion. The production partners would be Sukhoy from the Russian side and HAL from the Indian side. Within a span of next 10 years, India will get about 250 to 300 FGA from this joint production.

India will also get 45 Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) within a period of 10 years.

India and Russia will also cooperate in the areas of R&D and technology transfer with the active involvement of the DRDO from the Indian side.

Click for the Report: India-Russia Co-operation for 5th Generation Aircraft


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The Research Center Imarat (RCI)

The Research Center Imarat (RCI), a sensitive wing of India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), is playing a key role in India’s next-generation missile programs.

RCI is currently involved in Air Defense Systems (ADS) and the Agni-V long-range strategic missile. The lab has successfully participated in demonstration of ADS with over five launches so far. The Agni-V, capable of traveling a maximum range of 6,000 kilometers is scheduled for a maiden launch in March 2011. This would further put India among a select group of nations with such advanced deterrent systems.

The Exposition Hall at RCI provides a peek into various missile systems and other platforms that are currently being developed by the lab. The RCI is to become a leader in missile technologies.

Courtesy: USIBC and Its News Agencies.

EoI: Tactical Communications System (TCS) for the Army

The EoI for the TCS has gone out to at least five private companies, Tata Power (Strategic Electronics Division); HCL Infosystems; Wipro Technologies; Rolta India; and L&T in addition to three public sector undertakings — Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL); Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL); and ITI Ltd.

The TCS project was sanctioned by the Defence Acquisition Council in May 2009. It may cost around INR 10,000 Crore.

The EoI places the TCS project in the “Make” category of the Defence Procurement Procedure of 2008 (DPP-2008). Under this, the MoD will fund 80 per cent of the development costs, while the selected company (termed the Development Agency(DA)) will fund the remaining 20 per cent. The “Make” procedure mandates that at least 30 per cent of the system must be indigenously developed. However, one of the companies that have received the EoI confidently claims that it will develop at least 70-80 per cent of the system in India.

The TCS is to provide a robust, secure, mobile network for the Indian Army for tactical communications.

The TCS the second project under the “Make” procedure, after the Future Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) development project sanctioned in early 2010.

Click for the Report: EoI for TCS Issued

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