Faced with a dual threat from China and Pakistan, which have even come together to manufacture fighter jets, India is really cranking up military aviation contracts. Even as the $4.1 billion deal for 10 American C-17 Globemaster-III strategic airlift aircraft awaits the final nod from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), another major contract is now headed that way.
Defence ministry sources on Wednesday said the long-awaited deal with France for the upgrade of 52 Mirage-2000 multi-role fighters in IAF's combat fleet is "finally ready" at a cost of almost Rs 11,000 crore ($2.4 billion).
"This is also now going to CCS for approval. Another big contract, which was being progressed simultaneously, for around 450 MICA (interception and aerial combat missiles) systems to arm the upgraded Mirages is also in the final stages now," said a source.
This comes after long-drawn negotiations with French companies Dassault Aviation (aircraft manufacturer), Thales (weapons systems integrator) and MBDA (missile supplier), which were "initially asking for much more", said sources.
Under the contract, the first four to six Mirages will be upgraded in France, while the rest will be retrofitted in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) with transfer of technology from the French companies.
This means the overall Mirage upgrade package, including the fire-and-forget MICA missiles and the infrastructure build-up at HAL, will eventually cross the Rs 15,000-crore mark.
It obviously raises questions whether it would be more prudent to simply buy new fighters rather than upgrade older ones at such a huge cost. IAF, however, argues the "retrofitted" Mirages -- with new avionics, radars, mission computers, glass cockpits, helmet-mounted displays, electronic warfare suites, weapon delivery and precision-targeting systems -- would remain "top-notch fighters" for almost two decades more.
With a depleting number of fighter squadrons (each has 16 to 18 jets), down to just 32 from a `sanctioned strength' of 39.5, IAF is going for a mix of upgrades and new inductions to stem its fast-eroding combat edge over even Pakistan.
There is, for instance, the ongoing upgrade of 63 MiG-29s under a $964 million deal inked with Russia in March 2008. Then, India is also progressively inducting the 272 Sukhoi-30MKIs contracted from Russia for around $12 billion. Moreover, the first lot of the around 120 indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft will begin joining the force from end-2013 onwards.
India also wants to ink by December this year the $10.4 billion project for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA), in which only the French Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoons are now left in contention after ejection of the American, Russian and Swedish jets.
On top of this all, India hopes to begin inducting 250-300 advanced stealth fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA), being co-developed with Russia, from 2020 onwards, in what will be its biggest-ever defence project at around $35 billion.
The defence ministry has withdrawn its tender for re-engining the Indian Air Force's Jaguar combat jets after one of the two contenders opted out, a leading defence journal says.
The Request for Proposal (RfP), as the tender is known in technical parlance, was issued to Honeywell, which had offered its F-125IN engine and Rolls Royce, whose Adour-811 has powered the Jaguar's since their induction in the IAF in the late 1970s, India Strategic defence magazine (www.indiastrategic.in) reports in its current edition.
The IAF would now have to submit a fresh proposal to the defence ministry, which will then issue another tender. This process is expected to take about a year.
The IAF has about 125 Jaguars, described as a deep penetration strike aircraft (DPSA). Given the evolving battlefield scenarios, the engine is regarded as underpowered to meet current requirements. A decision was taken a few years back to install more powerful engines to utilize the residual life of the airframe, and an RfP was issued on November 26, 2010.
The two companies were given time till April 22 to submit the RfPs.
But Rolls Royce recently withdrew from the competition, saying it had previously offered to upgrade the Adour-811 to the Adour-821 while the RfP was for re-engining. There was, however, no official word from the company.
The resultant single vendor situation forced the defence ministry to cancel the RfP, with the decision being communicated March 28.
The Adour-821 powers the Hawk advanced jet trainer ( AJT), which both the IAF and the Indian Navy are already buying. Privately, Rolls Royce sources say that a single engine for the Jaguar and Hawk fleets would be cost-effective in maintenance terms.
Honeywell has countered that its engine is technically superior.
"Our F-125IN engine generates 30 percent more thrust than the competition, and we do hope that our technical superiority will be our winning edge," Pritam Bhavnani, president of Honeywell Aerospace India, said.
However, if the IAF chooses to go ahead with only one engine maker, then it will to go through the government concerned to either buy the engine in an FMS (foreign military sale)-type deal or on commercial terms from the company concerned.
Bhavnani said that Honeywell was supposed to give a demonstration to the IAF as part of the selection process after the RfPs were submitted. Although the RfP has been withdrawn, Honeywell is continuing work to fine-tune the engine for this demonstration as and when it takes place.
"We are ready when IAF is and we will prove the operational advantages of the F-125IN engine," he added. Honeywell has already tested the engine on an old Jaguar aircraft.
Significantly, Bhavnani also said that Honeywell was ready to share high levels of technologies with India, be they on aircraft or other systems.
India may have ejected American fighters out of the $10.4 billion race to supply 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) but US really has no reason to crib. Decks have now been cleared for the biggest-ever Indo-US defence deal: the $4.1 billion contract for 10 C-17 Globemaster-III giant strategic airlift aircraft.
Defence ministry sources on Thursday said the Globemaster deal, a direct government-to-government contract under the American FMS (foreign military sales) programme, should get the "final nod" from the Cabinet Committee on Security "within this month".
"All issues connected to costing and offsets (under which Globemaster-manufacturer Boeing will plough back 30% of the contract value into India) have been resolved," said a source.
IAF certainly needs to augment its strategic airlift capability to swiftly move combat systems and troops over large national and international distances, given that it has just over a dozen Russian-origin IL-76 `Gajraj' aircraft. Capable of carrying a payload of almost 170,000 pounds and landing even at small forward airbases with semi-prepared runways, the four-engine rugged C-17s can transport tanks and troops over 2,400 nautical miles.
With mid-air refueling, C-17s can go even longer distances. Along with the C-130J `Super Hercules' aircraft already being inducted, the C-17s will play a significant role in countering China's massive build-up of military infrastructure all along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control, which includes five fully-operational airbases in Tibet.
That's not all on the US arms deals front. India is already conducting commercial negotiations for the around $1 billion "follow-on contract" for four more P-8I Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, eight of which were earlier ordered for $2.1 billion in 2009.
Similarly, negotiations for six more C-130J `Super Hercules' heavy-lift aircraft will begin soon. "IAF has already inducted two of the earlier six C-130Js ordered for $1.2 billion in 2008. Two more will come around July, with the last two in September-October," said the MoD source.
So, if all this is taken into account, US has notched up sales worth around $9 billion to India in the arena of military transport and reconnaissance aircraft alone.
WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- President Barack Obama has approved the use of U.S. armed predator strikes in Libya, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said April 22.
"The president has said that where we have some unique capabilities, he is willing to use those," Secretary Gates said. "In fact, he has approved the use of armed Predators (in Libya)."
Armed Predators have been used in Libya "purely as (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems) until today," said Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs said.
Two unmanned armed Predators capable of around-the-clock coverage are now in Libya, the general added. The first flights launched April 22, but were cancelled because of bad weather.
The character of the fight in Libya has changed, general Cartwright said. Moammar Gadhafi's loyalists, he said, are digging in or "nestling up against crowded areas" to avoid being targeted by NATO aircraft.
The more-precise Predators bring "their ability to get down lower and therefore, to be able to get better visibility, particularly on targets that have started to dig themselves into defensive positions," General Cartwright said.
The aircraft are uniquely suited for urban areas where more traditional bombing can cause collateral damage, he added.
"This is a very limited capability," Secretary Gates said, adding that the president has been clear from the outset that the U.S. role would be specifically defined.
President Obama structured the U.S. role in Libya as a limited one because "of all our friends and allies, we are the most-stretched military," Secretary Gates added.
"We have close to 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, we still have 50,000 troops in Iraq and we have 19 ships and 18,000 men and women in uniform still helping on Japan relief," the secretary said.
The president agreed to participate in the international effort against the Libyan government, Secretary Gates said, because "of the worry that Gadhafi could destabilize the fledgling revolutions in both Tunisia and Egypt ... and second to prevent a humanitarian disaster."
The president has been clear, the secretary said, "that the primary strike role has been turned over to our allies and our friends, and if we can make a modest contribution with these armed Predators, we'll do it."
India is quietly going ahead with an ambitious programme to develop its own stealth UCAVs (unmanned combat aerial vehicles) or 'smart' drones capable of firing missiles and bombs at enemy targets with precision.
Talking about the secretive AURA (autonomous unmanned research aircraft) programme for the first time, Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) told TOI that the aim is to develop the UCAVs for IAF in seven to eight years.
"With Rs 50 crore as seed money, a full-fledged project team with 15-18 scientists has already begun work on the UCAV's preliminary design and technology. With on-board mission computers, data links, fire control radars, identification of friend or foe, and traffic collision avoidance systems, they will be highly intelligent drones," DRDO's chief controller R&D (aeronautics) Dr Prahlada said.
"Capable of flying at altitudes of 30,000 feet and weighing less than 15 tonnes, the UCAVs will have rail-launching for the missiles, bombs and PGMs (precision-guided munitions) they will carry," he added.
The realisation that UCAVs are "game-changers in modern-day warfare" has been reinforced by the successful use of American 'Predator' and 'Reaper' drones, armed with Hellfire and other missiles, against the Taliban in the Af-Pak region.
"But unlike Predators, which are like aircraft, our UCAVs will be more of 'a flying-wing' in design. This will ensure they have a low radar cross-section to evade enemy sensors," said Dr Prahlada.
Pakistan, incidentally, has been after the US to get Predators but so far has only managed to extract assurances for supply of the unarmed 'Shadow' drones for intelligence-gathering missions.
DRDO, on its part, is confident of developing the UCAVs mainly on its own, with "some foreign consultancy or collaboration" in fields like stealth as well as autonomous short-run take-off and landing.
Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) at Bangalore is the main nodal DRDO lab for the AURA project, with others like Defence Avionics Research Establishment (Bangalore), Defence Electronics Application Lab (Dehradun) and Gas Turbine Research Establishment (Bangalore) chipping in.
As earlier reported by TOI, apart from spy drones, India already has some "killer" drones like Israeli Harpy and Harop UAVs. These drones basically act as cruise missiles by detecting and then destroying specific enemy targets and radars by exploding into them.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is in combat for the first time over Libya and the Indian Air Force is watching with deep interest. The aircraft is one of six competing for the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) tender. And recent reports give the Eurofighter and the French Rafale the edge in the competition.
Air Marshal PK Barbora, Ex Vice Chief of Air Staff said, "The Air Force is not looking at price. That's not our area of concern. What we want is QRs are focussed on technical aspects, latest technology. Lot is available in the market and there is potential for future growth."
The EuroFighter and the Rafale are relatively new aircraft and in that sense, state of art. The Eurofighter entering service with six air forces in the last few years. And the Rafale in service with the French Air Force.
Air Commodore Jasjit Singh, Director, Centre for Air Power Studies said, "We've bought a huge amount of arms from the US already. In comparision, the last few years, hardly anything from Europe. Therefore, you could make an adjustment and spread your eggs in different baskets."
Subtle weaknesses could rule out some of the contenders. Boeing's F18 is huge and the IAF isn't keen on planes that heavy. Sweden's Gripen is deadly but India's Light Combat Aircraft could be improved to match it. Lockheed Martin's F-16 is also flown by Pakistan.
But, India urgently needs more fighters. The new planes will take ten years to come, even after the deal is signed. An offer for second hand planes, over and above the new ones being negotiated, could sweeten the deal.
The crucial element now, is political capital. How India can leverage the world's biggest fighter aircraft tender for larger gains.
