DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Boeing Transfers 1st C-17 to Indian Air Force

DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Boeing Transfers 1st C-17 to Indian Air Force
>Flight test program completed on schedule
>Airlifter departs for India

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Boeing
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 11, 2013: The Indian Air Force (IAF) flew its first Boeing [NYSE: BA] C-17 Globemaster III to India today, becoming the newest operator of the leading airlifter. 

"The C-17 will equip the Indian Air Force with amongst the world's most advanced humanitarian and strategic capabilities," said Air Vice Marshal SRK Nair, Assistant Chief of Air Staff Operations (Transport and Helicopters). "We have looked forward to this day when our Indian Air Force flies the first C-17 to its new home in India."

Boeing is on track to deliver four more C-17s to the IAF this year and five in 2014. This first aircraft was transferred today after completion of a flight test program at Edwards Air Force Base in Palmdale, Calif., that began following the Jan. 22 delivery.

"Congratulations to the Indian Air Force on this milestone as India joins the worldwide community of C-17 operators," said Tommy Dunehew, Boeing vice president of Business Development for Mobility, Surveillance and Engagement. "Nations turn to the C-17 for the capability to perform a wide range of operations, from peacekeeping and disaster relief to troop movements from semi-prepared airfields. This aircraft will provide the Indian Air Force with the versatility to augment airlift capability."

Boeing has now delivered 254 C-17s, including 222 to the U.S. Air Force and a total of 32 C-17s to Australia, Canada, India, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the 12-member Strategic Airlift Capability initiative of NATO and Partnership for Peace nations.

Boeing will support the IAF C-17 fleet through the Globemaster III Integrated Sustainment Program (GISP) Performance-Based Logistics contract. The GISP "virtual fleet" arrangement ensures mission readiness by providing all C-17 customers access to an extensive support network for worldwide parts availability and economies of scale.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world's largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $33 billion business with 59,000 employees worldwide. Follow us on Twitter: @BoeingDefense.

A related photo will be available soon at boeing.mediaroom.com.

Contact:        

Cindy Anderson
Mobility, Surveillance and Engagement
Boeing Defense, Space & Security
Office: +1 562-593-4477
Mobile: +1 562-253-5818
cindy.a.anderson@boeing.com

Amrita Dhindsa
India Communications
Boeing Defense, Space & Security
Office: +91-96546-06067
amrita.dhindsa@boeing.com

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Boeing
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Russia To Deliver First 10 Fighter Engines To India By April

DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Russia To Deliver First 10 Fighter Engines To India By April

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Ria Novosti

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 16, 2013: Russia’s Ufa-based engine maker will deliver the first 10 of 920 AL-31FP engines for the Su-30MKI Flanker-H to India before the end of March, the manufacturer said on Friday.

The contract with India, the largest one with a foreign client in post-Soviet history, was signed last October, and engine deliveries are to be completed by 2022.

Under a 2000 general contract for licensed manufacturing of 140 Su-30MKI air superiority fighters and AL-31FP engines, India had an option of buying an additional number of aircraft engines.

In 2007, the Indian Air Force ordered an additional 40 MKIs. As of January 2013, the IAF had 157 Su-30MKIs in service and it plans to have a fleet of 272.

The Ufa engine manufacturing association is Russia’s largest aircraft engine producer. It produces aircraft engines for Su and MiG family fighters and spare parts, as well as engines for automobiles, gas pumps and turbines, and provides maintenance and support services.

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• India Receives Second Russia-Built Stealth Missile Frigate

Multimedia

• Su-30 Multirole Fighter

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Ria Novosti
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Boeing Delivers Indian Air Force's 1st C-17 To Flight Test

DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Boeing Delivers Indian Air Force's 1st C-17 To Flight Test

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Boeing
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 23, 2013: Boeing [NYSE: BA] on Jan. 22 delivered -- on schedule -- the first of 10 C-17 Globemaster III airlifters for the Indian Air Force (IAF). India's first C-17 will now enter a U.S. Air Force flight test program at Edwards Air Force Base in Palmdale, Calif. Boeing is on track to deliver four more C-17s to the IAF this year and five in 2014.

"The C-17 met the stipulated airlift requirements of the Indian Air Force when it flew field evaluation trials in India during June 2010," said Air Commodore Sanjay Nimesh, Air Attaché at the Embassy of India. "It was exciting to see the C-17 fly again, this time with Indian Air Force markings, as the airlifter completed its first-flight milestone on Jan. 11. We look forward to the day that the first IAF C-17 flies over India."

"The C-17's ability to operate in extremely hot and cold climates; transport large payloads across vast ranges; and land on short, austere runways makes it ideal for India's airlift needs," said Nan Bouchard, Boeing vice president and C-17 program manager. "We value our continued partnership with India and the U.S. government and will provide dedicated support as India's first C-17 enters flight testing."

India's Ministry of Defence signed an agreement with the U.S. government on June 15, 2011, to acquire 10 C-17 airlifters, making India the largest C-17 customer outside the United States. The governments finalized the Foreign Military Sales contract for the airframe on June 6, 2012.

Boeing has delivered 250 C-17s worldwide, including 218 to the U.S. Air Force active duty, Guard and Reserve units. A total of 32 C-17s have been delivered to Australia, Canada, India, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the 12-member Strategic Airlift Capability initiative of NATO and Partnership for Peace nations.

Boeing will support the IAF C-17 fleet through the Globemaster III Integrated Sustainment Program (GISP) Performance-Based Logistics contract. The GISP "virtual fleet" arrangement ensures mission readiness by providing all C-17 customers access to an extensive support network for worldwide parts availability and economies of scale. This brings spares and support closer to the point of use and makes the C-17 more affordable to own and operate.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world's largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $32 billion business with 60,000 employees worldwide. Follow us on Twitter: @BoeingDefense.

Contact:

Cindy Anderson
C-17 Globemaster III
Office:             +1 562-593-4477      
Mobile:             +1 562-253-5818      
cindy.a.anderson@boeing.com

Amrita Dhindsa
India Communications
Office:             +91-96546-06067      
amrita.dhindsa@boeing.com

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Boeing
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. DoD Awarded Contract For $6.6 Million To Rolls Royce Corp., Modification For Power By The Hour Support of Indian Air Force C-130J Aircraft

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. DoD Awarded Contract For $6.6 Million To Rolls Royce Corp., Modification For Power By The Hour Support of  Indian Air Force C-130J Aircraft

Source: DTN News & DoD 025-13 January 16, 2013
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 16, 2013: Rolls Royce Corp., Indianapolis, Ind., (FA8504-07-D-0001-0501-09) is being awarded a $6,659,487 contract modification for power by the hour support for the Indian Air Force C-130J aircraft.  

The location of the performance is Hindan Air Station, New Delhi, India.  Work is expected to be completed by Jan. 30, 2013. 

Contract involves Foreign Military Sales.  

The contracting activity is AFLCMC/WLKCB, Robins Air Force Base, Ga. 

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith DTN News & DoD 025-13 January 16, 2013
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: FGFA – Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft Sukhoi T-50 Quantum Leap For Indian Aerospace

DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: FGFA – Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft Sukhoi T-50 Quantum Leap For Indian Aerospace
*The signing of the Sukhoi T-50 fifth generation fighter aircraft contract propels India to joint developer of the world’s most advanced stealth aircraft

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Rakesh Krishnan Simha - Russia & India Report
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - September 19, 2012: Two significant developments have stirred up the world of military aviation this year. In March, the U.S. Air Force revealed it had started work to field a new Long Range Strike Bomber by the 2020s. This will be first new American strategic bomber to be built after the Cold War.

How much the global balance of power has shifted since the Cold War days was clear when it was revealed that the aircraft the American bomber might encounter in the skies will have a large Indian signature – in more ways than one. In August, the Indian Air Force announced that India and Russia are getting set to ink the final R&D contract for the Sukhoi T-50 fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) by the end of the year or early-2013. The contract is worth more than US$ 11 billion, and according to the terms of the agreement both countries will share 50 percent of the costs.

That the FGFA would fly was never in doubt. (To meet its air defence requirements, Russia was committed to the T-50 but as the American F-35 programme has demonstrated, having partners translates into assured orders.) The only uncertain component of the programme was the extent of Indian participation. In the past couple of years there was a lot of speculation – and derisive comments – about India’s involvement. Sceptics felt it was limited to merely offering suggestions as to what the IAF wanted – such as two seats or one – while the more charitable ones believed India’s contributions would be in avionics and software.

The IAF chief’s visit to Moscow last month finally lifted the veil of secrecy about India’s participation in the world’s most eagerly awaited fighter aircraft. It is now clear that Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd’s Ozar facility at Nashik in western India will get three prototypes in 2014, 2017 and 2019, and they will be flown by Indian test pilots.

India moves into the big league

What defence observers have missed is that the FGFA is a quantum leap for India’s armaments industry, especially HAL. After decades of dabbling in joint production – a euphemism for screwdriver technology – India’s aerospace sector will finally step up to joint development.

This will catapult India to a new level where it will finally be able to develop advanced stealth aircraft on its own. Not even America’s leading partners in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme, such as Turkey or the UK, have access to such red hot technology. Instead of being a sidekick, India will be a joint partner in a leading military project.

Russia has already given the draft R&D contract to HAL. It will include the cost of designing, infrastructure build-up at Ozar, prototype development and flight testing. India will soon have scientists and test pilots based both in Russia and Ozar during the R&D phase up to 2019.

An IAF official told Jane’s that the jointly developed aircraft “draws upon the basic structural and system design of the Russian FGFA technology demonstrator with modifications to meet the IAF specifications, which are much more stringent”.

The IAF is hopeful production fighters will roll out of the factory gates by 2022. Up to 250 of these aircraft will be inducted at an estimated cost of $35 billion. Russia will buy a similar number. While it is never easy to place a price tag on such a constantly evolving platform, the IAF estimates the cost per plane at $100 million. The total cost, including options and the value of production aircraft, will make this the biggest defence programme ever in India’s history.

Potent threat

Although the T-50’s specifications remain classified, reports indicate it features advanced stealth capability and supersonic cruising speed. Here is what Air Power Australia says: “The stealthy T-50, albeit in an early phase of development, is showing naked air combat power in the form of extreme plus agility and persistence that, with the addition of advanced sensors, countermeasures and weapons, will likely soundly defeat the F-22 Raptor but will certainly annihilate the F-35 and the Super Hornet.”

This is an explosive statement but coming from ace aircraft experts, the FGFA portends a scary decade ahead for Western air defences and pilots.

Tuning the T-50

Clearly, the designers aren’t sitting idle. A series of developments suggests the FGFA has achieved irresistible propulsion. According to the website of Russia’s United Aircraft Group, which owns the Sukhoi bureau, the company has tested three T-50 prototypes in various modes, totalling around 180 sorties, including aerial refuelling hook-ups with a Russian Air Force Il-78 tanker, AESA radar scans, and large angle of attack and super manoeuvrability test flights.

Carlo Kopp of Air Power Australia and legendary aircraft analyst Bill Sweetman wonder whether the current T-50 represents the definitive configuration. “Today's round nozzles and the curvature of the aft nacelles are not at first glance stealth-optimised, and the engine is not fully masked head-on by the inlet duct,” they write in an article in Aviation Week.

To be sure, those are exactly the areas India and Russia will be working on in the months and years ahead. The IAF, for instance, has specified more than 40 improvements to the design following its observation of flying trials.

For instance, in the early stages of the programme, the IAF was keen on a two-seater fighter bomber, and in fact indicated a requirement for at least 166 single-seat and 48 twin-seat aircraft. But since then it has jettisoned that demand will go in for only single-seat jets now. The reason is that a second cockpit will compromise the stealth capabilities by at least 15 percent, apart from adding to the weight and reducing fuel capacity.

Exploring exports

Unlike the dollar-guzzling F-35 which perhaps wouldn’t fly without exports, the T-50 remains viable because of lower development costs and large pre-orders from Russia and India. Still exports can’t hurt. According to the IAF, the broad scope of bilateral cooperation during the joint project covers the design and development of the aircraft, its production and joint marketing to other countries.

The Centre for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST), a Moscow-based independent defence and foreign policy think-tank, says that while India will be the first FGFA export customer, Vietnam will be probably its second buyer. CAST Director Ruslan Pukhov believes every third user of the Su-27/30 family of aircraft could be a customer for the FGFA.

Russia’s legacy

For both Russia and India the FGFA programme will be a bold new gambit, as it will overshadow even the highly successful BrahMos missile project. For, while BrahMos is also a 50:50 India-Russia venture, it is basically India’s baby; Russia has turned down an offer to buy the missile as it has the equally capable Club.

However, the FGFA programme could be a template for further defence cooperation between India and Russia. As its economy grows, India is increasingly seeking quality armaments for its armed forces and is keen to wean itself away from imports. Russia on the other hand has the knowhow and experience to produce highly capable weapons platforms. Together, they can ensure that legacy remains intact.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Rakesh Krishnan Simha - Russia & India Report
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News - MALABAR 2012: Delhi Scales Down US War Games - Air force Request To Join Exercise With American Navy Turned Down

DTN News - MALABAR 2012: Delhi Scales Down US War Games - Air force Request To Join Exercise With American Navy Turned Down
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Sujan Dutta - The Telegraph Calcutta
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 29, 2012: The Centre recently turned down an air force request to participate in the war games with the US navy in the Bay of Bengal that concluded last week.

The seven-day Malabar 2012 exercise involved the American and Indian navies.

The Centre’s move followed a quiet policy decision in the defence ministry to scale down — but not stop — the friendly military engagements with the US armed forces, which have gathered pace and increased in complexity over the past decade.

The defence ministry is wary of the “hype” that the US builds around joint military exercises with India.

Among the most important of the war games that the Indian and US forces conduct is the Malabar series involving the two navies. An air force component is integral to the exercises because the US deploys a carrier battle group.

The Malabar exercise in 2007 in the Bay of Bengal involved the armed forces of five countries and was easily the largest international war games that India has hosted. The exercise involved three aircraft carriers and the Indian Air Force (IAF).

That drill irritated the Chinese so much that Beijing asked New Delhi if it was forging a military alliance against it.

For this year’s Malabar exercise, based out of Chennai, the US deployed the Carrier Strike Group-1 with the Nimitz-class carrier USS Carl Vinson in the lead. The US also deployed a Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine.

When the IAF asked to be part of the exercise, the ministry turned down the request. While it was reworking its proposal, air headquarters communicated its desire to naval headquarters.

The navy was of the view that involving the air force would require a change in the “Con Ops” (concept of operations).

The air force wanted to deploy its Shamsher (Jaguar) fighter-bombers that are assigned to the maritime strike role. The IAF’s Maritime Air Operations are headquartered in its southern command.

After the navy told the IAF that it was too late to change the “Con Ops”, the air force wanted a separate exercise with the US navy, the second-largest air force in the world. The USS Carl Vinson alone carries 85 aircraft in its hangars and flight deck.

The highlight of the seven-day Malabar 2012 in the absence of complex maritime-aerial drills was the refuelling in high sea of the USS Carl Vinson by the Indian Navy’s new Italy-built feeder vessel, the INS Shakti. India also deployed the INS Satpura, the indigenously built stealth frigate commissioned earlier this year.

The Carrier Strike Group-1 included, apart from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97).

It also deployed the Military Sealift Command fast combat support ship, the USNS Bridge. The Indian assets included the frigate INS Satpura, destroyers INS Ranvir and INS Ranvijay (D55), and the corvette INS Kulish along with the replenishment oiler INS Shakti.

The exercise took place in approximately 450 nautical miles of sea and air space. The INS Satpura led one group and the USS Bunker Hill another.


*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Sujan Dutta - The Telegraph Calcutta
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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