SOURCE: DEEPAK HILORI/ FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG

It seems Indian Air Force is again in the mood for the purchase of another Transport Aircraft that eventually will replace the ageing fleet of Soviet-Era An-32 Short-haul Transporter that was procured in the mid-’80s after recently concluding a deal for the purchase of Airbus C-295M Tactical Transport Aircraft that will be manufactured in the country.

IAF is looking to procure nearly 80 medium-lift military transport aircraft that will replace 118 An-32 Short-haul Transporter and seems to have dropped plans to procure more C-295 that are classified in the same class of aircraft but instead, it has decided to go for a plane with nearly double the cargo carrying capacity then An-32 it intends to replace.

SOURCE: SATYAJEET KUMAR/ FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG

On May 11, 1998, India leapt into the unknown world of nuclear weapon powers with the tests at Pokhran and soon after India became a global pariah. Even though India never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty after came next were economic sanctions on India for its series of underground nuclear tests by none other than the United States which lead to suppliers cancelling their agreements and European firms stopping cooperation which was a major setback for country’s LCA-Tejas program. 

India has acquired 8 F404-F2J3 engines from GE Aviation to power initial batches of LCA-Tejas prototypes and 98 sanctions meant engine spares and other supplies had halted and by the time the first flight of TD-1 of LCA-Tejas was carried out in 2001, but it meant that India had to cannibalize perfectly working engines to be used as spares so that already delayed program doesn’t suffer more delays. 

SOURCE: SATYAJEET KUMAR/ FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG

Subsonic intermediate jet trainer aircraft designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) flew for the first time exactly 20 years ago in 2003 but it has still not entered into production. HJT-36 Sitara which was to replace ageing Kiran Stage-II Trainer aircraft in the Indian Air Force (IAF) nearly a decade ago is nowhere close to entering production and frankly, no one cares about the program anymore as focus and training doctrine in the last few decades has changed and shift now is clearly to have a supersonic jet trainer and days of sub-sonic trainer jets are more or less over.

HAL Claims HLFT-42 is the ‘Next Gen Supersonic Trainer’ that is under development and the plan is to equip it with modern avionics like Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA), Electronic Warfare (EW) Suite, Infrared Search and Track (IRST) with Fly by Wire (FBW) control system.

SOURCE: GIRISH LINGANNA / FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG.

Karnataka, located in southern India, has established itself as a hub for the country’s aerospace and defense industry. With a strong presence of top research and design institutions, a large pool of skilled professionals, and modern infrastructural facilities, the state has become a preferred destination for aerospace and defense. Bengaluru, in particular, has become a key player in attracting foreign investments in the sector, making the future look bright for Karnataka’s aerospace and defense industry.

SOURCE:  DEEPAK HILORI/ FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG

Tejas Mk2, also known as Tejas LCA MK-II (Light Combat Aircraft), will soon enter the critical prototype construction stage after the Cabinet Committee on Security, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the Tejas Mark-2 project at a cost of more than Rs 10,000 crore.

The MK-2 is designed to have improved avionics, weapons, and aerodynamics compared to the earlier version, the Tejas MK-1. It is also planned to have more advanced engines and enhanced air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities. The Indian Air Force has placed an order for 83 Tejas MK-2 aircrafts to replace its aging fighter fleet.

SOURCE: DEEPAK HILORI/ FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG

Brazilian Navy is on its way to becoming the seventh Navy in the world that has Nuclear powered submarine by the turn of this decade as it has started developing a 6000-ton nuclear-powered attack submarine, called Álvaro Alberto which is based on the French developed Scorpène-class submarine.

The Brazilian Navy only last year commissioned its first Scorpène-class attack submarine in Itaguaí, Rio de Janeiro. Both Indian and Brazilian Scorpène-class attack submarine has the same baseline design while they might defer internally it has nearly the same displacement of 1900 tons submerged.

SOURCE: SATYAJEET KUMAR/ FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG

Modi government is trying to nudge Global Airline manufacturers like Airbus and Boeing to set up local final assembly lines for some of the popular narrow-body aircraft considering that both have predicted sales of over 2000 aircraft to India in the next 20 years. 

The Indian commercial aviation industry has made significant strides in recent years, but with the development of indigenous aircraft, it remained a cash cow for Airbus and Boeing which simply is just interested in selling aircraft and throwing crumbles in name of localization of components for their global supply chain that contribute minuscule to the Indian economy. 

SOURCE: RAJESH AHUJA / FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG

In the 1990s, Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) was tasked to develop Nishant, a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) to be used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) roles on its borders with Pakistan and China. India was the first among its peers to have its own indigenous RPA/UAV program but fast forward to 2023, and India is still not where it wanted to be while even smaller countries have made rapid progress in the area.

Indian first RPA Nishant had it is the first flight in 1995 and was considered a great advancement at that time but technical issues and other changing UAV technology meant that ADE was not able to adapt fast to the changes nor was able to develop a product that met all user requirements.

SOURCE: RAJESH AHUJA / FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG

Britain, Italy and Japan are to cooperate in developing a sixth-generation fighter, Few details were available before the scheduled announcement beyond the project’s named Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) and the fact the partners say they plan to have the fighter ready by 2035.

Japanese-European defence program will also see the development of a new engine advanced power and propulsion system that will see designing an electrical starter generator that was fully embedded in the core of a gas turbine engine, now known as the Embedded Electrical Starter Generator.

SOURCE: SATYAJEET KUMAR/ FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG

The Saturn AL-31FP is a turbofan aircraft engine that is used on several military aircraft, including those operated by the Indian Air Force. The Indian Air Force operates a fleet of Sukhoi Su-30 fighters, which are powered by the AL-31FP engine. 

Over the year they have been several versions of the Saturn AL-31FP turbofan aircraft engine have been developed over the years, with various improvements and updates made to the design. Some of the improvements that have been made to the AL-31FP include:

SOURCE:  DEEPAK HILORI/ FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG

India will commence work on the development of a new indigenous radar that will be customized for its Su-30MKI fleet replacing its huge N011M BARS Radar, which even after 25 years is still an impressive radar on any aircraft that has acquired a cult status as ” Mini AWACS” in the Indian Air Force due to its ability to see even small single-engine fighter jets as far as 200km.

Uttam Mk3 will be replacing a legendary Radar and it will be the biggest and most powerful radar that will be developed by India to date that will come with impressive performance and also allow the Su-30 fleet to remain relevant for the next 30 years.

SOURCE: SATYAJEET KUMAR/ FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG

For Decades China was believed to have a relatively small nuclear arsenal compared to other nuclear-armed states, with estimates ranging from around 280 to 320 nuclear warheads. However, China has been steadily modernizing its nuclear weapons, including the development of new types of nuclear missiles and submarine-launched nuclear missiles.

Like other nuclear-armed states, China’s nuclear weapons program has been a source of concern and tension in international relations. The country has faced criticism for not being more transparent about its nuclear capabilities and for not participating in arms control negotiations, such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).