SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Satyanarayan Nandlal Nuwal, Chairman of Solar Industries India, that is in charge of manufacturing explosives and Pinaka Multi-Barrell Rocket Systems said in an interview confirmed that the company has been granted permission to manufacture two guided rockets that will be ready in neat 18 months to bridge the gap between Pinaka Guided (75km) and SSM (350km.

Nuwal confirmed that two guided missiles have been named Maheshwarastra 1, which will have a range of 150km, and Maheshwarastra 2, which will have a range of 290km.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Bangalore- based NoPo Nanotechnologies is one of the few companies on the planet that produces one of the world’s strongest and smallest materials. A carbon nanotube (CNT) is a tube made of carbon with diameters typically measured in nanometers, This microscopic material is 10,000 times thinner than a single strand of human hair and has a tensile strength that is over 100 times that of steel.

The company already secured grants from Niti Aayog and even from the Indian Navy and ultimately has plans to use it for defense applications.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Block 70/72 is enjoying a late-life revival due to complex issues that continue to plague fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets that its ever-increasing operational cost that has failed to come down even after repeated assurance. With steady orders coming from its current operators, Lockheed Martin is shifting its focus on India where requirements for 114 jets under MRFA Tender could extend the lifeline of the legacy jet by another 40 years.

Lockheed Martin which has tied up with Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) which is already producing F-16 wings in the country is offering the F-21, which is uniquely configured to meet or exceed all of the IAF’s Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft requirements.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

India’s P-8I fleet of multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft will feature Special Mission pontoon-like Pod that can be used for moving target indicators that can scan both water and land areas simultaneously in addition to its onboard search radar.

Americans have developed such pod based AESA radar system for their fleet but have put restrictions on its export to its current operators as it has some kind of secrecy around the technology that they want to protect, idrw.org has been told that the initial discussion between DRDO and Indian Navy has been ongoing and presently things are being worked out about the configuration and other specifications.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

India’s Prachand Light combat Helicopter as part of its evolving needs for futuristic weapons systems will be getting a tube-launched, collapsible wing, electric propulsion architecture loitering weapon that comes with multi-purpose warhead to expand Prachand’s warfighting capability and to hit hardened targets at a greater distance.

idrw.org has been told that work on long-range precision loitering munition that can hit targets beyond 35km with a 20-30kg warhead is under the initial stages of research and such precision loitering munition will be included as part of the near future upgrade weapons package of the Prachand.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

India will be placing orders for 15 more C-295 transport aircraft for the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard that will be fitted with special sensors and will be classified as multi-mission maritime aircraft (MMMA). Indian Navy will procure 9 and the Indian Coast Guard will get 6 MMMA aircraft that will be modified to carry Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar (AESAR)” technology and other sensors to play a key role in sea surveillance of surface ships and boats.

India already has placed orders for 56 C-295 transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force as a replacement for the aging Avro fleet. C-295 will be manufactured at the Tata-Airbus facility in Vadodara.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

According to Spanish media reports, Airbus will be delivering the first C-295 manufactured in Spain in Q3 of 2023 and deliveries will pick up from 2024 onwards and likely will be concluded in 2025 for the initial 16 units of C-295M that will be manufactured in Spain before Tata-Airbus facility starts to assemble of C-295M in the country from 2026 onwards.

India had contracted a deal to purchase 56 Airbus-developed C-295M Transport aircraft in September 2021 and in October 2022 work on a production facility in the state of Gujrat started.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will be having talks with Russia to procure 12 more Sukhoi-30MKI kits for the Indian Air Force (IAF) also on the sidelines will be discussing Super Sukhoi upgrade proposal for which it will seek blanket permission from the OEM to carry out upgrades on the entire fleet of Su-30MKI operated by IAF with Indian made equipment and systems.

idrw.org has been told by sources in the Rosoboronexport, that Russia is keen that the Indian Sukhoi-30 upgrade program has some of its systems and equipment that are part of the SM2 upgrade that was carried out on the Russian Su-30SM fighter jets. SM shares a baseline airframe with Indian Su-30MKI but as part of its upgrades, Russia has swapped older AL-31F engines with the AL-41F-1S engine, which is also used in the Su-35S and is keen that India swaps older AL-31F engines with the AL-41F-1S engine for its Su-30 upgrade program.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

The Indian Navy has extended the lease of the two Sea Guardian drones from an American defense major to enhance surveillance over the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) by another two years after MQ-9B clocked an impressive 10,000th flight hour and covered 14 million square miles of operating area in last two years of the lease.

General Atomics provided the MQ-9Bs to India under a Company-Owned, Company-Operated (COCO) lease agreement and operates the UAS on behalf of the Indian Navy. Indian Navy is also leading negotiations for the purchase of 30 MQ-9B armed drones for over $3 billion where the air force, army, and army will get 10 drones each.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

At Vietnam International Defence Expo 2022 (Vietnam Defence 2022), India’s Brahmos corporation stall was abuzz with delegates and top military advisors and military officials from the Vietnam People’s Air Force that were keen on learning more about the BrahMos-A, an Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) that has been designed by the HAL/DRDO and IAF for launch from Su-30MKI aircraft.

India already has pitched BrahMos-A ALCM to all Sukhoi-30 operators in the region and as per the latest information same was offered to Vietnam which operates around 35 Su-30 and 22 Su-27 multi-role fighter jets.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) developed New Generation Anti-Radiation Missile (Rudram-1) program got a massive boost after Indian Air Force (IAF) placed massive orders worth 1400 for the procurement of missile that is designed to destroy a variety of enemy surveillance, communication and radar targets on the ground after being fired from fighter jets.

idrw.org has been told that DRDO is working on a new variant of the Anti-Radiation guided missile that can be launched from Marine fighter jets and can identify, locate, and effectively engage critical air defense targets.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, while speaking at Agenda Aajak said that the need for 114 jets under Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) will remain, even when IAF has plans to steadily induct locally made fighter jets like Tejas Mk1, Mk2, and AMCA due to planned retirement of fighter fleet type like Jaguar, Mirage-2000 and Mig-29 in next few years.

Air Chief stressed that Production constraints and the need to replace jets that have been retired from the fleet are why the need for Made in India jets under MRFA are required. Air Chief in past has said that even with the induction of 114 jets and local fighter jets, IAF will never reach its authorized strength of 42 fighter squadrons which today stands at 31, and will manage only 35 in 2035-36.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

After the US government declined to extend the price offer beyond the 31st of July earlier this year for the Government-to-Government deal for the purchase of six additional P8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft, India has asked for “A restated Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) from USG (US Government) as per a report in the ” BW BUSINESSWORLD”.

The Indian Navy had inducted eight Boeing-manufactured P-8I aircraft under a $2.1 billion deal inked in January 2009, while the next four were delivered under another $1.1 billion contract signed in July 2016. Indian Navy is looking to procure six more P8I MPA that will have COMCASA-protected equipment, which is much more advanced and secure than the commercially available ones.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) is developing MS-X02A, Midget Submarine a fully equipped stealth-based platform with minimal acoustic & EM signatures for leg operations. MS-X02A will be getting integrated state-of-the-art SONAR, GPS, Inertial Navigation System & Communication systems.

MS-X02A will support both ship-launched and independent operations in shallow and deep waters for covert military operations. MS-X02A type Midget Submarines are used in maritime missions such as infiltrating combat swimmers into an enemy port or planting limpet mines on the hull of target vessels. They are also used to land a combat swimmer team covertly on a hostile shore to conduct missions on land.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

While Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is planning to float a global tender to purchase second-hand B-767s from the market, Boeing is planning to offer fully developed new mid-air refuellers based on the same aircraft called KC-46 Pegasus to the Indian Air Force at upcoming Aero India 2023 to be held at Yelahanka Air Force Station.

Boeing is planning to offer Foreign Military Sales (FMS) format for the deal to be concluded between both governments for the purchase of six mid-air refuellers. HAL tied up with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in April to convert used B-767s into mid-air refuellers and delivery the first aircraft by 2025 onwards.