SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) with be working closely with the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard to develop a derivative of the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) to replace both aging HAL Cheetah and HAL Chetak helicopters in the Indian Navy and ICG fleet.

Indian Navy needs 111 Naval Utility Helicopters (NUH) and the Indian Navy is looking to procure variants of the indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and Light Utility Helicopters (LUH) modified for ship-based operations.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

With Japan opening up its defense industry to close nit of countries that includes India, the first possible sale of military equipment between both countries might be the sale of a Naval stealth antenna called unicorn under the Transfer of Technology arrangement to be integrated into next-gen Indian warships but India is more interested in Japanese advancements in its submarine technology.

idrw.org has been told that India is keen on acquiring expertise in some of the conventional submarine technology that Japan has developed for its indigenous submarine fleet which is often considered as best in the Diesel-Attack submarine programs in the entire world.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

William Blair, India Chief Executive of Lockheed Martin in an interview said that the company is hopeful that a Request for Proposal for the fighter aircraft under Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft competition (MRFA) might be issued by the Indian Air Force and claimed that if selected will manufacture F-21 (F-16V) in India with high indigenous content.

Tata Lockheed Martin Aerostructures Limited displayed at (the) DefExpo just a couple of weeks ago F-16 wings that were made in India as part of the Global supply chain that had 70% indigenous content in the first wing that was produced.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

US-headquartered aircraft engine manufacturer, Pratt & Whitney (P&W) is now keen to focus on Indian military programs as it has been losing ground in the commercial marketplace towards its arch-rival CMF. The top brass of P&W was in India last week and are keen to focus more on the Indian military segment after it recently won contracts for the supply of engines for its Pratt & Whitney Canada PW100 to power C-295 medium tactical transport aircraft that was recently ordered by the Indian Air Force.

Pratt & Whitney already has been supplying spares and support to the F117-PW-100 turbofan engines that are powering the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III fleet of the Indian Air Force. General Electric its rival in the military space has been focusing on the Indian defense sector for decades now and soon will be locally manufacturing its F-414 engines in the country.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Officials of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) at the recently concluded DefExpo in Gujrat have confirmed to idrw.org that they have no plans to develop an Air force version of the Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) that the organization is developing for the Indian Navy for its requirements for a Deck based fighter jet to operate from the Indian Aircraft carrier.

26-ton aircraft is designed around requirements set by the Indian Navy and Air Force has not shown any interest in its requirement as its backing the development of 25-ton AMCA and 17.5-ton Tejas MkII fighter jets to meet its requirement for its combat fleet for the next 15-20 years.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Bengaluru-based technology start-up NewSpace Research and Technologies (NRT) after concluding recent trials of the sub-scale prototype version of the proposed high-altitude pseudo satellite (HAPS) with an 8-meter wingspan is now planning to develop bigger sub-scale prototype with 16-meter wingspan and 24-meter wingspan HAPS before fabricating HAPS with 59-meter wingspan.

idrw.org has been told that the expected timeline to fly the full-scale solar-powered prototype, with an endurance of three months at 60,000ft, will be four years, while it plans to build two more sub-scale prototype version with a 16-meter wingspan and 24-meter wingspan in the next 18 months.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is planning to offer Maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) to all Su-30MKI/MKM, MKA, and SM operators as Russian OEM continues to face economic sanctions as operators of the fleet struggle to pay off the supply of spares and equipment due to lack of open banking channels.

HAL will seek Russian permission to take over as OEM role in providing overhauls and other facilities to existing customers of Su-30s that are largely built on baseline Su-30MKI that is operated by India. Many of the current operators do not have the facility to carry out major overhauls or mandated checks by the OEMs locally that have to be sent to Russia.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

The Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) located at Avadi in Chennai will commence upgrades on the original batch of T-90 Bhishma Main Battle Tank (MBT) that had come from Russia in Completely Knocked Down (CKD) / Semi Knocked Down (SKD) condition that is up for a complete overhaul. Automatic target tracker (ATT), digital ballistic computer, and auxiliary power unit (APU) are some of the main systems that will be upgraded.

ATT and APU will be upgraded to an indigenous system that will now also include see-through-armour. commander’s panoramic sight and driver’s night sight already have been developed for the Arjun MBT program and will now will replacing older systems in T-90MBTs.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

After maiden trials of the AD-1 Interceptor missile, which is part of India’s Phase-II Ballistic Missile Defence Shield, DRDO has commenced work on the fabrication of the AD-2 Interceptor missile that can intercept IRBM (Intermediate-range Ballistic Missile) targets with a range between 3000 to 5500 kilometers.

AD-2 will start trials sometime in late 2023 or in early 2024 as confirmed by Dr. Samir Kamat, Chairman of the DRDO. By 2025, DRDO wants both the Interceptor missiles to be tested and validated including new long-range radars with a scanning capability of over 1,500 km.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Indian Tri-Service will be issuing Trial clearance certification to Private sector companies that had offered their weapons systems for user trials so that they can offer this weapon to the export market even if this weapon is not procured by Indian Armed Forces.

idrw.org has been told that many Private sector companies bid and offer trials of their weapon systems and the Indian Armed Forces after lengthy trials may which may not procure them immediately due to various reasons that often effects export chances of the weapon systems. Trial clearance certification will be only given to companies whose weapons or products that were offered for trials cleared the Internal evaluation of the Indian Armed Forces.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Indian Air Force (IAF) will be soon fast-tracking the integration and upgradation of Squadrons that are equipped with Su-30MKI fighter type so that can be cleared for using India’s Astra Beyond Visual range air-to-air missiles. idrw.org has been told that a few weeks back few frontline squadrons started receiving Astra BVRAAMs and the missile is now operational.

Astra BVRAAMs integration requires some hardware and software upgrades on the Su-30MKI fighter Jets, initially pace was also due to limited production runs of the missile system but now the production pace is picking up after the recent round of orders and more missiles will be enabled Squadrons wise in next few months and complete process is likely to be completed by late 2023 or early 2024.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Pune-Based Bharat Forge is in talks to bid to be the technology partner for the upcoming Engine consortium company in India that will be in charge of the joint development of a new 110-130kN Class of jet engine for India’s AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft) program.

Engine consortium company will be led by the Defence PSUs like ADA (Aeronautical Development Agency), GTRE (Gas Turbine Research Establishment), HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics), and Private sector companies participation is expected so to be part of the Tier-I and II supply chain of the engine components when it is under production.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Mumbai-based, Sagar Defence Engineering Pvt in close coordination with the Indian Navy is working to develop a swarm of autonomous underwater minehunting drones while avoiding obstacles autonomously that are designed to detect, locate and identify mines using an array of sensors so that the Indian Navy can destroy them.

The lightweight autonomous mine hunting vehicles will help detect mines in the waters off its coast operating effectively at depths of up to 100m. Mine hunting drones can identify underwater mines and saves human divers from doing the dangerous job of clearing them that are time-consuming and imprecise.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

DRDO officials in an interview with News18 have claimed that the Dry Kaveri engine that is under testing will be cleared for certification by 2024 and will have 80% Indigenous content.

Dry Kaveri which can generate 46kN of thrust and is presently going through ground tests and altitude tests and soon will commence engine endurance testing which will be the final part of the certification of the engine that is required by the CEMILAC (Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification).

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Pravaig Dynamics, a Bengaluru-based startup, better known as Pravaig has started testing its Electric Tactical vehicle for the Indian Military that will have a range of 423km and superior acceleration of 0-100kmph in less than 5 seconds with an appropriate fast charger, it would be able to charge it up to 80% in just 30 minutes.

The prototype of the Electric Tactical vehicle by Pravaig has been seen testing around Bangalore Airport lately. The company is planning to introduce its Pravaig electric SUV to be showcased in a near-production form for the Civilian market that will have a range of 504 km on a single full charge, and a top speed of 200 km/h.