SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

Indian Air Force older generation Mi-17 medium-lift helicopters are in for a major upgrade, with plans being firmed up on retrofitting them with advanced avionics and electronic warfare suits along with multisensor payload like short wave infra-red (SWIR) REV III multisensor optical payload locally along with weather radar.

50 older Mi-17 helicopters along with 32 latest Mi-17V helicopters will be modified with upgraded smart multi-function displays, weather radar, traffic collision and avoidance systems and air data systems.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

Rosoboronexport has responded to the Indian Army’s requirement for a Light Tank for the Ladhak region with its Sprut-SDM1 tank which the officials claim can be implemented in India within the framework of a large-scale program of Russian-Indian technological cooperation.

Sprut-SDM1 which is equipped with a 125 mm gun that can fire both Mango and Invar munitions which are designed to take out tanks that are equipped with Reactive Armour.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

Embraer, a Brazilian multinational aerospace manufacturer that managed to fly in its C-390 Millennium, a medium-size, twin-engine, jet-powered military transport aircraft to India for the Aero India 2023 is upbeat about its chances to bag a contract from the Indian Air Force (IAF) for its requirements for Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) for which it recently had issued Tender.

Embraer officials who spoke to idrw.org have confirmed that the C-390 which can carry 26-ton of Cargo payload is perfectly optimised for Indian High altitude operations and the company is keen to offer the Transporter to IAF for Technical trials purposes to demonstrate its capabilities.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

Indian state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at the Aero India 2023 showcased model of its RUAV-200, a cargo-carrying unmanned helicopter for High Altitude operations with a refined and redesigned fundamental structure than the previous design for improved High Altitude operations.

idrw.org has been told that the testing of the powerplant for the RUAV-200 has progressed well and fabrication of the RUAV-200 is presently taking place and first flight of which has been planned for later this year.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

Archer-NG Weaponized Male UAV with a single engine twin-boom architecture in pusher configuration powered by an 180 hp diesel engine developed by the VRDE will share most of the components with the current Tapas MALE UAV due to which first flight of the Archer-NG has been planned in Month of April-May this year.

Archer-NG will have over 70% of the systems and components from the Tapas program that includes its MREO, LREO, SAR, and MPAR payloads including ELINT & COMMIT, IFF, TCAS & UCR systems. Archer-NG will have four hardpoints that can carry a maximum payload of 300kg that can also be used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

DRDO Chairman Samir V Kamat has said India’s Tactical Advanced Platform for Aerial Surveillance (TAPAS) Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV will be flying in the next two months on Vehicles Research Development Establishment (VRDE) developed 180 hp diesel engine that will replace current 177 HP Austro 330EP engines used on the Tapas.

idrw.org has been told at the Aero India 2023 that One of the Tapas Prototype already has been integrated with the indigenous 180 hp diesel engine and that Tapas has even commenced slow and fast Taxi trials.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

Stealth Wing Flying Testbed’ (SWiFT) was developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru, a research laboratory under DRDO as a bridging gap towards the design and development of an indigenous Futuristic Unmanned Fighter Aircraft (FUFA).

FUFA will be powered by a 46kN Dry Kaveri engine and is expected to have a >10-ton AUW ( All-Up Weight) that will adopt a flying-wing scheme and incorporates the use of composite materials and stealth coatings to have reduced radar cross-section.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

Tata Aerospace and Defence at Aero India 2023 showcased the scale model of the WhAF 8×8 Wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicle which the company had developed jointly with the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

WhAF is an Amphibious infantry combat Vehicle integrated with a Power pack with Automatic transmission, floatation and propulsion modularity and scalability to help the platform be easily customized to cater to various missions and operating conditions.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

Indian Multi-Role Helicopter (IMRH) program that has been proposed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has entered the detailed design phase and soon will be presented for the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approval for the funding of the program post which Prototype will be ready for first flight four years after CCS approval confirmed HAL official to idrw.org.

IMRH scale model displayed at Aero India has been further optimised and some design changes have been carried out and the design has been frozen. HAL will also be developing a Deck-Based Multi-Role Helicopter a Naval variant of the IMRH but with a higher All-up weight of 14 tons for an increased range.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) recently tasted its first major success after concluding high altitude chamber tests in Russia for its Non-Afterburner variant of the Kaveri engine called the Dry Kaveri engine and now has plans to get hands on the older LSP model that can be used as a static test airframe for the engine program.

Godrej Aerospace has been awarded a contract to manufacture six Dry Kaveri engines to be used for further sustenance and endurance tests where it will accumulate long running hours along with simulated crosswind conditions to check turbulence on fan blades recorded across a range of operation, from idle to full thrust, and further automatic control systems will be refined.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

Dr Samir V Kamat, Chairman of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at Aero India 2023 refused to give any timeline for the rollout of the AMCA Mk2 aircraft and linked it to the development of the 110kN engine and said that timeline can be disclosed only when new engine enters production in a subtle messaging hinted at the possible delays in the program due to lack of any progress in the engine development program.

Talks with French multinational company Safran and GTRE that have gone on for nearly 7 years have not resulted in any agreement and new offers from the American General Electric and British Rolls Royce are competing hard to dethrone advances made by Safran in talks with India.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

According to a report in ” The Print” India and the US are exploring the possibility of jointly up gunning the barrel of the 145 units of M777 in the Indian Army from the 155-mm, 39-calibre to 155mm/ 52-Calibre to improve the Effective firing range from 30kms to 70km using the newly developed Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) shell.

last month idrw.org reported that BAE Systems had offered its latest M777 155mm/ 52-Calibre towed artillery gun to Indian Army and claimed that even with a longer barrel it will still weigh less than 5,800 kgs in weight and shares commonality with the M777, a 155-mm, 39-calibre that is already in service with the Indian Army.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

Rostec officials at Aero India 2023 that the company is well aware of the Request for Information for Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) issued by the Indian Air Force (IAF) to replace ageing Soviet-era An-32 Medium Haul Transport Aircraft and are keen to offer its Ilyushin Il-276 medium-airlift military transport aircraft currently being developed by United Aircraft Corporation (UAC).

United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) of Russia and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) wanted to jointly develop the very same aircraft in a joint venture in 2009, but in 2016 HAL walked out of the program due to differences over the selection of the engines for the program and workshare agreements.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has developed an indigenous unmanned anti-radiation decoy system that can be used to deviate the path of the ARM (anti-radiation missile) that is fired from enemy fighter jets to target the Indian-manufactured Air Defence System like Akash Mk1 and NG.

Anti-radiation decoy system will release radio frequencies that are similar to the electromagnetic waves being transmitted by the radar systems of the Air Defence System in a way that makes Anti-radiation missiles sensors pick up the radio frequencies of the Anti-radiation decoy system identifying it has the real Radar of the Air Defence System.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

It’s more or less confirmed now that the Indian Navy will be going for a repeat order of the IAC-I aka INS Vikrant, a 44000-tonne aircraft carrier with some modifications and upgrades to its overhaul design and system to incorporate newer technologies. The Navy is also in process of starting a study for a larger carrier as informed by Admiral R Hari Kumar to the media.

The original plan was to have a 65000-tonne aircraft carrier as IAC-II but now it has been decided to go for a sister class ship of the IAC-I with some technology upgradation and some structural changes to its lift size.