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

Indian Air Force (IAF) chief, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari speaking to Vayu Aerospace has confirmed that the Indian Air Force (IAF) is looking to procure more CH-47 Chinook Helicopters for which it has started the process to get it cleared from the Cabinet Committee on Security later this year.

India had finalized a multi-billion dollar contract with Boeing to procure 22 Apache helicopters and 15 Chinooks for the IAF in September 2015. The original contract had provision for follow-on orders of 6 AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters that were cleared in 2019 but this time it will be operated by the Indian Army’s Aviation Corps (AAC). IAF likely will press for 7 follow-on orders of CH-47 Chinook Helicopters that are part of the original contract but idrw.org has been told CCS might clear only 4-5 units due to the high procurement cost of these Boeing built helicopters.

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

ADE Director Dr. S Venugopal speaking to Dr. Anantha Krishnan Tarmak Media House has said that Rustam-1 SR ( Short range)-UAV that was developed to be a testbed for the bigger MALE Class Rustam-2 is an excellent UAV, to begin with, and it was later decided that the DRDO developed air to surface missile system for the UAV Class will be integrated into the UAV that is now been called Archer.

Venugopal said that the advantage of Archer and Rustam-2 is that both use the same avionics and systems including LRUs and Ground stations that can operate both UAVs with a switch of software that will reduce maintenance and logistics issues for the squadron that will be operating both classes of drones from its base.

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

South Asian Terrorism Portal (SATP) that keep track of military and paramilitary casualties in the South Asian countries said in its latest report that Pakistan armed forces are taking more casualties than their bigger Indian counterpart in the last three years and fatalities are only rising and last year alone Pakistani armed force suffered over double the casualties then India.

According to SATP Data, In 2019 Pakistan had 137 casualties while India had 132, but 2020 saw a rise in Pakistani casualties that jumped to 178 while in India it went down to 106. 2021 in the backdrop of Taliban take over Afghanistan and TTP increasing frequency of its attacks on Pakistani forces it suffered 226 casualties while Indian casualties were the same as the previous year at 104.

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

CEO and MD BrahMos Aerospace Atul Dinkar Rane speaking to DD said that the Joint development of the BrahMos-NG (Next Generation ) has commenced with Russia and it will take nearly four years before the missile is ready for developmental trials. Rane said both countries are trying to achieve speeds that are nearly 1 1/2 times more than the existing missile variant of BrahMos.

BrahMos-NG will weigh around 1.5 tons which is nearly half the weight when compares to the existing BrahMos that is close to 3tons. BrahMos-NG is primarily been designed as an Air-Launched Cruise Missile Program that can be used for Anti-Ship missile (AShM) or as Anti-surface missile (ASM) against high-value targets.

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

Retd. Commodore Jaideep Maolankar (Mao) who headed LCA Navy flight test units peaking to Dr. Anantha Krishnan Tarmak Media House gave his opinion on the Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) said that the aircraft that will come out in 2030 has to be better than aircraft that came out 30 years ago (Rafale M) not only in terms of technology but also leap in technologies that are currently underway in fighter aircraft development world over.

Mao said even though TEDBF is a 4th Gen fighter aircraft program it has to incorporate technologies that leap over existing technologies even if aircraft is of the same generation and supported incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that will not only help pilots in aerial combats but also in executing weapon-carrying drones towards its target.

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

The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) has awarded a contract for the fabrication of 2 composite Radome to a British-based Meggitt Aerospace Limited. Composite Radome supplied by the company will be used on the first and second pre-production Tejas Mk2 jets, while efforts are being made by ADA to fabricate and develop technologies indigenously that will be used in production variants of the aircraft when it enters service in 2028.

Composite Radome maintain low observability to the enemy and Meggitt Aerospace Limited are specialists in the design, testing, manufacturing, and service of Advanced Composite Radome in the US and UK. According to ADA, Tejas Mk2 will feature 10% smaller Radome to incorporate an infrared search and track (IRST) system when compared to the dimensions of nose cone seen on the Tejas Mk1/1A.

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

Dr. S Venugopal, Project Director for the Astra Program speaking to Dr. Anantha Krishnan Tarmak Media House has confirmed trials of the Astra Mk2 that will have a range of 160km will be tested in 2022 this is the first official confirmation coming from the DRDO. Venugopal also confirmed that Astra Mk1 integration into LCA-Tejas Mk1 is nearly completed and trials can happen any time in the coming weeks.

Astra Mk2 will be comparable in range to the American AIM-120D, the latest variant coming out of the AMRAAM family that has been reported to have a range of 161km. Astra Mk2 uses a double-pulse solid rocket motor to improve its range. Astra Mk2 will weigh around 175kgs that is little more than the AIM-120D that weighs only 161kgs but a lot lesser than Chinese PL-15E that is around 200kgs and has a range of 145km.

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

MTU MT 881 Ka-500 V8 water-cooled diesel engine that Offers a power range of 735 kW (1000hp) at 2700 rpm has been chosen to be the powerpack for the upcoming Light tank that DRDO’s Combat Vehicles Research & Development Establishment (CVRDE) and Private sector company Larsen & Toubro are developing that will be ready for trials sometime in early 2023.

Ka-500 V8 Utilizes a single-stage turbocharger and Features a common rail or pump-line injection method that allows it to Operate under ambient temperature conditions of -46 C, under -20 C. Ka-500 V8 engine is also used on the K9 Vajra-T 155 mm/52 caliber tracked self-propelled howitzers that are inducted by the Indian Army .

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

India’s Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) has floated a tender for vendors who can supply wind tunnel model that can be tested at National Tunnel Test Facility (NWTF) at IIT Kanpur, wind tunnel model is of Futuristic Unmanned Fighter Aircraft (FUFA) program that seems to be new Stealth Wing Flying concept in works over Indian Unmanned Strike Air Vehicle (IUSAV).

Tender documents hint why it is not ISUAV, for starters, it has split rudder control surface deflection that is not seen in the ISUAV design, and second is its ability to demonstrate low supersonic speeds that are usually not found in sub-sonic Unmanned Strike aircraft.

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

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has offered to export its RAWL-03, L-Band 3D Air Surveillance Radar with an instrumentation range of 400km has been offered to the export market. RAWL-03 developed by BEL and Swedish SAAB has exhibited an interest from international clients include France, Germany, the UK, Canada, Sweden, and developing markets in Africa and South America.

RAWL-03 can be used to detect air targets that include missiles, helicopters, and aircraft and primarily can be used on warships and also can be accommodated on wheeled vehicles for detection and tracking of Sea Surface and air targets.

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

Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy speaking to Vayu Aerospace Review, said that the initial proposal of state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was for 3 separate variants of IMRH, that can be used for Special Operations, Anti Surface Warfare + Anti-Submarine Warfare but the Navy has rejected this proposal.

Navy has asked HAL to submit a fresh PPR for the development of a common multi-role helicopter with both ASW & ASuW capability that can also be used for Special Operations / Search & Rescue (SAR), Utility / Vertical Replenishment (VERTREP), and airborne mine countermeasures. HAL has agreed to work on Naval-specific IMRH that will have different design features so it can perform diverse missions, including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, combat search and rescue, vertical replenishment, and airborne mine countermeasures. HAL acknowledges that Naval IMRH will be a much more complex and challenging project than the IMRH Variant that it plans to develop for Army and Air Force variants that are mostly will be replacing Mi-8/Mi-17 Helicopters to be used for Troop Transportation and SAR missions.

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

Dr. S Venugopal, Project Director for the Astra Program speaking to Dr. Anantha Krishnan Tarmak Media House revealed that Astra Mk1 took down a Banshee target drone in head-on mode when it was about 87km away from the launch platform. This is a significant demonstration of the capability of the missile since target drones usually have very low Radar cross-section (RCS) due to the small size of the drones making it very difficult to take down at long range.

idrw.org who spoke to Defence Expert Ranesh Rajan said that the Banshee target drone that has an RCS value with a probability of 0.5m2 to 1.4m2 is designed to imitate remote-controlled aircraft, cruise missiles, and subsonic tactical aircraft during combat training and testing of air defense missiles and demonstration of such long-ranges against a target that has such low RCS value will come handy against aircraft with frontal stealth profiles.

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

The first S-400 air-defense missile has been deployed at the forward air force base in Punjab that will be providing security bubble and will go operational in February as India will continue to take delivery of more S-400 air-defense missile squadrons, According to times now, India is considering the purchase of additional S-400 or the newer S-500 squadrons.

India was the first country that has been offered S-500 air-defense missiles by Russia and has assured that they won’t be selling them to China which will come as a massive boost for India and Russia’s ties. S-400 deliveries to India will be completed in 2023 but deliveries of additional S-400 systems if ordered in 2022 will start coming only in 2025 due to which India needs to decide quickly if it wants to procure more S-400 systems or procure S-500 systems so that it does affect its delivery schedule.

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

Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari who in his official tour of South Korea was showcased the T-50B operated by the Black Eagles display team of the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF). T-50B is an Aerobatic specialized variant of the T-50 supersonic advanced jet trainer that has seen some export success.

According to Korean media outlets, Chaudhari was also briefed about Korea’s KF-21 Boramae program, which is a new fighter aircraft jointly been developed by South Korea and Indonesia. Earlier this year prototype of the first KF-21 was rolled out at KAI’s Sacheon production facility.

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

India’s indigenous Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas, will get Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) Within Visual Range (WVR) Air-to-Air Missile (AAM) to its weapons capability next year. ASRAAM will be the third WVR missile added to the Tejas aircraft. Earlier this year 5th generation Python-5 Air-to-Air Missile (AAM) acquired from Israel was tested and cleared for operational usage by the IAF.

Tejas aircraft had successfully fired the Vympel R-73 air-to-air missile for the first time way back in 2010 but IAF had opted for Israeli Python-5 as its standard WVR missiles but following delays in captive flight trials due to flutter issues with the missile, there were delays in certifying the missile on the Tejas by two years.