SOURCE: IDRW NEWS NETWORK
The C-295 tactical air-lifter will soon be manufactured by Airbus-Tata in India and rightly has been chosen to be modified into a Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft (MMMA) variant for airborne surveillance with C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) capabilities for the Indian Navy by CABS, a DRDO laboratory in Bengaluru.
For C-295 MMMA to become reality, the Navy had to sacrifice its planned purchase of the third batch of six P-8I Neptune Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) for which it could have been required to shell out $2.4Billion but now for the half amount, it can procure at least 12 C-295 MMMA that can be deployed at multiple naval bases around India’s coastline of 7,516 kilometers.
Continue readingSOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.
A Promotional video of the LCA-Tejas realized by the DRDO shows first glimpses of the Uttam AeSA Fire Control Radar installed on one of the LSP-Tejas that has been used as a Testbed aircraft. Uttam Mk1 that will be seen on the LCA-Tejas Mk1A fleet will have 780 TR modules which will be installed on the last batch of 52 Mk1A that goes into production from 2026 onwards.
Mk1A will also be getting Astra Mk1 Beyond visual Range air to air missiles with a range of 110km for which presently systematic flutter testing to be followed by the inflight flutter and captive trials will commence in the next few months before the missile is cleared to fire.
Continue readingSOURCE: IDRW NEWS NETWORK
The Indian Air Force will complete the deployment of the first regiment of S-400 at an airbase in Punjab by February to take on threats from both Pakistan and Chinese airspace. All Forward Airbase have Close range Air Defence systems deployed in the vicinity to protect valuable assets at the base but the deployment of a few S-400 systems at few forward bases also makes them more vulnerable to saturation attacks by using low-cost sub-sonic or Stand-Off Weapon.
Deliberations are been held to provide additional air defense cover to such a forward airbase that doesn’t require the S-400 system to engage expensive missile system to defend against low-cost saturation attacks where the attacking side hopes to take out S-400 system advantage by overwhelming the defending side’s said officials familiar with the matter to idrw.org.
Continue readingSOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.
French Navy-owned Rafale-M which is in INS Hansa in Goa for the last two weeks to carry out flight-testing at the shore-based test facility (SBTF) has successfully demonstrated take off with 4 MBDA MICA IR/ EM, 2 2300 L Drop tanks, and 1 Exocet AM39 anti-ship missile.
If results are found satisfactory next round of trials might take place onboard INS Vikramaditya, where it will not only able to demonstrate regular take-offs and landing but also take down to hangar using lifts and perform engine swapping. Boeing re-commenced its F-18 E/F trials on the ski-jump facility in the states and similar trials will likely begin in March at SBTF in Goa said officials familiar with the matter to idrw.org.
Continue readingSOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.
Marching this Republic Day Parade tableau will feature Suite of Sensors, Weapons & EW System for LCA-Tejas Mk1A Program. Uttam AESA Radar, Airborne Self Protection Jamming Pod (ASPJ), Rudram-1 an air-to-surface anti-radiation missile, Astra a beyond-visual-range active radar homing air-to-air missile, 1-ton Long Range Glide Bomb (LRGB), Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) a precision-guided anti-airfield weapon and 450kg Tara High-Speed Low Drag (HSLD) GPS / INS guidance and control kit and glide fin kit.
Interestingly none of the mentioned weapons systems have been tested onboard nor have been integrated yet. Prototypes of Uttam AESA Radar have commenced testing onboard two LSP jets and will be introduced from the 21st Tejas Mk1A aircraft. Airborne Self Protection Jamming Pod (ASPJ) is still undergoing testing onboard Su-30MKI but is yet to begin testing onboard Tejas.
Continue readingSOURCE: IDRW NEWS NETWORK
DRDO won’t spell it out but the use of a makeshift launcher in the recent experimental launch of the BrahMos used instead of a canister launcher for the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles hints that the missile is longer than the previous missile due to which DRDO had to switch to the makeshift launcher. DRDO only confirmed that the recent Brahmos test comes with increased indigenous content and improved performance and was tested at supersonic speed for its maximum range and met all mission objectives but no clarity on the range.
New BrahMos seems to be 20-25% longer in length which could enable it to carry more range with an expanded fuel tank, which in turn could enable it to hit targets as far as 700km. BrahMos already has seen a range increase from 290km to 450km after India became a signatory of the MTCR regime that removed previous range restrictions that limited it to be less than 300km.
Continue readingSOURCE: IDRW NEWS NETWORK
PAC’s sales and marketing director, Commodore Moazzam Piracha speaking to Spanish aviation media ( Aviacionline) confirmed that no ongoing negotiations with Nigeria for the acquisition of more Thunder fighters, in addition to the 3 units already contracted is taking place as questions are been raised inside Nigeria of the utility of this jets that have limited ability to help Nigeria battle rising insecurity, including mass school abductions in the northwest, Islamist insurgencies in the northeast and kidnappings for ransom and armed robberies nationwide.
Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has come under increasing scrutiny for its continuous military actions particularly in the Northern region, which seen has constant military offensive against terrorists, bandits, and other criminals. NAF has gained a notorious reputation for repeatedly bombing civilians and even its own Army officials in the last few military operations.
Continue readingSOURCE: IDRW NEWS NETWORK
In 2019, Dubai Airshow unveiled an export variant of J-10CE for just $40 million dollars, and the Chinese expert Xiao Feizhu had said it will be difficult to sell them even to traditional Chinese fighter jets buyers since it faces fierce competition in the international market. Yet in 2022, the Pakistan Air force (PAF) will be taking deliveries of 25 J-10CE thus becoming the first country outside China to operate these jets allegedly to counter Indian purchase of Rafale jets. A downward spiral of the Pakistani economy and reduced military budget not many defense analysts like Ranesh Rajan consider this being a military deal but rather military aid.
Pakistan Air force (PAF) was the first to get access to the J-10A in 2006 and 2008 it evaluated the jet but found glaring technical deficiencies in the jet and instead it went with the 18 new F-16C/D block 50/52 aircraft, with an option to buy another 18 more that were provided largely as military aid to Pakistan by the United States government for their support in the Afghanistan war.
Continue readingSOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.
DRDO-Tata Motors developed Wheeled Armored Platform (WhAP) that was showcased for the first time in 2014 and only one unit inducted by the Indian Army for Internal testing bases might eventually might new customers in the Paramilitary forces as Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Assam Rifles will start trials of the newly built WhAP soon.
Tata Motors has started manufacturing pre-production WhAP customized as per requirements of the Para Military forces and soon will be transferred for user trials. Unlike the Army version that is equipped with stabilized 30 mm cannon 2A42 on the turret , the Paramilitary variant will only get a 7.62 mm PKT coaxial machine gun mounted to the left of the main armament with 2,000 rounds.
Continue readingSOURCE: IDRW NEWS NETWORK
Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) recently canceled plans to procure Ka-31 naval airborne early warning and control helicopters from Russia and P-8I, American anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare patrol aircraft as DAC believes that most of the sensors and radar system can be made available within the country and has asked Navy to look for local alternatives to fill the gap as Navy has started retiring Soviet-era IL-38 Sea Dragon patrol aircraft.
The Navy is keen on getting 10 Sea Guardian drones from the US to enhance surveillance over IOR. The Navy already operates Two- Sea Guardian drones and it is impressed by the system that it is onboard plans to procure 30 (10 each for Army and Air force ) so that it can be operated from the southern naval base of the country. idrw.org has been told that the Navy is also looking into DRDO’s proposed C-295 Multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft that were offered to the Indian Coast Guard.
Continue readingSOURCE: SRINIVAS GOWDA/ FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG
BrahMos, jointly developed by India and Russia in the early 2000s based on the Russian P-800 Oniks anti-ship missile has been tested several times in several configurations over the years but till now it waited for first export orders. Brahmos using its liquid-fueled ramjet accelerates the missile to Mach 2.8 making it the fastest low-altitude missile that can fly as low as 32 feet above the wavetops and gives any air defense crew just 28 seconds to track and shoot it down before it hits the target.
Over the years, India has developed Land, Air, and ship-based versions of the missile, and the missile is still considered a potent weapon system as India continued to improve its technology by introducing evasive s- maneuver at its terminal stage and increasing its speed and range further that even after 20 years no air defense system manufacturers can dare to make claims that it can neutralize BrahMos.
Continue readingSOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.
A significant step towards Atmanirbhar in Defence and the first success story of Make-II Projects. Indian Army has signed the first contract today under Make-II for Maneuverable Expendable Aerial Target with Anadron Systems Pvt Ltd worth ?96 Cr, for Army Air Defence & Indian Air Force.
In 2018, the Indian Army had given its sanction for prototype development of ‘MEAT’ (Manoeuvrable Expendable Aerial Target) under the `Make II’ Category to give realistic training to the men during annual exercises for which the need for suitable aerial target system was felt.
Continue readingSOURCE: NARAYAN APTE/ FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG
In 2014, Then DRDO chief Avinash Chander had made a bold claim to the media that “Our target is to make India missile-import free by the year 2022. This means that we need not import any missile in terms of air-to-ground, surface-to-air, or the air-to-air missiles,”. In 2022, We saw the Government push towards putting further curbs towards import of the various weapons systems and recently we saw the scrapping of the deal for Igla-S Very Short Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) for the Indian Army, but DRDO is nowhere close to targets it had made for its self.
DRDO somewhat has managed to achieve its goals in the ballistic missile programs but still has not been able to achieve great success in other major missile programs like the development of the sub-sonic cruise missile and anti-tank guided and portable missile systems as they continued to be tested for an unforeseen period of times without entering production.
Continue readingSOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.
India has issued second a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) for a launch of an experimental flight vehicle in the Bay of Bengal this month for the period from 22-25 January 2022 as per information provided by Twitter user @detresfa_. the designated area is 600km that indicates it might be a test of the HSTDV cruise vehicle mounted on a solid rocket motor .
India already has issued NOTAM for 19-21 January 2022 which seems to be for the BrahMos-ER , an Extended Range version of the BrahMos Supersonic Cruise missile. Defence Ministry already had asked DRDO to fast track Hypersonic missile program and it is expected that this time HSTDV will be tested without the shield. HSTDV program will be followed by Two separate hypersonic cruise missile programs under ” Project Vishnu”.
Continue readingSOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.
Indian Air Force (IAF) along with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has decided to cancel earlier plans to procure 21 airframes that are in deep storage in Russia to be later upgraded with UPG Standard kit to boost its declining combat aircraft strength as per the latest media reports coming out of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) held recently.
IAF in 2020 had cleared the deal after inspecting the airframes that are in storage for the last 20 years after cancellation from an export customer and these airframes were never made into fully assembled jets due to which they were offered at a reasonable price.
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