SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Argentinian delegation led by Lt Gen Juan Martin Paleo, Joint Chief of Staff of the Argentine Armed Forces visited the HAL Facility in Bangalore yesterday where they were given access to the LCA-Tejas manufacturing facility and ground simulators in a bid to secure orders for 12 jets that Argentinian airforce is planning to procure for its fleet.

A team of Pilots from the Argentinian Air force and Army were also given access to India’s Prachand Light Combat Helicopter and also flew a sortie in a Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) piloted by senior HAL test Pilots near the facility.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

India’s second ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) INS Arighat will be having early commissioning into the Indian Navy as the nearing completion of its sea trials. Arighat has been often spotted on satellite imagery for the last two years as it had started with port trials that later moved to full-fledged sea trials.

Arighat is the sister ship of lead Arihant that recently test-fired a Submarine-launched ballistic missile first time as part of the training launch drill of the crew. Arighat is capable of carrying 12 K-15 Sagarika missiles, which have a range of 750 km, or four 3,500 km range K-4 missiles.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

The fourth fighter jet program that India is developing will be a deck-based fighter jet to replace the accident-prone Mig-29K on the present aircraft carrier will be incorporating all the 5th gen technology that is under development for India’s 5th gen AMCA fighter program confirmed ADA officials to idrw.org.

TEDBF will incorporate smart data fusion from multi-spectral sensors to provide identification, location, jamming, and decoying against a wide range of threats, it will carry the same technology as AMCA which will make it a unique fighter jet among its contemporaries.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

CB Ananthakrishnan, Chairman and Managing Director, HAL, speaking to the media has confirmed that upgraded Tejas Mk1A fighter jet program is on track and the first aircraft will be delivered to the Indian Air Force head of schedule in February even though the contract had a deadline of March 2024.

HAL chief claimed that all parts and components for the manufacturing of this upgraded Tejas Mk1A have been already contracted including a deal for more engines. HAL facility is currently manufacturing 18 Tejas Trainer jets that were ordered by the Indian Air Force.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Nirbhay cruise missile program that has morphed now into Indigenous Technology Cruise Missile (ITCM) a test bed program to evaluate GTRE developed Small Turbo Fan Engine (STFE) called Manik is in the final phase and will be concluded by mid of 2023 after demonstration of the STFE engine performance for the whole range of 1000km in next few months.

The ITCM program once concluded will be used to develop land-based Long Range Land Attack Cruise Missiles (LR-LACM) for the Indian Army and ALCM ( Air Launched Cruise Missile ) program for the Indian Airforce and Indian Navy.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and Dassault Aviation Ltd have entered into an MoU that will clear the path for the integration of the Indian-made weapons system on the Rafale fighter jet. Indian-made Astra Mk1, Mk2, and Mk3 Beyond Visual range air-to-air missiles will be the first missile systems that will be integrated into the French build Rafale fighter jets.

BDL also has plans to integrate DRDO-developed long-range precision-guided anti-airfield Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) on the Indian Rafale fleet. MoU will clear India’s plans to export these weapons to other Rafale operators in the region that are interested.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

155mm/52 cal Mounted Gun System that is based on the ATAGS heavy artillery gun will start trials soon as many systems that are part of the MGS have already undergone successful trials. idrw.org was told by officials that light ATAGS was developed to be mounted on a cross-country truck and loses some of the features due to this.

MGS will have excellent shoot and scoot capabilities that can operate fat desert and high altitude areas with a maximum firing range of 45km. ATAGS MGS gets an armored cabin with electronic controls to deploy a system for shoot and scoot.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

DRDO finally confirmed some of the features of Air-Launched RudraM-II and RudraM-III that are under development to be equipped on some of the fighter jet types that are in the Indian Air Force inventory. DRDO officials told idrw.org that most of the design and development work on this missile have been completed and developmental trials from the two modified Su-30MKI will commence soon.

RudraM-II has been designed to be operational with Su-30MKI and Mirage-2000 and has a range of 300km when the missile is launched from 15km altitude at Mach 0.8. RudraM-II has a solid rocket motor for its propulsion and has INS+SATNAV for navigation. RudraM-II has an IIR seeker and can carry a 155kg or 200kg warhead that can be used to take out radar installations, bunkers, airstrips, and air hangers. RudraM-II has a peak speed of 5.5 Mach and a Terminal stage speed of 0.9 Mach.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

TATA-DRDO developed WhAP 8 x 8 Amphibious Wheeled Armoured Vehicle that was inducted into the Indian Army earlier this year in limited numbers will be facing serious competition from two more Indian Private sector companies that are planning to develop their 8 x 8 Amphibious Wheeled Armoured Vehicle in near future.

Larsen & Toubro showcased a scaled model of the Showcase 8×8 Wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicle at DefExpo 2022 that is based on a new design but will use equipment and systems developed by the DRDO that has transferred some of the ToT to the Private sector company.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

DRDO has commenced work on the development of an Armed variant of the Tactical Airborne Platform for Aerial Surveillance-Beyond Horizon-201. idrw.org was informed by DRDO officials that the unarmed variant of Tapas has demonstrated benchmark performance among its contemporaries and most of the developmental trials have been completed pending a few flight altitude trials beyond 30,000 feet and the program will be concluded by August 2023.

TAPAS-BH-201 will be 40% cheaper than any MALE Class UAVs that are available in Export Market and Armed Tapas was a logical step forward in its next development phase. ADE and HAL are also working on a low-cost single-engine MALE UAV that we covered in our previous report that will borrow most of the technology from the Tapas program and will also include an armed variant.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Dr. V Madhusudana Rao, Project Director for the LCA AF-MK2 has confirmed that due to delays in the official grant to the program, a rollout that was supposed to have happened by December 2022 will now be pushed to December 2023, and the first flight in 2024. LCA AF-MK2 due to delays will have 82% indigenous content when rolled out instead of the 75% that was planned earlier.

idrw.org has been told that MoD and IAF asked for more indigenous content to avoid further disturbance in the supply chain as a road map for production-ready LCA AF-MK2 will have indigenous content nearing 90%.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

State-owned PSU ADE and HAL have showcased a Medium altitude long-endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle at DefExpo 2022. MALE Class UAV is presently undergoing design validation tests and soon will enter the fabrication stage. idrw.org has been told that this MALE UAV will be designed both with a primary mission of reconnaissance, surveillance, and communications relay and an Unmanned Combat Drone variant with six hardpoints.

Both variants of the MALE UAV will be powered by a 220 HP Diesel Engine that is been designed by the Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (VRDE) in collaboration with a Private sector company. MALE UAV uses a single turboprop engine in a pusher configuration.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

BrahMos Aerospace has commenced work on the development of a smaller, lighter BrahMos NG that will commence developmental trials from 2024 onwards and will have a 3.5 Mach speed.

Air-Launched BrahMos NG will be the first to be developed and idrw.org has been told at DefExpo 2022 that BrahMos NG will be compatible with all fighter jets in IAF inventory and will have capabilities to take out targets at land and sea with pinpoint accuracy.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Defense PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has showcased the IMRH model in Weapons System Integrated Indian Multi-Role Helicopter (IMRH) that can be seen with integrated sensors, weapons, and an electronic warfare suite.

A scaled model on display can be seen with forward-looking infrared (FLIR), day-and-night optical cameras, Onboard self-defense systems include radar and missile detectors, IR jammers, chaff, and flare dispensers. IMRH WSI can be seen with One 70 mm rocket Pod and Two ATGAM on both sides.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Chennai-based Garuda Aerospace at the DefExpo 2022 showcased the Vajra Stealth drone that will be powered by HAL-developed PTAE-7, a 3.43 kN single spool turbojet engine. Lockheed Martin Canada CDL Systems will be providing advanced Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) software solutions for the program.

idrw.org has been told that the Vajra will have an endurance of 5-6 hours depending on speed and can carry small drone-launched ammunition from its internal weapons bay. Garuda Aerospace claims that all the tech for the program will be developed in-house and a working prototype will be fabricated in near future.