SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

HAL CMD CB Ananthakrishnan in a recent media interview said that the company has pitched its LCA-Tejas fighter jet to Malaysia, Argentina, and Egypt and is hopeful that it will be able to close one major export order for the fighter jet in the next 2-3 years.

Ananthakrishnan confirmed that the Malaysian tender is in the final phase, even though Malaysian media reports had reported that the South Korean FA-50 jet won the deal, but due to price difference, deal is yet to be concluded. idrw.org has been told that recently final report has been submitted to the Ministry of Finance by RMAF and soon final verdict will be out.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Defense PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and American General Electric are working out a deal that will see the manufacturing of the F414-INS6 low-bypass after-burning turbofan jet engine in India for the Tejas MkII, AMCA MkI, and TEDBF Program. Media reports have been reporting about the Transfer of Technology (ToT) for the program but it won’t be 100% like seen in the AL-31F engine deal that allowed India to manufacture Russian engines from the RAW material stages.

idrw.org has been told that the F414-INS6 engine compressor, combustion chamber module, gearbox, generators, etc that are essential components of the Hot Section (Core) will come from General Electric, while HAL will be given ToT for compressor discs and case, compressor spool, hubs, seals, and afterburner section, etc.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

After the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Thursday concluded a ?6,800 crore concluded contract for 70 Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40 (HTT-40) basic trainer aircraft (BTA), idrw.org has been told that HAL plans to start deliveries from the financial year 2024-2025 onwards which is 36 months after the contract was concluded at an annual rate of 21 aircraft per year.

HAL plans to start with deliveries of 2 HTT-40 from Q4 2024-25 and ramp it up to 8 for 2025-26 and from 2026-27 rate of production will reach the peak of 21 aircraft annually.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Noida-based Johnnette Technologies, a successful bootstrapped Indian UAV manufacturer, Johnnette JF-5 is a High Altitude Long Endurance strategic Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle capable of conducting operations that are performed with fighter jets. Its unique design and speed increase its survivability in higher-threat environments and provides customers with an expanded quick-response armed reconnaissance capability.

Wide-area surveillance, time-sensitive strike missions over land or sea, and a host of other challenging military missions can be performed with this highly advanced, next-generation Remotely Piloted Aircraft.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) will be submitting a preliminary design review (PDR) for the TEDBF program by March 2023. Completion of the PDR Phase will be the first major milestone in the program as the program will soon move towards a Critical Design Review (CDR) that will be achieved by mid or by late 2024.

idrw.org has been told that PDR will mean that the TEDBF program has achieved Technical maturity and the risk reduction phase has been concluded. PDR phase is completed when technologies are wither being demonstrated and preliminary design studies the operational and suitability requirements set by the user. The Critical Design Review (CDR) and the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) are two of the most important reviews in the acquisition process.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Dr. AK Ghosh, project director of AMCA at Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), told News18, that AMCA Mk2 will have indigenous content as high as 90% and AMCA will be comparable to other global fifth-generation fighter jets such as American F-35 Lightning II and the Su-57 aircraft of the United States.

Ghosh confirmed that once Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approval for the indigenous Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) comes, three-and-a-half years after the CCS approval, the Prototype will be rolled out and the first flight will be concluded after one year after rollout.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Soviet-era Ilyushin 38 aircraft maritime patrol aircraft will be completely retired from the Indian Navy by end of 2023 as per the latest media report, the Indian Navy already has retired 3 IL-38 aircraft due to their advanced age while the Navy has started replacing them with Modern P-8I at the INS Hansa from they operated earlier.

idrw.org has been told one aircraft will be retired by mid of 2023 and another by end of 2023 thus completing nearly 46 years of service to the country. Indian Navy lost two IL-38s in 2002 due to a mid-air collision that killed 12 crew.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

The ADA-led team that is developing Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) for the Indian Navy might not have an internal weapons bay but will incorporate 3 underbelly weapon hardpoints that are already semi-recessed into the fuselage to reduce the protruding missile’s prominence.

Semi-recessed stores generally have lower RCSs than equivalent pylon-mounted stores and also offer reduced drag. At the Def expo, idrw.org also confirmed that NASM-MR anti-ship missile (AShM) presently under development by the DRDO was seen on the center pylon of the aircraft.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Pralay, a surface-to-surface conventional quasi-ballistic missile with a range of up to 500 km will start replacing aging India’s first indigenously developed, nuclear-capable Prithvi surface-to-surface missile by end of 2024 onwards in limited numbers. Pralay is India’s first tactical battlefield quasi-ballistic missile that has a low trajectory with a range of 150-500 kilometers.

Pralay was developed as per requirements of the Indian Army will shed its nuclear strike capability role that the Prithvi missile family carried in the late 80’s to the advent of better and longer ranged Agni-series of ballistic missile that has taken up this role now.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

According to a report in the Times Now, Lockheed Martin-owned Sikorsky company and Tata are planning to locally manufacture S-76D helicopters in a Corporate or VIP role in India. S-76 is well-known for its work in VIP transportation and utility work and more than 800 plus helicopters have been manufactured since 1977.

Sikorsky S-76 is in civil service around the world with airlines, corporations, hospitals, and government operators including ten countries that rely on the S-76 for the Head of State mission but it also in limited military usage with half a dozen countries.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Ministry of Defence (MoD) has specifically instructed DRDO and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) that it needs to work on per unit cost and reduce the manhour cost in the production of the Tejas MkII aircraft to promote it in the export market. IAF and MoD already have committed to procure 10 squadrons of the new fighter jet and have asked to come at a viable ballpark figure of the fighter’s cost while taking advantage of manufacturing aircraft in larger numbers.

ADA and HAL are working out details to include more indigenous content in the aircraft from earlier decided 75% to now over 90%, which will include many of the components and systems that earlier were to come from abroad will now be manufactured in the country due to scale of the program due to upfront order commitment from the IAF.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Vem Technologies has joined hands with Austrian company Schiebel to manufacture Camcopter S-100 rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in India. idrw.org has been told that Company plans to take the indigenous route for the manufacturing of the S-100 as mandated by the Ministry of Defence and has claimed it will have more than 60% locally sourced materials.

S-100 production in India will start in the next six months from now at a low scale rate but the rate of production will pick up in the next 12 months claimed company officials to idrw.org.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

BrahMos-A equipped Su-30MKI provides the Indian Air Force massive offensive firepower that simply can’t be ignored but not many Su-30 operators in the region have shown interest in the missile system since it requires mandated strengthening of the undercarriage of the Su-30 airframe.

But idrw.org has been told that After Vietnam and Indonesia, Malaysia another Su-30 Flanker operator has put in a formal request to India to be briefed about the upcoming BrahMos-NG program that will start developmental trials in 2024 and is likely to enter production in 2025.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is seeking to develop a Retractable Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR) System for the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) program that can support Articulated Probe and Drogue System. DRDO is seeking partnerships with PSUs, Private sector companies from India to execute this program under the Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme of the Ministry of Defence.

AMCA will get a Retractable refueling probe that is mounted on the front fuselage of the aircraft between station 2 and station 3. The retractable refueling probe will be made up of Probe Nozzle, Weak link, Extension and retraction mechanism, Hydraulic Motor, Probe Light Integrated in the Probe tip, and Drogue light.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is seeking to develop a new generation air-to-air refueling Pod for use on air refueling tanker aircraft. DRDO is seeking PSUs, Private sector companies from India PSUs, Private sector companies from India that can develop Air to Air Refueling Pods for Boeing 767 Multi-Mission Tanker Transports (MMTTs) that Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) have agreed to develop under B767 conversion program.

Following India’s cancellation of the Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) program in June 2016, IAI and HAL agreed to procure pre-owned B767 aircraft and undertake aircraft conversion locally in India.