SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Adani Defence under an agreement with Israeli Elbit is manufacturing Hermes 450 and Hermes 900 multi-role and high-performance tactical UAS in the country and has made a pitch to the Indian Armed forces for the development of an Armed variant of the UAS at the recently concluded Def Expo 2022.

Adani Defence already commenced local manufacturing of the Hermes 900 for the export market and has been offering various choice of payload that includes EO/IR. Laser, SAR/GMTI& MPR, COMINT/CMMJAM, ELINT, Hyper-spectral systems, large area scanning systems, and other payloads.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Indian Army has issued a Request for Information (RFI) for the procurement of Vehicle-based Canistered Loitering Munitions with an extended range of 100km. The canister Loitering Munition system should be able to be mounted on a 4×4 Utility Vehicle not weighing more than 7.5-tons preferably on the Ashok Leyland Stallion that can support 12 Loitering Munitions.

Army plans to procure initially 10 sets of Canistered Loitering Utility Vehicles along with 120 Loitering Munitions that can carry 8kg of warhead or more. Loitering Munition should be able to be launched from an altitude of 4000 meters or more and has an endurance of 2 hours with an accuracy of a minimum 2 meters circular error of probability (CEP).

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

According to a report in Financial Express, Defense PSU, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is considering the development of a Zero-Zero Ejection seat in the country in collaboration with an existing manufacturer of Ejection seats for upcoming fighter jets. idrw.org has been told that in efforts to drive indigenous content in fighter jets and to have complete control over the Intellectual property Rights (IP) of the Ejection seat, HAL plans to have talks with manufacturers of the Ejection seat.

Collins Aerospace, a US-based company that has designed and supplied ejections seats for platforms like F-16, F-15, F-22, B1, and B2 has shown similar interests in local assembly and manufacturing of their framed ACES 5 ejection in India. British Ejection seat manufacturer Martin-Baker also has shown similar interest in the local assembly of Ejection seats in India.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

According to a report in Janes, Indian Private sector company Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has secured orders for two units of Teevra 40 naval gun system from the Indonesian Navy for its Teluk Bintuni-class landing ships. Teevra 40 is a 40 mm naval gun system that is based on the Sudarshan Close-in Weapon System (CIWS).

BTI Defence which is an Authorized Local Partner of L&T Defence will be in charge of after-sales service of the weapons system when it’s operational with the Indonesian Navy. Teevra 40 will be part of the ship’s self-defense against hostile surface vessels, attack aircraft, anti-ship missiles, and shore targets.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Archer Short Range unmanned aerial vehicle developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) is planning to commence weapons trials in the first half of 2023 after it concluded various integration and captive trials of the various bombs and missiles that are specifically developed for the UAV segment.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) along with a Private sector company will be manufacturing 4 Limited Series production Archer SR-UAVs that will be used for developmental and weapons trials.

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.