SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Parliamentary standing committee on Defence (SCOD) that has tabled its report in the house have backed the Indian Navy’s proposal for the development of a third aircraft carrier as it prepares to induct INS Vikrant, India’s first aircraft carrier that is going through the final phases of sea trials.

SCOD supported Indian Navy in operating three aircraft carriers so that at least two aircraft are deployed and one is kept for repairs and maintenance. SCOD also backed the purchase of Deck-based fighter jets for its immediate requirement for two aircraft carriers.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Induction of Airbus A319-based Netra MkII Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&CS) will commence from 2027-28 onwards as Six Ex-Air India A319 is currently being stripped out of unwanted Civil technology and will have a complete MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Operations ) before work on external structural will begin that will house sensors and other military-grade technology.

Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) is developing an upgraded primary radar (PR), and secondary surveillance radar (SSR) for the program and also working with LRDE for the development of Uttam Active electronically scanned array radar to replace whether radar on the nose cone for 300° Radar coverage at all time.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

BrahMos Aerospace chief Atul Dinkar Rane said that the company has achieved 75 per cent indigenous capability of the missile system that went into production in 2004 with only 13% Indigenous systems.

BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd since is a joint venture will still be dependent on Russia for the supply of 25% of the systems for the BrahMos missile system which will remain the same till it is under production for the Indian Armed forces.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

ACSG Corp, a private sector company has begun research and development to develop low-cost aerostats, which is an inflatable balloons to strengthen the air defence environment in the country.

Major Vijay (retd.), spokesperson ACSG said that “We are studying existing deployments and exploring innovative add-ons to make surveillance more effective through aerostats. For border security applications, we are looking at elevated-awareness aerostats capable of persistent surveillance solutions with unique advantages over traditional ground-based radar and onboard surveillance systems”.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

The third Stealth Wing Flying Test Bed (SWiFT) Prototype is seen under fabrication at a facility in Bangalore for the first time showcasing the actual size of the 1-ton UCAV which is 13 feet long, with a wingspan of over 16 feet. SWiFT is a Technological demonstrator for the bigger 10-12-ton Ghatak UCAV (Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle) program that will be developed by 2026-27.

SWiFT is powered by an NPO Saturn 36MT turbofan engine that allows it to cruise at 0.6 Mach and weighs just 1100kg with an range of 250km (LoS). SWiFT can become an Unmanned combat drone program if desired by the Indian Armed forces since it can carry two hardpoints with 50kg payload each.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Parliamentary standing committee on Defence (SCOD) that has tabled its report in the house said ” “considerable delay” in the supply of 40 LCA Tejas jets from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. “The government should consider buying state-of-the-art fifth generation fighter aircraft over the counter without losing time to keep the force in a comfortable position,”

SCOD is dominated by Parliamentarians from the rule part at the Centre that is led by PM Modi and such suggestions against the backdrop of the United States demonstrating its 5th gen F-35A fighter jet in India at Aero India 2023 could be a possible influence on their report.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Indian Navy has issued A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) for a period of 27 March to 29 March as per information provided by Twitter user Damien Symon@detresfa_.

The above NOTAM issued is for likely missile tests from the frontline warships that might also include a test of the Brahmos cruise missiles near the Andaman & Nicobar Islands in the Bay Of Bengal, near the Malacca Strait.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

The winner of the Indian Navy’s Multi-Role Carrier Borne Fighter (MRCBF) programme to equipped on the INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya might be decided between US Boeing F/18 E/F and Dassault Rafale over Unit cost and life cycle cost of the aircraft after Navy cleared both jets and declared they met technical requirements.

Indian Navy has not made any recommendations between these two jets that put the ball in the court of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) that often decides as per the L1 method in the tender process which is often the lowest bidder to is awarded the contract to avoid any legal or corruption allegations but MoD will also likely have a look at the Life cycle cost (LCC) of the aircraft but often, differences in capabilities and wartime attrition, and operating and maintenance costs do not figure in the L1 equation.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

India’s Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) Dubbed as a “5th generation minus” fighter jet, will be getting Center mounted control sticks while Tejas Mk2 which will be the first to feature a right-side control stick that will be followed by the AMCA that will also adopt same stick configuration.

India’s Tejas Mk1A fighter jets have Center mounted sticks but it was decided that Tejas Mk2 and AMCA will feature side control sticks to reduce cockpit clutter due to the advent of smart touch Wide Area Display (WAD).

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Bharat Forge, one of the leading forging companies in India has developed an indigenous two-piece aircraft wheel rim that is forged with high-grade aluminum locally for India’s Air Force Su-30MKI fleet to decrease dependency on Russia for the supply of such important components of the landing gear.

idrw.org has been told that IAF had requested Bharat Forge to develop high-grade aluminum rims for the main and nose wheel landing gear, particularly for the Su-30MKI fleet due to the high impact these rims often take while landing and a high rate of wearing that often requires frequent changes.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

General Electric Co’s internal forecast from its major cash-cow engine business puts India as one of the foremost markets from where it is expecting double-digit growth for India’s homegrown fighter jets program in the next 10-15 years.

The F414 equipped with Tejas Mk2 and TEDBF program will be driving major sales for the company which Indian Air Force is planning to place an order for 108 units of Tejas Mk2 in the first batch and another 60-70 units in later stages. TEDBF programme will also see the induction of 45 jets which will increase to 100 units post-2035.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

AUKUS partnership with Australia, the UK and the US for the supply of nuclear-powered submarines and local manufacturing of a new class of nuclear-powered submarines might benefit India in the long term since it has remained silent on this deal but India’s support helped block Beijing and Moscow plans to prohibit the transfer of nuclear technology to Australia.

India which is working to develop three new attack submarine programs will be beneficiary of its silent support to the AUKUS partnership as it will be getting some of the niche technology for its program that will help expedite its program.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Research Centre Imarat (RCI), one of the premier DRDO labs has signed a “Licensing Agreement for Tran­sfer of Technology” with a Chennai-based Private sector company Carborundum Universal Limited (CUMI) for manufacturing ceramic radomes used in aerospace and missile systems.

In a press statement, CUMI said that Ceramic radome technology is widely regarded as cutting-edge missile technology around the world. Because missiles experience extremely high surface temperatures while travelling through the atmosphere, ceramic is thought to be an ideal radome material. To ensure reliability and accuracy, the design of ceramic radomes for defence activities necessitates deep expertise and stringent testing at every stage.

SOURCE: JOYDEEP GHOSH / FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG

Logic says India must buy Admiral Kornilov FFG, it is an Admiral Grigorovich-class FFG, also referred to as Krivak V class frigate built by the Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad.  6 Krivak V or Admiral Grigorovich-class FFG were to be built for the Russian Navy at Yantar Shipyard to keep the shipyard busy from 2010 onwards so as to complement the Admiral Gorshkov class FFGs that were designed and construction started 2006 onward at Severnaya Verf shipyard.

These 6 Krivak V FFGs were based on the 6 Talwar class FFGs that Indian Navy ordered for itself and heavily customized them as per its own requirements in late 1990s. These ships were built in Russian shipyards of Baltiysky Zavod and Yantar at 3 each from early 2000s, and their engines were supplied by Ukraine. Impressed by the features of Talwar class FFGs that pack lot of punch for their size, Russian Navy decided to order the same FFGs in same configuration and named them Admiral Grigorovich-class FFG.