SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will be inaugurating the new LCA-Tejas Assembly complex at the Aircraft Division, Nasik on 7th April which will further enhance the production capabilities of the LCA-Tejas in the country.
The Aircraft Division facility at Nasik that was lying idle after the completion of the production orders of Sukhoi-30MKI will be used to manufacture up to 5 additional LCA-Tejas aircraft either for Indian Air Force or for the export Market.
Continue readingSOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG
Pentagon which has received an application from American Aerospace engine major General Electric (GE) that is seeking permission to jointly manufacture and share engine technology with India has taken up the matter with competent authorities and the proposal is moving at a fast pace due to the urgency shown by GE which is keen to expand its business in India with multi-billion dollars engine deal for Indian fighter jet programs.
GE has sought permission to jointly develop a 110kn engine based on its F414 engine that will be used on India’s 5th gen fighter program called Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) and 5 Minus fighter program called Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) for the Indian Navy.
Continue readingSOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG
Atul Dinkar Rane, CEO of Indo-Russian firm BrahMos Aerospace has confirmed that the company is working on a lighter version of the Brahmos missile, dubbed BrahMos NG (new generation); the missile is undergoing development and could have its maiden test flight by 2024-end.
BrahMos NG, an Air Launched variant that is under development for the Air Force will weigh only 1.5 tons which will allow it to be carried even on LCA-Tejas Mk1A fighter jets while delivering the same Mach 3 speed at fraction of the cost.
Continue readingSOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG
Indian Air Force (IAF) has told the parliamentary standing committee on defence that it will not be able to maintain a squadron strength of 29-30 squadrons in 2030 if the induction of 83 LCA-Tejas Mk1A and 114 jets under MRFA tender doesn’t happen in time.
IAF will start taking deliveries of Tejas Mk1A fighter jets in February 2024 and deliveries will be concluded only by 2028. Request for Proposal (RFP) for MRFA tender for procurement of 114 jets is yet to take off and as per media reports, it will happen later in the year or early next year.
Continue readingSOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG
Indian Air Force has sharply reduced its projected spending on procurement for FY24 as it sees delays in the supply of crucial military systems from Russia due to ongoing economic sanctions on the Banking system that has crippled the payment system for India.
IAF report also has hinted that deliveries of 2 remaining S-400 squadrons might be delayed over non-payment from the Indian side due to non-agreement between India and Russia over the mode of payment after economic sanctions.
Continue readingSOURCE: 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.
Continue readingSOURCE: 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.
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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.
Continue readingSOURCE: 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”.
Continue readingSOURCE: 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.
Continue readingSOURCE: 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.
Continue readingSOURCE: 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.
Continue readingSOURCE: 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.
Continue readingSOURCE: 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).
Continue readingSOURCE: 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.
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