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.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) last month got the contract to supply 18 FA-50 Golden Eagle Trainer/Combat aircraft from the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) where India’s very own LCA-Tejas Mk1A jet was a distant second in the race during the final selection process as per latest Malaysian media reports.

Malaysian then-defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein praised the FA-50 Golden Eagle last year as a ‘reliable platform based on good reputation’, it was probably was first signs why it was picked.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

The Indian Navy (IN) is taking steps to get approval for the second aircraft carrier and has plans to procure a third aircraft carrier in the distant future that will be bigger than any aircraft carrier that it has ever operated with a displacement of over 65000 tons equipped with a Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) system.

Indian Navy is well aware that carrier battle groups (CBGs) are more vulnerable due to the development of Anti-ship ballistic missiles and Hypersonic Anti-ship cruise missiles that are taking shape which will make it much more difficult for the present multi Air defence layer onboard warships to intercept.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Indian-state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) unveiled the Hindustan Lead-in Fighter Trainer (HLFT-42) design of the scale model at Aero India 2023 with some basic specifications of the aircraft but had refrained from disclosing the choice of engine for the platform.

Initially, HLFT-42 was assumed will be powered by a Dry Kaveri engine derivate with After burning module generating 73kN Class of thrust or will be powered by a GE F-404 engine generating 84kN of thrust but after it was confirmed that the aircraft will have a Maximum take-off weight of 16.5-tons just shy away from 17.5-tons MTOW of the Tejas Mk2 aircraft it seemed GE’s F414 engine generating 98kn of thrust could be an obvious choice.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Embraer, a Brazilian Aerospace giant that had brought to India its C-390 Millennium, a medium-size, twin-engine, jet-powered military transport aircraft at Aero India 2023 and on the sidelines had talks with Indian state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited officials on a possible joint venture to pitch this aircraft to Indian Air Force.

idrw.org has been informed that both companies are in talks of local manufacturing of the Transporter but it is at the initial stage and HAL is yet to get a full proposal from the Embraer on setting up a joint venture as IAF is still going through offers that it got for OEMs.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Chinese belligerents in the Indo-Pacific and having military friction with Tokyo over Senkaku Islands and in East Ladakh with India, Japan is considering taking up joint ventures within the defence sector in India for the development of weapons systems that can be locally manufactured in both countries and come as military aid in event of conflict for both countries.

Japan and India over the last few years have increased the frequency of military exercises between both countries but both are yet to collaborate on the sale of military weapons to each other.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

Indian Navy has issued A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) for a period of 22 March to 6th April as per information provided by Twitter user Damien Symon@detresfa_.

Three NOTAM issued as seen above for likely missile tests from the frontline warships that might also include a test of the Brahmos cruise missiles.

SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG

The indigenous Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) would be built under Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) route that will see Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), and private investors, idrw.org has been informed that Indian Navy is also exploring thoughts of also developing Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) production in similar lines to ease out production woes and negate any possible delays.

Dubbed as a “5th generation minus” fighter jet, TEDBF will be an advanced deck-based fighter jet program with its near 5th gen capabilities and with assured orders of 45 units that will expand to 100 when it enters production, Navy seems to be interested in exploring SPV route for the program.