Aerospace Diary

by  Neelam Mathews  -  July 15, 2015, 7:36 AM Airbus Helicopters believes that the Fennec may still secure a portion of the Indian reconnaissance and surveillance helicopter (RSH) requirement. (Photo: Chris Pocock) Airbus Helicopters and Mahindra Defence Systems will create a joint venture to respond to India’s large potential requirements for military helicopters. The new partners said this will be the first private Indian helicopter manufacturer under the   “Make in India” initiative . They are eyeing three particular requirements that could amount to more than 600 helicopters, although in two of the three cases, the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has already chosen alternative suppliers to meet part of the need. Mahindra is a vehicle and tractor maker with a defense business that supplies armored vehicles, radars and surveillance equipment to India’s armed forces. Its subsidiary Mahindra Aerospace recently bought GippsAero in Australi...

ROTORHUB 29th August 2014 - 18:14 by  Neelam Mathews  in New Delhi India has cleared the offsets proposal for 22 Boeing AH-64E Apache attack and 15 CH-47F Chinook heavy helicopters for the Indian Air Force.  The Defence Acquisitions Council, (DAC), headed by the defence minister, announced the move on August 29. The approval comes on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled to visit to the US on September 30.  It takes both deals closer to completion with clearances to be made by the finance ministry, which shares its minister with defence, and by the Cabinet Committee of Security. Meanwhile, the long pending, oft re-tendered, 197 Indian Army/Air Force Reconnaissance Surveillance Helicopter (RSH) bid for the Indian Army and Air Force, has been officially scrapped, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Boeing, last year, signed a MoU with Bangalore-based ......................................

Neelam Mathews Feb 13, 2013 After all the heart ache, the 197 deal for reconaissance and surveillance helicopters has been  delayed by DAC held today, Aerospace Diary learns. Word had it, that it might be scrapped.

AIN DEFENSE PERSPECTIVE  »  NOVEMBER 9, 2012 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Deliveries to India of AW101s may be delayed because of procurement irregularities. (Photo: AgustaWestland) November 9, 2012, 2:10 PM As India’s Ministry of Defense awaits a response from the Italian government on alleged irregularities in the award of a contract for 12 AgustaWestland  AW101   VIP  transport helicopters, the fallout from this affair may scupper the much larger reconnaissance and surveillance helicopter ( RSH ) program. The Eurocopter  AS550C3  Fennec and Kamov Ka-226T are the final contenders for the 197-aircraft  RSH  program, which has already been delayed. Reports of malpractice in the  AW101  contract emerged in Italian newspapers earlier this year. AgustaWestland parent company Finmeccanica denied the allegations, but the Indian MoD started an investigation. In a further statement released ...

Issue- Nov 2012 Neelam Mathews A battle is brewing in the Indian military over who will get the first consignment of the 22 AH-64D Apache attack helicopters ordered by the Indian Air Force (IAF). The dispute comes in light of a recent directive, despite opposition from the IAF, which will permit the Indian Army to procure and operate its own attack helicopters in future. ‘At this point, the fundamental decision is taken. Whether it will be single or twin ownership needs to be worked out and is a matter of detail. The army, now, has a larger role in prioritisation and tasking,’ army spokesman Col Jagdeep Dahiya told Defence Helicopter on 17 October. The army requires around 16 attack helicopters and ‘a roadmap to absorb capability, including training and logistics as per the army’s modernisation plan’, has been worked out.However, the IAF remains unforgiving. ‘Yes, Apache is final now,’ IAF Chief ACM NA...

Neelam Mathews Nov 1, 2012 To award or not to award is the question for the MoD. Even as it reaches a mental roadblock on how to move on the VVIP Augusta Westland helicopters that it has already paid 40% advance for. Strangely, the same scandal that broke in Italy, may have helped eased its decision on (perhaps) scrapping the ill-fated 197 army reconnaissance and surveillance helicopter bid. The  people mentioned in the AW issue were also those involved in the trials of the RSH helios.   “If this is proved true, MoD might have no choice to scrap the 197 bid and move ahead with the VVIP helios till the cooked up probe is over,” says an official close to the subject. There are increasing loud whispers in the defense community that there isn’t enough transparent interaction between the MoD and OEMs. “The government can’t lose this money and will need to figure out the termination provision…the point is they’ll never get the money back. So the only way out will be to k...

Neelam Mathews Oct 15, 2012  Yes, we have a defense minister who has done all he can humanly possible to keep his image clean. But in the process, we fear, he has sacrificed making decisions that are said to be important to the nation's security.  The question is where does one draw the line? It is, unfortunately, this very admirable quality that is being exploited by self serving companies who find themselves having lost the competition they were bidding, to stall projects. To add to a list of hundreds, is a recent letter, Aerospace Diary learns, that has been sent to the Defense Minister from Anonymous'! Convenient. The anonymous ten-pager cites "gross infirmities in the trials of the army's light utility helicopter- a bid released for the second time, for which trials were completed in 2010!  Anonymous mentions non-certification of both the helicopters by international certification agencies at time of submission of bids and says the "doctored" GSQ...