Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews March 3, 2014 Defense Minister A.K Antony, is likely to go down in the history of India's defense as the most ineffective and perhaps most disliked in the military for his apathy to defense requirements resulting in some cases, in tragedy and insecurity of the forces he commands. A recent instance is the submarine battery issue resulting in the death of two young men. Antony has gone ahead and proven how not to move on papers and in his zest to come out clean, how to freeze the world's largest democracy's defense modernization program. We've become the laughing stock today. For anybody who loses a contract or has a stake, all it calls for a 'complaint,' to put a project on hold.  Isn't it time for us to have some confidence in our own systems, in our own technical evaluation, in our people rather than declaring a project frozen following a news report abroad? It's time for some guidelines. Time to know when to freeze a project, when...

Aug 8, 2013 MoD Press Release The brutal and unprovoked attack on an Indian patrol on our side of Line of Control (LC) on August 6, 2013 outraged us all. When I reported the incident to the House, it was Government's obligation to report the facts as we knew them at that point of time, and my statement was based on the available information. Since then the Chief of the Army Staff has visited the area and gone into the details of the matter. It is now clear that the specialist troops of Pakistan Army were involved in this attack when a group from the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) side crossed the LC and killed our brave jawans. We all know that nothing happens from Pakistan side of the Line of Control without support, assistance, facilitation and often, direct involvement of the Pakistan Army. Those in Pakistan who are responsible for this tragedy and the brutal killing of two soldiers earlier this year should not go unpunished. Pakistan should also show determined a...

Posted by- Neelam Mathews July 6, 2013 Sitanshu Kar from Beijing Text of the Joint Statement issued at the end of talks with Chinese leaders by the Defense Minister  AK Antony in Beijing today. Defense Minister  AK Antony visited the 24 Air Division of Chinese Air Force in the outskirts of Beijing  on July 6, 2013. Here he is seen near the cockpit of an J-10 Fighter aircraft. The Indian Minister of Defense,  AK Antony, paid an official visit to China from 4-7 July 2013 at the invitation of the Chinese Defense Minister Gen Chang Wanquan. He held talks with his counterpart Gen Chang Wanquan and also called on Premier Li Keqiang. Raksha Mantri also met State Councillor Yang Jiechi. The two Defense Ministers held talks in a cordial and friendly atmosphere and had an extensive exchange of views on a wide range of defense and security issues. They reaffirmed that defense exchanges were an important facet of the India-China strategic and cooperativ...

PARIS AIR SHOW  »  2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Sikorsky S-92 cabins are now being manufactured in India under a joint venture with Tata Advanced Systems. The facility recently increased production to four units per month. June 17, 2013, 2:40 AM As vendors await the announcement of belated contracts, India continues to grapple with its ever-changing  defense procurement policy , with the latest– DPP  2013–announced and effective from June 1. The focus of  DPP 2013 is on buying Indian defense products, even though these can fill only a fraction of the country’s requirements. It is being viewed as a kneejerk reaction to bribery allegations surrounding the procurement of AgustaWestland  AW 101  VVIP  helicopters. “The new procedures will give further impetus and a new momentum to indigenization,” Defense Minister  A.K.  Antony said recently. “We also [want] to aggressively pursue indigenizatio...

Neelam Mathews March 17, 2013   " Within a few months we are going to change the defense procurement procedure again,” Defense Minister A.K. Antony told Parliament recently, sending shudders down the spines of OEMs who privately voiced their opinion saying this is was a kneejerk reaction to the Augusta Westland scam. Though I am not opinionated and not questioning whether this is right or wrong, good or bad, one wonders if this kneejerk reaction is the way we will design our policies and planning in the present and future?  Calling indigenization the “ultimate solution to the scourge of corruption…. (and) Because of the operational necessity of the services, on the request that they need the most modern equipment to meet the operational necessity, the Government moves to import any high-value equipment from foreign sources,” Antony said."   Here we go again!  Always a loophole! Many OEMs would react to the fact that indigenization and build-out of defen...

Neelam Mathews Feb 27, 2013 We will get to the bottom of this," said AK Antony in Parliament on the AW helicopters scam deal answering a query of an Opposition party member. How low is the bottom, we ask? Like the deep blue sea, one suspects. a place we can never reach! No talk about why the Integrity Pact that makes it mandatory for the Italian company to release information in case of foul play. What sort of wussies are we? Release big amounts of cash and have the OEM dictate to you? Antony made sure his boring speech that totally went off track with a bit of emotion, had most of the members snoring! We will get to the bottom of this, said Antony."My party is fully backing me."  Really?  So, what's new? "There is a sense of helplessness..," said Jaitley of Antony's speech. Find the bribe-takers, he said. "For 3 decades India has a no middlemen policy. Have we made a breakthrough in a single  case?" 'What did the Bofors JPC d...

Neelam Mathews Feb 27, 2013 Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has proposed to set up two Missile Test Ranges at  Rutland Island at Andaman and Nicobar Islands and  Nagayalanka in Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh. A proposal for diversion of forest land in Andaman and Nicobar Islands has been initiated by DRDO. A request has also been made to the Government of Andhra Pradesh to spare unassigned revenue land and reserve forest land at Nagayalanka. Both the projects for setting up of Missile Test Ranges are at the initial planning stages and land acquisition process is on, said  Defense Minister  AK Antony in Rajya Sabha today.

Neelam Mathews Dec 19, 2012 Defense minister A.K Antony said in Parliament while three AWACS already stand operationalized in the Indian Air Force (IAF), there is a proposal for procurement of two additional AWACS. Simultaneously, DRDO is engaged in indigenous development of three AEW&C systems. “The Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan (LTIPP) of Ministry of Defense envisages deployment of a mix of large i.e. Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft and small i.e. Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) System aircraft. In addition, the project proposal for indigenous development of AWACS (India) has been submitted by Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) for Government's approval.”

Neelam Mathews Dec 10, 2012 Defense minister A.K Antony, said in parliament on the progress made by the Kaveri Engine Development Project: (i) So far, 9 prototypes of Kaveri Engine and 4 prototypes of Kabani (Core) Engine have been developed. (ii) 2200 hours of test (ground and altitude conditions) have been   conducted. (iii) The following two major milestones have been achieved: Successful completion    of Official Altitude Testing (OAT) ; and Demonstration of First Block of flight of Kaveri Engine in Flying Test Bed (FTB). Kaveri Engine was integrated with IL-76 Aircraft at Gromov Flight Research Institute (GFRI), Russia and flight test was successfully carried out upto 12 km maximum altitude and maximum forward speed of 0.7 Mach No. Twenty Seven flights for 57 hours duration have been completed. DRDO demonstrated its technological capability in aero-engine technology. This has been a great achievement in the aerospace community of the country, w...

Neelam Mathews Nov 16, 2012 The delay in making decisions for major tenders gathering dust in the corridors of power, are becoming a source of concern for the military. In a quest for looking squeaky clean, India might just be compromising the operational preparedness of its forces. And of course, we may have overlooked that delays have a cascading effect in terms of money with the rupee depreciating, costs and obsolence in technology and equipment. So who is going to pay for this? The un-suspecting, naive tax payer ofcourse!  All because of inefficiencies, lethargy and a need to be transparent. Does anyone care anymore, one wonders? Is it time to permit lobbyists - a more respectable standing to middlemen- with a set of rules and guidelines as followed elsewhere including the US that claims to follow ethics in business dealings? I might be the most hated person to suggest this, but a bitter pill and guts is the need of the hour. Just a few examples. Take the 197 RSH helico...

Neelam Mathews Nov 5, 2012 Defense Minister A.K Antony has told a consultative committee that included the IAF to complete all pending Court of Inquiry proceedings into air accidents especially for category-I aircraft accident as early as possible. Category-I accidents are those in which the aircraft is destroyed, damaged beyond economical repair, missing or if the cost of repair, excluding damage to aero-engines, exceeds 50% of the total cost.  Antony said an inspection of helicopters detachments was carried as there was “an unusually high number of accidents and incidents on helicopters,”, while operating away from their parent base.  The inspections resulted in highlighting several shortcomings for which “action is being taken on these shortcomings on a priority basis.” Training standards of the younger fighter aircrew, is a focus, said Antony. The basic flying training is being shifted from HPT-32 to Kiran aircraft.  “To make up for the deficiencies of ...

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...

Press Release-Posted by-Neelam Mathews Sept 17, 2012 Continuing with his dialogue on defense cooperation with the top leadership of Maldives, the Defense Minister AK Antony today called on the President  Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik In Male’ today. The  pictures are by Sitanshu Kar, who we hope, took some time off to dive! The 30-minute meeting was attended among others by the Vice President Mohamed  Waheeduddeen and the Defence Minister Col (Retd) Mohamed Nazim. The Indian delegation included Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma, FOC-in-C Western Naval Command Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha and  High Commissioner DN Mulay. The meeting ended with the two Defense Ministers exchanging the agreement, in the presence of the President, to station the Indian Coast Guard Advanced Light Helicopter in Maldives for a further period of two years. Antony, accompanied by his Maldivian counterpart Mohamed Nazim, flew down to the picturesque Maafilaafushi...

Neelam Mathews July 7, 2012 With flight and technical evaluations complete for the Indian Navy’s bid for 16 multi-role helicopters for its sea and off-shore operations, the clearance from the Cabinet Committee of Security is awaited. The two final contenders are Sikorsky’s S-70B and the European consortium’s NH-90. Last year, India rejected Lockheed Martin’s request for consideration of its NH-60 under Foreign Military Sales. A controversy may be brewing that will delay the much needed acquisition by at least another four years – having already being delayed by six years- and, given the rupee depreciation hike up costs further. Aerospace Diary learns with Sikorsky now having being given exemption from certain compliances it could not adhere to, will make the NH-90 more expensive, though its (NH-60) life cycle costs will be competitive, given that it is a newer machine. The Europeans are said to be looking for a waiver based on low requirements to enable them to furnish a l...

Posted by- Sitanshu Kar from Singapore Saturday, June 02, 2012 Defense Minister AK Antony  said contentious issues relating to maritime domain should only be ‘resolved through the process of dialogue, consensus building and within the framework of accepted principles of international law’. Addressing the 11th Asia Security Summit, also known as Shangri La Dialogue, in Singapore,  Antony said the international community must ‘remain sensitive to the problems of smaller nations and ensure that their rights, as equal members of the global community, are not overlooked or compromised’. He said the spirit of cooperation among international community shown in anti-piracy measures can be extended to ‘de-conflict contentious maritime issues’. “Large parts of the common seas cannot be declared exclusive to any one country or group. We must find the balance between the rights of nations and the freedoms of the world community in the maritime domain. Like individual freedoms, the ...

Posted by- Neelam Mathews March 20, 2012 Minister of Defense AK Antony confirmed in parliament- Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has been entrusted with construction/improvement of 499 roads under various schemes with different time frames of completion; Long Term Perspective Plan-II schedule of completion is 2022. Lack of air effort by helicopter for mobilization of resources, delay in forest/wild life clearance, restricted working period and adverse ground conditions are the major factors that affected improvement of infrastructure in border areas. Following steps have been taken to expedite completion of work: ·         Regular monitoring of forest clearance cases, establishment of single window system at district, State and Ministry of Environment & Forest levels, simplification of form for use of one form for both forest and wild life clearances have resulted in expeditious forest clearance of these roads. ·     ...

Defense Minister AK Antony will hand over the first batch of the indigenously designed and developed Surface-to-Air Missile, Akash, to the Indian Air Force at a function in Hyderabad on Saturday, March 3. Antony will also hand over the advanced light-weight torpedo, TAL to the Indian Navy. The Akash Weapon System (AWS) was indigenously developed by DRDO as part of the Integrated Guided Missile Developement Program (IGMDP) and is an all-weather, medium-range, Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) system. It provides multi-directional and multi-target area defense. The Akash missile can be launched from static or mobile platforms providing flexible deployment. The system can handle multiple targets and destroy manoeuvring targets such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), fighter aircraft, cruise missiles and missiles launched from helicopters. It can operate autonomously, and engage and neutralize different aerial targets simultaneously. The Weapon System is considered as the Indian "Patri...