Aerospace Diary

News analysis Defence Helicopter By Neelam Mathews, New Delhi Bids for India’s 197-aircraft Reconnaissance and Surveillance Helicopter (RSH) requirement may be in jeopardy, as deferrals to the project have resulted in a cost increase of 45% since 2007, when proposals were first evaluated. The helicopters, which would have cost less than $700 million back then, are now valued at over $1 billion. If delayed by another year, this could go up by 4-5%. Rebidding and delaying the finalisation of contracts is not uncommon in India, where bureaucratic and procedural delays are the norm. This has been readily apparent in the RSH project for the Indian Army and air force, which was first issued in 2003 and then again in 2008. Now on its second iteration, RSH flight  rials were completed in 2010 by the two finalists – Russian Helicopters’ Kamov Ka-226T, powered by the Turbomeca Arrius 2G1, and the Eurocopt...

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Aug 28, 2012 Defense Minister replies to questions in Parliament on- TRAINER AIRCRAFT IN IAF The HPT-32 aircraft being used as Basic Trainer Aircraft since 1986 were grounded in July 2009 due to safety reasons. Thereafter, the basic training has been shifted to Kiran Mk 1/1A aircraft earlier utilized for Intermediate training A contract for procurement of 75 Basic Trainer Aircraft was signed with Pilatus Aircraft Ltd, Switzerland on 24 th  May 2012. The procurement of the Basic Trainer Aircraft was processed through a multi-vendor procurement as per DPP-2008 and the Swiss company, Pilatus Aircraft Ltd, emerged as the L1 vendor. The delivery of these 75 aircraft is scheduled from February 2013 to August 2015 TATRA TRUCKS DEAL The matter is under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). It has also registered a regular case, on 30.3.2012, against one of the owners and unknown persons of a UK based company, unknown of...

Air Transport Aviation Week & Space Technology Mar 15 , 2010 , p. 42 Neelam Mathews Hyderabad, India U.S. and India explore ways to exchange certification of aviation products Printed headline: Safety Is the Subject The FAA and India are expected to reach a bilateral safety agreement by mid-2011 that will allow both countries to accept each other’s certification of aviation products. The pending agreement includes a technical assessment and a simultaneous evaluation of the country’s regulator, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). It is expected to lead to broader cooperation between the two nations. HAL is discussing a single-pilot version with instrument flight rules capability of the advance light helicopter Dhruv that could be a candidate for joint certification. The FAA is following procedures that it has used with partner agencies in other Asia-Pacific nations, including Australia, China, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea. “We will be ...