Aerospace Diary

by  Neelam Mathews  -  January 14, 2019, 1:26 PM The first AH-64E for the Indian Air Force first flew in July 2018. The army is also to receive six of the type. (photo: Boeing) The Indian Army is looking forward to putting into operation a range of helicopters, of which its most prized are six Boeing AH-64E Apache helicopters being acquired as part of a follow-on order to the deal India signed for 22 Apaches and 15 Chinook heavy-lifters for the Indian air force (IAF) in September 2015. However, the row that has been ongoing for over six years between the Indian Army Aviation Corps (AAC) and IAF concerning who will operate the attack helicopters may be simmering again. The Ministry of Defense assigned ownership, operation and maintenance of attack helicopters to the AAC in November 2012, but the current status remains elusive.The Indian Amy Chief, Bipin Rawat, accepted when talking to  AIN  on January 10 that the IAF will get their Apaches first, an...

by  Neelam Mathews  -  February 16, 2017, 6:02 PM A full-scale mockup of the Indian multirole helicopter (IMRH) was displayed on the HAL stand at Aero India. (Photo: HAL) Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. ( HAL ) has launched an Indian multirole helicopter ( IMRH ) program by displaying a full-scale mockup at the Aero India show in Bangalore. The  IMRH  is being designed to fulfill a long list of missions and could replace India’s large fleet of Mil Mi-8/17s, as well as some naval helicopters. The company did not indicate a timescale for development, flight trials and production.   HAL  previously stated (on its website) that it was seeking a partnership with an international helicopter manufacturer for the  IMRH , to shorten the development time frame. HAL  said that the twin-engine  IMRH  would be in the 12-ton class  IMRH  with a service ceiling of approximately 20,000 feet, a pa...

As New Delhi focuses on the indigenisation of a modern defence industrial capability through the ‘Make in India’ policy, there is a clear need for more efficiency in filling the gaps in procurement programmes. By Neelam Mathews T he Indian Army, with its force of 1.2 million troops, has prioritised the acquisition of personal equipment and small arms and pushed various Make-in-India projects, including the ongoing Fighting Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV), the Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV) and armoured mobility. The army is looking to transform, modernise and upgrade into an agile, versatile and networked force capable of operating across the spectrum of conflict. Its guiding vision is to ‘ensure capability enhancement and operational effectiveness to meet contemporary and emerging challenges’, a spokesperson told LWI. Already, 26 procurement projects have been fast-tracked and an additional 26 placed in the ‘urgent’ category. The new mantra is: speedy procurement needs private...

 Neelam Mathews   Aug 25, 2015 The FlyEye mini-UAV will be offered to the Indian army by Kadet Defence Systems in partnership with WB Electronics of Poland. (Photo: WB Electronics) An Indian Army requirement for approximately 600 sets of mini- UAV s is attracting interest from various manufacturers, who must partner with Indian companies to comply with the government’s “Make in India” industrial strategy. The Directorate General of Infantry has issued a request for information ( RFI ) that will be followed by a request for proposals by late 2016. Indian companies will make the bids. The   OEM s include two Israeli companies: Aeronautics, maker of the Orbiter mini- UAV , and Elbit Systems, maker of the Skylark. Aeronautics' partner is not yet known, while Elbit might team with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd ( HAL ). AeroVironment will   co-develop the Cheel —a version of the Puma—with Dynamatic Technologies. Boeing is with Tata Advanced Systems ...

UVonline The Indian UAS market is looking strong after years of stagnation. Neelam Mathews rounds up the latest development T hanks to the government’s push to ‘Make in India’ combined with some longoverdue action on procurement decisions that had taken a back seat for the past decade, UAVs are high on the agenda for military and security agencies. Newly forged public-private partnerships are driving growth in an industry that was previously restricted by slow-moving statesector development programmes. Given the country’s manufacturing boom, ‘initiatives of development are being done in India [now] at multiple levels as sources of technology are dispersed, and are not dependent on just one or two OEMs’, said Rahul Gangal, partner in the New Delhi office of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. India’s 6Wresearch has forecast the domestic UAV market will reach $421 million by 2021, although this figure may need to be revised given the i...

05th August 2015 - 9:38  by  Neelam Mathews  in Delhi India has re-started its Future Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) programme but industry is not convinced it will come to fruition. An Indian OEM has told  Shephard  that developing prototype vehicles requires a significant amount of investment and the specifications are too demanding. ‘The project is long winded as it involves forming partnerships with foreign vendors and a customised design for the FICV according to the complicated needs proposed by the Indian Army,’ the OEM said. ‘No company will invest capability on the basis of a probability of being chosen…. Besides the specs are too demanding for the project to see light of day,’ the company added. The Ministry of Defence has issued an Expression of Intent (EOI) to ten bidders for approximately 2600 FICV for the Indian Army.  The government’s FICV brief states the multi-role platform should move alongside armoured (tanks), provide f...

LandWarfare 26th November 2014 - 10:31 by  Neelam Mathews  in New Delhi  The Indian Army’s  long-delayed  artillery modernisation programme finally got a boost with new defence minister Manohar Parrikar clearing a more than $2 billion procurement for 155mm/52-calibre mounted gun systems.  The decision to procure 814 artillery gun systems comes after three decades of procurement malpractices and as Pakistan and China both induct 155mm/52-calibre artillery guns. The Indian Army’s last major acquisition was in 1987 for 410 39-calibre 155mm FH-77B howitzers from Sweden’s AB Bofors, in a scandal over illegal commissions that contributed to the defeat of the government the following election. The army’s aging artillery presently consists of a mix of 105mm field guns, and 130mm and 155mm howitzers. A request for proposal for the new systems is expected be released in the first quarter of 2015, Shephard understand. One hundred guns are to be bo...

ROTORHUB 3rd November 2014 - 11:08 by  Neelam Mathews  in Delhi  The turmoil between the Indian Army Aviation Corps (AAC) and Air Force (IAF), locked in a spat for years over who will operate attack helicopters, is on the boil again. The tension was apparent at a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of IAF rotary operations in New Delhi at the end of October, with the army making it clear it will yield control over attack helicopters. ‘In years to come, the IAF will be ensconced in strategic domain of air power and heavy lift, while the army will tend to the tactical needs of the environment… the domains are not in conflict but in concert,’ said Lt Gen PR Kumar, director general of military operations for the army. Though the Ministry of Defence assigned ownership, operation and maintenance of attack helicopters to the AAC in Nov 2012, the IAF continues to express its unwillingness to give up control, more so with the recent clearance of the offsets pr...