Finmeccanica out, US’s Sikorsky joins Navy copter acquisition race
DELHI: The infamous VVIP helicopter scandal has claimed another victim. The defence ministry has ejected the European NH-90 chopper, linked to Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica, out of the race to supply 16 multirole helicopters to the Navy. The commercial bid of the other contender in fray, American Sikorsky-70B choppers, will now be opened this month after a long delay. "Both NH-90 and Sikorsky-70B choppers had cleared the technical trials held a couple of years ago," said a MoD source. "But their commercial bids…
Delayed FGFA Deal May Get The Nudge During Putin’s India Visit
India and Russia may finally settle on a number of delayed defense deals including the Fifth Generational Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) program during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India this December. Putin met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the BRICS summit in July where both leaders reportedly agreed that the $30 billion program to build 200 jets should move forward. In 2010, a preliminary design agreement was signed between India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) and Russia’s Sukhoi Design Bureau to …
Airbus and Tata team up to bid for Indian Air Force planes
NEW DELHI: Europe's Airbus and Tata Sons have bid for a multibillion-dollar contract to replace the Indian Air Force's ageing fleet of Avro cargo planes, as New Delhi looks to boost the role of the local private sector in modernizing its armed forces. Under the bid, estimated by analysts to be worth at least $2 billion, Airbus's Defence and Space unit and Tata's Advanced Systems would replace the 56 Avro jets with Airbus's C295 transport planes, the European manufacturer said on Tuesday. Airbus would supply th…
The 'miscellaneous' blunder in India's Rafale deal
Dassault Aviation's Rafale won the bid to supply the Indian Air Force with 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft. The multi-billion dollar 'deal of the century' has since languished over price negotiations. Rahul Bedi explains how 'miscellaneous' factors have posed a major hurdle in negotiating the Rafale deal. There is a delicious, albeit hugely expensive, irony involving the ongoing negotiations to procure 126 Dassault Rafale fighters that, in some aspects, parallels the purchase of six French Scorpene submarines…
India to build 440 light utility choppers for armed forces
NEW DELHI: The Indian armed forces have projected a combined requirement of 440 light utility helicopters which will now be manufactured indigenously involving the state-owned HAL and private sector firms in partnership with foreign players. The IAF, Army and the Navy require 440 choppers and these would be now manufactured within India including the HAL, private sector firms and foreign players, Defence Ministry officials said here. The armed forces had projected their requirements to the Defence Ministry before the government …
India nears $2.5 billion deal for Boeing military helicopters
New Delhi: India has decided to acquire Boeing's Chinook and Apache helicopters, a defence ministry official said on Saturday, in a deal valued at $2.5 billion that could ease strained ties between New Delhi and Washington. The new nationalist-led government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has grand plans to vastly strengthen India's military capability, in order to play its role as a regional power and meet challenges posed by a rising China and arch rival Pakistan. "The defence acquisition council has cleared the last h…
How the Su-30 MKI is changing the IAF's combat strategy
With the induction of large numbers of class leading Sukhoi-30 MKI fighters, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has not only made a huge technological transition from a MiG-21 dominated fleet, its war fighting doctrine has also changed, focusing on long-range and strategic missions. Aggressiveness is a fundamental requirement of air combat, and the IAF has traditionally been an attack orientated force. For instance, on December 3, 1971 in response to Pakistan Air Force (PAF) raids on 11 Indian airbases, the IAF responded with initial air str…
10 major deals pending - A. K. Antony's overcautious approach
With nearly ten major defence deals kept pending for one reason or other, and the defence minister AK Antony more worried about his clean image, the nation's defence preparedness is being called into question. The cancellation of Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal with Anglo Italian company Agusta Westland, on suspicion of a Rs 300 crore bribe being paid to middlemen, has set alarm bells ringing in the defence establishment. With nearly ten major defence deals kept…
Indo-US military ties on good track: Pentagon
US Deputy Defence Secretary Ash Carter has made several trips to India, he said, referring to what is now being called as the 'Carter-Menon' initiative, which resulted in the US going out of its way to provide India access to technologies that are being given to only to its closest allies. Notwithstanding some "barriers" and "challenges" in Indo-US defence ties, the two countries are on a positive trajectory to step-up military-to-military cooperation, a top American commande…
IAF has made significant gains in capability
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has made significant gains in its capability enhancement plans, its chief NAK Browne said on Monday. Air Chief Marshal Browne said streamlined induction and speedy operation of new assets had afforded the force "unprecedented response capabilities". Browne, who is retiring from service Tuesday, said IAF's prompt and cohesive response after the Uttarakhand floods helped save many lives and the achievement must serve as a matter of pride and inspiration for all its personnel. The IAF chief said h…
The Indian Navy's helicopter plans and purchases
The Navy has actually been running a competition for 16 naval multirole helicopters (NMRH) since 2011 with the request for information (RFI) being issued in July that year. Any decent sized surface warship in today's navy has the capability to host at least one navalized helicopter if not more. The steady accretion in the Indian Navy's (IN's) surface fleet therefore naturally also means that there is a need to augment the n…
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