Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has asked the Defence Ministry to consider its Light Observation Helicopter (LOH) for use by the Army and the Air Force. The two wings are planning to acquire modern helicopters that can perform at high altitude.
Highly placed sources told The Hindu that the HAL had, during a recent meeting of the Service Capital Acquisition Plan Categorisation Committee, projected the possibility of the LOH meeting their needs.
If so, the LOH could compete with leading designers/manufacturers such as Eurocopter, Bell Helicopter, Italy’s Agusta and Russia’s Kamov, companies that have replied to the new request for information (RFI) by the Ministry.
The Indian Air Force on Saturday inducted British-built Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) Hawk as trainer aircraft for its fighter pilots.
The AJTs, purchased after a much-debated bidding process, were inducted at the Air Force station here, nearly 150 kms from Hyderabad, a region known as a cradle of fighter pilot training.
A breathtaking display of air manoeuvres using the AJT marked the induction ceremony attended by Defence Minister A K Antony, Air Chief Fali H Major and a host of officers and dignitaries.
The Indian Air Force is now “conceptualising and developing plans” for a satellite-based project of “eyes in the skies” to improve the country’s “strategic reach and capabilities.”
Disclosing this, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal F.H. Major told The Hindu that the prospective “aerospace command,” first “mooted a couple of years ago,” was certainly “no” ruse for “weaponising space.” He said “India has never had any bent towards weaponising space.”
Noting that “we have nothing in place today,” he said the “eventual” plan was to deploy four or six satellites to “exploit space” for a variety of purposes including
If current rumors in India are true, the United States could end up providing India what its traditional Russian arms supplier has long promised to provide, but so far failed to deliver. In the process the United States could deliver a severe blow to Russia's defense industry, adding another item to the long list of grievances Russian officialdom has lodged against the United States.
During the Cold War, India was famously the largest and most powerful of the "non-aligned" nations that stayed out of the East v. West confrontation. At the same time, however, India enjoyed close relations with the then-Soviet Union that went beyond just the bonds of political convenience and trade ties between the two nations.
The Indian Air Force appears to be optimistic about acquiring the Phalcon AWACS (airborne warning and control systems) this year.
Significantly, the $1.1 billion deal for the systems was signed with Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) way back in 2004.
"The IAF is hopeful of getting delivery of the first of the three Phalcon systems this year, probably by September," PK Barbora, AOC-in-C, Western Air Command, told TOI on the sidelines of a press conference on Tuesday.
Earlier, the delivery was scheduled for last November. Barbora's statement is
The Hawk-132 advanced jet trainers (AJTs) will be inducted into the Indian Air Force on Saturday in the presence of Defence Minister A. K. Antony.
The induction of the five advanced jet trainers marks the operationalisation of the aircraft. It will be an important milestone in the training of future fighter pilots. Training for young pilots will start from July 2008, said an IAF source.
The AJTs will replace the more demanding MiG-21 for providing advanced training to the next generation of fighter pilots. The first two Hawk aircraft arrived at Bidar on November 12, 2007.
With a gift of six horses worth a little over Rs.35 million ($850,000), New Delhi is attempting to build bridges with Bangladesh’s army chief in an attempt to persuade the eastern neighbour to cease support to anti-India insurgent groups operating from that country. The Indian Army chief, Gen. Deepak Kapoor, will present two stallions and four mares to Gen. Moeen U. Ahmed as he begins a six-day visit - the first by a Bangladesh army chief - on Monday.
“It’s an attempt to build bridges, to move forward in persuading Bangladesh to stop supporting anti-India insurgent groups that are operating from its soil,” an official source said Thursday.
India is to induct two squadrons of the long-delayed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft from 2010, with up to six squadrons possible if the first batch impress in operations.
The decision is a shot in the arm for the programme, which national research organisation Aeronautical Development Agency developed and state-owned contractor Hindustan Aeronautics is responsible for production.
The long-delayed and much derided aircraft was to enter service early this decade, but design and performance issues and problems with the development of an indigenous engine have delayed it.
Boeing, world's largest maker of commercial jetliners, has said it is "actively pursuing" the sale of multi-role combat aircraft to India, which is to spend a huge 30 billion dollars on defence procurement in the next five years.
"We are actively pursuing the sale of F-18 Superhornets," Rick Stephens, Senior Vice President of The Boeing Company, said at the FICCI-US Indian Business Council summit in Chicago.
Boeing Co., the second-largest U.S. defense contractor, is pursuing orders for 130 F-15 jet fighters from Asian customers as nations increase military spending.
Possible orders from South Korea and Japan would add to the 32 F-15s awaiting delivery in the region, Stephen Winkler, director of F-15 international programs at Chicago-based Boeing, said in a press briefing today at the Singapore Airshow. The orders will extend the F-15 production line in St. Louis, Missouri through 2012, he said.
Boeing and Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corp. are competing for
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