L'Inde

[Berkut]

Mouais... avec les indiens, l'affaire est dans le sac quand le contrat est signé, pas avant.

"Nous avons choisi le LMFS de MiG." quelques mois plus tard on apprend qu'ils ont finalement été embringués dans l'aventure PAK FA.

Eurocopter est super bien placé pour loger une centaine de hélos et là, paf! suspicions de malversation et tout tombe à la flotte...

C'est une habitude indienne de faire tourner les gens en bourrique. Associez les avec les champions de la désinformation, aka les russes, et vous avez de quoi vous choper une crise de nerf à suivre les bulletins d'annonces qui disent tout et son contraire.

[Julien]

Le Mig 35 a l'avanatage tu parles. Les US vont gagner ce contrat sauf grand chamboulement politique et c'est clair que les grands perdants seront les Russes.

[Zamorana]

Vu le besoin urgent qu'on les américains à sécuriser leurs approvisionnement en Afghanistan depuis que les russes refusent l'acheminement par leur sol ou espace aérien, ils ne vont pas risquer de se brouiller avec le Pakistan, seul route possible désormais.

[Julien]

Vendre a l'Inde ne les brouillera absolument pas avec le Pakistan qui lui-même est demandeur de matériel US. Le Pakistant n'est pas en position de refuser un accès aux US et c'est pas des contrats militaires avec l'Inde qui vont changer ca. Le marché Indien est trop important pour que les US s'en désinterressent.

[Zamorana]

Le Pakistan n'est pas aussi dépendant qu'on peut le penser des USA en matière de matériel, c'est un gros partenaire de la Chine aussi.

la vente d'avions de combat n'est pas qu'une question militaire, c'est aussi un choix politique, et quoi de mieux que d'annoncer la naissance d'un nouveau partenariat stratégique avec l'Inde qu'une grosse vente d'avions de combat pour quelques milliards.

avec des conséquences sur le partenariat avec le Pakistan pour les USA et avec la Russie pour l'Inde.

[Philippe Top-Force]

Mouais... avec les indiens, l'affaire est dans le sac quand le contrat est signé, pas avant.

"Nous avons choisi le LMFS de MiG." quelques mois plus tard on apprend qu'ils ont finalement été embringués dans l'aventure PAK FA.

Eurocopter est super bien placé pour loger une centaine de hélos et là, paf! suspicions de malversation et tout tombe à la flotte...

C'est une habitude indienne de faire tourner les gens en bourrique. Associez les avec les champions de la désinformation, aka les russes, et vous avez de quoi vous choper une crise de nerf à suivre les bulletins d'annonces qui disent tout et son contraire.

Aides, transferts de technologies et coopérations nucléaires civils, aéronautiques civiles (airbus/boeing), sous-marins, hélicoptères, avions d'arme, missiles, systèmes d'arme, Bombay tient tout le monde par les "bollocks" y compris Washington/Moscou/Paris. Comme le souligne Berkut, ils font jouer joyeusement la concurrence.

[P4]

Indian-French Mirage Talks Gain Urgency

J'ai l'impréssion que nos industriels se sont mis au tempo local.

[Invité FoxThree]

La signature du marché de retrofit des Mirages indiens pourrait s'accélérer pour éviter les prochaines élections de début 2009.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/MIRAGE11068.xml

[snikt59]

sinon comme ça en passant le transfert techno vers l'Inde aurait été approuvé.

http://www.domain-b.com/aero/mil_avi/mil_aircraft/20081105_dassault.html

[Perry]

Deux très belles photos de la patrouille Suryakirans de l'IAF avec la Lune en fond d'image. Pour le plaisir des yeux :

[winloose]

New Delhi, Nov 12 (IANS) A MiG-21 trainer aircraft of the Indian Air Force, on a routine training mission, crashed in Tinsukia district of Assam Wednesday, though both the pilots managed to eject safely. The aircraft crashed near Chabua village in Tinsukia district at about 10.35 a.m., a defence ministry statement said. The aircraft had got airborne from Chabua air base and was on a routine training-flying mission. The pilots, Sqn Ldr Supandeep and Fg Offr Nanda, ejected safely, it added.

Minor damage was caused to a cultivated field but no person on the ground was injured or killed in the incident, the statement said, adding an inquiry has been ordered to investigate the reasons for the crash.

ils sont sauf c'est le principal  =)

[Berkut]

Raisons du crash: pièces de rechange déjà usagées et redressées au marteau... Y a que Mac Gyver pour réussir dans ce genre de cas, ou Obiwan Kenobi.

[Perry]

Bon, les MIG-21, c'est quand même plus de l'archéologie que de l'aviation.

Et puis ils sont plus tout jeunes.

Dans le même registre, les Roumains n'osent même plus faire voler une partie des leurs.

Quel déconneur cet Obi-Wan quand même !

<on evite les images d'accidents réels merci ....>

[Berkut]

en même temps il serait peut être temps de passer à des avions ne datant de Matthusalem. Bon, on me dira que le contrat est là pour ça mais je me demande ce qu'ils attendent, peut être que tous les 21 se soient crashés?

[Will]

Vu sur un autre forum: quelques problemes en vue pour le Tejas... :-[

BANGALORE: The Indian Air Force has categorically ruled out placing further orders for the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Tejas, with its current configuration.

In 2005, the IAF placed an order with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for 16 fighters and four trainers. The then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said a decision on an additional 20 aircraft was under consideration. But that plan has come a cropper since the overweight, under-powered Tejas does not meet the IAF’s minimum air staff requirements (ASR).

The IAF decision though is not the end of the road for the Rs. 6,000-crore LCA programme. It will consider acquiring 125 more Tejas when an improved — Mark 2 (Mk2) — variant is developed. As indicated by an IAF committee in 2004, any further order will be subject to the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the designer and developer of the LCA programme, showing “firm visibility that the aircraft will meet the ASR.”

Recently, the IAF even made a few suggestions on improvements in Tejas Mk2, including a more powerful engine, optimisation of the aerodynamic qualities and weight of the aircraft and “dropping and replacing” certain parts to take care of obsolescence.

Tejas Mk2 will take a few years to fructify, the biggest challenge being choosing a new powerful engine. In December, the ADA is expected to issue a request for proposal to General Electric for its GE F414 and to the European consortium Eurojet for EJ200, in a bid to procure 99 engines (with an option to buy another 49).

Once the engine is chosen, fuselage modifications will have to be carried out, flight tests started and evaluation undertaken. All trainer aircraft even after Tejas Mk2 rolls out will continue to have the present GE F404 engines.

Cold weather trials

On the LCA programme, the ADA is getting ready for ‘cold weather trials.’ They were to have been conducted in 2007 but were not because of questions about the aircraft’s reliability.

Two or three aircraft are scheduled to leave for Leh on December 8. Cold weather trials include landing the Tejas at Leh, one of the most challenging airfields in the world, and ‘cold soak’ when temperatures are around minus 15 degrees C to see if the systems on board function normally.

Slow pace

The IAF is also worried about the slow pace and quality of work at HAL. More so, because it will not be able to deliver by 2013, as scheduled, the 20 aircraft for which orders have been placed. Defence Minister A.K. Antony recently said the Tejas would enter squadron service by 2011, which date, according to officials, is highly optimistic as hardly 10 or 12 test sorties are now being undertaken. The IAF expects the final operational clearance for the Tejas only after 2012.

[Darkjmfr]

L'accord qu'ils viennent de signer avec Safran devrait leur permettre d'avoir un moteur correct d'ici quelques années.

Pendant ce temps, à ça bouge sur le MMRCA:

(CercleFinance.com) - Dassault Aviation a fait part de la signature d'un protocole d'accord avec Incat, le spécialiste de l'externalisation des Services d'Ingénierie, et sa société mère Tata Technologies.

Selon les termes du protocole, qui s'inscrit également dans le cadre du programme MMRCA du Ministère de la Défense Indien, Incat fournira à Dassault Aviation des Services d'Ingénierie dans un certain nombre de domaines.

Incat a donc été sélectionné comme partenaire clé pour l'Externalisation des Services d'Ingénierie afin d'aider Dassault Aviation à remplir ces obligations offset.

Grâce à l'utilisation de son modèle offshore (Global Delivery), les services d'Incat seront principalement couverts depuis le centre de services d'ingénierie aérospatiale Incat Hal Aerostructures Limited (IHAL), récemment établi à Bangalore, en Inde, et soutenus par des équipes en France et aux États-Unis.

Les informations et analyses diffusées par Cercle Finance ne constituent qu'une aide à la décision pour les investisseurs. La responsabilité de Cercle Finance ne peut être retenue directement ou indirectement suite à l'utilisation des informations et analyses par les lecteurs. Il est recommandé à toute personne non avertie de consulter un conseiller professionnel avant tout investissement. Ces informations indicatives ne constituent en aucune manière une incitation à vendre ou une sollicitation à acheter.

[T800]

gros contrat en Inde pour Ulan-Ude

India signs $1.2b deal with Russia for 80 Mi-17 choppers

NEW DELHI: Even as they work towards resolving "outstanding issues'' over the lease of a nuclear-powered submarine and huge cost escalation in

aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov's refit, India signed a $1.2 billion deal with Russia on Friday to buy 80 Mi-17 V-5 helicopters.

IAF will get the Mi-17 medium-lift utility helicopters between 2010 and 2014 as per the contract, which also envisages an "offset'' obligation by Russia to the tune of $405 million.

The choppers, which will also be weaponised for combat operations, are slated to replace the 50 old Mi-8s in the IAF fleet -- which have already outlived their life span of 35 years -- and boost operations in high-altitude areas like Siachen and Ladakh.

Brushing aside criticism that the Mi-17 V-5s were based on outdated technology and have high life-cycle costs, officials said the choppers would be able to land at a height of 18,000 feet with their powerful engines, better avionics and night-flying ability.

Both the chopper deal and Gorshkov renegotiation were cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security on Tuesday, as was first reported by TOI, just before Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to India.

The bitter tussle between India and Russia over the Gorshkov contract has cast a dark shadow over their long-standing bilateral defence ties, which has seen New Delhi import military hardware and software from Moscow worth over $35 billion since the 1960s.

Russia had stunned India last year by demanding $1.2 billion more for the refit of the decommissioned Gorshkov, over and above the original $1.5 billion package deal signed in January 2004, under which India was to get the 44,570 tonne fully-refurbished carrier and 16 MiG-29K fighters by August 2008.

Then, after a flurry of top-level discussions and technical evaluations earlier this year, the cost escalation figure for the refit of Gorshkov -- rechristened INS Vikramaditya after India paid an initial $500 million -- jumped close to $2 billion. "It will take around three months for the new contract to be signed,'' said an official.

There are also some "minor problems'' with India's plan to lease the new Russian Akula-II class attack submarine `K-152 Nerpa' for a 10-year period beginning next year.

It may be mentioned that 20 sailors and technicians had died due to a toxic gas leak during first-ever sea trials of the nuclear-powered Nerpa on November 8.

Interestingly, the secret contract to lease the 12,000-tonne Nerpa, christened INS Chakra by India, was signed with Russia in January 2004, along with the original Gorshkov package deal.

There are indications that a part of the huge cost escalation in the Gorshkov deal could be linked to Russia demanding more for Nerpa over the initial $650 million.

India, of course, remains extremely concerned about Russia not sticking to delivery schedules, creating roadblocks in transfer of technology (ToT), jacking up costs midway through execution of agreements and failing to provide uninterrupted supply of spares.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/India_signs_12b_deal_with_Russia_for_80_Mi-17_choppers/articleshow/3798201.cms

[Philippe Top-Force]

L'Inde a acheté au groupe américain Boeing ,huit avions de surveillance maritime pour 2,1 milliards de dollars, le plus gros contrat à ce jour dans l'aéronautique de défense avec les Etats-Unis, a annoncé lundi à l'AFP un responsable du ministère indien de la Défense

[Philippe Top-Force]

Mani si tu as des nouvelles plus fraiches, fais-nous signe  =) au sujet du HAL Light Combat Helicopter.

http://www.air-defense.net/Forum_AD/index.php?topic=6930.msg355567#msg355567

[g4lly]

http://www.defpro.com/daily/details/214/

Indian Air Force’s SU-30 MKI Flanker will be fitted with BrahMos supersonic cruise missile

Working on a Mach 5 hypersonic BrahMos-2 missile

Two Indian Air Force (IAF) Sukhoi-30MKI combat aircraft have been sent to Russia for an upgrade that would enable them launch the aerial version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile which have been jointly developed by Russia and India, a senior official of BrahMos said to IANS.

"The aerial version of the BrahMos missiles will be delivered from the Su-30MKI platform. We were in talks with Sukhoi and the IAF for it. Finally two Su-30MKIs of the IAF have been sent to Russia for retrofitting," he told IANS News Agency.

"The aerial version of BrahMos is coming along very well. After being programmed, the missile will be released from the aircraft and will auto-launch towards its target when it reaches an altitude of 50 metres," the official explained.

"The aerial version is nearly nine metres long and this requires modifications of the aircraft's fuselage. Since the Sukhoi company is busy with designing a fifth generation fighter, (India's) DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) scientists, along with Russian experts, will carry out the necessary modifications," he added.

The modifications will be completed by early 2010.

This modification will lift BrahMos to the status of a "universal cruise missile" since it then can be launched from land, sea - from both ships and submarines - and air.

The land and naval versions have already been successfully inducted into service with the Indian Army and the Indian Navy.

The navy has integrated anti-ship versions of the BrahMos on its warships, including INS Rajput, and is integrating it on to two other ships of the same class. The missiles will also be mounted on the three 7,000-tonne Kolkata class destroyers currently being constructed at Mumbai's Mazagon Docks.

On October 1, 2008 BrahMos officials confirmed that they decided to set up a working group on the development of a new BrahMos-2 missile. "The new hypersonic missile will have a top speed of over Mach 5, which would make it impossible to intercept," he said (see: http://www.defpro.com/daily/details/137/)

The Indian Navy had December 18 last year test-fired the missile from a vertical launcher on a ship in the Bay of Bengal. All earlier launches had been carried out from inclined launchers (see: http://www.defpro.com/news/details/4515/).

The missile has a range of nearly 300 km and carries a 300 kg conventional warhead. It can achieve speeds of up to 2.8 Mach or nearly three times the speed of sound.

[Darkjmfr]

Plus que 5 compétiteurs pour le contrat MMRCA !

http://in.biz.yahoo.com/090112/203/6zas4.html

Tuesday January 13, 02:54 AM Source: Indian Express Finance

5 in fray for IAF's $10-bn deal for 126 aircraft

By Huma Siddiqui

The most eagerly anticipated contest for Indian Air Force's medium multirole combat aircraft (MMRCA) requirement for at least 126 aircraft has taken off with the technical evaluation committee (TEC) in the Air Headquarters having sent evaluation report to the ministry of defence.

Now, out of six only five contenders which last year responded to the two-part bid for the $ 10-billion deal, will go for the field trials, as one of the bidders has failed to meet the technology specifications mentioned in the request for proposal (RFP) for the 126 fighters for IAF.

According to sources, based on the recommendations made by the TEC, after examining the technical bids, the Swedish "JAS 39 Gripen" has failed to make grade on the technology front for the deal. "The recommendations were made last week and now the ministry of defence has to take a final decision on this," sources explained.

"The five bidders, including Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Dassault's Rafale, Eurofighter's Typhoon, Lockheed Martin's F-16, Russian Aircraft Corporation's (RAC's) MiG with the MiG-35, are now expected to participate in the field trials that will start in a couple of months," said sources.

Apart from technical reasons, India also needs to balance its strategic interests well. The order is one of the largest global tender for defence aircraft at present. Government spokesman Sitanshu Kar said it wanted to make sure there was "maximum competition till the last stage... Also, our objective is to get the best equipment and platforms at the best price."

While India continues to have a close relationship with Dassault, which supplied the IAF with Mirage 2000 fighters in the 1980s, the Rafale of Dassault and the Typhoon from Eurofighter could likely struggle with the issue of cost. Both are relatively large, twin-engined platforms, which will significantly increase operating costs compared with the single-engined MiG-21 fleet it will replace.

The technological excellence of a modern MMRCA like the Eurofighter or the Rafale lies not in its airframe, engines, or flying performance, say experts. Instead, it has an advantage in avionics and in its net-centric capability, whereby the aircraft and its pilot are seamlessly integrated into an electronic battlefield management system.

Though the MiG-35 is seen by many as a strong contender, however, over the past year India's relationship with Russia with regards to arms contracts has soured. Military analysts have pointed out that the two US contenders, though seem well placed in terms of price and capability, the biggest issue to both F-16s and Boeing Super Hornet platforms is the authorisation of technology transfer.

Chris Chadwick president of Precision Engagement and Mobility Systems of Boeing Integrated Defence Systems told FE, "We are very well positioned to establish a long-term relationship with the IAF and the ministry of defence."

"The RFP lays down that the first aircraft is supplied within 36 months of the contract being signed and the 18th within 48 months. The 19th aircraft, the first to be assembled in India, will come within 54 months. Thereafter, there will be an incremental increase with the last aircraft to be delivered by 2020,"said Boeing officials.

The Saab Gripen is single engined, which will keep operating costs low, upgrades are already being defined under the Gripen Demonstrator programme and acquisition costs are highly competitive. It is estimated that the operational cost of the JAS fighter is probably 50% lower than other aircraft in its class that is currently, or planned to be, in service.

En bon francois, le Gripen est vu comme le maillon faible au niveau des apports en technologies donc il est éjecté. Sinon, tour d'horizon des différents concurrents:

F16 semble être un bon compromis pas trop cher à l'exploitation et proposé avec beaucoup de hi tech

L'ensemble des bimoteurs sont vu comme chers à exploiter

F18 bon camion à bombes mais vu comme limité sur l'air air

EF2k peu mentionné (mis dans le même sac que le rafale pour l'avionique et les capacités de travail en réseau)

Rafale bon et avantage des structures déjà existantes pour le m2k

Mig 35 idem mais bémol: nécessité d'équilibrer les pouvoirs et relations en refroidissement avec les russes.

croisez les doigts

[collectionneur]

Pour les avions de patrouille maritime; il s'agit du 1er contrat à l'export du P-8 Poseidon.

[TMor]

http://www.timesnow.tv/Newsdtls.aspx?NewsID=26797

France wants 'fair competition' in 126 IAF deal

1/17/2009 10:57:50 PM

Eyeing the mega deal for 126 multi-role combat aircraft with India, France on Saturday (January 17) said it expected "fair competition" and equal treatment by New Delhi to all the bidders in the selection process. France, whose Rafale fighter plane is a competitor for the mega deal, is keeping its fingers crossed as it recently lost a contract for 197 military helicopters, due to "severity of rules" in India.

“We are participating in a competition ... We know there is competition and we know in India, competition is to be taken by the word," French President Nicolas Sarkozy's Diplomatic Adviser Jean-David Levitte told reporters in New Delhi. Noting that Indian rules are strict, he said, "We were victims of the severity of these rules (in helicopter deal) last year.

But we accept the rules provided all competitors are treated in same way. It is fair competition that we want," he said. He claimed Rafale fighters are the best next generation planes and it would bag the deal if the competition is fair.

Developed by French major Dassault, Rafale is a twin-engined multi-role fighter aircraft and is being produced both for land-based and ship-based operations. The aircraft was last year inducted for operations over Afghanistan by France. Rafale is competing with American F/A-18 and F-16, Russian MiG-35 and Swedish Gripen for the over $10 billion 126 aircraft contract.

An Indian Army contract for 197 light utility helicopters with French Eurocopter as one of the contenders was cancelled by the Defence Ministry in 2007 after objections were raised over the selection process. Levitte, who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and held talks with his counterpart M K Narayanan, said France was keen to give new impetus to defence and strategic partnership.

He noted that India and France already have considerable cooperation in the defence field, whose symbols are Mirages and submarines being built near Mumbai jointly. He said the two sides could also jointly develop Kaveri engines in India for the country's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

"India can buy the engine off the shelf outside India or prefer to build it in India with partnership of France," he said, adding his country was asking New Delhi to take a decision on it. He added that France was ready to share the technology required for the development of an aircraft engine and it will help India to develop "its own aircraft engine industry."

DRDO is looking to procure new engines for the LCA project and Eurojet consortium with France as one of its partners has offered its EJ-200 engine for it. Six Scorpene submarines are being built near Mumbai with Transfer of Technology (ToT). "It is an excellent symbol of what we can achieve together," Levitte said.

French consortium DCNS received the contract in 2004 for building six submarines at Mazagon Dockyards Limited in Mumbai. Talking about Mirage 2000 fighter jets, Levitte said discussions on their "upgrades would be over soon." French defence company Thales along with other French Companies have offered to upgrade the Mirage 2000 to the Mirage-2000-5 level.

He said discussions for co-development of a Short-range Surface to Air Missile (SR-SAM) systems were also "nearing conclusion." DRDO has released global RFP for co-development of SR-SAM system and is looking for foreign collaborators to develop the system.

Je ne veux pas savoir ce qu'il a fumé là-bas.

[xav]

Il a vraiment dit ca??? :|

Faudra pas que ca se retourne contre nous...

sinon a propos du Gripen:

Gripen is denying a news report in a local daily claiming the company will be left out of field trials for Indias Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition because it didnt make the grade with the Indian Air Forces Technical Evaluation Committee.

The technical report is said to have been submitted to the Indian ministry of defense in mid-November of last year. It now has to be approved by the ministry before the field trials can begin.

Eddy de la Motte, director of Gripen International in India, told Aerospace DAILY, Whether any of the competitors has failed to meet the cut for field evaluation or not is a question that should be put to the Indian Air Force. We firmly believe the report does not have any basis and the news is incorrect.

Gripen meets or exceeds every operational requirement raised by the IAF in all roles air-to-air fighter, [beyond visual range/within visual range], air-to-surface land and sea, and reconnaissance, de la Motte added.

The six contenders for the 126-aircraft program also include Boeings F/A-18E/F, Lockheed Martin F-16, EADS Eurofighter, Dassault Aviations Rafale and the Russian Aircraft Corporations (RAC) MiG-35.

It defeats the purpose for the air force not to experience all the six aircraft, one senior official said. We have nothing to lose to check them all out. This substantiates another source that tells Aerospace DAILY that all six contenders are scheduled to participate in hot/cold trials beginning in April.

There has been speculation that with Indias indigenous Light Combat Aircraft slated to enter production in 2012, the Gripen acquisition may become extraneous. However, Gripen says it is not competing with the LCA. In fact, the LCA program could benefit immensely from this array of technology, which Saab is happy to transfer, de la Motte said.

The Gripen IN is a medium-weight multi-role fighter aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight 16.5 ton. The company says it is on schedule for delivery ahead of the other aircraft in contention for the MMRCA program.

Gripen has indicated that a wide range of state-of-the-art weapons can be sourced from manufacturers worldwide, giving the Indian Air Force freedom of choice by avoiding sole source supply constraints.

[Darkjmfr]

Merci pour l'update. Bon ben on verra dans 5 ans de toute façons :D