News Report: Afghanistan Asks India to Help Repair Grounded Planes, Helicopters

Afghan Mi-35 (Image: Wiki Commons)

Following the terror attack on a military base which left 140 people killed, Afghanistan has asked India to step up military assistance including the repair of grounded aircraft and helicopters.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — Afghanistan has asked for new parts and repairs to 11 grounded Mi-35 helicopters and seven transport aircraft. A technical team, which visited Afghanistan last year, estimated a cost of $50 million for repair and supply of parts.

The Indian government is considering a proposal where it is ready to pay the cost of repair, spares, and the cost of transporting the aircraft to Russia or the former Soviet states if Russia or other CIS countries agree to provide the spares.

News Story: India To Buy Six More C295s for Coast Guard

An Airbus C-295 Cargo Aircraft

by Neelam Mathews

India is likely to sign a contract with Airbus Defence and Space for 56 C295 military transports within six months, according to the country's retiring chief of the air staff, Arup Raha. Meanwhile, the Indian Ministry of Defence has cleared the separate acquisition of six C295s for an Indian Coast Guard requirement. Both orders will be delivered by the Tata-Airbus partnership that is India’s first-ever private sector aircraft development enterprise.

At his end-of-tenure press conference on December 23, Raha told AIN that the evaluation of the C295 bid for the IAF is complete and contract negotiations would start soon. “Since benchmarking and other issues [of the aircraft] are known to us, the process will not take very long, especially with a proactive defense minister where things get sorted out faster than they did in the past,” he said. He added that, given the large number of aircraft to be ordered—16 to be delivered in flyaway condition and 40 to be manufactured in India—the Coast Guard contract would be “processed subsequently to completion of this series.” He continued, “The landmark decision for manufacture of this 8- to 10-ton-capacity aircraft will empower the private sector and help us with capabilities, with assistance from OEMs.”

Read the full story at AINonline

News Report: Airbus, Antonov in Race for $826 million Indian Deal for Surveillance Planes

A model of the An-148-300MP (Image: Wiki Commons)

After terrorists arrived from the sea to carry out the Mumbai attack in 2008, the Indian government has been intent on strengthening its coastal surveillance with top end radars and maritime reconnaissance aircraft.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — The Indian government has decided to add six multi mission maritime aircraft to its coastal security guard. In a marathon meeting on Friday afternoon, sources say that Indian Defense Ministry gave its nod for the purchase of six aircraft at a cost of approximately $826 million. European major Airbus is the frontrunner for supplying aircraft to coastguard with its C-295 while Antonov of Ukrainian firm has also presented its An-148-300MP based on the An-32 platform for the deal.

News Report: India Considers More Active Military Role in Afghanistan

An Afghan Air Force AN-32 (Image: Wiki Commons)

India has assessed requirement of spare parts to restore dozens of Russian made military helicopters and transport aircraft. India remains non-committal to supply military spare parts to Afghanistan despite having unique agreement with Russia since year 2014.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — India may be willing to play a more active military role in Afpak theatre as New Delhi might seek support from Moscow to restore Afghan Government's Soviet-era idle helicopters and military equipment.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi could discuss the issue with leaders of Afghanistan and Russia during the sixth ‘Heart of Asia' conference to be held this week-end in the border town of Amritsar. 

Afghanistan had presented a wish list of spare parts for refurbishing over four dozen helicopters and some An-32 medium lift aircraft. Afghanistan has also requested brand new T-72 tanks, 105 mm howitzers and AN-32 transport planes. 

News Story: India Moves To Scale Up Military Aid To Afghanistan

An-32 of the Afghan Air Force (Image: Wiki Commons)

After supplying four attack helicopters to Afghanistan, India is quietly moving to qualitatively scale up military assistance in terms of long-term spares and support, The Hindu reported on Monday.

According to officials, this involves a trilateral framework with Russia, who said it is likely to be discussed by Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi when they meet on the sidelines of the sixth Heart of Asia (HoA) ministerial conference in Amritsar later this week.

The Hindu quoted defense and diplomatic sources as saying that two Indian Air Force technical teams visited Afghanistan last month to assess the requirements for spares and maintenance to restore the Soviet-era helicopters and transport aircraft lying there.

"There are at least 40-50 helicopters of various types and some An-32 medium transport aircraft which have been grounded from a long time for need of spares. We have asked Indian help in refurbishing them," diplomatic sources stated.

The teams were tasked to assess the requirements and submit a report on what can be provided by India from its existing inventory and what needs to be procured from Russia which is the original manufacturer of the hardware, a Defencs Ministry source said.

Read the full story at TOLOnews

News Story: Indian military's trainer jet crashes in West Bengal

NEW DELHI, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- A trainer aircraft of Indian Air Force (IAF) Thursday crashed minutes after it took off in eastern state of West Bengal, local media reports said.

Two pilots inside the jet ejected safely.

The Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer took off from Kalaikunda air force base in West Midnapore, about 129 km west of Kolkata city, the capital of West Bengal.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: India To Attempt Local Overhaul of Troubled An-32 Fleet

by Neelam Mathews

The Indian Air Force (IAF) will issue a request for proposal (RFP) next month for the overhaul of 20 Antonov An-32 airlifters to independent Indian maintenance repair and overhaul providers. The move follows problems with an upgrade by the OEM in Ukraine, on the heels of deteriorating relations between that country and Russia. Meanwhile, a long-planned Indo-Russian project to eventually replace the IAF’s 105-strong fleet of An-32s has stalled.

The former IAF maintenance commander Air Marshall P. Kanakraj set the scene for the RFP two years ago when he said, “We are expecting the MRO Industry to partner for reclamation, refurbishment and re-equipping of our aviation assets…both fighter and transport aircraft.” AIN has learned that an RFI was issued a few months ago to Air India Engineering Services, Air Works India, Taneja Aerospace and GMR Aero Technic. The RFP will be for 11 packages, including repainting, wing structure modification and aging fleet and ultrasonic inspection.

Read the full story at AINonline

Editorial: Is Another Indo-Russian Defense Deal About to Falter?

Image: Wiki Commons

By Franz-Stefan Gady

India and Russia recently failed to agree on moving forward on a joint air transport project.

A joint Indo-Russian project to develop a new medium-airlift military transport aircraft, the UAC/HAL II-214 Multi-role Transport Aircraft (MTA), is “almost shelved,” according to an Indian Defense Ministry source interviewed by Defense News.

The recent December 23 meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to break the “stalemate” over the MTA program, a joint venture for which both countries have co-founded a new company, the Multi Role Transport Aircraft Ltd., established by Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), both of which invested $300 million in the project.

The new transport plane was expected to enter service by 2019. India was planning to purchase 45 and Russia around 100 aircraft. However, as of now, even the detailed design phase has not been worked out between UAC and HAL, despite a signed May 2012 general contract for the development of the aircraft.

“The transport aircraft [project] may be shelved because of three reasons. One is engine and secondly there are some internal conflicts in Russia between various stakeholders which is not allowing the desired progress. Thirdly, life of the AN-32 has been extended and the aircraft (upgraded),” according to a senior Indian Air Force official speaking to Defense News on the condition of anonymity.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

India: Clarification on Wrong Reporting (on AN-32) by a Certain Section of Media

Antonov An-32B of the Indian Air Force at Leh Airbase
(Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons)

1. Reports in a section of media on Indian War Planes go missing during upgrade is baseless and has been confirmed by Indian Air Force (IAF).

2. The last five AN-32s which were sent for upgrade to Ukraine are  available in a factory in Ukraine. 

3. There have been delays in upgrade due to non availability of components as a result of the ongoing Geo-Political stand off between Ukraine and Russia.

Indian Press Information Bureau

NOTE: The “Did Ukraine Just Lose 5 Indian Air Force Planes?” Link in the above was added by PacificSentinel for clarity & context. 

Editorial: Did Ukraine Just Lose 5 Indian Air Force Planes?

Antonov An-32B of the Indian Air Force at Leh Airbase
(Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons)

By Franz-Stefan Gady

India is looking to upgrade its military airlift capacity, yet Kiev has proven to be an unreliable partner.

Defense News reports that five Antonov AN-32 military transport aircraft have gone missing in Ukraine. According to an Indian Air Force official, the last five out of 40 AN-32s undergoing upgrades at the Kiev-based Antonov State Company have become “untraceable.”

“These five aircraft are almost lost as it is difficult to trace them and diplomatic efforts to find their whereabouts have failed,” the Air Force official stated.

Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar also said in an interview that the planes were “stuck” in Ukraine due to the ongoing fighting in the country.

In 2009, the Indian Air Force signed a contract with Ukrspetsexport Corporation, Ukraine’s state-owned arms trading company, to upgrade its 104 AN-32 transport aircraft and extend their service life for another 25 to 40 years. 

Read the full story at The Diplomat

News Story: Indian AF Transport Program Hits Hurdle

Indian Avro transport aircraft

By Vivek Raghuvanshi

NEW DELHI — A reassessment of Air Force priorities has jeopardized India's first effort to produce military aircraft in the domestic private sector.

The US $3.5 billion program would have replaced aging Avro transport aircraft, a tender for which was issued in 2013, but new Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar has urged that weapon purchases be prioritized because major hikes in defense spending are not expected in the near future, said a Defence Ministry source.

The government decided in July 2014 that the tender should be reserved for domestic private sector companies as production partners and state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) was excluded from the program. Only Airbus Defence and Space, proposing the C-295 in a tie up with domestic private sector major Tata Advanced Systems, has filed a bid for the program.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

Industry: THE SEVENTH BATCH OF AN-32 AIRCRAFTS UPGRADED WAS SUPPLIED TO THE AIR FORCES OF INDIA

Indian AirForce AN-32 (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons)

On March 29, 2014 the representatives of Ukroboronprom, PLANT 410 CA and Spectechnoexport have supplied to the Air Forces of India the seventh batch of An-32 Transportation Aircrafts, which were upgraded in Kyiv in the framework of the contract concluded in 2009.

That very day the vehicles were departed from Kyiv to Kanpur (India). Taking into consideration the events in Crimea, the European partners, as an exceptional case, have opened the sky for the military transportation aircrafts, so that the vehicles will be able to arrive at destination place in time.  

 As Yuriy Tereshenko, Temporary Director General of Ukroboronprom, reported, Ukrainian and Indian parties are satisfied with the progress of contract implementation and count on development of cooperation within the Program.

“We are sure that our Indian partners are satisfied with a high quality of our works, conducted by Ukrainian enterprises. India was and remains to be a strategic Ukrainian partner in the area of military technical cooperation. We admit a mutual interest in further development of aviation program. We expect in the nearest future the bilateral cooperation will be continued by new contracts,” Yuriy Tereshenko stressed on.  

India: Modernisation of IAF

Tejas (LCA) Fighter (File Photo)

There have been delays in the indigenous development of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA-Tejas) and the Project to co-develop Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA). The LCA has attained Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) on 20th December, 2013 paving its way to induction into IAF. In the FGFA project the PD phase has been completed in June, 2013. 

The MiG-21 and MiG-27 aircrafts of the IAF have already been upgraded and currently equip 14 combat squadrons. These aircraft, however, are planned for being phased out over the next few years and will be replaced by the LCA. Steps have been initiated for upgradation of other fighter aircrafts like MiG-29, Jaguar, Mirage-2000; transport aircraft like AN-32 and Mi-17/Mi-17 IV helicopters. 

This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Shri Jitendra Singh in a written reply to Shri Dharmendra Yadav and Shri Anandrao Adsul in Lok Sabha today. 

Indian Press Information Bureau

News Story: India Awards $1B Contract for 6 More C-130Js

By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI

NEW DELHI — Top brass in the Indian Army and Air Force expressed shock over the Defence Ministry’s decision to award a $1 billion repeat contract on Dec. 27 for six additional C-130J Hercules transport aircraft, saying the military has many more pressing purchases to tackle.

“Our top priority is [to] have fighters as soon as possible, but we are surprised by the MoD move on why the government is not signing the $12 billion Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft [contract with Dassault of France] and instead is buying transport aircraft for us,” a senior Air Force official said.

An Army official pointed out that the service has no combat-worthy artillery systems and that it was hoping the MoD would finalize a deal for 145 ultra-light howitzers from the US. He added that more than $40 billion in Army procurement is in the pipeline but no significant purchased are being made.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: New Chinese monitoring station across DBO

Indian AirForce C-130 Hercules (File Photo)

LEH/NEW DELHI (PTI): With IAF now able to operate C-130 Hercules transport aircraft at high-altitude Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) sector in Ladakh, China is reported to have built a radar station on its side of the border ostensibly to monitor movement of Indian planes over the area.

The structure, according to official sources, has come up across the DBO on the Chinese aide which has described it as a weather station.

Indian technical experts, who have been monitoring this structure closely, have opined that it could be a radar station which apparently did not exist before. However, no signal has been emitted or received so far.

Read the full story at Brahmand

News Story: IAF planning fighter plane base at Nyoma in Ladakh

Indian Air Force Su-30MKI (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons)

NEW DELHI (PTI): As part of efforts to build up military infrastructure along the border with China, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has said it plans to develop a fighter aircraft base at Nyoma in Ladakh and is upgrading seven airfields for carrying out 24X7 operations in the northeast.

The IAF is also considering extending the runway length and upgrading the Kargil airfield close to the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, its chief NAK Browne has said.

"Nyoma is an important location for both the Army and the IAF in the south east of Ladakh where we have good weather all round the year.... The cost of developing the air base would be around Rs 2,173 crore and it will take 4-5 years to develop it," he said, addressing the 81st Air Force Day press conference in New Delhi on Oct 4.

Read the full story at Brahmand

News Story: India to Buy 6 More C-130J Transports

By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI

NEW DELHI — Ahead of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington Sept. 27, the Indian Defence Ministry’s highest body on Friday cleared the acquisition of six C-130J Hercules transport aircraft from the US.

The aircraft are being purchased on a government-to-government basis at a cost of more than US $1 billion. The clearance to top the existing six C-130J aircraft with another six was made at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council.

The Lockheed Martin-built aircraft have been effective in rugged terrain, including mountains, for transporting troops and cargo, an Indian Air Force official said. “We are very happy with the performance of the Hercules, and the aircraft does everything which IAF wants,” the official said.

Read the full story at DefenseNews