BAE in talks to supply Hawk jets to India

BAE Systems is in talks with the Indian government to supply up to 60 more Hawk trainer jets to the country’s military in a deal that could be worth up to £500m ($768m).


A deal would probably see Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), the state-run defence company, place an order for the aircraft with the UK-based defence group. This could happen in the next few months, according to industry sources.

India ordered 66 Hawk jets from BAE in 2004 at a cost of about £1bn. Of these, 24 were built by BAE at its Brough plant in the UK’s north-east. The remaining 42 are being manufactured under licence by HAL in India with the first Hawks now in service.

All the aircraft in the follow-up deal would also probably be built by HAL... Read More

State keen to set up defence component units

A private company has approached the state government to set up a Rs 600-crore plant in south Gujarat to manufacture defence components, Arvind Agarwal, MD Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) said on Tuesday.


He was speaking at a seminar on ‘Emerging Opportunities in the Defence Sector and Emerging Areas for the Private Sector’ in Ahmedabad today. He, however, did not reveal the name of the company citing security reasons... Read More

India to induct 5th-gen fighter jets by 2018

As part of India’s efforts to effectively meet the emerging threats in its immediate geographical environment the Russo-Indian fifth generation fighter aircraft programme (FGFA) will result in state-of-the art stealth fighters being inducted into the Indian Air Force by 2018.


According to Indian Air Force chief, Air Marshal PV Naik, “The fifth generation aircraft would possess technologies which would provide it (India) the edge over adversaries in future air warfare,”... Read More

INS Shivalik, India’s 1st in house stealth warship makes debut on April 29

Come April 29th and Indian Navy would be proudly commissioning India’s first indigenous stealth warship – INS Shivalik. The stealth warship story does not end here. Ten years down the line, Indian Navy will be richer by as many as ten more Stealth Warships. INS Shivalik has been given shape at Mumbai’s Mazagaon Docks Ltd as a part of Project 17.


INS Shivalik is advanced in all terms including design, construction and weaponry. It has influences both from Russian and Western technologies. Integrated versatile console system, ship-wide data network and the jointly developed (with Russia) combat management system are some of its advanced features. The indigenous effort accounts for over 60 % of the ship’s cost, estimated to be Rs 2,300 crore per ship,” Rear Admiral KN Vaidyanathan, director general (Naval Design), said....Read More

Indian Dhruv copter gets Italian makeover

The Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) has been widely regarded as a triumph of indigenous military rotorcraft design and manufacturing. Scores of Dhruvs already flying in army colours will be joined by another 159, which the military ordered last year from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). And, Ecuador’s air force chose the Dhruv ALH in an international tender in 2008 for seven helicopters. But now it emerges that the Dhruv is struggling with a serious problem.

The army, which was to be supplied 20 Dhruvs last year, refused to accept any until HAL fixed a problem that was restricting the Dhruv’s cruising speed to 250 kilometers per hour, significantly short of the 270 kmph that HAL specifications promise. Unable to find a cure, HAL has brought in a consultant: Italian aerospace propulsion major, Avio...Read More.

Indo-Russian transport aircraft to fly by 2017

New Delhi: The Indo-Russian Multi-role Transport Aircraft (MTA), designed to replace India's AN 32 aircraft, should be flying in about seven years, a Russian official has said. The aircraft would be useful in natural disaster relief missions. Vladimir A Belyakov, Deputy Director General of the United Aircraft Company (UAC), told India Strategic (www.indiastrategic.in) after the signing of the bilateral agreement between the two countries on producing this medium category twin-engine aircraft that it should take about a year to do the preliminary design and another one and a half years to do the detailed design. ...Read More

Indian Air Force Imparts Sukhoi Su-30 Fighter Training to Malaysian Air Force Pilots

The Indian Air Force (IAF)'s two-year-plus stint in training their Malaysian counterparts to operate the Russian-made Sukhoi Su30-MKM Flankers came to an end on Sunday.The 53-member IAF team of air and technical crew, led by Group Captain K.V.R. Raju, had been working with the Royal Malaysian A... Read More

Kalpakkam Fast Breeder Nuclear Reactor to Achieve Fourth Milestone

The Rs.5,600 crore ($1.25 billion) prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) under construction at Kalpakkam, around 80 km from here, is expected to get its fourth critical component, the inner vessel, this week.The sodium cooled fast reactor designed by the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGC... Read More

3 IAF personnel killed in helicopter crash

PAKUR (JHARKHAND): Three Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel, including a pilot and a co-pilot, were killed on Saturday when a Chetak helicopter carrying them crashed in bad weather at a remote place in Jharkhand.

The chopper was on its way to Baghdogra air base from air force station Kalaikunda in West Bengal when it encountered bad weather and crashed near Sinharsi air base along the border of Pakur and Godda districts of Jharkhand, Eastern Command spokesperson and a senior state police official said. The deceased were two pilots and a co-pilot of Chetak, deputy inspector general of police D K Pandey said in Pakur..Read More

Ukraine may deliver engines for Russian UAVs

Russia's Vega and Ukraine's Motor Sich are discussing the possible delivery of Ukrainian-made engines for Russia's unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Vega CEO Vladimir Verba said on Saturday. "We lagging behind on such vehicles," Verba said. "First of all, there is a shortfall in engines."  Motor Sich CEO Vyacheslav Boguslayev confirmed the companies are in talks. "We are discussing issues regarding this topic," he said. Motor Sich delivers engines to 11 countries around the world, Boguslayev said, adding that "we have nothing against Russia being the twelfth country." ...Read More

Upcoming Presedential Visits Forces India to Fast-Track Major Defense Deals

High profile presedential visits by Barak Obama (USA), Nicolas Sarkozy (France) and Dmitry Medvedev (Russia) have literally forced the Indian government to move pending defense deals says the Times of India.. Read More

Strategic Command to Acquire 40 Nuclear Capable Fighter Jets - PTI

With an aim of increasing its lethal power, India's tri-services strike force is planning to acquire 40 fighter planes capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) has submitted a proposal to the Defence Ministry for setting up two dedicated squadrons of fighter... Read More

AWACS Developed by DRDO to Roll Out in January 2011; Flight Tests in 2011

Agency reports out of Bangalore have quoted Mr. Prahlada, R&D Chief of DRDO, confirming that indigenous Airborne Warning and Control Systems developed by DRDO will begin to roll out in January 2011. The DRDO is working on integrating these AWACS onboard the Brazilian aircraft EMB-145 as per Indian Air Force's requirement....Read More

DRDO Working On Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles

Agency reports have suggested that DRDO has begun working on unmanned combat air vehicles for a possible procurement by the Indian Air Force. Press Trust of India has quoted a senior DRDO official saying that work for the UCAV is in parallel progress in labs across the country.The following quotes a... Read More

Agni-V To Be Test Fired in 2011: DRDO

Newspaper reports quote V.K. Saraswat, Director General of the DRDO confirming that the Agni-V Intermediate Range Missile will be test fired in 2011. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is an agency of the Indian Government, responsible for the development of technology for use ... Read More