Video of Eurofighter and F-16 Simulators

10 Mar 2010 8ak: Aviation enthusiasts have always loved fighter aircrafts tearing the sound barrier, displaying some breath-taking manoeuvres. While, 8ak, like many people have not had the fortune to fly these flying wonders, we did have the opportunity to sit in their simulators/cockpits and get a taste of the handling and through a simulated bomb-drop, the lethal abilities these aircraft possess. 

8ak has exclusive videos of these simulators. Allowing the Defexpo 2010 exhibitors to bring in simulators was a good decision as it was the only opportunity for the common Indian to know what their nation was buying with their money! It was also an opportunity for the armed forces personnel not directly involved in the selection to get a feel of the product, not behind were Parliamentarians from the young brigade like Sachin Pilot, who also showed keen interest in these simulators and actually sat in one of them. 

On a general note, these simulators are a good stepping-stone for rookie pilots and more RFPs are now mandating the vendor also provide a full-scale simulator on purchase of the product. While nothing can replace the real, hands-on experience, the simulators have an advantage in that they can train for hypothetical or rare situations which will give the fighters the ability to handle a wider variety of situations in fewer training hours and at a much lower cost. They also help in minimising human losses. 

While CAE is purely a simulator company, major manufacturers like Thales and Lockheed Martin develop their simulators as well. Within India, as reported earlier Tata and Zen are bidding to provide the Army with simulators for the Russian T72/T90 tanks. 

And we end with a photo of Boeing's Super Hornet Simulator at Defexpo. Dassault Aviation did not take part in Defexpo and the Russians and Saab did not bring their simulators.

Need to privatise - ports, telecom, airlines and of course defence

10 Mar 2010 8ak: Even in the late 80's it could take up to 4 years to get a landline connection, courtesy the monopoly given to BSNL. Not that long ago, you had to wait up to 8 years to get a scooter after paying the full amount upfront as deposit. Privatisation brought in competition and changed all that so that now India is a leading global auto manufacturer and our private sector telecom companies are looking at multi-billion dollar acquisitions overseas. 

But this is not enough for bureaucrats, politicians and unions, who will fight tooth over nail to protect inefficient public sector companies from the inevitable. A CAG report has said that ports, so critical to India's economic growth, had 54% obsolete equipment, going up to 94% in specific cases. Unions meanwhile are preventing mechanisation as even dry bulk goods are being manually handled. 

On the telecoms front, while private sector companies like Airtel posted a 14% increase in net profit, the government-owned BSNL lost ~US$1 billion. In terms of cancellation of its tender for 93million lines, a BSNL board member has gone on record saying that BSNL was fraudulently inflating subscriber numbers by ~28% to make itself look good. BSNL unions will continue to oppose any changes. 

Air India meanwhile continues its 2008-2009 loss making of Rs 5,548cr with a 2009-10 loss of ~5,400cr. In response to the above, instead of privatising company losing 14cr every day, the Government has instead planned to inject Rs1,200cr with no realistic survival plan. And the reason for these losses? Economic Times quotes a senior Air India official as saying this was due to the Indian Administrative Services (mafia) who did not allow discussion of important issues. 

The same story repeats itself in the Defence sector PSUs. And the losses go beyond just losing taxpayers money. It is the people who are made to suffer with inferior products & services, the nation that loses economic growth & international prestige, initiative & reform is strangled and the nation as a whole is in a weaker position to deal with external threats. 

The Congress had a golden opportunity with its huge majority to speed up privatisation and reduce red-tape but it is fast losing this as it continues to focus on populist policies and giving in to unions. The mantra that it requires to adopt is British PM, Margaret Thatcher's famous quote "Business is not the business of Government" as she moved quickly to break the backs of the unions in the UK and initiated reforms that re-invigorated their economy. 

The truth about Defexpo straight from Bharat Verma, Editor, Indian Defence Review

08 Mar 2010 8ak: Editor of Indian Defence Review, India's most respected defence publication, Bharat Verma, spoke to Manu Sood, on the Def Expo-2010 and the changes required in the MoD set up, besides spelling out reasons as to why the government should look beyond DRDO. (The video is in two parts.

Referring to the Def Expo, Bharat Verma said that even though the event was satisfactorily organised, the dilly dallying over who would actually organise the event, FICCI or CII, had caused a lot of inconvenience to the vendors, especially foreign vendors, who plan their arrival and course of action at least a year in advance. He said that this clearly exhibits the lack of decision making ability in executing an event that has been planned for a year in advance. Not sparing the MoD either, Verma said that a lot of fault lines existed within the ministry and the prevalent babu culture had not helped its case either. 

According to him, due to the non accountable attitude of the bureaucrats, the Indian armed forces, which are bracing to fight a war on a minimum of two fronts, had been left with military hardware that was 75% redundant. Another area where he took on the MoD was their obsession with indigenisation, on the issue he said that in offset programs, the government had prohibited imported technology, calling it a strange policy, Verma said that the need was to have technology whether imported or local, should not be a cause of concern. 

He advocated the cause of private sector and joint ventures saying that a new thrust should be given to encourage them by the government as the DRDO had failed India and the armed forces in a big way. Advocating the cause of increasing the FDI limit in defence, he said, that the fact was that no international company was willing to transfer what we call is key technology to India as 26% was not a lucrative enough figure to attract them. However, if the figure was to be increased to 49%, the international arms companies would willingly come with latest technology as a the hike would create a level playing field for them and the resulting situation would be a win-win one for both the parties. He also said that successful JVs will marginalise tough sanctioned regimes automatically over a period of time.   

Interview: ThyssenKrupp Marine ready for complete transfer of stealth and composite technology

08 Mar 2010 8ak: ThyssenKrupp Marine’s Rear Admiral (retd) Jonathan Kamerman in an exclusive conversation with 8ak mentioned, that Thyssenkrupp was ready for complete Transfer of Technology (ToT) to India. “As a basic business philosophy we transfer technology fully, meaning complete transfer of design expertise, local construction expertise, technical assistance, follow up, post sales support etc. to our customers,” said Kamerman. 

On the programs in India, he said that besides its main product offering, the frigates, ThyssenKrupp was also involved in developing high-tech materials like providing composite materials for existing warships having problems with steel and stability. Referring to India’s ship building infrastructure, Kamerman said that India had a wide and mature ship building base, but had declined in logistical and technological modernity. Adding further he said that it was in the latter area that they could help India. 

On the commercial front, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems is in the process of selling a majority stake in its Greece-based Hellenic shipyard, which is also the largest shipyard in the country to Abu Dhabi Mar (ADM) group. Full news

In terms of submarines, the company is signing a contract by Kockums AB, a part of ThyssenKrupp Marine, with FMV (the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration), for the design phase of a next-generation submarine, to be known as the A 26 class. 

Sikorsky considers moving Black Hawk production to India, leasing helicopters to Coast Guard

08 Mar 2010 8ak: Stephen Estill, VP - Strategic Partnerships, Sikorsky spoke to Manu Sood, Editor, 8ak on their Indian plans and their tie up with the Tata Group in India. Estill revealed that the company had divided their strategy into short term goals, medium term goals and long term goals. As per the immediate plans, he said that the company was excited about the ongoing program with the Indian Navy for anti- submarine helicopters for which 2 helicopters have been proposed. One is the S-70B, which is sold under commercial contract basis, fully capable in anti-submarine operations. While the other one is MH-60R currently, in service with the US navy, for which Sikorsky has teamed up with Lockheed Martin in the US. As per the agreement between the two companies, Sikorsky provided airframe, dynamic components and rotor systems whereas Lockheed Martin provided anti-submarine equipment. He said that the program was progressing very rapidly and the flight test evaluations would begin in US during the early summers and they company expected to seal the official contract in early 2011.

Elaborating on Sikorsky’s second program, Estill said that the program was with Coast Guard and termed it ‘unique’. As part of the program, the company would dry lease about eight helicopters and wet lease another eight to ten. The helicopter would solve the purpose of coastal defence and patrol missions undertaken by the force. Sikorsky is the only technically qualified helicopter vendor for this program. Talking about the long term plans, he said that the company aimed to equip TATAs to manufacture all helicopters and fixed wing parts in the future and said that co-development of helicopters was indeed a reality in the future. As of now, TATAs will manufacture the cabins for the helicopters, which Sikorsky has to deliver to the UK coast guard.   

Sikorsky is also planning to start producing the highly successful and lethal Black Hawk helicopters to increase its presence in India as it gears up to bid for defence contracts up to US$12 billion, a move that could push others to follow. Some people feel that ith HAL's producing entire helicopters, India has the potential to become a global helicopter production hub but are held back by outdated government policies and lack of vision. 

Stephen Estill also said that Sikorsky intended to manufacture and develop special mission equipment packages with DRDO and other local technology companies in the long run. On another note, Shiv Aroor reports that the company has decided to formally protest the loss of lucrative tender of 12 VVIP helicopters. 

Russia-India relations to strengthen on Putin's visit this week

08 March 2010 8ak Akshay Kumar: While a resurgent Russia under Putin was scouting for potential markets for its military hardware and to India’s dismay found China, a booming India, was looking to build bridges with the West and America, as India believed a strong diplomatic support from them could coax Pakistan into putting a halt to its anti-India rhetoric. 

Issues not helping the ties were the sudden price escalation in the cost of Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier, the continuous problems of maintaining delivery schedule of contracted military hardware and lack of adequate after sales support. However, recent developments are an indication that our ties are as strong as ever.

The beginning of the positive change can be attributed to the 2009 September visit of President Pratibha Patil to Moscow, which was followed by several high-level visits by Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma, Defence Minister A.K. Antony and External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna to the Russian Federation. On its part India hosted the Russian Deputy PM Sobyanin in November.

However, the highly successful visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was the actual turning point. During the three-day visit, Singh and President Medvedev signed critical deals assuring uninterrupted supply of nuclear fuel to New Delhi, apart from resolving the long standing price issue of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov. 

Riding on the reignited bonhomie, both sides are now looking to take the bilateral ties to the next level during the visit of Prime Minister Putin, scheduled in second week of March. The visit is expected to push through vital defence contracts, which have been in the pipe line for a long time. The two sides are looking to seal the ongoing negotiations for the purchase of additional 29 MiG-29K expected to be worth US$1.2 billion, for the Indian navy. This order would be in addition to the 16 MiG-29K it procured in the Admiral Gorshkov deal. The aircraft is critical for bolstering India’s naval capability as it would be deployed on board all aircraft carriers, including the indigenous one’s, which the navy is looking to induct in the future. 

Another important defence deal, which both sides expect to seal, is the US$3 billion IAF order for 42 more Sukho-30MKI air superiority aircraft. The new air-superiority fighters will come on top of the 230 already contracted from Russia in three deals worth a total of $8.5 billion. The contract is vital for IAF as the squadron strength of is depleting faster than it can induct new aircraft. 

Another crucial contract to be finalised will be joint development of Multi-role transport aircraft (MTA), which is to be developed by Hindustan aeronautics limited and Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation. A general agreement on the joint development of fifth generation fighter aircraft by 2016 is also on the cards. Apart from the defence contracts, the two sides are also likely to sign a possible agreement on setting up a dozen new nuclear reactors in Kudankulam and in Haripur, which is a new nuclear park allotted in West Bengal to the Russians.

With the warmth returning in the Indo-Russian ties, the later will certainly try to capitalise on the opportunities in the Indian defence market, and try to re-enter the spaces, which was filled by Israel, due to the two cold-war era allies drifting away.