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.

Kamov-226 to spearhead Russia’s campaign for US$600 million chopper contract

08 Mar 2009 8ak: Spearheading Russia’s campaign in the ongoing trials for the US$600 million contract for procurement of 197 light utility helicopters (LUH) is the Kamov-226 'Sergei'.

Three Kamov-226 choppers have already arrived in India to participate in trials to be conducted in the high altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir. The twin engine Kamov-226, powered by Rolls-Royce Allison 250-C20R/2 turboshaft engines, is based on the development of the proven "flying chassis" Ka-26 general purpose helicopter. The Ka-226 has interchangeable mission pods rather than a conventional cabin within the main fuselage.

The main 770-litre capacity fuel tanks provide a flight endurance of 4.24hr. With the 320-litre auxiliary tanks this is increased to 6.45hr. A performance advantage of the helicopter, when working from bases at altitudes high above sea level and in mountainous terrain, is the high dynamic ceiling of 5,000m and static ceiling at 2,000m. The helicopter has an 18,000hr life with a schedule service life of 25 years. The instruments, displays, controls and night vision equipment allow night time flight. The helicopter is equipped with weather reconnaissance radar and thermal imaging systems for night patrol, reconnaissance and search operations. The chopper has a maximum speed of 205 km/hr and cruising speed of 195 km/hr and can carry up to 1,400kg cargo. 

As part of the contract, the selected bidder will supply 60 choppers to India in a “fly-away” condition, while the remaining 137 will be assembled by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). The bidders for the US$600 million contract are Eurocopter, Russian Mil and Kamov, American Sikorsky & Bell and Italian Agusta Westland. The initial tender for procurement of LUHs was cancelled by the government due to alleged irregularities in the process. It is believed that Eurocopter had fielded its civilian variant for field trials whereas another company had offered its military version. However, the RFP for the ongoing trial was once again issued in 2009 and will take another one and half year before any decision is reached by the government pertaining to the procurement of these choppers. 

The choppers are the main stay of logistical operations of the three wings of the armed forces. They have multiple utilities ranging from rescue operations, carrying relief material, ferrying soldiers and combat, as seen during the Kargil war, when Mi-17 was deployed. India is also looking to speed up its acquisition of a multi-role helicopter. In addition to this, the IAF has projected a requirement of another 350 Medium-Lift Helicopters.

8ak interview: Eurocopter's Yves Berenguer speaks about Indian RFPs; also sale of 7 helicopters to Pawan Hans & partnership

06 Mar 2010 8ak: Eurocopter’s Yves Berenguer spoke to editor of 8ak, Manu Sood, on the programs his organisation was bidding in India and the plans of the company in the future. He elaborated on the possibility of tie ups with other private companies and its partnership with defence public sector undertaking, Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL). He revealed to 8ak that the company was bidding for the ongoing 197 light utility helicopter (LUH) program. Apart from the LUH program, the company is looking forward to the Multi role helicopter program for which they are proposing the E-725 platform, which can serve the purpose of all three wings of the armed forces. He also told 8ak that the company was not bidding for the attack helicopter program the Indian requirements are too stringent.

In addition, India’s state owned Pawan Hans helicopters has announced the purchase of 7 new Dauphin AS 365 N3 helicopters from Eurocopter. The companies have further signed two MoU's for setting up a Maintenance Repair and Overall (MRO) of Dauphin helicopters targeting South Asia and also a flight training simulator centre. At Aviation India, Hyderabad, Eurocopter and Pawan Hans spokespersons expected that both agreements would be operationalised before the end of 2010.

Mr. R. K. Tyagi, Chairman & Managing Director, Pawan Hans said, “As the Indian helicopter market expands, we see tremendous opportunity for Pawan Hans in the oil & gas, tourism and corporate travel segments."

Separately, the Hindu reports that Indocopters, a Vectra Group company and distributor of Eurocopter in India, is planning to invest about Rs. 150 crore in expanding its 3 MRO centres in India.

8ak interview: Raytheon talks about Missile Defence System offered to India; L&T tie-up for tanks

06 Mar 2010 8ak: Raytheon’s David Hartman spoke to 8ak exclusively on the Integrated Missile Defence System – Hawk 2, which it has offered to India in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) around 18 months ago. He says that even though the system has been there for a long time, timely upgrade has enabled the system to be modern in nature. Explaining the entire Hawk-21 system using a mock-battlefield, Mr Hartman says that the offer includes an active seeker missile system.

Earlier, 8ak had also interviewed Precision Electronics, Managing Director, Mr Ashok Kanodia about their tie up with Raytheon's Electronic Division for offering advanced communications solutions. Further Raytheon had announced a tie-up with L&T for upgrade of the T-72 tanks. Raytheon will provide infrared imaging sights and electronics to improve target accuracy and increase overall system lethality of T-72 tank battalions. Raytheon has provided more than 20,000 thermal sights in 15 countries.

Fritz Treyz, vice president, Raytheon Network Centric Systems India Operations said that "Together (with L&T), we are exploring other opportunities to provide net-centric modernization defense solutions to meet growing demands in India and the global marketplace.

" L&T will develop the fire control systems based on its experience across multiple weapon systems for land, naval and air defense applications. With customer support, L&T will perform the final integration of fire control system and sensors on the T-72 tanks. "L&T is the only Indian company in the private sector that is leading a team for the T-72 upgrade program." said M. V. Kotwal, senior executive vice president and member of the L&T board of directors.

On the commercial side, Raytheon has just won an order from the Airports Authority of India to install AutoTrac III, its next-generation air traffic management system, to help reduce delays in aircraft arrival and departure at the Chennai International Airport.

Photo Feature: Air exercise Vayu Shakti 2010, Pokhran

06 Mar 2010 8ak: Some photos from the recently concluded Indian Air Force exercise Vayu Shakti in Pokhran, Rajasthan. 

(In case it does not display properly, please press the full screen icon on the bottom left)

MiG-27 takes part in Vayushakti 2010, Fleet not grounded

04 March 2010 8ak Akshay Kumar: In a move, which took everyone by surprise, the IAFs grounded MiG-27 combat aircraft, not only flew in the mega IAF exercise, Vayushakti-2010, but also dropped bombs in Pokhran during the event.

The participation of the fighter aircraft was in limbo after the IAF decided to ground the entire fleet of 100 MiG-27 aircrafts following a crash, which occurred during a routine sortie in West Bengal in February, just ahead of the mammoth exercise planned by the IAF to show its prowess and assure the nation that the safety of its citizens was in safe hands. 

Speaking to 8ak, the IAF PRO Wg Cdr Singha revealed that the enquiry into the crash was on, and would take some time to complete, but it’s wrong to say that the fleet has been grounded permanently. The MiG-27 was very much participating and as everyone saw it dropped bombs during the Pokhran exercise, added Singha. 

The MiG-27 powered by R29 engine has been attributed to defects in the past. The accident is a cause of concern as the engine defect is said to have risen due to the overhauling of the fleet by HAL last year. Since Jan 2001, India has lost about 12 Russian-made MiG-27 fighter planes. Photo feature coming up next...