Month: July 2010

Six arms firms proposed for MoD blacklist

The Indian Defense Minister AK Antony confirmed to Parliament on Tuesday, the recommendation of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for the blacklisting of six arms firms by the Ministry of Defense, Singapore Technologies, Israel Military Industries, TS Kissan and Company Private Limited and RK Machine Tools Private Limited, Rheinmetall Air Defence of Germany and a Russian firm called Cooperation Defence.

Navy’s P-8I design finalized for assembly

Boeing has announced the completion on July 16 of the Final Design Review (FDR) for the P-8I, the Indian Navy’s long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft. The P-8I, based on the Boeing 737 commercial airplane, is a variant of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing is developing for the US Navy.

Army towed guns’ tender jinxed, junked

The Indian Army has issued a Request For Information (RFI) for towed artillery guns, effectively canceling the previous process for procurement of these weapons systems, in which BAE Systems was fielding the FH77 B05 against Singapore Technologies (ST) Kinetics’ iFH 2000.

IAF begins Apache trials

IAF sources confirmed that the aircraft, which is competing with the Russian Mi-28 for the IAF’s tender for 22 attack helicopters, has already completed trials in Jaisalmer and is currently undergoing high altitude flight and maneuverability demonstrations at Leh.

Gripen, Eurofighter in Farnborough show-off

While the Gripen NG demonstrator aircraft will be making its international public debut, first at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford, and then at Farnborough, the Eurofighter Typhoon will be displayed with full weapons payload, flying with all 13 hard points occupied.

Blog: Eurofighter gets good vibes on MMRCA

Bernhard Gerwart, CEO of Military Air Systems at EADS Defence & Security, said, “Yesterday, I had some meetings with the leaders of the IAF and the MoD and it was more or less confirmed that we had done the flight trials very well,” adding, “Mind you it’s just a feeling,” while pointing out the IAF had made no official statement to him.

Saab offers DRDO underground radar

Saab has offered its radar, CARABAS, to the Defense Research and Development Organization’s Electronics and Radar Development Establishment for evaluation. The radar can penetrate densely-forested areas and detect mines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) buried underground.

Blog: LM mag’s new website out

Lockheed Martin’s magazine, Code One, has unveiled a new avatar on the internet and if you’ve got an aviation history itch that needs scratching, the website is especially cool, as they’ve got their hands on LM’s film archives, and uploaded footage of first flights of some aircraft Lockheed Martin and its predecessor companies have produced in the past.