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. Four of these firms, Singapore Technology (Singapore Technologies), Israeli Military Industries (Israel Military Industries), TS Kissan and Company Private Limited and RK Machine Tools Private Limited, are the subject of such a recommendation for the second time, after they were first blacklisted in June last year, along with three other firms, Media Architecture Private Limited of Singapore, BVT of Poland and HYT Engineering of India.

Two other firms, Rheinmetall Air Defence of Germany and a Russian firm called Cooperation Defence have also been recommended for blacklisting this time around.

All of these firms have been implicated in the corruption case involving the former Director General of Ordnance Factories and Chairman of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), Sudipta Ghosh, in May last year.

Of the above firms, the CBI has pressed charges against only two of them, TS Kissan and Company Private Limited and RK Machine Tools Private Limited. While the former is accused of paying INR 3,000,000 to Ghosh for getting orders from the the Heavy Vehicle Factory at Avadi, the latter is accused of paying INR 250,000 to the him for getting orders from Heavy Vehicle Factory at Avadi as well as the Ordnance Factory, Chanda.

According to the Parliamentary answer, the ‘CBI report indicates that there is a prima facie or circumstantial evidence of payment of illegal gratification to Shri Sudipto Ghosh’ by the other other mentioned firms as well. The ‘CBI has indicated in the report that illegal gratification had been paid to Shri Sudipto Ghosh on behalf of some other firms also and that some of them may be liable for prosecution at a later stage depending on the evidence to be collected during the ongoing investigation’. The matter is under further investigation by CBI.

The statement issued by the ministry on the Parliamentary answer also says no other officers of the OFB have been implicated by the CBI investigations.

The statement is less than clear about the the value of the orders given to three of the firms, with Israel Military Industries getting order worth ‘US$ 91,24,928, EURO 11,30, 677,545, Rs. (INR) 372,29,21,000′, TS Kissan and Company Private Limited getting orders worth ‘Rs. (INR) 70,50,04,701′ and RK Machine Tools Private Limited receiving orders worth ‘Rs. (INR) 53,83,233,871′.

The statement ended by saying, “The CBI report is being examined in the Ministry. Further action in the matter will be taken after obtaining the advice of CVC (Central Vigilance Commission) and the Ministry of Law.”

An artist's impression of the P-8. Source: Boeing

According to a company statement, ‘completion of the FDR locks in the design for the aircraft, radar, communications, navigation, mission computing, acoustics and sensors, as well as the ground and test support equipment’. The statement says it ‘paves the way for the program to begin assembling the first P-8I aircraft’.

“The P-8I’s unique capabilities are tailored to India’s maritime-patrol requirements. It has the reach and capability to defend India’s vast coastline and maritime waters,” said Vivek Lall, vice president and India country lead, Boeing Defense, Space & Security. Leland Wight, P-8I program manager for Boeing, said in the statement, “For P-8I, we are incorporating not only India-unique design features, but also India-built subsystems, so this agreement that the design addresses all customer requirements is a huge milestone,” adding, “It also leads us to the program’s next stage: We are on track to start fabricating the P-8I’s empennage section before the end of this year.”

Four Indian Naval officers huddled with Boeing officials during the five-day FDR in Renton, near Seattle in Washington, to ‘review relevant design information and performance against specifications’. The FDR addressed each functional subsystem in the aircraft, such as radar, flight deck, EO/IR and MAD and described their respective architecture, contractual requirements and compliance, besides displays for and usage by crew and ways for verification and demonstration of performance prior to delivery.

Boeing says in the statement, it will deliver the first P-8I to India within 48 months of the original contract signing, which took place in January 2009. India is the first customer for the P-8 outside the United States. Australia has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the US Navy for the aircraft.

The Indian Navy’s first P-8I is to be delivered by January 01, 2013 and has certain capabilities and equipment different from the US Navy’s P-8A, while enjoying the benefits derived from the design, specific to US Navy requirements, including a shorter development timeframe, focusing on specific elements that the Indian Navy asked to be added to the aircraft. It has also leveraged the tests, verification, integration and development that took place under the guidance and funding of the US Navy.

Boeing conducted a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) in Fall 2009 focusing on the distinct requirements of the Indian Navy, such as the aft radar and the indigenous communications equipment, and then a nine-day Provisioning Conference in Seattle in last February to better understand the planned Indian Naval operation of the aircraft in terms of force-integration structures, mission types and training time in flight and on ground to be able to formulate recommendations for spares and ground-support equipment technical maintenance manuals for the Indian Navy.

The Indian Navy asked for an aft radar on the aircraft to enable it to conduct surveillance over areas to monitor the picture and make sure no covert activity took place behind it, especially in littoral, coastal areas. The aft radar is more effective at lower speeds, but working with the forward radar, allows the creation of a more complete surveillance picture.

Boeing has recently been laboratory testing two pieces of indigenous equipment, the Electronics Corporation of India (ECIL) speech secrecy equipment and the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) Datalink 2. BEL is also building the IFFI interrogator, Avantel the mobile satellite system (satellite communication relay), Dynamatics is providing the mission and power equipment cabinets (interior cabinets with racks that house various live/replaceable units that power the sensors). Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will supply the IFF transponder and weapons bay doors for the aircraft, which will work towards compliance with the 30 per cent offset, under the Indian Defense Procurement Procedure (DPP) of 2006.

Source: Boeing

The contract for all the stores on the aircraft, including weapons and sonobuoys is being negotiated separately between the Indian Navy and the US Navy. The sonobuoys, incidentally, are located in the back of the aircraft with the launchers.

Source: Boeing

A crew onboard the P-8A.

In terms of range of operations, the aircraft has a self-deployment of 4800 nautical miles and an operational radius of 1200 nautical miles, allowing for at least around four hours time on station, which can be increased by refueling enabled by the universal aerial refueling receptacle in case increased loiter, range or persistence is required.

The 737 assembly line at Puget Sound.

Source: Boeing

The T2 P-8A aircraft at Puget Sound.

The T2 P-8A aircraft at Puget Sound.

The aircraft’s static test article has already undergone static tests, with the application of the maximum ultimate and design load to verify the response of the structure to the anticipated limit as analyzed, to determine the ultimate strength of the design through a projection. The fatigue test article, S2, will be tested to two lifetimes worth of fatigue, in other dedicated ground test aircraft later this summer. This test is expected to indicate the life of the structure, keeping in mind the dynamic movement of the aircraft, like buffet, and flight loads, by measuring the ability of a structure to withstand cracking or delaminations and gauge the strength of the materials used in the aircraft. Normally, these tests are not conducted to failure, but to a percentage of the design load, since the former is more dangerous and conducted less often, especially with the basis of the airframe, which has already been put under many these stresses, remaining the same.

Upon delivery to the Indian Navy, each P-8I aircraft will be required to undergo acceptance tests scheduled by the navy as part of a process called Joint Receiving Inspection, which will focus on the functionality of the aircraft. The contract provides for more extensive testing of the first one or two aircraft and with possibly less exhaustive tests for successive aircraft, depending on the confidence inspired in the delivered product. At any rate, the P-8I aircraft will not separately and individually undergo the more fundamental testing as described above to be carried out by Boeing and the US Navy. In fact, if such testing were mandated by India, the price of the aircraft would more than double in value. Also, since the P-8 is a platform conceptualized by the US Navy, which is expected to procure them in numbers speculated to be around a 100, it is the US Navy which will certify the aircraft and not the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA).

The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), conducted a test of the Interceptor Missile in the endo-atmospheric regime (up to 30 kilometers) at an altitude of 15 kilometers, off the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at the resort town of Chandipur-on-sea in Orissa on Monday. The single-stage missile, fitted with a directional warhead and other ‘advanced systems’ neutralized the target, said a statement issued by the Ministry of Defense.

The target ballistic ‘enemy’ missile was launched from Launch Complex – III at the ITR, with the Interceptor Missile launched from Wheeler Island. The interceptor was tracked by radars, destroying the target missile and breaking it into fragments.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has published a paper in response to the solicitation of views by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), arguing for conditional increase, if at all, in the limits to investment by foreign players in Indian defense industry beyond the current limit of 26 per cent, to 49 per cent. The DIPP, in its discussion paper, was considering hiking FDI limit up to 74 per cent, and even 100 per cent in some cases.

The Indian Ministry of Commerce allowed the participation of the private sector in the defense industry in May 2001, permitting 100 per cent equity with a maximum of 26 per cent of FDI, subject to licensing. Under the Defense Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2008, limit was raised to 49 per cent FDI on a case-by-case basis. But the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has not, so far, approved the formation of a venture with a 49 per cent FDI component.

FICCI sees little reason to permit FDI above 26 per cent, considering the existing FDI into the Indian defense sector, saying in a statement, “The 26% FDI cap in the defense sector has already attracted top overseas defense OEMs like BAe, EADS, Sikorsky, Lockheed Martin, Electtronica Defence Systems, etc to hugely invest in India’s defense sector. Therefore, any increase in FDI Cap in a strategic sector like defense will require careful thinking and analysis.”

The statement says, “Globally, there are restrictions on allowing foreign capital in strategic sectors like defense for safeguarding of national security interests,” adding that, “FDI & transfer of technology are not always directly proportional, so raising FDI is no guarantee for true transfer of technology. The fact is that leveraging latest technologies from overseas suppliers would be difficult even if the FDI ceiling were raised as the OEMs exercise no control over the release of technology which is exclusively under their government’s control.”

“FICCI strongly believes that India would continue to attract OEMs for co-development and JVs at the existing FDI ceiling of 26%. This is so because India and China are only two countries where the spending on new defense platforms and systems will continue to grow in the post–global economic crisis period. In western countries, firstly, the defense markets are more or less saturated and secondly, the defense budgets have already started declining in the post economic crises period. For example in USA even a program like F-22 was capped and their exports to Japan have been prohibited though Japan wanted to import F-22. Thus India is undoubtedly a promising destination for the foreign defense players,” said the federation on Monday.

The statement cited the ‘significant involvement of OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) in the Indian defense sector at the existing 26% FDI Cap’ and ‘recent global trends of a measured approach on FDI in defense’ to explain the reasons for this stance, pointing out, “Countries like Germany, China, South Korea, and Canada have recently revised their FDI policies in defense, post September 11, 2001 (9/11), making the policies much more stringent. They have inducted methodologies to punitively scrutinize FDI inflows in this sensitive and strategic sector.”

According to FICCI, an increase of the limit of FDI to 49 per cent should conditional upon ‘linkage with the full platforms being produced’, ‘a minimum capitalization of US$100 million’ and induction of proprietary technology content in the JV as per the requirement of the country and should form ‘the basis of further indigenous technological development’.

FICCI also prescribes other conditions for raising the FDI limit, saying the joint venture should provide an undertaking to source between 50 per cent to 70 per cent of their ‘components/subsystems by value, indigenously, by nurturing tier-ised Indian vendor industries’, export obligations worth ten times the equity should be committed by the OEM within ten years of entering into the contract, technology received should have no restrictions on its global exploitations once cleared by the government of the home country.

“Post the transfer no retrospective law should be applicable to restrict the technology exploitation. All these should be in writing from by the home country government of the OEM/defence major. (Since there are dual use technology restrictions and a technology denial regime in many developed countries),” says FICCI in its statement, adding, “The companies cleared with more than 26% FDI should not be eligible for ‘Make’ funding.”

FICCI also warns against further dilution of 51 per cent Indian ownership, saying management should remain Indian with transparency of transaction between shareholders. “All requests for up to 49% FDI must be linked with the fact that these companies will qualify for participation in the “Buy & Make Indian” category projects. Therefore, they must be mandated to at least 20% extra indigenous content in their products than the currently stipulated 50% limit applicable for all other Indian companies within 26% FDI limits,” the statement adds.

This comes after a report published in May by another industry body, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), which too argued for easing of limits on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) up to 49 per cent in this sector. The CII report said, “More than 50 percent of the CII members had a view that increasing the FDI limit to 49 percent would be beneficial.”

The CII report cited conditions for allowing such an increase in FDI limits, saying, the existing 26 per cent FDI in this segment may be increased subject to the following:

1. JV should also be engaged in R&D (Research and Development) and the IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) should rest with JV.
2. Foreign partner should ensure JV access to the global market (subject to government approval).
3. Foreign partner should bring high level specialized technology that is not easily available.

The report said, “The FDI issue is driven by a number of factors comprising: sovereignty concerns in respect to the ownership of core strategic industries like defence; Government’s desire rapidly to acquire more advanced technologies; the assistance foreign players can provide to SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises); and the concerns of the larger players, both private and DPSUs (Defense Public Sector Units), that greater foreign involvement would be at the expense of their own businesses.”

CII had also pointed out that ‘Restricting the limit of FDI to 26 per cent has been challenged by certain foreign companies as they believe that it acts as an inhibiting factor towards their entry into the Indian defence market’. “Despite the attractive pipeline of projects issuing from the Ministry of Defense, certain foreign vendors feel that, where ToT is involved, the returns likely to be generated on the basis of current FDI regulations, coupled with the lack of control they would have over the technologies and know‐how they are being asked to provide, makes entry in to the Indian market an unattractive proposition,” said CII in its report, adding, “The result has been limited FDI inflows to India, with a total of only INR 7 Mn between April 2000 and February 2009 (As per the DIPP FDI Statistics, February 2009).”

According to CII, “The case against increasing the limits for FDI is founded primarily in Indian sovereignty. It is believed that allowing greater levels of FDI, even below 49 per cent level, would increase the amount of control exercised by foreign partners and this in turn would reduce the actual level of indigenisation and maintain the reliance on foreign suppliers. Also, it is believed that that the level of technology required by the country can be achieved within the existing FDI limits and it is for the domestic industry players to rise to the challenge and ensure that they capture the ‘know‐why’ along with the “know‐how” of manufacturing techniques, technology and efficiency.”

But the report also says, “One of the arguments put forward for increasing the FDI cap from 26 per cent to 49 per cent is that there is no significant difference in the control over a business between these levels. Opponents argue that a company’s board with 49 percent foreign members is significantly different in terms of influence, culture and management approach to one with 26 percent. Policy makers argue that an increase to 49 per cent would be largely ineffectual in achieving India’s main aim of technology enhancement, as foreign vendors will not transfer critical technologies without ownership and management control of the Indian venture. Several foreign vendors have themselves pointed out that an increase in FDI levels to 49 per cent would not be a panacea. The debate, they argue, should focus whether the FDI cap should remain at 26 per cent or be increased to 51 per cent or above. The clear expectation is that the FDI cap will be increased above 26 per cent. Despite the on‐going uncertainty as to whether the permissible FDI levels will be raised, many of the large foreign OEMs are already setting up joint ventures (JVs) in India, within the existing investment limits, but in the stated expectation that FDI limits will soon be increased.”

The Indian Secretary, Defense Production, RK Singh, said at the Eurosatory 2010 exhibition in Paris last month that the Ministry of Defense is in favor of continuing with the FDI limit of 26 percent, while releasing the CII-Deloitte report, Prospects for Global Defence Industry in the Indian defense market.

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, (an upgraded version of the FH77 B02 in service with the army) against Singapore Technologies (ST) Kinetics’ iFH 2000.

The army, which had issued the RFI on Thursday, gave much cause for confusion, by initially alluding to ‘A Self Propelled Gun System mounted on a vehicle chassis such as CEASER 155 mm Self propelled Gun’. The line was deleted on Friday evening, to remove any doubts about the earlier tender process being canceled.

During the day, on Friday, sources in the Ministry of Defense confirmed that the RFI, indeed, indicated a fresh tender for 155 mm/52 caliber Towed Artillery Guns. The reason the ministry gave for this decision was the creation of a single-vendor situation due to the non-appearance of the ST Kinetics’ gun at the trials. The Defense Procurement Procedure (DPP) does not allow procurement if only a single vendor survives the tender process. ST Kinetics had earlier asked for a delay in the trials because the unit it planned to demonstrate in India was damaged in transit. Sources representing ST Kinetics, however, insisted the weapon had been brought to India and was at the Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan, along with the competing BAE Systems’ weapon, awaiting range time for the trials.

Ministry sources did not include as a reason, or allude to, the blacklisting of ST Kinetics in June last year on allegations of corruption and a letter reported to have been sent by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to the ministry, earlier this month, asking for the firm to be blacklisted, besides five others. In the interests of the army’s procurement process, the ministry had waived the blacklisting of ST Kinetics last December for the purpose of proceeding with trials for the tender process, subject to the final report submitted by the CBI.

Curiously, ST Kinetics had in January denied it had been blacklisted by the ministry.

The canceled tender was for 1580 units, of which 400 were to be purchased off the shelf and the rest 1180, to be license-produced in India by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) after transfer of technology. The Defense Acquisitions Council (DAC) had approved procurement on December 13, 2007 and a Request For Proposal (RFP) was issued on March 26, 2008. The Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) shortlisted the weapons of two firms BAE Systems and ST Kinetics and scheduled the trials to commence from February 27, 2010. This is has not happened so far.

The army is also looking for other types of artillery, albeit in much smaller numbers.

The DAC had approved procurement of 145 units of 155 mm/39 Caliber Ultra Light Howitzers on June 19, 2006 and an RFP was issued to ten global vendors on January 14, 2008. ST Kinetics was the only one to submit a Technical and Commercial Offer for its Pegasus Light Weight Howitzer, on June 30, 2008. The TEC report was submitted to the Director General (Acquisitions) in the Ministry of Defense on March 23, 2009. Since this was, again, a single-vendor situation, the process was put on hold, around the time the company was first blacklisted.

The army has also tried to initiate procurement of light guns through a direct Foreign Military Sale (FMS), with a Letter of Request issued by the ministry on May 19, 2009, for BAE Systems M777 lightweight howitzer. An Indian Army technical delegation visited the US between January 09 and 16 this year for demonstrations of the weapons. The US government has proposed the provisioning of two units for trials and has requested 84 rounds of Indian ammunition for the purpose.A draft Letter of Request is under formulation by the Ministry of Defense for this purpose.

The army is currently holding trials, supposed to have begun on April 27, 2010, for 180 units of 155 mm/52 Caliber Wheeled Self Propelled Guns, which was approved by the DAC on June 19, 2006. The RFP for the weapons was issued on February 04, 2008 and Technical and Commercial Offers were received on June 23, 2008. Konstruckta Defence of Slovakia and Rheinmetall Defence of Germany were shortlisted for trials. Rheinmetall Defence is one of the six firms reported to have been recommended for blacklisting by the CBI earlier this month.

The army had been issued an RFP on August 29, 2008 for 100 units of 155 mm/52 Caliber Tracked Self Propelled Guns, which had been approved by the DAC on February 26, 2008. Eleven vendors had responded to the RFP, but only Rheinmetall Defence submitted a Technical and Commercial Offer, leading to a single-vendor situation, following which the process was canceled. The army then amended its parameters or General Staff Qualitative Requirements (GSQR) and issued a fresh RFP.

The Indian Army’s artillery procurement and modernization process has been jinxed since the controversy over the corruption scandal involving Bofors towed artillery procurement in the 1980s with corruption allegations and delays becoming the norm.

The Indian Defense Minister AK Antony, on Monday, agreed to provide three aircraft to Seychelles on its request. An Indian Ministry of Defense statement said, “On a specific request from the Seychelles, Mr. Antony agreed to provide one new Dornier and two Chetak helicopters from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for maritime surveillance, at the earliest.” The statement quoted him as saying that although delivery would normally take 18 to 24 months, New Delhi would try to provide the aircraft in 15 months. In the meantime, India is to provide an in-service Dornier Aircraft to carry out maritime surveillance. This comes after Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh committed $ 5 million assistance to Seychelles for defense-related projects during the visit of Seychellois President James Alix Michel to India earlier.

Antony met President Michel, Vice President Danny Faure, the Minister for Home Affairs Joel Morgan and Foreign Minister Jean Paul Adam in Mahe, while leading a delegation comprising Defense Secretary Pradeep Kumar and the Vice Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral DK Dewan.

India also agreed to extend help for maritime and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) surveillance operations and capacity building of Seychellois forces to tackle the spread of piracy in the Indian Ocean region . Antony said India would help the Seychelles carry out EEZ surveillance as frequently as possible, with additional Indian naval visits this year, to conduct surveillance and hydrographic surveys. Seychellois personnel would be invited to embark Indian vessels for maintenance training and drills.

While the Seychelles has accepted the assistance of the United Nations to set up courts to try alleged pirates, India has not so far offered specific assistance in this regard. The Indian Navy and the Ministry of Defense have mooted draft legislation to amend the Indian Penal Code to include piracy as a separate offense, enabling courts in India, such as the Maritime Bench of the Mumbai High Court to try suspected pirates, also signaling a willingness to take on responsibility for investigation and prosecution of such offenses. The draft is currently under consideration by the Indian Law Ministry.

The US Africa Command (AFRICOM) had decided to base MQ-9 Reaper Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the Seychelles last year, in addition to deploying P-3 Orion aircraft for anti-piracy operations. The Indian announcements are in line with policies meant to ensure that its engagement with the littoral nations of the Indian Ocean precludes any significant growth of the presence of any other power. For instance, the Indian Navy had provided sea-front security to the capital of Mozambique, Maputo, during international events there in 2003 and 2005, and has also offered assistance to other nations.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) began trials for the AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter last week. 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.

The trials are expected to continue till the end of next week, after which the Mi-28 is expected to be given a similar once-over. The maintenance and weapons trials of the former will be conducted in the United States in the coming weeks.

Features of the AH-64D Apache Longbow. Source: Boeing

Interestingly, Boeing has developed a capability in the Apache to control Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). While so far this ability is restricted to control over a single UAV, the company is building systems to allow airborne control over multiple UAVs. So far this is not a capability that has been offered to or requested by the IAF.

The first of the Apache Block III are expected to be delivered in October next year and deployed with the first US Army units by June 2012.

The trials for the IAF’s requirement for 15 heavy lift helicopters are also expected to begin after the Apache, on July 27, with the Chinook being put through its paces at Chandigarh, where it has already arrived, and Leh. Both the Apache and the Chinook were brought to India by C-17 aircraft, possibly to quietly underline the capabilities of the strategic lifter, ten of which are also being considered for purchase by the IAF, after it underwent trials last month.

Two fighter aircraft in the running for the Indian Air Force (IAF) competition for 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) are going to be putting their best feet forward next week at the Farnborough International Air Show in the United Kingdom.

While Saab will be making the international public debut of its Gripen NG demonstrator aircraft, 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. This will include four Paveway II laser guided bombs, 3 fuel tanks, four AMRAAMs (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles) and two ASRAAMs (Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles), which the aircraft will be carrying while ‘pulling up to 5.5G and in excess of 20 degrees angle of attack’, according to a press release.

The Indian Minister of State for Defense, Dr. MM Pallam Raju will also be present at the air show, along with Secretary, Defense Production, Raj Kumar Singh and Air Marshal S Mukerji, Commander-in-Chief, Southern Air Command.

The Eurofighter Typhoon statement says, “Most air displays are achieved by reducing fuel and weapon loads, however with this display, IPA 5 (the aircraft in question) demonstrates significant weapon carriage and maneuverability whilst still being able to demonstrate carefree handling for the pilot.”

Apparently, the Gripen NG demonstrator was available for display at Fairford and Farnborough because of vacations at home. “The extensive flight test program with Gripen NG Demonstrator aircraft continues successfully and according to plan at the Saab facilities in Linköping, Sweden. This gives us the unique opportunity to bring the aircraft to UK during the Swedish summer holiday break,” says Lennart Sindahl, Senior Vice President Saab AB and Head of Business Area Aeronautics, in the statement.

The only other time the demonstrator has been abroad is when it visited India in May for evaluations by the IAF for the MMRCA contest. “This demanding evaluation phase included operations at the Indian air base Leh, situated 3300 meters above sea level. During this time, the aircraft also passed its 150th flight and to date it has conducted more than 175 successful flights,” said a company statement.

The statement also said Saab is currently testing all the tactical systems, such as the AESA radar and the new communications system. “The test program is very extensive, we have finished, and successfully verified, the flight tests of the electro-optical Missile Approach Warning System (MAWS) and the new fuel system with larger internal fuel tanks,” says Mattias Bergström, the Gripen NG Demonstrator project manager, in the statement.

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

The DRDO had been shopping around for a radar that could provide the capability for the detection of threats in heavily-forested and remote areas affected by insurgencies and has selected the CARABAS to explore further possibilities. A radar with such capabilities would be useful in detecting threats in areas where security forces have to operate, patrolling roads and tracks under the canopy of dense foliage and surrounding forests, in difficult terrain.

CARABAS is a Very High Frequency (VHF) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) that is mounted on aircraft to scan a target area for threats. The radar, which weighs 35 kilograms, can be fitted on rotary wing as well as tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

On helicopters and UAVs, the antennas, which are made of Kevlar/carbon, retract when on the ground and unfold in the air. The antenna consists of two High Band dipoles, emitting waves of 140 to 360 MegaHertz (MHz) attached to two Low Band dipoles, with emissions between 25 to 85 Mega Hertz.

The system, when attached to an aircraft, manned or unmanned, scans the area for anomalies. Operational areas have to be regularly scanned for this radar to be most effective, as it detects these anomalies in terms of changes in the area being scanned. Such changes could include the presence of humans, vehicles and even metallic objects like mines and IEDs buried underground.

It’s VHF radar is able to penetrate foliage as well as ground surface because of its low wavelength and can detect ‘humans, mines and IEDs’. Saab says the radar can detect underground objects down to a depth of 3.4 meters (more than 11 feet) in wet soil, 6 meters (almost 20 feet) in dry soil and 26 meters (around 85 feet) in sand. This is when the radar waves hit the ground at the Brewster Angle, which optimizes their transmission by enabling them to penetrate the ground with no reflection.

With a power consumption of 100 Watts, the radar in foliage mode is capable of surveying 270 square kilometers from a standoff distance of 6 kilometers and an altitude of 2000 meters, enabling it to detect vehicles while emitting Low Band VHF waves. In the same mode, it can also detect human presence, emitting High Band VHF radiation, standing off from a distance of 3 kilometers and is able to survey an area of 45 square kilometers.

In subsurface mode, standing off from a distance of between 150 meters to 3 kilometers, the radar can survey an area of between 2.7 square kilometers to 45 square kilometers from an altitude of 30 meters to 700 meters and can detect buried mines and IEDs.

While the helicopter-mounted radar can detect to an accuracy of between half a meter to 2 meters, depending on the frequency, the UAV-mounted radar can detect concealed human and vehicular presence as well as subsurface metallic objects that have dimensions of less than 3000 square centimeters.

Versions of this airborne radar, already in operation in the Swedish Air Force, where it is configured for deployment on fixed wing aircraft, were first devised in 1990, with a Drag Antenna layout and then upgraded in 1997, to enable a Pushboom Antenna configuration.

Inderjit Sial, Saab’s Director – Industrial Cooperation, says the radar is currently undergoing tests on rotary wing aircraft in Sweden. DRDO officials are also expected to visit the country in August to witness the system in operation at a test range, as well as examine the source code of the system, to look for ways to configure it to Indian requirements. Towards the end of this year, the CARABAS will be available for configuration onto a Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) in India and be tested in a forested, remote area.

Sial also says the company is willing to manufacture the radar in India, if it is ultimately selected by the DRDO.

Images: Saab

The Chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC), Sonia Gandhi, laid the foundation stone for the strategic 8.8 kilometer-long Rohtang Tunnel, to be built at an altitude of over 3,000 meters in the Pir Panjal range, which will enable all-weather road access across the Rohtang Pass at a height of 3,978 mts.

Simultaneous drilling commenced on Monday at the South Portal, 15 kilometers from Manali, in Himachal Pradesh as well as at the North Portal, joining the Manali-Sarchu road over the Chandra river.

The tunnel will provide unhindered road access to the remote regions of Lahaul and Spiti, and Pangi Valley in Himachal Pradesh throughout the year, as well cutting the travel distance by almost 48 kilometers or four hours. It will also facilitate an alternate and assured access to the Ladakh region in the event of a closure of National Highway 1D, which connects Srinagar to Leh in Ladakh, due to bad weather or, as happening during the Kargil conflict, because of shelling from the Pakistani side of the Line of Control.

The horse-shoe shaped tunnel will be a two-way lane in a single tube, 11.25 meters wide and will incorporate a semi-transverse ventilation system, where large fans would separately circulate air in and out, through the tunnel length and to reduce vehicular fumes.

The tunnel is being constructed at an expenditure of US $ 3.2 billion under the aegis of the Border Roads Organization (BRO) by Strabag-Afcons (a joint venture between India’s Afcons Infrastructure Ltd and Strabag SE of Austria, the world’s fourth largest construction company) and is expected to be completed in 63 months, by February 2015.

The project also includes the construction of 292 kilometer-long all-weather road through Nimu-Padam-Darcha via Shinkunla Pass, traversing the remote Zanskar region of Jammu and Kashmir, at an additional estimated cost of US $ 600 million. This will ensure the two other snow-bound passes, Baralacha La and Thaglang La, do not prevent the Manali-Keylong-Leh highway from becoming an all-weather road.

Other officials present at the commencement of drilling included Union Defense Minister, AK Antony, Union Steel Minister, Vir Bhadra Singh, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal, Minister of State for Defense, Dr MM Pallam Raju, Defense Secretary, Pradeep Kumar and Director General Border Roads Organization (BRO), Lt Gen MC Badhani.

Incidentally, scientists at Panjab University and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research had once proposed the installation of a neutrino detector inside the Rohtang Tunnel.