Indian Military

New Delhi – The Indian Army can finally boast a stronger helicopter in its fleet with an upgraded version of the ‘Dhruv’ Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) which was handed over to them recently. These new helicopters incorporate a new powerful engine which will enable take-off and landing at a high altitude with ease and help to carry operations in the mountainous terrains of Jammu and Kashmir.

According to state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), five new ‘Dhruv’ ALH developed by them were handed over to the Indian Army. The upgraded ‘Dhruv’ ALH Mark III have a stronger ‘Shakti’ engine developed by HAL and the French firm Turbomeca. The five new helicopters will be used for varied operations in the Siachen area of Jammu and Kashmir. Since the current fleet of Chetak and Cheetah helicopters are being overworked and cannot withstand the altitude and weather posed by Siachen, the ‘Dhruv’ ALH Mark III is the need of the hour for the Indian Army.

The Dhruv ALH is a multi-role helicopter developed and manufactured by HAL and has also been exported to Nepal, Peru, Ecuador and Israel, and is on order by several other countries for both military and commercial uses.

The Indian Navy has issued a Request For Information (RFI) for a second batch of Multi-Role Helicopters (MRH), even with the existing tender process for a USD 1 billion order for 16 helicopters still under way.

The RFI reads, “The Ministry of Defence, Government of India, intends to augment the fleet of existing multi role helicopters (ASW/ASUW/Special Ops Commando) with suitable new-build Naval Multi Role Helicopters (NMRH), with comparable performance and ASW, ASuW, SAR, ELINT and Special Operation / Commando operation capabilities. The basic helicopter for all three roles viz ASW, ASuW and Special Operation / Commando should be same with common airframe, engines, avionics etc for ease of maintenance training and Op-logistics issues. Capability should exist in the helicopter for role specific configurations to be achieved with ease.”

The navy shopping around for a second time is being seen as a result of the the increasing requirement for Multi Role Helicopters, keeping in mind the decreasing life of the navy’s Sea King helicopters.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has criticized the implementation of the Indian Navy’s plan for enabling its submarines with facilities to couple with Deep Submergence Rescue Vessels (DSRV) and Submarine Rescue Chamber (SRC) of the United States Navy (USN), which has resulted in an expenditure of USD 744,343.

The CAG said in its report that not only were many of the 16 Indian submarines at the end of three-fourths of their life, but that only seven of them were actually operational, with nine undergoing repairs and refit. Two of the submarines, INS (Indian Naval Ship) Vela and INS Vagli, both Foxtrot-class, are due to be decommissioned this year and next year.

The report reads, “75 per cent submarines in the IN fleet have already completed three fourths of their estimated operational life. In fact the IN envisaged the project without clearly identifying deadlines for completing the project. It is pertinent to mention that only 7 out of 16 submarines in IN are operational and 9 submarines are under refit/repair as of October 2009.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has criticized the acceptance of inferior-grade steel used in the manufacture of fleet tankers of the Indian Navy by Italian firm, Fincantieri, saying it amounted to ‘undue favor to a foreign vendor in (the) procurement of fleet tankers’.

Not just the steel, the CAG also has a problem with the ‘excess provisioning of spares worth more than INR 300 million (USD 6 million) and under realization of offset benefit to Indian industry’ in the procurement worth INR 9.36 billion (USD 200 million).

The CAG’s report says the original Request For Proposal (RFP) had a mandatory stipulation requiring the use of ‘DMR 249A or equivalent grade steel’ in the construction of two fleet tankers, which it says is ‘almost double the cost of ordinary steel’.

The INS (Indian Naval Ship) Deepak (Lamp) in dry dock at Muggiano, Italy being launched last February.

New Delhi –The Indian Air Force (IAF) has finally equipped 55 of the Jaguar fighter aircraft with autopilots after the Indian Defence Ministry was criticised for delays in the upgradation. Defence Minister AK Anthony has assured that it will soon be issuing a tender for procuring additional sets of autopilots for the remaining Jaguars in the IAF fleet.

The Comptroller and Auditor General had raised the issue of delay in the induction of autopilot in its report of 2008-09 and the Indian Defence Ministry was blamed for this delay. The Indian Defence Ministry agreed with the audit conclusions and will be issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) for new sets of autopilots for the Jaguar fighters.

The Jaguar fighters have always been a trusted war horse since they first came to the IAF almost three decades ago. At the time of induction, the Jaguar was considered to be the fastest aircraft and added a new dimension to air operations in the Indian sub-continent. Under an agreement with the Indian Air Force, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has been entrusted with the upgradation of Jaguars that would extend their life by another 15 years, through the year 2020.