Indian Military

After more than 14 years of service, the head of Boeing Defense, Space and Security in India, is leaving the company at the end of this month. Dr. Vivek Lall has spent the last four years driving Boeing’s presence in the Indian defense market.

His tenure has seen Boeing get orders for eight P-8 long range maritime aircraft from the navy, 24 Harpoon missiles for Indian Air Force (IAF) Jaguar aircraft and although India has not placed an order yet, it is also likely to do so for ten C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.

He leaves at a time when the biggest Indian tender that in which Boeing is participating, comes to fruition. The shortlist for the IAF tender for 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) is likely to be announced soon.

He will move to head an outfit that promotes the aerospace and homeland security industry in India.

He is one of the few people at Boeing who have served with both, Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) as well as the the company’s defense unit.

Dr. Vivek Lall, who was heading Boeing’s Defense, Space and Security unit in India is now leading a new technology venture being set up by Indian industrial giant Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).

Industry sources have informed StratPost that Lall, who joined RIL two weeks back, is reporting directly to the Chairman and Managing Director, Mukesh Ambani. His brief is to stand up the new venture, which will focus on technologies like advanced materials and advanced communications systems, that are likely to have a bouquet of applications in the homeland security, aerospace and defense sectors, not to mention spin-offs into other areas.

Although the immediate intention is not to necessarily produce complete products for these sectors, the underlying idea is to conduct fundamental research and development, and effect partnerships with companies around the world to bring these basic critical technologies to India, along with the associated knowledge and skills.

The purpose of this is to create capabilities in India that would be necessary for any meaningful and genuine indigenous development and manufacture of equipment and services in these sectors.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) contest for mid-air refueling tanker aircraft will depend on how a United States Air Force (USAF) competition for a massive order for 179 tankers plays out towards the end of the year.

The Indian tender is being reprocessed after India’s Finance Ministry thought the IAF’s earlier choice of the Airbus A330 MRTT (Multi Role Tanker Transport) over the Russian IL-78 too expensive, earlier this year, and compelled the IAF to start over, to select six tankers that could cost over a billion US dollars.

The IAF is keen on making sure the Russian IL-78 faces sufficient competition and that the relative abilities of the respective aircraft are rendered patently evident. This, coupled with the calculation of life-cycle costs of the aircraft, under the Air Staff Qualitative Requirements (ASQRs), is likely intended to preempt the objections of the Finance Ministry.

In addition to the earlier two contestants, the IAF would also like to get US defense and aerospace major Boeing into the running to make the contest more interesting, if nothing else.

US defense and aerospace company Boeing is offering a charged-up engine to power its F/A-18 Super Hornet, in the race to win the Indian Air Force (IAF) tender for 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA).

The engine, called the GE F414 EPE (Enhanced Performance Engine), will provide 20 per cent additional thrust to the aircraft. According to Richard S. McCrary, who leads Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet campaign in India, no changes would be required in the aircraft since the aircraft was designed ab initio to accommodate this evolved engine.

Dr. Vivek Lall, the head of Boeing’s Defense, Space and Security unit in India says that from its inception, the Super Hornet was designed to accommodate additional inlet airflow beyond the current F414 demand in anticipation of future capability enhancements and that technology upgrades for the engine are currently under development with GE Aviation.

The EPE takes advantage of this inherent airframe growth capability through enhancements to the fan and core, resulting in a 20% increase in thrust with no changes to the aircraft structure or outer moldline.