Indian Military

New Delhi — The Indian Navy continues to suffer delays in acquiring multi-role helicopters (MRH) as bids from international manufacturers have expired. The Indian Defence Ministry has indicated that the commercial bids from US firm Sikorsky and British-Italian firm Agusta Westland for the MRH have expired last month.

The Request for Proposal (RFP) for the 16 MRH worth $1 billion was issued in August 2008 and since the commercial bids are valid for two years only, they stand expired. The Indian Defence Ministry now intends to request the firms to revise their offers. While the technical evaluation has been wrapped up, Indian Navy is yet to pursue the Flight Evaluation Trials for the two contenders.

The two contenders for the MRH for the Indian Navy are the US firm Sikorsky’s S-70B Sea Hawk and British-Italian Agusta Westland’s NH-90 helicopters. Once the contract is decided and awarded, the Indian Navy would get the delivery of the MRH within 46 months in three phases and the RFP provides an option of placing follow-on orders for another 44 helicopters.

New Delhi — Indo-Russian military ties are set to grow stronger as India will soon order an additional 59 Russian Mi-17 helicopters from Russia. This decision to acquire 59 helicopters on top of the 80 helicopters ordered earlier has been taken by the Indian Air Force (IAF). The defence acquisition council has cleared the proposal and the request will be forwarded to the cabinet committee on security clearance soon.

The IAF has been trying to augment its fleet of medium-lift helicopters and the acquisition of an additional 59 Mi-17 helicopters aims to fulfil that mission. The existing fleet of medium-lift helicopters will be phased out soon. The Mi-17 helicopters will enhance the IAFs capability to carry out missions in high-altitude areas and relief operations. India had signed a deal with Russia in 2008 to supply 80 Mi-17s to augment its existing fleet of around 150 Mi-8 and Mi-17 medium-lift choppers. These helicopters have over five tonne load carrying capability and are also used to ferry troops.

New Delhi – With the Indian Ocean region becoming very vulnerable to terror threats, the Indian Navy has decided to beef up its security along the Indian shores and has decided to go in for additional surveillance planes as well as spy drones.

The Indian Defence Ministry has floated a global Request for Information (RFI) for the medium range maritime reconnaissance aircraft (MRMR) with an operating range of over 350 nautical miles, and HALE (high-altitude, long-endurance) unmanned aerial vehicles or spy drones, with a service ceiling above 40,000 feet and endurance over 25 hours.

According to the Indian Navy, the acquisition of MRMR planes and spy drones can only compliment the surveillance on the Indian shores. The MRMR planes will be equipped with radars as well as anti-ship and submarine warfare capabilities. The Indian Navy has already finalised the acquisition of 12 P-8I Poseidon long-range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft from Boeing at $3.1 billion. The first P-8I is slated for induction in early-2013.

SEOUL, South Korea: A South Korean navy ship sank after colliding with a larger fishing boat, leaving one sailor dead and two missing, the military said Thursday.

The 150-ton navy vessel was returning to its base following a routine patrol mission Wednesday when it collided with a 270-ton South Korean fishing boat in waters northwest of the southern resort island of Jeju, a spokesman at the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The cause of the collision wasn't immediately known.

Twenty-eight navy sailors were rescued, but one of them died while being treated at a hospital on the island. Two others were missing, the spokesman said on condition of anonymity citing department policy.

Some of the injured sailors were being treated at a hospital, while others were to be sent back to their base, he said. Navy vessels and helicopters were searching for the missing crew.

Damage to the fishing boat wasn't severe, the spokesman said. It was not immediately known how many crew were aboard the fishing boat, but another Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman said his office has not received any reports that any of them were injured.

New Delhi – The recent visit by the US President to India has paved the way for greater defence cooperation and is expected to boost military ties to a high level. With greater freedom in technology exchange and defence import/export and relaxation on controls, it is likely that Indo-US co-development of high tech weaponry will reach the maximum possible level.

Due to US sanctions and other US government restrictions, the Indian Defence Ministry and its Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has never joined hands with the US defence industry to produce critical weaponry or big-ticket projects.

On the other hand, India is doing joint development contracts like the $12 billion Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) project with Russia which will be signed next month and there is the $2-billion partnership between the DRDO and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to co-develop an anti-aircraft missile. The US has not come close to any projects of such magnitude because of government policies and sanctions.

PARIS: France and Russia have agreed to build jointly two French Mistral-class command and amphibious assault warships, with the possibility of two more, President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said on Friday.
"Following the October 5 tender to supply the Russian navy with two projection and command ships, the Russian authorities have chosen the consortium of France's DCNS and STX and Russian naval yard OSK," it said.
"Their offer initially covers the joint construction of two of this kind of vessel, which should be extended by the construction of two more," Sarkozy's Elysee Palace said in a statement.
The deal is the first sale to Russia of such naval high-tech by a NATO country and France's NATO allies, in particular the former Soviet Baltic states, have expressed concern about arming Moscow with modern Western weaponry.
Russia's choice of the French ships came after French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on a visit to Moscow earlier this month that France was ready to transfer military technology if it won the tender.

WASHINGTON: Giving up smoking may be a New Year's resolution for some, but all US sailors will now have to follow suit, as the US Navy moves to ban its crews from smoking aboard submarines starting on Friday.
In a country where fights against Big Tobacco are common, troops deprived of fresh air and natural light for months were surprisingly allowed to smoke in submerged submarines. But no more, after a Pentagon study found the risks of second-hand smoke were severe in those highly confined spaces.
Submarine Forces Commander Vice Admiral John Donnelly ordered the ban aboard 73 US subs, citing health concerns.
"Our sailors are our most important asset to accomplishing our missions," he said in announcing the measure in April.
"Recent testing has proven that, despite our atmosphere purification technology, there are unacceptable levels of secondhand smoke in the atmosphere of a submerged submarine. The only way to eliminate risk to our non-smoking sailors is to stop smoking aboard our submarines.

[PIB] Nearly three decades after it was first conceptualized, the Initial Operational Clearance for the Light Combat Aircraft was accorded today when the Defence Minister Shri AK Antony handed over a formal “Release to Service Certificate” of Tejas aircraft to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal PV Naik, at a function in Bangalore. The “Release to Service certificate” is prepared by Regional Center for Military Airworthiness, an organization under CEMILAC (Center for Military Airworthiness and Certification) which has thoroughly scrutinized the entire design, development, equipment testing and the results of flight testing of all the systems of Tejas over the last several months. This is the first time an indigenously designed and developed military fighter aircraft is being certified for Air Force operations. This occasion marks a very important achievement in the design and development of Tejas in particular and military aviation in the country as a whole. After this, Tejas aircraft will be available for use by the Indian Air Force Pilots.

NEW DELHI: Colourful tableaux depicting the myriad hues of country's diversity, a vibrant performance by students and armed forces in full battle regalia -- the Republic Day parade on Wednesday had 'mini-India' in itself.
Marching down from the Raisina Hills to Red Fort, the parade showcased India's 'unity in diversity' and the military might as thousands of spectators along the 8km long route cheered the marching contingents and the mechanised columns.
The well turned out and synchronised military and police contingents led by General Officer Commanding ( Delhi) Maj Gen Manvendra Singh marched proudly to the lilting tunes of bands through the Rajpath where President and Supreme Commander of Armed Forces Pratibha Patil took the salute.
The march-past was watched by the Republic Day chief guest Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, defence minister A K Antony and the country's top political and military brass.

CARACAS: A fire set off a series of explosions at a military arms depot in the city of Maracay in central Venezuela today, injuring about 40 people and leading authorities to evacuate the area, an official said.
Residents were being evacuated from areas within six kilometres (about four miles) surrounding the arms depot, Aragua state governor Rafael Isea told state television. He said about 40 people were reported injured in the explosions.
The cause of the fire was unclear. Information minister Andres Izarra went on state television calling for calm and saying that authorities were tending to the situation.
Isea said smaller explosions were continuing today morning and that firefighters would wait until they had subsided to approach those areas.