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Saturday, May 23, 2015

Combat Hawk Project Explained, Missing The Woods For The Trees, Standoff DEW For SEAD

While it is indisputable that the Indian Air Force (IAF) desperately requires large numbers of close air-support (CAS) aircraft (to replace the 95 already decommissioned MiG-23BNs and 140 remaining MiG-27Ms that will have to be decommissioned between 2017 and 2022), the solutions proposed by the IAF require some scrutiny. For, a lot will depend on A) how the IAF configures the mission avionics of its 40 Tejas Mk1s and 126 Hawk Mk132 advanced jet trainers (AJT), and B) the type of low-cost precision-guided munitions (PGM) to be acquired, so that such platforms become ‘survivable’.
The single-seat SP-series Tejas Mk1s, for all intents and purposes, will not be MRCAs, due to their sub-optimal radar warning receivers (due to unresolvable EMI issues) and lack of internal self-protection jammers. Consequently, the Tejas Mk1s won’t be ‘combat survivable’ inside hostile airspace and will therefore be used for only defensive counter-air and CAS missions, AND NOT FOR tactical interdiction missions. And since CAS missions are flown only A) in support of friendly ground forces engaged in contact battles, and B) for blunting an enemy’s multi-echelon thrusts used armoured and mechanised forces, such missions won’t be subjected to attacks by hostile ground-based MR-SAMs. The threats faced by the IAF’s Tejas Mk1s and projected Hawk Mk132 ‘Combat Hawks’ (when operating at altitudes between 5,000 feet and 10,000 feet above ground-level) will therefore be limited to only SHORADS and VSHORADS/MANPADS. And these threats too can be neutralised if the CAS platforms are armed with standoff, lightweight PGMs and not with licence-built OFAB 100-120 and OFAB 250-270 pre-frag bombs and 250kg and 450kg HSLD bombs, as is presently the case.
Another factor that has greatly enhanced the IAF’s ability to lend lethal, synchronised CAS throughout the forward-edge of battle area (FEBA) is the availability of a range of battlespace surveillance tools, such as RAFAEL-supplied RecceLite pods and their Bharat Electronics Ltd-assembled and RAFAEL-supplied RecceLite Ground Receiving Stations, IRDE-developed/BEL-built mast-mounted long-range thermal imagers (LRTI), IRDE-developed/BEL-built manportable long-range surveillance systems (LRSS), and RAFAEL-supplied Recce-U real-time ISR kits that will be mounted on board the locally-developed Rustom-1 MALE-UAVs. All these tools will go a long way in eliminating the prospects of blue-on-blue engagements of the type that took place during the 1965 and 1971 wars.
The ‘Combat Hawk’ concept calls for using them as single aircrew-manned platforms, for which the front-cockpit of the tandem-seater requires a radical upgrade. The upgrade package therefore includes the installation of:
* Two large SAMTEL-HAL Display Systems-supplied AMLCDs on which superimposed flight attitude/flight-control data as well as real-time target acquisition/tracking data will be displayed.
* A new HAL-built open-architecture mission computer.
* HOTAS controls supplied by UK-based ULTRA Electronics Ltd.
* Integration of ELBIT Systems-supplied TARGO helmet-mounted display system and Litening laser designator pod (LDP).
As for the weapons suite, there are several options available for both the Tejas Mk1 and ‘Combat Hawk’. For instance, lightweight PGMs (typically carried by triple-ejector or dual-ejector racks) like MBDA-built Brimstone, THALES-developed FF-LMM, IMI-developed Fastlight, IAI-developed MLGB, and Lockheed Martin’s Scalpel are worthy of being considered. 
For self-protection, WVRAAMs like MBDA’s AIM-132 ASRAAM and RAFAEL’s Python-5 are available for the ‘Combat Hawk’, while the Python-5 WVRAAM/Derby BVRAAM combination has already been selected for the Tejas Mk1. 
However, during CAS missions, it will be preferable for the Tejas Mk1s to be armed only with Python-5s for self-protection, since such missions—flown by either the Tejas Mk1 or ‘Combat Hawks’—always be escorted by the IAF’s  upgraded Mirage 2000Is or upgraded MiG-29UPGs conducting offensive air-superiority sweeps.

Missing The Woods For The Trees
All it takes for the Indian component of cyberspace to go into a senseless tizzy is for a ‘Bandalbaaz’ masquerading as a journalist to highlight selected quotes from a certain Minister’s interaction during a media conclave, and draw spectacularly outrageous conclusions. This in turn gets to be ‘assumed’ as being the gospel truth, with the end-result being a classic case of the blind leading the blind. Take, for instance, the following two selective quotes that originated 48 hours ago:  

“By buying 36 Rafales instead of 126, I have saved the cost of 90 Rafales,” Parrikar said, adding that this amount was around Rs.900 billion (US$15.51 billion). “We will use this money to buy Tejas LCA priced at around Rs.1.5 billion each,” he added.

“By buying 36 Rafales at a price less than (what was quoted in response to) the earlier tender for 126 aircraft, I have saved the cost of 90 Rafales. We will use that money to buy Tejas LCAs”.
Now here’s what it all means. Under the original M-MRCA procurement process for an initial 126 Dassault Aviation Rafales, the first 18 (12 single-seaters and six tandem-seaters) were to be acquired in flyable condition off-the-shelf, for which the Ministry of Defence (MoD) would have had to pay only the acquisition costs and related support infrastructure costs. For the remaining 108 Rafales that were to be licence-built in India (74 single-seaters and 34 tandem-seaters of which 11 were be built from semi-knocked down or SKD kits, 31 from completely knocked down or CKD kits, and 66 made from indigenously manufactured kits or IMK), the MoD would have been required to fork out A) the industrial production costs (for setting up the domestic industrial infrastructure and training a skilled pool of human resources); B) acquisition costs that were to be paid to the MoD-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL); and C) support infrastructure costs for creating the squadron-level and intermediate-level MRO facilities. 
Now that the original scheme for procuring 126 Rafales (plus 63 options) has been abandoned, the MoD will, under Phase-1, be required to pay only the acquisition costs and related support infrastructure costs for the first 36 Rafales. Under Phase-2, an industrial consortium comprising Dassault Aviation and its Indian counterparts from both the private-sector and public-sector will supply up to 153 locally-assembled Rafales. This consortium—to be dominated by the private-sector—will raise the necessary funding required (for creating the domestic industrial infrastructure and training a skilled pool of human resources) entirely  from the capital markets, and will charge the MoD only for the fleet acquisition cost. In other words, the MoD’s Department of Defence Production & Supplies will no longer be required to foot the bill for industrial production costs of the 171 Rafales.
Consequently, this enormous pool of money saved will be invested in R & D activities for the Indian Air Force’s Tejas Mk2 MRCA and the Indian Navy’s LCA (Navy) Mk2. Since both these MRCAs will be brand-new designs, at least five flying prototypes for each type will be required to be built, and each typeTejas Mk2 and LCA (Navy) Mk2—will be required to undergo at least 2,000 hours of flight-tests before they are awarded their respective airworthiness certifications. For all intents and purposes, these are herculean tasks that require substantial R & D funding-levels, about which I will soon elaborate further in greater detail below.

Standoff DEW For SEAD
But first, let’s dissect the joint India-Israel project to co-develop an air-launched, standoff EMP-emitting missile, which, for all intents and purposes, will be India’s first operational precision-guided directed-energy weapon (DEW). It may be recalled that in the night of September 6, 2007 in the desert at Al Kibar, 130km (81 miles) from the Iraqi border and 30km from the northern Syrian provincial city Deir el-Zor, a fleet of ten IDF-AF F-15Is conducted OP Orchard, which involved the destruction of heavy-water reactor then under construction with North Korean expertise and Iranian funding. In that raid, the IDF-AF had used a RAFAEL-developed precision-guided, standoff DEW to shut down Syria’s ground-based air-defence sensors—a move that would go on to be the optimum model for future surgical air-strikes. 
Israel offered to co-develop a variant of this DEW with India on July 7, 2008 during an official meeting in Pune with the DRDO. This was followed by two additional meetings held in Delhi with senior DRDO and IAF officials in August and September 2008. The joint R & D project officially began in mid-2010 and series-production of this DEW will commence later this year, with the Kalyani Group being the prime industrial contractor from the Indian side.   
This air-launched, fire-and-forget, expendable DEW, whose main role is to render electronic targets useless, will make use of the airframe of RAFAEL’s Spice 250 rocket-powered PGM, and will have a range of 120km. It is a non-kinetic alternative to traditional explosive weapons that use the energy of motion to defeat their targets. During a mission, this missile will navigate a pre-programmed flight plan (using fibre-optic gyros) and at pre-set coordinates an internal active phased-array microwave emitter will emit bursts of selective high-frequency radio wave strikes against up to six different targets during a single mission. The EMP-like field which will be generated will shut down all hostile electronics. Thus, the whole idea behind such a weapon is to be able to destroy an enemy’s command, control, communication and computing, surveillance and intelligence (C4SI) capabilities without doing any damage to the people or traditional infrastructure in and around it. In other words, it can eliminate an air-defence facility’s effectiveness by destroying the electronics within it alone, via a microwave pulse, without kinetically attacking the facility itself.
For the IAF, this air-launched DEW will be a ‘first day of war’ standoff weapon that can be launched outside an enemy’s area-denial/anti-access capabilities, and fly a route over known C4SI facilities, zapping them along its way, before destroying itself at the end of its mission. Because of its stealthy design, long-range and expendability, it will fly where no other manned airborne assets could and because it does not blow anything up, its use does not necessarily give away the fact that the enemy is under direct attack in the first place. In that sense, it is also a psychological weapon, capable of at least partially blinding an enemy before it even knows that a larger-scale air-attack is coming. The IAF plans to arm its upgraded Mirage 2000Hs and the yet-to-be-acquired Rafale MMRCAs with this DEW and also with RAFAEL’s Spice-1000 PGM.
Interestingly, Ukraine last February during the Aero India 2015 Expo was also showcasing an air-launched DEW, whose poster is uploaded below.

209 comments:

1 – 200 of 209   Newer›   Newest»
Rajesh Mishra said...

Nice explanation.

ROBOTIC said...

Parson sir, VMTs for such a concise and well written explanation.

A few Qs:

1) If this is true when will Phase-2 the private led consortium start manufacturing Rafales in India?
2) I'm assuming this rules out the possibility of ToT?
3)What are the chances the LCA MK.2 will be designed by HAL but produced by a private player?
4) Why the fuck is the DM/MoD of India not articulating such plans to th world and the people of India instead of talking in half-truths and leaving his words open to be misquoted? Why can't he just state this is what is going on so there is clarity and the media shuts up?
5) When will all 207 (36+171) Rafales be in IAF service?
6) What private partner will be in the consortium? I hope to god it isn't Reliance but I have a feeling it will be. I would prefer Tata or L&T

Ares said...

Sir, will the P-28 class corvettes be housing the S-70Bs the IN is looking to purchase? It makes sense for a vessel who is primarily tasked with ASW warfare to have the very best ASW helo in the world embarked.

Ares said...

+ sir when will the S-70B deal be signed for the IN, the Sea Kings are ANCIENT and how many S-70Bs will eventually enter service? The IN is growing at an impressive rate but flying 30+ year old helicopters off billion dollar destroyers (P-15A) is just embarrassing.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

ROBOTIC: 1) Plans for the Dassault Aviation-led industrial consortium will be finalized by the time the contract for the 36 flyaway Rafales is inked by late July 2015. 2) ToT will be along the same lines as that of the BrahMos Aerospace business model, i.e. a final assembly-cum-integration facility first, followed by Indian vendors progressively licence-building rotables & consumables, wiring harnesses etc that will be bought back by Dassault. The cake could well get bigger if a lot of such items could make their way on board the Tejas Mk2 & LCA (Navy) Mk2. The industrial consortium will therefore have to work out some innovative synergies between the Rafale acquisition programme & the Tejas Mk2/LCA (Navy) Mk2 R & D efforts. 3) None. ADA will not let go & will persist in designing the Tejas Mki2/LCA (Navy) Mk2, while HAL will lead the Indian industrial consortium for the series-production effort. 4) Because Indian politicians in general lack clarity of thought in such matters, & partly because it is still an evolving process & full details will be available only by late July 2015. 5) Not 207, but 189. Licence-assembled airframes will be available only at a rate of no more than 14 per month. 6) What’s wrong with Reliance or Mahindra Aerospace?

To ARES: The P-28As can carry both 10-tonne as well as 5.5-tonne NMRHs. Thus, S-70B Seahawk as well as Dhruv ALH’s naval version can go on board. As for probable contract signature dates, there’s still no clarity on that. Sea King Mk42Bs do need replacement along with the Ka-28PLs. In my view, the Mk42Bs will probably be replaced by heavier CH-148 Cyclone-type NMRHs while the Ka-28PLs will be replaced by S-70Bs. Immediate reqmt, however, is for 44 S-70B Seahawks.

Pawan said...

Dear Prasunji,

I am sorry to disappoint you with my less than common sense but trend analysis of our MoD since independence show that there are always high chances of such decisions taking place in MoD for considerations other than logic and rationality.

Regards,

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To PAWAN: Actually, the problem is that people have short memories & therefore are unable to contextualise. The controversy surrounding the Rafale MMRCA procurement should have been put to rest AFTER the IAF's CAS clearly stated that there was never a Plan B, meaning the Rafale was the only option on the table. The only thing that changed subsequently was the methodology to achieve that objective.

But one 'desi' journalist who utterly failed to comprehend this then resorted to butress his earlier erroneous conclusion about the Rafale procurement, i.e. the Rafale being a replacement for MiG-21 Bisons & MiG-27Ms, when this was never the case. But since he had pegged his reputation on this erroneous hypothesis both in the media & TV, he persists till this day on trying all available means to justify his ridiculous hypothesis. This is known as compounding the failure & then trying in vain to reinforce it. Consequently, the end-result is a convoluted news-report devoid of any logic.

SUVO said...

PRASUN DA,
What about this news---
"PRASUN DA,
What about this news---
"Indian company Reliance Infrastructure seeks partnership with Russia to locally manufacture nuclear submarines and stealth warships.Reliance Infrastructure and the Russian Defense Ministry have been negotiating the building of six modern conventional submarines at India’s Pipavav Defense,through technology transfer from Russia."

Unknown said...

Prasun da,

16 naval Alh, 16 S70B along with upgraded 10 Ka28 and 17 SeaKing 42B will make a total of 59 ASW Helos by 2020 and will be more than enough to meet IN immediate needs.

Hal will bid for 100 nos NLUH with naval version of Ka 226T along with 197 nos LUH requirement of IA and IAF to take to 300nos of 400nos production run at new Goa facility @30-40/year.

NMRH will be required only next decade to replace Ka 28 and Sea King by 2025 and Utility version for 4*LHDs and IMRH can be a candidate if developed by then.

Competitive bidding under present RM is pass.

Unknown said...

Prasun da,

According to IN chief S70B will be restricted to 24nos (16+8options).

So by 2025 24nos S70B+ 24nos ALH + 24nos NMRH=72 ASW Helos will be sufficient to fulfill IN requirement along with 100nos NLUH.

50 utility NMRH will be required to take the total to 75 nos by 2025.

buddha said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7ziFyRHQmw
nice futuristic vdo

Prav said...

@Prasun Sir
From the earlier thread .
More import content for the frigates ? Well just when the industry had figured out how to manufacture warship grade steel the goalpost moves . On the other hand is such a move justified considering that the cost for the FFGs has tripled ?
Is integrated electric propulsion being considered for the Project 17a ?

abhitej said...

You are day dreaming. You say that other journalist are wrong & you are right. You say that India will buy Rafales in numbers, that there will be local production. But the reality is that nothing is happening & nothing will happen as far as Rafales are concerned. India will not buy Rafales.

vishakh said...

Hi

http://idrw.org/indias-first-armed-uav-rustom-i-with-two-helina-missiles/

Rustom with Helina Missile ??

How effective sol will this be as Helina is Guided missile can take tanks and bunkers and support army tanks batallions also ??? Is this better sol than PAKistan UCAV with guided bombs

Unknown said...

Prasunda
Regarding lease of Kilo sub Sindhukirti, I am unable to agree with you. We need to cultivate Myanmar and Bangladesh. But we cannot get them as satellite allies. Unfortunately BDesi threat perception of India being what it is, the best way is trade and mercantile relations with them. We should keep them away from the China camp and at each other's throats. The potential of these countries is frightening as they can develop faster than India specially the East and NorthEast. We need to be extremely circumspect and get East India and the North East on a fasttrack economic and industrial development vector before we are outflanked by China and Bangladesh as well as Myanmar.

vishakh said...

Hi

In the future the Rustom-II will feature indigenous engines in the 165-210 HP class currently being developed by DRDO's Vehicles Research and Development Establishment in partnership with Tech Mahindra

Is this correct and actuators for Rustom 2 are developed inhouse or Outside USA as USA has blocked its access??

Parthasarathi said...

Dada,
A news for us :

Rumored radiation leak from a Jin class sub,


http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/08/02/2011080200717.html

Regards.

ROBOTIC said...

My apologies sir- 189 not 207,

So when will the remaining Rafales being built in India start to enter service?? And when can we expect the first batch of 36 from France to reach Indian shores?

Govind said...

Sir, is the range of Agni-V actually 5500kms since its weight is around 50tons and in contrast the Agni-IV weighs just 17tons but has a range of about 4000kms according to Wikipedia.

Moreover if the above stats are true then are we still lagging behind in efficient propulsion and engine systems.

Mayur M Manapure said...

Sir, recent comments of Raksha Mantri has sparked rumors of reviving Ikhwani or is it just Bandalbaazi by our desi patrkaar Popatlals?

Prav said...

@Govind MuraliKrishnan .
It is important to understand different modes of flight for missiles , like the K15 and K4 missiles it is speculated that the Agni 5 is a depressed trajectory missile . Flying a depressed trajectory makes a missile much harder to intercept on the other hand it causes a drastic loss in range/throw weight.
http://scienceandglobalsecurity.org/archive/sgs03gronlund.pdf

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SUVO: It isn’t RELIANCE or PIPAVAV. It is L & T that has been proposing the construction of Amur 1650 SSKs.

To SANJEEV KUMAR: Read the previous CAG reports & you will discover that the Sea King Mk42Bs, Mk42Cs & Ka-28PLs (barring those acquired after 2004) have all outlived their total technical service lives. They needed replacement yesterday. Therefore, 44 S-70B Seahawks are reqd, especially for those DDGs & FFGs that can each accommodate 2 10-tonne NMRHs. HAL has nothing to do with Kamov Ka-226T. Private-sector SUN Group will deal with the Ka-226T contract.

To PRAV: Why are you swinging from one extreme to another? Has anyone ever said or claimed that all future warships of the IN will be built entirely of composites? The metals to composites ratio in the warship’s superstructure will be 70:30 at best. Therefore, no goalposts have been moved, rest assured. For P-17A FFG, there won’t be any integrated all-electric propulsion system. Such concepts will first go on board the four LPHs.

ABHITEJ: LoLz! Why are you masquerading as a non-believer? Is it because the contractual negotiations are not being conducted within the confines of your bedroom? Or is it a case of “nothing is happening & nothing will happen” inside your skull because you are devoid of any grey matter inside that skull & hence such masterly intellectual inactivity?

To VISHAKH: How effective? The photo itself indicates that the UAV is devoid of any on-board fire-control sensors. So how good can that be? The DRDO will therefore be well-advised to stop releasing such photos showing only a ‘khokla’ concept vehicle. Till today the DRDO has yet to release a photo showing a fully-equipped Rustom-1 UAV in flight. Can you figure out why is that so? As for Rustom-2, let’s see if the diesel engines are indigenous or are supplied by Renault under a licenced-production scheme.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To KAUSTAV BHATTACHARYA: How can India prevent Bangladesh or Myanmar from the China camp when India is unable to supply the kind of military hardware that China willfully supplies?

To PARTHASARATHI: Dateline for that news-report is 2011!

To ROBOTIC: For the first 36 Rafales, deliveries will begin within 20 months of contract signature. For the rest, SKD & CKD kits will start arriving within 36 months of contract signature, which will give enough time for the Indian industrial consortium to build & commission its final assembly/integration facility.

To GOVIND MURALIKRISHNAN: Agni-V’s weight isn’t 50 tonnes by any stretch of imagination. The ICBM will eventually be able to attain distances of 7,000km.

To MAYUR M MANAPURE: In this case, the RM was extremely careless when opening his mouth. He cannot openly make such remarks in any public forum since this tantamounts to an open declaration of an intent that India is officially against, thanks to India’s endorsements of various UN covenants prohibiting state-sponsored terrorism. Furthermore, when one openly makes such remarks, they hardly qualify as coming under the ambit of covert warfare/operations. In fact, they’ve now become ouvert thanks to the RM’s uncalled-for remarks.

All that he should have said was that “India is perfectly capable of pro-actively countering across-the-spectrum ouvert conventional & covert sub-conventional threats & has the capabilities & capacities to achieve its desired politico-military objectives. There are always multiple options available & they will always remain on the table to be exercised, and any final call to be taken by the Govt of India on such matters will be dependent on India’s supreme enlightened national interests”.

Prav said...

Thank you for the answers ...
I am just baffled at the absurd cost of these vessels and am just trying to find some hidden cost in their construction.

Or perhaps a better question would be why ROK and PRC vessels are so cheap?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To PRAV: Vessels from ROK & PRC are cheaper because their shipyards plan their work & then work through their plans without any interruption & deviation. In addition, their shipbuilding facilities possess integrated industrial hinterlands & are not spread out in various corners of the country. In India, it is the exact opposite. Firstly, in India there is over-reliance on human labour instead of achieving an optimum mix of human labour & automation. Secondly, there’s excessive unionisation. Thirdly, under UPA-1/2 there was no inter-ministerial coordination, for instance between the MoD, Ministry of Steel & Mines, Ministry of Heavy Engineering Industries etc. Therefore, special –quality steel to be used for shipbuilding was not available in time & in reqd quantities from SAIL & therefore hull construction of Project 71/IAC-1 stopped for more than 1 year just 22 days after commencement of work. Then there was the incident at Khopoli when a truck/trailer hauling some hardware for Cochin Shipyard rolled down into a ravine in the Western Ghats, which again stopped hull construction work for another 3 years. For the 3 P-15A DDGs, there was a similar 3-year delay due to A) inability to freeze the vessel’s final design on time, & B) the contracted Ukrainian OEM’s inability to supply the transmission shafts (i.e. the OEM defaulted) & therefore a separate identical contract had to be awarded to a Russian OEM for supplying identical hardware. In case of the 4 P-28 corvettes, it was realised too late that the vessels would become overweight, this being due to calculation errors committed by the Naval Design Bureau & therefore the only remedy was to use conposites-based sub-structures in order to achieve optimum displacement. Placement of such orders for long-lead items causes the half-completed hull to rot, & this requires successive coating s of anti-corrosion painting, i.e. a domino effect that causes cost escalation & increased quantum of man-hours of work being reqd to achieve this.

Bottomline: it all boils down to synergy & synchronization of effort between the ship designers & the industrial vendors, which can be achieved only if there is a clear-cut industrial policy directive from the very top (i.e. the Union Cabinet) to get every stakeholder act in unison. That the exact opposite was in motion during the UPA-1/2 years is proven beyond doubt by the delivery delays/cost escalations of the Project 15A DDG, Project 71/IAC-1 & Project 28 ASW corvette construction programmes.

Vidyut said...

Prasun Sir,

This is with regards to your reply to Prav.

Could you please post some links which explain what you said further detail. Especially about the functioning of the ROK and PRC shipyards.

Mayur M Manapure said...

Sir , recent comments by Prince of Congress on Defense Policies such as Why NDA decided to scale down proposed Mountain Strike Corps is clearly an attempt to mislead Nation. Govt should counter this with valid explanations.
And a sane article
http://tribune.com.pk/story/891262/textbook-killing/#comment-2943059

SUVO said...

THANK YOU PRASUN DA for reply.
(1)Russian submarine design called the Amur 1650 is going to be sold to China.Then why L&T has been proposing the construction of Amur 1650 SSKs.
(2)Is there any chance left for Bharat-52 gun? Or,the prospect of this gun is dead?

Argon said...

@Prasun

If what you claim is true, then it will prove that Modi sarkar is indeed working for few big Gujarati companies and is willing to sacrifice nation's interests.
Why this deal was so important is that it would've helped our indigenous state owned companies gain critical competencies required for building modern fighters.
What you are suggesting is only continuation of earlier lego set like assembling only this time private companies with no expertise in defense will do so for a high profit.
Modi led BJP govt's image has already taken a severe hit. If they actually do what you've claimed, this will be the next biggest scam and it will ensure Rahul's PM seat in next elections.
We shouldn't have purchased even one Rafale after how the French backstabbed us in this deal.

Unknown said...

Prasunda, The above posts from you and others reveal the gap between China and India specially with reference to the manufacture of weapon systems. We simply do not have weapons or systems to sell/give to BD. The short term solution is trade relations with both countries and manage their political and economic environment to ensure better control. Maybe a military industry complex developing over the next decade would be able to leverage the inroads we make in other sectors to get them firmly in the Indian sphere of influence after a decade or so of strengthening India's Eastern and NE states. Just pray that China does not outflank us on all other fronts too by then!

Mayur M Manapure said...

aajtak Mig aur Sukhoi assemble karke kya ukhaad liya HAL ney....its not French but the UPA who fucked up the deal...why they had to go for the MMRCA DRAMA when they knew Rafale was the only suitable fighter. Please stop watching and reading stuff from Patrakar Popatlals.

Sukhbir said...

Prasun,

In How many years a THREAD on AERO INDIA 2015 will come up.

ROBOTIC said...

VMT for your reply sir

So when do you think we will see contract signings staking place for both phase-1 and phase-2 of the Rafale deals? This is the critical question.

Prav said...

That was a detailed answer thank you ..
You kept mentioning the UPA so have things changed now ?
You also mentioned that privateyards have the onshore land/facilities to emulate these practices ..
Are you following the construction of the Queen Elizabeth class Aircraft carriers . They rather proudly proclaim all the different regions in the Uk that they source materials and equipment for the carriers from . By that metric do you consider the UK shipbuilding industry inefficient as well ?

VIKRAM GUHA said...

PrasunDa,

(1) With the Central Govt. encouraging domestic private participation in Defense,do you think that Indian companies both big & small with actively participate?

(2) I am not sure if you got a chance to see Parikar's interview in Headlines Today but I felt he was very callous in stating that India will respond to terrorism with terrorism. How can an IIT grad be so naive.

VIKRAM GUHA said...

(3) Anil Ambani is scouting for partners in Russia so that Reliance can design nuclear submarines. Do you think this project will take off?

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/reliance-infrastructure-seeks-russian-partner-to-make-submarines-ships-at-pipavav-defence/articleshow/47378236.cms

As ever, many thanks.

Pawan said...

Dear Prasunji

I think in all probability, marshall law looking inevitable in Pakistan. It may happen in 6 months or year but it will. Zardari has already confronted the army and asked it to mind its business.

SIDDHARTH said...

Sir what do you say
is India having thermonuclear weapons
many Indian scientists say the test failed ti achieve desired results
many say its yield is low considering it a thermonuclear bomb design
SIDDHARTH

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To VIDYUT: There are scores of documentaries in YouTube that showcase the shipbuilding capabiklities of ROK & Chinese shipyards.

To SUVO: 1) The Amur 1650 SSK was officially offered to China only last November. L & T has been proposing it to the IN since 1999! Now that the SSN procurement effort has been given the green-light by the MoD’s DAC, there’s no need for the IN to procure any new-design SSK under Project 75I. And how can the Bharat-52 howitzer’s procurement even be contemplated when OFB is openly publishing advertorials in magazines saying that it is the sole industrial entity nominated by the MoD for producing the DRDO-developed ATAGS?

To ARGON: If Gujarati-speaking citizens of India—inclusive of native Gujaratis & Gujarati-speaking Parsis--are able to deliver while others can’t, then how can the Modi sarkar be held responsible for such a state of affairs? Why is it that only the Adani-developed port is being run efficiently while all other state-owned ports are functioning at Neolithic efficiency-levels? And are you saying that the industrial production infrastructure for building Su-30MKIs or Tejas Mk1s is not as advanced as that reqd for the Rafale? And in exactly what way has the French backstabbed India? Can you be specific? On the other hand, it is the Indian natives like AKA & now Rahul Gandhi & his ancestors that have been & are doing all the backstabbing.

Fact of life is that HAL between now & 2025 will be reqd to:

1) Create greenfield final assembly/integration facilities for the LCH & LUH/RSH helicopters.

2) Create greenfield final assembly/integration facilities for the IL-214 MRTA.

3) Create greenfield final assembly/integration facilities for the Tejas Mk2/LCA (Navy) Mk2 MRCAs.

4) Create greenfield final assembly/integration facilities for the FGFA.

Simple arithmetic will prove that HAL does not have requisite financial means for doing all this. Therefore, most probably, either the MRTA will have to be procured off-the-shelf from Russia, or HAL will have to create a JV with a private-sector industrial partner for producing it in India. The same route will have to be adopted for the Tejas Mk2/LCA (Navy) Mk2 as well.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To KAUSTAV BHATTACHARYA: Totally wrong conclusions. Especially under the Awami League governments, Bangladesh has always first approached India for weapon supplies. It is India that has not been forthcoming with appropriate responses. And that’s because India does not even possess a transparent & clear-cut weapons export policy. For instance, there’s no declared positive/negative list of exportable weapons. Everything is left to be decided by the opaque whims & fancies of the Ministry of External Affairs. Now, what will happen when Bangladesh wants to import Bharat-52 howitzers from the Kalyani Group? Will the Govt of India give the exporting licence to the Indian OEM? Or will it drag its feet by neither saying yes or no? I’m asking this because this is exactly what happened 3 years ago when Dhaka wanted to procure a Sarvatra bridging system from BEML & L & T. And why should the DRDO take part in defence expos abroad, when it is only the designer & developer, & it is unable to credibly answer any queries relating to delivery schedules & cost estimations?

To MAYUR M MANAPURE: For as long as the natives of South Asia (inclusive of India) make decisions & reach conclusions based on feelings of the heart, instead of making cold-hearted calculations in their brains, Patrakar Popatlals will continue to flourish. In their urge to achieve greatness within short timeframes, Indian decision-makers & common citizens alike often fail to realise that Samraat Asoka had to first become Chand Asoka (Asoka the slayer) before becoming Asoka the Great.

To SUKHBIR: Definitely before 2017 (LoLz)! Relax, starting from this thread, significant tit-bits from Aero India 2015 expo will be uploaded.

ROBOTIC: Have already outlined all that in my previous comments above.

To PRAV: Not at all. British shipyards embraced the concept of modular shipbuilding a long time ago. Matters were also helped by the fact that the UK has an excellent network of all-weather motorways & coastal barges. Consequently, unlike in India, their pre-fabricated modules don’t have to run the risk of hurtling down into ravines.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To VIKRAM GUHA: 1) It is already happening, & it was all explained briefly by the RM at the recent media conclave when he confirmed that the MoD-owned OFB’s production facilities were now being given long-term orders catering to a minimum of three years worth of reqmts. When such bulk orders are placed, it becomes a lot easier to plan financially & logistically. Actually, since the country has 5-year defence plans, corresponding orders for catering to five years worth of reqmts ought to be placed. It is now crystal-clear that the previous UPA governments were placing only ad hoc orders for only 1 calendar year, thereby making mincemeat of the five-year planning process. 2) All that the RM should have said was that “all options are available on the table for consideration & they will be exercised if & when the need arises”. I guess he got carried away, probably thinking erroneously that what he was addressing was an internal RSS shakha. It shows that he requires much further self-disciplining as an orator when commenting on such issues. The last thing anyone in his position ought to do is to speak his/her mind out. Like I stated above, India’s decision-makers in general don’t yet possess the mental discipline reqd for thinking with their brains, & are consequently more prone to expressing feelings of the heart.

To PAWAN: Not necessarily. The PA won't stage a direct takeover since it has already taken over & is calling the shots from behind, thereby keeping the PML-N govt at the front so that it is seen not be in the driver's seat. With each passing day, more & more Pakistanis are realising that the CPEC project will only directly benefit the Chinese & Pakistan's armed forces, since the money made by China from this trade transit corridor will be used to finance the force modernisation plans of only the PA, PN & PAF. Average Pakistani citizens won't benefit from the CPEC at all. But China has imposed a pre-condition: clean up Karachi & Baluchistan of all gangland activities. Hence the PA's & Pak Rangers' deployment in Karachi. And to keep the Sharif brothers happy, the Chinese are building the underground metro for Lahore. The Arab sheikhdoms on the other hand have ensured that Pakistan does not build the IP gas pipeline & therefore the Sharif brothers are importing LNG from Qatar, which, for Pakistani consumers, will translate into a final cost (inclusive of generation & distribution) of US$19 per MMBTU. Consequently, all textile powerlooms in Faisalabad are closing shop due to unaffordability, & this will create further unemployment.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To MAYUR M MANAPURE: Firstly, the Yuvraj of INC should realise that the term ‘Strike Corps’ itself is a misnomer, because in the Indian context people will equate the XVII Corps with the 3 existing Strike Corps of the IA. Therefore, secondly, XVII Corps should ideally have been labelled as a Rapid-Reaction or Rapid Deployment Corps whose formations (Divisions & Brigades) are capable of being launched via fixed-wing & rotary-wing aircraft along both the northern & western fronts. Thirdly, the Yuvraj should realise that his late grandmother & late father were both instrumental in systematically destroying all efforts made in the past toward achieving self-reliance in military R & D/military industrialisation. For instance, in the history of independent India, there were only 3 cases where the MoD acquired both the design data & industrial production data required for developing India-specific weapon systems. First one was in December 1959 when the IAF acquired the Folland Gnat from the UK & HAL decided to licence-build it. This was the very first time HAL had acquired all the design blueprints of any combat aircraft as well. It is for this reason that the IAF decided in 1972 to authorise HAL to develop a ‘bigger’ version of the Gnat—this being the original proposal by the IAF for the LCA. However, this proposal was never taken up seriously by Mrs Indira Gandhi in either the 1970s & early 1980s. This was the 1st significant sabotage of India’s military self-reliance efforts. This was followed in April 1986 by the OFB acquiring all design blueprints from Bofors AB of the FH-77B05L39-6 towed howitzer. Yet Rajiv Gandhi refused to procure OFB-built versions of this howitzer. Third case involved the Class 209/Type 1500 SSK, whose design blueprints were acquired from Germany HDW/IKL/Ferostaal consortium so that MDL could not only produce them, but also modify them as desired. Yet MDL weas not allowed to build more than two of them. Had MDL continued building these SSKs throughout the 1990s, there would never have been any need for Scorpene SSKs & that money could easily have been invested in the SSN programme.

So, the Yuvraj should look into his own dynasty’s backyard for skeletons before taking ill-advised potshots at others.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To RAJESH MISHRA: By all means call a spade a spade, that is not be doubted or questioned at all. What is being questioned about is the venue in which such a statement was made. If one openly in full view of the whole world declares his/her intentions, then automatically it ceases to be a covert option to be exercised. It comes out in the open & becomes ouvert. That's what's objectionable.

Rajesh Mishra said...

Yes! Now onward the RM should also try to be diplomatic and leave such statements for the likes of Subramanian Swamy.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

Watch this amazing 10-minute video-clip released yesterday by the US Defense Dept, which shows the complete functional mission management system of the Boeing P-8A Poseidon LRMR/ASW aircraft. This will give one a very clear idea of how the Indian Navy's P-8I LRMR/ASW platforms function as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IRMFRZZUJ4&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

Mayur M Manapure said...

1)http://tribune.com.pk/story/891715/three-killed-13-injured-in-hub-blast/
http://tribune.com.pk/story/891715/three-killed-13-injured-in-hub-blast/
Nobody's safe In Pakistan 666...
2)And sir, till when do you think govt will be able to complete the proposed route to Northeast states from Bangladesh?
And I guess it will take a couple of years for Manohar Parrikar to be a "Mature" RM....
3) And what is the progress of Kaveri Marine Turbine... lately haven't heard about it

Pawan said...

Dear Prasunji,

I think your comment about coup possibility undermine the vacuousness of punjabi muslim army.

Regards,

Pawan

Rithu Ghosh said...

"If Gujarati-speaking citizens of "India—inclusive of native Gujaratis & Gujarati-speaking Parsis--are able to deliver while others can’t"
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rajan-panel-report-its-a-battle-of-the-states/article5190290.ece
RBI report on where Gujarat stands in-terms of development.

And On Adani,Pleas compare debt ratio of any of his institution.
Adani relationship with PMO is phoney, India monetary support to Mongolia, was actually routed in funding Adani solar power project.

vishakh said...

Hi

Can you suggest expected arnament that might be brought with 36 rafale lile types of bobms , Missiles , EO sensors etc

Rajesh Mishra said...

We should not envy Gujarat. I think Gujarat is not the most developed state, rather it is the state most open to development during the present times.

Rajesh Mishra said...

When Communism returns back, your point will be automatically validated.

joydeep ghosh said...

@Prasun da

a few observations

1. If money is put into LCA Mk2/NLCA Mk2 then the LCA Mk3, a stealth version will follow & it will boil down to toss between LCA Mk3/AMCA

2. India desperately needs platforms like Zubr hovercraft for A&N/future Marine command, huge numbers of CH47/V22 to make MSC/Corps 17 viable

3. HAL/IL MRTA is a dead ringer

4. The no. of Rafales may reach 246 as if Rafales are made under PP or PPP model no pvt co will make less than 200 jets to recover money from greenfield project. Same case with C295 (min. 100) that will replace entire An32/HS748.

5. Still wish India can restart uprated HDW production at Katupally for Bangladesh and some S American nations.

6. Recent Pak-Afghan intel deal will spell disaster for India

7. your idea that Irbis SSN may be leased is wrong indications are Khaslot SSN will be leased more likely

thanks

Joydeep Ghosh

AniluvG said...

Rithu

This article doses not reflect the reality.

All of FDI in TATA Group will show in Maharashtra as Mumbai is the head quarters .

But the Mines , Power generation etc might happen in MP Orissa or Jharkhand.

So the gujarat story still holds

Prav said...

@Ritu Ghosh .. Looking at total debt is pointless .Debt to GDP ratio is the actual indication .Gujrat comes in at 24 %. Non special category states average out at 25 % while Special category states average out at 35 %.

Go peddle your lies elsewhere.
http://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/Publications/PDFs/SFASB220114_FULL.pdf

Pintu said...

Prasun Da, kindly share your views regarding this article :

http://idrw.org/afghan-taliban-leaders-meet-secretly-in-china-report/#more-64882

Subho said...

Prasun, a truly strategic opportunity in the military helo space has presented itself with UTC deciding to spin off its helicopter division - Sikorsky ! Price tag would be somewhere in the $ 7-9B ( pre-tax) range. It might be a fantastic time for either the TATA's or Mahindra to pick up a strategic stake if not an outright purchase at this time. What do you think ?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2015/03/13/utc-looks-to-unlock-value-from-sikorsky/

sathead3 said...

Prasun, I am sure you know but that video the USN released - they had taken a CNN video crew along for filming the whole thing :-) Pretty interesting, nonetheless.

Ram Bharadwaj said...

Prasun

Is the MR-SAM for IA different from MR-SAM for the IAF??

A deal has been signed with Israel in this regard

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

Have uploaded new data & images above to the narrative.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To RAM BHARADWAJ: For the IA, the Akash-1 is the MR-SAM while for the IAF, the Barak-2 with 70km-range will be the MR-SAM.

To SATHEAD3: That’s right. The CNN film-crew was on-board.

To SUBHO: That won’t be possible. Read this:

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/05/25/sikorsky-is-for-sale-but-can-anyone-afford-it.aspx

To MAYUR M MANAPURE: 2) It can be done within 3 years if all concerned agencies & departments are mobilised & are all on the same page. 3) Because only 1 technology demonstrator engine is available. For a proper prototype development programme, at least four engines are required for assessing the product’s service-life & TBOs.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To PINTU: These are the facts: The PA was hoping that President Ashraf Ghani will insist on the residual US forces remaining in only a non-combatant role. Yet, when Ghani went to the US last April, he requested just the opposite, i.e. he wanted the US to lend close air-support to the Afghan National Army. This terrified the PA because such a capability will enable the US to 1) once again stage surgical extraction operations against the likes of Ayman al-Zawahiri similar to what happened in May 2011 against OBL; & 2) US airborne teams could at any time stage surgical raids against Pakistan’s suspected nuclear WMD storage sites. This obviously has caused enormous headaches for both China & Pakistan & therefore Pakistan is trying out a carrot-and-stick approach against Afghanistan by first pushing the Afghan Taliban to wage coordinated, positional warfare against Afghanistan in the Kunduz area, & secondly using the Chinese to bribe the Afghan Taliban so as to dissuade them from attacking Chinese industrial mining activities inside Afghanistan. All this has also resulted in the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) inclusive of Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Belarus to stand up & take notice of what China & Pakistan are up to. Tajikistan hosts a Russian military base and has called for Moscow to step up its military assistance to the country. It is the only CSTO member of the three Central Asian states bordering Afghanistan, which also include Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Tajikistan and Turkmenistan would be unable to contain a hypothetical breakout of fighting in Afghanistan's fractious northern provinces without significant outside help. Uzbekistan, a country of 30 million which has a short border of around 140km (90 miles) with Afghanistan, quit the bloc in 2012. Stability in Uzbekistan means stability in Central Asia. If Russia is interested in this, alleges Uzbekistan, why does it practically give away medium, tanks to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and sell them for twice the price to Uzbekistan? Turkmenistan, like Uzbekistan has turned to China and the West to upgrade its military. While the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which includes China as well as Russia, is growing more active" in Central Asia, the CSTO remains the foremost security bloc in the region. At present there are just under 10,000 US troops stationed in Afghanistan. While Afghan leader Ashraf Ghani secured a pledge from President Barack Obama last April to slow down scheduled withdrawals for 2015, the United States remains committed to pulling out all but 1,000 troops by the end of 2016. Ashraf Ghani’s only credible options for securing military hardware replenishments therefore remain India & the Russia-led CSTO. That’s why former Afghan President Hamid Karzai met NaMo in Delhi 3 days ago & the photo of that meeting too was released by the PIB as a signal for things to come. And India too will be well-advised to forge closer links with CSTO (which borders Gilgit-Baltistan), & not with the SCO.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To JOYDEEP GHOSH: Are you kidding? The NDS-ISI agreement covers only coordinated counter-insurgency operations & counter-narcotics joint operations. And at the ongoing multilateral HEART OF ASIA conference in Kabul, India yesterday formally stated that she shares a 106km-long common border with Afghanistan (i.e. referring to Gilgit-Baltistan). So, what do all these indicate?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/mod-okays-3b-plan-to-buy-15-chinook-and-22-apache-copters/article1-1351230.aspx

Contract signature likely to take place during US SECDEF Ashton Carter's official visit to India next month.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Need-to-factor-in-our-106km-border-with-Afghanistan-NSA/articleshow/47391553.cms

Vijay said...

Dear Sir

VERY MANY THANKS for this additional information about a DEW That you have uploaded

Sir So in this weapon Will there be NO EXPLOSIVES at all

Has this weapon been tested or is it being acquired off the shelf

What will be the likely weight of this PGM how much time it takes to reach the target

Can it be JAMMED by the enemy

And lastly Can we Use the One TON
glide bomb along with this

SO that what ever electronics are
still working can be blown up the
OLD FASHIONED way ; LOLz

Thanking you Once again

Anonymous said...

PrasunDa,

1. Why does the US gifts billions of dollars of weapons to Pakistan despite the fact that they know these weapons will be used against India? A recent US Congressional Research Service has stated the same thing

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/US-military-aid-better-situates-Pakistan-to-wage-war-against-India-Expert/articleshow/47352683.cms?intenttarget=no&utm_source=TOI_AShow_OBWidget&utm_medium=Int_Ref&utm_campaign=TOI_AShow

2. Which Shells will be used by the Indian M-777? Is it the M-795? M-982 Excalibur is extremenly expensive.

3. Is it legal if DRDO or any Indian company designs homemade shells for the M-777?

Regards,

Sujoy

Sukhbir said...

To Prasun

THANKS FOR THE REPLY

Can We Indians do any thing without external HELP. We already have fair share of delays, failures and controversies in all our desi projects like AKASH Missile, Pinaka MBRL, Prithvi's , Agni's, Tejas's (Lolzz) etc.,. Why no one in the GOVERNMENT learns ANYTHING.

On the TOP OF THAT foreign companies wants to have JV's with DRDO this AMUSES me a LOT

I highly DOUBT that AKASH missile + PINAKA MBRL will EVER be effective in war looking at their failures in 2014 and the time DRDO took to materialize these projects.

SO my question is Why a country like Israel(a highly developed country in terms of Arms development) wants to have a JV with DRDO

Why can't we import DEW off the shelf in lieu of some techologies or guidance in projects like Tejas or Arjun Tank.

Chabadi said...

Sir,
1) when will this DEW enter service with the IAF?
2) Is the IAF going to get SPICE 250s for the Mirage 2000s, Rafales and LCAs? Quad packs of this weapon would be a devastating load out for out strike missions
3) The Jaguars have been integrated with the CBU-105, will the IAF's Mirage and Rafales get this capability too? It seems stupid to have such a lethal weapon on a plane that will be out of service in the medium term whilst the Rafale is going to be around a long time in the IAF.
4) When will we see contract signing for the phase-2 Rafale deal and who do you think will be the Indian partner making them in India?

raw13 said...

@Prasun,

I read this and its pretty good paper, thought you might enjoy reading it, if you haven't done so already:

Indian Military Modernization and Conventional Deterrence in South Asia
WALTER C. LADWIG III (Department of War Studies, King’s College London, UK)

http://users.ox.ac.uk/~mert1769/Conventional%20Deterrence%20in%20South%20Asia.pdf

WRT to your border with Afghanistan, we can all dream, cant we?
Have you seen the reports of pak flags in IOK? Why do you guys make an issue of it? Its in the hearts of the young generation there and they are far more proactive wrt to demanding their rights.

joydeep ghosh said...

@Prasun da

i have read materials referring to NSA Ajit Doval clearly stating

1. He talked about Chinas hypocrisy regarding the MacMohan line where it accepts the line with Myanmar, but refuses to acknowledge Indias claim as per the same MacMohan line

2. He also talked about need to factor in Indias 106 km border that gives India access to Wakhan corridor through Gilgit Baltistan

But the thing is, it changes nothing as both Pakistan and China will continue to show India the 'Budo Aangul'

My observation is to seek lasting peace one day India will give up PoK, GB, Transkarakoram, Aksai Chin, disputed areas of Uttarakhand, and Arunachal as simply India cant cope up with Chinese Dragons economic might that will easily keep carrying the Pakistani 'Lejud' for as long as it wants, leaving India unable to cope and assert itself on the situation

thanks

Joydeep Ghosh

Unknown said...

Hi prasun sir,
This might be a stupid question but please bear with me.
Can the government sell the type 209 ssk IPR to a private indian company like Pipavar or Adani and allow that company to build subs and export them? They can give initial order of 6 ssk under project 75i and the private company can be given technical consultation from naval design bureau and drdo,and the company can rope in HDW for guidance and to design & provide an AIP pod for the same.As its a proven design it will be easy to export,and being a private shipyard sticking to quality and timeline stipulated by the navy wont be too difficult.
Also in the meantime MDL can be given follow on order for 3-4 additional scorpenes and by the time these follow on boats are delivered the 209s would have entered production.

Is this idea realistic?
If not, what are the reasons for it?
Eagerly awaiting your reply as always.
VMT in advance.

Vijay said...

Dear Sir

Does India have ANYTHING SIMILAR to DB 110 RECONAISSANCE pods

Pakistan is using these pods ; ie PAF is using these DB 110
on its F 16

raw13 said...

I am sure in a past thread you said Prasun that the INS Sindhukirti is a write off and HSL would never be able to put it together. Now it seems suddenly this "write off" is well and alive testing missiles? Were you wrong or are you proven wrong?

Anonymous said...

Prasunda,

Prince Turki's interview with Arab news on Pakistan: hahahaha

http://www.arabnews.com/featured/news/749396?quicktabs_stat2=1

I Patel said...

@Ritu Ghosh,

I am a Gujarati and I know more about Gujarat than you know. And I have no doubt that you are a patented GANDOO.

All these poor people of Gujarat that you talk about are outsiders from Bihar, UP, Bengal, Orissa How difficult is it for you people to go back to your own states? Why don't you go back to Waste Bengal and try to improve your uncouth state first before lecturing Gujaratis?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To I PATEL: Arey yaar, why is sudden uncalled-for hostility & abuse? Can't an objective debate be conducted sans any emotional sentiment? Undoubtedly RITU GHOSH doesn't understand that one specific developmental model of a particular state cannot be applied across-the-board to all other states simply because each state is unique & has its own strengths & weaknesses. In Gujarat's case, however, what is indisputable is that it has had a Chief Minister like NaMo who is not only passionate about his state's socio-economic development, but he also wholehearted embraced new technologies to ensure a seamless state administrative practice. To the best of my knowledge, I can yet to come across any other Chief Minister with a similar level of dedication. Sharad Pawar, for instance, would choose to care more about the Vidarbha region than about southern Maharashtra.

Then there's the literacy-level to be taken heed of. In that sense, Kerala has become the first state to achieve a Zero growth-level in population & if this continues, a declining population-level will ensure an increase in per capita GDP of the state & if that state's huge foreign exchange remittances are judiciously re-invested in strategic infrastructure development (& not just in new supermalls & hypermarkets), then Kerala may well become India's first fully-developed state.

Mayur M Manapure said...

1)http://tribune.com.pk/story/892174/pakistans-elite-forces-top-list-of-worlds-most-formidable-special-units-report/
Ispe roye ya hase...tanik samzha deb...yeh padhke sasura hamar dimaag lul pad gaya...
What I can tell is, the guy who wrote this piece mistook the last for top position (Worldwide top ten list on net starts from lowest position)

2) What's wrong with INC? They are opposing everything that says "private" Partnership. Be it defence, Railways....Calls it crony capitalism.
Let's say Mukesh Ambani is Modi's crony. But what they can't accept that the biggest crony Congress ever had was Dhirubhai Ambani. Like they didn't favoured the corporates. How the hell Modi is supposed to achieve make in India without private partnership.
3) How much "Kala Dhan" is supposedly satshed abroad?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To Anon@8.05PM: So it has taken a ‘Brotherly Muslim’ country like KSA to articulate Pakistan’s prime national security concerns when I had been stating (since 2004) that the issue of the Durand Line is a far greater threat to Pakistan’s existence than any other type of threat emanating from India! And yet ask any Pakistani & he/she will vigorously oppose this POV. Let’s now see which Pakistani opposes Prince Turki’s narrative. The fact remains that an average Pakistani has a totally skewed world-view & regional-view & is today obsessed with all kinds & hues of conspiracy theories that are in total defiance of ground realities. It is all explained beautifully here by Yasir Peerzada, a discerning & well-intentioned Pakistani:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ql7cWAv25o&hd=1

To RAW13: Sindhukirti will be used by the IN as a training platform for undersea warfare. Neither was nI wrong nor was I proven wrong. WRT Afghanistan, it isd the Pakistanis who are dreaming & it has since been proven by the remarks of Saudi Prince Turki. Pakistani flags were hoisted in only 1 suburban locality of Srinagar, & not in every nook-and-corner of J & K. I personally don’t find anything wrong with that, since Pakistani flags have been hoisted & flown even during previous cricket tournaments at various stadiums in India & that too by non-Muslim Indians. What you fail to understand is that Indians are neither against Pakistan’s flag or against Pakistan’s existence. On the other hand, it is the average Pakistani who has been force-fed contrarian conspiracy theories since his/her birth that today contributes towards his/her national identity crisis. Any student in Pakistan will find it impossible to reconcile between Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution that’s based on Anglo-Saxon law & a parallel Sharia legal system. The fact that the 2 can’t co-exist together cannot be understood by today’s Pakistani student youngsters & as a result, they get totally confused & therefore even educated students today are gravitating toward ISIS. Then there’s the ‘zaroorat se ziada thekedari’ syndrome afflicting Pakistan, which arrogantly proclaims that Pakistan is the sole repository of all Islamic intellectual wisdom. But when this POV is conveyed to ‘brotherly’ Muslim countries like it was to Egypt in 1954, then King Faroukh of Egypt retorted by saying that “Islam wasn’t born on August 14, 1947!” I have come across various Arabs & Turks who’ve consistently stated that despite Islam being born in the Arabian peninsula, none of the Arab sheikhdoms & kingdoms ever used terms like ‘Islamic’ or ‘Muslim’ to denote their countries’ official names, & yet Pakistan dares to do so.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To VIJAY: The IAF has had CONDOR LOROP pods from ELBIT Systems since the previous decade & now also has RecceLite pods from RAFAEL.Already stated in the narrative above that this weapon was used by the IDF-AF inside Syria way back in 2006. Weight will be the same as that of the Spice 250 PGM. Can a jammer ever be jammed? Glide-bombs are different from rocket-powered PGMs. Don’t mix the two together.

To JAY BHANUSHALI: Building a submarine is far more complex than building a warship. It takes almost a decade for a shipyard’s workforce to acquire the necessary work skills & proficiencies. While the Govt of India is the sole owner of IPRs, it can always share them on a case-by-case basis with any Indian shipyard for the sake of building such SSKs. But why share them with another shipyard when MDL already possesses the skills & industrial facilities reqd for churning out Class 209/Type 1500 SSKs? Don’t forget that it took 10 years from 1989 onwards for various Indian industries to acquire the expertise (despite mentoring by their Russian counterparts) for fabricating various components meant to go on board the S-2/Arihant & hull fabrication began in only mid-1998. And despite that, the S-2/Arihant had to wait for 5 more years after its launch before commencing its sea-trials.

As for future SSK orders, it is best to stick to the Scorpene SSK & order three more equipped with AIP, & devote all other resources earmarked earlier for Project 75I into the SSN procurement effort. The IN requires no less than 12 SSNs for operating within the IOR.

To JOYDEEP GHOSH: Why this sudden defeatist attitude? Have you reached a stage where you are beyond hope & beyond despair?

To CHABADI: 1) By early next year. 2) Not for the LCA. First for the Mirage 2000s, then the Rafales & possibly also the MiG-29UPGs. The IN too will exercise an option for procuring them for the MiG-29Ks. 3) Jaguar IS with CBU-105s will be used for close air-support missions. CBU-105 is used for attacking infantry formations only. Rafale is a deep interdictor & therefore will be armed with standoff PGMs, not with weapons meant for close air-support. 4) All those details will be worked out by this July.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SUKHBIR: Not without external help. That’s because all breakthrough R & D work is being undertaken abroad & not inside India. Today, those that achieve such breakthroughs & own the consequent IPRs call the shots. Delays in DRDO-led R & D projects take place due to faulty project management practices & lack of due diligence at the apex-level within the MoD. Akash-1 SAM is a Cold War relic. Any end-user today will prefer SAMs that are encased within caninsters because this guarantees a long shelf-life. On the other hand, everytime an Akash-1 has to be operationally deployed, it has to be taken out of its storage canister & then mounted on the TEL. And in the end, all such missiles that are not fired cannot be stored back inside their cannisters: they have to be sent back to BDL for refurbishment. This is a financial & logistical headache that can easily be avoided if the IA, like the IAF & IN, procures the Barak-2 MR-SAM which is perpetually cannister-encased even during operational deployment & therefore does not have to sent back for any refurbishment during its 10-year lifespan.

Reason why any foreign OEM has no option but to team up with DRDO for co-developing any advanced weapon is because most of the R & D institutions in India are state-owned. It is the private sector which owns more than 70% of India’s manufacturing sector, while 85% of the S & T laboratories are govt-owned.

To SUJOY MAJUMDAR: 1) Why? Because selling them ensures that Pakistan is forever dependent on the US for spares support & this tap can be opened or shut down any time, leaving Pakistan with no more than 15 days worth of spares in-country. 2) OFB-made shells as per the original Bofors AB design will be used. 3) Since BAE Systems now owns Bofors AB, it can be said that the OFB-made 155mm rounds all conform to the QRs originally specified by Bofors AB & now BAE Systems.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To MAYUR M MANAPURE: 1) The book INSIDE THE PAKISTAN ARMY by UK-based Carey Schofield details all the low-intensity warfare campaigns that the SSG has been involved in between 2003 & 2014 & it details all the mistakes made by the SSG. On top of that, a few of its cadres were found guilty of treason since they tried to assassinate then President & COAS Gen Pervez Musharraf, while a few others after retirement became mercenaries & targetted the PA at the behest of the TTP. That should explain how good the SSG is! 2) INC is suffering from a debilitating identity-crisis. Both the Yuvraj & AKA are trying to out-do each other when it comes to digging up ever-deeper holes for burying themselves. 3) ZERO. What is stashed abroad are corporate profits & it is impossible to prove them as being ‘Kala Dhan’ in this day & age when offshore financial havens themselves are legal. 99% of the ‘Kala Dhan’ is inside India as ‘benami’ investments in property & real estate. That’s why the likes of Subroto Roy of Sahara are allegedly having a hard time trying to explain the sources of the income revenues & business models of the so-called non-banking financial companies (NBFC). Dig a little deeper & the linkages with money laundering schemes will easily emerge. Then the Samajwadi Party & Amar Singh will have a lot of answering to do.

Subir said...

Sir,

1.Are the various radars such as 3DCAR, Rajendra , command and control facilities of Akash sam system properly EmP hardened to withstand such an e bomb attack?

2.Is there any joint R&D project with Elta to suitably harden various radars,C4I in service to withstand such an e bomb or e warhead carrying tactical missile? If Pakistan Af or Plaaf is already having such a capability it will pose a huge risk to our radar,IADS,C4I networks and severly degrade our war fighting capabilities. So what steps are we taking to counter this?

3. Is the Arudhra radar, EL/M-2282 MFSTR and other elements of theIN Lrsamand IAF Mrsam engineered keeping this new threat in mind? Can they perform adequately after being subjected to em pulse from such a payload?

4. What about the frontlinefighters of IAF? Are the Su-30mki,MiG-29UPG and Tejas mk1 having full emp hardening? If an airbase such as Jodhpur having Su-30mki is targeted by a e bomb or cruise missile will it put the combat acs out of action? Shouldnt IAF adopt measures to address this?

5. Is any jammer based on Spice 250 being developed besides the e bomb similar to Mald-j?

6. Arent any conventional warhead Spice 250 being procured by IAF for MiG-29 , Su-30mki ?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

More headaches for the INC's Yuvraj:

http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/left-right-centre/pm-manmohan-singh-knew-of-2g-scam-ordered-me-to-cooperate-ex-trai-chief-pradip-baijal/368818?hp&video-featured

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SUBIR: 1) Nope. 2) Not yet. 3) Not yet known. 4) No. No such development is talking place. 5) What for? 6) No.

LOST said...

Sir, see what the DM is now saying:

"I'm not saying we will buy more Rafale; I'm not saying we will not buy more," said Parrikar.

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/parrikar-volte-face-opens-door-for-more-rafale-fighters-115052700033_1.html

If India is going to sign this "phase-2" deal with an Indian partner and procure more Rafales why doesn't he just come out and say it???

Day by day I am resigned to the fact that 36 Rafales are all we will ever see in IAF service and that fills me with despair, dread and a lot of pain.


The NDA have truly fucked us. I wasted my time voting for Modi. He isn't making the situation, he is making it worse! 36 Rafales are a joke, such a small number will not change the IAF's strength one bit but will actually be costly in terms of maintain such a small fleet in the long run. At least the UPA were committed to 126-189 Rafales and with them we would have seen this large number in service.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To LOST: Why are you in such a hurry to judge a book by its cover, or start counting the chickens until they're hatched? Isn't it crystal-clear to you & everyone else by now that instead of licenced-production of the Rafales (excluding the first 36), the RM is hinting towards only the licenced final assembly/integration of the Rafales that will arrive from France in SKD & CKD condition? What the RM meant when he spoke about the saving of costs WRT 90 Rafales is that the huge quantum of funds reqd for setting up the industrial infrastructure in India for licence-building the Rafales has now been saved & can therefore be re-invested in other projects. Licenced-production of any imported weapon system does not translate into operational sovereignty or self-reliance of any type. What good is the ongoing licenced-production of Su-30MKI when all the raw materials continue to arrive from Russia? Do you know that cockpit canopies/transparencies are being imported in flyaway condition from Russia? So of what use is a a licence-produced Su-30MKI if its cockpit canopy is suddenly unavailable from Russia or its arrival is delayed from Russia, during which time the existing imported canopy turns yellow due to wear-and-tear & the pilots are unable to even glance out of the cockpit? How will this Su-30MKI be able to taxi, leave alone reach the runway for takeoff? Why licence-build such imported platforms at costs that are 225% more expensive, when compared to importing them in SKD condition?

Successive govts in India have vomitted out all kinds of lies concerning self-reliance in defence production through the licenced-production route. In the end, licenced-production confers no special benefits at all & boils down to the same as final assembly/integration. Difference is while the licenced-production is cost-prohibitive, the final assembly/integration option is very much cheaper. And looking at the state of financial affairs of the MoD with a huge backlog of pending acquisitions, the sooner the one gets rid of discredited practices like licenced-production of imported weapons platforms, the better for India! So, don't get lost & get a life!!!

BW said...

"Under Phase-2, an industrial consortium comprising Dassault Aviation and its Indian counterparts from both the private-sector and public-sector will supply up to 153 locally-assembled Rafales. This consortium—to be dominated by the private-sector—will raise the necessary funding required (for creating the domestic industrial infrastructure and training a skilled pool of human resources) entirely from the capital markets, and will charge the MoD only for the fleet acquisition cost"

But the final price will include the cost of setting up industrial infrastructure anyway, won't it? After all, someone has to pay for it, and the cost won't be borne by the private sector, but passed on to the customer - the MoD. Or am I missing something here?

Unknown said...

RAW13, Prasun is proven right 1000times more than Koran or muhammed.. Was muhammed wrong or is he proven wrong?
Leave Islam and save muslim lives. After all Islam kills more Muslims everywhere, everyday than anyone else.

S Nair said...

@Prasun your notes of Pakistan is amusing as usual. All the problems with Pakistan starts with Zia's policy of 'Sharization', rest is history :). Jingoism and fancy religious stories never built a stable state.
And i mostly feel Indian have contempt of its neighbor, rather than seeing it as case study.Free and rational thinking should be the base, rather than religious belief.

Rajesh Mishra said...

With such standards I think the end of Pakistan666 is rather going to be a huge comedy.

raw13 said...

@Prasun,

I am afraid you have an indian who used my handle to ask you about the sub's.

Before I came on your forum and started reading BR, I used to think, that indians have no hatred of us Paks. But boy was I wrong. Your comments have nothing but pre-conceived concept of us. Seriously. Most Paks otherthan Karachi(migrants)/some Kashmir's, really dont care about india. Because we look west not east. It was a reality check for me but I also know a lot of Indians who are decent human beings.

What was interesting in the Prince Turki interview, is that previously you had taken 1 sentence out of it to support your point of view whilst leaving the rest where he said he understood why Pakistan didnt support SA & that they need to support pak more. Whilst you were saying that we will send a Division in two weeks.

wrt Afghanistan, we have started treating them like we should always have done....embrace them, help them and integrate them fully into our economy. Already Pak rupee is used in Kabul bazar as much as Afghani. That is what you are seeing. Is that the reason why india has decided to abandon Hajigak iron ore mines in Afghanistan?

Kashmiris raise the Pak flag where they live, in IOK/ or students in Indian uni's. Most of IOK is empty or too mountainous for habitation. By arresting these young people you are not really sending the right message to the other Kashmiris that want to join India or are you?

@S Nair, you have captured Prasun's amusing musings perfectly :-).

rad said...

hi prasun
Coming to EMP weapons , i believe EMP weapons are a once use weapon and blow up sending a massive pulse of emp around to fry electronics rather than a active antenna based weapon that could only plant malware in the radar system.An active antenna based weapon in a small size spice 250 would definitely not have the power to fry electronics.Please explain
A pic depicts a mirage 2k mounted with Israeli weapons, does it mean that we have been given software access to the mirage 2k ?

Pintu said...

Prasun Da, many many thanks for your reply , also it appears that Daesh(ISIS) are trying to be a customer for Pakistani nuke , :P

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3093244/ISIS-claims-infinitely-closer-buying-nuclear-weapon-Pakistan-smuggling-US.html

@I Patel, while agreeing respectfully with Prasun Da, about what he says about development model of Gujarat as well as having great respect for Gujarati People, I must ask you to ,refrain from any abusive comments against Bengalis further.

vishakh said...

Hi,

The configuration of FMBT is finalized regarding weight and weapons ??

How much will it differ from current tank ??

Will it be 3 or 4 person tank ??

Will it weigh 50 Tons ,55 Tons , 60 Tons??

VIKRAM GUHA said...

Prasun Da,

Could not help laughing after reading this post of an NDTV reporter on Twitter

After protests that a bar should not be located close to statue of Father of Nation in #Guntur #AndhraPradesh, statue of #Bapu disappeared

https://twitter.com/umasudhir/status/603508719893098496

vishakh said...

Hi

the electronic Bomb you mentioned may be useless against tagets like TEL for Nuclear Missile and Nunclear Installation . Also India is also susceptible to it as Pak will get it from CHina . Is there any defence against it ??

bhoutik said...

*the 'illegal bangladeshis' in northeast states - are they really illegal b-deshis or rohingyas? or a mix of both?

*is the hostility toward rohingyas in myanmar because of religious difference or difference in resemblance? if it is the latter, and the difference in resemblance has a lot to do with darker color, where does it put india in their perspective? do myanmarese see themselves as descendants of mongoloids? or a mix of desi and mongoloids? what about the rest of the asean countries?

*bangladeshi st.martin island - is it being used by any country (u.s. or china) to spy on naval activities in the bay? any american monitoring of indian navy done from thai airstrips? if not - is there a future possibility given the rolling out of arihant series?

*are american ship and aircraft movements from diego garcia tracked by india? indian fishing trawlers that stray within garcian waters and get apprehended by security personnel - innocent trawlers or....? is diego garcia a threat in terms of snooping on indian activities?

Sukhbir said...

To Prasun : Thanks for the reply

buddha said...

sir what would be the future of 2 Mistral-class amphibious assault ship built for the Russian Navy ? will India be approached to purchase them ?
waiting for your blog of INdia's reply to pak naval submarine asset provided by Chinese
sir once you told DRDO is planning to make a 1700km range supersonic missile for attacking aircraft carrier ?
sir whst is the status of IAF's own conceptualized missiles that u told us? is there any progress?
sir what is the status of DRDO nuke capable LACM SUPERSONIC MISSILE OF MAC 3 SPEED
ANTI-RADIATION VARIATION OF ASTRA -----HOW FAR DRDO HAS REACHED TO BUILD IT?
SIR A FOOLISH QSTN---CAn Indian Navy consider nuclear power 12,000 tonnes destroyers to accompany India' future nuclear powered aircratf carriers

joydeep ghosh said...

@Prasun da

I object judge saab, on the contrary i am an optimist, it is me who has always been optimist wanting to see many things done by India, like

1. build 350 Su30mki, 250 Rafales, 300 Tejas, others (possibly amca 150)
2. build 18 Scorpene in 3 tranches, 1st normal, 2nd AIP powered, 3rd AIP / LACM powered with first 2 tranches upgraded in mid life
3. build HDWs at Katupally (if possible for export)
4. recognize Somaliland and build a military base to help counter piracy and assert presence over IOR
5. go for Smiling Buddha 3 to reaffirm Thermo or TNW capability

none of these may be possible. making India vulnerable to PakChin pincer

i am an optimist that doesnt mean i shouldnt take woorst case scenario into account, its bcoz of that i made the previous observation

thanks

Joydeep Ghosh

interest said...

dear prasun
here is some point Dr chander speak out in an interview with Economictimes.com.
1- if I have to take LCA Mark II and start today, I am sure within the next eight years we can get the Mark II.
2-we are working in a system where it takes 10 years to buy a Rafale aircraft. Mind you, just buy and not make. If we take 10 years to buy an aircraft, everywhere else the same process is followed and delays happen.
3-I read that Daimler is planning to take on 1,000 engineers every year. They have 4,000 as on date, for their R&D centre in India. DRDO has 7,000 engineers. With 7,000 engineers, we want to do missiles, aircraft, tanks, submarines, ships, everything. Where is the ratio? Obviously, government cannot keep on expanding. This has to multiply at the industry and the academic institutions. Once that happens, Indian industries and Indian scenario will change.
your stand please.

Jon said...

Informative article on the unique Ka-226T:

http://defencyclopedia.com/2015/05/22/ka-226t-russias-unique-helicopter-now-in-india/

Jon said...

More on Afghanistan:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/25/world/asia/as-taliban-advance-afghanistan-reluctantly-recruits-militias.html?_r=0

financeblogger said...

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150528/jsp/nation/story_22585.jsp#.VWclbdKqqko

Is the above another piece of yellow journalism? If not then please throw some light on the same?

Anonymous said...

PrasunDa,

1. The Russian media is reporting that the PAK-FA is ready to go into production next year.

http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150525/1022530075.html#ixzz3b9W5Zotg

Parikar said in Parliament earlier this month that the delivery of the FGFA to the Indian Air Force is on conclusion of the R&D phase and that contract has not yet been signed

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=121471

So does this mean that India no longer wants the FGFA bit would rather go with the homegrown AMCA?


2. Why is Germany still lobbying the Modi Govt to purchase the Eurofighter? Is there a possibility that GOI will purchase Eurofighter as well?

http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/germany-lobbies-india-to-buy-eurofighters-submarines/1/219838.html







saurav jha said...

Hi Prasun,

What do you think of news about G2G deal with Germans for P-75I ..? Are we again looking to buy blueprints for HDW subs like we had in 80's..?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SAURAV JHA: Nothing of that sort is happening. It is the same as what was asked from Japan last March. To me this is a non-story & is a classic example of a 'desi' journalist approaching the MoD's Media Relations Branch for some tit-bits & being fed peanuts! If indeed the plan was to procure more SSKs of a new design, then the MoD would not have approved a 2nd upgrade of the four Type 877EKM Kilo-class SSKs that were already subjected to as mid-life upgrade starting in the year 2000.

To SUJOY MAJUMDAR: 1) What it means is that the MoD will not release any money for the series-production phase until the prototype FGFAs obtain airworthiness certification, i.e. the FGFAs equipped with IAF-mandated avionics suites & other customisation will first have to be delivered for flight-tests by the IAF's ASTE. 2) All lobbying for the Eurofighter EF-2000 has stopped. As I explained above, such speculations are the result of certain 'desi' news-reporters not having anything worthwhile to write about.

To FINANCEBLOGGER: To me this is a non-story & is a classic example of a 'desi' journalist approaching the MoD's Media Relations Branch for some tit-bits & being fed peanuts!

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To JON: It is now crystal-clear that Pakikstan is desperately trying to force Aghhanistan’s hand through the coordinated Taliban attacks in Kunduz & Helmand. What Pakistan wants is to force Afghanistan to agree to the fencing of the Afghan-Pak border exactly along the Durand Line, i.e. force Afghanistan to agree to the sanctity of the Durand Line. This no Afghan leader will ever agree to, & therefore 48 hours ago Afghanistan’s National Security Council refused to endorse the MoU inked between the NDS & ISI. And after the sudden visit to Delhi of Hamid Karzai late last week & his meeting with NaMo, India is expediting the purchase of emergency military hardware from Egypt & these consignments will be shipped from Egypt to Chah Bahr in Iran, from where they will be transported to Afghanistan by road for the Afghan National Army.

To INTEREST: He is generally correct about the dismal state of R & D in India. The R & D gestation period of 32 years for the Army’s version of Akash-1 SAM certainly is not something to be proud of. Nor can India afford to pump the large sums of money reqd for cutting-edge military R & D, be it for the DRDO or for the private-sector. Therefore, the only available route is through smart partnerships like those that have made the BrahMos supersonic MRCM & Barak-2 LR-SAM/MR-SAM projects possible.

To JOYDEEP GHOSH: Forget new SSK procurements, period. A submerged SSK can at best cruise to a maximum speed of 22 Knots & that too only for a few hours. How the hell will it ever be able to keep up with a submerged SSN cruising at close to 30 Knots? And why Somaliland? Can’t India do some offshore reclamation in the Lakshadweep islands chain just like what China is doing at seven shoals & reefs in the South China Sea?

To VISHAKH: For targetting TELs of ballistic missiles the Spice 1000 PGM will be used. Ballistic missiles are always launched from static, pre-prepared launch sites with concrete surfaces & therefore their locations are all known.

To VIKRAM: LoLz! Looks like common-sense is staging a comeback into India! Definitely something to cheer about.

To RAD: Contrary to what many wrongly believe, EMP weapons don’t permanently ‘fry’ any electronics. Instead, the targetted electronic hardware is rendered useless & inoperable for at best 40 minutes. After that, one only has to reboot the hardware & everything gets back to normal. Therefore, standoff DEW PGMs will not target any hostile electronic hardware for more than a 5-second burst of microwave energy while cruising & this consequently enables one such DEW PGM in a single pass to target up to seven different types of hardware that together make up an air-defence system. The idea is not to jam the radars, but disrupt & temporarily render unusable the radar, its processors, displays, the air-traffic control/management system, ground-to-air & air-to-ground communications, etc. The standoff DEW PGM is therefore a SEAD weapon, & not one for DEAD.

Upgraded Mirage 2000s of the IAF all have an open-architecture avionics suite, meaning any type of weapon system can be easily integrated in a plug-and-play manner. Same goes for the MiG-29UPGs & Rafales & Jaguar IS/DARIN-3 as well.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To RAD: Active phased-array transmitters on standoff DEW PGMs are very much like those on the ELT-568 jammer on board the MiG-29UPGs. Reason they're used is because they can electronically steer the microwave beam-bursts--a vital reqmt since the PGM will be cruising & therefore changing its location.

Arup said...

Sir,1.We are expediting the purchase of emergency military hardware from Egypt and supplying them to Afghanistan. Can you say something more about this? What type of military hardware is being procured? And why are we buying from Egypt?

2. What happened to thr Afghanistan proposal to buy some of our IFG and T-72M tabks and otger equipments? Hasnt the Cabinet aproved that?

3.Are any more purchase of Spyder SR batteries planned in the immediate future?

4.Besides Tunguska M1 and the 48 Shilika which was recently upgraded are there any other sam platform which can provide air cover to our strike corps and IBG and fire on the move?

5.Has any more new units/formations been raised under the new XVII Mountain corps other tgan 2 infantry mountain divisions that had already been raised? What about artillery assets of the 17? Are they nrw formations or they had been taken from other regiments?

spanky's Blog said...

Hi Prasun,
Our friend Mr.Shukla is again opened a front against Rafale. Seems like he isn't getting a proper payout. LOL!!!! Now he is hiding behind anonymous sources is MOD and Euro fighter sources. I think because of his army background he believes in opening too many fronts to confuse the enemy.

He is also now lobbying for BAE HAWK. It seems he wants IAF to fill up his fighter squadrons with Combat Hawk to reduce shortfalls. The guys is a pure sucker. Why not lobby for LCA which can perform the job of light fighter much better and is also more advanced aircraft.

I don't understand what is he smoking these days.

Thanks
Swarop

rad said...

hi prasun
I did not realize that the mk2 and mig-29 had open architecture avionics. I thought the su-30mki had it as it was bought at a later date with our specs. MY question is if after the mission the dew pgm crashes it will be always be scrutinized by the enemy so tech may fall into their hands.How do we avoided it?.
Is there a program to make a larger nuclear propulsion system for the later carriers and do you think it is do able with out help. we have an agreement with the NSG is it ok legally for russia to help us build reactors?.
ajay shukla thinks the hawk is better than the LCA , what a nincompoop.!If people accept the hawk against the lca then it is only deep bias against the LCA .I really wonder how a hawk is going to survive against a f-16 .!?

Arpit Kanodia said...

Sir,

What happened in last 6 month in Kashmir? Why so much Pak flag rising ceremonies happenings? Even 50 people are supporting a rally, but Govt. itself sensationalizing the news, not curbing or doing any kind of cover up.

All the separatists were sleeping for a decade? And just suddenly they started to listen inner voice?
I dont know whats going on. Logically speaking, it doesnt add up.

raw13 said...

It has always been thus, people in IOK have always raised Pak flags, ladies wearing green and white dress. Just look back at the pics from any time Pak was playing india at cricket or during kargil war. Its just now indians feel that they can impose a ban on what Kashmiri's are allowed to show or not. Today its flags and tomorrow it will be no URDU and no Salwar Kameez. You have gotten more insecure :-).

Pawan said...

Dear Prasunji,

RM has done what you and other sensible people were advocating about separation of role-DRDO chief and Scientific Advisor to RM. Now I am sure that our Defense Ministry is on right track. Both people seems very talented & have good track record under belt.

Regards,

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

In two separate interviews given yesterday by Pervez Musharraf & Dr Samar Mubarakmand, both confirmed that the Pakistan Army is the SOLE custodian of Pakistan’s nuclear WMDs:

Pervez Musharraf: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3A0cSUQKTc&hd=1

Dr Samar Mubarakmand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHkYrrUnOT8&hd=1

Anonymous said...

What do you make of this, USA competing with CHINA for Bakistan:

http://spectator.org/articles/62844/time-reboot-relations-pakistan

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To Anon@8.46PM: Utter rubbish! Pakistan is still very much dependent on World Bank & IMF for financial survival. China is nowhere near the US & EU in terms of ensuring Pakistan's economic survival. Even the project financing packages from China for the CPEC are all US$-denominated. If the US wants to sabotage the CPEC, all it has to do is impose financial sanctions on the Chinese banks involved in project-financing & all project financing for the CPEC will disappear. China is therefore still decades away from matching the financial clout of the US, especially WRT Pakistan.

To KAKU SH & RAW13: No, not in J & K as a whole. Only in certain suburban localities of Srinagar, especially after the customary Friday prayer sessions. By no stretch of imagination are Pakistani flags accompanied by pro-Pakistan slogans raised in any other corner of the Kashmir Valley, or in Jammu or in Ladakh or anywhere in northern J & K. Anyone who claims otherwise is only living in cuckoo-land.

To RAD: All combat aircraft being upgraded nowadays have open-architecture avionics suites. The standoff DEW PGM self-destructs after mission accomplishment. All that can be salvaged is a tangled mass of metallic debris & burnet silica! IAC-1 will be nuclear-powered with a 190mWT PWR. As for the Combat Hawk & Tejas Mk1 for CAS, BOTH ARE DOABLE, provided certain parameters are followed. I’ve listed them above in detail in a brand-new narrative. If the IAF modifies some of its offensive air superiority, no hostile MRCA will be able to mess with the Combat Hawk or Tejas Mk1.

To SPANKY’s BLOG/SWAROP: This is what happens when one rushes to premature conclusions. 3 days after quoting the RM & misinterpreting the RM’s remarks, it is now the RM himself who has proven this ‘desi bandalbaaz’ wrong with another on-the-record quote regarding future Rafale MMRCA procurements! Consequently, those who still daydream about the Eurofighter EF-2000 can only be afflicted with ‘terminal stupidity’!

Regarding employment of Combat Hawk & Tejas Mk1 for CAS, IT IS DOABLE, provided certain parameters are followed. I’ve listed them above in detail in the brand-new narrative uploaded above with new accompanying illustrations. The Combat Hawk will thus become a dual-tasked platform: an AJT during peacetime & a CAS platform during wartime.

To ARUP: 1) The very same type of hardware of Soviet/Russian design that was imported from Egypt by the CIA & ISI during the Afghan civil war of the 1980s is being imported this time as well. Why from Egypt? Because it is price-competitive. 2) Afghanistan never asked for IFG/LFG or T-72M. All it wants are 122mm towed field guns & T-55 medium tanks. 3) Of course. 4) The OSA-AKMs & Strella-10Ms. 5) Those are all still ‘works in progress’.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

Interesting reads:

http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/05/pentagon-looking-at-integrating-anti.html

http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a15775/us-air-force-lasers-jets/

Anonymous said...

Hi Prasun,

It would be much wise to make Mk1 Advanced trainers like you had suggested then use them for CAS. Its like using a fighter for helo role has to be supported by other fighters. Just like for saving some coins i need a piggy bank and for saving the piggy bank i need a cupboard and so on best let it be a trainer and solve the issue in the MK2.

rad said...

to raw 13
No body gives a shit whether those scoundrel in kashmir waves your flag, some people get upset so be it. Urdu is an Indian language and not pakistani for your information and you are speaking an Indian language.There is no cultural history for pakistan how ever you may think.Even the music you play is indian and the basic notes are sa re ga ma ---etc and not arabic music. So If you dont like it stop hearing and singing indian music.If you take out every thing indian you will be an empty shell.The only past time left would be to blow yourselves up and try to hump 72 virgins.

rad said...

hi prasun
nice scoop on the combat hawk. But my basic question is how does a hawk survive a f-16?. In a close in encounter, may be HMS with the great asraam may offset the advantage, but we have to have a AESA jammer like the one on mig-29 and rafales to counter the amraams or carry the Israeli jammer pod. So in my thinking the hawk can be armed with only 2 asraam missiles, a center tank, a jammer, Its unfair to load the hawk with more ordinance.It will become sluggish.
Is it that the existing hawks are to modified or new single seaters are to be procured ?

Anonymous said...

PrasunDa,

Interesting news. Interesting because I did not think that our "secular media" will cover such topics.

A Marathi man denied an apartment in Mumbai because he is not Marwari or Gujarati

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Intolerant-society-Marathi-man-denied-flat-in-veg-only-tower-in-Mumbai/articleshow/47476428.cms

Frankly, I have seen similar discrimination in Kolkata as well. Marwaris create exclusive conclaves for themselves and do not allow people from other communities to settle there.

Thanks,

Sujoy

Anonymous said...

Sujoy Majumdar, There is no need of such news. This is Desi Media creations. These has been happening in India since 1947. Why now? The Media wants to create an issue that this happened because of Modi Govt.
I know a few places in Kerala exclusively for the "church going members" of a Christian Sect. Others are not allowed to live or buy property, even from other Christian sects.

Mayur M Manapure said...

http://idrw.org/india-may-use-tactical-nukes-to-target-china-pakistan-economic-corridor-najam-sethi/
Ee sasura ka bakbak karat hai..
Why would we obsessed with CPEC

Mas said...

Hi Prasun, What do you say about the on going agitation by leftist student organizations in IIT-Chennai on the ban on a student organization? I never seen in any other civilized country where student organizations disturb the educational activities and support anti-national elements. The organization that was banned was instigating divisions among people. My strong feeling is that educational institutions should not be used for political purposes. This ban has brought prominent people voicing their opinion. One over-night-famous writer expressed her support to students' agitation. Is IIT-Chennai is another JNU in making?

AniluvG said...

Prasunda
It would be great if you keep on posting links which you like and read. You may also like to suggest books etc which you community (readers) should read. Essentially logical stuff.
Regards
Aniluv

Arpit Kanodia said...

@Mayur M Manapure

He saying a top level RAW officer revealed all the operational plan to a Damascus based newspaper. Hilarious.

@PKS Sir,

If you are in MoD, then you choose Mk.1 or Hawk for CAS specified role?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To MAYUR M MANAPURE & KAKU SH: What else can be expected from the land from where the most spectacularly outrageous conspiracy theories are always born without fail? And it does not end there. Another theory being circulated concerns R & AW supplying tactical nuclear WMDs to ISIS & staging an explosion somewhere in Europe or North America!!! And to beat it all: these tactical nuclear WMDs will have the label 'Made in Pakistan' stuck on them! This theory has been circulating around since May 24 & it was first aired here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6yCCA-F8Xg&hd=1

And these morons expect the world to believe that when a nuclear weapon explodes, the weapons manufacturer's label will somehow survive the blast & emerge as some kind of proof! If the likes of Najam Sethi want to buy such hogwash & peddle it around, then they have only themselves to blame for being afflicted with terminal stupidity.

And contrary to what many Pakistani conspiracy theorists would like to believe, India is only concerned about the CPEC's footprint in Gilgit-Baltistan (part of PoK) & gives a damn about the rest of the CPEC. In any case, former Pakistani Foreign Secretary openly stated earlier this week that altogether 4 or 5 countries are worried about the CPEC, & not just India.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To RAD: The answer is simple: launch barrier CAPs (BARCAP) like how it was done in mid-1999 during OP Safed Sagar, when MiG-29s were escorting Jaguars * Mirage 2000s. If the Combat Hawks & Tejas Mk1s are accompanied by escorting MRCAs like Mirage 2000I, MiG-29UPG or Rafale or Su-30MKIs, the F-16s or JF-17s won't be able to disrupt the CAS sorties.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To KAKU SH: As I've explained above, it is not about this OR that. Both will have to be used for CAS. Tejas Mk1 with a sub-optimal radar warning receiver suite will not be able to protect itself when attacked by MR-SAMs, SHORADS or BVRAAMs. Therefore, it won't be effective as either a defensive counter-air or tactical air superiority combat aircraft. It will therefore have to be used only for CAS & that too when it is escorted by MRCAs like Mirage 2000I, MiG-29UPG or Rafale or Su-30MKI.

To MAS: My personal view is that students should NEVER get involved in any manner or kind of political agitations or union activities, period. But what is far more distressing is that such incidents are only reflective of a far deeper malaise: that of openly challenging the writ of the state & deliberately/intentionally opposing the rule of law. The entire world saw this last March when opposition MPs defied the imposition of Section 144 & marched from Parliament to Rashtrapati Bhavan (as if they were mimmicking the charge of Ahmed Shah Abdali's hordes into Panipat) to hand over a memorandum to the President. Ordinary Indian citizens will therefore ask: if our political leaders are allowed to defy & break the law at will without any repercussions, what stops us from doing the same?

It is this bigger picture that's lost on most of India's politicians. Even the current President of India condoned such an action. This would never have been the case during the tenure of President Dr S Radhakrishnan.

Prav said...

You had mentioned before that arming hawks is a waste f money and a suboptimal solution . What has changed ?
Is the internal EW suit of the tejas still in testing ?
What prevents the use ofthe EWsuit of the Mig 29 UPG on the tejas.


Also in my opinion Political activity happens in government run colleges mostly .
In private colleges the student will probably be expelled .

Dushyant hardaha said...

sir why kejriwal lead delhi govt want snooping devices(to read email sms tape phones)
when law & order not comes under delhi govt
does he want to snoop PMO or MPs foreign embassies delhi police

Rajesh Mishra said...

In Pakistan666 everywhere the analysis follows the conclusion.

Jon said...

No need for 126 Rafales: Parrikar

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/No-need-for-126-Rafales-Parrikar/articleshow/47489167.cms

Pawan said...

Dear Prasunji,

Again Mr. Parrikar created confusion for desi journalists. Kripa kar iss veshey par roshni daale.

Regards,

Pawan

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To PAWAN: Most untrue. He said only the first 36 Rafales will be bought off-the-shelf in flyaway condition & no more will be acquired in flyaway condition, meaning the rest will be acquired in SKD & CKD condition for final assembly/integration in India. Here's the original interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ck-QfZU3UnE

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To PRAV: What has changed is that the Tejas Mk1's self-protection suite is sub-optimal in performance & all SP-series Tejas Mk1s won't have any internal ASPJs (locally developed or foreign) installed on them. Since desperate times call for extraordinary measures to be adopted, the Combat Hawk option now becomes attractive, but ONLY IF they're armed with lightweight PGMs, & not mere gravity bombs.

Unknown said...

Welcome news,
Modi to visit Israel, first by an Indian PM

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Narendra-Modi-to-visit-Israel-first-by-an-Indian-PM/articleshow/47491228.cms

sbm said...

Prasun, I note my last post disappeared.
I have listened to the interview and note that the '36 only" seems to relate to a PTI interview today.

I really want to believe you but Parrikar does not make clarity a priority !

However, I note Parrikar spoke about putting some of the cost saved from Rafale into Tejas or "some other make in India aircraft" !

What does that mean ?

sbm said...

I note that Parrikar spoke of 5 more Su-30MKI sqn (15 sqn of 21 ac apiece would equal 315 aircraft - which does hint at your comments on more Su-30 being ordered or is it that orders for that number have already bee placed ?).

When will the re-engining of the Jaguar take place - the F-125N seems to be the sole choice ?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SBM: In that PTI report you’re referred to, the statement “Defence minister Manohar Parrikar has said the NDA government will buy only 36 of the French aircraft, to be used for strategic purposes, and no more.” does not appear as a direct quote—meaning this was the local news-reporter’s own 'Indian-style' interpretation of the RM's verbal narrative. So far, no one from the Govt of India has been directly quoted as saying that only 36 Rafales will be inducted into service by the IAF. Until such an explicit statement is made, we all need to reserve our judgements. About diversion of the saved costs for either Tejas Mk2 or any other ‘Make in India’ aircraft, it is logical now (in the aftermath of the CAG report on the Tejas LCA project) to infer that the entire R & D project was implemented in an extremely dysfunctional manner, especially from the project command & control/management standpoints. And if the current state of affairs continues, then even the Tejas Mk2 project is doomed to fail. The answers are all contained within the CAG report, which needs a detailed dissection to get to the bottom of the matter. I’m on to it & will upload it in a new thread. As for the IAF’s total projected Su-30MKI inventory, it was confirmed way back in February 2009 during the Aero India expo that the IAF will eventually end up procuring 350 Su-30MKIs. Jaguar IS fleet’s re-engining with Honeywell F125 will take place for sure, since the Jaguar IS is now the only available tactical all-weather interdictor. But since the re-engining entails only a drop-in installation, the F125s will be bought ofgf-the-shelf & shipped straight to the air bases housing the Jaguars. Contract signature for procuring F125s is expected only next year.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To JAY BHANUSHALI: About time this long overdue visit took place!

To DUSHYANT HARDAHA: The AAP is now discovering that any state govt administration of Delhi is nothing but a 'dikhaawa' for maintaining appearances. In reality, this state govt has no executive powers, since all such powers are held by the respective Union Ministries non account of the fact that the National Capital Region lies within Delhi. Even most residents of Delhi are not aware of such facts & that's why they totally fucked up by voting the AAP to power. Now let them suffer since they chose to be ignorant of the ground realities.

sbm said...

Thanks Prasun. Would you say that the principal failure of the Tejas is not its technical issues but the insane way the project was implemented ? If there is to be "another make in India aircraft" do you see a Gripen comeback or a SAAB-HAL-ADA thing creating a "Tejas-Gripen Mk2" ? In terms of contracts to date, how many Su-30MKI has India actually contracted for ?

Thanks for the answers.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SBM: If the foundation of a project itself is flawed, then everything built above it is also on shaky ground. Consequently, both airframe design & airframe engineering will be adversely affected. And this is exactly what has happened. Greatest mistake was to make R & D effort ADA-directed & ADA-driven, when logic would have demanded that HAL be entrusted with this responsibility since HAL had both the in-house expertise as well as deep linkages with Europe’s aerospace industries to fall back on in case foreign mentoring was reqd. ADA on the other hand was created from scratch & had only rookie techies with no prior industrial engineering expertise. Consequently, even the development process of sub-systems like EW/self-protection suites was flawed & time-consuming. Plenty of lessons have been learnt, but the burning questions today are: will corrective measures be taken & shortcomings admitted? Or will the stonewalling continue? If the answers are NO & YES, then that will leave the door open for an imported ‘Make in India’ MRCA. Contracted for Su-30MKIs to date number 312.

Rajesh Mishra said...

Before going to Israel, Modiji should certainly make a tour to Italy. Otherwise his Israel visit is going to create a lot of Halaagullaa by the Nawabzade and his few followers.

sbm said...

Thanks again. I might email you later on an unrelated topic.

According to PTI - this is a direct Parrikar quote:

"We are not buying the rest. We are only buying the direct 36," Parrikar told PTI when asked what will happen to rest of the requirement.

Does this still suggest SKD/CKD kit manufacture ?

sbm said...

Has the work started on that OEM-India collaboration for Rafale assembly ? It is a great idea.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SBM: What it means is that only the first 36 are being bought directly in flyaway condition from Dassault Aviation. Follow-on orders in SKD & CKD forms will be placed with an India-registered, India-based Pvt Ltd company in which Dassault Aviation will be 49% shareholder & Indian OEMs like Reliance, Mahindra etc will retain the remaining shares. It is this new corporate entity that will do final assembly/integration of the follow-on Rafales that will be ordered in future. Another advantage of this procurement methodology is that the IAF will no longer be reqd to maintain a Rafale-specific Base Repair Depot for conducting depot-level MRO. All such activities will be conducted by the Dassault-led Indian industrial/corporate entity, thereby saving through-life product-support costs of the Rafale fleet even further.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SBM: Creation of this Dassault-led, India-based corporate/industrial entity is 'work in progress'. Modalities are being worked out now & will be ready for liftoff by late July.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To RAJESH MISHRA: The Italy trip won’t be possible for any Indian govt official for as long as the cases concerning the two Italian Marines remains unresolved. It is the UPA-2 & the Congress-led state govt of Kerala that played stellar roles in tying themselves into knots that cannot be untied now. The same is the case with the AW-101 VVIP transportation helicopters. Unless NaMo finds an innovative way of wriggling India out these two messy issues (created by the Nawaabzade’s own party), an official trip to Italy won’t be possible.

buddha said...

SIR I HAVE RAISED SOME QUESTIONS TO YOU TO GET ANSWERS.But i have not got yet sir.
as far it appears that road map to tejasmk2 or FGFA is not clear yet...rather foggy

Vijay said...

Dear Sir

Please answer my question

How will the Hawk defend itself against hostile Aircrafts

WITHOUT a RADAR ?

Even the Jaguar is being fitted with a ELTA 2032 radar

Please explain how is it done without a radar

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

Radars are not reqd for self-defence. What is reqd are radar warning receivers, missile approach warning systems, internal jammer, & chaff/flare countermeasures dispensers. Jaguar IS/DARIN-3 has EL/M-2032 MMR for using ground mapping, weather monitoring & terrain avoidance modes during interdiction operations.

bhoutik said...

does the indian navy maintain a periodoc security presence near australian waters?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To BHOUTIK: Nope.

rad said...

hi prasun
The IIT madras fiasco seems to be turning into a caste based affair.This was revealed to me by a faculty in IIT madras. The whole motive is anti brahminism, nothing else.
The agenda is to get dominant positions without merit.There are politicians in tamil nad who came in to light just by anti brahminism like karunanidhi .The irony is most of his relatives are married to a brahmin woman.The hindu, a left leaning paper has lent support to them.It is true that most of the faculty is by Tambrahms, the other truth is that they are highly qualified and came in thru merit.Tamil nad has the most discriminatory reservation system wherein 70 % reservation is in force.!!
The group is called a Periyar study circle , a political name after a crack pot called Periyar whose sole agenda was anti braminism and atheism.

This is to clarify the real truth for people from other parts of the country.

rad said...

hi prasun

Is the combat hawk under consideration by the gov or just gossip. In a way the hawk 200 could be an interim solution with elm 2032 radar ,jammers,HMD ,derby and other missiles etc .Bae has a lot of experience in the hawk 200 and they can be roped in as well .

Anonymous said...

Hi Prasun,

Won't it be a wise decision for the ADA / DRDO to colaborate with France for AMCA like that of FGFA it will save money and time as well instead doing "ekla chalo" which is not possible for them. Would like your comments especially when France is also evaluvating/ looking for 5th gen fighter options.

sbm said...

http://www.uniindia.com/news/national/india-to-adopt-unique-formula-to-acquire-additional-rafale-defence-sources/76471.html

Is this what you were referring to ?

interest said...

dear prasun
i think for a standard lca mk2 in time
1-we need a consortium approach between ADA,HAL,Pvt.Cos.+ a consultant
2-8-10 pvs for speed up of required tests.
3-a bulk order and an generous funding.
4-can be flown with and without pilot this option should be there.
5-modular building approach to be taken.

Anonymous said...

A very gd news prasunda.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/boost-for-defence-manufacturing-government-provides-private-firms-level-playing-field-with-defence-psus/articleshow/47499329.cms

akash said...

rad,the graetest irony is that the idea of reservation in indian was introduced by brahmins & through these they attained dominant positions in all elite areas without any merit .they ruled this country for decades & created the most inhuman laws the world had ever seen ,by using their crooked smrithis which turned millions of men & women in to physical & mental slavery....,we can understand reason the reason for your hatred towards reservation .issue in madras was organised by rss students to suppress all voices against them ,so that they can freely propogate their ideology through campus organisations 'Hare Rama Hare krishna',Vivekananda study circle,vande maaram etc etc....

Arpit Kanodia said...

PKS Sir,

How the single hull design of submarine is more advanced than double hull?

And the single hull for SSN is much difficult to design? Why russia and china not moving to single hull design, when the whole world using single hull design?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SBM: YES Indeed! Hope that puts to rest all further speculation on this topic.

India First said...

RAD,

You seem to be an un educated person. Every major evil in Hinduism was inserted by your Brahmin ancestors. The list of atrocities that Brahmins committed in the past makes modern day Dalits look like boy scout. Untouchability, caste based discrimination were all the novel ideas of Brahmins.

Can you give me a list of Brahmins killed by Dalits? Because I can give you several lists of Dalits been killed by Brahmins. Those Dalits that you talk about in Tamil Nadu are the original inhabitants of Tamil Nadu, unlike Brahmins who came from outside India and took over the land of the local people.

So next time you open your big mouth, ensure you talk some sense.

Flanker1991 said...

hello prasun sir ,
1. you mentioned that even tejas mk2 project is doomed from the very outset , just wanted to know why ?
2.you said that tejas like the rafale will have a very high availability rate since both these aircraft are very easily serviceable , but now u say that since lru's on the tejas are easily accessible its quite difficult to service tejas , plz shed some light on this.
3. are there any updates on the arjun mk2 project ?
4. can u plz share some details on the 1800hp powerpack that will go on arjun mk2 ?
5. will the smoothbore 120mm gun be developed in house or imported ?
6. is there any update on what kind of afv will the army procure in future to replace its bmp series ? tata kestrel afv familty looked like an exciting proposition. is army interested in it ,
7. are there any other good afv families offered by any other indian company

Rajesh Mishra said...

Now I think that the Tejas-MK1(LIFT) will never be materialized. Is this correct.

bhoutik said...

beginning to wonder whether the delays in undocking is meant to coincide with the carter visit. jodi tai hoy - pura facepalm.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To BHOUTIK: Here's more speculative hogwash from the 'desi bandalbaaz':

http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/carter-to-face-indian-demand-for-engine-technology-115060100021_1.html

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To RAJESH MISHRA: Correct. The 40 SP-series Tejas Mk1s will be used exclusively for CAS.

To RAD & KAKU SH: Never miss the woods for the trees. Always get to the bottom of the problem, instead of perpetuating man-made barriers. And this means eternally banning political activities within educational institutions. Existence of bodies like ABVP, SFI etc etc should all be banned.

lachit said...

@kaku sh

india first is a pakistani . if u frequent the defence blogs u will see when it comes to castism dalits etc pakistanis always jump the guns,usually by using indian / hindu / indian muslim names as alias.which is pretty stupid considering they literally give themselves up by anti brahmin then anti hindu then anti india ravings like a mad man.
if the ip address of india first is traced i am sure it will lead to PORKISTAN .
so no need to get heated up.
regards

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To RAD: The IAF wants the Combat Hawk. There’s no such thing as interim solution since any aircraft procured will have to serve for at least 20 years in service.

To Anon@10.31AM: There should be no R & D activity on AMCA at all until the Tejas Mk2 MRCA emerges as a mature design. Whether this will happen or not is still a very big question-mark. France & Germany are both evaluating various 5th-generation MRCA options & have already have had discussions with countries like ROK & Turkey on industrial cooperation. In India’s case, there’s simply no money to spare for procuring two types of 5th generation MRCAs, i.e. the FGFA & AMCA. It has to be only one of them.

To KAKU SH: Everyone one needs to read up regarding the pros & cons of single-hulled submarines is available on-line. Russia has already embraced single-hulled designs for its new-generation SSKs & SSGNs.

To FLANKER 1991: 1) WShy, because the very same organizational set-up that came up with the Tejas Mk1 is being entrusted with the task of developing the Tejas Mk2. Therefore, history is bound to repeat itself. 2) I had stated that the Rafale will have high availability rate due to its serviceability feature, & the Tejas Mk1 OUGHT to have a high availability rate. However, since Tejas Mk1 was conceived, dersigned & developed by scientists (just l;ike the SARAS), key operational inputs required the during full-scale engineering development phase were overlooked by ADA. 3) None. 4) There are no such plans. 1,500hp is all that’s being talked about. 5) It will be a homegrown design. 6) Nothing new has come up. 7) Nope.

Rajesh Mishra said...

The early they forget about the Tejas-MK2 and AMCA and concentrate on Rafale JV and then on T-50/FGFA, the better it will be. They will be in a good position to view the clear objectives. The Mig-21 will be replaced by Tejas-MK2, when its time really comes. Hawk can be viable for CAS operations, no less than Tejas-Mk1.

bhoutik said...

are there any plans for a IN presence off North Africa because of 'piracy'? if not - do you think there should be? if not why?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To BHOUTIK: The IN already has a presence there since 2008 & has been escorting Indian ships. This mission will continue.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

Afghan-Pak bonhomie is now in tatters:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/afghan-president-demands-pakistan-do-more-to-rein-in-taliban-1433094347

http://indianexpress.com/article/world/asia/ashraf-ghani-slams-pakistan-for-waging-undeclared-war/

What say now, Messrs. M K Bhadrakumar & his sidekick RAW13!!!

Prav said...

Prasun Sir the poor EW on the tejas is pretty surprising since the chest thumpers on another forum point out that the "internal" EW suit of the tejas means that it is superior to the mig 29UPG . It seems at the end of it the IAF was prudent in not ordering more than 40 SP LCAs.

About Afghanistan , it was bound to happen . Let us not forget the Indian government made peace overtures several times only to be stabbed in the back. I expected such a statement from Prez Ghani after perhaps a year but for it to come so soon .... Pakistan has truely outdone itself.

DAshu said...

we could avenge in big term rather than going to ICJ with Captain Saurabh Kalia torture case.
why the shift in thinking suddenly by modi govt?

regarding Afghan-Pak bonhomie is now in tatters - again blame it on India lolzz. India is the reason two bothers are fighting to finish each other.

spanky's Blog said...

Hi prasun,
Thanks a lot for the reply. The new added section on the thread is really good and helped me to understand things in context. It was very lucid and explained from Layman's point of view. Nicely done!!!

Also you have piqued my interest, when u said in comments, that your are going to do a detailed analysis of CAG report on LCA. This should really be interesting. Also along with it if you can put a small section on LCA-MKII. Its design, progress and some configuration information. That would really juice the thread up!!!

Thanks
Swarop

rad said...

HI Prasun
malaysia and Indonesia have the combat hawk , as you live nearby, are they happy with its performance.
Is it a good idea to integrate the hawk with the apg-66 radar of the f-16 with amraams which was done before or elm-2032 with derby and python? will the yanks give us the later version of amraam considering this new found defense bonhomie?. .Is the combat hawk going to be a modified existing hawk in service with india or a new order?.will it be do able that we buy a podded version of the elt-568? The Israelis are also making active jammers can you throw some light on that.
What would your ideal combat hawk equipped with.?

Pinkal Shah said...

Dear Sir,

Greetings of the day!!

1. Still awaiting for your thread regarding regional naval balance-of-power & undersea warfare, along with accurate report on military & cyberspace strength of Indian Armed forces (including CAPF's & Para-Military) and PLA, PLAN & PLAAF along with its 2nd Artillery Corps, People' Armed Police.
2. Regarding our covert warfare capability, is our intelligence agencies such as R&AW (supported with SFF), Military Intelligence are still doing such operations in various countries which are threat to our national security?
3. Also awaiting your detail analysis on how the regional geo-politics & geo-economics are unravelling between Afghanistan, India, China, Russia, US and Pakistan.
4. Regarding the Radar and Sonar development in our country, which are the technologies we are still need to master for the same. Also whether our LRDE has produced any real indigenous radar inhouse?

Eagerly Awaiting for your feedback

Regards
Pinkal Shah

Mayur M Manapure said...

Seriously, are we discussing castes now....brahmins,obc, sc,st...
Please spare this blog from it..

S Nair said...

@rad, Please read The Annihilation of Caste B.R.Ambedkar, now that will put you on right track. Dalit are discriminated throughout India. Especially the north India. Forgot being considered Equal, i don't think they are considered humans.Not too long ago two Dalits girls was raped and hanged, police came with a suicide theory.

Regarding IIT madras, the dean and few teachers are from Sangh background they are signing the same song as RSS. Listen to crap sessions organized by Vivekananda Circle another students group in IIT madras. I can't believe how in a premier education institution idiots can preach pseudoscience. This is a clear case of racial discrimination.

How can a country progress when people following Manu Smriti are in charge. The book that says to put hot lead into ears of lower caste, if they get educated.

Kampa said...

S Nair
India will never progress with reservation . The ones with merit will always leave and find places where their skills are appreciated .You can fight against discrimination but you cannot do so by adding on more discrimination . Also I cannot believe how a premier institution can have admissions based on caste .

raw13 said...

@Prasun,

Side kick, come on!!!

Something is afoot, that is for sure. Not sure if you had the chance to watch CNN with Hala Gorani lastnight. Very insightful....questions on ISIS, why did the USAF/IAF not attack columns of ISIS fighetrs? Why Iraqi Army's elite division pulled out of Ramadi before the attack and who ordered it (PM says he didn't)? Couple that with Obama breaking the accord with Taliban and not allowing 5 of their people in Qatar to travel back to Afghanistan, as signed. Then reports like this appearing on BBC:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32960340

and Ghani's supposed comments, appearing mainly in Indian newspapers.

Even Iran nuke deal being questioned and goal posts being changed by the 5+1.

I thinks it too early to jump the gun. Ghani took a huge gamble and now the institutions of Afghanistan and Paks (ISI/FC) have started working & hunting together. The results will come but its a slow process and he has to balance this with keeping Karazi & his supports happy whilst he consolidates his position. Most of the current senior positions in eastern and southern afghanistan provinces are occupied by Karazi's relatives. If there is a real deal with the taliban, guess what they are mince meat and their corrupt practices will end.

Arpit Kanodia said...

@India First

Again, I am Brahmin, my whole family is north Indian Brahmin, and I live in Delhi. My father is atheist, he dont believe in god, my mother go to Gurdwara daily, not in anykind of temple. Thats shocked you.

Further, mom and dad voted for AAP, not BJP, as you think all Brahmins are of right wings, actually I voted for BJP, so you can call me as extremist.

My father and mother both are retired from govt. job, my father was TGT in Govt. School and my mother was Pay and Account Officer in Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Even not a single one, even in distant relation there is not like a relative who go in birth or death of others. I laughed when I read that Brahmins go to birth and death, or do Hawans, lol even Brahmins dont know how to do Hawan and pujas.

I loved chicken too, but dont tell this to my parents. :P

MAYBE, that SHOCKED you enough with realities of India.

ROBOTIC said...

Prasun sir:

1) It seems that 36 Rafales and 0 more is set in stone:



http://defence.pk/threads/36-rafale-3-squadrons-of-su-30-mki-and-lca-mk-ii-fighter-jets-to-arm-the-iaf.378830/


No one is talking about more Rafales, not even the IAF :(


2) You are saying that the mess the UPA created vis a vis Italy is very complicated and hard to get out of, does that mean the chances of reviving the AW-101 for the IAF is dead?

Vidyut said...

Prasun Sir,

Your comments on this article please

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/the-u-s-navy-s-big-mistake-building-tons-of-supercarriers-79cb42029b8

Rajesh Mishra said...

Three squadrons of the Russian Made SU-30MKI that are in the making and if this is true, then the question is that whether these aircrafts are going to be equipped with some deep penetration, deep interdiction and ground attack capabilities. Kindly reply.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To RAW13: Here’s your favourite BBC Urdu saying the same about deep divisions within Afghanistan about the May 18 MoU between NDS & ISI:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEFoh7NWTLc

It was just a MoU whose terms of reference have yet to be codified. Therefore, no joint hunting or search-and-destroy missions are taking place, period.

Everyone now realises that Pakistan’s foremost intention was, mis & will always remain formalisation of the Durand Line as the permanent territorial boundary between Afghanistan & Pakistan. And this can only be achieved if Afghanistan is always left at boiling-point. But no one can accept a boundary whose validity expired in 1993 as per international law. A new boundary treaty needs to be drafted & approved—something Afghanistan will never agree to. China too is in a bind on this matter since, if it accepts the perpetuity of the Durand Line, then it will be forced to adopt the same principle regarding the McMahon Line between China & India. Therefore, China will never support Pakistan’s PoV regarding the Durand Line.

It is now a given that ‘Shia’ Iran will never forego its nuclear WMD option unless the same rules are applied to ‘Sunni’ Pakistan. Therefore, expect Pakistan to be denuclearised in toto as part of a final grand deal between Iran on one hand & the US/EU/Russia on the other. That Pakistan is now extremely nervous & cagey about such a state of affairs & the eventual pre-destined contest between Iran & Pakistan is clearly borne out by the assessments of Gen (Ret’d) Ehsan ul-Haq, the former DGMI, DG-ISI & CJCS here:

Part-1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5G731pYBsQ

Part-2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XhV3vq3uPU

To ROBOTIC: Just because no none in Pakistan is talking about follow-on Rafales does not mean no one else in the rest of the world is talking about them. Tejas Mk2 MRCA won’t surface before 2025, rest assured.

To VIDYUT: Different folks have different takes non how exactly expeditionary warfare is to be waged & against whom.

To RAJESH MISHRA: Those pertain to orders already placed & awaiting delivery from HAL. ALL Su-30MKIs possess the ability to launch long-range standoff PGMs like Kh-59ME cruise missiles & later on the BrahMos-Mini & air-launched Nirbhay. Therefore, nothing to worry about.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To PRAV: What is so surprising? It is common knowledge now that the R-118 SPU associated with the Tarang Mk3 RWR performs sub-optimally due to inadequate EMI-shielding & hence DARE is now developing the DR-118 SPU in order to overcome the deficiencies. On top of that, the CAG report clearly states that the Tarang Mk3 RWR’s performance is sub-optimal & that there’s no internal volume left to accommodate the Internal airborne self-protection jammer. So where’s the ambiguity? As for chest-thumpers, a few morons had posted some outrageous mumbo-jumbo at length about everything about the Tejas Mk1 being honky-dory just because it was flying daily aerobatics during Aero India 2015! These very morons are now shell-shocked because of the CAG report’s factual revelations! No self-respecting air force today will sacrifice the lives of its aircrew by ordering them to fly combat aircraft inside hostile airspace that does not possess even a minimum baseline self-protection suite to ensure flight survivability.

To SPANKY’s BLOG/SWAROP: VMT. Yes, the critique of the Tejas LCA R & D effort will also include aspects of the Tejas Mk2, as well as flowcharts on how development of airborne mission avionics like AESA-MMR was carried out in Europe, versus how it is being handled in India, most notably with regard to the ‘Uttam’ AESAR-FCR. For, only when comparative benchmarking is done will it be possible to understand where India’s R & D has gone wrong.

To RAD: The BAE Systems-built Hawk Mk208s & Mk209s of the Malaysian & Indonesian air forces have the APG-66H, which is a non-monopulse MMR that is not ideal for BVR air combat. These Hawk Mk208s & 209s were developed essentially as light MRCAs meant for replacing the earlier A-4 Skyhawks in CAS & maritime strike roles in a littoral environment. All MMRs of all F-16s worldwide have non-monopulse radars on-board & therefore they’re not the preferred choice for staging BVR air combat. That’s also the reason why IAI/ELTA originally developed the EL/M-2032 monopulse MMR for the F-16. For India, it will be the existing Hawk Mk132s that will be upgraded into the IAF-specific Combat hawk configuration. IAI/ELTA has developed active jammers using AESA technology like the ELT-568 for both combat aircraft & warships. For the CAS role, the IAF’s Combat Hawks ought to be equipped with the same type of air-to-ground standoff PGMs that I’ve illustrated above.

To PINKAL SHAH: Covert operations abroad do not involve active combatants of Indian origin. Active combatants are reqd only when staging sub-conventional warfare, like hot-pursuit operations or surgical strikes against terrorist sanctuaries. LRDE has so far developed tactical air-defence radars like Bharani & Aslesha, & the S-band AESA radar for the EMB-145I.

Arup said...

Sir,

1. Does IAF operate any DB-110 style long standoff range recce pods which can provide high res images from 60-65 NMI away. What is the standoff range of Reccelite?

2.Is the Drdo developing spectrally balanced flares which can successfully decoy IIR heads of present day manpads?

3. The AeroIndia 2013 slides you had uploaded showed the internal EW suite of a Tejas mk1 and it included Rf jammers. Then few month ago there was a news that the EW suite of Tejas will be tested on PV1 and it was highlighted that this also includes jammer. Then why is there all the mumbo jumbo now that there isntany space for a Rf jammer in Tejas mk1?

4. The IAF's upgraded OSA-AKM, do they have new radars and new guidance for missiles or just the missile rounds were relifed?

5. Kalyani systems can undertake license manufacturing of theconventional 100 kg Spice 250 . This weapon will be a great substitute for ofab 100 series bombs. Will this happen in the immediate future?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To ARUP: 1) Already answered that above. It is the CONDOR LOROP pod. 2) Nope. 3) Contrary to what numerous gullible bloggers think, drawing up a poster does not mean that a system is ready for installation. Any such integrated suite has to be first flight-tested extensively in an airborne testbed that should not only replicate the environment control system of the aircraft that’s finally destined to have such a suite, but also houses quite a few cabinets for accommodating all the test & data recording equipment. Only then can wiring layout optimisation & EMI-shielding solutions emerge. That’s how it is done worldwide, except in India. Why? Don’t ask me & instead ask successive DRDO Chiefs since the 1990s. Do you know if the DARE or LRDE or CABS possesses its own jet-powered manned airborne testbeds? If there are none, then how can such suites, let alone an AESA-MMR, be developed prior to installation on any operational combat aircraft? It therefore emerges that even the baseline minimal homework has not been done by such R & D labs. And you expect sterling R & D solutions from them? 4) They have both refurbished missile rounds as well as digital programmable signals processors & new IFF transponders. No need to change the radar antenna. 5) Maybe. Depends on the IAF’s planning process.

Prav said...

What is stopping the LCA from having an imported EW suit externally mounted on a hardpoint .
A few months ago there were news articles that asserted that the internal suit for the LCA was being tested for the first time on an older prototype. Is there anything to such reports ? Or are they preparing for the MK2 ?
Thank you for the answers

Pilot said...

From MiGs now the IAF Pilots have started crashing Western newer aircrafts - does this not prove that training is lacking? Why and how on earth could so many planes crash and cause such expense during peace time? It appears due to a dodgy training program, simulators and training aircrafts rookies get put in advanced aircrafts like an L plater put in a Porsche! Depleting aircrafts and squadrons will continue to deplete unless crashes are minimised.

Pilot said...

^^ Sorry I meant due to a dodgy training program, lack of simulators...

joydeep ghosh said...

@Prasun da

a few observations

1. you are against the viability and need for ADA/ADE/LRDE/DARE

2. You said the deal between NDS-ISI was for counter-insurgency operations & counter-narcotics joint operations, its wrong, why? answer is simple; how it is possible when ISI is funding, rearing and sheltering Taliban as well as helping durglords like Dawood to make use of opium cultivation in southern/eastern afghanistan to flood the durg market worldwide under their parontage, so i feel this deal has something fishy that will make India uncomfortble

2. Some time back i said the elections in Gilgit Baltistan will go ahead and will make Indias case even more difficult, its the same happening now, I had also said PakChin will continue to show us 'budo aangul'

3. You said India should reclaim more land in Laksdweep, i dont think its a good idea to copy China on that, as China doesnt care about ecology or environment, the 3 Gorges dam is prime example to such disasters which are startibng o show after effects

4. We should try to stifle China's greed by any means for animal parts, do remember that China is the largest consumer every thing that is illegal, be it illegal ivory (from Africa/Indias), Sandalwood (India), Bear Biles (SEAsia/India), Rhino horns (India), Dolphin meat/Shark fins (SEAsia), Tiger skin/bones (India), just bcoz these people have moonies doesnt mean they can destroy the environmen
t, we need to stop it

5. The Dhanush 45 caliber can & should be upgraded to 52 caliber ATAGS in future

6. The visit of US DefSec wont help in taking anything forward/concreate

7. Btw is it possible to upgrade INS Vikrant/Vikramaditya in later stage with EMALS, the older INS Vikrant was upgraded from steam catapult when Harrier were deployed

thanks

Joydeep Ghosh

Unknown said...

Another Hawk Crashed today!
We lose one aircraft a month on average! That is unacceptable. IAF keeps demanding more planes but cannot even maintain the current inventory. Imagine crashing Rafale that costs 10 times more than Hawk! Pathetic state of affairs. Any solutions Prasun?

Unknown said...

http://idrw.org/pakistan-ko-mirchi-lagi-hai-wo-bhi-andhra-ki-says-manohar-parrikar-on-pak-backed-terrorism/

Dont yet know about his competence for sure but Mr parrikar is perhaps the most entertaining RM India has ever had

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