WHAT'S HOT?
––
ANALYSIS OF
RECENT HAPPENINGS
AN
‘AT THE SHOW’ REPORT –– AERO INDIA 2001
(Picture Credits: Ranjit Rai of IDC)
New
Delhi, 12 Feb 2001
India's LCA with DRDO's 3D Radar in background at Aero India 2001
THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT FOR INDIAN AVIATION AND
INDIGENOUS
SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES
Preamble
The
Aero India 2001, which was a DRDO cum HAL cum MOD show, will go down
memory lane as the first exhibition that showed DRDO and HAL flush with
orders. Though not perfect they have done yeoman service as the first
results of their hard work are visible only now. You can go broke gambling
and regret it –– wining, dining, drinking and womanizing, it will be
with pleasure –– but in technology you will go broke anyway, but in
the long term the results WILL bring benefits. The Services need to
support Indian technology sincerely and with prudence. We should not just
criticize but would do well to audit DRDO programmes. This will help them
scrap projects, which are not feasible or viable. Of course, the
‘import’ lobby will remain so long as it has sway over the
decision-making. Yet to bring about transparency to the extent possible
Agents must be legalized. Many we know as Agents were at the Show. IDC
were heartened to recognise that the software boom in India has given DRDO
confidence. They may not have fully succeeded in making weapons like
TRISHUL and AKASH for the time being, because of the lack of cutting edge
technology, but they have successes now in many other fields like sonars
and radars, whose technologies may now be passed on to the private sector
industries, leaving the DRDO more space to concentrate on futuristic
needs. DRDO has a massive set up and so do TATAs, Birlas and Reliance. The
veil of secrecy must be shed for national gain. Larsen and Tubro are
already making the ISRO cyrogenic engine parts. Indian defence technology
is certainly now at a take- off stage.
Some
Achievements
The
following are some of their achievements which most of us may not know of:
(a)
The solid fuel AGNI-II based on the ISRO models of PSLV and other
technologies is a weapon India can be proud of and costs very much less
than the foreign equivalents. With the added software, CEP and guidance it
can be vastly improved. It is transportable and can carry a payload of 1
ton –– a nuclear capability for sure. 
(b)
The Prithvi is good but we made a mistake. We allowed the missile
to be designed with liquid fuel just to keep the people employed in the
DRDL with jobs. It should have been with solid fuel but did the Army and
the Air Force cry out? No, so lets live with it as the Navy has lived with
liquid fuel missiles. They need very great care and training.
(c)
All the SONARS in the Indian built ships and all future ships to be
built, will be made by BEL in India and designed by DRDO –– a
capability started by a Naval officer Paul Raj, now at Stanford in USA and
followed up by Dr V K Aatre. They may not be as great as the latest
Western counterparts, but compare well and their software for tracking
submarines are improving by the day. With marketing finesse we can export
them but for that we need self-confidence and good Agents.
(d)
The LCA flies (4 flights already with Wheels up) with Indian
designed FCS and many ADE and ADA built equipment, which is almost 60%.
India is the third country in the world to develop a dual digital FCS,
which is being improved by the day. Hearing the Test pilots Wing Cdrs
Rajiv Kothial and Nambiar, who have flown Mirages and MiGs, tell you about
this is sheer music to the ears.
(e)
The SU-30 Mk (India) which came to Aero-India flew with .jpg)
DRDO
mission computer and multifunctional display processor and many other
Indian inputs. It performed a Cobra superbly. The SU-30 project started
wrong. For some reasons which only the politicians and IAF bosses know, we
signed the deal with Irkutsk Aviation which was in poor shape for the old
SU-27 Trainers and not KNAAPO ready models. Both manufacture Sukhois
designed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau. But that is spilt milk. It can be a
great machine and the Air chief flew a sortie at the Aero-India show. 
(f)
The ARJUN MBT(15 prototypes) is heavy but it is the most heavily
tested tank in the world. Some tanks have done 600 hours and performed at
70% hit probability on the move. The Army wants a Le Lerc or an Abrams
M1A1. Should we not accept some (124 are on order) but our manufacturing
rate is pathetic so the import of T-90s becomes unavoidable.
(g)
The TRISHUL has had 54 flights and has to point to the target. The
Akash will be tried
soon may be this month itself. Even the world’s
leader the USA is struggling with Anti- Ballistic Missiles. So we need not
have red faces if there are miles to go.
(h)
PTA Lakshya has been inducted into the Services and in the long run
can be India’s cruise missile. The modest UAV Nishant is to follow.
(i)
The ADE has made RWR i.e. radar warning receiver, IFF,
self-protection jammers and processors for the SU-30s, which have
succeeded.
(j)
DRDO scientists tried out the Pinaka in the Kargil war with
moderate success.
Air
shows are ideal venues where latest military and civil aviation technology
is show cased. Aircraft, allied wares and weaponry are flaunted and
business is transacted. New contacts are made and the old ones revived.
India’s third air show modestly achieved just that, though the
exhibitors and the visitors were predominantly from the military. Those
who participated are already partaking in the US$ 5 billion worth of
aviation orders that will materialize in the next seven years. India’s
partial open skies and disinvestment policies being implemented for the
government owned Air India, Indian Airlines and ITDC are harbingers for
more investment and greater air travel, but civil content except for Pawan
Hans and the small companies was lacking. The show was mainly military.
The
Surya Kirans aerobatics were superb and their tight flying equal to the
best in the world. IAF’s top pilots are equal to the best in the world.
AERO-INDIA
2001 held from 7 to 11 February, 2001 at IAF’s Transport Training Base
Yelahanka near Bangalore, the "Silicon Garden City of India",
was a modest show by world standards, but the quality and range of
products, aircraft, weaponry, technology especially software related
systems from India and abroad and the air displays were world class.
This
year the 12000 sq metres of the space occupied by 100 companies in the
three
hangars air-conditioned at a cost of over $250,000 was an example of
attention to detail. Last time temperatures soared to 40 degrees. The
57,000 sq mtrs of open space housed 47 aircraft and helicopters which
included the SU-30 Mk India, carrier capable MIG-29 K, 
two Tornadoes GRI,
Hawk MK 100, Nimrod, IL76, C-130J (Curly Props), IL76, Jaguars, Polish
Skytruck and civil aircraft including the Falcon 2000, TU-214, AN 38-4 ,
ATR42/500 and seven helicopters including the Israeli MI-17 converted to
Peak.
The
Dornier-328 did not make it and many exhibitors were on their way to
Melbourne for the larger Australian Air Show on 13 Feb. Daily air displays
were given by the IAF show team, the Surya Kirans and others and six
visiting Air Chiefs and 10 delegations remarked they had seldom seen such
tight flying manoeuvres by a stick of 9 which included loops, barrel
rolls, swift formation changes and diagonal cross overs. The IAF pilots
were all qualified instructors with thousands of hours on MIGs, Jaguars or
Mirages.
LCA
and ALH
The
‘prima donna’ of the show was of course India’s LCA, steered by the
Aeronautical Development Authority of the DRDO, which made its fourth
debut in the air at the show itself by W/Cdr Rajiv Kothiyal. This test
pilot successfully flew the maiden 18-minute flight
on 4 Jan 2001 at
Bangalore. The project, which was earlier maligned for its delay and cost
over-runs, has now brought about cheer and hope. The indigenous
technologies of the TDI which included Co-cured, Co-bonded composites for
the wings, under carriage, twin digital flight control system and logic,
and seventy two locally produced parts which support the GE F404 J32
engine, now has a bright future if the engineers and scientists can
execute the tasks of manouvering and weaponisation, in the coming years as
many components are nearly ready. The Kaveri engine, which is slated to
replace the GE, is being tried out in the TU-16 under contract with the
Gromov Flight Research Center. 
The
5-ton ALH, painted red and gleaming in the sun also displayed limited
manoeuvres daily. With a judicious mix of local and imported technology,
this helicopter which has completed 600 hours of accident free flying is
now in the final stages of delivery to the Armed Forces and Certification.
The challenge is certification, as we know the IAF’s MI-17s are not yet
certified for VVIP flying and the President has to use the MI-8.
The
SU 30 MK I (Indian)
The
IAF has staked its future for its fighter and ground attack tasks by going
in whole hog for 190 of the powerful twin-engined SU-30, derived from the
SU-27 trainer designed by the 
world famous Sukhoi Design Bureau. Currently
the Bureau is testing the futuristic SU-37 "Berkut". At the show
the first upgraded model of the 50 SU-30 Mk–I that the IAF will receive
with thrust vectoring nozzles on the AL FP31 engines with DRDO (ADE/ADA)
supplied mission computer and display processor, made an impressive debut
and performed aerobatics. It was the star attraction at the show where its
weaponry the KH31, 35, RU73 and 77 (See Photos) were displayed along side.
Others
The
DRDO UAV Nishant has the latest electronics EL/M 2055 Synthetic aperture
radar, powerful cameras and data link. The Indian Army has need for it in
the upper reaches to augment the older Hunter Searcher UAVs. 
Also
on display was Indian Navy’s Dornier- 228 fitted out with ELTA 2022/ELM
radar dome and Tamams FLIR. In fact, Israel has become a large supplier of
sophisticated weaponry and assistance by way of collaborations like EL OP
with BEL and Ramta with Goa Shipyard, alongside IAI which will now supply
Barak with Rafael’s help and UAVs Seacher 11.
The
British team at the show was large as it was on its way to the Australian
Air Show with their mouths watering for the $1 billion order of the 66 AJT,
which may come in 2002. With another MIG-21 crash near Bhuj, six months
ago when this site started, we had recommended lease of French Alpha Jets
and still do. The Defence Minister George Fernandes who inaugurated the
show confirmed that the final price negotiations were on for the 66 AJT
Hawk –115, based on the Canadian induction and this deal could be
finalized 
soon.
Agusta Westland confirmed they were now in a position to
supply spares for the 35 Seakings and with the SBAC with BAe and Rolls
Royce and Chemering and others they were all there, but Navy is rightly
angry with the Westalnds.
The
Exhibition –– Foreign and Indian Stalls
In
the foreign line up most suppliers to the Indian Armed Forces were present
except for Boeing. Even Pratt and Whitney came under the British banner.
The largest stalls were taken up by the Rosvoorozhenie / Rosboromaxport
masthead and Avia Export of Russia. It was interesting to see KNAAPO and
Irkutsk both manufacturers of SU-30 side by side with Sukhoi Design
Bureau, the Kamov Company, Indo-Russian Aviation. China had bought its
SU-27s and SU-30s from the KNAAPO so deliveries are fast .
Radar
Supplier Phazdtron-NIIR, MIG MAPO and SOKOL which makes the MIG-21 bis
upgrades and 14 other companies were there. The upgrade of the 123 MIG bis
with French Sextant and other Indian equipment has begun at Nasik, where
we believe the two upgraded MIGs have arrived from SOKOL. The third
largest area to be taken up was by GIFAS and Dassault of France that
includes Scenma, Sextant, Sagem and ten other suppliers. Israel under
SIBAT had an impressive showing with Israeli Aircraft Industries
showcasing the Barak, EL 2022 radar and Litning pod which India has and
the new Python missiles, radars and a whole array. The Israelis now
recognize all our top brass better than IDC can and why not that’s
liberalisation.
Amongst
the publications Janes, Parade, Air Fleet and Aviation Week were the
prominent foreign participants. Stalls were also put up by Guide
Publications, Indian Aviation and Vayu, from India,.
The
Top brass of the Armed forces were all there. Two dinner functions ––
one by Mr Subir Datta the Secretary Defence Production and the other by Dr
V K Atre were well organized. There were some 6 Chiefs of Air Forces and
many Foreign Delegations at the show. But we made a BIG mistake. The
Liaison Officers for the Foreign Officers were HAL staff in their Brown
Blazers with little clue on protocol and could not recognize the senior
Indian officers who were in lounge suits so kept them isolated. This was
glaringly evident.
The
Business Prospects –– $5 Billion at Stake
No
air show report can be complete unless the business issues and leads that
were announced or heard around are not mentioned. The 190 SU-30 deal and
the 123 MIG 21bis upgrades now being executed at the MIG Complex Nasik,
are major deals already in Russia’s pockets. The MIG upgrade will have
video recorders from SFIM France. All this is around $ 3 billion over the
next 10 years with many advances paid in dollars. France’s Dassault
already has the $ 370 million 10 Mirage 2000H deal sealed with advances.
Israel’s
Rafael will supply 5 Barak missile systems to the Indian Navy for the
Bramhaputra Class and INS VIRAAT while IAI would supply the fire control
radar and the acquisition radar. The deal is worth $ 300 million.
Israel’s Mala of IAI has also been nominated for the order for Searcher
2, which has the powerful AR–68-1000 engine for long endurance (12
hours) high altitude (17,000 feet).
Kamaov
is due to supply 5 Ka-31 AEW machines and Kazan is supplying 40 MI-17s.
The
Gorshkov deal will have India buying over 2 dozen MIG-29Ks. There are only
two in the whole world and one has seen a lot of show flying and trials so
the only other one came to the show and showed off. Of course the IAF
commentator did not explain the folded wings, the extra epoxy coating or
the hook which the pilot showed off when he flew low over the runaway, as
if he was landing because that is how carrier based pilots land at flying
speed and get hooked to the deck. This deal could be $ 1 billion.
Small
Indian companies will get orders but it is HAL which is flush with over $
2 billion of orders by way of the 200 ALHs, more Dorniers ,123 MIG-21bis
upgrade, 140 SU-30s, Lancers some already supplied to the Army, the
Intermediate Jet Trainer due in 2002 and the AJT production. HAL is a PSU
so it is slow yet Dr Krishnadas Nair has done a yeoman job and we hear he
retires in August and his No 2 takes over. The order books are full.