a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp0.blogger.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/RyiZFkzQAwI/AAAAAAAAAXc/w0EautvV8y8/s1600-h/85909393.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp0.blogger.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/RyiZFkzQAwI/AAAAAAAAAXc/w0EautvV8y8/s320/85909393.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5127516496818340610″ border=”0″ //aRussia’s new-generation fighter plane, currently being jointly developed with India, will make its maiden flight no later than in 2012, a senior Air Force official said on Tuesday.br /br /Russia and India signed an agreement on cooperation in the development and production of an advanced multi-purpose fighter aircraft on October 18.br /br /”The deadlines have been set – it [the fighter] must take to the skies in 2012 and enter service [with the Air Force] in 2015,” said Lt. Gen. Igor Sadofyev, deputy commander of the Russian Air Force.br /br /The general said Russian-Indian cooperation on the project would significantly boost its development.br /br /”International cooperation and joint development efforts will certainly expedite the process,” Sadofyev said. “It’s a path the whole world is taking nowadays, and we are no exception.”br /br /He also said the Air Force was planning to procure at least six to eight Su-34 Fullback strike aircraft every year, starting from 2008.br /br /”Russia’s Air Force desperately needs the Su-34s,” the general said.br /br /”I would prefer to re-equip at least two air regiments every year – that is, 48 aircraft,” Sadofyev said. “Unfortunately, this is financially impossible at present, but it is perhaps we will get six to eight planes annually”.br /br /The $36 million Su-34 fighter-bomber is a two-seat strike aircraft equipped with twin AL-31MF afterburning turbojet engines. It is designed to deliver high-precision strikes on heavily-defended targets under any weather conditions, day or night, and fields weaponry that includes a 30mm GSh-301 cannon, up to 12 Alamo or Archer AAMs, ASMs, and bombs.br /br /Designed by the Sukhoi, the Su-34s will replace the Su-24 Fencer frontline bombers. Experts said the new bomber has the potential to become the top plane in its class for years to come.
Archive for October, 2007
Russian new-generation fighter plane set 2012 deadline
LCA (Tejas) Tests Missile
India’s domestically built light combat aircraft successfully test fired an air-to-air missile Oct. 25 in what the defense ministry called a “significant milestone.”br /The combat jet, named Tejas — the Hindi word for radiance — fired a Russian-made short-range R-73 missile off India’s west coast in Goa state.br /“The historic event marks the beginning of weaponization of the… (Tejas) program,” according to a defense ministry statement.br /Built by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., the Tejas is billed as the world’s smallest, light-weight, multi-role combat plane.br /The missile test paves the way for the introduction of the aircraft into the Indian air force.br /“The Tejas will be inducted into service by 2011-12,” a defense ministry official said.br /The plane completed about 500 test flights by December 2005, and the Indian air force has placed an order for 20 such aircrafts with the company.br /The test came a day after India successfully tested its nuclear-capable Agni-1 ballistic missile for the second time in less than a month.br /India, which held nuclear weapons tests in 1998, has developed a series of nuclear and conventional missile systems as part of a missile-development program launched in 1983.
Saab to Discuss Gripen Production in India
Saab is prepared to compromise on production location if the company secures an order from India to deliver 126 JAS Gripen fighters to the Indian air force, the company has said. Saab produces the Gripen at its facilities in Linköping.br /Gripen’s main competitors are the F-16 and F/A-18 planes, the Dassault French Rafale, the Russian Mikoyan MiG-35 and the Eurofighter Typhoon.br /Saab’s statement follows reports from India’s Ministry of Defence that suggest India will demand at least two-thirds of the aircraft be produced in India. Other MoD reports indicate that suppliers must be willing to produce up to 108 aircraft in India. The full value of the order is $10 billion.br /The demand underscores the harsh realities of international business, said Saab spokesman Anders Florenius.br /“It would, of course, be great if things were like before, when we would secure an order and produce that order in Linköping or Karlskoga. But that’s not the way the market looks any more,” Florenius said.
Thailand Picks Sweden’s Gripen for $1B Fighter Deal
Thailand will purchase 12 Swedish-made jet fighters over the next decade for 34.4 billion baht ($1 billion), the head of the air force said Oct. 17.br /The first lot of six JAS-39 Gripen fighters will be bought by 2011, with a second lot of six jets purchased by 2017, air force chief Chalit Phukphasuk told reporters.br /The Gripens, manufactured by Sweden’s Saab, will replace aging American F-5E fighters, which will be rotated out of service in 2011, he added.br /”It is necessary to purchase the new jet fighters to replace the retiring fighters, to boost the air force’s ability to protect the country,” he said.br /Thailand had considered U.S.-made F-16s and Russian SU-30s before settling on the Swedish jets, Chalit said.br /The deal includes spare parts and training for Thai pilots, with the first order valued at 19 billion baht, and the second half at 15.4 billion baht, he said.br /In addition to heading the air force, Chalit has also taken over the leadership of the junta that seized power in a bloodless coup toppling prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in September 2006.br /The coup leader, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, retired last month and has joined the government as a deputy prime minister.br /Since the takeover, military spending has skyrocketed to 140 billion baht in the budget for 2008, up from 29 billion baht the year before the coup.br /The jet purchase had been in the works under Thaksin’s government but was repeatedly held up by budget constraints. Thaksin had tried to work a deal to barter chickens or rice for the planes, but to no avail.br /Now the military is on a shopping spree, ordering 96 Ukrainian armored vehicles for $133 million in August and looking at weapons from Israel.br /The military has justified the burst of spending by arguing that Thai forces have been using equipment that dates to the Vietnam War, and that defense spending has been on hold since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.br /br /Read previous post about this topic a href=”http://dailylark.blogspot.com/2007/07/thailand-eyes-purchase-of-gripen.html”here/a
India demands domestic production of fighter planes
Should JAS Gripen win the race to build 126 fighter planes for the Indian Air Force, most of the planes would be slated for production in India rather than Linköping.br /br /India wants 108 of the planes to be manufactured in India. The order is reported to be worth a total of 60 billion kronor ($9 billion).br /br /Saab’s head of communications Anders Florenius said that the unconditional demand represented both a challenge and the harsh realities of international business.br /br /”Of course it would be great if things were like before, when we’d get an order and produce it in Linköping or Karlskoga. But that’s not the way the market looks any more,” he told Sydsvenskan.br /br /Saab’s Gripen is competing with a number of other aircraft for the largest order in the flight industry since the beginning of the 1990s.br /br /India eventually intends buying a total of 300 fighter planes, with the initial order consisting of 126 aircraft.br /br /Gripen’s main competitors are the American F-16 and F/A-18 planes, France’s Rafale, the Russian Mig-35 and the pan-European Eurofighter.
China launches new stealth fighter project
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp1.blogger.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/Rwd_o3ZxPZI/AAAAAAAAAVg/Vkz3wvBr1vA/s1600-h/jdw021210_2_p.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp1.blogger.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/Rwd_o3ZxPZI/AAAAAAAAAVg/Vkz3wvBr1vA/s320/jdw021210_2_p.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118199841573387666″ border=”0″ //aThe Shenyang Aircraft Company has been selected to head research and development of a new heavyweight fighter for China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), according to a senior source at the China Aviation Industry Corp I (AVIC I).br /br /Development of the engines and weapon subsystems for the fourth-generation fighter has been underway for some time, according to the source, who revealed that a number of design concepts have already been created. Wind-tunnel tests of these are about to start. Images of the concepts show a twin-engine aircraft sharing some design traits with Lockheed Martin’s stealthy F/A-22 multirole fighter, now undergoing tests with the US Air Force, such as the internal carriage of its weapon systems. The Chinese designs retain a more conventional wing, however, and use a single vertical tail fin.br /br /AVIC I officials told JDW that the new aircraft – tentatively dubbed the J-X and possibly to receive the service designation J-13A – could use the WS10A turbofan engine designed by the Shenyang Liming Motor Company during its development and trials process.br /br /In development for more than a decade, the WS10-series powerplant completed air trials earlier this year with an Su-27SK (NATO reporting name: ‘Flanker-B’) fighter. The WS10A is scheduled for introduction with the PLAAF’s new J-10A fighter, which has yet to be formally unveiled.br /br /Continuing research into advanced control techniques is expected to in time allow the air force to field WS10A-powered J-10A and J-X fighters equipped with thrust-vectoring nozzles offering improved aircraft manoeuvrability.br /br /While AVIC I sources will not speculate when the new fighter might make its first test flight, a debut around the end of the decade could be expected if the project matches the development process for China’s J-10A and J-8D projects.br /br /Source: janes.com
Indian-made UAV To Become A Cruise Missile
NEW DELHI — Indian and Israeli companies have teamed up to convert India’s Lakshya pilotless aircraft into a cruise missile, sources in the Indian Defence Ministry confirmed.br /The proposed Lakshya cruise missile would carry a payload of 350 kilograms up to 600 kilometers, and the project is already under way. The Indian government has sanctioned $150 million for the project, sources said.br /India’s Aeronautical Developmental Establishment (ADE) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) are now working on three prototype cruise missiles that could be reused 10 times.br /IAI officials here refused to comment.br /ADE, Bangalore, is India’s sole UAV development laboratory under the state’s Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). A senior DRDO scientist said the organization submitted the Lakshya cruise missile proposal to the government last October.br /Meanwhile, IAI and ADE have chosen the TRDD 50 MT engine made by Russian company NPO Saturn to power the proposed missile. The ADE is likely to carry out lab trials of Lakshya with the engine next year. DRDO scientists said full-fledged trials of three prototypes will be conducted by next July.br /The ADE will acquire 200 engines over the next five years if the laboratory trials are successful, the DRDO scientist said.br /NPO Saturn has already agreed to supply rocket engines for the project under a $100 million deal, Indian defense sources said. The engines, originally designed for Soviet cruise missiles, will have a thrust of 500 kilograms. They will be upgraded to provide several hours of flight time, compared with the current 45 minutes.br /However, Defence Ministry officials did not confirm whether the engine deal has been finalized because of concerns it violates Missile Technology Control Regime restrictions on air vehicles traveling more than 300 kilometers. India is not a regime signatory, but Russia is.br /DRDO officials claim the engines are being bought for a UAV, not a cruise missile.br /Lakshya was inducted into the Indian Air Force in 2000, and an advanced version was tested early this year, the DRDO scientist said.br /Lakshya was conceived by the DRDO in 1976 as a subsonic, remotely piloted, reusable aerial target system. The turbojet system can be launched from land or ship and be controlled from as far away as 100 kilometers.br /India and Israel also are co-developing advanced cruise missiles under the Sagarika project, which will be nuclear-capable with a range of up to 1,000 kilometers. The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile is produced jointly between India and Russia, and the Indian Navy also has Russian Klub cruise missiles.br /Last year, Pakistan test-fired its homegrown cruise missile, Babur, accelerating the pace of cruise missile development here.
