The French government has agreed full technology transfer to India which also includes a advanced AESA radar (RBE2-AA) and software source codes which will allow India to further experiment or advance the Rafale platform.

Dassualt has also offered to fit the Kaveri engine into the Rafale which is a Indian indigenous jet engine, which would boost the development of Indian HAL Tejas ingenious fighter. Dassault Aviation also has offered Rafale M which is a carrier variant of the fighter, although not in deal it would increase the increase Indian naval capabilities since India is developing it’s own aircraft carrier. Indian Air Force already operated the French made Dassualt Mirage 2000 which had been a very capable fighter. Dassault believes that integration of Rafale into the Indian Air Force will be smoother. IAF purchased 49 Mirage 2000s, including 42 single-seaters and 7 two-seaters in the 1980s. In 2004, the Indian government approved purchase of ten more Mirage 2000Hs, featuring improved avionics, particularly an upgraded RDM 7 radar.

The IAF named the Mirage the “Vajra”, loosely translated as “Thunderbolt”. India also purchased appropriate stores along with the fighters, including ATLIS II pods and laser-guided weapons.

There have been concerns of potential sales to Pakistan since it also expresses interest in the Rafale. However there have been no serious offers or discussions. India and France have recently agreed to “go beyond a buyer-seller relationship”.

Six companies had bid for the deal, Russian Mig-35, Boeing’s F-18 Super Hornet, Swedish SAAB Grippen, Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Super Viper, European Eurofighter and French Dassault Rafale. European Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale were shortlisted in April 2011.

On January 31st 2012, Dassault Rafale was announced the winner of the deal, there were immediate reactions to the decisions. Officials at the British High Commission in Delhi said they were disappointed with the decision and would now study the details. They added: “It was expressly said this was about the cost of the contract, not a reflection on the health of bilateral relations between India and the involved countries.”One Indian defence ministry source confirmed to Reuters that the Rafale had been “much cheaper unit-wise”, adding: “Moreover, the Indian air force, which is well-equipped with French fighters, is favoring the French.”

International Security Assistance Forces acknowledged the loss of the unmanned plane, saying it had malfunctioned, Iran claimed that it was electronically hijacked the RQ-170 by overriding flight systems and steered it to the ground. The video shows Iranian military officials inspecting the RQ-170 Sentinel, which appears to be undamaged.

This created a opportunity for Russia and China to gain insight on one of the most sophisticated stealth planes in the world. This will allow them to identify, study, research and develop their own drones. In case of China, replicate these drones. They would particularly be interested in RQ-170 Sentinel’s stealth capabilities because United States was the pioneer in implementing this technology

The Americans are commenting very little on this incident. The RQ-170 Sentinel entered service in 2009 and was dubbed as “Beast of Kandahar” by some aviation analysts. United States use these stealth drones to make surveillance flights over Iran using bases in neighboring Afghanistan. The nature of the missions usual include to collect intelligence on Iranian nuclear program.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has tried reportedly to summon the Swiss ambassador who is representing US interests in Iran, to condemn the violation of Iranian airspace. US accuses Iran of developing capabilities need to make atomic weapons which Iran denies and insists that it’s nuclear program is peaceful.

The RQ-170 Sentinel is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Lockheed Martin and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). It has been deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Beast of Kandahar, an aircraft, which was photographed in Afghanistan in 2007, is a surveillance aircraft, confirms US Air Force.  The US Air Force on 8th December confirmed for the first time that it is flying a stealth unmanned aircraft known as the “Beast of Kandahar,” a drone spotted in photos and shrouded in secrecy.

The video released by Iran shows a captured drone in good shape without a scratch under a Iranian flag. Under the drone is a defaced United States flag mocking the Americans on their mistakes. The video confirms the authenticity of our previous story and pictures.

Islamic Republic News Agency(IRNA) reported that Iranian Armed Forces brought down the drone by using advanced electronic jammers developed by Iranian defence industries. This could be alarming because other drones such as Predator and Reaper can also be brought down the similar manner. IRNA claimed that Iran’s armed forces with an appropriate control environment and control of military intelligence, electronic warfare and air defense units were successful with their actions of the UAV that the rape was limited to the border areas of the East, discovered and made to overthrow the invaders out of control.

These drones are designed to enter a holding pattern or even return home when link between the controller and the drone is broken or tampered. But these systems are not perfect.  In 2009 a Reaper was lost by the control and was shot down by the Air Force using a F-15.

“Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations,” the Wall Street Journal’s Siobhan Gorman, Yochi Dreazen and August Cole reported in December 2009. There also have been instances in Iraq wherein militants have hacked into the UAV communication network and have accessed cameras of surveillance drones.

This is the second time Iran claims to have shot a United States Air Force spy drone. It’s interesting that Iran has claimed UAV kills before, although never about the RQ-170.  In January, Iran claimed to shoot down two UAVs, and then claimed another UAV kill in July. Iran never provided pictures or videos to back up its claims.

Iran shot down the drone at a time when it is trying to contain foreign reaction to the storming of the British embassy in Tehran on Tuesday, shortly after London announced that  it would impose sanctions on Iran’s central bank in connection with Iran’s controversial nuclear enrichment program. Britain evacuated its diplomatic staff from Iran and expelled Iranian diplomats in London in retaliation, and several other European Union members recalled their ambassadors from Tehran.

The RQ-170 Sentinel is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Lockheed Martin and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). It has been deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Beast of Kandahar, an aircraft, which was photographed in Afghanistan in 2007, is a surveillance aircraft, confirms US Air Force.  The US Air Force on 8th December confirmed for the first time that it is flying a stealth unmanned aircraft known as the “Beast of Kandahar,” a drone spotted in photos and shrouded in secrecy.

In December 2009 there were also reports that the RQ-170 Sentinel had been test-flown in South Korea for the past few months and that it was expected that they would be permanently deployed in 2010 to replace Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft operating from Osan Air Base.

In 2006 Iran was able to spy on the US Aircraft Carrier Ronald Reagan using their own UAV for 25 Minutes without being discovered and returned to base to show the footage to the world and embarrass US capabilities. Seven aircraft were scrambled to intercept the drone but failed. Here is the footage of the incident.

The autonomous X-47B is the air vehicle for the Navy’s Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration (UCAS-D) program. It will be used in 2013 to demonstrate the first carrier landings and launches by a tailless, low-observable-relevant unmanned system. The fighter-sized aircraft features an innovative, GPS-based navigation and landing system that will enable it to land autonomously, with precision, on the moving deck of a Navy aircraft carrier.

Northrop Grumman is the Navy’s UCAS-D prime contractor. The company has built two X-47B aircraft to fulfill the demonstration objectives of the UCAS-D program, which is intended to reduce risk for potential unmanned systems operating in and around an aircraft carrier.

“The Navy/Northrop Grumman team is privileged to have a leading role in maturing and demonstrating technologies that will help speed the integration of unmanned systems into future carrier operations.” said Janis Pamiljans, vice president, Navy UCAS for Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector.

In addition to the planned carrier launches and landings in 2013, added Pamiljans, the program will also demonstrate the ability of the X-47B to conduct autonomous aerial refueling operations in 2014.

The X-47B was designed by Northrop Grumman in San Diego and El Segundo, Calif., and assembled in Palmdale, Calif. The first air vehicle successfully completed its first flight Feb. 4 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

The Navy/Northrop Grumman/U.S. Air Force UCAS-D integrated test team is currently conducting additional flights of that first X-47B to validate its airworthiness and in-flight performance. The aircraft is expected to transition to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., by the end of 2011 to begin land-based carrier suitability testing. The second X-47B aircraft is currently undergoing ground testing leading up to its first flight, which is expected to occur by the end of the third quarter.

The purpose of the UCAS-D carrier integration effort is to digitize the communications and navigation information flow to incorporate capabilities required for unmanned air system (UAS) flight operations aboard a carrier, with minimal impact to existing hardware, training and procedures.

The X-47B is a computer-controlled UAS that takes off, flies a pre-programmed mission, then returns to base in response to mouse clicks from its mission operator. The operator actively monitors the X-47B air vehicle’s operation and responds to air traffic control instructions, but does not “fly” it via a remote stick-and-throttle control the way some unmanned systems are currently operated.

Northrop Grumman’s UCAS-D joint industry team includes GKN Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney, Eaton, General Electric, Hamilton Sundstrand, Dell, Honeywell, Goodrich, Moog, Wind River, Parker Aerospace and Rockwell Collins.

OHISS will include two systems, one for the UH- 60 based Cloud Characterization System; which will replace the current C-12 Airborne Cloud Measurement System, and the Cloud Generation System; which will replace the current 35 yearold U.S. Army HISS.  These new systems will provide a safer, more reliable flight test environment for evaluating de icing technologies. Small scale rain conditions can be created to provide a more controlled flight test environment for evaluating rain effects on critical aircraft surfaces, sensors and engine inlet.

Mark Zimmerman, President and CEO of Simplex Manufacturing, said the “new system will help aviation customers around the world to develop safer aircraft.” He went on to say “Battell’s selection of Simplex highlights the strength of our in house engineering team in new product development”.  Simplex will introduce several other new products over the next year according to Mr. Zimmerman. The new products will be in both the agricultural spray and fire attack industry segment.

Founded in 1946, Simplex has built a reputation as the leader in design, manufacturing, and certification of mission equipment for helicopters. Simplex maintains its industry leadership by incorporating the latest technology in design and manufacturing systems from high strength, low weight composite materials to produce cost effective systems for firefighting and other aerial application.

As soon as the aircraft entered Austrian air space from Switzerland, two Typhoons appeared on the left-hand side of President Pratibha Patil’s plane according to the report.

“Those inside the presidential aircraft started shooting the jets in frenzy. But, only with their mobile phones and cameras. The Eurofighter is one of the shortlisted contenders in the Indian MMRCA tender to purchase 126 “Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft”.

“After about two minutes, one of the jets suddenly pulled back and flew to the other side of the aircraft. Everyone was interested in getting the perfect shot of the plane which also opened its co-passenger shield as a mark of respect. The best view was just before landing as all three aircraft lost altitude and the jets were at arm’s length”.

The Austrian Bundesheer have a fleet of 15 Typhoon jets operating as an air surveillance wing from their home base in Zeltweg. The Wing, known as “Überwachungsgeschwader” has been active in recent air surveillance operations, putting the facilities and aircraft to the test.

The Eurofighters are one of the shortlisted contenders in the Indian MRCA tender to purchase 126 “Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft”. Eurofighter Typhoon is one of the worlds most advanced new generation multi-role/swing-role combat aircraft available on the market. With 707 aircraft ordered by six nations (Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Austria and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), and in service with all nations, the aircraft is Europe’s largest military collaborative program. Eurofighter Typhoon is the only fighter to offer wide-ranging operational capabilities whilst at the same time delivering unparalleled fleet effectiveness.

The Typhoon and the Rafale were the ones the IAF shortlisted because they offer more in long term commitment in the form of technology and service this decision supersedes more over than petty technical details although IAF is looking for a platform which has true Multi-Role capabilities which include air to air missions, air to ground and air to sea as well. So the platform must be able to perform in the most adverse of conditions which includes searing heat at Rajasthan and humidity to the frost bitten cold of the Ladakh.

News Source: Time Of India
Picture by: Eurofighter GmbH

How are investments being prioritised for future fighter modernisation programmes in light of these recent operations and tightening budgets? Is it better to procure new fighters now, potentially saving on costs in  the long run, or is the option of service life extension a more suitable option to militaries with limited budgets?

In order to address these topics, as well as provide insight and assessment of programmes such as  Typhoon, Gripen, Rafale, Super Hornet, F-22 and F-35, senior global military and industry leaders will gather in London, UK at the International Fighter meeting, taking place from 8th-10th November 2011 at the RAF Museum.

“The Fighter Conference has become the premier event at which to exchange views on developments in the jet fighter business – both from an operator’s perspective and within industry,” comments Rob Wells, Export  Future Business Manager of Eurofighter Jagdflugzeuge, who participated in last year’s event.

Both operator and industry perspectives are key to the conversations taking place at this event. Air ViceMarshal Stuart Atha, Air Officer Commanding Number One Group of the Royal Air Force will be  providing lessons learned from operations in Libya during his briefing, and Major General Michael R.Boera, Director of Requirements, Headquarters Air Combat Command of the US DoD will share his perspective on balancing air supremacy requirements with the needs of current asymmetric operations.

Representing the industry are representatives from major aircraft manufacturers Eurofighter, Saab and Boeing, plus key industry teams including Raytheon, RUAG and Patria.

In addition, Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, Chief of Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force will be joining the speaker faculty to share insights into the development and service entry of the Chinese-built JF-17 Thunder, whilst Air Marshal Shah Mohammad Ziaur Rahman, Chief of Air Staff, Bangladesh Air Force will discuss their requirements for new combat aircraft.

Serving General and Flag Officers 1 Star and above receive complimentary VIP passes to participate during the sessions; all other members of the military, government and industry can enquire about participation by emailing defence@iqpc.co.uk or calling +44 (0)20 7368 9737

Interviews and articles related to the Fighter Jet market are available on the event website on www.international-fighter.com.

But these statistics, whilst impressive, do not reveal the true marvel on our doorstep: that is the pace of technological change feeding these aeronautical systems. Proponents of Moore’s Law (of Integrated Circuits) suggest a doubling of computer capabilities every 18 months to 2 years: this is a logarithmic increase in what systems should be able to perform.

This paradigm shift will occur within ‘present to near-future’ timescales and we need to be actively planning to take advantage of these leaps in capability.

According to Keven Gambold, Squadron Leader, Royal Air Force (RAF), “Computers will have the same processing power as the human brain by 2020. That is a fact, not science fiction. To my mind, we are not prepared for what is coming.”

Join webinar leader, Keven Gambold as he challenges the “accepted wisdom” within today’s UAV fields. Participants will learn:

• What future UAV designs will need to look like and what they will be capable of, including larger unmanned (Boeing 737) operations
• Exclusive ‘out of the box’ design considerations from a UAV pilot and expert in Human Machine Interfaces (HMI)
• What key issues of UAV regulation and licensing regulating agencies should address (i.e., Commercial Pilot’s License)
• As well as:
  • What’s in a name – and what are industry leaders talking about Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) instead of UAVS?
  • What will happen in the post-Afghanistan climate when unmanned systems take on other missions?

Please watch the webinar here http://mediaiq.adobeconnect.com/p26314397/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal

Furthermore, without a requirement to carry such a large quantity of fuel, a supercruise-capable aircraft can have a more favourable fuel fraction, the proportion of the plane’s overall mass which is devoted to fuel. For military aircraft, the F-22 Raptor and Eurofighter Typhoon’s supercruise capabilities are touted as a major performance advantage over other fighters.

Even so, supercruising uses much more fuel to travel the same distance than at subsonic speeds: The Air Force Association estimates that use of supercruise for a 100-nautical-mile (190 km) dash as part of a mission would cut the F-22?s combat radius from about 600 to about 450 nautical miles (830 km). However, this is still unconfirmed as the altitude and flight profile are classified (as are most of the F-22A’s capabilities).

There is no way to compare this with other aircraft; however, most aircraft using afterburner to fly at supersonic speeds will have exhausted their fuel supplies very rapidly. The F-22A Raptor has demonstrated supercruise speeds of at least Mach 1.58, a difference of 320 knots (593 km/h) indicated airspeed (KIAS) at 40,000 ft (12,000 m).

Supercruise in militarily significant parlance is meant to imply a significant increase in effective combat speed with a full weapons load over existing types. Virtually all current and past jet fighters, prior to the F-22, cruise at approximately Mach 0.8~0.9 with a militarily significant weapons load. The Raptor, and the Eurofighter Typhoon, represent a significant advance in cruise speed over existing types.

This November at Royal Air Forces Museum, you can expect the customary high-level insights and latest updates from across the globe on major programmes such as F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Gripen, Rafale, Typhoon and Super Hornet, alongside analysis of PAK/T-50 and J-20 developments in Russia and China.

Plus, brand new specialised briefings on weapon payloads, CAS missions, cost-effective life cycle management and non-traditional ISR, a dedicated focus day on Electronic Warfare and, fresh from theatre, performance analysis of fighters in Libyan operations.

This year’s senior-level speakers include:

Air Vice-Marshal Stuart Atha, Air Officer Commander Number One Group, Royal Air Force
Major General Michael R. Boera, Director of Requirements, Headquarters Air Combat Command, US DoD
The full programme is available to download at www.international-fighter.com. Visit the International Fighter Resource Library for your FREE ACCESS to regularly updated podcasts, articles, speaker interviews and presentations at www.international-fighter.com.

Defence Aviation readers receive a special 10% discount off standard rate – one of the largest discounts available. Please contact Kim Vigilia at defence@iqpc.co.uk to take advantage of this offer, referring to discount code FighterMP_DEFAVI.
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Yun Shi | Trainee Marketing Manager

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