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.”

So the obvious question now is “How will Indian Air Force maintain equilibrium?”
The answer is quiet simple but it involves a lot of planning and development and not to put aside the amount of money involved to keep things balanced. Regardless of all the hype and noise the fact is that the PLAAF majorly consists of third generation vintage aircrafts which are obsolete in design and capabilities. Putting that aside they do have some really good equipment namely:-
Chengdu –J10 (a newer version J-10B is currently under flight testing)
Su-30MKK
Su-27

The rest are either vintage or simply a copy of the above two Sukhoi aircrafts. For example the J-11B is an outright copy of the Su-27 which is nothing short of daylight robbery.

To meet these threats IAF currently works on acquiring and gaining experience and knowledge on the fifth generation Russian stealth fighter the PAK FA. India plans on acquiring 200 of these fifth generation fighter jets. Out of the 200 50 will be single seaters and the rest will be two seaters. A naval version of the PAK FA is also on the cards.

Next in the line is the MMRCA deal (Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft). The deal currently is valued at 12 billion US $ and as of now both the Euro Fighter Typhoon and the Dassault Rafale have been shortlisted by the IAF. Both these aircrafts have amazing flight characteristics and capabilities. They have also had a fair share of action in both Libya and Afghanistan. The winner will be awarded with a deal for 126 aircrafts initially with the expansion to a total of 200 fighters.

IAF already operates top of the line 4.5th generation fighters namely the Su-30MKI which are evidently a lot different from their Chinese counterparts, the current strength remains at 142 which will gradually become 272 of which 40 will be upgraded to carry the Brahmos supersonic cruise missiles. However all the Su-30MKI’s will be upgraded with the latest development in ECM suite and the proposed  Zhuk-AE AESA radars giving it a sharp and definite edge over the PLAAF’s Su-30MKK’s.

Currently the MiG-29’s in the IAF are also being upgraded to the MiG-29UPG standard giving them a new lease of life and capabilities which include much more efficiency and effectiveness.
Dassault Mirage 2000’s currently fills the primary multirole fighter category which will be later replenished later on by the MRCA’s and the AMCA’s.

MiG-21’s serve the role of interceptors a total of 200 from which 121 have been upgraded to the bison standards further increasing their life span however all of them will be soon replaced by the HAL Tejas (LCA).

SEPECAT Jaguars and the MiG-27 full fills role of strike attack and support aircrafts IAF operates 139 Jaguars and about a 100 MiG-27’s. Let’s keep in mind that these aircrafts are still in service in a number of other air forces too. But however these too will be later on replaced by the AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft) which itself is a 5th generation fighter.

An interesting upgrade is the development of the K-100 Novator AAM which are usually termed as the “AWACS killer” due to its range of up to 200kms. These missiles will be mated with the Su-30MKI platform which gives the IAF a decisive edge from the PLAAF since AWACS platforms will be in jeopardy with the induction of this missile into service.

So from my point of view PLAAF doesn’t really have any clear advantage over the IAF in the near future if all the pieces of the puzzle fit together it might even get outgunned by the Indian Air Force.

The nature of this test flight is not yet clear but it is believed that the helicopter made low level hover similar to first test flight of LCH TD-1. The TD-2 also has lots of Indian Army specific inputs like the revolutionary digital camouflage. Also the TD-2 is 100kgs lighter than the TD-1. TD-2 is also equipped with a fully functional target acquisition and pilots vision pod a feature which was not seen in TD-1.

Plan to develop an attack helicopter was finalized in October 2006 after the design concept developed by HAL was approved by the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force. Need for a modern attack helicopter platform was felt by the Indian military during late 90s when its attack helicopter fleet comprising of some 30 Russian Mi-24s and Mi-35s proved to be useless at high altitude and lacked sophistication needed by complex modern wars. It was decided to develop an attack helicopter which could fulfill the unique and different needs of the Army and the Air force.

LCH was designed out of HAL’s highly successful multi-role utility helicopter “Dhruv”. Dhruv first entered service in 2002 and since have carried out its duties in a very successful manner. Dhruv is also being exported to many countries. Developing LCH from Dhruv saved HAL preciously needed time. So far the IAF has placed an order of 65 LCH’s and the Army has placed an order of 114. According to estimates the LCH should receive its Final operational clearance by 2013/2014 after which it will enter service.

The LCH incorporates stealth features, ability to perform night operations and crash landing gear for high survivability. The LCH will have a narrow fuselage, with two crew stations. The LCH is being designed to fit into an anti-infantry and anti-armour role and will be able to operate at high altitudes (16,300 feet). HAL will supply the Indian Air Force with 65 and Indian army with 114 gunships. The helicopter is powered by the HAL/Turbomeca Shakti turboshaft engine. The helicopter will be equipped with helmet-mounted targeting systems, electronic warfare systems and advanced weapons systems.

The LCH is to have a glass cockpit with multifunction displays, a target acquisition and designation system with FLIR, Laser rangefinder and laser designator. Weapons will be aimed with a helmet mounted sight and there will be an electronic warfare suite with radar warning receiver, laser warning receiver and a missile approach warning system.

Complete details are still sketchy but we working on getting them. The news of first test flight of TD-1 was made public first on 2nd April 2010 in http://www.defenceaviation.com/2010/04/indias-light-combat-helicopter.html by Pratik Sawerdekar Stay tuned for more information.

HAL will now consider the “Shakti” engine for LUH. The “Shakti” engine was developed with the help of Turbomeca for the Advance Light Helicopter “Dhruv”. HAL will conduct feasibility study to understand if the “Shakti” engine could fit into the LUH and what changes would be needed. The study is expected to be completed by this year’s end. HAL is also currently in talks with other companies for an engine however, it is not known with whom. HAL could be in talks with General Electrics and Honeywells. Also according to Turbomeca the existing twin configuration “Shakti” engine is well suited for LUH.

LUH is a three ton helicopter based on the HAL Dhruv, it is meant to replace ageing fleet of Chetak and Cheetah Helicopters which are in service for more than 40 years. The original plan was to rope in Turbomeca and convert the twin configuration “Shakti” engine into a single configuration engine. The LUH will have both Civilian and Military variants. The preliminary demand for the helicopter is said to be of 187 units but the final order could be thrice as much.

Hindustan’s Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) program was first announced in November 1984, the ALH was designed with assistance from MBB in Germany. The twin 1000 shp Turbomeca TM333-2B turboshafts are mounted above the cabin and drive a four-blade composite main rotor. The ALH makes use of an advanced integrated dynamic system which combines several rotor control features into an integrated module.

A variant of the Dhruv is the Dhruv-WSI (Weapons Systems Integrated) which arms the Army variant with anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles and a 20-mm turret mounted cannon. In addition to Dhruv-WSI, HAL is also developing the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) based on the Dhruv platform for the Indian Armed Forces. The armored LCH will feature stub wings fitted to carry up to eight anti-armour missiles, four air-to-air missiles or four rocket pods for 70mm and 68mm rockets. The LCH will also have FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared), CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera and a target acquisition system with thermal sight and laser rangefinder.

Aero India 2011 will  see some of the latest fighter planes, including Eurofighter Typhoon, Sweden’s Gripen, the French Dassault Rafael , Boeing’s F-16 Super Viper and Lockheed Martin’s F-18 Super Hornet,  besides unmanned aerial vehicles and helicopters. India will display its indigenously built supersonic light combat aircraft and light combat helicopter, which will be on the display for the first time. Apart from the daily displays by IAF’s Surya Kiran aerobatic team and Sarang helicopter display team, a major attraction at Aero India 2011, will be the debut by Flying Bulls Aerobatics Team at the air show. The Czech Flying Bulls Aerobatics Team, will be performing at the Aero India 2011 with their fleet of four Zlin 50 LXes. The Flying Bulls’ 17-minute performance will include the box formation and the mirror flight.

Aero India 2011 will also feature 350 official business delegations from countries such as the US, Germany and Italy visiting the event with about 1.75 lakh visitors. Among the countries that will participate are Afghanistan, Israel, the Maldives, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. All contenders are trying hard to woo the Indian defence players as the big deals which await clearance include an order for 126 combat jets (MMRCA deal) 11 billion dollars, six mid-air refuelling tankers for two billion dollars, 197 utility helicopters for 750 million dollars, 22 attack choppers for 600 million dollars and a fleet of trainer aircraft for the Indian Air Force. The USA is leading the list with 250 companies participating in Aero India, Germany-35, Italy-10, and 35 from remaining countries.

Aero India 2011 will also witness the largest US participation till date. Top advanced aircraft’s like F-16 Fighting Falcon, F/A-18 Super Hornet, C-17 Globemaster III, C-130J Hercules (recently procured by India) and KC-135 Stratotanker will be on display and participate in numerous flight demonstrations. Russia will exhibit over 80 types of weaponry and will be represented by 35 companies at the upcoming Aero India 2011 air show. Russia will be represented by 35 companies, including MiG , Sukhoi, Almaz-Antei and Engineering Design Bureau.

Russia will traditionally promote  Su-35 fighter jets, the Yak-130 combat trainer, two versions of Il-76MD transport plane , the Il-78MK aerial tanker and MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB naval fighters. The Be-200 amphibious aircraft will most likely be one of the top attractions of the Russian exhibit as its popularity with foreign customers steadily grows. Rosoboronexport and Russian helicopters will show the Mi-28NE attack helicopter, the light multirole Ka-226T and the heavy transport Mi-26.

About 675 exhibitors are also expected to participate in the biennial show to be held at Yelahanka air base, making it the biggest edition of the event so far. Around 100 types of civilian and military aircraft’s would be on display compared with 67 in 2009. This year’s air show will outnumber all previous figures in terms of participating countries, companies, space and business, with a 70 percent increase in gross exhibition area to 75,000 square metres from 44,000 square metres in 2009.

Mr A.K Antony, India’s Defence minister said ” India has chalked out a road-map to develop many challenging aerospace programmes and expressed confidence of great opportunities, not only for indigenous institutions and industries, but also for all partners across the globe.” “I do not think any country in the world, however friendly they are, would like to part with their most modern ’A’ grade technology with any other. That is the reality,” he said, inaugurating the eighth edition of Aero India 2011 International Seminar here. “Until we gradually develop our own strong technological base in critical technologies we cannot say India has come of age,” he said while reiterating thrust on achieving self-reliance in critical defence technologies.

Aero India 2011 will also showcase the MMRCA contenders bidding for $11 billion contract. The Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) Competition,  commonly known as the MMRCA Tender that involves six contenders bidding for the deal, will be showcasing their full flight display at Aero India 2011. The MMRCA deal is an ongoing competition to supply the Indian Air Force with 126 Multi-Role Combat Aircraft in order to modernize and expand the Indian Air Force. The contest between these six, this time round, will be there for all to see with these aircraft’s displaying their skills and maneuverability to win the hearts of the Indian Air Force and ministry of defence experts who are expected to place a finger on one of them for procurement. Only the heavy Russian MiG-35, the sixth competitor in the fray for the MMRCA order, will not fly this time.

The IAF is procuring the 126 MMRCAs to bolster its depleting squadron strength. The IAF squadron strength is at present below the sanctioned strength — just 34 squadrons as against the sanctioned strength of thirty-nine-and-a-half. Due to the depleted squadron strength, the IAF’s combat edge/air-superiority over adversaries is under a cloud. The depletion is mainly because most of the aircraft in the IAF’s stable are old and became obsolete in mid-1990s, forcing replacement of a majority by 2010.

Even with the planned MMRCA procurement, the IAF will reach its sanctioned strength only by 2017. India’s indigenously developed fighter LCA Tejas will be seen for the first time in its true role of a combat jet at  Aero India 2011 on the outskirts of this aerospace hub. The IAF plans to induct about 200 Tejas aircraft’s over the years and increase its squadron strength to 39-40 along with 220 of the Russian made Sukhoi-30MKI, another 126-194 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) and the fifth generation fighter aircraft that is being jointly developed with Russia.

Aero India 2011 will also witness the largest US participation till date. Top advanced aircraft’s like F-16 Fighting Falcon, F/A-18 Super Hornet, C-17 Globemaster III, C-130J Hercules (recently procured by India) and KC-135 Stratotanker will be on display and participate in numerous flight demonstrations. Russia will exhibit over 80 types of weaponry and will be represented by 35 companies at the upcoming Aero India 2011 air show. Russia will be represented by 35 companies, including MiG , Sukhoi, Almaz-Antei and Engineering Design Bureau.

Russia will traditionally promote  Su-35 fighter jets, the Yak-130 combat trainer, two versions of Il-76MD transport plane , the Il-78MK aerial tanker and MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB naval fighters. The Be-200 amphibious aircraft will most likely be one of the top attractions of the Russian exhibit as its popularity with foreign customers steadily grows. Rosoboronexport and Russian helicopters will show the Mi-28NE attack helicopter, the light multirole Ka-226T and the heavy transport Mi-26. The Czech Flying Bulls Aerobatics Team, will be performing at the Aero India 2011 with their fleet of four Zlin 50 LXes. The Flying Bulls’ 17-minute performance will include the box formation and the mirror flight.

About 675 exhibitors are also expected to participate in the biennial show to be held at Yelahanka air base, making it the biggest edition of the event so far. Around 100 types of civilian and military aircraft’s would be on display compared with 67 in 2009. This year’s air show will outnumber all previous figures in terms of participating countries, companies, space and business, with a 70 percent increase in gross exhibition area to 75,000 square metres from 44,000 square metres in 2009. Of course, not to forget, the breath-taking air displays are bound to enthral Bengalureans, especially on the weekends of February 12th and 13th.

The Eurocopter AS550 Fennec and AS555 Fennec 2 are lightweight, multipurpose military helicopters manufactured by Eurocopter Group. The armed versions of the  AS 550 C3 Fennec  can be fitted with coaxial weapons, rockets, torpedoes and various other munitions. The military-certified and combat-proven AS550 C3 Fennec has exceptional performance at high altitudes and in hot weather conditions. In addition to operating in Chile’s Andes Mountains at altitudes over 5,000 meters, Fennec helicopters have landed on Mount Everest and the Siachin glacier in the Himalayas.  Eurocopter’s EC135 in the HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Services) configuration will also be present at Aero India 2011. Along with the Fennec’s presence at Aero India 2011, Eurocopter’s participation will focus on the AS565 Naval Panther – a version of the Dauphin family, which is well suited for requirements of the Indian Navy and Coast Guard.

Eurocopter currently holds a leading position in the Indian military and civil markets, building this presence through strong partnerships. For the military sector, Eurocopter developed a very successful 40-year association in India through two cooperation agreements with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Today, HAL is a key element of Eurocopter’s global supply chain, producing shipsets of airframe components for its Ecureuil/Fennec helicopters. In the civil market, Eurocopter has successfully formed partnerships for 25 years with Pawan Hans Helicopter Limited which is Eurocopter approved maintenance center on Dauphin. Eurocopter also approved the Indocopters maintenance center on AS350B3 and EC155.

“The Indian helicopter industry has displayed great potential over the last few years with an annual growth rate of 20 percent,” explained Marie-Agnès Veve, the CEO of Eurocopter India Pvt. Ltd. “Given the country’s expanding economy, its size and challenging terrain – as well as the industrial potential – the future of this industry is very promising. Over the next few years, we hope to become the no. 1 supplier for the civilian, government and parapublic markets in India”. Eurocopter currently has 23 civil and government customers operating its helicopter products in India, with these rotary-wing aircraft performing duties that range from the support of offshore oil and gas drilling to VIP, corporate and passenger transportation.

The Chairman of  Bengaluru headquartered defence manufacturing major, Ashok Nayak, will hand over the helicopters on February 9th, 2011. “At this Aero India, we will showcase our future products and technologies, our designing capabilities and the excellence we have achieved in manufacturing. We would also use this platform to explore more business opportunities with other countries,” said Nayak in a statement. HAL has said that the LCH will fly manoeuvres that will surpass the Indian Air Force’s globally-acclaimed Sarang aerobatics team, which flies the Dhruv helicopter. The second prototype of the LCH is scheduled to make its first flight live at Aero India 2011. Eventually, Indian Airforce plans to buy 65 of these heavily armed and armoured helicopters.

The key to HAL’s helicopter performance is the Shakti engine, which was jointly developed by French engine-maker Turbomeca, in partnership with HAL. The LCH incorporates stealth features and crash landing gear for survivability. The LCH will have a narrow fuselage, with two crew stations. The LCH would also incorporate a data link for network-centric operations facilitating the transfer of mission data to the other airborne platforms and ground stations. According to HAL, a red and white painted mock up of LUH displaying the state-of-the art design features of chopper will be showcased. Multi Role Transport Aircraft (MTA) will also be on display. Manufactured by HAL and UAC of Russia, the MTA aircraft will replace AN-32 of the Indian Air Force.

Aero India-2011, which will be held in the southern city of  Bengaluru on February 11th to 15th, would attract a record number of leading manufacturers, vendors and suppliers from 63 countries. Aero India show displays the civil and military air-crafts and other latest products from the Indian aviation and aerospace industry and is Asia’s largest exhibition which is held once in two years.

The DELILAH GL is an advanced precision deep strike loitering missile, based on the combat proven Air-Launched, long range DELILAH missile utilized by the Israeli Air Force (IAF). The Delilah missile is a cruise missile developed by Israel Military Industries (IMI) to target moving and re-locatable targets with a CEP of 1 metre. The missile is powered by a rocket booster for the launch phase and a turbojet engine for the cruise phase, allowing long-range flight and loitering capability. In addition, the missile incorporates an advanced combined GPS satellite positioning and Internal Navigation System (INS), as well as, Real Time Imagery for man-in-theloop intervention and target validation, ensuring a nearly autonomous mode of operation. The Delilah-GL is a ground-launched variation of the Delilah cruise missile, that has a range of 250 km.

The MPR500 is a Multi-Purpose Rigid Bomb, capable of penetrating straight through four multi-level floors and double reinforced walls, while reducing collateral damage, making it optimal against challenging targets, such as bunkers and fortifications. The IFB500 is a highly effective anti-personnel and anti-material Improved Fragmentation Bomb. IMI has extensive experience and expertise in developing state-of-the-art aerial countermeasures which have led to the development of the new ADVANCED SPECTRAL IR FLARES, which are the world’s only covert pyrotechnic flares. The SPECTRAL FALES are capable of defeating most advanced MANPADS, and are in use and combat proven by the Israeli Air Force.

IMI’s RED SKY 2, mobile and modular Very Short Range Air Defense (VSHORAD) system, is highly effective against most modern helicopters and strike aircraft, making it ideal for the defense of stationary sites or mobile units. IMI’s newly developed Multi-Purpose Rifle System (MPRS) is the latest lethal and accurate munition for the infantry. The MPRS can be embedded on any existing assault rifle using a 40mm grenade launcher. At the exhibition the MPRS will be showcased upon an AK47 Kalashnikov assault rifle. Israel Military Industries (IMI)  is an Israeli weapons manufacturer that manufactures firearms, ammunition and military technology mainly for Israeli security forces although its small arms are very popular throughout the world.

The  file dealt with the offset plans of MMRCA contract which is a 42,000-crore (over $11-billion) deal for the acquisition of 126 (fighter aircrafts). The tendering process for the 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA), initiated in August 2007, has entered its final phase after the IAF carried out the flight and weapons evaluation of the six fighter planes competing for the contract. The contenders include US majors Lockheed Martin’s F-16 , Boeing’s F/A-18 , Russian MiG-RAC’s MiG-35, French Dassault’s Rafale, Swedish Saab’s Gripen and European consortium EADS’ Eurofighter Typhoon.

The IAF confirms that an inquiry had been ordered after the file was recovered but did not disclose the circumstances in which the file was recovered. The IAF also refused to confirm a TV report which claimed that the file had been found on the roadside in South Delhi’s Khel Gaon Marg by a security guard.

‘The IAF inquiry is into whether correct procedures in handling confidential documents were followed or not. That inquiry is nearing completion. By and large, the procedures were followed. The file was handed over to the ministry nice and proper,’ IAF chief P.V. Naik quoted. A top IAF officer stated that a “secret” file had gone missing after it was sent to the ministry of defence (MoD), but there was no official comment or confirmation from the MoD in this regard. The top IAF source said the inquiry would be conducted jointly by the IAF and the MoD since the file belonged to the IAF and had gone missing after it was sent to the MoD. The file was marked “secret” but was not in the most sensitive “top secret” category, IAF sources said.

Incidentally, India’s offset policy makes it mandatory for foreign companies to invest at least 30 per cent of the amount in India for any armament procurement valued at 300 crore or more. However the government had earlier finalised a 50 per cent offset clause in some of the big-ticket defence deals which run into billions of dollars. Also the issue of offsets had reportedly become a major point of contention between the MoD and some of the global vendors amid concerns that this may affect the pace of military modernisation.