geopolitics

December 2012(1)www.geopolitics.in

A E R O I N D I A — 2 0 1 3 S P E C I A L

geopoliticsVol III, Issue IX, February 2013 `100

With India’s strategic reach expanding steadily, is the IAF well-equipped to meet the

emerging challenges?

d e F e n c e d I p l o m A c y s e c u r I t y

skymasters

February 2013(4)www.geopolitics.in

EXPANDING THE WINGS (P8)

Indian Air Force, the world’s fourth largest air force, has just completed 80 glorious

years. But how sound is it?

As the Western powers are reluctant to agree on any definition of weaponisation and militarisation in space, India must not delay in establishing an Aerospace Com-mand.

Saab India is optmistic about the business opportunities in the Indian defence industry and wishes to make an im-pact with its advanced fighter aircraft.

HAL has drawn a long-term Per-spective Plan to realize its vision “To become a significant global player in the aerospace industry” by taking up different projects in collaboration with other players.

Indian fighter pilots are chang-ing the landscape in the mastery of air and are among the best in the world due to world-class training programmes.

IAF chief N A K Browne says that his colleagues are prepar-ing a range of sovereign options to improve the country’s combat capabilities.

Aerospace Command (P12) Multi Spectrum Response (P16)

Looking for indian partners (p22)

a time of huge opportunities(p26)

pushing Boundaries (p54)

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CONTENTS


PromISING FuTurE (P82)

The IAF has gained unprecedented strategic airlift capability with new acquisitions of the C130J Super Her-cules aircraft and C17 Globemaster III aircraft.

Looking for aLter-natives (p58)Renewable biofuel for military aviation reduces the military’s dependence on traditional petroleum-derived fuels, it is time for India to do the same.

cutting edge design (p62)The IAF is looking for ad-vance combat jet avionics for its fighter jets in order to increase its combat capabilities.

Conceptualised and designed by Newsline Publications Pvt. Ltd., from D-11 Basement, Nizamuddin (East), New Delhi -110 013, Tel: +91-11-41033381-82

for NEWSEyE mEDIA PvT. LTD.All information in GEOPOLITICS is derived from sources we consider reliable. It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. Opin-ions/views expressed by third parties in abstract or in interviews are not necessarily shared by us. material appearing in the magazine cannot be reproduced in whole or in part(s) without prior permission. The pub-lisher assumes no responsibility for material lost or damaged in transit. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw or otherwise deal with all advertise-ments without explanation. All advertisements must comply with the Indian Advertisements Code. The publisher will not be liable for any loss caused by any delay in publication, error or failure of advertisement to appear. Owned and published by K Srinivasan, 4C Pocket-Iv, mayur vihar, Phase-I, Delhi-91 and printed by him at Nutech Photolithographers, B-240, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-I, New Delhi-110020.Readers are welcome to send their feedback at [email protected]

IN GREAT DEMANDAll the leading Air Forces along with new generations of fighter aircraft are procuring attack He-licopters increasingly because of

their versatility.

SPOTLIGHT (P88)

Cover Design: Artworks

Cover Photo: Hemant Rawat

The total number of pagesin this issue is 92+4


A E R O I N D I A - 2 0 1 3 S P E C I A L

geopoliticsVol III, Issue IX, February 2013 `100

With India’s strategic reach expanding steadily, is the IAF well-equipped to meet the

emerging challneges?

d e F e n c e d I p l o m A c y s e c u r I t y

skymasters

editor-in-chiefK SRINIVASAN

editorPRAKASH NANDAmanaging editorTIRTHANKAR GHOSH

consulting editorSAURAV JHA

correspondentsDOmINIc BISwAS, TRISHIT RAI

chief VisualiserAJAY NEGIdesigners mOHIT KANSAl, mODASSAR NEHAl, NAGENDRA DUBEY

director (corporate affairs)RAJIV SINGH

director (marketing)RAKESH GERA

Staff Photographer HEmANT RAwAT

design consultantARTwORKS

Photo editorH c TIwARI

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invinciBLe technoLogy (p66)To neutralise the enemy capabilities, the series of directed energy weapons (DEWs) development is among the top priorities for the Indian advanced weapons.

next generation comBat (p72)There has been a dramatic growth in Unmaned Aerial vehicle (UAv) systems as the future of UAvs is trending towords automated systems.

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letters to editor

Feburary 2013(6)www.geopolitics.in

Thanks for the well-researched story on the Iron Dome for India (Geopolitics, Jan-uary 2013). In the wake of recent develop-ments where the neighbouring countries are becoming unstable, the fact that the Indian defence planners have been think-ing about acquiring a system similar to Is-rael’s Iron Dome for the country gave us a sense of relief.

As Indians, we realize that the country faces threats to its security from almost all its neighbours and it is all the more neces-sary to acquire a defence system that will be capable of addressing India’s cross-border threat perceptions. The Iron Dome could be another system along with the indigenous ballistic missile defence sys-tem in the Indian arsenal that will pro-vide India an edge over its enemies. After all, we happen to have one of the stron-gest armies of the world. It is a standard that we need to maintain. The new system as we all know holds tremendous benefits and the state-of-the-art technology can give us an edge over the rest by provid-ing early warning and destroying the sur-face-to-surface missile, rocket or artillery in mid-air launched against Indian tar-gets. What we need is figure out how best to handle this technology.

Ram Kumar, Lucknow

Apropos the story, Arming without Aim-ing (Geopolitics, January 2013), the idea is totally agreeable. In the present scenario, India is the only major country that makes a defence budget every year without a na-tional security doctrine as defence plan-ning is done in a stand-alone mode rather than take-all-along-mode. As the article mentioned, the Armed Forces were a poor instrument of policy. It was only after the disastrous Sino-Indian war of 1962 that the government was compelled to take up the modernization of the Armed Forc-es. I am quite sure that in democracy, the armed forces are expected to provide de-terrence rather than fighting and winning costly wars.

The fact remains that even for deter-rence, we need the top level to spell out the plan of action. There had to be stan-dardized planning along with demands and allotment.

In order to stabilize the moderniza-tion of our defence forces, we need to al-locate the funds between indigenous and external procurement of equipment ap-propriately. I liked Perspective and the story behind it and the effort made to showcase the main idea.

S Kumaramangalam, Bengaluru

Geopolitics is doing a good job and I feel that it has adequately filled a major gap in the Indian defence publication sce-nario. In the last issue, issues related to diplomacy with neighbouring countries and South East Asia were published, es-pecially ‘The Return of Abe’ which high-lighted Indo-Japanese relations and the optimistic future of both nations. This shows that India is being accepted by our East Asian neighbours in term of trade and strategic affairs.

I strongly believe that under the lead-ership of Shinzo Abe, Indo-Japan relation will touch new heights and one must not forget the cultural relations we share with Japan which can certainly create the base on which diplomatic relation-ships are built.

The article dealt significantly with the historical perspective and ground re-alities of Indo-Japan relations in term of trade and strategic affairs to counter Chi-na. Our historic relations have lot to do with this development as China an au-tocratic nation will remain both an op-portunity and a risk for both Japan and India. I get a lot of details from your mag-azine. Keep up the good work.

Romesh Sharma, Guwahati

January 2013(44)www.geopolitics.in

The spectacular performance of the Israeli air defence system—the Iron Dome—in the ‘Operation Pillar of Cloud’ in Gaza has sparked speculation in Indian strategic circles on the imperative of such a system for the country.

Undoubtedly, the debut anti-missile shield has been proved as a ‘game-changer’ in the recent Arab-Israel conflict and may be capable of addressing India’s cross-border threat perceptions. However, the system should not be seen as a panacea as it cannot intercept the longer range missiles. Rather, the Iron Dome can be another system in India’s quiver in the long run while deploying the indigenous Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system and devising a credible strategy to counter cruise missile threats in the near-term.

Project genesisPrimarily, Iron Dome air defence system has its genesis in the Second Lebanon War of 2006, during which nearly 4,000 short-range rockets were fired on Haifa and other northern regions of Israel. A couple of years before this event, Israeli authorities were se-riously looking for anti-missile options, including lasers and giant shotguns, to counter rocket threats.

In 2004, then Brigadier General Daniel Gold was named Director of the Ministry of Defence’s Research and Development department, responsible for overseeing the de-velopment of new weapons systems. In March 2005, by cancelling “all the unnecessary bureaucracy”, he managed to patch together the concept for the system that would be-come Iron Dome.

Many Indian defence planners are closely scrutinising the performance of the Israeli Iron Dome in countering the recent rocket and missile at-tacks from Gaza. But does India need such an air defence system now? Sitakanta MiShra discusses

Iron Dome for InDIa

Iron Dome air defence system has its genesis in the Second Lebanon War of 2006, during which nearly 4,000 short-range rockets were fired on Haifa and other north-

ern regions of Israel

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other security forces are engaged in fight-ing an ongoing ‘half front’ internal secu-rity war. Internationally, the ‘Look East’ policy has resulted in deeper budgetary support for the Navy and Air Force. The Army, as a consequence, has had to accept ‘a reduced position (for modernisation) in the Services triumvirate’.

While it is clear that in a democracy, the armed forces are expected to provide deterrence that caters for avoiding rather than fighting and winning costly wars; the fact remains that deterrence itself needs apex level spelling out and huge budge-tary support. With India’s institutional denigration of the need for military capa-bility co-terminus with economic prog-ress, development and capacity building, the military establishment has savagely been undermined. In this stark introduc-tion to India’s security dilemmas, several things stand out. Foremost is the fact that India’s security perceptions have been driven by external forces—the wars it has fought and neighbourhood developments

PERSPECTIVE

India is the only major country that makes a defence budget every year without a national security doctrine to guide its demands and allotment. Defence planning is done in a stand-

alone mode rather than in a take-all-along mode. How long will this directionless defence budgeting continue? Isn’t it time for a transformation, time to make sense out of the current,

all-pervasive ineptitude and tunnel vision that surrogates for national security & defence plan-ning and budgeting? Raj Mehta analyses

DPR

In their sometimes patronising, yet compelling and thoughtful book, Arming without Aiming—India’s Military Modernisation, Stephen Cohen and Sunil Dasgupta state that

“after Independence, the Indian Govern-ment decided that the Army was a poor instrument of policy. Accordingly, New Delhi pushed aside military matters to fo-cus on development and diplomacy”.

The authors point out that the politi-cal leadership, in the wake of the disas-trous Sino-Indian War of 1962, was com-

—rather than by deliberate design. The military wasn’t a national priority with the founding fathers and remains neglected to date. Secondly, India does not have a capstone document that spells out its na-tional security concerns from which the individual and Joint Service apparatus can exact their missions and tasking.

The dichotomy hits you with a re-sounding slap—how can you make a budget for defence forces if you have no common perception of what the apex leadership wants from its defence forces; in what priority and to cater for which all threats and up to which extent? Thirdly, true Jointness, when it has occurred - the 1971 Indo-Pak War is a good example that has taken place more by luck and chance; by intervention of charismatic, apex level political and military leaders than by Constitutional mandate or by design. Fourthly, while military modernisation has indeed taken place; by default more than by design; the apex level structures that facilitate warfighting and that level of political and military leadership haven’t kept pace. When push comes to shove, will the mindsets of the past still clog apex level leadership thinking? Don’t they need an upgrade? Don’t they need to be trans-formational; indeed, yes, is the blunt and unqualified military analyst’s response.

The Internet is chock-a-bloc with ar-ticles and comments on the nitty-gritties of the Indian Defence Budget; on who will get what percentage of scarce funds will be made available. It is pointless writ-ing on the detailing of defence budgets unless one first understands the context within which the budget either serves its intended purpose or, in the uncluttered words of George W Bush, former Ameri-can President is: ‘Just a budget... It’s got a lot of numbers in it!’ Clearly, ‘this quaint simplification’ does nothing to reassure a billion-plus Indians that their country is mentally and physically well armed with the ‘ends’, ‘ways’ and ‘means’ to safeguard the sovereignty of India against external and internal threats. Against this back-ground, one may focus on the complexi-ties involved.

What do ends, ways and means signify?

Arthur Lykke, the US War College strategist teaches that ends (strategic objectives) ex-plain ‘what’ is to be accomplished. Ends are objectives which, on achievement, serve the desired national interests. For India, a desired End State could be to de-velop individual and Joint Service deter-rence sufficiently to prevent any attack on India’s sovereignty/sovereign inter-ests. Ways (strategic concepts) explain ‘how’ the ends are to be accomplished by the employment of strategic resources. The concepts must be explicit enough to provide planning guidance to those (the Services individually and joint, Defence Research Development Organisation {DRDO}, public, private, military-indus-trial complexes linked to defence) who must implement and resource it. In the Indian context, employment of Cold Start in a conventional limited war scenario is the way India can achieve deterrence. In a nuclear war scenario, the No-First-Use policy of the Government clearly explains that if attacked, a nuclear response by In-dia is assured. Means (resources) explain what specific resources are to be used in applying the concepts to accomplish the objectives. Lykke suggests that tangible means include forces, people, equipment, money, and facilities. Intangible resourc-es include things like ‘will,’ courage, or intellect. Finally, he expounds that Risk explains the gap between what is to be achieved and the concepts and resources available to achieve the objective.

american National Security Strategy (NSS) UnderpinningsThe American government, for in-stance, outlines its major national secu-rity concerns and how to deal with them in the form of its regularly-issued NSS document. The document is deliberately general in content unlike its spin-off Na-tional Military Strategy (NMS) document, which is specific in content and akin to the Indian Raksha Mantri’s (RM’s) Direc-tive. The NSS document is created by an iterative, interagency process. It commu-nicates the Executive strategic vision to Congress, keeps allies informed; keeps political supporters in the loop, creates internal consensus on foreign and defense policy and lends credibility to the overall political agenda of the executive head, the President. On May 26, 2010, the latest National Security Strategy was issued by President Obama. The Strategy advocated

ItaKING StOCK: Seen here at Defexpo 2012 Defence Minister AK Antony will have to make quick decisions to expedite purchases for the armed forces

Arming Without Aiming

pelled to go in for urgent modernisation; a slap-dash exercise that was repeated after the Indo-Pak War of 1965 and again in the mid 1980s during the General Sundarji era which is remembered for conceptualis-ing/seeking a deep strike mechanised ca-pability. The last ‘modernisation’ spike oc-curred post the Kargil War of 1999, when the defence budget once again crossed 3 per cent of India’s GDP. The authors (critically) mention that, post Operation Parakram period, India, in 2004, devel-oped a limited war strategy; ‘Cold Start’,

which epitomises lean and mean shal-low offensive operations by dispersed, integrated mechanised forces. Cold Start, the authors impute, assumes an ‘escala-tion threshold’ in which India can operate short of invite a general war or nuclear re-taliation. The authors state that, in recent years, the Indian strategic security focus has veered towards deterrence and coun-ter-insurgency operations. The prevailing strategic environment has forced India’s armed forces to prepare for the possibil-ity of a ‘two front’ war, while the Army and

January 2013(10)www.geopolitics.in January 2013(11)www.geopolitics.in

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is allowed to be exercised, Japan would be legally able to take military action to de-fend a nation with close ties with Japan if that nation is militarily attacked by a third party. It may be noted that while a consti-tutional revision requires the support of two-thirds of the Diet members to initiate a national referendum on such a revision, changing the government’s interpretation of the Constitution related to the right to collective self-defence does not require such a procedure.

The LDP and other parties calling for the exercise of that right can enact a bill that will change the government’s tradi-tional interpretation. Exercising the right to collective self-defence could open the way for putting Japanese nationals in harm’s way by involving Japan in military conflict not directly affecting it.

The LDP draft calling for revision of Ar-ticle 9 to create a National Defence Force (NLF) states that the proposed NDF, under a specific law, can take part in internation-al cooperative activities to help maintain peace and security in the international community—a concept that can be used to justify Japan’s participation in virtually any type of military mission abroad. Con-sidered one of the more conservative fig-ures in the increasingly conservative LDP, Abe, during his previous tenure as prime minister, pursued a nationalistic agenda pressing for more patriotic education and upgrading the defence agency to ministry status.

Nuclear energy ended up not being a major election issue even though polls showed about 80 per cent of Japanese want to phase out nuclear power after melt-downs at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. But then the fact remains that being an island country un-like Germany, Japan cannot just get energy from other countries in a pinch and, there-fore, has to rely on nuclear energy. As a re-sult, the staunchly anti-nuclear Tomorrow Party, formed just three weeks ago before the elections, captured only nine seats. The LDP is the most pro-nuclear party, and has said Japan should decide over the next 10 years what sort of energy mix is best.

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After three years in opposi-tion, Japan’s conservative Lib-eral Democratic Party (LDP) stormed back to power in the parliamentary elections that

was held on December 16, 2012. The vic-tory means that former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo gets a second chance to lead the nation after a one-year stint in 2006-2007. He would be Japan’s seventh prime minister in six-and-a-half years.

The LDP’s decisive two-thirds major-ity in the Lower House, along with the sup-port of its coalition partner, the Komeito,

will give Abe strength to take hard econom-ic decisions at a time when Japan is under recession. Both the LDP and Komeito have closely convergent positions on the infla-tion target; dealing with the high yen; and spending up on infrastructure.

Many will keenly observe how Abe deals with the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution and the right to collective self-defence. The traditional interpretation by the government has been that the Constitution prohibits the exer-cise of the right to collective self-defence. There are fears that changes to Article 9

Although the Fukushima nuclear ca-tastrophe highlighted the inherent danger of operating nuclear power plants in Ja-pan, Abe opposes the elimination of nu-clear power. He says nuclear power plants whose operations are judged safe should be brought back online. But it needs to be noted that nuclear waste storage facilities at such plants are almost full and that no technology exists at present that can en-sure the safe, essentially permanent stor-age of high-level radioactive waste.

A government led by Abe could mean a substantial shift in Japanese policy, not all of it comfortable for Japan’s neighbours and friends. A segment of the electorate favoured the LDP’s vows to build a stron-ger, more assertive country to answer in-creasing pressure from China and threats of North Korean rocket launches. Abe has asserted that he will protect Japan’s “territory and beautiful seas” amid a terri-torial dispute with China over some unin-habited islands in the East China Sea and this policy stance endeared with the Japa-nese people.

One of the new parties, the right-lean-ing, populist Japan Restoration Party, won 54 seats. The party is led by the bombas-tic nationalist ex-Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro and Osaka Mayor Hashimoto Toru, both of who emerged as polarizing figures with forceful leadership styles. Ishihara was the one who stirred up the latest dispute with China over the islands when he pro-posed that the Tokyo government buy them from their private Japa-nese owners and develop them.

It remains to be seen how Abe will handle Japan’s China policy, though he is talking tough towards China. The LDP platform also calls for developing fisheries and setting up a permanent out-post in the disputed islands, called Sen-kakus by Japan and Daioyu by China—a move that would infuriate Beijing. During his first term as leader, Abe also insisted there was no proof Japan’s military had co-erced Chinese, Korean and other women into prostitution in military brothels dur-ing Japan’s wartime aggression in Asia. He later apologized but lately has suggested

that a landmark 1993 apology for sex slavery needs revising. Abe is said to have expressed regrets not visiting Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrines Japan’s war dead, including Class-A war criminals, during his term as Prime Minister. China and South Korea oppose such visits, saying they re-flect Japan’s reluctance to fully atone for its wartime atrocities.

What does the change in Japan politics mean for India? Going by the experience of the past decade or so, the bonhomie be-tween the two countries will only be deep-ened further and the political change will be a booster rather than a dampener to this evolving partnership. The Abe regime will provide further impetus to this process. All told, against the background of China’s as-cendance of a rising power with global am-bitions, Asia’s two largest democracies and second and third largest economies, re-spectively—Japan and India—have found strategic convergence. This development is complemented by common state behav-iour such as common liberal-democratic values, and the absence of any historical grievances unlike Japan’s neighbours such as China and South Korea.

The China challenge is driving In-dia, Japan and the US to come

to a common platform. This development needs to be

appreciated against the background of the ex-

isting security alliance relationship between Japan and the US and the deepening stra-tegic convergence of interests of India with

Japan and the US, cul-minating in the trilat-

eral dialogues between the three, of which three

rounds have already taken place. Senior Japanese officials

briefed Indian and US officials about the security dilemma that Japan confronts with China as territorial dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea that escalated to the level that has rung alarm bells among strategists. The third trilateral meeting explored the possibilities of working together in the region. The tri-lateral has attracted criticism from China, which has blamed Tokyo for spreading its anxieties about Beijing’s rise among other countries.

The three countries are also looking at

FRESH START: Newly-elected Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie. The pho-tograph is from our files and record the couple’s arrival at Rostock-Laage Airport for the G8 summit in June 2007

and to the government’s interpretation of the right to collective self-defence would shatter the trust Japan has gained from the international community through its ad-herence to its constitutional no-war prin-ciple in the decades that followed the end of World War II.

Both the LDP and the Japan Restora-tion Party are known for their hawkish atti-tude on constitutional issues. They call for revising the Constitution, including revi-sion of the war-renouncing Article 9, and for exercising the right to collective self-de-fence. If the right to collective self-defence

The reTurn of Abe The LDP’s victory under the leadership of Shinzo Abe in the just-concluded elections in Japan bodes well for India-Japan relations, writes RAjARAm PAndA

In 2006, Abe had predicted that japan-India relations had the potential to overtake japan-US and

japan-China ties. With this vision, the future of

India-japan relations looks optimistic.

LETTERS


With one and a half de-cades into 21st century and the completion of 80 years since its establish-ment, it is time for a re-

appraisal of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and an assessment of the future scenario. This

WILL WE, WON’T WE? The F-35, a single-engine, single-seat stealth aircraft is being pushed — like some many others — by the US suppliers through the US Senate Armed Services Committee that has asked the US Defence establishment to review the “desir-ability and feasiblility” of selling the aircraft to India. The Americans lost the MMRCA deal to the French, but they continue to puruse the F-35 in the hope that it will happen sometime in the future

EXPANDING THE WI NGS

Indian Air Force, the world’s fourth largest air force, has just completed 80 glorious years. But how sound is it? AbhIjIT bhATTAchAryyA answers

is especially because the world economy is going through a slump which in turn seems to be affecting virtually all big bud-get, big ticket and big operators of combat aviation. In 2011, India’s `1,99,480 crore defence budget ranked her ninth amongst top ten nations with the USA being at the

top and Brazil taking the tenth slot in the list. Evidently, India today is an important and valued defence market player. But, the question remains how big or effective the Indian Air Force is and what enhanced role it could play in future which appears not-too-bright as yet owing to a diminish-


ing budget and a shrinking market.Let us now face the ground realities.

Today, the Indian Air Force is definitely an important force in the South Asian sky. Also, with its force multiplier assets and joint exercise with friendly fliers of the West and Asia, it can surely further

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enhance its range, deployment, deploy-ability and combat capability in times of turbulence.

However, there still appears an in-creased hiatus between operation plan-ning and combat flying and that needs to be addressed urgently. Times have changed and are changing fast. Back in 1971, the Indian Air Force was a compact tactical limited war platform giving close air support to its advancing, or holding ground forces from the forward edge of the battle area or to establish local air su-periority. With comparatively restricted combat radius and low payload, the num-ber and variety of missions too could be counted upon owing to preponderance of limited-terrain action.

The Indian Air Force of the past had further limitations: on night sorties; air-borne early warning; electronic warfare; aerial refuelling and strategic high altitude reconnaissance; intensive bombing capa-bility. It was not that the essentially Soviet planes that they had were of poor quality, but that they were not the best in capabil-ity. The Soviet Union retained the capabil-ity for its own air force and did not share it fully with India. In other words, though the Soviet-made aircraft MiG, Antonov, Ilyushin, Tupolev and Mil and Kamov ro-torcraft used by the IAF was of high qual-ity, it was much greater in quantity owing to somewhat unusual induction-attrition ratio and the paucity of multi-mission platforms.

Understandably, the multi-mission gap had to be filled, at least partially, by the induction of Anglo-French Jaguar, a deep penetration strike aircraft, in the 1970s and French Mirage-2000 multirole fighters in 1980s. However, India’s mod-ernisation and technology upgrade con-tinued to face serious challenges owing to post-Soviet era chaos in the defence mar-ket and a lack of matching skills in indig-enous technology research, development and upgrade. Consequently, the IAF could not come out of its dependence on expen-sive platforms of foreign vendors and the equally high price on subsequent technol-ogy transfer thereby compelling it to slip under the mercy of overseas manufactur-ers. The tradition has continued notwith-standing the extension and entry of the air force into the arena of strike/interdiction and achievement of strategic capability, including nuclear capability at present.

The present professional competence of IAF, however, is unquestionable. Known for being tech savvy, ability to adapt

quickly and ingenious in engineering at remote bases, its fault lines, however, con-tinue to exist in pilot training for being accident-prone sorties and depleting fleet strength and deployment ability. The lat-est instance of such a problem has been hinted by the Defence Minister in the floor of the Parliament in December 2012 when he disclosed that the IAF is facing a setback in its training regime as 16 of its 66 BAE Systems Hawk Mark 132 advanced jet trainer (AJT) aircraft are grounded owing to a lack of spares.

The stark reality emerges from the fact that with the exception of the Sukhois, the entire fighter fleet of the IAF has aged and it operates 700 plus combat capable aircraft, down from 850 in 2006. Naturally, as things stand today, it would be a Her-culean task for the IAF to curb and reduce the rate of serious attrition in the foresee-able future. Thus between 1990 and 2003, Indian Air Force lost over 100 pilots and 273 fighters, which is equivalent to nearly 19 squadrons, in flying accidents.

Material problem aside, IAF’s en-hanced power projection and overseas visibility came to the fore in 1993-1994 when for the first time helicopters were deployed to UN mission in Somalia, to Sierra Leone in 2000 and Congo in 2003. Further deployment of men and material to Malaysia and Tajikistan speaks volumes about the increasing importance and ac-ceptability of the IAF in regional and world security system. With more than 45 air force stations spread across the length and breadth of the country, IAF’s operational doctrine has adopted an ‘offensive-defen-sive’ role which, by implication, suggests expertise in both pre-emptive action and swift and quick retaliation.

It would be in order to touch upon the roles, India’s neighbours, China and Paki-stan, are playing vis-à-vis India. China’s is a clear goal, to organize and prepare for all weather, offensive operations within the context of a joint-forces campaign. The idea is to challenge the USA, the sole ‘super power’ of the world. However, China got a severe jolt in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 which effectively barred the flow of all technical knowhow, technology and skill into China. Overnight China’s import from the west went for a tailspin thereby compelling Beijing to look out for aggres-sive acquisition from Moscow and equally urgent need to go for indigenous produc-tion. With three main challenging subjects of Taiwan, Japan and the USA in its eastern

EXPANDING THE WI NGS


sea board, India (at present) figures low in Chinese combat radar, memories of In-dia’s defeat of 1962 notwithstanding.

Understandably, China, in comparison with India, appears to have gone ahead; constantly trying to devise and develop new doctrine, tactics, logistic support ca-pabilities and training programmes. The best part of China, however, is its indig-enous armament research, development and production machinery. Thus when China’s second fifth-generation fighter, twin-engine, low observable J-31 made its first flight on October 31, 2012, India was reported to have placed order to buy 15 Boeing CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift he-licopters for the its air force through the US Foreign Military Sales route. Not only that. Newspaper and reports emanat-ing from other credible sources show the world as to what extent the gap has wid-ened between the two Asian powers aspir-ing to space each other out in the show of might, money, economics and diplomatic manouvering.

China would do anything to make its defence preparedness on indigenous

manufacturing of hardware. Thus, China was reported to have had the “US stealth secrets” in 2011. “The secrets of the Ameri-can stealth helicopter that crashed at the start of the raid to kill Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011 are feared to be in the hands of the Chinese military” reported The Times London on August 16, 2011. Understand-ably, the Pakistanis helped the Chinese to access the modified Black Hawk stealth helicopter that crashed at Abbottabad.” The Chinese track record shows that when the US Air Force lost a stealth fighter over Serbia in 1999 (during the Kosovo war) the Chinese turned up to take pictures of the wreckage”.

The Chinese capability of sophisti-cated aviation technology was once again demonstrated in September 2012 when Beijing unveiled new stealth fighter there-by leaving New Delhi far behind, as on date. Tentatively designated as J31, specu-lation is rife owing to its being similar to the US F35 fighter that is on the verge of being inducted into operational role.

India’s discomfiture increased in No-vember 2012 when the Chinese success-

fully conducted flight landing on its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, using a new J-15 fighter jet for exercise. At a time, when the Moscow made aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, with a horrendous time and cost over-run, have made the Indians blush for utter helplessness owing to con-spicuous lack of indigenous production of even basic training aircraft for rookie pilots in the air force academy, successful flight landing marks a landmark develop-ment in showing the determination of the Chinese nation to not only be self-suffi-cient in armament technology but also cut out the foreign vendors, who more often than not, play for profit and non-supply of the latest technology to the importing na-tion like India.

The plight of India’s neighbour of “eternal turbulence”, Pakistani Air Force, too perhaps is no better than New Delhi owing to its being an “imported fighter” air force. However, Pakistan enjoys an overall advantage for being India’s bet-noire and ‘countervailing’ power which serves the interest of both foreign vendors of armament technology and the forces

AIrLIfTINg MAMMOTh: The A400M is de-signed to carry a 30-tonne payload over 4,540 km or a 20-tonne payload over 3,450 km

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inventory and we virtually find a blank re-cord as on date, thereby leaving the field wide open to anyone and everyone except the players of, and from, India.

The list is endless. Effort to gain ac-cess to foreign stuff ceaseless. India and Russia sign agreement to co-operate in the development and production of a new fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA). Medium multirole fighter aircraft ordered from France still hangs in the air as the USA continues to resort to indirect pulls and pressure through the recommenda-tion drafted by the Senate Armed Services Committee to accompany a bill outlining US defence appropriations in Fiscal year 2012. The matter is reportedly still alive as it asks the US Defence to review the “desir-ability and feasibility” of selling the F-35 to India.

India’s high profile project of light combat aircraft (LCA), Tejas, completes 30 years of non-completion, thanks to oppo-sition emanating from powerful group of “anti-indigenisation Indians” from within. The latest one hears is that in manu-facturing our indigenous LCA Tejas, US

General Electric is to supply 99 GE F-414 engine worth `3000 crore. It is not being realised that no nation aspiring to play a meaningful role in the world stage can afford to have its voice heard with an all imported defence hardware and software. Take the case of UK, France, Germany and even financially bankrupt Spain and Italy. They still all have their defence industry in place, diminishing local and foreign order notwithstanding.

India has also gone for 22 Boeing Apache Longbow attack helicopters, 6 Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 transport aircraft, 10 Boeing C-17A Globemaster III, and Airbus Military Multi Role Tanker Transport. Although there is no doubt that all these flying machines are absolute ne-cessity for the defence preparedness for a country of 1.2 billion people in one of the most dangerous areas of the world, the fact remains that the failure of successive Governments of India have let the nation down and have done little to make the In-dian Air Force feel proud to fly only aircraft of foreign origin. This is an era of technol-ogy.

India is an open society with enor-mous human resources which most na-tions in the third world cannot even dream of possessing as yet. Hence it would be in the fitness of things to start equip-ping Indian Air Force with at least some indigenously produced equipments in areas which do not have the possibility of facing high intensive conflict scenario. There is no doubt that the men behind the IAF machines are too proud, professional and competent not to handle their home made product, failure of the state to de-velop it notwithstanding.

One may refer to the inherent difficul-ties of dealing with the foreign vendors who are well aware of the psyche of the Indians owing to the lack of indigenous production capacity of high tech fighters. Thus when negotiations between French manufacturer Dassault Aviation and the Indian Defence Ministry on the `55,000 crore medium multirole combat aircraft (MMRCA) pertaining to issues related to the foreign vendor’s 50per cent offsets requirement and transfer technology hit the road block, it once again exposed as to what the potential, and inherent, clash of financial interest and the ability of the supplier do to the helpless importer.

(The author is a retired civil servant and an alumni of National Defence College)

ThE ThrusT fOrWArd: India’s Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) selected the F414-GE-INS6 engine to power the Mk II version of the HAL Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) for the Indian Air Force

inimical to New Delhi. Thus with signifi-cant diversification of air platforms, with China being the primary supplier of com-bat aircraft in recent times, along with purchases of Mirage fighters, declared surplus to requirements by air forces of Australia, France, Lebanon, Libya and Spain, Pakistan appears to have gone for economy of finance while enhancing its quantitative(conventional) air assets.

Coming back to Indian Air Force af-ter its 80th birthday, fundamentals of war fighting capabilities still need to be ad-dressed urgently. They are well known. Yet they are slow to take off for resolution: why? Flight safety, aircraft obsolescence, poor maintenance, inefficient rebuild-ing programme, spare parts shortage, and inadequate pilot training apparatus are there for all to see. But the most con-spicuous of all negative factors is the iron grip of foreign manufacturers over the Government of India which, many say, is unlikely to help Indian Air Force to attain the height of glory and self-respect, hon-our and independence. Let us go through the list of indigenous defence industry

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Time for AerospAce commAnd in indiAWith the Western powers moving completely away from any definition of weaponisation and militarisation in space and focussing, instead, on a ‘code of conduct for space security that will tie down the hands of developing coun-tries with a restrictive regime like the nuclear non-proliferation regime, India must move faster in establishing an Aerospace Command in the IAF and make it functional as early as possible, argues JasJit singh

India, especially as it emerges as the third major power in material terms as per the US National Intelligence Council’s latest report, is unique, al-beit in a negative sense, when com-

pared to countries even lower on the pow-er equation in the world. It stands mired in its past poverty and short-sightedness in being without an aerospace command to plan, manage and operationally apply space assets for its defence. Conventional wisdom of Indian elites would have us be-lieve that political leaders do not under-stand such things and have ignored India’s defence preparedness. But in this particu-lar aspect (and many more), it was the bi-partisan political leaders (all members of

both houses of the Standing Committee on Defence) that unanimously started ar-guing strongly, citing the example of the 1991 Gulf War, that by mid-1990s that the Government must establish an aerospace command on priority to ensure we can exploit space for national defence and security.

In fact, the actual recommendation was to establish, as in other countries, an Aerospace Command in the Indian Air Force (IAF). But nothing concrete hap-pened. In the following years, it was the executive, essentially the Ministry of De-fence (MoD), which kept reporting at the level of the Defence Secretary to the sub-sequent committees that the matter was

being given serious consideration. Only when the Indian Air Force proposed es-tablishing an aerospace command after we entered the 21st century that the deci-sion-makers suddenly sought a tri-service aerospace command under the mantra of ‘jointness’. While some rationality is re-portedly emerging, it appears that we still do not have any institution and organisa-tion to start building operational capabili-ties to use the outer space for national de-fence and security. And this is despite the fact that India has one of the best space programmes for peaceful purposes which do include weather forecasting and com-munication.

It is the Indian Air Force, which, like


all other air forces, is the most affected component of military power with regard to space capabilities. It is natural, there-fore, that the IAF had taken the initiative to set up a Space Application Directorate at Air Headquarters (HQ) as early as 1981. In those years, the only space capabil-ity that was sanctioned for the IAF was satellite-based communication for one mobile Tactical Air Centre attached to the army’s Strike Corps. Ironically, when in the 1990s, the bipartisan political Stand-ing Committee was arguing for setting up an Aerospace Command in IAF, the Space Application Centre in Air HQ was dissolved.

On the other hand, our space pro-

gramme for peaceful purposes under the Space Commission and managed by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) has successfully achieved capabilities equiva-lent to the very best in the world although the size has remained modest. On the eve of the 21st century, the US expectedly led the world with a space budget of 64.3 per cent of global share in civil sector (India’s share was 2 per cent; Europe accounted for 19 per cent, Japan 9.2 per cent and Russia 2.1 per cent). In the military sec-tor, the US accounted for 94.8 per cent, Europe 3.9 per cent, Russia 1 per cent and India had zero per cent of the Global Gov-ernment Space Budget.

China, which, like other countries,

began with a military space programme, could overtake our civilian programme only in the 1990s. As our civilian space programme began to achieve notable advances and successes, its insulation from the defence establishment became even more marked. China has advanced so far that it also changed its military doctrine to win local-border wars with high-technology ‘informatisation’ rely-ing increasingly on space-based capa-bilities. It demonstrated its ability for a space offensive by destroying its obsolete satellite at 850-km altitude by a ground-based missile interceptor in January 2007. In the following year, the US, which had acquired the capability in the early 1980s (like the USSR) tested another system for Anti-Satellite (ASAT) weapons which are designed to incapacitate or destroy satel-lites for strategic military purpose. Now only the US, Russia and China have the ASAT capabilities. Among China’s other capabilities, this alone would have a ma-jor adverse impact on Indian nuclear de-terrence strategy, and conventional war-fighting. Incidentally, China as part of its strategic nexus with Pakistan, has made and launched at least two reconnaissance satellites for Pakistan, besides the earth station at Karachi to control and manage them. Western experts have assessed that China would not have to rely on imported satellite images (as we do) for military purpose after 2014.

Obviously, it makes little sense to have a modern air force without space assets to support it. This raises two important questions: why are space assets required for defence; and why an aerospace com-mand is important? As for the first, the ba-sic reality that needs to be first grasped is that air (atmosphere in other words) and space (where there is no air at all) are both a continuum of the same medium: the vertical medium. As we keep going high-er, only the characteristics of the medium change (even within the atmosphere where density of air keep changing) with altitude and not its basic form and intrin-sic quality. This reality bestows upon air power and space (in other words, aero-space) the unique quality that it can influ-ence and control the surface forces by it-self and its own resources and capabilities and systems, but the reverse is not true. In other words, surface forces cannot influ-ence and control aerospace power except possibly in very limited terminal defenc-es. The vertical medium bestows upon aerospace a unique strategic capability

MissiOn REaDY: North American Defence Aerospace Command (NORAD) provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defence for Canada and the United States. NORAD is headquartered at Colorado

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and wartime advantage compared to the other medium in which land and naval forces operate. In fact, the dependence of surface forces on aerospace power has been seen in all wars in the past century.

Natural conclusions flow from this. First, while the land and naval forces were historically the prime expression of a country’s military power, the growth of aerospace power has altered that. Second, the exploitation of space capabilities has become as important and critical for na-tional security and defence as air power in all aspects. Just as a country without air power is extremely vulnerable to one which has it, so too is the case with space capabilities. In fact, the dynamics that govern the employment of air power are equally applicable to space are defensive capabilities, offensive capabilities, deter-rence, etc. As is the case with air forces operating at low levels which need to alter their capabilities and tactics if required to operate at high altitudes, the same is the case with operations in space. Once countries began to exploit space for mili-tary purposes after 1957 Soviet Sputnik launch, the US and the USSR started to build capabilities and assets on the same principles as air power.

The organising principles of opera-tional employment to manage space ca-pabilities have to be similar to that of air power because of the overwhelming commonalities of functions except for the lesser differences for the peculiarities of the two. The US experience in evolv-ing the space management institutions perhaps stands out for two reasons. First, the early process saw many experiments in organisational and operational terms till it settled down to utilising space to en-hance the performance of strategic forces. But progressively the US settled down to the three arms of the military possessing a space command. The essential point is that the Army and Navy require space ca-pabilities to a far lesser extent than the US Air Force. The US also retained an over-arching US Space Command under the Pentagon. The essential logic of four com-mands in the United States is really seen in the table above which indicates the rel-ative strength of manpower and budget of

each space command:Incidentally, this pattern was es-

tablished as early as late 1970s and has passed into the 21st century. This indi-cates that if 94.5 per cent of the man-power (and almost the same percentage of budget) of the space commands is al-located to the US Air Force Space Com-mand, it is no doubt because the US Air Force is the greatest user of space capa-bilities. Therefore, looking at the nature of space operations and air operations in the atmosphere, logically, the Aerospace Command should be established within the IAF. There is no doubt that the Indian Army and Navy require space capabilities for their own tasks but they are much less than the utility of space in aerospace mis-sions and functions.

However, when the IAF proposed set-ting up one such command, there was an immediate rush of turf interests and an inadequate understanding of ‘jointness’ derailed the whole process even before it started. It took almost the whole decade to sort out a viable solution to accom-modate turf interests. On the other side, there has been a deeply rooted reluctance in the ISRO to cooperate with the defence establishment to help it start forming necessary capabilities. Fortunately, now all this seems to be in the past, though we have fallen even more behind our poten-tial adversaries

As noted earlier, in spite of the bipar-tisan political leadership pressing for it, our Ministry of Defence was not particu-larly enthusiastic about creating space capabilities, possibly because of a mis-understanding that we should not do so as India is opposed to weaponisation of space. In fact, there has been a continuing debate in the international community about militarisation and weaponisation of space. But there has been no real un-derstanding of what each of these terms would imply. Space started to be milita-rised almost immediately after the Sput-nik launch in 1957, and that too at a fast pace. The Western powers are now mov-ing completely away from any definition of weaponisation and militarisation and are focussing on a ‘code of conduct’ for space security which will (like the Nuclear

Suppliers Group (NSG), Australia Group, Waasenaar Arrangement, etc.) tie down the hands of developing countries with a restrictive regime like the non-prolifera-tion regime that has slowed India’s indus-trialisation by years if not decades. This process itself requires that we move faster in establishing an Aerospace Command in the IAF and make it functional as early as possible.

If we look ahead, the major powers like the United States and Russia (with China following) are well on the way to acquire hypersonic missiles/ vehicles to alter the very nature of aerospace warfare. The United States Air Force is well set on its goal of Prompt Global Strike which could hit a target anywhere on the globe in less than 72 hours. China, on the other hand, has also pursued asymmetric approach to deal with the more powerful and ad-vanced US military. For example, its de-ployed ballistic missiles are equipped with manoeuvring re-entry warheads which make it possible to accurately hit a target at long ranges with great precision. In addition, it is clear that such missiles will beat any missile defence system. This is one reason why the United States has begun its reorientation and rebalancing toward the Asia-Pacific region and ad-opted an Air-Sea Battle military strategy. In our case, it is indeed inexplicable that in spite of the ISRO having reached at par with the other leading space powers, we are unable to even start moving purpose-fully towards an Aerospace Command to move ahead beyond importing satellite images from abroad or simply hoping to get some from Google Earth.

(Air Commodore Jasjit Singh, AVSM VrC VM, IAF

(retd) has been awarded the Padma Bhushan for a life-time’s contribution to national defence

and security. He is Director General of Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi.)

COMManD PERsOnnEl FY 03 BuDgEtUS Space Command 8.44 `480 croreAir Force Space Command 40,000 `45650 croreNaval Space Command 475 `5577 croreArmy Space Command 650 ` 324.5 crore

lOst ERa: Sputnik 1, the first man made satellite launched on 4 October 1957 by Soviet Union, began the Space Age and triggered the Space Race, an era defined as Cold War

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Indian Air Force Chief N A K BrowNe strongly believes that his officers are second to none in displaying their capabilities and innovativeness to improve the country’s combat potential.

on the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) focus areasThe need of the hour is to be ever vigilant and prepared and embrace the emerging technologies with the contemporary sys-tems and quickly adopt to produce a range of sovereign options

The Indian Air Force stands firmly in its belief that the integrated jointness is in-deed the way forward. In this regard, I wish to assure the army, navy and other secu-rity agencies of our commitment towards delivering joint capability responses for

our future contingencies. The IAF is well poised on the path of transforming itself into a potent strategic force. While induc-tion of the state of the art equipment and systems would lead to a major upgrada-tion of our combat potential, our biggest strength, ‘Our People’ must receive our highest attention.

In whatever capacity you serve in the Indian Air Force, you remain our most valu-able asset. While change is the hallmark of growth and progress, the biggest challenge

facing us in the coming years, is to manage this fast-paced change effectively, without compromising on high operational stan-dards. Operating across a broad spectrum of vintage equipment would test our in-novativeness and capabilities. The nation has reposed a high degree of trust and confidence in our capabilities. It is indeed an onerous asking and I am confident that as capable men and women we will work shoulder to shoulder in discharging our re-sponsibilities befittingly.


“Our operational capabilities must provide us multi-spectrum response options to handle any contingencies within the region where most of India’s strategic interests lie.”

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on the IAF’s strategic reachThe IAF is going through a very busy and a challenging period and our focus now, at all times must be on three priority areas—operational capability, infrastructure and security, especially in view of new induc-tions in the force’s inventory. In light of the expanding ‘strategic footprint’ of resurgent India, the IAF must possess complimen-tary capabilities to operate effectively and decisively.

on past wars In hindsight, one can learn lessons from the history and these are open and glaring lessons we should have imbibed. The IAF will play a leading role in not just against that or any other sector but anywhere. If

the IAF had not offensively got into the war at the right point of time, the Kargil conflict would have continued for another three months at those impossible heights for our young jawans and officers to be climbing up and losing lives.

If we had used the air force offensively during the 1962 conflict (with China), the outcome would have been different. It would have changed the course of the war.

on the challenges facing the IAFTimely integration of the new inductions within the existing legacy systems, while ensuring a high-combat potential and ad-dressing all aerospace safety concerns, will be our key operational challenges. Bigger challenges await us as we step into the

New Year - challenges that will stretch our physical and mental capabilities. We must capitalise on this opportunity (provided by the air exercises Iron Fist and Live Wire) for revalidating and fine-tuning our opera-tional employment philosophies in a near real-time operational scenario.

The year gone by has been busy as also challenging; we faced many new chal-lenges and we also achieved significant milestones. While these challenges tested our collective competence and resolve on one hand, they also served to reinforce our commitment and sense of pride in the val-ues which the IAF represents. Despite fac-ing various operational and maintenance challenges associated with the transfor-mation phase, we continued to maintain a high combat potential.

on plans to increase aircraft squadrons We are more than Pakistan at this time but what we are saying is that we need to maintain this force level at least in the 12th plan period. We will not allow it to go less than 34 and it is only in the 13th plan that we will start going up to 42.


PartnershiPs… CaPabilities… CaPaCities...Geopolitics spoke to top industry leaders about their offerings for the Indian market even as our defence establishment continues with the process of big-time acquisitions

In real terms if one wants to know the difference between Aero India 2011 and the 2013 edition, it is in these five letters: MMRCA. If the edition two years back was high

on expectation and pregnant with hope for each one of the participating fight-ers shortlisted for the multi-billion dollar deal, this year’s show is really a ‘what next’ edition. Most of the losing bidders have put the disappointment behind them and are now focussing on the other op-tions. As Secretary Defence Production Devesh Mathur has said, the show is ‘not MMRCA-centric’.

That the number of participating companies or the aircraft taking part in the show has not dramatically gone down, is a reflection of the country’s long shop-ping list and the huge opportunities that still exist. The biennial event organised by Department of Defence Production, which will be held at the Air Force Sta-tion Yelahanka, will see the participation of 600 companies and 78 overseas del-egations from countries such as Israel,

Russia, USA, France, UK, Germany and Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Ukraine, Aus-tralia, Belarus, Czech Republic, Japan, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Netherlands, Ro-mania, Sweden, UAE and Singapore.

Here are some highlights• Of the six Medium Multirole Combat

Aircraft (MMCA) aircraft, which have been main attractions of the aero show in 2011 only the French Rafale and American F-16 have confirmed their participation. The six aircraft including American F/A-18 and F-16, Russian MiG 35, Swede Saab Gripen, French Rafale and the European Eu-rofighter were regular at the last three editions of the show in view of the then multi-billion dollar tender for 126 aircraft by the IAF will not be there in the show.

• One of the main attractions of the show will be events by participating aerobatic teams -- Flying Bulls from Czech Republic, Russian Knights-

Russian Air Force Aerobatic Team and IAF’s Sarang Aerobatic Team.

• India has invited China to the 2013 Aero India air show. Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne sent an invitation to his Chinese counterpart in early January.

• A low-cost, long-endurance UAV ‘ScanEagle’ of Boeing would make its first appearance at the show.

• Among the flying machines set to de-but at the five-day show are the Pila-tus PB-7 Mk-II basic trainer of Swit-zerland and weaponised version of the Made in India ‘Rudra’ helicopter. Sources in IAF said the Pilatus PC-7 Mk-II basic trainer would fly for the first time over Indian skies at the air show.

• The largest contingent at the show would be from the US with 67 of its companies participating, followed by France, Russia and Israel. A total of 78 countries would be sending their representatives at the aero show of which 27 would be showcasing their products at the mega event.

It’s showtime for flyIng machInes!


February 2013www.geopolitics.in

Weapons must reflect new technologies

On technology and capabilityCapabilities of fighter aircraft are linked to advances in technology development and application of new technology in both threat systems and your own assets.

An operational need may drive tech-nology development, or technology ad-vances in other areas may be applied to military systems. Technologies and capabilities usually evolve steadily in in-cremental steps but sometimes there are revolutionary advances that offer new possibilities or greatly enhanced capa-bilities such as the transistor of the 50s or advances in stealth and low observability starting in the 70s. Other major advances are compact fighter engines enabling lightweight fighters or AESA radars that provide several, simultaneous functions.

On stealth Revolutionary advances provide a game-change and frequently too much empha-sis is put on exploring this new capability with adverse consequence on remaining capabilities. Sooner or later other ad-vances will even out the advantage of this revolutionary technology. This is well il-lustrated by stealth technology. Through analytical methods, computing power and new materials it became possible to design low observable fighters that avoided detection. But to explore this ad-vantage, the fighters had to sacrifice flight performance, weapons capacity, sensor information and availability. With recent advances in sensor development, stealth aircraft may be detected and thus become more vulnerable. Stealth will still delay detection, but there has to be a balance between stealth and other capabilities

LARS-OLOF LINDGREN, Head, Saab India, on the future of fighter aircraft, UAVs and stealth techonologies.

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as an UCAV to reduce control surface de-flections and reduce signature further. As with most designs there are pros and cons, but Saab’s view is that the adverse effects and moderate gains along with modern missiles makes super-manou-vrability a less likely candidate for a future fighter aircraft.

On Flying Wing configurationThe ‘Flying Wing’ or ‘Blended Wing Body’ has been applied to the Very Low Ob-servable class of UCAVs. The wing-body fusion and the plan form reduces the angles that reflect radiation to a mere

minimum. To avoid detection at lower radar frequencies typical for surveillance radars in which wavelengths of metres are comparable to the object size, not only angles but also length of objects become essential to be stealthy. To get a perimeter of discrete angles and long edges the obvi-ous design is a flying wing like B-2, X-45, X-47 or Neuron. But these aircraft will be transonic or high subsonic and sacri-fice manoeuvrability and agility to focus entirely on avoiding detection, and such configurations are not compatible with a ‘balanced design’ approach for fighters.

Blending of wing and fuselage to some

that make up a fighting system. Rather than putting all eggs in one ‘stealth’ bas-ket it is necessary to derive and optimise a long-lasting solution while forecasting future threats and technologies and in-corporating these into the design.

Future fighters will still apply stealth but will probably also retain or improve upon fourth generation fighter class flight performance, sensing capability, counter-measures and weapons capability. Fur-thermore, radar absorbing materials have matured and thus maintaining stealth properties of future fighters will have less adverse impact upon availability com-pared to current stealth designs such as F-22, F-35 or PAF-FA.

Conventional non-stealthy fight-ers of the fourth generation and beyond may prove to have less of a disadvantage in the future battlefield than previously assumed. Except for the stealth they will be on equal terms with Low Observable fighters. Improved stand-off weapons, enhanced sensors and data processing as well as additional support of unmanned surveillance systems will aid future sur-vivability of conventional fighters.

On super-manoeuvrabilitySome years ago ‘super-manouvrability’ became an issue almost as hot as stealth. By vectoring the thrust, new fighters were supposed to outmanouvre the opponents. Experimental aircraft such as X-31 dem-onstrated the feasibility and performed impressive displays. In reality thrust vec-toring is just another ‘control surface’. At high speed, the structural loads and the human occupant will limit super-manou-vrability anyway which leaves low speed and post-stall combat as likely applica-tions. But the vectoring adds weight and complexity and close-in combat is to be avoided anyway. But most modern mis-siles do not have the constraints of the aircraft and are well suited for thrust vec-toring and super-manouvrability.

Furthermore, new sensors don’t re-quire the aircraft to point at the adversary to acquire lock-on. In other words; mod-ern missiles will outmanoeuvr any fighter. But there are some larger US and Russian fighters that have adopted thrust vector-ing. In these the weight penalty is rela-tively small and the vectoring may also be used to reduce supersonic trim drag asso-ciated with their tail configuration.

Thrust vectoring may be applied to a Very Low Observable stealth aircraft such

IndIa Is ImpOrtant FOr saabIndia is a very big, interesting and important market with great business op-portunities. It is one of Saab’s home markets and, therefore, the company’s focus is not simply on winning bids but on building business in partnership with reliable Indian partners across the entire hierarchy of manufacturers, all the way from strategic partners to sub-component suppliers to communi-ties.

Saab recently established a joint venture with QuEST Global to manu-facture and supply assemblies for the commercial aerostructures market. The joint venture, in which Saab holds 26 per cent ownership, will further strengthen Saab’s position in the commercial aerostructures market as well as increase Saab’s presence in India.

Saab has also signed a MoU for strategic investment in Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering and a Technical Partnership Agreement (TPA). These agreements underline Saab’s strategy to increase its presence in an im-portant and large market and offer business possibilities for several parts of the organisation.

Further, Saab in collaboration with Elcome Marine Services implement-ed National Automatic Identification System (NAIS) on the Indian coast line for India’s Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL), which will also be used by Indian Navy, Coast Guard and DG Shipping.

Saab is currently pursuing many individual opportunities in the require-ments of the Indian defence forces. All of Saab’s Business Areas are active in India offering high-tech solutions and products such as the C4I, EW (Self Protection Systems), Signature Management, Missile and Weapon Systems, Aeronautical Platforms, Sensors (Radars), Maritime Security and Civil Secu-rity, LPI Radars and Sea Giraffe.

Saab is moving aggressively to realise this ambition by building part-nerships with Indian companies to serve the Indian market, the Indian defence establishment and the global market. Saab’s commitment to India manifests itself through R&D investments, customised solutions and tailor-made offset projects. The company is intensifying its operations in India with a long term perspective, contributing technological know-how to the Indian Defence Industry. For all major future programmes, Saab will partner an Indian company either through a teaming agreement or through a joint venture.


degree is applied in most current fighters as this has both aerodynamic and struc-tural advantages.

The flying wing is also seen as a can-didate for novel, future passenger aircraft. There are practical problems to be solved such as passenger evacuation and com-mercial aviation tends to be rather con-servative, but who knows; eventually we may travel in flying wings.

On weaponsWhen designing supersonic stealth air-craft one dilemma or contradiction is slenderness. Fitting weapons inside in in-ternal weapon bays is essential to main-tain stealth but the added volume has adverse impact on slenderness and su-personic drag. Weight and drag increases and you need to add more fuel by which cross-section, drag and weight increases even further.

The general trend is for smaller weap-

ons of equal range and impact, both air-to-ground and air-to-air, which either translates into more slender and efficient stealth airframes with similar weapon capacity or an enhanced internal capac-ity. New medium range air-to-air missiles such as the Meteor have considerably lon-ger range due to more efficient propulsion compared to rocket powered missiles.

Larger stand-off strike weapons are too large to fit internally on a fighter and will have to be carried externally with ad-verse impact on the stealth properties. These may be long range air-to-air mis-siles for high value assets or air-to-surface and air-to-ground missiles with large warhead.

Such weapons will constitute a large part of the inventory even in the future

and all stealth fighters are prepared to carry several external pylons. With im-proved stand-off weapons the surviv-ability of a conventional fighter improves considerably.

On future trendsFuture combat aircraft will include un-manned aircraft or UCAVs of extended range and endurance/persistence, pri-marily for deep strike and surveillance. For survivability in future high-threat bat-tlefields they will probably be stealthy and sacrifice agility. Manned fighters will be major assets even in the future. They offer a flexibility and capability that unmanned aircraft cannot provide. New manned fighters will apply stealth but balance this against other vital characteristics. Sensor capability, decision support and sharing of information in a network will provide new ways of utilizing the air assets more efficiently and coordinated.

buIlt tO KIll: Saab RBS 70, man-portable air-defence laser guided system (MANPADS) designed for anti-aircraft warfare in all climate zones

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“This is a time of huge opportunities”


R K Tyagi is the quintessential outsider who is now at the helm at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). He spent years at ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited) and then Pawan Hans before moving to HAL. He has been around for less than a year as the Chairman but in this short time, he has attempted to reorient operations, make it more consumer friendly, develop a more cooperative and embracing relationship with the forces and erase the impression that the HAL is a monolith that slumbers along as a gigantic defence Public Sector Unit (PSU) that gobbles a majority of the offsets and orders that are made each year. Here are excerpts from an exclusive interview.

How has been your experience as HaL chairman during one of its fastest growing phases?The defence aerospace industry in India has been on the growth path owing to the modernisation and expansion plans of the Indian Armed Forces fructifying in terms of big budget defence deals in recent times. This has also offered the In-dian defence sector with enormous opportunities by way of off-sets and new possibilities for engagement and participation by the private sector.

Major proj-ects like Light Combat Heli-copter (LCH), Light Util-ity Helicopter (LUH), Fifth G e n e r a t i o n Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), Multi-role Transport Aircraft (MTA), Medium Multi -Role Combat Air-craft (MMRCA) and Ba-sic Trainer Aircraft (BTA) have been initialised or are picking up pace. My priority has been to put in place the right mix of people and resources to ensure the smooth progress of new projects as well as the current pro-grammes.

Considering the growth prospects, we have identified Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), civil aviation sector and offsets as big business opportunities with immense business potential and areas of strategic

interest. Separate business groups are be-ing established to explore the opportuni-ties and formulate strategies for each of the above segments.

HAL, with its skilled and dedicated work force, is presently a Navratna com-pany and it is my dream to place it in the elite company of Maharatna companies in the near future.

Do you agree that the HaL has not been able to keep up

with the orders in hand? How are HaL expan-

sion plans coming along?

Military Aircraft Industry, the world over, comes across unique chal-lenges which have direct i m p l i c a t i o n s

on the sched-ules. Maximising

indigenous con-tent, technology

absorption, export regulations and coun-

try specific documenta-tions, product obsolescence,

rights and licence issues and supply chain management are some of the fac-tors that HAL, like any other company in the aircraft industry across the world, encounters during productionisation of aircraft and systems. Dedicated project teams are already in place for each major project. These groups would be further strengthened with the required numbers, empowered with more authority and be


“This is a time of huge opportunities”

made accountable. Conformance to the time lines and cost lines would be the key performance indicators and the basis for rewards and appreciation.

The current production processes are being critically reviewed to weed out bot-tlenecks and enhance productivity levels. HAL is exploring the possibility of en-hancing the production rate by addition of suitable machinery/equipment at vir-tually all its divisions. HAL has drawn up plans to outsource up to 30 per cent of the manufacturing task. This would enable HAL to use the capacity more optimally and focus on core competencies.

Plans are also being drawn up to cre-ate new divisions/ facilities as Strategic Business Units (SBUs) for implementa-tion of new programmes such as Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) and Light Utility Helicopter/ Medium Lift Helicopters (MLH) at the appropriate time.

LCa Tejas has got further delayed. What is your new timeline for this aircraft? What is its certification status?HAL is the major partner of the Aero-nautical Development Agency (ADA) for the design and development of the LCA. The ADA is the designated lead designer/ project manager for the development of the LCA. The ADA has indicated that the Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) for the LCA will happen soon after comple-tion of the final software release, valida-tion and evaluation in respect of flight control, avionics and weapon systems.

Could you please brief us about the produc-tion line of the LCa?HAL is geared up to commence delivery

HAL, in fact, had car-

ried out an exercise re-cently wherein the top 50 ex-ecutives in the Company were deputed to the customer bases to get a first-hand insight into the customers’ requirements

and get a direct feedback on HAL’s products and

services.


against the current order for LCA within six months of the aircraft certification IOC. All the initial stage issues pertain-ing to tooling, jigs, fixtures, etc. have been overcome during the production of the Limited Series Production (LSP) aircraft and the production process has fairly sta-bilised. HAL is further planning to aug-ment the capacity from eight to 16 aircraft per year in view of the anticipated orders.

iJT (intermediate Jet Trainer) Sitara is an-other project which is facing delays and the designated users are very concerned. What is its current status and when should one expect it to don iaF colors?The design and development of the IJT was undertaken to replace the age-ing Kiran trainer aircraft in the defence Services. This aircraft will be used for Stage II training of pilots. The IJT is at an advanced stage of development. Two pro-totype aircraft (PT-1 and PT-2) and two Limited Series Production aircraft (LSP-1 & LSP-2) have been manufactured. The flight testing has re-commenced from February 2012. Considering the number of test flights to be completed, the IOC is expected by the end of the fiscal year 2012-13.

Recently there was news about the indian air Force (iaF) looking at the private sec-tor for avro replacement programme. Have the repeated delays in different production lines pushed the users to look towards nov-ice private players?HAL has a separate division for the manu-facture and maintenance of transport air-craft at Kanpur. HAL had manufactured

and is currently maintaining the HS-748 aircraft (Avro) in Kanpur. HAL has also entered into collaboration with United Aircraft Corporation-Transport Aircraft (UAC-TA) of Russia for the design and development of the Multirole Transport Aircraft (MTA) in the 20-tonne payload category. This aircraft is expected to com-mence series production in the Kanpur division after six years of development cycle. I would like to reiterate that HAL has the expertise and capability to take up the project for replacing the Avro. HAL is prepared to bid for the programme on competitive basis.

How good is your relationship with the air Force?Our relations with our prime customer, the IAF, are extremely good and cordial. The Company organizes regular struc-tured meetings with the principal cus-tomers wherein information on the issues and concerns of the customers are ob-tained. The feedback is thoroughly anal-ysed and remedial action is put in place to address these issues while keeping the customer informed. These meetings are also used to gain insight into the opera-tional and future requirements of the cus-tomers, which is used to evolve plans to develop/provide new products/services.

HAL, in fact, had carried out an exer-cise recently wherein the top 50 execu-tives in the Company were deputed to the customer bases to get a first-hand insight

into the customers’ requirements and get a direct feedback on HAL’s products and services. The feedback of the exercise to ‘reach out to the customer’ was analysed and necessary action was taken to bridge the gaps, if any.

Tell us about your expansion plans and es-tablishment being set up?The Company has drawn a long-term Perspective Plan to realize its vision ‘To become a significant global player in the aerospace industry’ by covering the pe-riod 2010-2022 (i.e. up to the end of the 13th Plan). This document outlines the roadmap for HAL’s march towards the vi-sion through the analysis of our current position and strategies to be adopted to overcome challenges and sustain growth. Detailed plans for technology induction, modernisation, manpower, collabora-tions, etc., are being prepared in line with the overall strategy brought out in the Per-spective Plan.

A modernisation plan is being evolved outlining the equipment/machines and infrastructure that need to be upgraded or added to cater to the capacity require-ment of all the current and the new proj-ects that have been considered in the Perspective Plan. In general, whenever upgrades/augmentation is planned the likely offset opportunities are also fac-tored in.

HAL is pursuing strategic business alliances through partnerships and joint ventures (JV) with Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to gain access to technology and the global market. The Company aims to leverage the Indian market to gain access to the global mar-ket.

HAL has initiated activities towards enhancing the production rates and pro-ductivity at virtually all its divisions by

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STiLL WaiTing: The HAL HJT-36 Sitara, a sub-sonic trainer aircraft for the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy to replace the HAL HJT-16 Kiran.

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addition of suitable machinery/equip-ment, processes and technology with an objective to set up world class infrastruc-ture in each facility.

What is the status of the development of the utility helicopters and attack helicopters?The Light Utility Helicopter being devel-oped in the three-tonne weight class with glass cockpit and Multi-Function Displays (MFD) will be deployed for surveillance, reconnaissance and utility roles. Sanction for the development of Light Utility Heli-copter was accorded by the Government of India in February 2009. Considerable progress has been made on the design front. The timeframe for development is six years. LUH, an ab-initio design proj-ect, is slated to have the highest level of indigenous content in any helicopter made by HAL.

The Light Combat Helicopter, a deriv-ative of Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) in the five to six tonne category is under-going development and flight trials. The maiden flight of the second Technology Demonstrator (TD-2) of the LCH was ac-complished in June 2011. Flight evalua-tions trials are in progress on the two pro-totypes and areas of improvement have been identified and these are planned to be addressed in the third prototype being built by HAL.

The Multirole Transport aircraft Pro-gramme has been signed and its execu-tion has started. Could you please brief us about the programme? What will be HaL’s contribution in the development pro-gramme? The MTA programme involves design and

development of a 15-20 tonne payload class Medium Transport Aircraft jointly by Indian and Russian agencies.

The MTA programme commenced with the incorporation of the joint ven-ture Company MTAL (Multi-role Trans-port Aircraft Limited) in December 2010. The partners are HAL from the Indian side and Rosoboronexport and United Aircraft Corporation-Transport Aircraft (UAC-TA) from the Russian side with equal stake holding between both the sides. The General Contract which out-lines the scope of work between the part-ners during the design phase had been signed in May 2012. The development of the MTA is expected to be completed in six years.

HAL will be manufacturing MMRCA once the deal is signed. What prepara-tions have you made for the assembly line for this aircraft? HAL will also be ex-ecuting huge amount of offsets for this, tell us something about that.

HAL has initiated the project plan-ning activities for the establishment of manufacturing facility of Medium Multi- Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) at Ben-galuru. Discussions are in progress with Dassault Aviation of France regarding programme management issues for pro-duction of the aircraft under Transfer of Technology (ToT) at HAL.

HAL has also entered into Memoran-dums of Understanding (MoU) with Das-sault Aviation and other associated OEMs like Snecma Moteurs of France, etc., in the MMRCA project to provide services like design packages, work packages, forgings and castings, etc., to exploit the offset opportunities.

What has been HaL’s investment in human resource development? We have around 33,000 employees and the plans are in place for inducting many more for our future projects. Dedicated project teams are already in place for each of HAL’s major projects. These groups would be further strengthened with the required numbers, empowered with more authority and made accountable. The Delegation of Powers (DoP) within the organization has been reviewed to further empower the senior and middle-level management with more authority and accountability in an attempt to has-ten the decision-making processes.

Finally, what is the status of the Fifth gen-eration Fighter aircraft (FgFa) and Medium Combat aircraft (MCa)? These are highly advanced aircraft and they need a very high level of skill.The FGFA programme has commenced with the signing of the Preliminary De-sign (PD) Contract between Rosobo-ronexport of Russia and HAL with JSC Sukhoi of Russia designated as the Lead Designer in December 2010. The work on the Preliminary Design Phase (PDP) had commenced in February 2011.

The definition of the scope of activi-ties in the total programme and firming up of costs and time schedules are ex-pected to take place during the PDP. This phase is followed by the Research and Development (R & D) Phase.

Discussions between both the sides are in progress to ensure seamless tran-sition from the PDP to the R&D Phase to maintain the planned project timelines.

inDigenouS eFFoRT: Light combat helicopter developed on the Dhruv platform to be the main attack chopper of the Armed forces.

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How do you rate and view the performance of the Design Centre that Rockwell Collins established in Hyderabad in the nearly five years of its existence? The ongoing excellent performance of the India Design Centre is enabling Rockwell Collins to continue to grow the centre and our investment in India. Opened in 2008, the India Design Centre represents one example of Rockwell Collins’ com-mitment to expanding our local presence in India. It employs about 500 people, including top recruits from India’s out-standing pool of engineering talent with plans to grow to 600 in 2013.

The India Design Centre supports many programmes of interest for Rock-well Collins. Recent examples include the Airbus A350 on-board Information Management System; cockpit displays for military helicopters; and next-generation Flight Management System platforms. Our vision for Rockwell Collins’ India De-sign Centre is to support local and inter-national governments, aerospace OEMs, and contractors with engineering design services and systems that can help cus-tomers achieve a shorter time to market, at a lower programme or project life cycle cost, with the highest quality innovative solutions.

Please throw some light on the plans for such a facility in the Indian national capital and what you intend to do there in the next five years? Rockwell Collins has a business office in Gurgaon with some system engineering and programme management capabili-

Supporting aerospace OEMs

T C CHan, Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Pa-cific, Rockwell Collins, is upbeat about the Hyderbad Design Center and sees many opportunities to partner with Indian companies. Excerpts from an interview.

ties. This office — working with our India Design Centre in Hyderabad — serves as a key support element of Rockwell Col-lins’ global business strategy to bring multi-function expertise to each custom-er engagement.

are you happy with your products portfolio to cater to the Indian market needs? Would you like to change or expand this portfolio for the future and how would you go about this? Yes, we are happy with the product port-folio we are offering India’s aerospace and defence organisations. We offer a broad range of avionics, communica-tions and electronics systems that have been proven time again during the past 75 years and throughout the world. In addition, because Rockwell Collins’ busi-ness is nearly 50 per cent commercial and 50 per cent government systems, we have the advantage of bringing the best-of-breed capabilities from our commer-cial portfolio to defence customers and vice versa. For example, we are bringing our Pro Line Fusion advanced integrat-ed flight deck system developed for the commercial market to the Brazilian Air Force for their KC 390 aircraft.

In addition, we see many opportu-nities to partner with Indian companies to co-develop and customize solutions for the India market and we are actively working with several companies in India. technologies to all its global initiatives.

Have you joined the fray in the contests in the communication, management and con-

trols, networks, flight information solutions, data links and surveillance? We are keenly interested in a number of communications and avionics opportu-nities in India and are actively involved in pursuing these with our proven prod-ucts and systems and in partnership with Indian companies.

How is your arrangement with air Works performing? Air Works is Rockwell Collins’ first Indian authorised reseller and maintenance, repair and overhaul service provider for Rockwell Collins products. As a provid-er to commercial and business aircraft OEMs and airlines in India, this relation-ship is a part of our strategy to bring qual-ity products and services to our custom-ers in India.

What are the capabilities that you will be showcasing during aero India 2013?At Aero India 2013, Rockwell Collins will showcase its advanced avionics solutions for India and discuss its continued invest-ment in the region through steady growth, strategic alliances and commitment to build on existing customer relationships. The Rockwell Collins exhibit (Hall E, Stand E1.9.1) features our expansive of-ferings for customers in India and around the globe. Some of these products in-clude Pro Line Fusion flight deck for com-mercial and military aircraft, synthetic vision for helicopter displays, radio com-munications, Engine Instrument Display System (EIDS), and the Virtual Avionics Procedure Trainer (VAPT).

If there is any one institution that has liter-ally a finger in every segment of the avia-tion pie, it is CAE. You are in defence, in civil aviation, in design, in training and in offsets. Sum up the CAE-India relationship and the medium and long term perspective of the company towards the sub-continent.CAE is a global leader in providing simu-lation and training solutions for the de-

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fence and civil aviation markets. The company has a well-earned reputation in the aviation segment — both in providing simulation products as well as delivering training services. CAE does, though, have much broader capabilities, particularly in serving the government, defence and homeland security segments.

Our aim is to provide a holistic solu-

tion to our customers so that they can focus on their core tasks and don’t have to worry about the availability of training support. The fact is that CAE is a compa-ny focused on modelling, simulation and training — it’s all we do. So, we have to continually invest in research and devel-opment related to simulation and be ca-pable of delivering quality products and


“India needs to increase use of simulation”AnAnth RAmASwAmI, Managing Director, cae India, sees significant opportunities in the country and wants to strengthen and build on the long relationship it has with India, as he says in this interview.

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CAE also owns jointly with hindustan Aero-nautics Limited (hAL), the helicopter Acad-emy to train by Simulation of Flying (hAt-SOFF), India’s first advanced helicopter training centre, located in Bengaluru. But one centre to train chopper pilots seems far too little in the Indian context. would you be looking at more opportunities for training centres for helicopter pilots in India?The Helicopter Academy to Training by Simulation of Flying, or HATSOFF, is the first and only facility of its kind in India for rotary wing training. It is a state-of-the-art training centre developed in col-laboration with HAL. Right now, HAT-SOFF provides comprehensive training for three helicopters: the Bell 412/212, civil/conventional Dhruv and Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin. Next year, HATSOFF will add training for the military variant of the Dhruv. Utilisation of the facility is picking up and we are continuing to promote the many advantages of helicopter simulator training.

The fact is that until HATSOFF, India lacked adequate helicopter simulation training. So, most operators have had to rely on training in the actual aircraft and the authorities had not enforced the regu-lation that every commercial pilot — fixed or rotary-wing — must fly a minimum of 10 hours annu-ally on a simu-lator. CAE is a strong propo-nent of global efforts by the International H e l i c o p t e r Safety Team (IHST) to re-duce helicopter accident rates by 80 per cent by 2016 and the IHST says that one of the most effective ways of doing so is the increased adoption of simulation-based training.

Considering the planned acquisitions and the growing demand for helicopters in the military and civil domains in India, there will certainly be a need to augment the existing capacity of helicopter simu-lators in the country. Fortunately, CAE is a very experienced provider of helicopter simulation and training solutions. In fact, no company has simulated a greater vari-ety of helicopters than CAE, and we have

significant experience on many of the helicopter platforms India is consider-ing, including the AW101, CH-47, S-70B, MH-60R, NH90 and others. CAE is very open to expanding HATSOFF as well as establishing additional helicopter train-ing facilities in India.

You work across the board with the Air Force, the Army and the navy. Obviously it is a relationship that has been built over the years. what next? many look at the train-ing resources for aircraft as offsets that are convenient to fulfill. would you agree with that argument and are you happy with it?Our relationship with the three services has evolved after long and tiring efforts. The relationship and trust comes over time and after making tremendous efforts to ensure the customers are aware of our expertise and technologies related to sim-ulation and training. We make all possible efforts to provide world-class simulators to the Indian defence forces, such as the C-130J simulator that is now in-service. In addition, CAE India also provides an-nual maintenance contract support so we can guarantee the availability of the train-ing devices for required training. This sort of guaranteed availability was unheard of in India before CAE came into the market.

Today, CAE India provides maintenance and support services for more than 20 simu-lators for the three ser-vices, including flight simulators, wargaming training systems and flight training devices of different classes. For ex-ample, within the past year, we were awarded a contract from BAE Systems to provide the maintenance and sup-port services for the Hawk training devices located at Indian Air Force Base, Bidar. The

very fact that we are being trusted to take care of so many assets of the defence forc-es indicates their confidence in CAE.

Provision of training as part of offsets is certainly a way forward for the Army, Navy and Air Force. There are numer-ous advantages of making it come under offsets, primarily the funding is part of the procurement and thus it is easier to implement as a part of delivery by the air-craft manufacturer.

services on-time and on-budget. Presently, we have established our-

selves as a leader in India in providing simulation-based training solutions to the civil airlines and all branches of the Indian defence forces. We believe our name is synonymous with simulation in the country, and we are proud of our brand and reputation in the field of simu-lation and training.

CAE has a good depth in providing total training solutions, meaning we can provide a comprehensive training pack-age to end-users. You can see evidence of this at the CAE Bengaluru pilot training centre we own and operate at our new complex in Bengaluru. We also have the capability to train ab-initio pilot cadets who aspire for a career in aviation and we can educate them about the technical as well as operational systems of the air-craft, followed by the provision of simula-tion training until such time the student is found proficient enough to undertake actual operations.

This turnkey training approach used by the civil market is a relatively new con-cept for our armed forces that have tra-ditionally provided all their training us-ing their own manpower and resources. However, there is a growing trend among militaries globally to consider outsourced training to ensure consistency, depth of training, improved quality of training as well as cost-effectiveness and efficiency. A company such as CAE that is focussed on training and has a depth of experi-ence — we own and operate more than 40 training centres worldwide and train more than 100,000 crewmembers — can offer the Indian defence forces the re-quired technologies, services and pro-cesses to ensure high-quality training at good value.

In the mid-to-long term, we see sig-nificant opportunities in India. CAE firm-ly believes that India needs to increase their use of simulation as part of the solu-tion to lowering costs without sacrificing readiness or capability. Simulation offers a number of benefits which simply can-not be ignored in today’s defence envi-ronment.

The increased cost of fuel, environ-mental impacts, and significant wear and tear on weapon systems, all point to the greater use of simulation. More impor-tantly, simulation is the ideal tool for mis-sion preparation and rehearsal, which is critical for ensuring readiness and doing so both safely and cost-effectively.


FutuRE tRAInER: Dauphin FFS Hatsoff Simulator to train Indian armed force pilots, based on HaL Dhruv cockpit module


Last year, CAE and Rossell India Lim-ited established a special purpose com-pany called CAE Rossell India Limited to address the needs of the market gener-ated by offsets. This company is owned 74 per cent by Rossell and 26 per cent by CAE. We want to maximise business op-portunities as well as technology transfer to India by leveraging CAE’s breadth of simulation technologies in line with the offset policy. We are in discussions with major OEMs from the US, Europe, and Russia to discuss ways to partner with them and help them meet offset obliga-tions.

unmanned vehicles are evolving and de-veloping both in terms of their hardware and their potential beyond the warzone. Recently, CAE announced the CAE uAS mission trainer that combines an open architecture with commercial-off-the-shelf hardware and simulation software to pro-vide a comprehensive, platform-agnostic training system for uAS pilots, sensor operators, and mission commanders. Is this the way forward in this sphere of

unmanned vehicles?For UAS training, customer requirements range from basic procedure trainers to full mission training. There is also an increasing requirement for high-fidelity emergency procedures, malfunctions as well as high-fidelity systems to enhance safety, increase mission effectiveness and optimise efficiency at minimum cost in a virtual environment. There is definitely a trend for military forces looking to lever-age virtual simulation for more mission training because of the inherent eco-nomic benefits, but also because virtual training provides the ability to train and rehearse just like you will operate on the battlefield.

CAE’s recently launched its UAS Mission Trainer that features an open architecture and Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) hardware and simulation software to make the product platform-agnostic. Based on modular technology, it can be adapted to train operators of simple, tactical UASs as well as highly complex, Medium-Altitude Long Endur-ance (MALE) platforms such as the Heron

or Predator or High-Altitude Long Endur-ance (HALE) platforms such as the Global Hawk.

The CAE UAS Mission Trainer can be configured to replicate the flight charac-teristics of specific UASs or sensor pack-ages, including Infra-Red (IR), low-light TV, Laser Range Finder (LRF), Laser Tar-get Designator (LTD) and Synthetic Aper-ture Radar (SAR).

The CAE UAS Mission Trainer in-cludes the ground control station; high-fidelity simulation software for sensors; simulated communication systems; the simulation software for generating train-ing scenarios; a CAE Medallion-6000 im-age generator; computer-generated forc-es representing maritime, ground and air forces; an instructor operator station; and weather simulation.

We focuSsed on making our UAS mission trainer open and interoperable because UASs typically operate in sup-port of joint and coalition forces, so the mission training environment should be integrated and interoperable with other training assets.

CuStOmISEd dAtABASE: capable of being a standalone training unit, the MH-60R OFT system based on cP-140 aurora (Maritime patrol aircraft) module serve as a network aircrew mission train-ing device

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What is your assessment of the Indian de-fence procurement process? Airbus Military is thoroughly committed to working with the Indian government and Indian industry to develop offset ar-rangements in line with India’s techno-logical aspirations in aerospace. At the same time, there has to be a realistic as-sessment of the capabilities of the private sector in Indian aerospace. In terms of aerostructures, India has important capa-bilities but private sector companies still have some way to go before being ready to undertake full assembly and systems integration of aircraft. Airbus Military can work with Indian Small Medium Enter-prises (SME) to advance the aerostruc-tures capability even further, but there are major challenges in the short-medium term in taking on, for example, engine and avionics manufacturing, integration or assembly outside the public sector.

Where can the process be streamlined? Do you think the new Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) has fixed the inadequa-cies of the process?Under the ‘buy and make’ concept, for example, we can see that the Avro re-placement programme provides good potential and we are already analysing, discussing and defining work packages with potential Indian partners. Ultimately such partners could play important roles in the Airbus Military global supply chain, as has happened in other countries, and help India to fully realise its longer term


FeDerIco LacaLLe, Sales Director, Asia-Pacific Region for Airbus Military, is a familiar figure in Delhi. He would probably know many parts of Delhi as well as he knows parts of Madrid and Seville considering the number of sorties he has made to the Indian capital to establish his company’s beachhead in this part of the world. The government’s decision to go with the A330 MRTT refueller for the Indian Air Force is without doubt a crowning moment for Lacalle. He discusses this and other issues with Geopolitics.

potential in aerospace.All that said, we do need to reach a

full understanding of the offset require-ments in the context of a ‘buy and make’ project. There needs to be further clarifi-cation of the offset credits for particular activities.

The fact that the a330 Multi-role Tanker Transport (MrTT) has parts in common with the civilian model has been touted in its favour. How exactly does the cost ben-efit accrue to the end-user in terms of life-cycle costs?It has been noted that for an aircraft that was not originally designed as a tanker, the A330 makes an excellent tanker. And it is partly this point that explains why the commercial origin of the A330 MRTT is so important in terms of costs. It is a fact

that many of the advantages that made the A330 so popular with airlines are re-tained by the A330 MRTT and generate benefits for military users. For example, because the twin-engine A330 has essen-tially the same wing as the four-engined A340, it retains the hardpoints used to mount the A340’s outboard engines, and those hardpoints were used instead to mount the refuelling pods without ad-ditional engineering. The A330 also has a sufficient fuel capacity of 111 tonnes, eliminating the requirements for ad-ditional tanks for refuelling. This would leave the main deck free for passengers or freight, leading to significant savings on engineering costs and requirement for fewer dedicated transport aircraft.

In terms of continuing costs, the early operators of the A330 MRTT are already

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mercial operators. In case of Australia, even the conversions themselves were performed by Qantas Defence Services although equivalent options may not be practicable in all nations.

Have the sniggles with the aircraft, like the malfunction with the in-flight refuelling boom detachment that occurred in Septem-ber 2012 been ironed out?While development work will continue for some time to further enhance the per-formance of the A330 MRTT in the light of early operational experience, there are no significant issues remaining. In the case of the September 2012 boom sepa-ration, the incident occurred during a pre-acceptance flight in which a back-up boom hoist system designed to raise the boom in the event of a failure of the pri-

mary hoist system was tested. This back-up system was fitted as a customer option and has not been selected by any other existing customer for the A330 MRTT. The failure happened in an artificially induced test condition which could not occur in normal operation and the detachment occurred as a reaction to a contradiction between the main system and this spe-cific back-up system during the test.

Following the event, as a precaution-ary measure, the certification agency (INTA of Spain) had issued a recommen-dation letter for a temporary restriction on boom operations by the operators. This restriction has now been removed completely following the full understand-ing of the root cause and a proposed so-lution, which was to modify the back-up system control panel to prevent recur-rence of this event.

The aircraft to be operated by the Air-Tanker consortium for the UK RAF (Royal Air Force), which have a centreline fu-selage refuelling unit (FRU) instead of a boom, will also shortly be cleared for full refuelling following a move by the RAF to switch to a different refuelling basket which we are supporting technically as a customer decision.

Which are the other countries that are con-sidering the aircraft?The countries that have currently made their interest public are: Singapore, which is running an active procurement; France, which has stated its intention to place an order for A330 MRTTs sometime this year; and Brazil which has been contemplating tanker procurement for some time. Ad-ditionally, a few European nations have jointly initiated the process to procure a refuelling capability.

How will you deal with the offsets require-ments of the contract?As a major business unit of EADS, we are able to draw on a wide range of industrial activities and technologies to provide op-portunities to Indian companies. Already we are talking to a number of Indian com-panies to get a good understanding of their capabilities and ensure that we form the right business relationships.

Have you identified any Indian JV partners?No, we have worked hard to familiarise ourselves with the capabilities of all the Indian private sector companies with aerospace interests or aspirations and continue to do that. We will make our de-cisions in due course as the Avro replace-ment programme, in particular, is firmed up.


seeing how they can capitalise on the widespread use of the A330 by airlines. All four existing operators - the air forces of Australia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the UK - have commercial A330 operators fly-ing in their countries and have formed various relationships with them. Typi-cally, military pilots can be trained to gain their A330 type certificates with airlines, subsequently requiring only military dif-ferences and refuelling training as addi-tional costs. Expensive full-flight simula-tors are not required as there are already numerous A330 simulators in existence. Heavy maintenance can be performed in-country at the MRO facilities of large A330 operators like Qantas and Etihad Airways and the spares supply for the A330 is well-established, leaving open the possibility of sharing or pooling spares with com-

How important is India in Textron Systems’ scheme of things? The entire Textron enterprise is invest-ing heavily in India. Textron India Private Limited in Bangalore continues to grow and flourish, with highly skilled techni-cal workers creating leading-edge tech-nologies for our businesses. We at Textron Systems continue to build strong relation-ships in India among the customer and industrial bases, learning about require-ments and sharing our capabilities. It is a dynamic and exciting time.

And where do you think Textron Systems will focus on India in the next few years?We believe that Textron Systems’ presence will only continue to grow in the next few years. We will continue our work with the government, armed forces and security

agencies, as well as with in-country tech-nology partners, to hone our offerings in support of current and emerging require-ments.

What are the other products that Textron Systems has for the growing homeland se-curity market in India?Textron Systems’ vast array of products includes unmanned aircraft systems, unmanned surface vessels and sophisti-cated unmanned command-and-control systems, all of which are gaining broad interest among international custom-ers whose needs fall within the realm of protecting the homeland. Combining the surveillance and multi-source data col-lection capabilities of these vehicles (for information, video and imagery) with the intelligence-monitoring, analysis and

dissemination capabilities of Overwatch solutions, our customers are provided end-to-end intelligence capabilities that will enable them broad security capabili-ties requiring minimal support.

In addition, our COMMANDOTM four-wheeled armored vehicles are readily adaptable for police and/or paramilitary use in homeland security operations. Rig-orously tested and proven in the toughest environments, the COMMANDO family of vehicles offers a wide range of capabili-ties for on-road and off-road homeland security operation. Drawing from three vehicle lines, we are able to deliver afford-able, customized capabilities that meet the unique needs of India-based organi-zations. As a full-spectrum armored ve-hicle provider, we offer customers vehicle


EllEn lord, CEO and President, Textron Systems, is keen to strengthen the relationship with India and work with the gov-ernment, armed forces and security agencies and offer solu-tions for emerging requirements.

Textron India supports industrial cooperation

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Tell us more about how overwatch creates capabilities for the different organs of na-tional security of India.As a leading provider of multi-source in-telligence, geospatial analysis, and cus-tom intelligence solutions and services Overwatch is poised to support India’s needs on multiple fronts, including na-tional defense, civilian law enforcement and border security. Overwatch solutions have been used across the globe to iden-tify, locate and deter hundreds of targets within known terrorist organizations. More than 25,000 analysts in the U.S. De-partment of Defense and the larger global intelligence community utilize Overwatch products and solutions. Among our broad portfolio of solutions are number of soft-ware products (IMPACTTM, Global Im-age Viewer, RemoteViewTM and Medina Wireless Surveillance), used by different analysis disciplines for geospatial analy-sis, multi-source analysis and SIGNALS analysis. All of these tools are based on a pedigree of 20 years of deployment within global security operations. Overwatch has been working with Indian government or-ganizations since the Mumbai attacks. We understand India’s unique requirements and that a one-size- fits-all approach will not work. Overwatch is positioned to sup-ply base analysis functionality with easy

and configurable capabilities to address the challenges in the Indian security mar-ket.

Tell us about your response to the Bor-der Security Force’s Qr’s for Unattended Ground Sensors (UGS).Textron Defense Systems has communi-cated its interest in providing UGS to In-dia for use by the Border Security Force and paramilitary forces. Our MicroOb-server® UGS system has been deployed to tactical forces in the United States and foreign armies, is mature, has a long field life measured in years, is very capable at detecting and classifying different types of threats, and is simple and easy to use, requiring almost no training.

What is your view of India’s defence Pro-curement Procedure? What methods are being adopted by Textron Systems to discharge its ‘offset’ responsibilities en-shrined in the dPP?Textron Systems, and our parent com-pany Textron Inc., actively support de-velopment and trade in India as a close and important ally of the U.S. Since 2007, Textron India Private Limited in Banga-lore has led our work and growth in the region. Textron is also an active member of the U.S.-Indian Business Council and

fielding, training and logistics support in addition to excellence in vehicle design and manufacturing, and are actively seek-ing Indian business partners in this area.

With its expertise in the field of armored fighting vehicles, would Textron Systems also be interested in the Indian FICV pro-gram? We would certainly be interested, and are positioned to offer an outstanding solution for India’s FICV program based on our COMMANDOTM line of vehicles. One option is our COMMANDO Elite four-wheeled vehicles - our most highly-protected and capable vehicles, provid-ing superior direct fire and MRAP level 2 mine-blast protection. These vehicles come equipped with our latest drive train enhancements, making them very fast and highly maneuverable in a wide range of environments. COMMANDO Elite ve-hicles, like the TAPV we are building for Canadian forces, are flexible enough to accommodate nearly any remote weapon station available - single or dual weapon mix.

They also feature a digital backbone for vehicle systems monitoring and future electronics expansion. We look forward to learning more about FICV programme re-quirements.


THE SHAdoW: launch of an rQ-7B UaV by the US army for reconnais-sance, surveillance, target acquisition and battle damage assessment


regularly explores potential partnerships and teaming arrangements that would support our offset responsibilities as well as create greater industrial cooperation. We also continue to seek and plan for the direct purchase and export of defense products and components manufactured by Indian industry.

What are the obstacles faced by foreign defence companies entering the Indian de-fence market? What do think can be done to correct the situation?We have found the customer and indus-trial bases in India to be open to Textron Systems’ capabilities and welcoming of our expertise in areas such as unmanned systems, precision weapons, armored

vehicles and marine vessels. We look for-ward to advancing those relationships even further.

What are the major contracts that you are looking forward to? We continue to discuss our product offer-ing with government, armed forces and security agency customers, and we have responded to several requests for infor-mation along those lines. The govern-ment sets the priorities for acquisition ac-tivities in key areas, and Textron Systems is responding as requirements are estab-lished and funded.

How do you view the Indian market amid current global recession and impending de-

fence cuts?As previously discussed, the entire Tex-tron enterprise including Textron Systems continues to invest heavily in India, and we see it as a priority market for us.

Please also comment on the industrial co-operation opportunities and your views on Transfer of Technology.We are working several avenues to sup-port industrial cooperation, and the ex-tent of transfer of technology remains an open and active discussion. We support ongoing efforts between the U.S. and In-dian governments to resolve technology transfer issues and speed export license issuance in the United States.

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GETTInG THE EnEmy: a Shadow 200 system that has established a reputation as a mature, capable system during more than 600,000 flight hours, the majority of which have taken place in Iraq and afghanistan.

December 2012(44)www.geopolitics.inGRAP

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COMPREHENSIVE SITUATIONAL AWARENESSBeing aware of the location, strength and disposition of the enemy is critical to the success or failure of any mili-tary operation. This is why armies around the world pay a great deal of attention to situation awareness.

AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems, an operating unit of Textron Systems, now offers the Tac-SISTM system to provide integrated aerial situational awareness. Scalable and configurable, Tac-SIS builds upon AAI’s combat-proven One System® Remote Video Terminal (OSRVT) with a variety of communication and encryption com-ponent options. The Tac-SIS system is available today to quickly and securely deliver a complete operational picture to manned and unmanned aircraft, as well as ground assets.

SCALAbLE, CONfIgURAbLE PLATfORMDesigner and manufacturer of the US Army programme-of-record Shadow® Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System and One System Remote Video Terminal, AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems has created a scalable, configurable platform for integrated aerial situational awareness and manned/unmanned teaming.

ENHANCED EffECTIVENESS Three configuration options deliver efficient size, weight and power considerations for customer requirements, from entire fleets with fully integrated systems to por-table systems that can be swapped easily between legacy aircraft. Further, the Tac-SIS system can be tailored to meet specific requirements. It is hardware agnostic, en-abling various receivers and transceivers to be integrated for specific applications. A variety of encryption options also are available.

UP-TO-DATE TECHNOLOgYAAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems is currently developing and testing Level 3 (payload control) and Level 4 (plat-form control) capabilities for the Tac-SIS system.

Dispellingthe Fog oF War

• The Tac-SIS system is based on AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems’ battle-proven One System Remote Video Terminal architecture.



The Tac-SIS system delivers joint battlefield sensor sharing in standardised formats among plat-forms including ground vehicles, fixed-wing assets, rotorcraft and unmanned aircraft.

The Tac-SIS system cap-tures full-motion video from remote manned and unmanned platforms.

An integrated map shows an overlay of telemetry from remote platforms.

Three Tac-SIS configurations are available: full cockpit integration, partial integration, or fully por-table for movement of equipment between aircraft.

Has India’s importance changed after the Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal? What are the areas where you see prospects for Cassidian?India is much more than just an impor-tant market for Cassidian. We are culti-vating a comprehensive and long-term partnership with this country for mutual benefit. We have already embarked on local development and production in India together with our industrial part-ners here to offer customised solutions which uniquely address the needs of our Indian customers. So, the answer to your first question is a clear ‘No’. Let me state categorically that India’s strategic signifi-cance for Cassidian goes far beyond the outcome of any single tender, even if it is the MMRCA.

Coming to your second question, Cassidian has cutting-edge capabilities in the field of Airborne Solutions, Land and Joint Systems, Maritime Security

LOOKING INTO THE FUTURECassidian is betting big on the Indian aircraft industry. The company has put the disappointment of the MMRCA contest behind it and is focussing big time on the diverse opportunities that the country offers both in defence and internal security. In a wide ranging in-terview, the company’s CEO PeteR GutsMIedl elaborates on various official issues.

and Dominance, Secure Networks and Public Safety, just to name a few. All are relevant for India’s security needs. Cassid-ian has acquired majority shareholding in the South African electronic warfare specialist company Grintek Ewation and the well-respected optronics division of Germany’s Carl Zeiss. This allows us to

offer India highly advanced security elec-tronics and sensor solutions. So, as you can see, we have much to offer to India. I believe Cassidian has a promising future in this country. We are here for the long-term.

What does that signify?It is a strong signal of the importance Cas-sidian attaches to its presence in India. Now that our operations here have been firmly established, we are building on this base to strengthen Cassidian’s reach in other Asian markets. Basically, we intend to use our India operations as a spring-board to establish further bases across the Asian region. In my new role, I am now looking after expansion of the Indian op-erations into a regional hub and oversee Cassidian’s growth in Asia.

Can you throw some light on your engage-ment with dRdO?

dR. PeteR GutsMIedl, Head of Asia & CEO India, Cassidian

eAGle’s eye: Integrated Radar system provide bird’s eye round-the-clock survelliance against any threat


sensor has been certified ‘indigenous’ by Indian authorities and is expected to be produced locally for integration with In-dia’s helicopter fleet.

Which capabilities will you be showcasing at Aero India 2013?We are showcasing the High Accuracy Air Pressure Management System and

the Structurally Integrated Antenna. As I mentioned before, both have been designed and engineered at the Cassid-ian Engineering Centre in Bengaluru. Besides, we will be displaying the Mis-sile Launch Detection System (MILDS) which we have co-developed with DR-DO’s Defence Avionics and Research Establishment (DARE). The sensor has been certified ‘indigenous’ by Indian authorities and is expected to be pro-duced locally for integration with India’s helicopter fleet. From Cassidian’s global portfolio of UAVs, we are exhibiting the man-portable, fixed-wing, mini UAV Tracker, the Medium Altitude Long En-durance (MALE) UAV Harfang and the tactical Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) UAV Tanan. We will have other interesting capabilities on display too. To view those I invite you to visit us at the EADS pavilion outside Hall C, OD-6 at Aero India.

As part of Cassidian’s comprehensive partnership strategy, we are sharing de-fence and security technologies with India which truly support its indigenisa-tion efforts in cutting-edge defence areas. We have a number of consultancy proj-ects with the DRDO. For example, we are consulting DRDO’s Aeronautical and De-velopment Agency (ADA) on certain Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) related topics. We have a contract with DRDO to supply con-sultancy services for reviewing an indige-nous Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) system. In addition, Cassid-ian has successfully cooperated with DRDO’s Defence Avionics & Research Establishment (DARE) to develop a Missile Approach Warning System (MAWS) for Indian rotary and wide-body aircraft. The

sOARInG HeIGHts: A mini UAV tracker that many believe has a huge potential in a UAV infested

atmosphere.

How has the engineering centre you opened in Bengaluru two years ago performed? Has it met the key targets that were set for it?Q.

A.The Cassidian Engineering Center in Bengaluru has performed very well. The credit for this goes to the hard work of Indian

engineers who have proven that India has a reservoir of world-class engineer-ing talent in the field of defence and secu-rity. I will give you some examples: A High Accuracy Air Pressure Measurement System has been designed and engineered at the Center. It is a critical on-board sensor provid-ing pilots with highly accurate altitude readings thus contributing to a safe operation of the aircraft in Reduced Vertical Sep- a-ration Minimum fly zones. In addition, we have engineered locally, a Structurally Integrated Antenna for satellite and GPS communication in aircraft. The antenna is conformal with the structure of the aircraft thus reducing drag and enhancing its stealth. It is this talent that we want to harness to adapt products from Cassidian’s global portfolio, especially in the field of UAVs, Radar Solutions and Security Systems to specific Indian requirements and offer our customers here a local solution. Our aim is to firmly embed Bengaluru in Cassidian’s global technology network and develop the centre as a single source supplier of certain cutting-edge defence and security technologies to all its global initiatives.

stABIlIzInG PRes-suRe: Cassidian in-troduces advance Air Pressure Management System for aircrafts


MBDA won the MICA missiles deal for In-dia’s Mirage upgrade programme last year. What is the timeline for delivery of the weapons systems? Who will carry out the integration of the missile on to the aircraft in India?MICA, with its two interchangeable seek-ers will provide a major operational en-hancement to the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) fleet of Mirages. The weapon is known as the ‘silent killer’ because of its ability to travel in passive mode until the very last moments of flight, thereby remaining in-visible to the target’s sensors and coun-termeasure equipment. Apart from the first two aircraft which will be upgraded in France, the remaining Mirages will be upgraded by HAL in India that will also be responsible for integration activities. For the delivery timeline this has been agreed in a contract with the Indian Ministry of

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Defence (MoD) and in this respect, de-tails have to remain confidential. Howev-er, I can confirm that we are on schedule.

With Rafale winning the Indian MMRCA bids, what are the weapons from the MBDA stable that you see being part of this con-tract? How will these weapons provide teeth to the Indian Air Force’s combat ca-pability?The important feature of the MMRCA air-craft lies in its multi-role capability. That, of course, reflects the requirement of to-day’s combat pilot as shown by recent op-erations. Apart from being able to defend himself from an aggressor in the air, he also needs long range air-to-air weapons to ensure air space superiority. Simul-taneously, he needs to be able to deliver precision strikes against ground targets, both static and moving. All this, poten-

tially required during a single sortie, sig-nificantly increases the demands placed on the pilot. It is important, therefore, that he has ultimate faith in the weapons carried on the aircraft.

The weapons suite for the MMRCA has yet to be finalized but we are cer-tainly able to offer air-to-air and air-to-ground solutions that will make the IAF a redoubtable force against any potential foe. With the unique MICA featuring two seeker variants, the battle space from short to beyond visual range is assured. Much has been said about the six-na-tion Meteor programme which has seen MBDA develop a ramjet-powered BVRAM weapon which is expected to outperform any current or planned weapon in its class.

For ground strike, Dual Mode Brimstone (DMB) has recently been


MAKING AN IMPACT

mBDa is riding high on its achievement of bagging the mICa mis-siles deal for the IaF’s mirage upgrade pro-gramme and is seeking to further strengthen its foothold in the Indian defence industry. LoIC PIeDevACHe, mBDa’s Country head based in new Delhi, spoke to Geopolitics about the Company’s plans which include landing contracts for arming the rafale mmrCa and pitching the mistral for VShOraD and other business prospects

Range Air Defence Systems (vSHoRAD) requirements?With regard to Mistral’s winning features, where do you start? Mistral is one of our most successful missiles with a hit prob-ability in excess of 96 per cent achieved in over 4,000 firings to date. These statistics are a unique selling point (USP) in them-selves. With such unmatched results, it is hardly surprising that it has been chosen

by 40 customers in 27 countries to pro-vide air defence against a wide spectrum of air targets from UAVs and helicopters to cruise missiles and combat jets. Our customers are demanding greater flex-ibility and in this respect Mistral again fits the bill. It is probably the most versatile missile in the MBDA’s product range with applications from tripod, vehicle, ship and helicopter-mounted launchers.

Significantly, Mistral was first con-ceived as a firing post/launcher system missile with all the features and capa-bilities that this implies (unlike some shoulder-mounted systems that have at-tempted subsequent upgrades for tripod launch). It offers all the necessary features packed into a lightweight, man-portable system to meet the range of threats that could be confronted from the air against surface forces. Importantly, with its Infra-Red (IR) seeker, the Mistral has fire-and-

forget capability, a feature which comes in handy when more than one incom-ing target has to be confronted as is the weapon’s ability to be rapidly reloaded. A beam-riding system, on the other hand, has to be kept locked on by the operator. That gives you very little time in VSHO-RAD operations to take a second shot should you miss with the first. Nor does it allow you sufficient time to engage a

second or third incoming threat. Just a slight movement by the operator trying to keep a beam locked onto a fast-moving, manoeuvring target at a range of about six kilometres or so would be magnified many times over resulting in a miss with possibly disastrous consequences.

Our Mistral Man-portable Air De-fence Systems (MANPADS) are easy to use and can be deployed night and day. Their three kilogram warhead, proximity fuze and high supersonic speed all com-bine to make it a highly effective weapon.

How do you think the PARS 3 LR anti-ar-mour weapon brings value and difference to the Dhruv ALH platform?As you know we are already working with the Dhruv’s manufacturer, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), in providing the Mistral ATAM air-to-air weapon for the helicopter’s self-defence needs.

re-ordered by the UK RAF which has constantly enthused about the capabili-ties of this weapon proven during opera-tions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. This weapon can carry out pinpoint precision attacks against static and fast-moving targets ranging from armoured cars and 4x4s to a solitary sniper operating from cover. Thanks to the millimetric wave ra-dar component in its dual-mode seeker, DMB can operate in fire-and-forget salvo mode. When demanding ground condi-tions require man-in-the-loop control until impact, then the semi-active laser feature of the seeker can be brought into play. Importantly, the weapon has also been proving itself highly suitable for the anti-FIAC (Fast Inshore Attack Craft) role which is becoming an issue in coastal waters.

When a customer such as the Royal Air Force (RAF) says that your product is “very popular with our air crews because of its flexibility, accuracy and reliability”, it reflects that they have real confidence that the weapon will deliver the effects re-quired, then you know that you have a true endorsement indeed.

To take out hardened targets such as control bunkers and key military or civil infrastructure targets, a deep strike capability is a must. Here we’re talking about a weapon capable of being launched from ranges beyond 250 kms and striking with unerring ac-curacy with minimal risk of causing col-lateral damage. For this purpose, MBDA has two unparalleled systems: SCALP/Storm Shadow and Taurus KEPD 350. The former has proven its capabilities under combat conditions in Iraq and in Libya. In fact a total of around 100 of these cruise missiles have been launched under combat conditions by France, Italy and the UK with outstanding results.

With regard to surface strike, an anti-ship capability is also something that air forces are considering more and more. Here, of course, MBDA is especially well-qualified to support India with Exocet AM39 which has combat-proven its effec-tiveness in dealing with various classes of naval vessels at long stand-off ranges. It has recently been validated in its new evolution which has made it especially compatible with modern digitized inter-faces as are now found in the latest gen-eration of aircraft.

What is the USP of the Mistral missiles you are offering to India for its very Short


DUAL StRIke: rafale carry-ing all weather, fire-and-for-get short and medium-range anti-air multi-target mica missiles beneath its hull.

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The helicopter is destined for a num-ber of roles across the board with the Indian armed forces and so an effective ground strike weapon will certainly add considerable flexibility. PARS 3 LR has already been chosen and test-fired suc-cessfully by the German army for its Ti-ger helicopters and we in negotiations with India for this weapon. It is a high precision weapon designed for typical modern combat scenarios, offering the pilot an easy-to-use means of attacking multiple and varied ground targets either individually or in salvo and then imme-diately disengaging to safety thanks to its fire-and-forget capability right up to maximum range. The PARS 3 features a very high speed giving the intended tar-get very little time to react. As the mis-sile seeker is permanently cooled, thanks to a compressed air cooling system, the weapon can be fired instantaneously, an important advantage should a fleet-ing target suddenly appear. The Dhruv calls for a twin launcher as opposed to the Tiger’s quadruple version, and, there-

fore, we have been working closely with an Indian part-ner who has already devel-oped a totally in-country built twin launcher for Dhruv and PARS.

Do you see the possibility of Indian Army’s requirement for loitering munitions grow-ing in the coming years? How strong is your offering to the Indian Army in this regard?At the moment, we are not sure whether the Indian army will opt for one type of Loitering Missile or a fam-ily of missiles, delivering different ranges and capa-bilities. Whatever the army decides MBDA is ready to offer a solution.

MBDA also has interests in India in the form of SM39 anti-ship missiles for the Scorpenes, Milan anti-tank guided missiles and the AS-RAAM for the Jaguar combat planes. Could you please give a low down on where these projects stand and what does the future hold?The Exocet family of mis-

siles is known around the world. Its cre-dentials do not need to be explained. The very name Exocet is synonymous with the best in anti-ship weaponry. Having ordered the SM39 variant for its Scorpene submarines, I’m glad to say that India is now a part of a very large, global Exocet customer community with all that this implies beyond the operational capabili-ties of the missile. India will now accrue and share advantages linked to servicing, product evolutions, supply chain econo-mies and so on.

Milan has linked us to India in terms of a partnership that I’m proud to say goes back to some 40 years or so. This is the eponymous anti-armour missile that has been produced under licence by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) in India for use in conjunction with the home-produced Flame firing post. India placed a new order for over 4,000 missiles a couple of years ago and so this robust, easy-to-use and maintain weapon continues to fea-ture importantly in the Indian Army’s in-ventory.

Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Mis-sile (ASRAAM) is indeed an ongoing proj-ect or campaign which we are discussing with the IAF with regard to its fleet of Jaguar bombers. The Jaguar ideally needs a weapon with an excellent ‘snap-up’ ca-pability, namely the ability to shoot up at targets with height advantage which will usually be the case for a bomber facing an incoming attack by more agile fight-ers. With its over wing missile pylons, the Jaguar will also need a missile that is extremely fast off the rail to avoid any potential danger posed by the aircraft’s wing. ASRAAM is a weapon that fits the bill perfectly in both cases; in fact, in these aspects it is superior to any com-parable weapon. Thanks to ASRAAM’s exceptional speed, the pilot will even be able to shoot while veering rapidly away from the threat with no worry of the mis-sile ‘ripping away’ from the pylon when high g-forces are exerted during a turn at the moment of firing. The missile’s speed and agility combine in a design concept aimed at avoiding the hit and miss of a dog fight. With ASRAAM, the operational concept lies in ‘first shot, first kill’.

What are the capabilities that you will be showcasing during Aero India 2013?Our theme for Aero India will be multiple choices for multi-role operations, a theme very much linked to the IAF’s Medium Muliti-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA). In addition to showing how the MBDA range of air-launched products is capable of adding real flexibility to the IAF’s capa-bility, we will also be able to demonstrate how MBDA has the unique ability to meet the guided weapons needs of all three services: the air force, army and navy. We will take the opportunity to showcase an anti-ship weapon system that we feel could have a wide range of applications in India from helicopter to maritime and perhaps even ship launch. This is the Marte ER benefitting from tried and tested technologies in the Marte Mk2/S helicopter-launched weapon but with an extended range of around 100 kms.

Of course Maitri, the short range, sur-face-to-air project which sees us work-ing closely with the DRDO, will again be a feature. We never say too much about as it more for the DRDO to discuss than for MBDA. However, we have great hopes that this project, should it materialize, will form the springboard for our much wider partnership plans with the growing Indian defence sector industry.

MovIng AHeAD: mica missile fired successfully from an air defence system to intercept and destroy multi targets.

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Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has set itself a target to become a `25,000 crore com-pany by 2020? Do you have a blueprint for achieving this target?Yes. BEL has prepared a comprehensive plan which encompasses the analysis of external business environment including Defence/Non-Defence business oppor-tunities, Roadmap for Technology/Prod-uct development, Infrastructure require-ments, Analysis of processes, etc.

To achieve the desired vision of be-coming a world-class enterprise in pro-fessional electronics with a projected revenue of `25,000 crore by 2020, BEL has drawn detailed action plans for each function area of its business.

Being the only Defence PSU in the electron-ics sector, is Bharat Electronics Ltd ready to absorb a part of the `165,000 crore off-set that is likely to accrue in the next de-cade? Have you set a target in this regard and what efforts have you put in to attract the expected offsets your way? BEL is focussing on the opportunities in the areas of offset obligations of vendors in the various RFPs of MoD. BEL has also identified contract manufacturing (both build to print and build to specs) as one of the areas to address the emerging op-portunities with OEMs.

We are working closely with various major foreign aerospace and defence companies to secure business under the

“BEL will showcase its capabilities”


The premier defence electronics company in the country, Bharat Electronics Limited, has chalked out a comprehensive plan to become a world-class enterprise in professional electronics with a projected revenue of `25,000 crore by 2020, In this interview, AniL KUmAr, BEL’s Chairman and Managing Director, talks about the immense possibili-ties for the company in the field of defence and aerospace. Excerpts:


Management System, Coastal Surveil-lance System, an all-weather 24x7 surveil-lance system developed for safeguard-ing the nation’s coastline by networking various sensors such as Radars, Day and Night Electro Optical elements, Automat-ic Identification Systems and metrologi-cal equipment.

Electronic Warfare and Avionics products like Missile Approach Warning System, LRUs for Flight Control System, Radar Finger Printing System, etc.

BEL is laying increased thrust on development of new technology mod-ules like Microwave Power Modules and TR modules for use in Radars, MEMS based products for use in Sonars, Micro-wave components used in Airborne EW systems, etc. These will be on show at Aero India

With several major defence purchases in the final phase of decision-making we expect global OEMs and their vendors to be on the look-out for Indian offset part-ners. We expect this exhibition to pro-vide a meeting ground for such business partners. Apart from this it will also provide BEL, the premier defence elec-tronics company of the country, a plat-form to showcase its capabilities to the world.

products. More than 50 per cent of BEL’s turnover comes from in-house R&D ef-forts at our Centers of Excellence. Many of the current R&D projects are in-house development efforts including the SDRs and TCS programme.

What are the capabilities that you will be showcasing during Aero india 2013?BEL is planning to showcase its capabili-ties to domestic customers and foreign OEMs at Aero India 2013 by displaying its latest range of products and systems, de-veloped in-house. The main highlights of our display will be:Radar Systems like Bharani, Weapon Lo-cating Radar, 3D Tactical Control Radar, IFF Mk.XII, Ground Penetrating Radar, etc. which have been developed in col-laboration with DRDO labs.Communication products like Software Defined Radio with different form factors, 100W HF Radio, Data Link systems, etc.Key elements developed for use in various Network Centric Systems like comput-ing elements in various forms; right from wrist wearable computers, handheld computers, Tablet PC to rugged laptop, etc.

Network Centric Warfare solutions for Indian Navy which include Combat

mandatory Offset Clause in the RFPs for Indian Defence Procurement. MoUs have been signed with many OEMs and efforts are being made to establish long-term supply chain relationships with the global players.

BEL’s facilities have been visited by these companies and based on the feed-back generated, necessary actions have been taken. Seven of our SBUs/ Units have obtained AS 9100 Certification to address aerospace business. Infrastructure mod-ernisation and requisite additions have taken place to meet the requirements of these companies. We are targeting a total offset business of $300 million in the next 3 to 5 years. Under the JV with Thales, what do you in-tend to achieve? How will this JV further your presence in the domestic and global markets? BEL and Thales, France have signed a Joint Venture Agreement in August 2012 with the clearance of their respective boards for the formation of a Joint Venture Company (JVC) in the area of Civilian and select Defence Radars subject to obtain-ing the necessary statutory and govern-ment approvals of both India and France.

The proposal has been forwarded to Ministry of Defence for its concurrence and parallely FDI approval has been sought from FIPB. Both approvals are un-der progress.

How much do you spend on internal r&D annually to add value to the products you supply to the indian armed forces? BEL has been spending about 7-8 per cent of its revenues on Research and Develop-ment of technologies and products re-quired by the armed forces.

R&D in BEL is organised in a three-tier structure namely Central Research Labo-ratories, Central D&E and D&Es attached to each of the Strategic Business Units.

The CRLs develop futuristic technolo-gies, the Central D&E group develops common technology modules and the SBU D&Es develop products/systems based on user requirements using the technologies developed.

Also, the R&D groups interact with DRDO labs and many joint development programmes are under way for products and systems. We also collaborate with foreign OEMs for some of the important projects by way of ToT. The R&Ds get involved in absorption of technologies and subsequent indigenization of the

How do you intend to leverage the mmrCA deal with Dassault Aviation that is likely to be signed in the next fiscal?For the MMRCA contract, we have been interacting with Dassault Aviation and their Tier-1 sup-pliers like ECE, Inter Technique and Thales. BEL is interested in Airborne Radar, EW Systems and Avionics. We know that these are very specific areas for which BEL is, perhaps, the best qualified company in India.

We have been visited by these companies and their major partners. In addition to these areas, BEL is targeting new areas like system integration and customization of designs. We have already started preparing four of our Strategic Business Units (SBUs) to handle this business and are creating the required facilities, training manpower and obtaining AS 9100 certification.


Strange it may seem, the fact re-mains that for an Indian fighter pilot, the real flying training in the IAF starts after he is com-missioned into the service. The

training that is imparted to cadets at the Air Force Academy before their commis-sioning into the IAF is only basic in na-ture. The operational flying training starts on commissioning and never ends till an

The landscape in the mas-tery of air is fast changing but the Indian fighter pilots are as good as any in the world, thanks to their continuous training and retraining, writes Vijainder K ThaKur

constantly Pushing thE BoundariEs

IAF pilot hangs up his gloves and flying helmet. The pre-commissioning train-ing imparted to pilots comprises three stages: basic (ab-initio), intermediate and advanced. Ab-initio training is a combi-nation training and filtering process. It is more about filtering out the slow learners and accommodating them in the ground duties branches of the Air Force than teaching a pilot how to fly.

During this stage, not only is a pilot taught the basics of flying but his learn-ing abilities are also assessed. As the ad-age goes, even a monkey can be taught to fly — perhaps, if given a lifetime. IAF pi-lots are no monkeys; they learn to fly an aircraft with less than 10 hours of instruc-tional training. Within days of flying their first solo, they learn to take the aircraft to its limits. As they progress in their careers,

hOninG SKiLLS: (Above)Pilatus PC-7 Mk II has been selected by the Indian Air Force as its basic

trainer.SecOnd TO nOne: (Right) IAF fighter pilots participate in joint exercises with foreign air forces

and are acclaimed to be as good as any in the world.

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February 2013(55)www.geopolitics.in February 2013www.geopolitics.in

they learn to fly different aircraft, usually of increasing complexity. They are able to convert to the new aircraft with just 8-10 hrs of instructions.

In the past, the IAF has flown fight-ers that had no type trainers. Many IAF veterans flew Gnats and Maruts without any dual seat instructional flying in a type trainer as these aircraft didn’t have twin seat versions! IAF pilots don’t just learn how to fly aircraft, they learn to use them for warfighting, aerial combat, ground attack, troop transport, aerial refuelling, electronic snooping, etc.

Basic Flying Training is currently be-ing conducted on HAL designed and pro-duced Kiran Jet Trainers at Air Force Acad-emy, Hyderabad. The training was earlier conducted on the HPT-32, which has now been phased out because of engine prob-lems leading to several fatal crashes.

the project has been stalled following a crash in April 2011 during spin trials.

In the intermediate stage, the process of filtering out slow learners continues but rejection rate is significantly reduced. Ad-vanced Jet Training prepares fighter pilots for induction into the fighter stream of the Air Force and is currently being carried out on a mix of Hawks and Kiran AJTs. Even-tually, the Hawk AJT will replace all Kiran aircraft.

Once commissioned as a pilot in the IAF, an officer always remains a pilot. The wings pinned on an IAF pilot’s chest at commissioning are for a lifetime. But so is the process of learning. Their training nev-er ends! On first reporting to a squadron, a rookie fighter pilot is trained on a type trainer (two seat version of the fighter) be-fore being allowed to fly solo. After his first solo, the pilot flies a type conversion syl-

India is in the process of purchasing Swiss Pilatus PC-7 Mk II turboprop air-craft as the basic trainer for the IAF. The first batch of Pilatus aircraft was set to be inducted into the IAF in January 2013. Ev-ery successive month, two more aircraft will be added to the fleet. By the end of 2014, all elementary flying training will be done on the PC-7 Mk-II and Kiran air-craft would be used exclusively for Stage II training of cadets.

Intermediate flying training focuses on imparting more flying skills as well as assessing the suitability of the rookie pi-lot for the different flying streams of the IAF: fighters, transports and helicopters. Intermediate Flying Training is also con-ducted on the Kiran jet trainer at the Air Force Academy. HAL has been at work developing Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT) Sitara HJT-36 as a Kiran replacement but

labus to learn basic handling of the fighter that the squadron is equipped with.

Having flown his conversion syllabus, the pilot starts day operational training to become qualified to take part in day combat operations. This phase of training typically spans around a hundred hours and takes about a year to complete. The training includes learning to manoeuvre the aircraft to its limits, navigating long distances at low and high altitudes, fly-ing in multiple aircraft close and tactical formations, air-to-air combat and air-to-ground weapon firing on practice ranges. On completion of the phase, the pilot is declared Day-Ops.

Next comes, night operational flying training during which all that a pilot mas-tered during the day, he learns to do by night to become Fully-Ops on the fighter type. While earning his day and night ops status, a fighter pilot also builds up expe-rience in flying through bad weather and leading other aircraft in formation, being progressively declared a two and four air-craft leader.

After a pilot becomes fully operational, the learning process doesn’t end; it accel-erates. He participates in exercises with other squadrons, flying under operational conditions, coordinating attacks with air-craft from other bases, or scrambling to take on intruding ‘enemy.’

The IAF now routinely exercises with some foreign air forces and the pilots un-dergo a lot of pre-exercise training and preparation. And here they have come off with flying colours. As pilots become seasoned, they undergo various competi-tive courses to hone their skills in ground attack and air-combat flying with and against dissimilar fighters.

Some of the advanced courses qualify a fighter pilot to:• Impart training to squadron pilots in

weapons firing as Pilot Attack Instruc-tor (PAI).

• Impart combat training to squadron pilots as a Fighter Combat Leader (FCL), Fighter Strike Leader (FLS). These courses are conducted at an es-tablishment called TACDE, which also runs a Helicopter Attack Leader course for attack helicopter pilots.

• Impart flying instructions as a Quali-fied Flying Instructor (QFI).

• Hold higher staff appointments.During his active flying career, a fighter pilot usually flies more than a single type of fighter. After several hundred hours of flying on a type, a fighter pilot typically converts to a different type, often a more recently inducted fighter. The training process starts all over, with the pilot re-quired to once again undergo conversion, attain Day-Ops and then Fully-Ops status. The day and night ops flying training syl-labi are abridged for pilots who are already fully-Ops on a different type.

A pilot’s training state is periodically evaluated by examiners deputed by the Directorate of Air Staff Inspection (DASI) at Air Headquarters to ensure there is no complacency or dilution of standards. During a DASI visit, the pilot flies air com-bat sorties against DASI examiners and performs attack missions on range under their scrutiny. Not just fighter pilots, but fighter squadrons too come under the scope of DASI inspections.

The IAF needs to relentlessly keep pace with improvement in aviation and weapons technology worldwide in or-der to remain viable, capable of securing the country’s airspace and be able to the battle to the enemy. This is something the IAF leadership has been doing since independence but, unfortunately, not at the desired pace because of the country’s slow-paced economy.

However, since the mid-90s, GDP growth rates have perked up and defence budgets have proportionately increased, allowing better-paced modernization.

IAF leadership has done well to lever-age increases in budgetary allocations to the service to induct more capable air-craft, such as the Su-30MKI, and perhaps more importantly, to introduce force mul-tipliers such as aerial refuellers, Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS), Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) and more capable aircraft sensors and weap-ons through aircraft upgrade programme such as Bison, MiG-29 UPG and MiG-27 UPG. Future upgrade programmes in-clude the Mirage 2000 and the Jaguar.

IAF fighters now have greater operat-ing ranges, more powerful radars, lon-ger range air-to-air missiles and guided bombs. The fighters can monitor, and if required engage, multiple targets at the same time. The IAF has also embraced the concept of swing role fighters. The Su-30 MKI and the soon to come Rafale, for example, can take-off with weapon loads that allows them to perform air defence or ground attack missions to address an emerging need.

In the past, fighters were slotted into the air-defence and ground attack roles and the squadron pilots were trained for just those specific roles. Now, a fighter pi-lot needs to be able to take on either mis-sion, increasing the scope of the training imparted to him.

The introduction of force-multipliers has mandated seminal changes in air-crew mindset and fighter flying tactics. Consequently, aircrew training syllabi and goals have been undergoing major tweaks. There is more stress on Beyond Visual Range (BVR) combat, as compared to Within Visual Range (WVR) combat, as also the need for aircrews to better absorb

ecOnOMicaL FLiGhT: The Hawk Mk. 132, a low-cost combat aircraft, is powered by the Rolls-Royce Adour Mk 871 engine. BAE systems delivered the final of 24 uK-built Hawks to the IAF in November 2009

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and process the data streaming in from ground and airborne radars over data links.

Geopolitics spoke with Air Marshal P K Barbora (Retd), former Vice Chief of the Air Staff, who oversaw the implementa-tion of changes in IAF operational training to better absorb new technologies, espe-cially force multipliers.

He says that the most significant im-pact of force multipliers has been on aircrew load with “the man, not the ma-chine, fast becoming the limiting factor”. He adds, “Modern technology has made our fighters safer and easier to fly. The weapons they carry are more accurate and lethal. The only problem is that the infor-mation coming into the cockpit can easily overwhelm a pilot.”

During the Libyan war, for example, the frontline was in continuous flux. Even though changes in the location of friendly and hostile forces were being continu-ously streamed to allied aircraft, on sev-eral occasions French pilots were forced to return without releasing their weapons because of their inability to process the information.

“Besides their own sensors, our fighter pilots now need to process the informa-tion coming over data links from AWACS and ground based radars,” Barbora ex-plains, adding that, “with aerial refuelling, aircraft flight endurance has gone up to an extent where a pilot’s physical endurance is the limiting factor”. But he asks, “Dia-pers are some help for bodily functions, but how do pilots cope with the mental loads of flying non-stop for over 8 hrs in a cramped cockpit?”

The IAF’s modernization introduced daunting challenges in retraining air crew, but the IAF met them squarely. “Having made investments in more capable fight-ers, avionics, weapons, AWACs and refu-elling tankers, the IAF is determined to leverage the investments to the hilt,” says the former Vice Chief.

To meet the challenge of increased complexity, the IAF has acquired the Brit-ish Aerospace Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer for the initial training of fighter pilots. In terms of complexity and sophistica-tion, the Hawk matches the Jaguar. Its introduction into the initial training pro-gramme has had a very positive impact, says Barbora. Pilots coming to Jaguar air-craft after flying the Hawk now undergo a shorter syllabus, reducing costs and im-proving the operational status in Jaguar squadrons.

The IAF is increasingly opting for twin seat aircraft to reduce pilot load and en-sure effective utilization of sensors and weapons. But doesn’t that increase the number of aircrew required and make paucity of aircrew the limiting factor? ‘No,’ says Barbosa. He explains, “The IAF is absorbing pilots who didn’t make the grade during initial flying training as Weapon System Operators (WSO).”

The IAF is confident of meeting its pilot and WSO requirements in the future because more and better quality young-sters are opting to join IAF’s flying stream, following the revision of pay scales by the last Pay Commission.

The IAF has continuously revised the training syllabi for courses conducted by Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE). BVR combat now takes precedence over WVR combat in order to leverage our investments in longer range radars, ground-based and airborne. “The precedence shift doesn’t mean the IAF is any less trained now for visual combat than before,” says, Barbora who served as staff pilot in TACDE on his way up in the IAF hierarchy.

In addition, squadron pilots are con-tinuously trained to operate with AWACS and to fly their fighters to the limits of their own and the aircraft’s endurance. Happy with the qualitative edge that the AWACS give it, the IAF is utilizing its current fleet of three to the hilt, keeping

them in the air most of the time. Fighter pilots have been posted to the AWACS squadron to bridge any mindset divides and better co-ordinate operations. After operating in relative isolation up to the beginning of the 90s, the IAF has now in-stitutionalized exercises with friendly Air Forces and is routinely exercising with the French, British, US and Singapore Air Forces. Sporadically, it has exercised with other friendly air forces. These exercises ensure inter-operability of IAF aircraft with those from friendly Air Forces, allow-ing the IAF to support international peace keeping operations.

In addition, the exercises give our air-crew good exposure to the warfighting techniques employed by others. A less talked about spin off is that they also give the IAF an opportunity to operate against, and evaluate, aircraft types that may one day be shooting at our pilots—the F-16, for example. According to Air Marshal Barbora, “The exercises have earned the IAF great respect from other Air Forces. Air Forces from other friendly countries are keen to exercise with us, but currently our resources are stretched.”

Always retraining and always ready, the IAF is now gearing up to meet future challenges, such as the introduction of the MMRCA (Medium Multi-Role Com-bat Aircraft), which would once again en-tail mindset and training tweaks. One of the qualitative requirements that the IAF has stipulated for the MMRCA is that it be equipped with state-of-the-art weap-ons covering the gamut of aerial warfare. The IAF will need to imbibe and master the new systems introduced. The IAF also needs to work on the fusion of its aircraft, attack helicopters and UAV sensors and so there will certainly be more challenges on that account.

Still further ahead is the challenge of imbibing the Fifth Generation Fighter Air-craft (FGFA) and all that is stealthy. Wary of developments across its northern borders, the IAF is determined to stay ahead in the stealth game. “Technologically, the IAF is nearly at par with other western Air Forces and only a few years behind the USAF,” as-serts Barbora.

“There was a time when we would keenly observe how the USAF operates its AWACS. Now they keenly watch how we operate ours!” he adds, ending on a note that should leave IAF pilots proud and se-cure.

(The author is a former fighter pilot.)

aLWaYS On Guard: Trained IAF pilots have to undergo training throughout their careers in ground and air attack

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In 2007, the US Air Force released the final test report covering suc-cessful flight trials of a service B-52H bomber flown over a year using synthetic aviation kerosene

produced from coal. This was the first move in a long-term US strategy directed at weaning its military off imported pe-troleum products with the ultimate aim being the replacement of crude oil based fuels with products made from natural gas and coal. Synthetic fuel manufacture was based on the 1920s German Fischer-Tropsch technology. During the Second World War, Germany, which had limited access to natural crude oil, built quite a few synthetic fuel plants to power its fuel guzzling armour thrusts. Alternative fuel is the general term to describe any alter-native to petroleum-based fuels, includ-ing liquid fuel produced from natural gas, liquid fuel from coal and biofuels.

During mid 2012, in Hawaii the US Navy demonstrated its ‘Green Strike Group’ as part of the 2012 Rim of the

Exploring nEw options

Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise that included surface ships, submarines and aircraft from 22 different nations. RIMPAC 2012 began on June 29 and concluded on August 3, 2012. The US navy fielded its Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, guided missile cruiser, two de-stroyers, a fleet replenishment oiler, MH-60 helicopters, F/A-18 fighter jets, and E-2 early warning aircraft. The ‘Green Strike Group’ powered by biofuel blends was a step toward the US Navy’s goal of a full deployment of such a fleet in 2016.

Earlier on July 17, 2012, in prepara-tion for the RIMPAC, US Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler, USNS Henry J. Kaiser, delivered 700,000 gallons of hydro-treated renewable diesel fuel, or HRD76 to three ships of the strike group. Kaiser also delivered 200,000 gal-lons of hydro-treated renewable aviation fuel, or HRJ5, to the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. Both fuels were a 50-50 blend of petroleum-based fuel and biofuel, which comprised of a mix of waste cooking oil and algae oil.

These events highlight the key as-pects regarding alternative fuels, particu-

larly biofuels to the transport sector and specifically to the military. First, defence establishments influenced by national and energy security concerns have court-ed alternative fuels since the use of mo-tor transport. Second, the characteristics, issues and options relating to alternative fuels vary widely as there exists a variety of feedstocks and different production technologies. Finally, biofuels are fast moving away from edible feedstock and attaining cost parity with the petroleum, including aviation fuel.

Theoretically, biofuels can be pro-duced from any renewable biological car-bon material, although the most common sources are plants that absorb carbon dioxide (CO

2) and use sunlight to grow.

Globally, biofuels are most commonly used for transport. The two most common feedstock sources for making biofuels are plants rich in sugars and bio-derived oils. Crops that are rich in sugars (such as sug-arcane) or starch (such as corn) can be processed to release their sugar content. This is fermented to make ethanol, which can be used directly as a petroleum sub-stitute or additive. These fuels, known as first-generation biofuels, are typically

A green milestone: The B-52 became one of the first US military aircraft to fly using a 50/50 blend of Fischer-Tropsch process (FT) synthetic fuel and conventional JP-8 jet fuel

With the United States deciding to go for developing renewable biofuel for military aviation that reduces the military’s dependence on tradi-tional petroleum-derived fuels, it is time for India to do the same, writes monish gulAti

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not suitable for use in aircraft as they do not have the necessary performance and safety attributes. The technical require-ments for aviation biofuels are that they should directly substitute traditional jet fuel, withstand the peculiar aviation op-erational conditions of temperature, pres-sure, etc. and not compromise on perfor-mance and safety. (see box-1)

Bio-derived oil commonly sourced from plants such as corn, soybeans, al-gae, jatropha, halophytes and camelina, after processing, can either be burned di-rectly or converted by chemical processes to make high-quality jet and diesel fuels. The key advantages that accrue from the use of second-generation biofuels for avi-ation are as follows:• When sustainably produced, biofu-

els result in a reduction in CO2 emis-sions across their lifecycle;

• They offer a viable alternative to fos-sil fuels;

supersonic flight: The US Navy marked “Earth Day” in April 2010 with an M1.2 supersonic demonstration of an F/A-18 Super Hornet using a 50/50 mixture of JP-8 jet fuel and biofuel

Biofuels

primary secondary

Firewood, wood chips, pel-lets, animal waste, forest and crop residues, landfill gas

1st generation or butanol by fermen-tion of starch (from wheat, barely, corn, potato) or sugars (from sugarcane, sugar beet, etc.)Biodiesel by trans-esterification of oil crops (rapeseed, soybeans, sunflower, palm, coco-nut, used cooking oil, animal fasts, etc.)

3rd generationBiodiesel from micro-algae

Bioethanol from micro-algae and seaweeds

Hydrogen from green microalgae and microbes

2nd generationBioethanol and biodiesel produced from conven-tional technologies but based on novel starch, oil and sugar crops such as Jatropha, cassava or Miscanthus.Bioethanol, biobutanol, syndiesel produced from lignocellulosic meterials (e.g. straw, wood, and grass)

clAssificAtion of Biofuels

• Biofuels result in a more diverse geographical fuel supply through non-food crop sources.

Biofuels, especially those for use in avia-tion and maritime transports have their share of challenges. Biodiesel when stored for long periods of time is more

likely to oxidise, especially at low tem-peratures, causing it to gel and restrict its flow. Some additives improve the cold weather tolerance of biodiesel, but only by a few degrees. Nitrile-based rubber materials expand in the presence of aro-matic compounds found in petroleum.

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Pure biofuels that have not been blended with petroleum and don’t contain par-affin-based additives may cause rubber seals and hoses to shrink, leading to mal-function. Manufacturers are starting to use a synthetic rubber substitute called Viton which is not affected by biofuels for seals and hoses.

Various factors—economic, environ-mental and even political—have con-tributed in making biofuels attractive for direct use and as an alternative to fossil-based fuels. However, from the point of view of the aviation sector and use by the military, two factors are relevant—nation-al security for the military and climate change for the aviation. With the nations importing ever increasing amounts of pe-troleum, national security is a key driver for developing home-grown sustainable fuel supplies. The defence establishments respond by powering their aircrafts with domestically produced alternatives to petroleum fuels. Concerns about climate change, which impacts the commercial aviation sector, are driving demands for lower carbon alternatives. Aviation con-tributes a small but growing share of car-bon dioxide emissions—estimated at two to three per cent worldwide. While avia-tion leaders have made significant strides in reducing fuel use and emissions per passenger mile—designing significantly

cleaner planes and increasing efficiency of operations—industry leaders have identified lower-carbon biofuels as a key measure to meet its climate goals.

To understand the utility of biofuels in aviation and, in particular, military aviation, it would be necessary to be ac-quainted with two definitions—ASTM standards and drop-in fuels. ASTM Inter-national, originally known as the Ameri-can Society for Testing and Materials, is an international standards organisation which develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems and services. Its standard for aviation kero-sene is called ASTM D 1655. Aircrafts can use only those fuels for which they have been certified. Use of any other fuel would require re-certification of the aircraft. In practice, this means that any biofuel or biofuel blend has to be certified as be-ing equivalent to ASTM D 1655 kerosene in order to qualify for use in the existing aircraft fleet.

Such biofuels or biofuel blends are referred to as ‘drop-in fuels’. Drop-in-fuel implies that once the fuel meets the ASTM specification, it can be blended up to a certain volume percentage and the fi-nal blend will have identical properties to those of ASTM D 1655. Further, as drop-in fuels are chemically indistinguishable

from conventional jet fuel, besides the aircraft or engine fuel systems, no chang-es would be required in distribution in-frastructure or storage facility resulting in significant logistical and cost advantage.

Aviation BiofuelsThe current worldwide consumption by the aviation sector is about 200 million tonnes kerosene per annum. Aviation’s share of the greenhouse gas emissions is poised to grow as air travel increases and ground vehicles use more alternative fu-els like ethanol and biodiesel. Currently aviation represents two per cent of global emissions but is expected to grow to three per cent by 2050. The main driver for aviation to use alternative fuels is reduc-ing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and allow aviation supply to meet demand growth while at the same time the sector diversifies fuel supply. Sustainability of biofuels is, therefore, a key prerequisite. Safety and performance are also essential design criteria for aviation fuels.

Among the different qualities of bio-fuels at present, three types are favoured to be used in aviation jet engines blended with kerosene: Synthetic Fischer-Tropsch (FT) based kerosene produced through high temperature biomass gasification, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (HVO) and Hydrogenated Pyrolysis Oils (HPO) pro-

looking for AlternAtives: The process to produce a jet-range fuel in-volves using solid second-generation biomass sources


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ducing advanced biofuels from multiple feedstocks represent, perhaps, the best option for meeting this military need. The US Aviation biofuels programme is being monitored by Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and seeks to develop renewable jet fuel (JP-8) for military aviation that meets or ex-ceeds JP-8 performance metrics. The bio-derived JP-8 is intended to be a drop-in fuel. The biofuels programme continues to make progress, converting cellulosic and algae feed stocks to JP-8. Performers funded under the effort include teams led by General Atomics (algae) and Logos Technologies (cellulosic). Having suc-

ceeded in its initial efforts, DARPA is now considering options to facilitate further development of algae-derived biofuels. The cellulosic effort is ongoing.

Biofuels in the present state of tech-nology might be used for the first time in aviation as it has fewer fuel alternatives compared to ground transportation sec-tors and electricity generation. Jet air-planes for commercial and military uses will need liquid, high energy-density fuels with the same technical characteristics as petroleum-based fuels and biofuels are expected to deliver on their promise. India cannot afford to be left behind in develop-ing this emerging option.

green strike group: Hydro-treated renewable aviation fuel, or HRJ5, comprising a mix of waste cooking oil and algae oil was delivered to the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) strike group

duced from lignocellulosic biomass. From a direct cost perspective, it can be expected that all biofuels, capable of meeting aviation fuel quality standards, will be significantly more expensive than fossil kerosene for the aviation industry until 2020.

Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (HVO) have been commercialised by Neste Oil of Finland. The technology is feedstock flexible and can use a variable mix of dif-ferent vegetable oils and animal fats as its raw material, including algae and micro-bial oils. The current main feedstocks for HVO production are palm oil and animal fat. In order to be able to supply aviation sector with biofuels, these feedstock shall have to be certified to meet the sustain-ability criteria.UOP, a Honeywell Compa-ny, has also commercialised a feedstock-flexible HVO technology, both for the production of green diesel and green jet fuel.

Aquatic microalgae are among the fastest growing photosynthetic organ-isms. They have carbon fixation rates in an order of magnitude higher than those of land grown plants and can be continu-ally harvested, with harvesting cycles ranging between one and ten days. They produce oils that can be converted into aviation fuels via HVO while the biomass residue can be used for further energy production (in combined heat and power applications or synthetic biofuels via gas-ification and pyrolysis). Development of algae as a biofuel reigns supreme among drop-in fuels. Algae biodiesel jet fuel rep-resents the best potential answer for the sustainability of the aviation industry.

us military—Biofuels programmeThe United States Armed Forces, which currently fuels 77 per cent of its ma-chinery with petroleum-based fuel, has announced the aggressive goal to be petroleum-free by 2040. The 2011 Pew Charitable Trusts report ‘From Barracks to the Battlefield: Clean Energy Innova-tion and America’s Armed Forces’ report-ed that Department of Defense clean en-ergy investments increased 300 per cent between 2006 and 2009—from $400 mil-lion to $1.2 billion—and are projected at $10 billion annually by 2030, adding that that by 2015, the Pentagon will be spend-ing $2.25 billion each year to harness clean energy technologies for air, land and sea vehicles. The military requires access to adequate fuel supplies in stra-tegic locations and bio-refineries pro-

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in quest of aerial superiorityWhile it undergoes transformation to gain more potency, the Indian Air Force is keenly watching the ongoing trends in combat jet avionics and adopting them accordingly, writes Saurav Jha

In 2007, during the run up to the Medium Multi-Role Combat Air-craft (MMRCA) decision, the then Air Chief, Fali Homi Major, had remarked

that what matters today is not the exterior of the air-craft but what is inside it. This was of course an allusion to the centrality that combat jet avion-ics has in determining the efficacy of the same. Indeed it is primarily for this reason that 40-60 per cent of the cost of a modern fighter can be attrib-uted to the onboard avionics package and associated software. As the Indian Air Force (IAF) transforms itself over this decade, it would be worthwhile to look at the transition it is making in terms of combat avionics through new inductions and upgrades.

The term avionics was coined by journalist Philip J Klass by condensing ‘aviation electronics’. Modern onboard avionics as such include all primary sen-sors, electronic warfare systems, cockpit instrumentation and the mission com-puter carried by a combat jet. The com-ing together of these packages turns the modern combat jet into a flying platform that senses as well as shoots. Now the

chief sensor on board any modern com-bat jet is the fighter radar which today has to be competent in both air-to-air as well as air-to-ground modes. Worldwide, the shift in fighter radar technology has been towards Active Electronically Scanned Arrays (AESAs) and this was also a ma-jor consideration in the MMRCA tender as indicated by various sources. Indeed, the winner of that tender, i.e. the Das-sault Rafale, passed an important mile-stone last October when the first RBE2-AA AESA equipped Rafale (numbered C137) was delivered to the French Airforce. The RBE2-AA is an AESA upgrade of the staple passive array (PESA) RBE2 and affords a significant improvement over it in terms of Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) fea-tures. Typically, AESA receivers are at least 6 decibels (db) quieter when compared to PESAs.

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a Big Leap: The Dassault Rafale Multi-role Combat Air-craft is equipped with Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) RBE2 radar making it the first European fighter to enter operational service with the next-generation radar

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Interestingly, the RBE2-AA employs a single channel approach in which each el-ement in an AESA’s transmit/receive (t/r) module employs a stack of components perpendicular to the antenna face. This new packaging scheme seeks to overcome limits on t/r density and helps lower cool-ing requirements both of which otherwise put an upper bound on the power-aper-ture performance of AESAs. The contem-porary power density benchmark for an AESA is around 5 watts per centimetre at the array face and to achieve this a single channel or element in an AESA consists of an LNA for the receive path, a power

amplifier, a phase shifter, impedance matched low insertion loss interconnec-tions, gain control blocks, radio frequency buffer amplifiers, digital circuits along-side the control logic required to latch downloaded gain and phase parameters into the t/r module phase shifter and gain control components.

The IAF, of course, is extremely keen on equipping more of its combat jets with AESAs. Several of the IAF’s Sukhoi 30 MKIs are soon going to be due for a Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) which will include

the replacement of the very capable but now ageing Bars PESA with a new Russian origin AESA. It could be speculated that this might be the same AESA radar as the Tikhomirov NIIP design which is intend-ed for the Indo-Russian Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) based on the Suk-hoi T-50 PAK-FA.

The Tikhomirov NIIP X-band AESA design for the PAK-FA was extensively dis-played by Tikhomirov NIIP at MAKS 2009. The antenna aperture is similar in size to the aperture of the N-011M Irbis E used in

the Su-35s. This new Russian AESA design is apparently suited to fixed low signature tilted installation rather than a more regu-lar gimballed installation. The design has some 1,526 t/r channels, with a tolerance level of perhaps several per cent. NIIP has publicly cited a detection range perfor-mance of 350 to 400 kms while assuming a 2.5m2

RCS target and peak power may be in the order of 15 kW.

An indigenous AESA is also being pur-sued by DRDO’s Electronics Research and Development Establishment (LRDE) and

GIVING AN EDGE: Lock-heed Martin delivered the first Target Sight System (TSS) production unit, a multi-sensor fire control system for the US AH-1Z Cobra helicopter

IMPECCABLE VISION: The sensors installed in forward-looking infrared (FLIR) cameras use detection of infrared radiation, typically emitted from a heat source to create images assembled for video output

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Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) un-der Project Uttam which is looking at new generation X-band AESAs which incorpo-rate improvements in monolithic device technology by moving from the use of gal-lium arsenide-based monolithic micro-wave integrated circuits (MMIC) to those built from gallium nitride and silicon ger-manium. Given that this project looks to provide a fighter AESA for the LCA Mk-2, the project is likely to encounter unique packaging and power requirement chal-lenges that will be overcome through the development of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based phase shifters.

In an age of stealth, however, radars are no longer the only kind of sensors that find pride of place in a combat jet’s tracking and scanning systems. Fighter aircraft today sport increasingly capable electro-optical tracking systems that are merging together the functions of the TV telescope, Infra-Red Search and Track (IRS&T) and Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) into a single device. The techno-logical enabler for this synthesis is the emergence of the indium antimonide single chip focal plane array camera. This new kind of camera can be used for pas-sive IRS&T searches, as well as to ‘stare’ at a specific target for Beyond Visual Range (BVR) identification and targetting.

One sees this merger in the optro-nique secteur frontal (OSD) long range video system of the Dassault Rafale. The narrow field of this sensor coupled with visible waveband capability enables the identification of targets in situations in which visual contact is required by the rules of engagement. The OSD also allows target tracking, through both the IRS&T as well as visual sensors and the FLIR func-

tion can apparently be used to detect air targets at ranges up to 100 kms.

However, it is the Russians who take these devices most seriously as evidenced by the continuing development of the Op-tical Laser System OLS-35 for the Sukhoi family. The OLS-35 is quite versatile and can accomplish the following tasks ac-cording to the manufacturer:• Airspace scanning in air-to-air mode• Aerial, ground and water surface tar-

get detection, locking-on and tracking• Ground surface scanning• Target image recognition• Target angular coordinates, range and

angular and linear velocity determi-nation

• TV, IR and TV+IR video and message output to the cockpit multifunctional display

• Interaction with the aircraft targeting and guidance complex

• Operation at a full range of altitudes, ground and sky backgrounds, day and night, in different visual meteorologi-cal conditions and jamming interfer-ence

• Ground target illumination by laser emission

• Autonomous functioning and radio silence mode.

Despite the capabilities mentioned above, the contemporary fighter’s radar or optical sensor on their own may not give the pilot a complete picture of the air situation. For that a dovetailing of inputs from all onboard sensors for greater situ-ational awareness otherwise known as sensor fusion proves useful. AESAs in any case are software intensive with rigid real-time processing demands requiring the refinement of the computing architecture of modern fighter aircraft.

Indeed, data management for fighter aircraft is inconceivable today without the availability of serious onboard pro-cessing and man-machine interface facil-ities in the form of a state-of-the-art mis-sion computer and a digital glass cockpit providing the necessary inputs to the pilot in a readily available manner. The mission computer and a digital cockpit after all are responsible for not just sensor input management but also for flying the

aircraft and deploying its weapons. This is also why the adoption of Integrated Mod-ular Avionics (IMA) that encapsulate real-time approaches to onboard data pro-cessing orchestrated by a network made of distinct computing modules capable of supporting numerous applications of differing priority levels is now being pur-sued. Sequenced and prioritised informa-tion in IMA environments when fed to glass cockpits consisting of large side by side Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display (AMLCD) multifunctional displays, wide angle colour head up displays, Hands On Throttle-And-Stick (HOTAS) controls and new generation helmet-mounted cueing systems represent no less of a generation-al jump than the appearance of true Very Low Observable(VLO) systems.

However, the situational awareness for a fighter can never be complete with-out the ability to detect and neutralise threats to itself. Given that anti-aircraft technologies have never stagnated, there is an increasing move towards develop-ing integrated Electronic Warfare (EW) suites for fighters. For example, the Ra-fale’s Self-Protection Equipment Coun-tering Threats to Rafale Aircraft (SPEC-TRA) suite developed by Thales combines long-range detection, identification and accurate localisation of infrared, electro-magnetic and laser threats. SPECTRA in-corporates radar warning, laser warning and missile warning receivers for threat detection, in addition to a phased array radar jammer and a decoy dispenser for threat countering. It also has a dedicated management unit for data fusion and re-action decision.

SPECTRA is, of course, part of a larger worldwide movement towards integrated EW and even our indigenous Light Com-bat Aircraft (LCA) project, the Tejas, has notched up a fair degree of success in the development of such systems by DRDO’s Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE). DARE has also helped indige-nise a lot of the avionics in the Su-30 MKI through Project Vetrivale. In fact, the suc-cess of Project Vetrivale has actually creat-ed a situation whereby domestic Indian companies such as SAMTEL are emerg-ing as major suppliers of not just avionics components but systems itself as symbol-ized by the indigenous Divya Dhristi hel-met-mounted display. In the future, the avionics sector in India is likely to witness the most significant growth among all aerospace segments, not in the least due to the IAF’s continuing transformation.

eyeS on target: Sukhoi has started testing a new Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar on the third flying prototype for the T-50 PAK-FA being developed for the Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) for the Indian Air Force NO

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The “To subdue the enemy with-out fighting is the acme of skill”, said the fourth century BC Chi-nese strategic thinker Sun Tzu in The Art of War. Unlike the

traditional or projectile weapons, the Di-rected Energy Weapons (DEWs) are a new genre of systems on the horizon capable of accomplishing such a strategy by de-

livering lethal energy at the speed of light. Once massively deployed, they are likely to revolutionise warfare and render many unassailable weapons of today obsolete and alter war doctrines, tactics, and strat-egies in vogue. While US, Canada, Russia, France, Germany and China are nurturing such systems aggressively, and a dozen other countries are seriously planning for

them, India is yet to formulate a national vision on the utility DEWs in a meaning-ful way.

The idea and technique of directed energy in the military arena can be traced back to the early Greek scientist Archime-des who is said to have invented the burn-ing mirrors, turning them on ships to set them afire and helping defend Syracuse when the Romans invaded in 214 BC. One can find mention of the directed-energy death-ray or heat-ray also in the novel ‘The War of the Worlds’ by H.G. Wells in 1898. Later on, the Scottish physicist James Clark Maxwell and the German sci-entist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz considered an electromagnetic wave as a potential source of power.

DEW for aknockout PuncH

Tomorrow’s weapons: The Almaz/Beriev A-60 programme was built to dem-onstrate an airborne HEL DEW capability and provide base-line data for the development of an operational weapon.

Given their capacity to neutralise the enemy precisely without causing collateral damages, the series of Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs) and its development should be one of the top priorities for Indian advanced weapons development over the next 15 years, argues siTakanTa mishra


The modern quest for defence ap-plications of electromagnetic energy is known to have commenced around 1935 when the British Admiralty pleaded Sir Robert Watson-Watt to investigate the possibility of using a radar-like device to boil a pilot’s blood. Before World War II, it was assumed that electromagnetic waves could be used to destroy airplanes. Early in World War II, British radar ex-perts came up with an idea of develop-ing a ‘super- interferometer’ which could transmit microwaves intense enough to destroy enemy electronic networks. Sub-sequently, Soviet scientists were prob-ably the first to successfully develop a high-power microwave (HPM) weapon, far ahead of other countries on this re-search.

In the 1980s, microwave weapons became more attractive for countering intercontinental ballistic missiles. Today, one major type of DEW is the ‘e-bomb’ which uses Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) technology; mounted on a missile it can destroy or disrupt command and control functions of adversaries when it flies over installations. They produce high voltage standing waves that can melt electrical circuitry, and destroy a wide range of electronic equipment over their footprints.

invincible technologyDirected energy weapons produce a beam of concentrated electromagnetic energy to irradiate the target. Basically it is an electromagnetic wave consisting of tiny and quantised packets of energy known as photons. They are a part of the elec-tromagnetic spectrum. According to B M Deveci, the basic function of a directed energy weapon is to place sufficient flu-ence on a target (joules per square cen-timeter J/cm²) or irradiance (watts per square centimeter watts/cm²) to inflict le-thal damage or disruption to critical com-ponents. To destroy soft targets (fabrics, plastics, etc.) approximately 1000 J/cm² are required. Extremely hard targets such as tanks might require 100,000 J/cm². Once the target has absorbed this energy, it will begin to heat up. Overall, DEWs, with their adjustable power and fluence capacity, instead of permanent hard-kill damage, are the new threat to highly so-phisticated military systems.

DEWs can be divided into three cat-egories: lasers, which excite atoms to

release photons in powerful bursts of coherent light; high-power microwave (HPM)/ radio frequency (RF) weapons, which radiate electromagnetic energy in the high RF spectrum; particle beam devices, which use large numbers of atomic or subatomic particles moving at relativistic velocities approaching that of light. However, particle-beam weapons are not considered as feasible weapons. Currently, directed energy is generally fo-cussed on lasers and microwaves.

Depending on some conditions such as distance, generated power, and target-hardening level, DEWs affect their targets through either a ‘soft-kill’ or a ‘hard-kill’ technique. A soft-kill is achieved when the effects of a directed-energy weapon stops operation of the target system temporar-ily. For example, disrupting the electron-ics of a guided missile, causing it to miss its target, or suppressing or damaging visible, infrared, and microwave sensors. A soft-kill by directed-energy weapons against human targets means painful stimulation of human nerves, hearing or skin. Like conventional weapons, they can defeat their targets by causing physi-cal damage to the targets. A hard-kill is achieved when sufficient energy is deliv-ered into the target system, such that it is permanently damaged or destroyed.

Among the two feasible DEW variet-ies, in terms of technology and function,

they can be further divided into four types: continuous wave lasers, pulsed lasers, continuous wave high power mi-crowaves, and pulsed microwaves. The effects of a continuous wave laser on a target are based on the amount of energy the laser deposits onto the target. The deposited energy is a function of the out-put power of the laser, the length of time the laser power is incident on the target, a transmission number to account for losses between the source and the target and the spot size of the laser spot on the target. A 25kW laser with a two-second pulse length and a five-centimetre spot size could kill a person, break an aircraft canopy, or ignite fabrics and materials at distances where transmission is only 40 per cent effective.

A laser is a device that produces an intense unidirectional beam of coherent light. Unlike ordinary light, as generated by the sun or a light bulb, that scatters en-ergy in a random fashion, the laser beam is coherent and almost uniform in wave-length, and travels in a single direction. These unique characteristics of the laser beam make it important for military ap-plications. Lasers operate in the infrared, visible and ultraviolet sub-ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The HPMs have much longer wave-length and much lower frequency than the laser. A high-power microwave source


sub-aTomic ThreaT: A particle beam weapon is a DEW which directs energy in a particular direction using particles with negligible mass. They have particle the potential for practical applications such as anti-ballistic missile defence system


converts kinetic or potential energy in the beam to electromagnetic energy, in the form of microwaves, to be delivered to the target. An antenna directs the mi-crowaves toward a target and acts as the mechanical interface between the at-mosphere and the microwave source. Besides these three components high-power microwave weapons have tracking, aiming and control systems. While lasers generate tightly focussed beams of mono-chromatic (single frequency) photon energy in the visible and infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, high-power microwave devices generate much less focussed beams of energy in the ra-dio frequency range of the electromag-netic spectrum. Once microwave energy reaches a target, a sequence of penetra-tion and propagation processes will take place from the target’s outer surface into its interior. Molecular heating is the result of narrowband high-power microwave weapons on the target’s outer surface. The molecules of the target rub together due to the power of the microwave energy. Mi-crowave weapon systems have the ability to produce graduated effects in the target electronics, depending upon the amount of energy that is coupled to the target. Later, the energy that is received can be subsequently transmitted deeper into the electronics through the circuitry path-ways that exist within the target itself.

As conventional projectile weap-ons transfer energy to the target via a physical object, they are replete with

limitations. While traversing a cer-tain distance in certain time with cer-tain payload they tend to be imprecise. Comparatively, the DEWs deliver lethal energy at the speed of light and virtually no time elapses between their firing and its impact on the target. As they are ex-tremely precise, collateral damage is ex-tremely low. They are also free from gravi-tational limits due to lack of mass, which also frees them from the kinematic and aerodynamic constraints that limit tradi-tional weapons.

Compared to conventional weapons, DEWs offer significant benefits, including controlled lethality (combined non-lethal and lethal capabilities in one system), long-range force application capability, cost-effectiveness, deep magazines, fast speed-of-light engagement times, ability to counter manoeuvring targets, preci-sion engagement, low collateral damage and significantly smaller logistics foot-prints than non-DE weapons.

As the DEWs are wide-area weapons, they can engage multiple targets within a hostile area; they can even be rapidly re-targeted to provide protection in several directions. Due to their deep magazines which need only fuel and battery char-gers, they have low operating costs. For example, according to one estimate, a tactical high-energy laser shot is estimat-ed to cost about $8,000, whereas firing a Patriot (PAC-3) missile costs $3.8 million. Unaffected by weather they can penetrate deep into the earth, enabling attacks on

buried bunkers, as well as targets in space.The HPM weapons can be effective

against electronics even when those sys-tems are turned off. As multi-platform weapons, they can be carried by UAVs, road vehicles, aircraft, tactical fighters, helicopters, missiles, ships and even by manned or unmanned combat sys-tem platforms. Microwave weapons can also be used to for defence applications against missiles.

Beside the military applications, high-power microwave weapons can be used for law enforcement by using them against hostile crowds to disable or stop criminal land, sea and air vehicles with-out hazard to the public associated with firearms.

Despite numerous advantages, di-rected energy weapons have a few draw-backs. First, while radiating at an enemy it will not only affect the target system but also anything else in the beam’s path. Any friendly forces within the footprint of the beam will be at significant risk. Second, they are highly susceptible to degrada-tion by the atmosphere in the presence of obscurants, such as dust, clouds, rain and smoke. Third, due to lack of directly-observable feedback from the target, one may not know accurately if it has been successful. Fourth, they may be relatively simple and lucrative for terrorists to ac-quire and use for their nefarious designs. However, their potential influence on the current battlefield strategies far out-weighs their limitations.

india and the DewsGiven the complicated and critical region-al security environment, the DEWs would be very effective offensive as well defen-sive systems for India’s security strategy in general and missile defence strategy in particular. The necessity of such weapons was strongly felt during the Kargil war in 1999 when two of India’s aircraft, a MiG-21, MiG-27, and an attack helicopter were hit by shoulder-fired missiles.

To acquire sophisticated capabilities to jam enemy hostile missiles the defence services will need all the aircraft to be equipped with advanced directed infrared countermeasure (DIRCM) systems while the helicopters equipped with protection against infrared-seeking air-to-air missiles. Pakistan is keenly observing such technol-ogies and China has already designed the ZM-87 portable laser weapon to damage electro-optical sensors such as laser range-

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finders, video cameras and missile seeker heads at ranges up to 10 kms.

Though India has not yet officially proclaimed a national vision for directed energy utilization, Indian scientists have reportedly begun testing such systems, which are expected to be ready for induc-tion in a few years. The Laser Science and Technology Centre of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), begun in 1950 as the Defence Science Laboratory (DSL), works in many diverse areas: development of solid-state laser systems for military applications, devel-opment of high power laser sources and related technologies, development of bat-tlefield optoelectronics and electro optic counter measures (EOCM) systems, etc. Reportedly, a variety of new energy-beam weapons, including one that can kill in-coming ballistic missiles by bombarding them with subatomic particles or electro-magnetic waves are envisaged.

India is also said to be looking for overseas partners to jointly develop a laser-based directed infrared counter-measure system to protect aircraft against ground-launched infrared guided mis-siles. Global tenders for the multimillion-dollar contract reported to have been sent to defence companies in Europe, Israel, Russia, and the United States. The DIRCM self-protection suite designed by Indian scientists is a laser-based directed infra-red countermeasure system for protect-

ing aircraft and helicopters against MAN-PADS.

According to another report, Dr Anil Kumar Maini, the Director of the Laser Science and Technology Centre has said that a laser weapon of the DEW family is being developed with the capability to fire a beam with a potency of 25 kW. This type of laser weapon would inter-cept a ballistic missile in its terminal phase within the range of seven kilome-tres. The Government has also reportedly decided to equip its police and paramili-tary forces with a slew of DEWs to tackle mass public protests. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is understood to have given the go-ahead for the selective use of the non-lethal laser guns to disorient a crowd or even militants in action, ac-cording to news report.

While taking serious note of the global developments in DEWs, many experts

are of the view that India must delineate service-specific applications. According to Professor Premchand, India may lax somewhat on the offensive Directed En-ergy Weapons, but under no circumstanc-es can it afford to leave network centric assets, national critical information and telecommunications infrastructures un-protected against the emerging Directed Energy capability of China. Calculated in-duction of DEWs into the three services’ capabilities would bestow them asym-metric advantages upon the enemy, along with the effective control of the battle-field. Though India is studying and seems to have achieved rudimentary capabili-ties in this arena, it would take at least two decades more through the indigenous piecemeal route to fully equip itself with advanced DEWs. Therefore, India runs the risk of timing itself out of the future technology race.

Therefore, it is now an imperative for India to pool together resources and the know-how from within and outside to leapfrog to the Directed Energy weapon-eering phase straight away. Alongside, a national framework on directed energy utilization and a strategic doctrine to in-tegrate DEWs into the current military strategy must be undertaken forthwith.

(The author is a Research Fellow at Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi)

Looking aheaD: The Patriot PAC-3 missile is a part of the US Army’s High to Medium Air Defense (HIMAD) system. DEWs are projected to be much more cost effective than the PAC-3 missiles.

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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are among the most effective tools for fighting the ‘war on terror’. They are so surgically precise that

‘targeted killing’ is now a by word for drone action. Plus, UAVs are cheaper than fighter aircraft. At least for the US, UAVs define their vision of a nimble, technolog-ically advanced and efficient armed forces capable of a warfare with ‘light footprints’. It’s a template that seems to delight the rest of the world that is keen to emulate the US at least as far as building up a UAV arsenal goes.

Future UAVs may be capable of reach-

ing heights that are over double or triple what present top quality UAVs can reach and stay in the air for months at a time. These UAVs would resemble gliders with solar panels to maintain power and sen-sor arrays. Rather than rely on satellite imagery, these UAVs would give warf-ighters persistent situational awareness. Of course, UAVs have been trending to-wards other extremes as well. Tiny UAVs that can be flown through open windows are in the works. These miniscule aircraft will stay airborne in times measured in seconds or minutes while giving valuable information to soldiers on the ground without giving away their position like a

Euro Hawk uaV Developed through a partnership be-tween Northrop Grumman and Cassidian for the German Ministry of Defence, the Euro Hawk it slated to be the continent’s first military UAV that has combined both long flight durations with high altitude. Its purpose will be gather strategic intel-ligence from up to 60,000 feet over a period of 30 hours.

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karI uaV Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) claims to have built the fastest UAS in the world with the ability to cruise at 400 kmph and perform Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) using dual tilt rotors.

war on tError

LockHEEd MartIn SEa GHoSt is a tailless, jet-powered UAV which was conceptualised as a scaled-down version of the B-2 bomber. Its role and function will be to provide the US Navy with a carrier-based drone that can carry out reconnaissance, fire mis-siles, and drop bombs.

BoEInG PHantoM EyEThe newest Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has a consid-erable edge over unmanned aircraft currently in use today. This hydrogen-powered UAV is a propeller-driven aircraft with the capability to fly for up to 10 days during aerial surveillance and combat missions. The aircraft uses two 2.3 litre, four-cylinder engines capable of achieving 300 horsepower.

LockHEEd MartIn SaMaraI The Company began work on the Samarai in 2007 under a US Defence Department pro-gramme to produce an extremely small, ultra lightweight air vehicle system. Apart from the 30-cm version, Lockheed also has field-tested a 17-cm version and is working now to scale down the Samarai even further.

GLoBaL Hawk Built to provide long duration surveillance, and collect information using multiple sensors, the Global Hawk is capable of much longer flight times than any manned air-craft could endure and is equipped with electro-optical, radar and infra-red sensors along with planned signa in-telligence.


thrown ground vehicle might.The future of UAVs is trending towards automated systems when it is expected that one person can monitor many differ-ent UAVs at once.

Enhancements and upgrades in the form of more powerful jet engines, carbon composite ma-terials and stealth ability along state-of-the-art advanced navigation and communication systems are set to boost the functionality of UAVs even fur-ther in the near future. Further miniaturisation of important components has led to the development of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) of greater com-pactness and manoeuvrability. In the future, UAS are projected to employ a high capability autono-mous system by using onboard Artificial Intelli-gence (AI).


Large on-station time and no pilot-fatigue limitations have ensured a dramatic growth in Un-manned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems. According to reports in 2005, only about five per cent of military aircraft in Iraq and Afghanistan were UAVs, a percentage that had grown to 33 per cent by 2011. As the future of UAVs is trending towards automated systems, observers are certain that the next generation beyond the ‘Joint Strike Fighter’ will be unmanned or at best optionally piloted. Monish Gulati discusses the scenario.

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In December 2012, the US Navy took the first carrier compatible X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator on board its aircraft carrier USS Harry S Tru-

man. The X-47B is a computer-controlled UCAS that flies a preprogrammed mis-sion and takes off/ lands in response to mouse clicks from its mission operator. Trials have successfully integrated the UCAS demonstrator with Truman’s flight deck using an arm-mounted Control Dis-play Unit (CDU) and remote control. The strike-fighter-sized UCAS also conducted fuelling operations and had its digital engine controls tested for safety against electromagnetic radiation. The US Navy, through the X-47B, plans to demonstrate first carrier-based launches and recover-ies by an autonomous, unmanned aircraft in 2013. The UCAS programme further aims to demonstrate two ‘firsts’ for un-manned jet-powered aviation: autono-mous carrier operations and autonomous aerial refuelling. Around the same time, the French aviation major Dassault an-nounced the first flight of its Neuron

Pilotless CoMbat: the northrop grumman X-47B has a full-sized weapons bay.

UCAV, jointly developed with six Euro-pean partners. Neuron is a 5t-class stealth technology demonstrator powered by the Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour engine. It joined the ranks of stealthy UCAS along-side the US RQ-170 Sentinel and X-47B.

Also launched in the month of De-cember 2012 was the third flight of the Boeing’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, which is a reusable unmanned spacecraft. It is boosted into space by a rocket, then re-enters Earth’s atmosphere and lands as an aircraft similar to the space shuttle. The X-37B showcases the state-of-the-art au-tonomous functioning by an unmanned vehicle and the capability of the US to influence functioning of space platforms, such as navigation satellites, in case of hostilities on earth.

These exciting developments high-light the fact that the combat potential of the UCAS is being relentlessly redefined by the technological breakthroughs in its system components and its employability envelope is being constantly extended by innovative users. According to US market analyst, the Teal Group, the aviation sec-

tor is worth an estimated ̀ 32,000 crore ($6 billion) a year and is expected to double within the next 10 years.

Unmanned systems have rapidly transformed from being primarily re-mote-operated, single-mission scaled down platforms into autonomous, multi-mission systems which maybe identical in size to the present day rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. The UAV when considered along with ground control station, asso-ciated data links and support peripher-als has been termed as Unmanned Aerial System or UAS. Besides eliminating the risk to a pilot’s life the UAS, vis-à-vis the manned aircraft, have the significant ad-vantage that their aeronautical perfor-mance parameters such as endurance and ability to withstand G-force are not con-

STARS OF FUTURE COMBAT


strained by human limitations. Advances in digital communication technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) leading to high degrees of autonomous control combined with technologies such as au-tomatic stabilization including ‘sense and avoid’ within the UAS have transformed it into a potent combat platform.

Mission areas: Current and FutureThe combat capability of UAS has been mapped to domains such as battlespace awareness, force application, force sup-port and logistics. Current missions in-clude reconnaissance and surveillance, target identification and designation, counter-mine and explosive ordnance disposal etc. In the near future, UAS missions will include resupply, combat

search and rescue, aerial refuelling and air combat. While developments in in-flight refuelling and ultra-efficient solar power cells have extended the range of UAS sig-nificantly, the availability of advanced navigation and satellite communication technologies has made remote operations of UAS more robust and reliable.

Autonomous control of existing air-craft allows some of the UAS drawbacks of cost, payload, programming limitation, communication linkages, training, etc. to be mitigated. Consequently, the next-generation UAS will be larger, allowing them to carry greater payload with more powerful engines. A US Air Force study predicts that the UAS built on a modular and networked architecture with greater autonomous operations will eliminate the need for ground-based pilots and help overcome the vulnerability of the UAS to communication links that can be jammed.

Potential future missions need perfor-mance enhancements. Besides autono-

mous operations, other developments in the UAS domain come from power-packed jet engines and storage batteries, carbon composite materials and stealth, miniaturization, navigation, communica-tion and modularity, to name a few. Re-cently Roke Manor Research successfully integrated its miniature radar altimeter (MRA) with the landing system of Saab’s Skeldar V-200 Maritime UAV. MRA is vital to the UAV’s high autonomy during land-ing. The MRA’s compact size and light weight creates free space on Skeldar and optimizes its payload. Miniaturisation of key components has led to the fielding of smaller, superlight weight and agile UAS. Micro UAS (weighting less than 2 kg) and nano UAS (60 grams or less) have been developed to operate inside buildings and explore ‘confined spaces’.

Improvements in UAS support sys-tems can also considerably impact its employment. In September 2012, a ship-board system designed for both launch and recovery of the Scan Eagle UAV was successfully demonstrated in USA. The Compact Launch and Recovery System

RedeFininG WaRFaRe: (left)the caelus is an electrically propelled, all-weather missile with small Ir and noise signatures while the (right) gladius is a low collateral damage lightweight missile.


(CLRE) uses a compressed-air launcher to shoot the Scan Eagle into the sky. To land, small hooks on the UAV’s wings catch hold of rope suspended from the system’s extendable mast and arms. The CLRE pro-vides a small-scale solution for UAVs and is more compact than existing systems. When installed it allows UAV operation from small special operations boats and saves space on a larger ship.

Recent trendmakersA look into the future would be better ref-erenced and assimilated with a glance at some of the existing designs and concepts of UAS either in the testing stage or just off the drawing board. These trend mak-ers operationalise breakthroughs in tech-nology leveraged by the UAS or showcase employment concepts that seek to inno-vatively synergise different systems to a common objective.

� air-to-air Refueiling

Under a `179 crore ($33 million) deal in 2010 with the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Northrop agreed to demonstrate refuel-ling with a pair of Global Hawks. Two RQ-4 Advanced Concept Technology Demon-stration (ACTD) Global Hawks flew in for-mation under its KQ-X programme to de-

india’s oWn uaV: Lakshya-II was suc-cessfully flight- tested at the Integrated test range (Itr) in January 2012

velop the concept of air-to-air refuelling for high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) UAVs. One of the aircraft in the exercise was equipped with a belly-mounted re-fuelling system. In the reverse of normal probe-and-drogue refuelling, the tanker is fitted with a refuelling probe on the nose and the receiver is equipped with a hose-drum unit under the fuselage. The receiver trails the hose while the tanker comes up from behind and plugs into the drogue and then pushes fuel uphill to the receiving aircraft. This unusual arrange-ment minimizes the number of aircraft in the fleet that would need to be equipped as tankers. However, the two aircraft have yet to make dry contacts or exchange fuel. A Global Hawk with a particularly heavy payload, for example, would be able to take off with less fuel, and be subsequent-ly refuelled in the air. Autonomous aerial refuelling at high altitudes is expected to extend the Global Hawk’s flight time from 30-35hrs to 120-125hrs.

� Missile-tracking dronesThe Japanese Defence Ministry plans to develop UAVs that are capable of detect-ing ballistic missiles earlier than current systems using domestically developed information-gathering drones equipped with a supersensitive infrared sensor to detect and track ballistic missiles even at low altitude. The move comes out of con-cern for future ballistic missile launches

by North Korea and China’s accelerated military build-up. The planned UAVs will be able to fly at about 13,500 meters to patrol the skies for 22 hours continuously. They will also be able to track missiles af-ter they are launched, something that is difficult for satellites. � suicide drone

South Korea is developing a kamikaze suicide drone codenamed ‘Devil Killer’ capable of dive bombing at targets at 250 mph. The drone weighs 55 pounds and has folding wings with a span of around five feet. The ‘Devil Killer’ can be pre-pro-grammed for automatic strikes or manual control with a route and can acquire tar-gets using its GPS-assisted video camera. If the primary target cannot be acquired, it can be redirected to another mission. It is expected to be deployed by 2015.

� CommunicationThe US Navy has expressed interest in using DARPA’s in-development Vulture UAV as a means of providing communica-tions to carrier strike groups if satellites are knocked out. Developed by Boeing in conjunction with QinetiQ, the Vulture is a solar-powered ultra-endurance UAV. It is being built as part of an Rs 485 crore ($89 million) cost-share contract which began last year. The Vulture will use solar arrays on the wing, booms and tails to collect en-ergy during the day. Solar energy will be stored in regenerative fuel cells that will then power the distributed electric pro-pulsion system through the night, ideally without any loss of altitude. Meanwhile, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is in the final stages of development of a Com-mand, Communication, Surveillance and Strike (C²Strike) integrated system for tac-tical use. The system is based on its Pan-ther UAS with automatic Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) and hovering char-acteristics and is day/ night capable.

armamentThe weaponisation of the UAS also pres-ents an opportunity to extend the em-ployability envelope and survivability of the UAS. One such concept is to get the UAV to operate at stand-off ranges. The MBDA missile system’s CVS301 Vigilus system, tagged as a revolutionary weapon system for the UAS, is one such arrange-

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ment. It was displayed at Farnborough International Air show 2012. Intended to equip the UAS, it comprises of Armatus, a common intelligent platform agnostic missile launcher and several types of ef-fectors (guided weapons). The other two components of the Vigilus system include Gladius, a rocket-boosted glider and Cae-lus electrically powered and ducted fan propelled optionally armed expendable loitering ‘scout’. Both weapons are de-signed to enable direct (man in the loop) control from the ground by the UAV opera-tor or by the supported element. Among the unique features of the system are the connectionless interface between the launcher (Armatus) and weapons and live and on-board mission plan-ning capability. Weighing about 100 kg, the Caelus will provide close-in view of

Ballistic Missile Detection, tracking by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

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ferent steerable windows with which to pick and track targets from. The Camcop-ter S-100 can carry infrared cameras ca-pable of locating mines and IEDs and can also be used to place and recover sensors for remote surveillance.

Future employment scenariosThe major technological breakthroughs/ demonstrations in the system compo-nents or the support systems of an UCAS provide a fair idea of the possibilities of their likely future employment. Some of these are discussed further.

� Cross-dimensioningKorea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) has built what it claims to be the fastest UAS on the planet. About 16 feet long with a 23-foot wingspan, the aircraft can cruise

aRMed obseRVeR: originally de-signed to carry out reconnaissance and forward observation roles, the predator has been upgraded to carry and fire two Agm-114 hellfire missiles or other munitions.

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targets, supporting the UAV operator by descending below clouds and loitering for up to two hours. The weapon of the CVS301 system is the 80mm Gladius min-iature glider weapons with a range of 30 kms. The Armatus launcher will be able to carry eight Gladius weapons along with a single Caelus.

In addition, there is the YMQ-18A Hummingbird UAV, with an operating ceiling of 30,000 feet which is around 10,000 feet higher than that of conven-tional helicopters. And to beat that, it can hover at 20,000 feet. The Autonomous Re-al-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance-Imaging System (ARGUS-IS), named after

the 100-eyed mythological Greek giant Argus Panoptes, ARGUS-IS has a vid-

eo sensor that gives the operator on the ground the option of 65 dif-



at 400 kmph and can perform VTOL using dual tilt rotors that provide helicopter style take-offs and fixed-wing speeds once air-borne. It joins the US Marines famed V-22 Osprey as the second such aircraft and is the first unmanned aircraft packing VTOL technology. Just as the DUKW, the six-wheel-drive amphibious truck of the Sec-ond World War vintage blurred the bound-ary between water and land, the UCAVs in the future will easily transit during opera-tions from land to water to air.

A ship at sea will be able launch a UAS to carry out aerial reconnaissance of a po-tential target and then dive underwater to place a magnetic charge at a critical point on the target ship’s hull. Alternatively it may dive to carry out underwater bomb damage assessment (BDA) of the target ship after an attack.

� Robotics and aiThe future UAS will combine the mobility of an UAV with robotic components over-laid with AI, forming a high capability au-tonomous system. For example, the UAS used to carry out damage assessment and collect radiation data from the Fukushi-ma nuclear reactor would, in the future, be capable of landing at a suitable loca-tion at the reactor site using video data collected by its sensors and site selection carried out by onboard AI. Thereafter, as per requirement it would collect radioac-tive soil or water samples using its robotic arm. On completion of the task, it would proceed to an off-site decontamination station for removal of radioactive con-

tamination and then land at the mission station with the samples and sensor data.

Modularity and Multi-missionSingle platforms are now capable of achieving the entire Find, Fix, Track, Se-lect, Engage and Assess kill chain. How-ever, modular design of payloads and payload bays on the UCAV will enable op-erators to tailor/ customize UAS mission profile within minutes of mission instruc-tions. An UCAS mission package will have the same UAS platform carrying payloads varying in fuel, sensors and armaments according to tasking of individual plat-forms. Same would be the case for UCAV

Given the diverse applications and user requirements of UAS in India, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is in the process of developing, in collaboration or otherwise, a portfolio of UAS ranging from micro UAVs to autono-mous stealth UCAS. Besides its target-towing family of UAVs (Lakshya/ Nishant/ Lakshya II), Rustom, a MALE twin-engine system for surveillance and reconnais-sance missions is under development at NAL. With a planned endurance of 14 hours and maximum altitude capability of 26,000 feet, it is slated to replace the Heron UAS. Three versions of the Rus-tom have been planned. The DRDO is scheduled to deliver to the Indian Army a version of the Rustom-1 MALE-UAV — equipped with a belly-mounted optronic payload by 2014. Also to be delivered by then will be a version of the Nishant tac-tical UAV equipped with a belly-mounted

optronic payload and a wheeled under-carriage.

DRDO has also developed both Mini (up to 10-km range and 1-2 km operating ceiling) and Micro (1-2 km range and 300 metre operating ceiling) UAS. These are the Black Kite, Golden Hawk, Pushpak and two mini UAS for ISR, the Sly Bird and Imperial Eagle. These UAS are hand launched with autopilot, way point navi-gation and loiter capability. They are fitted with daylight cameras (micro) and night vision devices (mini) and are capable of transmitting video images in real time. DRDO has also developed a Micro-UAV named Netra, specifically for anti-terror-ist (AT) and counter-insurgency (CI) op-erations. This 1.5 kg UAV is a collaborative development project between DRDO and alumni of IIT, Mumbai.

DRDO is reported to be developing the Autonomous Unmanned Research

IndIA And UAS

eye in the sky: the rQ-4 global hawk has been designed to serve as a theater com-

mander’s asset to provide a broad overview and systematic target surveillance.

missions flown with manned aircrafts. � interoperability

In a recent US exercise the MQ-1 Preda-tor was tasked to search for Scud missile launchers and high-value human targets on the ground. The reconnaissance data was passed back to an operations cen-tre and then pumped to an E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, which directed the strike aircraft on to the target. It was the first time the United States Air Force (USAF) had used the Predator for a mission other than close-air support during the exercise whose primary purpose was to prepare

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pilots to fight against a near-peer com-petitor scenario such as anti-access/ area denial or Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2AD) capability of an opponent due superior Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAM), use of GPS jamming, etc. The future will see strategic assets such as the AWACS leverage the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnais-sance (ISR) capability of the UAS along with endurance and survivability includ-ing stealth to conduct area specific multi-spectral monitoring. We may see the UAS operator on board the AWAC controlling more than one UAS to aid the AWAC in its mission.

� system-fusionA Close-In Covert Autonomous Dispos-able Aircraft (CICADA) can be dropped

from another airborne platform to fly to a selected point and land. In one of the trials, it placed sensors within 15 feet of the selected location. While the sensors are small in size and weight, the CICADA has the capability to emplace larger loads. The Autonomous Rotorcraft Sniper Sys-tem (ARSSA) is a new unmanned heli-copter with a payload of about 70 kg can fly for six hours on a full tank of fuel and can carry a Lapua Magnum .338 rifle or an M249 5.56-mm machine gun.

In a similar vein, the future UAS for low-intensity conflicts would combine the versatility of a UAS with the sensor and the standalone operation capability of an Unattended Ground Sensor (UGS), complete with a robust communication link and active camouflage. These UAS

could be aerially emplaced in built up ar-eas behind enemy lines to act as snipers engaging high-value targets. When not tasked to engage targets, the weapon pay-load would be replaced by multispectral ISR packages with capability to store large volumes of data which would be retrieved on return of the UAS to mission base.

� logisticsLogistics is another mission area that will see a major influence of the UAS on its future concepts, particularly the effect of autonomous UAS. A resupply and medi-cal evacuation compatible UAS called Air Mule is under testing. Ships at sea will carry medical evacuation UAS as part of their safety equipment.

(The author is a Delhi-based strategic analyst)

Aircraft (AURA) now christened the Indi-an Unmanned Strike Air Vehicle (IUSAV) for the Indian Air Force (IAF). It will be a tactical stealth aircraft-wing concept built mainly with composites, powered by a turbo-fan engine with laser-guided strike weapons carried internally. The Banga-lore-based Aeronautical Development Es-tablishment (ADE) is the project lead.

Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), with the help of Russia’s NPO Saturn, is developing the Laghu Shakti turbofan engine for a MALE-UAV. This is to cater to the IAF requirement for a single turbofan-powered MALE-UAV capable of operating at high altitudes — a task which cannot be optimally performed by piston-engined UAVs like the Nishant, Searcher Mk1/2 and Heron-1. The Kaveri K-9 tur-bofan engine also developed by GTRE has been earmarked to power the IUSAV.

Also on the cards is the GPS aided geo augmented naviga-tion (GAGAN) Naval rotary-wing UAV being jointly developed by India and Israel. Built on a Chetak

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helicopter platform, it can loiter for six hours at a distance of 120 km from the launch ship. A customised version of the hand-launched Skylark-1LE has jointly been developed by HAL and ELBIT Sys-tems. Certified for operating at an alti-tude of 18,600 feet above sea level, the first deliveries of the UAV are likely to be made to both the Indian Army and the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Border Security Force (BSF) too are expected to place orders for both the Skylark-1LE and Hermes-90 UAVs. The National Techni-cal Research Organisation (NTRO) which presently operates several Searcher Mk2 MALE UAVs has future plans for the pro-curement of Hermes-90 tactical UAVs.

day and niGht suRVeillanCe: the Skylark UAV, designed by elbit Systems, is launched by hand. the payload consists of daylight charged coupled Device (ccD) or optional Forward Looking Internal cameras (FLIr) for night operations


THE RIGHT CHOICE

The reason why India has preferred the Airbus 330 multirole tanker transport (A330 MRTT) to the Russian IL-78 MIDAS seems to be the former’s relative contemporariness and lower main-tenance costs, writes Saurav Jha

Another long-drawn Indian Air Force (IAF) tender has fi-nally drawn to a close with the selection of a new air-to-air refuelling system in the form

of the Airbus 330 multirole tanker trans-port (MRTT). Emerging as the lowest bid-der on the basis of lower life-cycle costs when compared to the Russian Ilyushin IL-78 MIDAS, the decision represents a growing preference in India for more con-

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temporary offerings over upgraded legacy systems. Of course, the final deal is still subject to negotiations but it nevertheless symbolises greater appreciation of ease of maintenance and availability rates in Indian weapons procurement practices over the previous habit of favouring sys-tems with cheaper up-front costs which may subsequently become all too diffi-cult to maintain given poor spares sup-port. The IAF, after all, is realising that it

is important to standardize on its selec-tion given that India’s airborne refuelling need will continue to rise with increasing squadron strength as well as widening area of responsibility. The A330 MRTT giv-en its modularity and versatility appears a logical choice for such standardisation.

The IAF tanker bid for six units with an option for three more was actually floated for the first time way back in 2006 with responses from Airbus offering the

Mid-air refuelling: The A330 MRTT had been designed as a dual-role air-to-air refuel-ling and transport aircraft. The aircraft has been selected by the IAF for air-to-air refuelling missions


A330 MRTT and Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) bidding with the IL-78 MIDAS. By 2009, the IAF seemed to have made up its mind in favour of the A330 MRTT based on its projected require-ments and the relative contemporariness of the competing systems. The Minis-try of Finance (MoF), however, balked at the higher initial cost per unit of the A330 MRTT which was three times more than that of UAC’s bid disregarding cal-culations of life-cycle costs. As a result, the procurement process was re-ten-dered and re-issued in September 2010, nine months after the older contract for around `5,715 crore ($1.06 billion) was stopped with some talk of Boeing joining the fray as well with a KC-767 bid. That did not materialize and the IAF, as of now, has stuck to its choice of the A330 MRTT in the original bid. Based on life-cycle costs, the A330 MRTT has emerged as the lowest bidder and the MoF seems to have gone ahead with this accounting procedure.

The A330 MRTT’s lower operating and maintenance costs probably have noth-ing to do with the fact that it is a derivative of the civilian A330-200 which has com-peted rather successfully for the past 15 years in an extremely tight airline market

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that is tailored for high-tempo operations and places a premium on affordability in terms of fuel savings, turnaround times and general serviceability. The IL-78, in contrast, was basically designed in the 1970s for Soviet military use and has the limitations of an aircraft conceived in a different era both in terms of doctrine as well as environment.

Indeed, given that it already operates the IL-78, the IAF would be well aware of the type’s capabilities and pitfalls. One of the key concerns with reference to the IL-78 would, perhaps, pertain to the usual problems faced by all Russian systems from the cold war era — finding the right spares from an industrial support system that is now spread across national borders with much of it still recovering from the cataclysmic demise of the Soviet military industrial complex. The IL-78 till recently could only be built at the Tashkent Avia-tion Production Association plant in Uz-bekistan whose poor output and spares support issues for instance, among other things, severely delayed China’s plans to purchase newly built IL-76s and 78s.

In contrast, over 800 A330-200s are in operation worldwide in the civilian do-main with more still being bought. The

A330-200 is being produced at the fastest rate of any wide-body in the world today with production rising to a 10-month-high during 2013. Global spares support is, therefore, not much of an issue for the A330 MRTT which has a great degree of commonality with its civilian version. In fact, standard commercial A330-200s are delivered from the Airbus final assem-bly line in Toulouse, France, to the Air-bus military conversion centre in Getafe, Spain for the fitment of refuelling systems and military avionics that subsequently yields the A330 MRTT configuration. The A330 MRTT, therefore, follows a model whereby mass-produced civilian aircraft are quickly modified for military support roles bringing to the table vastly simpli-fied logistics and civilian frugality in an era where operational costs are a major issue.

More than 28 units of the A330 MRTT have already been sold to the armed forc-es of Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the UK which have outfitted their respective units with cus-tomised refuelling configurations. The A330 MRTT displays great modularity in the choice of refuelling systems with the ability to sport both boom (receptacle) as

KnocKed down: The IAF has preferred the A330 to the IL-78 air-to-air refuelling tankers referred to as Mid Air Refuelling System (MARS)


well as probe and drogue (basket) systems of the following types:• Airbus Military Aerial Refuelling

Boom System (ARBS) for receptacle-equipped receiver aircraft;

• Cobham 905E under-wing refuelling pods for probe-equipped receiver air-craft;

• Cobham 805E Fuselage Refuelling Unit (FRU) for probe-equipped re-ceiver aircraft; and

• Universal Aerial Refuelling Receptacle System Installation (UARRSI) for self in-flight refuelling.Given the above, it is clear that the IAF

will be able to refuel all its existing combat aircraft using the A330 MRTT. Additional-ly, this ability of the A330 MRTT to be used for both boom as well as basket refuelling means that it can also be flown to support the P-8I Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) aircraft being acquired by the Indian Navy which uses boom refuelling. Moreover, it adds another dimension to what India brings to the table in terms of potential coalition operations in the Indo-Pacific where many potential partners operate combat aircraft of American origin that are outfitted for boom refuelling.

The A330 MRTT is able to carry up to 111 tonnes of fuel in its wings, which is the same as the basic fuel capacity of the A330-200. This rather large holding of fuel in the wings itself obviates the need for

installing any additional fuel tanks in the fuselage which is typical of older genera-tion refuellers such as the IL-78 for most tanking missions, thereby, avoiding any reduction in the ability of the A-330 MRTT to carry passengers or cargo. This allows for a level of versatility not seen in other airborne refuelling types when it can be rapidly switched to transport troops and cargo when it is not carrying out air-to-air refuelling operations without any need for modification.

In the transport role, the MRTT can be used to carry up to 300 troops, or a pay-load of up to 45 tonnes or even accom-modate up to 130 stretchers for medical evacuation (MEDEVAC). With such pay-loads, the A330 MRTT has a range of up to 14,800 kms while flying at a maximum speed of Mach 0.86. These figures certain-ly would have attracted an IAF envision-ing a more intercontinental role for itself.

The hot and high performance of the A330 MRTT as validated by high altitude trials in Leh also seems to have shaped the IAF’s opinion in its favour. An airwar over the Himalayas could after all be domi-nated by the side which is able to gener-ate a greater sortie rate. Scenarios can be envisaged wherein the A-330 MRTT can take off with enough fuel to allow it to remain on station at about 1,600 kms from its home base for some four hours thirty minutes while transferring up to

50 tonnes of fuel to all kinds of receivers. The possibly more relevant figure for an A-330 MRTT based in Leh itself is a mis-sion wherein it carries a transferrable fuel payload of 60 tonnes while remaining on station for five hours at 930 kms from base and this would cover most of the north-ern sector. This would also enable roughly four medium-sized fighters to fly 6,700 kms when refuelled en-route.

At the moment commercial nego-tiations for six aircraft with an option for three more (reduced from the six in the original 2006 bid) are likely to commence soon. The contract if signed includes a 30 per cent offset commitment out of a pro-jected value of 8,000 crore ($1.55 billion). Airbus is offering the contract to be ne-gotiated in both euros and dollars. Either way, it is important to note that there has been considerable inflation in the esti-mated value of the contract due to the re-bidding and delays.

This is a typical malaise afflicting In-dian procurement plans whereby for one reason or the other (often allegations of corruption) the entire process gets de-layed, with the buy being eventually pro-cessed at greatly increased prices. Now given that India probably needs more than treble the number of tankers it cur-rently has, some clarity on the sequencing of more flight refuelling aircraft may well be in order.

bridging diStanceS: Cobham’s fifth-generation 905e Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR) pod is part of the Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT)

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The Indian Air Force (IAF) has now entered its 80th year of ex-istence. During its glorious his-tory, the transport and helicop-ter fleets of the IAF have served

the nation with distinction, both in times of peace and war. Transport aircraft are typically used to deliver troops, weapons, supplies and other military equipment to the IAF field of operations. However, on four different occasions, the transport fleet of the IAF has been employed aggres-sively, each time playing a crucial role in furthering national security interests. Air transport operations are crucial compo-nent of the combat support air operations which also include Air-to-Air Refuelling

GearinG up for the futureNew acquisitions of four-engine turboprop C130J Super Hercules aircraft and C17 Globemaster III aircraft, along with the Indo-Russian Multiple Transport Aircraft Project, will give the Indian Air Force unprecedented strategic airlift capability, writes J V Singh

(AAR), Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Airborne Early Warning (AEW), Electronic Warfare (EW) and Search and Rescue (SAR).

Historically, the transport elements of the IAF have been critical in executing all operations since its inception in October 1932 including the Burma Campaign in the 1940s during WWII, Kashmir War of 1947-48, 1962 War with China, 1965 and 1971 Wars with Pakistan, IPKF operations in Sri Lanka, Maldives in 1988 and the Kargil Operations in 1999. They have also been crucial in disaster relief operations besides large scale evacuation of our citi-zens in times of crises.

Air transported operationsAir transported operations are defined as those operations that involve the movement by air of personnel and cargo through fixed wing or rotary aircraft with-in and between theatres of operations. Air transported operations for the IAF can be categorised into four major roles: air-borne operations which include airborne assault, air landed operations and special heliborne operations, air maintenance operations and scheduled services and casualty evacuation. There are essentially

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C130J Super herCuleS role And FunCtionFour-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It is considered the most Ad-vanced Medium STOL Transport aircraft. The Indian Air Force purchased six C-130J-30s in early 2008 for its special operations forces in a package deal with the US government under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme. In July 2012, the US accepted India’s request for sale of six more C-130Js through the same programme.


two categories of airlift: strategic airlift for the carriage of passengers or cargo be-tween theatres (inter-theatre) or to any place within the area of interest and tac-tical airlift — the carriage of passengers and cargo within a theatre (intra-theatre).

The airlift task is undertaken by the transport and helicopter feets of the IAF. The transport feet maintains a capabil-ity for both strategic and tactical airlift. The fxed-wing aircraft enjoy higher tran-sit speeds, carry heavier loads, are more reliable and are far cheaper to operate. On the other hand, helicopters have the capability to land anywhere and troops and equipment can be delivered direct into action, thereby saving the need for ground lines of communication from air-fields. Because of their greater ability to utilise terrain masking, they are also more survivable in the combat zone. Thus, both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft are invariably needed in the overall air trans-port force mix.

proud recordAccording to ‘History of the IAF’, the of-ficial website, webmaster IAF, the first RIAF transport unit, No. 12 squadron was established in the year 1946. It received C-47 Dakotas in Panagarh by late 1946. In January 1950, India became a Repub-lic and the IAF dropped its prefix ‘Royal’. This lone squadron was expanded with induction of more Dakotas following in-dependence. Aircraft like the C-119 Pack-et, the Caribou, the Otter, the An-12, the HS-748, etc. were acquired over the years

to form the backbone of the air-lift forces. A second transport squadron, No. 11, had been formed on C-47 Dakotas in Septem-ber 1951. Eighty C-119G Fairchild Packet aircraft were inducted during the period 1954 to early 1963 under US emergency military assistance. These propeller driv-en twin-engine piston aircraft served the IAF with distinction till Jul 1985, for more than 30 years. As an unpressurised air-craft, it was designed to fly below 18,000 feet. However, the Indian Air Force added a jet pack — Gnat’s Orpheus J-34 engine on the top of its fuselage to take it up to 24,000 feet to drop supplies to troops fac-ing Chinese incursions.

The Packets operated regularly to Leh, Thoise, Kargil and Fukche. All the airfields were beyond 11,000 feet elevation. The IAF created history by landing it at Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO), an airstrip located be-yond 16,000 feet elevation. However, the 1960s revealed a serious security concern for India. Frequent clashes with China and finally an unprovoked attack on In-dia’s sovereignty in October 1962 neces-sitated a quick and timely build-up of the air force.

Transport aircraft and logistics be-came a hallmark for the IAF following the Indian debacle in the face of Chinese aggression. Soviet built An-12 and IL-14 were inducted during the period March 1961 to July 1963. Two new operational squadrons namely No. 44 and No. 25 were formed and based at Chandigarh. The An-12 aircraft also had its limitations as it was partially pressurised besides limitation in navigational aids. Nonetheless, it played a remarkable role in Air Transport, Air maintenance and Maritime Reconnais-sance roles. The aircraft was deployed on both the Western and Eastern sectors, and played a crucial role in turning the fate of the War in India’s favour. The most re-markable achievement of the An-12 fleet was its modification to a ‘Bombing Role’ just before the 1971 Bangladesh War: a true testimony to ‘innovative spirit’ of the IAF.

In the mid-1970s, however, the IAF’s transport fleet had shown signs of a dwin-dling force. It was only during the early 1980s that a final decision was taken to completely replace the ageing Dakota and Packet fleets with An-32 aircraft. By this time the An-12 fleet was also showing signs of fatigue and inadequate mainte-nance support. The Soviet IL-76 MD was

C-47 dAkotAS

role And FunCtionDesigned to carry cargo, personnel, pa-tients and mechanised equipment as well as drop cargo and troops by parachute.The procurement of 26 Fairchild C-119G Packets from the United States for the second transport squardron No. 11 ush-ered in significant upgradation of the IAF’s logistic support capacity. The aircraft reached India by the end of 1954. It be-came the major airlifter for the IAF and were subsequently issued to the No. 12 Squadron, which employed the aircraft along with the C-47s.

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found to be the most suitable aircraft. It could carry 48 tonnes of payload, or one T-72 tank weighing 42 tonnes comfort-ably. Its four engines gave the aircraft some multipurpose capability, including operating on an unpaved surface. It was an aircraft that could operate without any ground support system. It was suitable for quick induction of troops in battle zones or disturbed areas. A full complement of 225 troops could be landed and deployed in a matter of three minutes with no has-sles. The induction of An-32 during early 1984 and IL-76 MD aircraft during 1985 added a new dimension to air power in the Indian subcontinent. IAF deployed

role And FunCtionUsed for the transport of troops, cargo and wounded. It was the first transport aircraft to be inducted by the IAF in 1946 in Panagarh for the No.12 Squadron which had first been raised on Spitfires at Kohat in December 1945. The aircraft was one of the principal components of the RIAF at the time of the Partition of India.

role And FunCtionTwin-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed to withstand adverse weather conditions The An-32 is designed to withstand ad-verse weather conditions better than the standard An-26. The high placement of the engine nacelles above the wing al-lowed for a larger diameter propeller, which is driven by 5,100 hp rated AI-20 turboprop engines, almost twice the pow-er of the An-26’s AI-24 powerplants.


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the IAF, despite severe constraints, proved to be the decisive force in evicting the in-vaders. In this context, one may mention Operation Meghdoot — a story of courage in the continuous, untiring and relentless support by the IAF to the forces deployed there, which is a challenge for both man and machine. Operation Meghdoot was undertaken in support of the Indian Army and paramilitary forces in northern La-dakh to secure control of the heights dominating the Siachin Glacier, also re-ferred to as the world’s ‘third pole’ and potentially a dangerous flashpoint on the disputed northern borders. Timely induc-tion of our own troops by airlift prevented the Pakistan Army from occupying the ridge at Saltoro. The IAF’s IL-76s, An-12s and An-32s transported stores and troops, airdropped supplies to high-altitude airfields while Mi-17, Mi-8, Chetak and Cheetah helicopters ferried men and ma-terial to heights far above the limits set by the helicopter manufacturers.

Similar is the story of Operation Pawan. Following the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord on July 29, 1987, the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was inducted into the Jaffna area to assist the Sri Lankan government in their fight against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas. This operation lasted almost 30 months and about 70,000 sorties were ?own by the IAF’s transport and helicop-ter force to and within Sri Lanka without a single aircraft lost or mission aborted. The Mi-8s became the critical lifeline for the field forces as well as in providing air transportation to the Sri Lankan civil ad-ministration.

Another inspiring instance is Opera-tion Falcon. After India’s conversion of Arunachal Pradesh from a Union Terri-

hS-748

the IL-76s effectively, taking over the control of Air maintenance role and air transport operations within three to six months of their induction. These aircraft gave a tremendous boost to the IAF and strategic reach.

Here, a point may be made on the role of the helicopters of the IAF in transport operations, particularly in Kargil Opera-tions (1999) — Operation Safed Sagar. Helicopters made a significant contri-bution in the Kargil war and few around 2,500 sorties, transporting large numbers of troops, casualties and hundreds of tonnes of load, besides flying attack mis-sions. The IAF transport feet also worked round the clock in meeting the task of moving squadrons to their operational locations as well as transporting men and equipment of the Army. In this operation,

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role And FunCtionA specialised cargo aircraft with short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability.

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role And FunCtionTwin-engine commercial and military per-sonnel and cargo transport aircraft.

The increased frequency of clashes with Chinese forces on the Sino-lndian Himalayan border revealed the need for further increase in airlift capability, along with a requirement for medium helicopters suitable for high-altitude operations. Con-sequently, orders were placed in the Sovi-et Union for eight IL-14 transport aircraft.

role And FunCtionA medium-sized turboprop airliner. Twin-engine short/medium-range airliner, powered by two Rolls-Royce Dart 514 turboprop engines were also produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The 748 Series 1 and Series 2 were licence-produced in India by Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) as the HAL-748. HAL built 89 aircraft in India, 72 for the Indian Air Force and 17 for the Indian Airlines Corporation.


tory to a state, tensions between China and India escalated. By early April, China had moved eight divisions to eastern Tibet, and reinforcements on the Indian side began with Operation Falcon in late 1986 and continued through early 1987. This massive air-land exercise involved ten divisions of the Indian Army and several squadrons of the IAF. The Indian Army moved three divisions to positions around Wangdung, where they were sup-plied solely by air. The 1987 episode was, to a large measure, logistically supported by the newly inducted Mi-17s.

In Operation Cactus, in response to a request from the Government of Mal-dives, the Indian Air Force mounted spe-cial air-landed operations on the night of November 3, 1988 to airlift a parachute battalion group from Agra, non-stop over 2,000 kms to the Maldives. The IL-76s car-

rying elite commando forces landed at Male under the cover of darkness and the coup bid was foiled. The operation was carried out with flawless coordination and precision, leading to complete suc-cess of the mission. The most immediate reality that emerged from this brief and bloodless action was the swift and effec-tive Indian military response, made possi-

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ble by the IAF’s strategic airlift capability.The IAF has also been utilised for stra-

tegic airlift during the Gulf War of 1991. The IAF had to protect the aircraft and ships evacuating the Indian population from the Gulf region. About 1,13,000 of the 3,00,000 Indian citizens resident in the Gulf region were flown back home on aircraft of the IAF, Indian Airlines and Air India in what remains till today the sec-ond largest airlift in world history after Berlin 1991.

the road AheadIt may be noted though that the last time we inducted transport aircraft was over 25 years ago. Both the An-32 and IL-76 MD aircraft have completed their calendar life as per the Soviet manufacturer’s specifi-cations. Both are on their extended lives, and could go on for another 10 to 15 years. The fleet of 100 odd AN-32 aircraft with the IAF is currently undergoing mid-life upgrade after which it would be available for another ten to 15 years albeit in pro-gressively dwindling strength.

The IAF is well on way to upgrade its transport fleet and thereby enhance its operational capability. New acquisi-tions including six four-engine turboprop C130J Super Hercules aircraft, with a max-imum payload capacity of over 21 tonnes, bridges the gap between the five-tonne payload capacity AN32 and the 43-tonne capacity IL76. The aircraft is capable of both strategic and tactical roles especially for special operations. It has provided high performance and can operate from semi-prepared and short dirt strips.

In addition, the planned acquisition of the ten C17 Globemaster III aircraft worth 4.1 billion US dollars from Boeing through the FMS route, with another six aircraft likely to be inducted, will take the total to 16 by 2015. This will give the IAF unprecedented strategic airlift capabil-ity. Also, replacement for the HS-748 Avro fleet is essential to undertake miscella-neous commitments of resupply missions requiring landing and take-off from small

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airstrips, air dropping of supplies in small size dropping zones, decoy missions, air maintenance and movement of security forces within the country. Defence Min-istry has cleared a proposal worth over Rs 12,000 crore to replace the IAF fleet of 56 vintage Avro HS-748 planes. The first 16 aircraft will be procured off-the-shelf from foreign vendors. The next 16 aircraft will have to comprise of 30 per cent indig-enous component and the remaining 24 planes will have 60 per cent locally-procured and produced items.

The Indo-Russian Mul-tiple Transport Aircraft (MTA) Project for 50 aircraft is another step in the direction of enhancing air transport capabilities of the IAF. Once the ongoing projects including the Indo-Russian MTA joint venture are com-pleted and the older fleet phased out, possibly by 2025, the IAF will have a modern fleet of transport aircraft consisting of the four-engine C17 Globe-master III and the C130J Super Hercules and the twin-engine MTA, all with pay-load capability ranging between 15 to 75 tonnes and range that would accord the fleet strategic reach.

Thus, the IAF is in the process of transformation into a potent aerospace power by 2017 and operational prepared-ness is the key to meet the complex threat with swift response, flexibility and preci-sion. In order to be a dominant regional player and a prominent global player, we should be capable of looking far ahead, identifying troubled spots, planning early, reaching out with the required load, and delivering the load with precision. There-after, we should have the ability to sustain in the hostile area, achieve goals within time-frames and de-induct efficiently.

India is emerging as a regional eco-nomic and military power. On account of compulsions of energy security and broad economic interests, India will need the capability for projection of power

role And FunCtionA large military transport aircraft which commonly performs strategic airlift mis-sions, transporting troops and cargo throughout the world. Other roles of the aircraft include tacti-cal airlift, medical evacuation and airdrop duties. In June 2011, India confirmed its order for 10 C-17s. Deliveries are slated to begin in June 2013 and be completed in 2015. The Indian Air Force plans to base its C-17s at Hindon Air Force Station after the completion of deliveries. The aircraft will boost the strategic airlift of special forces in the event of national emergen-cies or terrorist attacks.

role And FunCtionA STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft with a 19-passenger capacity. The aircraft’s fixed tricycle undercarriage, STOL abilities and high rate of climb have made it a successful cargo, regional pas-senger airliner and medical evacuation (MeDeVAC) aircraft.


and speedy response to contingencies to safeguard her interests that now extend from the Middle East and the Central Asian Republics to South East Asia. India, therefore, needs the means to transport swiftly and deploy combat power over long distances within and beyond nation-al boundaries. IAF has done well to plan ahead for new acquisitions and replace-ment of transport aircraft in different load carrying capacity to meet our futuristic contingencies.

(A retired Group Captain, the author is a Senior Fellow at Centre for Air Power Studies, New

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Rotorcraft development hasn’t kept pace with leaps that fighter jets or UAV’s have undergone over the past decade. But Sikorsky’s X2 and Eurcopter’s X3 may just be the `transformational fillip` to take helicopters into a completely different level.

The US Defence Department has put forth a FVL (Future Verti-cal Lift), or JFVL (Joint Future Vertical Lift)_ initiative to build and demon-strate critical technologies that would support the development of a next-generation helicopter. The wish list includes choppers with vastly improved avionics, electronics, range, speed, propulsion, survivability, operating den-sity altitudes and payload capacity. The project is looking at four classes of future aircraft, • light helicopters• Medium and heavy lift variants • An ultra-class category designed to build a new fleet of super-heavy lift

aircraft

The wish lisT for The fuTure includes• Sensors that are integrated into the airframe• High-speed targeting capabilities• Optionally automated/autonomous flight• A human machine interface for on-board navigation, sensing and threat

detection• Teaming of manned and unmanned aircraft, including remote control

from inside the manned craft• Automatic avoidance of obstacles using sensors• Hovering and pivoting with tilt-rotor aircraft technology• Diagnostic sensors to streamline repairs

And it’s all driven by the need for speed for the military although com-panies prefer to talk of SAR (search and rescue), medical evacuation, border patrol and coast guard duties. The catch is will the speed and the costs match? We should know in a few years as prototypes are trusted. For the record the only significantly faster rotorcraft put into production since the 1980s is the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor troop transport, which can cruise at 240 knots or better. Meanwhile Sikorsky and Boeing have signed a teaming agree-ment on Jan. 13, to submit a joint proposal for the US Army’s Joint Multi-Role (JMR) Technology Demonstrator (TD) Phase 1 program. The JMR TD supports the Department of Defense’s Future Vertical Lift program to deliver the next generation of vertical lift aircraft with greater performance, reliability and af-fordability. The team will compete to build and fly one or more demonstrator aircraft in 2017 to be evaluated for next-generation vertical lift performance in a medium-lift-sized aircraft.

need for speed

EurocoptEr X3The exercise began in January 2008 and Eurocopter wanted it to be fast, but they also wanted it to operate in a manner familiar to most pilots. The result: a he-licopter based on X3 technology that will cost just 25 percent more to produce than Eurocopter’s conventional helicopters of the same size, such as the $10-mil-lion EC155. Eurocopter began X3 flight testing last September in a program that combines the ex-cellent vertical takeoff and land-ing capabilities of a helicopter.

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piasEcki aircraft Corp a small company near Phila-delphia has modified a Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk by adding a Vec-tored Thrust Ducted Propeller to its tail and a wing to its mid-fuse-lage, which provide the thrust and lift needed to exceed normal rotor speed limits.

aW609AgustaWestland AW609 is a til-trotor aircraft with the ability to land in areas traditional fixed-wing aircraft are unable to, such as heliports or very small air-ports. It is capable of reaching twice the speed and the range of any helicopter currently in ser-vice. An improvement upon the V-22 Osprey, the AW609 features a pressurised cabin.

BEll BoEingThe V-22 Osprey is a multi-mis-sion, military, tiltrotor aircraft with both a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), and short take-off and landing (STOL) capabili-ties. It is currently the world’s fastest helicopter.

sikorsky X2The product of five years of research the Sikorsky X2 achieved a true air speed of 250 knots during a 1.1-hour flight. That’s 287.7 miles per hour or 463 km/h. The X2 also reached 260 knots in a shallow dive during the flight. The X2 combines an integrat-ed suite of technologies intended to advance the state-of-the-art, coun-ter-rotating coaxial rotor helicopter. Now Sikorsky is offering an X2 con-figuration called the S-97 Raider for the Army’s Armed Aerial Scout.

aVX concEptAVX Aircraft Company has come up with a concept for an Armed Aerial Scout as replacement for the OH-58D in order to meet the US defense department’s pa-rameter of larger number of less expensive platforms for manned reconnaissance. The design uses the basic Kiowa fuselage and adds a counter-rotating coaxial rotor and two ducted fans.

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FORMINDABLE OPPONENT: The Eurocopter Tiger is a multipurpose combat helicopter which can engage in air-to-air combat and fire support.


Along with new generations of Fighter Aircraft, Attack Helicopters are increasingly in demand by all the leading Air Forces because of their versatility, writes VIjAINDER K ThAKuR

Lacking fixed wings, a helicop-ter is an inefficient flying ma-chine, typically with operating costs that are 3 times those of a fixed-wing aircraft. However,

the ability of a helicopter to fly low and slow, hover, and land on just about any clear area gives it a lot of versatility as cargo and troop transport. A helicopter can also haul oversized cargo, slinging it under its belly while flying at slow speeds and winch up cargo and personnel from terrain that it cannot land upon.

The versatility of a helicopter makes it a very useful military transport that can operate from close to even behind enemy lines. Fixed-wing aircraft can fly close to or behind enemy lines, but they have to operate from well within friendly terri-tory, using runways that are known to the enemy and can also be easily targetted.

However, a helicopter’s slow speeds make it an easy target for enemy ground defences as even a rifle bullet can down it, or kill its crew member. The tail rotor of a helicopter, in particular, makes it vulnera-ble. Essential to counter the torque gener-ated by the main rotor, the tail rotor pres-ents an easy target, which if hit can send the helicopter spiralling into the ground.

The need to ward off enemy fire while transporting troops and cargo close to en-emy lines was what led to the introduction of armed helicopters during the Vietnam War. An armed helicopter is designed pri-marily for transport, but is equipped with guns, rockets, missiles and self-protection electronics and equipment. Typically, an armed helicopter will also have some de-gree of armour protection, fixed or modu-lar, against small arms fire.

The US Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk,

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the Russian Mil Mi-17-V5, and the An-glo-Italian AgustaWestland AW 159 Lynx Wildcat are examples of modern armed helicopters that are primarily designed for cargo transport, medical evacuation (MEDEVAC), air assault, troop transport, and command and control functions, but, at the same time, they can also perform ground attack in support of troops.

Almost all modern transport helicop-ters are now equipped with armament. The humongous Boeing CH-47 Chinook, which is capable of carrying about 11 tonnes of payload and may soon be a part of the IAF inventory, is also lightly armed with medium pintle-mounted machine guns.

Following the introduction of armed helicopters, a need was felt for a helicop-ter that is exclusively designed for ground attack. Attack Helicopters (AH) are meaner than armed helicopters with no transport role. Russian attack helicopters like the Mi-28N have retained a limited transport capability. AHs typically have a two man crew — a pilot and armament operator — and are designed primarily to take out enemy armour, with a secondary

capability against soft targets like trucks, jeeps, heavy calibre machine guns and troops. They fly faster than armed heli-copters and are more heavily armored.

The US Army first identified the need for a dedicated attack helicopter in the mid-1960s and firmed up the QRs as Ad-vanced Aerial Fire Support System (AAF-SS). The Lockheed’s AH-56 Cheyenne was selected to meet the requirements. As an interim measure, the US Army developed and deployed the Bell Helicopter AH-1G Cobra. While the Cobra proved to be a resounding success, the Cheyenne pro-gramme was eventually cancelled.

Modern Attack Helicopters• The US Apache AH-64, Eurocopter

EC-665 Tiger, Russian Ka-50/52, and Mi-28N are examples of dedicated modern attack helicopters. These are all fast flying, heavily armed ma-chines with ranges that allow them to fly deep into enemy territory.

• The AH-64 Apache has a top speed of 296 kph and a range of 520 kms.

• The Tiger has a top speed of 322 kph and a range of 800 kms.

LethaL andVersatiLe

FLYING FORTRESS: The UH-60 Black Hawk is a

four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-lift utility heli-

copter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft.


attack heLicopter sensors

“WeLL-suited to Limited Wars”

Geopolitics spoke with Air Com-modore (Cmde) Bhupinder Singh Subhlok (Retd), a former AH pilot

who flew both Mi-25 and Mi-35 while in service and was part of the team that in-ducted and integrated the AHs into the IAF. Vouching for the greater versatility of the AH, the Air Cmde pointed out, “The Armed Forces will likely get involved in limited wars and counter-insurgency operations more often than all out wars. Fixed wingaircraft have a limited utility in low intensity conflicts. The AH is much more handy.”

Pointing out another limitation of fixed-wing aircraft he said, “Airfields and runways required to operate fixed wing aircraft can be accurately targeted and neutralized by the enemy, particularly us-ing surface to surface missiles, affecting aerial support operations to the troops.”

Regarding the vulnerability of the AH, Singh says, “Armor protection and redun-dant systems give adequate protection from small arms fire. Flying techniques, Electronic Counter Measures (ECM), low infrared (IR) signature and protective flares make the AH reasonably safe from

MANPADS.”He adds, “The

very high manoeu-vrability of an AH, along with its abil-ity to fly very low and launch air-to-air missiles, poses a for-midable challenge, even to enemy fight-

ers.” Dwelling on the lethality of the AHs he says, “Their kill probability against armor and soft targets is much higher than fixed-wing fighters.” He adds, “Their lethality and weapon mix allows them to effectively undertake Suppression of En-emy Air Defense (SEAD) operations dur-ing a hot war.”

The usefulness of AHs in SEAD could be one reason why the IAF is keen to have the AHs on its inventory. The US strike deep within Pakistan to eliminate Bin Laden has some useful lessons. “AHs can be configured to strike deep into enemy territory and need not be just restricted to TBA,” says Air Cmde Bhupinder Singh, adding, “Once thinking on these lines starts, AHs with enhanced range capabil-

ity will start to be fielded.”Of course, the versatility of an AH

throws up pilot training challenges. “Training of AH pilots is extremely de-manding since the same machine per-forms a very large variety of roles,” the Air Commodore explains. According to him, “Some of the special tasks are extremely demanding and the slightest error can lead to a mishap, for example, a helicopter collision like the one that occurred during the attempted rescue of hostages from Iran.” More recently, two IAF AHs collided while operating together in Jamnagar.

Attack helicopters are becoming increasingly deadlier, pri-marily because of improvements in their sensors. Here is a sampling of the sensors that equip modern attack helicop-ters:• Mast Mounted Radars (Apache AH-64D, Kamov KA-52

Alligator)• Helmet Mounted Displays. The AH-64 introduced

the Integrated Helmet and Display Sighting System (IHADSS). The pilot can slave his chin mounted gun to the helmet display.

• Target Acquisition and Designation Sights (TADS) on the AH-64 is a combined sensor, targeting unit com-prising stabilised electro-optical sensors, a laser range finder and laser target designator.

• Pilot Night Vision Sensor (PVNS) on the AH-64 compris-es an infra-red camera slaved to the head movement of the pilot.

• The Ground Fire Acquisition System (GFAS) on the AH-64 detects ground-based weapon fire and helps target it.

• Low light TV and FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) on the Ka-50.

ThE BLACK ShARK: The Ka-52 has a proven track record in mountainous terrain. Its design has in-corporated many advanced features boosting its power, manoeuvrability and night attack capability.

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• The Ka-50/52 has a top speed of 315 kph and a range of 550 kms.

• The Mi-28N has a top speed of 350 kph and a range of 440 kms.

The AH also has a high cockpit that protects the pilot not just from rifle fire but also, RPGs. To boot, it has an ejection seat for the pilot to escape from an immi-nent crash. During the ejection sequence, the rotors are automatically jettisoned first.

Modern AHs can carry anti-tank mis-siles, laser-guided tactical missiles, gun-pods, rockets and free-fall bombs. They even carry air-to-air missiles. The Mi-28N and Ka-50/52 can carry Vympel R-73 air-to-air missiles, the AH-64 can carry the air-to-air version of the Stinger manpad and the Tiger carries the Mistral air-to-air missile.

Then there is the Kamov Ka-50/52, which stands out among modern attack helicopters. Developed by the Russians from the lessons they learnt during the Afghanistan war, the Ka-50/52 is an out-of-the-box design with contra-rotating coaxial rotors that cancel each other’s torque and eliminate the need for a tail rotor. Without a tail rotor, the Ka-50/52 is much more difficult to shoot down using small arm fire.

The Ka-50 is the single seat version, and the 52, twin seat. In fact, the Ka-50 is the only single seat attack helicopter in the world. Some believe that a single crew cannot handle the complex tasks of flying and operating weapons at the same time. However, the payoffs of a single-seater AH are great. Without the weight of a second crew and second cockpit with ejection seat, the Ka-50 can carry more weapons and manoeuvre better. It also cuts ca-sualties by half in the event of a crash. However, it may be noted that great care needs to be exercised when deploying at-tack helicopters in a Tactical Battle Area (TBA) because their slow speeds makes them very vulnerable to ground defences, espcecially Man-portable air-defence sys-tems (MANPADs).

Helicopter performance deteriorates rapidly with altitude and increase in am-bient temperature, both of which condi-tions that lead to a drop in air density. Under hot and high conditions, the attack helicopter becomes an even easier tar-get to shoot down. Fortunately, there are techniques to mitigate an attack helicop-

MuLTI-TASKER: The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is capable of reaching a top speed of 170-315 km/h. Its primary roles include troop movement, artillery emplacement and battlefield resupply.

Future attack helicopters will be less vulnerable and more lethal. Focus areas include higher speeds to re-

duce vulnerability, more engine thrust for higher altitude operations and better manoeuvrability, greater stand-off weap-ons range, and sensor hookups with un-manned aerial vehicles (UAV) and ground attack fighter aircraft.

Next generation helicopters will also feature better self-protection suites, im-proved sensors and air-to-air capability. They will have high bandwidth data links with UAVs that will allow them to display UAV sensor outputs in the helicopter cockpit and launch missiles from well outside the range of enemy defences.

Before launching the missile, the weapon system operator will be able to mark the target on a cockpit display that

will be echoed hundreds of miles on a Forward Air Controller (FAC) display, al-lowing the FAC to verify that the target has been correctly identified.

There will also be improved Com-puters for Displays. The helicopters will need high capacity data fusion comput-ers to merge off and on-board sensor im-agery into a single shared picture of the battlefield. A new and improved IHADSS helmet display is one example. The pro-totype GFAS developed for the Apache AH-64E is another such example. GFAS cameras and infrared sensors detect the muzzle flash from ground fire, classify the firing weapon, and move the information through an Aircraft Gateway Processor into the cockpit. Pilots immediately see the enemy icon on their display screen, integrated with Blue Force Tracking maps.

ter’s vulnerability.To protect themselves from enemy

fire, AHs fly very low and remain un-der visual flight conditions close to the enemy. This is referred to as Nap of the Earth (NOE) flying. An aircraft flying a NOE profile cannot be detected by radar and engaged by surface-to-air missiles. Helicopters are particularly suited to NOE flying because their higher manoeu-vrability and slower speeds (as low as zero) allow them to approach a battlefield while taking cover of the surrounding ter-rain in the form of the river bed, hill range or even tall trees.

While flying NOE, an attack helicop-ter navigates close to its target and then

eases up just enough to sight it using sen-sors on its rotor mast. It lays its weapons on the target without exposing itself and then pops up to fire them. Before enemy defences can lay their sights on it, the AH once again ducks behind cover. In fact, NOE levels the playing field for attack he-licopters to an extent where the sound of their rotors invokes dread amidst enemy infantry.

Besides, there are slow speed attack fighters such as the US A-10 Thunderbolt 2 and the Russian Su-25 Frogfoot, which present a safer alternative to attack heli-copters from the point of view of pilots. Their wings make attack fighters more efficient flying machines that accelerate

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faster and manoeuvre harder. Following weapon release, an attack aircraft can get out of the lethal envelop of ground fire more quickly presenting MANPADs as difficult fast moving and receding target.

Typically, an attack aircraft spots its target while flying outside the lethal range of small arm ground fire. It then swoops down, gathering speed and releases its weapons from close range. It then immedi-ately pulls out of its dive and steeply climbs out of the lethal range of ground fire.

During the Afghan war, the Soviet de-ployed both Mi-24 AHs and Su-35 attack aircraft in support of their army. Both the weapon systems were effective to begin with. However, following the introduction of the Stinger MANPAD in 1986, the Sovi-ets lost more Mi-24s than Su-35s.

Be that as it may, despite their vulner-ability AHs score over attack fighters. AHs are more lethal, carry greater weapon load and can support operations for longer du-rations. Cockpit visibility in attack helicop-ters is much better as compared to aircraft, allowing for easier spotting and tracking of targets. Their ability to slow down or even hover on demand makes helicopters dead-ly, especially against armour. They can carry weapons that need to be manually guided to their targets. When using fire-and-forget missiles, they give more time to accurately lay the weapons on the targets, though of late it has been realised that at-tack aircraft have to rely on fire-and-forget missiles that are more easily spoofed than human guided weapons.

Attack helicopter can carry heavier weapon loads. A single attack helicopter can carry enough guided missiles to neu-tralize eight or more tanks. Their proximi-ty to the target during attack makes attack helicopters deadly.

There are other advantages of using helicopters over fixed-wing aircraft. They are more versatile in the sense that they don’t require runways to operate. They can be deployed in small cleared areas close to the TBA allowing them to be on target quickly.

Besides, helicopters can switch roles. Armed helicopters can be quick-ly reconfigured to perform the role of dedicated attack helicopters, fitting modular armour and packing the crew/ cargo area with additional missiles and ammunition. Some attack helicopters, such as the Mi-28N can perform casu-alty evacuation because they retain some extra space.

iaF’s attack heLicopter oF the Future: apache ah-64The IAF is getting the Block III ver-

sion of the Apache AH-64D. The US Army has renamed the AH-64D

Block III the ‘AH-64E’. The helicopter is a fine example of where attack helicopter technology is headed.

The Apache is powered by two tur-boshaft engines and carries laser-guided precision missiles, 70 mm rockets and 30 mm automatic cannon. A mast mounted radome on the Apache AH-64D houses the AN/APG-78 Longbow fire control ra-dar. Its millimetre-wave sensing improves

performance under poor visibility con-ditions, and is less sensitive to ground clutter. The short wavelength also al-lows a very narrow beam-width, which is more resistant to countermeasures while guiding the helicopter’s missiles to their targets.

Block III will extend the radar’s range, or give commanders the option of trad-ing it for an Unmanned Aerial Systems Tactical Common Data Link Assembly (UTA) that is mounted in the same place on the mast.

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In a country that civilisationally marvels at keeping things ambiguous, it is not surprising that unlike other major military powers, India does not find virtues in promulgating clear and precise security doctrines. It is only in recent years that individual services, particularly

the Navy and Indian Air Force (IAF), have come out with their respective ‘strategy papers’ or ‘doctrines’. Unfortunately, these papers and doctrines have not been encouraged by the con-cerned authorities to come under public discussions. That is why I do not find it surprising that not many have taken note of “Basic Doctrine of the Indian Air Force, 2012”, published by the IAF.

The IAF doctrine contains the characteristics of air power and its peculiarities that need to be understood within the right framework for its correct application. But what I find significant in the IAF doctrine is the repeated mentions of ‘air and space power’. The doctrine is not talking of ‘air power’ in isolation of ‘space power’. To quote it, “Air power, in a classic sense is defined as the total ability of a nation to assert its will through the medium of air. It includes both civil and military aviation, existing and potential. In the modern sense, air power which has evolved into aerospace power is defined as the product of aerospace capability and aerospace doctrine. Air power is the strength of an air force as opposed to an attendant capability… Aviation related research and devel-opment as also industrial capabilities have a force multiplier effect. Space capabilities further add to the above to enhance the aerospace power of the nation... Air power doctrine is pri-marily a derivative of the fundamental principles that guide the application of air and space power and offers innovative ideas for the optimum exploitation of the medium.”

However, there is a big problem here. While the IAF is very clear that it has aerospace role and in this task it needs help of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) that is devoted to the civilian or peaceful use of space resources, the latter is not that enthusiastic to join hands, at least publicly. As India is a signatory to the international treaty that outlaws military activities (Outer Space Treaty) in space, a common property of the mankind, the ISRO seems to take a too legalistic view of abhorring the IAF. But then the fact is that the Outer Space Treaty has been the subject of diplomatic wrangles over the precise definition of space weapons, other than nuclear weap-ons. Besides, there has been no transparency on the part of major world powers in keeping the outer space free from mili-tary activities, with the result that one hears concepts like ‘Star Wars’ (Strategic Defence Initiative) by the US and anti satel-lites (ASAT) by Russia. In any case, it is a fact that the US and its allies have used space resources extensively in fighting recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As the IAF doctrine rightly points out, space capabilities lie at the core of the revolutionary transformation of military capability, commonly termed as Revolution in Military Affairs

(RMA). The Gulf War demonstrated the enormous utility and military transformation enabled by RMA, or Net Centric War-fare Capability (NCW) as it was later termed. Effects Based Operations (EBO) and Force Transformation Architecture (FTA) became the absolute essentials of US military strat-egy. The bottom line was the transformation in the conduct of military affairs by the combined potential of air and space assets in terms of Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR), communications, navigation etc. This ‘aerospace’ com-bination provided the information dominance vital for the nuanced application of force, which, in turn, enabled decisive war-winning effects.

The IAF doctrine makes enormous sense when it says, “the most important driver for the IAF’s involvement in space is

that it is the primary military service mandated for securing national assets and investments against threats from the skies. Threats in the new millen-nium range from passenger aircraft s being fl own into buildings, to high speed manoeuvring mis-siles to ASAT launched from ground and airborne platforms. The challenges have evolved beyond air into space and now encompass the entire ver-tical dimension of aerospace. The IAF would have to transform accordingly to cope and it would not be possible to do so without being involved in outer space”.

In fact, contrary to the conventional wisdom, aerospace power of the IAF will protect the space tools like satellites that are used by the ISRO to augment the country’s economic and scientific power. Developing the capability to control space will ensure that our civil, commercial and other space activi-ties will continue uninterrupted around the globe. And this will be possible when we have the capacity to destroy the ad-versary’s space weapons, based in space, air, land and water. Secondly, developing aerospace power does not necessarily mean that there will be war. In most of the cases, augmented power or strength will ensure that the enemy will not dare to attack you.

Instead of being a frontier now, space complements air power in numerous missions as an enabler. Air and space should be complementary components of defence so that they compensate for each other’s inadequacies in maintain-ing surveillance of the vertical dimension and in countering threats from systems like ballistic missiles that transit and ma-noeuvre through both air and space. They must be integrated so that diverse and yet potent elements of air and space are networked adequately. That is why there is no reason why the ISRO should avoid displaying its capabilities in Aero India Air Shows that the IAF organises from time to time. I completely agree with the IAF doctrine that the ISRO, in coordination with the IAF, should develop platforms like the ‘Multi-Purpose Aerospace Vehicle’ which operate in both air and space.

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INTEGRATING SPACE

Prakash Nanda

RIGHTANGle

geopolitics

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