IAF to get first C-17 heavy lifter by June 2013

The first of the 10 Boeing C-17 Globemaster III heavy lifters will be delivered to the IAF in June 2013. The next nine aircraft will be delivered by 2014.  Boeing is shortly going to start training the IAF pilots to bring the aircraft to India next year. The training is likely to begin in May/June. Initially 10 of IAF pilots will be trained for the aircraft.

On the lines of the C-130Js bought from the Lockheed Martin, Boeing will also be helping the IAF in setting up a swanky airbase and other infrastructure  facilities. The heavy lifters are likely to be based at the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad.

Timeline of the C-17 project

• Letter of Agreement signed - June 2011
• First Flight of the aircraft - Jan 2013
• Certification - May 2013
• Delivery date of India's first C-17 - June 2013
• Next 9 aircraft by 2014

The government-to-government deal to acquire 10 C-17s for $4.1 billion is the largest defence deals between the two countries. The IAF has become the largest customer in the world for the US-built heavy airlifters.

C-17 in reverse gear

The strategic airlifters will be the largest in the transport fleet of the IAF will be replacing its ageing Soviet-era fleet. The aircraft powered by four engines has capability to perform in hot climate and high altitude; and also it can land at short runways. 

 C-17 just after take-off

A tactical and strategic airlifter, the C-17 can land combat-ready troops in remote locations or airdrop them directly where needed. The C-17's ability to back up allows it to operate on narrow taxiways and congested ramps.

With a maximum payload of 75 tonnes, the C-17 can take off and land in merely 3,000 feet runway or less.

General gives bribery complaint in writing, CBI to file case

After keeping the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) waiting for his written statement in the sensational bribery case, Army Chief General VK Singh on Friday evening gave in writing his version to the agency. The CBI will now be registering a case into the matter that has sparked a national outrage. 

The Army Chief created a furore beginning this week by claiming that a retired officer-turned-lobbyist tried to bribe in his office in South Block. The issued rocked the Parliament for two consecutive days and Defence Minister AK Antony defended himself by saying that he could not have ordered probe into the issue as the General did not give a written complaint.

According to the CBI sources, on Friday evening General Singh had sent a reply to the agency accepting the bribery allegations. The CBI, however, said that it will still be a while before an FIR (First Information Report) is being registered in the issue as there were certain gaps in the Army Chief’s statement.

“CBI has received a reply from Army Chief wherein he has confirmed offer of bribe and said he will give more details soon. Other details like bribe amount have not been mentioned,” sources said.

When the agency sleuths met the Army Chief in his South Block office earlier this week, General Singh had sought time to prepare his statement. After that the General forwarded another complaint to the CBI accusing a serving Lieutenant General of corruption. While the CBI has given a clean chit to the serving officer, recommended for promotion as the head of the Eastern Army Command, the move led to the questioning of the Army Chief’s motives and the delay in giving the written statement in the bribery episode.

As per the Army Chief, Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh – former head of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) - had met him in September 2010 and offered him Rs. 14 crore as bribe to clear acquisition of another 600 “sub-standard” heavy duty trucks – an acquisition that has the approval of successive governments since the last 25 years.

Antony’s volte-face? Says ordered inquiry in Tatra truck acquisition in 2009

After the Army Chief being criticized for making the bribery allegations nearly two years late, on Friday it was the Defence Ministry that revealed that an inquiry was on in the irregularities in the procurement of Tatra trucks since 2009. 

The Ministry of Defence’s counter attack has come after seeing a week of furore following Army Chief General VK Singh’s disclosure of irregularities in the purchase of “sub-standard” Tatra trucks. The Defence Ministry on Friday went to the extent of saying that it had even ordered a CBI inquiry into the issue on February 22 after the internal probe.

Army trucks in High Altitude Region

What remains unexplained is that why Defence Minister AK Antony chose to remain silent about the inquiry during the statement he made in the Parliament on the issue. Also, the statement was issued by the Defence Ministry only after the reports of Defence Minister AK Antony having knowledge of the irregularities in the deal came on Friday. For the last one week, the government has been vehemently denying any irregularities in the acquisition of the trucks, 7,000 of which are in service in the force for the last 25 years.

Ghulam Nabi Azad had written a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi alleging irregularities on the part of Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML) in the Tatra truck deals. The letter was then forwarded to the Defence Ministry for investigation.

In its statement, the Defence Ministry said: “A day after receiving a letter from Ghulam Nabi Azad, on October 5, 2009, forwarding the complaints of Dr. D Hanumanthappa, addressed to Congress President Sonia Gandhi on BEML, the Defence Minister AK Antony had asked the Secretary (Defence Production) to look into the various issues raised in the complaint.”

Following this the Defence Ministry claims that the vigilance wings of the Defence Ministry and BEML have been examining the matter and there have been communication between the CBI and the Chief Vigilance Officer of BEML on these allegations. It was after this inquiry that Antony sanctioned a CBI probe into the matter on February 21 this year.

“Meanwhile, the Defence Minister has accorded his sanction for a CBI investigation on February 21, 2012 in another case relating to BEML,” the Defence Ministry said.

Rogue elements out to create schism between Army and MoD: Army Chief

Statement by the Army Chief strikes a conciliatory note.

 

"For the media to constantly project every issue as a battle between the government and the Army is misleading. The Army and the extension –Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) – are also a part of the government. There are rogue elements in our society who have played an active role in trying to create a schism between the Honourable Raksha Mantri and the COAS. This is untrue and needs to be guarded against.

The timing pertaining to the bribe issue has drawn considerable attention. It is pointed out that after the matter was brought to Honourable Raksha Mantri’s notice certain step had been taken institutionally to keep a wary eye on the retired person, who had offered the bribe. Eighteen months later the person resurfaced in the beginning of March this year and launched a smear campaign under the veil of anonymity alleging that the Army was snooping on the Honourable RM. Once the concerned individual had been identified by Army Headquarters, his identity and antecedents were made public. There have been a string of selective leaks in the past culminating with a public hearing in the letter to the Honourable Prime Minister.

We are duty bound to serve our country and to protect the institutional integrity of the Army at all costs, even if sometimes we have to look within. We have to identify and within confines of the system and the law expose these elements. Freedom of speech and individual opinions need to be respected. But frivolous comments on these issues will only muddy the water."

OFB begins work on 114 Bofors guns in India

With four foreign vendors - Bofors (Swedish), Denel (South African), Rhienmetall (German) and Singapore Kinetics (Singaporean) firm presently blacklisted in the country, the Indian Army has a tough task cut out for itself to make good its artillery shortage. 

At this juncture, the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) has reached a critical stage in manufacturing indigenous artillery guns on the basis of the Technology Transfer done by the Bofors gun-maker in 1986.  Essentially Bofors has started Research and Development of two categories of artillery - first the 155 mm (diameter of the barrel) 39 calibre (length of the barrel) and the second one 155 mm 39 calibre guns.

Army has already placed an order of 114 guns. Some Army officers have been posted to OFB for these projects.The OFB will be making two prototypes of both categories of guns. The next step will be the trial evaluation of the guns by the Indian Army.

Here is a brief timeline of how OFB started on the path of manufacturing India's Bofors.

 File photo of Bofors gun with the Army

Early 2000 - OFB started upgrading Bofors. The 155 mm (diameter of the barrel) 39 calibre (the length of the barrel) could fire at a range of 30 kms. The OFB has been supplying Indian Army with the spares it got from Bofors in 1986. The barrels were gainfully used during the Kargil War.

2004 - In 2008, OFB set on the task of increasing the range of the guns from 30 kms to 39 kms. The design of the barrel was done jointly by the OFB and ARDE (Armament Research and Development Establishment). 

2006 - The barrel was tested. Along with the barrel the gun was upgraded. An Inertial Navigation Sighting (INS) System was put on the gun providing it with a direct line of sight. The INS was provided by Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL). 

2008 - OFB did a demonstration firing at Pokharan and achieved a range of 38 kms.

Jan 2012 - OFB made 155 mm 52 calibre guns. And they were test fired at Bhopal.

BrahMos air version to be test fired by year end

While the Indian Army and Indian Navy have already inducted the land and naval version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will still have to wait for the air version. The work on the fitting of the missile on the Russian-built Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets is presently underway.

Model of the air version of BrahMos on display at DefExpo

Defence Express spoke to a key official in the programme who informed that there are four elements in the air-version of the BrahMos. Listed below are the four elements and the respective stages they are in.

1. Missile - The air version of the missile which is shorter than the other variants is already ready.

2. Launcher - The releasing equipment is presently under trial. It is being manufactured by the Trivendrum wing of BrahMos.

3. Aircraft Modification - The underbelly of the Sukhoi aircraft needs to be strengthened to allow it to carry the missile. The design made by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for the aircraft made under the supervision of BrahMos has already been approved. The first two aircraft will soon be modified.

4. Fire Control System - It is being prepared by BrahMoS

If the trial of the BrahMos air version by the modified Sukhoi aircraft is successful, then the changes will be incorporated by Russia at design stage only.

Army recommends Lt Gen’s promotion, Army Chief seeks CBI inquiry

In a bizarre turn of events, Army Chief General VK Singh – who has been in crosshairs since beginning of this week – has sought CBI inquiry against a Corps Commander in the Eastern Sector Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag just six days after his own Army Headquarter recommended him for promotion.

Suhag presently commands the Dimapur-based 3 Corps and is set to become the head of the 1.3 million-strong Indian Army after Lt Gen Bikram Singh. Suhag was recommended to take over the Eastern Army Command bordering China on March 22. However, General Singh in an unprecedented step forwarded a year-old letter to the CBI accusing Suhag of corruption charges when the premier investigation agency sought his written complaint on a retired Army officer-turned lobbyist trying to bribe him.

The letter was written by MP Ambica Banerjee in May 2011 accusing Suhag of “procurement scams” when he was the Inspector General in the Special Frontier Force. Banerjee had accused Suhag of accepting kickbacks in purchase of night-vision devices, communication systems, weapons as well as parachutes.

When asked about the Army Chief’s latest complaint, a startled Defence Minister AK Antony said on Thursday said: “I have no knowledge about the latest complaint.” While it is not mandatory for the Army Chief to route his complaint to CBI through the Defence Ministry, the lack of communication between the Army Chief and the Defence Ministry is another reflection of the strained in the relations following a series of dirty imbroglio between them.

“I came to know about the complaint from the newspaper. On March 22 the Army Headquarters had sent the proposal recommending his (Suhag’s) promotion,” Antony added. When asked if the Defence Ministry has given a brief to the CBI to investigate the bribery allegations, the Defence Minister said that the agency was directed to conduct a “comprehensive” inquiry.

Insiders in the Army say that General Singh has been against the elevation of Suhag as the Eastern Army Commander, while the Defence Ministry has been backing him. Even in his covering letter to the CBI, the Army Chief has said that Suhag has downgraded the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) of a junior officer for not toeing the latter’s line on acquisition. However, again the timing of the complaint is under question as the complaint which has been lying with him for several months was forwarded only in the last 60 days of his tenure.

Corruption slows aquisition: Antony

Defence Express Question to the Defence Minister: Aritllery is a critical area of shortage for the Indian Army and the issue has been flagged by the Indian Army Chief General VK Singh as well. But as thing stands India has blacklisted four foreign gun-makers. So where are we going to source our guns from?

Defence Minister replies - You are trying to corner government on both sides - first you say we are not speeding up and then on corruption charges. Even those of you who think I am slow I want to say that I do not want to take chances. I cannot throw any complaint in the basket. If I exercise it will take some time. Do not corner me on both counts. For the last two years we have spent the whole budget.

Blacklisting vendors in certain categories has limited our option but what can we do? We are always telling them that Indian system is transparent. If they try to corrupt people we will take action.

Nalanda Ordnance Factory has also been delayed. OFB (Ordnance Factory Board) is trying to find a solution. What can I do?

7th DefExpo began today

Some fact about the DefExpo, the biennial global defence exhibition hosted by India in the capital.

    

• 7th DefExpo (started in 1998)
• Four day event
• China participating for the first time. Has sent a delegation
• 567 companies from 32 countries participating (In 2010, 412   exhibitors from 35 companies participated)
• Russia has the maximum number of companies participating displacing the US
• Israel has the biggest pavilion in terms of area
• Two of the blacklisted firms – German Rheinmetall and Israeli IMI are exhibiting in DefExpo. MoD has issued advisory to its officials and armed forces to stay away from their pavilion

Letter leak anti-national, will not spare culprit: Antony

Accepting he was “hurt” by the turn of events, Defence Minister AK Antony on Thursday said that the media leak of the confidential letter written by the Army Chief General VK Singh was an “anti-national act” and assured that the government will not “spare” the culprit.

The otherwise reticent Antony vehemently condemned the development and announced that the Intelligence Bureau (IB) has been asked to look into the matter and trace the leakage that brought the Army Chief’s letter with damning contents about country’s preparedness to open domain. The Army Chief had written the letter to the Prime Minister on March 12.

“Whoever leaked the letter, it is an anti-national act. It helps only our enemies,” Antony told reporters on the sideline of the 7^th international defence exhibition DefExpo. Informing that IB was asked to probe the issue, Antony added: “Once their report is received we will not stop there. We cannot spare the people behind this.”

Despite strong demand in the Parliament to sack the Army Chief, the Defence Minister refrained to point him out directly and said all three service chiefs enjoyed the confidence of the government. “All our three service chiefs enjoy the confidence of the government, otherwise how can they remain on the post,” Antony quickly replied to a pointed query if the government had lost confidence in General VK Singh after slew of controversies – first by dragging the government to court on age issue, then opening a can of worms by bringing a two-year old bribery scandal in public and then the media leak of the his scathing letter written to the PM.

The letter has disturbing facts about the military preparedness with most of its systems getting obsolete and a snail-paced acquisition system leaving the Army high and dry without weapons and ammunition.

This recent row hitting the military-government relationship saw an emotionally charged Antony defending his ministry in the Parliament for two consecutive days. Getting candid on the controversy the Defence Minister accepted he was hurt. “First day (in the Parliament) it was spontaneous. I was hurt. I said my feelings that day. We have so many controversies when it comes to national security everybody wants to know the truth,” said Antony.

“I do not want to live in fantasy let the IB inquiry complete. We will find out the culprits behind this anti-national act. We will not leave it there,” the Defence Minister assured.

On Wednesday a furore was created in the Parliament after the contents of the Army Chief’s letter surfaced in the media. Angry Parliamentarians were insisting the government to sack General Singh and said he was acting as a “frustrated” man.  

Letter leak an act of treason: Army Chief

Breaking his silence since his ‘bribe bombshell’ snowballed into a national controversy, Indian Army Chief General VK Singh on Thursday termed the media leak of his confidential letter written to the Prime Minister as an act of “treason” and said it was an approach to tarnish his reputation.

The Army Chief’s allegations of a lobbyist offering him bribe in his office to clear a defence contract had led to a national outrage and prompting an embarrassed government to order CBI inquiry into the bribery allegations. However, before the controversy could have cooled down, the media leak of the Army Chief’s letter led to demand of his sacking from the political parties.

"This is an outrage! Official communication with the PM, RM (Raksha Mantri) or anybody for that matter with the COAS (Chief of Army Staff) is privileged information. The leaking of the letter should be treated as high treason,” General Singh said in his first reaction on the issue. 

The Army Chief’s reaction has come in the backdrop of frayed relationship between the office of the Chief of Army Staff and the Defence Ministry. On Wednesday the Army Chief was accused of “breach of discipline” by some MPs and his dismissal was sought.

The General also criticized the cynical approach taken by the political class after the contents of the letter projecting a grim state of military preparedness were made public. “This cynical approach to tar my reputation has to stop. The source of the leak has to be found and dealt with ruthlessly," the Army Chief added.

Singh returned from Srinagar late evening. He presently has close to two months before he retires on May 31. Wary of the Army Chief trying to scuttle the elevation of his successor, the government has named the Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Bikram Singh as the Army Chief designate 90 days in advance as against the norm of the 60 days.

However, saying that he did not want to “add fuel” to the controversy, Defence Minister AK Antony said: “I am not in embarrassing situation. I am comfortable.”

He also termed the letter leak an “anti-national act” and assured to take strongest action in the Indian Penal Code against the culprits. The Defence Minister said the Intelligence Bureau report will be submitted at the earliest.