Ambala to station first squadron of MMRCA fighters

The first squadron of the 126 air dominance Medium Multi-role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) to be purchased under the $10.2 billion mammoth deal will be based in Ambala in Haryana that was attacked by Pakistan in both 1965 and 1971 wars.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has already zeroed in on the French Rafale fighter jets as its choice and presently the cost negotiations are on. The contract is expected to be signed by the end of the financial year. 

“The IAF plans to station the first squadron of the Rafale at Ambala,” a top IAF official said. Ambala is presently home to the British-built Jaguars and MiG-21s. Prior to the induction, the Ambala airbase – one of the oldest and largest airbases inherited from the Royal Air Force - will undergo refurbishment of the runway and infrastructure building to accommodate the new war birds that are expected to join the IAF’s inventory in 2017.

“The plans is to base two squadrons of the MMRCAs in Western Air Command (WAC) bordering Pakistan and two squadron in the Eastern Air Command (EAC) bordering China,” the official added.

One of the biggest open tender defence deals of present times, the MMRCA’s value is likely to go up to $20 billion. After the contract negotiations are over there will be eight more stages left - four of which lie with the defence ministry. There will be "scrutiny" by Defence Finance and independent monitors of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). Then the deal will go to Finance Ministry, from there to National Security Council (NSC) and Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).

The WAC had recently inducted a squadron of frontline fighter jets Sukhoi Su-30MKI in Halwara, Punjab. With MiG-21s and MiG-27s scheduled to be phased out in the coming years and MiG-29s undergoing an upgrade programme, the IAF needs to bolster its assets in the region. The force is soon going to induct another Su-30MKI squadron in the command followed by the Rafales.

The IAF has also undertaken massive deployment and upgradation programme in the Eastern sector – keeping in view the modernization done by China on its side of the border. The force has already inducted two squadrons of the Su-30MKIs, it is upgrading many of the runways and advanced landing grounds in the region and intends to station the two squadrons of the yet-to-be-acquired Rafales to keep a rising and more assertive China at bay.

On 80th anniversary IAF gears up for inventory sans MiG-21s

As the Indian Air Force (IAF) turns 80 on October 8, it is gearing up for an inventory without Soviet-vintage MiG-21s often dubbed “Flying Coffins” for their dubious flight safety record – first it will stop training its young pilots on the fighter jet and thereafter retire it by 2015-16.

The present acquisition spree and the phase out of the obsolete platform will ensure that the air force gets younger even as it crosses 80^th anniversary mark.

The IAF had taken the decision to stop training its pilots on MiG-21s in 2011, when IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal announced after a spate of crashes that the last batch of pilots was being trained on the fighter jets.

Confirming this, the Air Chief Marshal Browne said: “Last batch of pilots is being trained. Now these three squadrons’ batches will be the last batch and all the training will shift on Hawk (Advanced Jet Trainer) aircraft.”

After their first two levels of training, half the pilots used to go to British-built AJTs and the rest to MiG Operational Flight Training Units (MOFTU). However, the present batch of MiG-21s Type 77 – the oldest of the MiG-21s that were the force’s mainstay in 1971 Indo-Pak War – will finish its syllabus by January 2014 paving the way for their retirement. Whereas the two squadrons of Type-96 MiG-21s will revert back to operational role from training and will continue to serve the force.

“We need to keep force levels going. By 2015 they will continue to serve,” the IAF Chief added. In fact four squadrons of MiG-27s will be retired in a phased manner by 2016-17. “MiG-29s will be the last of the MiG series aircraft remaining,” Air Chief Marshal Browne said. MiG-29s are presently undergoing an upgrade and the programme will conclude in 2020.   

According to data, the IAF had purchased a total of 872 MiG aircraft of various types between1966-1980. The MiG series aircraft were inducted starting from MiG-21 in 1960s/1970s to MiG-29 in 1980s. Nearly half of the procured MiG aircraft - 482 - met accidents between financial year 1971-72 to 2012-13. A total of 171 pilots, 39 civilians, 8 service personnel and 1 aircrew lost their lives in these accidents. The causes of accidents were both human error and technical defects.

The fourth largest air force in the world is now entering its biggest modernization cusp as it has already signed contracts worth Rs.1.50 lakh crore in the past five years. The force has planned to raise four more squadrons of frontline fighter jets Sukhoi Su-30MKI – two each for western and eastern border. The 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) – French Rafale – shall be inducted in the services by 2017 giving a major firepower to the force.

Besides the fighter jets, the IAF is also modernizing its transport and helicopter fleet as it plans to acquire state-of-the art heavy lift transport C-17 Globemaster and one more squadron of  special operations transporter C-130 Js and 300 different types of helicopters- ranging from attack and medium lift helicopters. 

Toilet Vs Rafale Fighter jets!

Taking a dig at the government’s spending policy, Minister for Rural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation Jairam Ramesh on Thursday said that more than 1000 villages in the country can be freed of the scourge of open defecation at the cost of less than a Rafale fighter jet. 

 



Ramesh’s latest comment came on the sidelines of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and his ministry for eco-friendly toilets based on bio-digesters. These bio-toilets will be installed across the country in three phases and Ramesh’s ministry has allocated Rs. 150 crore for each of the phases, which is less than the cost of one French Rafale jet that the Indian Air Force (IAF) has chosen for its inventory. The IAF will be buying 126 of these fighter jets at an estimated cost of Rs. 50,000 crore that makes cost of one Rafale to be roughly around Rs. 450 crore, the cost of all three phases.

Ramesh described India as world capital in ‘Open Defecation’ with 60 percent of total open defecation happening in the country. “We can make 1000 villages free from open defecation at the cost less than that of one Rafale,” Ramesh said while setting the target of making country free from the problem in the next 10 years.

Even as Defence Minister AK Antony was present at the function, Ramesh went on to say that while total spending on the defence is more that Rs 1.93 lakh crore, while the budgetary support for his Rural Development Ministry is half of it.

Talking about DRDO’s contribution to the sanitation drive, Defence Minister AK Antony commented: “Seventy per cent of the people in India reside in rural areas and are deprived of proper sanitation facilities. Bio-Digester which is a spin-off from the DRDO technology is now being intelligently implemented for societal benefit. This technology is not just eco-friendly but is also cost effective and DRDO will try to further reduce the cost.”

Bio-Digesters were developed as DRDO’s efforts to make eco-friendly toilets for high-altitude regions like Siachen Glacier so that the long deployment of the troops does not affect the environment. The high altitude eco-friendly toilet cost around Rs. 2.2 lakh but the toilets meant for mass use cost less than Rs. 17,000.

Rural Development Ministry has also offered the Indian Railways to install the DRDO-built bio-toilets in all new coaches and to share half the cost of retrofitting existing 50,000 coaches in the next four to five years. He informed that the whole project will cost about 500 crore rupees and offered to share the burden on a 50-50 basis with the Railways.

126 fighter jets deal back on track, price negotiation resumes

July 10: The multi-billion dollar deal for 126 fighter jets was stalled following complaints of irregularities is back on track with the contract negotiations re-starting following independent monitors giving a thumbs up to the procedure followed in the selection of French Rafale.

 

“The Contract Negotiation Committee (CNC) has resumed its talks with the French firm Dassault for arriving at the final price this month (July),” sources said.

The government had down-selected Dassault to supply Rafale to the Indian Air Force (IAF) under a deal estimated to be valuing $11 billion on January 31. Within a few weeks, the Defence Ministry received a letter from then Telugu Desam Party MP MV Mysura Reddy raising questions over the process followed at arriving at the lowest bidder in one of the biggest defence deals in the world.

The Defence Ministry immediate put the Contract Negotiation with the French aerospace major on hold and set up independent monitors to look into the “loop-holes” suggested in the letter. The three independent monitors were appointed by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and included former bureaucrats from Finance and Defence Ministry.

The acquisition process for the 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft, often dubbed as “Mother of All defence deals” for its size, had commenced in 2007.  European Eurofighter and French Rafale had entered the final round of the dogfight for the multi-billion dollar deal. Rafale finally knocked out Eurofighter for having a cheaper price tag. The lowest bidder has been arrived at by including per unit price and the life cycle cost that would mean the cost of operating the two aircrafts for 40 years or 6,000 hours.

The two were zeroed-in after grueling flight trials that judged six fighter jets in fray – F-16IN and F-18/1A from the US, SAAB Gripen from Sweden, MiG-35 from Russia, Eurofighter and Rafale – on over 660 parameters. The commercial bids of the two aerospace major was opened on November 4.

The deal is expected to be inked this financial year if any of the vendors do not put spoke in the acquisition process.

IAF, which is facing rapidly depleting strength of its fighter squadrons, will get its first 18 aircraft in fly-away condition three years after the signing of the contract and the rest 108 will be manufactured in India under license. The 211-page Request for Proposal (RfP) issued by the IAF in 2007 also stipulates that 60 percent of the aircraft’s technology be transferred to India in four phases to give a boost to the indigenous agencies. The tender also makes it mandatory for the winner to re-invest 50 percent of the total value of the deal in the domestic defence and civil aviation market as offsets.

IAF Chief flies in Rafale

IAF Chief in France, will visit Rafale production line

In a first high-level visit post selection of French Rafale as the lowest bidder for the 126 fighter jets, the Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne is in France for a four-day visit. The Chief will also be going to the production facility fo Rafale "to get a first hand impression of the MMRCA". 

Hers is IAF release-

"Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne, is on a four day goodwill visit to France. During the visit, he is scheduled to call on Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, the new French Defence Minister, Admiral Édouard Guillaud, French Chief of Defence Staff, Ingenieur Général de l'Armement (IGA) Laurent Collet-Billon, Director-General of the French Defence Technology and Procurement Agency (DGA) and General Jean-Paul Paloméros, Chief of Staff of the French Air Force, to discuss a wide range of bilateral issues on the ongoing defence cooperation between India and France.

The visit that aims at expanding the already robust bilateral military to military ties between the two countries, would see the IAF Chief visit, Cognac, Istres and St.Dizier airbases of the French Air Force (FAF). At St.Dizier, he would be visiting the Rafale Squadron to get an first hand impression of the MMRCA, selected by the IAF, as also to see Rafale’s Production facilities at Mérignac, besides overseeing the progress of the various projects being carried forward as joint ventures between the two countries. He would also be interacting with the IAF’s Project Management Team members for the Mirage- 2000 Upgrade Project.

The visit is significant, as it is the first high level official visit from India to France after the new government has taken office.

The Chief of the Staff, French Air Force, General Jean-Paul Paloméros, had been on a Air Force to Air Force visit to India during September last year, where he had also visited some of the IAF’s airbases including Jaisalmer and Gwalior."