The order for 788 BEML TATRA vehicles comprises of the supply of different BEML TATRA Variants for the Indian Army. The order consists of 498 numbers of 8×8 vehicles, 278 numbers of 6×6 vehicles with Winch and 12 numbers of 6×6 vehicles without Winch. These 788 BEML TATRA vehicles have to be delivered to Indian Army within a period of 18 months

The BEML TATRA 8×8 vehicles are multi-terrain vehicles used for tank transportation as well as personnel. These are provided with a winch for self recovery and the loading of dead tanks on to the trailer. They are also used for the mounting of RADAR systems as well as bridge laying systems in the Indian Army. The vehicle has a payload capacity of 12000 kilograms.

As for the BEML TATRA 6 x 6 vehicles, they are high mobility vehicles with a payload capacity of 8000 kilograms. These are useful for towing trailers on public roads up to 65,000 kilograms and on terrain conditions trailer weighing up to 16,000 kilograms. These vehicles are also provided with winch for self recovery and recovery of other vehicles. BEML TATRA vehicles are also provided with a centralised tyre inflation/deflation system inside the cabin which enables the inflation/deflation of tyres depending on terrain conditions.

With the addition of this contract for Indian Army, BEML’s order book has crossed the $1.28 billion mark. BEML operates in three core businesses which are mining and construction, rail and metro and defence and aerospace.

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The Rolls-Royce engine contract with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is worth up to £200 million and includes the first Adour engines for the Indian Navy, which will operate 17 of the aircraft.

A press release issued by Rolls-Royce said the BAE Systems Hawk will be powered by the Mk871 variant of the Adour which will be assembled in Bangalore, India, in partnership with HAL. HAL Chairman Ashok Nayak said: “Rolls-Royce has been our trusted partner since 1956, when HAL started producing the Orpheus engine, under licence. Since then the partnership has flourished on programmes like the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer’s Adour Mk871 engine, following on from the production of Adour Mk811 engines for the Jaguar.

Chris Awde, Rolls-Royce Sales and Commercial Director – Defence, said: “This follow-on order for the Adour engine is a huge vote of confidence, both for the capabilities of the engine and the partnership we have developed with HAL for over 50 years.”

Awde announced that this new fleet of Adour engines will bring many advantages to the Indian Air Force and Navy. Pilots will benefit as the engine’s performance and handling make it ideally suited to training, while operating the Adour in the Hawk and the Jaguar will continue to bring commonality benefits and savings.

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Based on evidence available so far, the CBI has charge sheeted M/s. TS Kissan Co. Ltd., New Delhi and M/s. RK Machine Tools, Ludhiana. CBI has indicated in the report that illegal gratification had been paid to Sudipto Ghosh on behalf of some other firms and that some of them may be liable for prosecution at a later stage; depending on the evidence to be collected during the ongoing investigation.

Antony informed parliament that the CBI report indicates that M/s TS Kissan Co Ltd., New Delhi paid Rs. 30 lakhs as illegal gratification to Sudipto Ghosh for getting certain supply orders from HVF Avadi; and that M/s RK Machine Tools had paid illegal gratification of over 2.50 lakh for obtaining certain orders from Ordnance Factory, Chanda & Heavy Vehicles Factory, Avadi.

The investigations conducted by CBI have not implicated other officers of the OFB. In respect of other companies the CBI report indicates that there is a prima facie or circumstantial evidence of payment of illegal gratification to Sudipto Ghosh.

The matter is under further investigation by CBI.

The approximate total value of the contracts with the above firms is given below:

• M/s Singapore Technology, Kinetics Singapore, – NIL.

• M/s Israeli Military Industries. Israel, – US$ 91,24,928, EURO 11,30, 677,545, Rs. 372,29,21,000.

• M/s TS Kissan and Co. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, – Rs. 70,50,04,701.

• M/s RK Machine Tools Pvt. Ltd., Ludhiana; – Rs. 53,83,233,871.

• M/s Rheinmetall Air Defence (RAD) – Nil.

• M/s. Corporation Defence Russia – Nil.

The CBI has recommended blacklisting of the following firms on the basis of their investigation:

• M/s Singapore Technology, Singapore.

• M/s Israeli Military Industries, Israel.

• M/s TS Kissan and Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.

• M/s RK Machine Tools Pvt. Ltd., Ludhiana.

• M/s Rheinmetall Air Defence (RAD) and

• M/s. Corporation Defence Russia.

Antony further stated that the CBI report is being examined in the Indian Defence Ministry.

Further action in the matter will be taken after obtaining the advice of CVC and the Ministry of Law.

Sources in the CBI said the agency has referred the names of individuals involved in the corruption in this case to the designated court in Kolkata which include:

• Sudipta Ghosh, former Director General of Ordnance Factories-cum-the then Chairman, Ordnance Factory Board, Kolkata

• Ashish Bose, Delhi-based private person.

• Pradeep Rana, Delhi-based private person.

• Ramesh Nambiar, the then Additional GM/Sports, Air India.

• J.K.Thapar, Director, M/s T S Kishan & Co. Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi.

• Satish Mahajan, Director, M/s R.K.Machines Tools Ltd., Ludhiana.

• Sunil Handa, Manager, M/s R.K.Machines Tools Ltd., Ludhiana.

• Mohinder Singh Sahni, Chairman of M/s Mokul Group of Companies, New Delhi.

• J.K.Grover, the then Statistical Investigator, National Sample Survey Organisation.

• Kajal Ghosh, W/o Shri Sudipta Ghosh.

Indian defence news and startegic intelligence.

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The Hawk AJTs will be manufactured by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and will be used to train fighter pilots of the Indian Navy. While the current training of the pilots takes place in the Air Force Academy, a parallel training academy will be set-up once the Hawk AJTs are inducted in 2013.

Interestingly, India is on the verge of finalising the terms with the UK-based aircraft manufacturer BAE Systems for buying an additional 57 Hawk AJTs. This would be a follow-on order that India would place with BAE Systems, but the aircraft would be built by HAL at its Bangalore facilities. Of the 57 Hawk AJTs to be ordered, 40 would go to the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the remaining 17 to the Indian Navy.

According to the Indian Navy, the acquisition of the Hawk AJTs is crucial to boost the capabilities of its fighter pilots. To impart training to the aviators in an advanced multi-role fighter like the Hawk AJT is imperative. The Hawk AJT consists of a state-of-the-art avionics suite and navigation/attack system, a modern glass cockpit and HOTAS (Hands on Throttle and Stick) controls.

The Indian Navy is carrying out elaborate modernisation plans as two aircraft carriers, the INS Vikramidtya (Admiral Gorshkov refurbished by Russia) and the indigenously built Air Defence Ship (ADS), are soon to be inducted. Both these are expected to be inducted in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

Besides, Indian Navy is also acquiring roughly 50 fighter planes and will need to train enough aviators. These include the naval Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) built indigenously, MiG-29 K from Russia to be operated from aircraft carriers and eight Boeing P 8I maritime multi-mission aircraft from the U.S.

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According to Defence Ministry, the Bofors FH77B05, now owned by BAE Land Systems, and the IFH 2000 by Singapore Technologies Kinetics (STK) were the only two guns in the competition for the 155mm/52calibre howitzers.

Since the ghost of the Bofors scam in the 1980s looms large over the Congress-led government, the current field trials have been dropped. The Bofors scam involved the then Congress government who were allegedly involved in the kickbacks from the Swedish firm. As for STK which is fielding its IFH 2000 gun, it has also been blacklisted due to its involvement in the state-owned Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) scam.

The Indian Army, as usual, is bearing the brunt of the situation since the artillery modernisation is already six years behind schedule. Even the field trials have been cancelled three times. The Indian Army has been trying to equip its forces with modern artillery for a long time. The saga of trials for acquiring the 155 mm, 52-calibre towed guns began in 2002 and continued till 2006 with the three key players being BAE Systems of UK, Israeli firm Soltam and South African company Denel. While Denel was blacklisted, the other two firms did not match the expectation of the Indian Army. Later, a fresh tender was floated in 2008 and BAE Systems and STK became the main contenders for delivering the guns.

The Indian Army’s artillery modernisation programme, which involves procuring a mix of towed, ultra-light and wheeled/ tracked guns, is estimated to run into Rs 70,000 crore over 10 years. The current acquisition process for the towed long-range heavy artillery guns is nearly worth Rs. 15,000 crores alone.

The Defence Ministry must now decide how to make the artillery modernisation move ahead. Since the BAE gun FH77B05, an offshoot of the Bofors gun is the only competitor, India must decide whether to go for the Pentagon’s foreign military sales (FMS) route since BAE Land Systems is headquartered in the US, or go for re-bidding.

Both these options are opposed by the Indian Army. Firstly, the Indian Army feels re-bidding will get more competitors implying the whole merry-go-round all over again of leading to further delay in modernisation. Secondly, the Indian Army Chief General V K Singh has conveyed to the Defence Minister A.K.Antony that the major defence procurements from the US through the FMS route have several shortcomings. According to sources, the Indian Army has proposed the appointment of corporate lawyers familiar with international negotiations and contracts to help them assess all future defence contracts in order to avert further inconsistency.

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While the US major Northrop Grumman has made presentations to the Indian Navy and Indian Army in the past, the new-found interest for the Airborne Standoff Minefield Detection System (Astamids), which has been demonstrated on Fire Scout, has been the primary reason for India for its acquisition. A letter of request for FMS has been sent to the U.S government.

According to Indian Army, the “Astamids” are undoubtedly the most prolific system to locate mines. The mines, which can be remotely triggered, are embedded four inches below the roads in the insurgency areas of the Indian eastern border.

The algorithms to locate improvised explosive devices through processing “Astamids” imagery will help the paramilitary forces in their counter-insurgency operations. The sensor primarily detects minefields in support of mobile ground forces in day and night conditions. A host of advanced technologies are assimilated in the system to detect surface-emplaced and recently buried patterned mines, as well as randomly scattered mines.

The US has recently conducted Fire Scout flight demonstrations in the United Arab Emirates including missions involving non-line-of-sight operations that showcased Fire Scout’s ability to operate autonomously in remote locations, and its FLIR Systems electro-optical/infrared sensing capabilities used to locate and acquire targets. The flights also demonstrated the vehicle’s real-time imagery-transmission capability.

For India, the Fire Scout M-8B fits the bill in terms of current and future defence scenarios. The MQ-8B Fire Scout is capable of autonomous take off and landing on any aviation warship and at prepared and unprepared landing sites. With its ability to detect, identify, and target tactical threats at sea or ashore, the Fire Scout is the ideal platform to meet India’s rigid surveillance requirements. Fire Scout’s ability to fly multiple payloads such as radar and electro-optical/infrared sensors allows downlink of broad area surveillance and target-specific full motion video to decision makers.

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The two majors who are in the race for this next generation AESA radars are the European Consortium EADS and Israeli company Elta. Although the initial requirement is of ten radars, this co-development deal is expected to be to the tune of $3 billion over the next ten years. This is because the estimates reveal that the Indian defence forces will need close to 600 radars for different types of fighters in the near future.

The tenders for the co-developmental project of advanced radars were floated in December 2009 and only EADS of Europe and Elta of Israel are left in the race following the elimination of other majors like Selex of Italy and Thales of France. While EADS is showcasing its “X” band technology, Elta specialises in the “L” band technology and is promoting its new generation X band antenna. The radar will also be considered for the SU 30 MKI upgrade and modernisation projects for front line fighters of the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force

It seems that Israeli firm Elta stands a better chance to win this contract since India and Israel have defence interactions based on radar acquisitions in the past. Israel has supplied radars in the past to India as well.

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The Phalcon AWACS deal was initiated in 2004 between India, Israel and Russia. The project involved the Israeli Phalcon early-warning radar and communication suites which had to be mounted on the Russian IL-76 heavy-lift military aircraft. The deal was to the tune of $1.1 billion. The last of the three contracted AWACS will be inducted by December, IAF officials indicated.

AWACS has complimented the IAF’s capability in terms of detection and the tracking of troop build-ups or aircraft movements in border areas and enemy territories. Besides detection of incoming cruise missiles and aircraft in a 400 kilometre range in all-weather conditions, AWACS is useful to direct air defence fighters during combat operations against enemy planes. It will provide a much enhanced situational awareness and the capability to truly project aerospace power.

A few months ago, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) noted that the IAF possesses less than the adequate number of surveillance radars needed for providing reliable detection. The PAC has insisted the speeding up of commissioning and installation of medium power radars and low-level transportable radars and the completion of associated civil and development projects be expedited to substantiate air defence assets of the country.

The IAF is consciously pursuing its mission to accomplish maximum air defence security through the induction of a variety of radars like 19 low-level transportable radars (LLTRs), 4 medium-power radars (MPRs), 4 Aerostat and 30 indigenous medium-range Rohini systems. The induction of 19 LLTRs is beginning in October 2011 and the 4 MPRs are expected to be delivered by December 2011. An indigenous mini AWACS programme to the tune of Rs 1,800 crore is also being developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). These homegrown airborne early warning systems will be put on the three Embraer-145 jets being acquired for $210 million from Brazil.

The acquisition of radars is a part of a larger IAF plan which is aiming for the setting up of five nodes of Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) across India. The constant flow and transfer of data from a host of civilian and military radars including AWACS, all networked under IACCS, will enable the viewing of the air situation in ‘real time’. The IAF already has a very robust network called the air force net (AF-net) on which it will ride the IACCS and the operational data links. All the assets that are presently being acquired by the IAF will also have the capability and provisions to plug into this network. The AWACS will form an extremely important component of this command and control structure and will create the necessary transparency in the battle-space.

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A press release issued by the Indian Defence Ministry said the decisions were taken at the series of meetings that the visiting Defence Minister AK Antony had with President James Alix Michel, the Vice President Danny Faure, the Minister for Home Affairs Mr Joel Morgan and the Foreign Minister Jean Paul Adam in Mahe.

Antony is leading a high-level delegation, which included the Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar and the Vice Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral DK Dewan.

Antony said the problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden affects all countries of the world. He shared the concerns of the Seychelles on the increasing reach of the pirates. “This is a problem which calls for cooperation among all countries. The Indian Ocean links us all and is critical for our economic interests. We must cooperate to ensure peace and stability in this region”, he said.

Antony reiterated New Delhi’s assurance, as conveyed by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh during President Michel’s visit to India earlier, for continued cooperation in all fields particularly in the field of Defence and Security. The Prime Minister had announced a $5 million assistance for Defence related projects for Seychelles.

Over and above this, on a specific request from the Seychelles, Antony agreed to provide one new Dornier and two Chetak helicopters from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for maritime surveillance, at the earliest. Although the normal delivery time is 18 to 24 months, he said, New Delhi will try to supply the aircraft in 15 months. During this period, India will provide one of her in-service Dornier Aircraft to carry out maritime surveillance.

Agreeing to a request from the Seychellois side, Antony said India will help them to carry out EEZ surveillance as frequently as possible. He said the Indian Navy will also make additional visits this year to conduct surveillance and hydrographic surveys. During these visits, Seychellois personnel can embark on board the Indian Navy Ships for maintenance training and conduct drills and exercises.  Antony also agreed to offer help for capacity building of the Seychellois Forces.

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A press release issued by the Prime Minister’s office said General Jones’ visit to India is part of the institutionalised dialogue mechanism between the National Security Advisers of India and the USA, which has served as a useful channel of communication between the two countries.

During the visit, the two sides reviewed the status of the strategic partnership between India and the USA, and discussed preparations for the State visit of President Barack Obama to India later this year. Discussions were positive, constructive and forward looking.

Apart from bilateral relations, regional and global issues, including the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, international terrorism, the global governance architecture and emerging threats to international security were also discussed.

During his visit, General James Jones also called on Prime Minister, Defence Minister, Home Minister and Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee.

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