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India’s M-MRCA Fighter Competition: Rafale Contract in the Works

India Roster Jaguar Mirage-2000 SU-30 Mig-27 MiG-21bis
IAF: Jaguar, Mirage 2000
SU-30K, MiG-27, MiG-21BiS

Rafale is the “L-1” preferred bidder. (Jan 31/12)

“It’s the biggest fighter aircraft deal since the early 1990s,” said Boeing’s Mark Kronenberg, who runs the company’s Asia/Pacific business. India’s planned multi-billion dollar, 126+ plane jet fighter buy became a contest between Dassault, Saab, MiG, American competitors and EADS’ Eurofighter.

What began as a lightweight fighter competition to replace India’s shrinking MiG-21 interceptor fleet appears to have bifurcated into 2 categories now, and 2 expense tiers. What’s going on? In a word, lots. The participants changed, India’s view of its own needs is changing, and the nature of the order may be changing as well. With the long-delayed release of the official $10 billion RFP, the competition began at last – and like all Indian decisions, it takes a very long time. DID offers an in-depth look at the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition’s changes, the RFP, and the competitors; and also offers an updated timeline regarding competitive moves since this article was first published in March 2006:

On The Verge: Canada’s $4B+ Program for Medium-Heavy Transport Helicopters

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CH-47 Dutch Carrying F-16
Used to be ours…

Final assembly of 1st CH-147F begins; Hangar construction begins; 1st ISS support sub-contracts. (Oct 21/11)

Back in 1991, Canada’s Mulroney government sold the country’s CH-47 Chinook medium-lift helicopter fleet to the Dutch. They cost a lot to maintain and operate, and Canada didn’t need them anyway. Or so they thought. Fast forward to 2002, then 2006. Canada has had boots on the ground in Afghanistan for several years now, but doesn’t have any helicopters capable of operating in the hot and/or high-altitude environment of southern Afghanistan. To support its 2,000 or so troops in Afghanistan, Canada had to rely on favors from US, British, Australian, Polish, and – irony of ironies – Dutch pilots flying CH-47 Chinooks.

Even so, Canada’s “emergency” purchases for Operation Archer never included helicopters. It should have come as a relief, therefore, to learn in June 2006 that the Canadian government had announced a CDN$ 4.7 billion program to purchase 16 “medium-heavy” helicopters for military and “disaster response” roles. It should have, but it didn’t. It took 21 months after this helicopter program was announced before a sole-source RFP was even issued. DID explains the Afghan situation on the ground for Canadian forces, the RFP, the options, the problems, the ultimatum issued by Canada’s Parliament, and the contract(s) for new CH-47F/ CH-147 helicopters.

Korea’s F-X Multi-Role Fighter Buys: Phases 2 & 3

F-15K Past, Now, Future
F-15K Poster: apropos?

Russia declines; Saab steps up. (Jan 28/12)

The ROKAF (Republic of Korea Air Force) originally planned to buy 120 advanced, high-end fighters as its next-generation platform, in order to replace its existing fleet of F-4 Phantom IIs and other aircraft. So far, it has bought 60 fighters in 2 phases. Back in 2002, the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) selected the F-15K advanced derivative of the F-15E Strike Eagle for its Next Generation Fighter Program, and bought 40. In 2008, a 2nd contract was signed for 20 more F-15ks, with slight modifications.

Now the 3rd phase looms, and the question is whether it will be a variant of their existing fleet, or something new. While the DAPA procurement agency dreamed of developing their own “5th generation” aircraft for Phase 3, reality eventually had its say. Now, foreign manufacturers are offering the ROKAF a number of options…

Continue Reading… »

Yakkity Yak - Don’t Talk Back! Syria’s Russian Jet Order

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Yak-130 Armed Runway
Yak-130

Russian media are reporting that Syria has signed a $550-million contract with Russia’s state-owned Rosoboronexport arms export agency, involving 36 Yak-130 trainer and light attack jets. The deal was reportedly struck in December 2011, with the Yakolev Design Bureau as the type owner, Irkut as the builder, and jets to be supplied once Syria makes a pre-payment.

Irkut recently received a full-rate production order from the Russian VVS, and the Yak-130 has also enjoyed export success in Algeria and possibly in Kazakhstan. It has lost other international competitions, most notably in Indonesia, but retains a unique global position as a lead-in fighter trainer that can also serve as a heavily-armed ground attack and counterinsurgency aircraft. That could be very useful to the Assad regime, which is receiving open Russian support against strong domestic unrest – if, and only if, the regime survives long enough to take delivery.

Neighboring Turkey has quietly but firmly placed itself on the other side of that bet, partly as a form of payback for Syria’s long support of Kurdish PKK insurgents. Russian analyst Ruslan Pukhov is correct that this situation introduces a strong element of risk for Russia, but he is less correct when he says that counterinsurgency (COIN) support is a job for cheaper planes. In terms of sellers willing to deal with Syria, the Yak-130 is the low-budget, low-risk fixed-wing COIN alternative, which also patches a potentially serious training hole that could deliver a coup de grace to the existing Syrian Air Force. See also: Russia’s RIA Novosti | Saudi Arabia’s Arab News | Israel’s Arutz Sheva | Bloomberg | CNN | Turkey’s Zaman.

India’s ATV SSBN Submarine Project

SSN Akula Class
SSN Akula Class
DII

Russia hands over INS Chakra; Reports on the Arihant Class; Article reorganization. (Jan 23/12)

According to GlobalSecurity.org, India’s ATV (advanced technology vessel) program to build a nuclear-powered submarine began in 1974, and became a serious effort in 1985. The Federation of American Scientists’ December 1996 document “The Indian Strategic Nuclear Submarine Project: An Open Literature Analysis” remains one of the best single open sources on India’s program. Unfortunately, it was compiled over a decade ago and has become rather dated. That project has continued, and this DID Spotlight article continues to collect open source information on the ATV program.

More and more sources were claiming that a rented Russian Akula class boat would be operational as a training vessel by 2009. The concept was correct, but the date was not. A deadly accident during K-152 Nerpa’s sea trials delayed that project, and further complications have pushed its in-service date to 2011. As efforts to move the Nerpa into service continue, India has finally launched its indigenous nuclear sub Arihant, to begin sea trials and testing…

KC-46A USAF Aerial Tanker: From KC-X RFPs to Decision and Execution

KC-135 plane
KC-135: Old as the hills…
DII

DOT&E: KC-46A test schedule & promises “not executable”; USAF disagrees. (Jan 19/12)

DID’s FOCUS articles cover major weapons acquisition programs – and no program is more important to the USAF than its bid to replace its aerial tanker fleet. In January 2007, the big question was whether there would be a competition for the USA’s KC-X proposal, covering 175 production aircraft and 4 test platforms. The total cost for this first phase alone will exceed $25 billion, but America’s aerial tanker fleet demands new planes to replace its KC-135s, whose most recent new delivery was in 1965. Otherwise, unpredictable age or fatigue issues, like the ones that grounded its F-15A-D fighters in 2008, could ground its aerial tankers – and with them, a substantial slice of the USA’s total airpower.

KC-Y and KC-Z contracts may follow in subsequent decades, in order to replace all 530 (195 active; ANG 251; Reserve 84) active tankers, as well as the USAF’s 59 heavy KC-10 tankers that were delivered from 1979-1987. Then again, fiscal and demographic realities may mean that the 179 plane KC-X buy is it for the USAF. Either way, the stakes were huge for all concerned.

In the end, it was Team Boeing’s KC-767 NexGen/ KC-46A (767 derivative) vs. EADS North America’s KC-45A (Airbus KC-30/A330-200 derivative), both within the Pentagon and in the halls of Congress. The financial and employment stakes guaranteed a huge political fight no matter which side won. A fight that ended up sinking, and restarting, the entire program, after Airbus won in February 2008. Three years later, Boeing won the recompete:

Rapid Fire 2012-01-19: Anti anti-access, Area-Denial Denial

  • President Obama’s campaign donors at Lightsquared still have a big problem with GPS interference, according to the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Executive Committee, and the American FAA. The company didn’t mince words in its reaction: “the process used [...] was rigged by manufacturers of GPS receivers and government end users to produce bogus results”. Yeah, those evil FAA types, who want to be able to use GPS for civil aviation.
  • French naval personnel recently got an up-close evaluation of the MV-22 Osprey, aboard USS Bataan [LHD 5]. Even if they don’t buy it, it’s a step toward possible joint operations involving French ships.
  • US Congressman Maurice Hinchey [D-NY-22] who sits on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense will retire at the end of this Congress.
  • Adm. John C. Harvey, Jr. Commander, Fleet Forces Command in the US Navy wants his officers to know their ships and how they evolve: recommended video from last week’s SNA National Symposium.
  • Construction of a solar farm has started at the Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) on the huge China Lake site in California.
  • Researchers at the San Antonio Military Medical Center think they have an E-75 vaccine targeting HER2/neu, that can reduce recurrence of breast & prostrate cancers. Big breakthrough? “Let’s test a vaccine for early-stage cancer on non-terminal patients!”

Equipping Lebanon’s… Government?

Lebanon Military
Lebanese armed forces

Hezbollah takes over; US sending armed aircraft. (Jan 12/12)

The Lebanese Army’s own web site is blunt: “The assistance received from Syria, the USA, and other friendly countries has played a basic role in bridging the gap between needs and available means.”

A number of countries are stepping up to fill those gaps, left in a military ravaged by foreign occupation, a long and losing civil war, and the presence of Hizb’Allah – a foreign-backed private army in Lebanon, with superior firepower. The battle for influence in that country is multi-polar, with countries including the USA, France, and Saudi Arabia moving to counter Syria and Iran’s proxies, and countries like Russia working with independent agendas. The USA has been supplying a wide range of equipment from ammunition to armored vehicles, and is adding tanks, mini-UAVs, and even patrol boats to that list. Belgium has worked to sell some of its own tanks and APCs, France has offered help with Lebanon’s existing French equipment; and in April 2009, Russia went so far as to offer MiG-29 fighters, for free, from its own stocks.

What capabilities would these systems bring? How are those sales going? And how is Lebanon itself changing?

Indonesia’s Air Force Adds More Flankers

Su-27SK Climbing
SU-27SK

6 more SU-30s (Jan 10/12)

Indonesia’s turn toward Russian fighters stemmed partly from necessity. Its 12 remaining F-16A/Bs and 16 remaining F-5E/F fighters experienced severe maintenance problems in the wake of a US embargo, triggered by the Indonesian military’s widespread human rights abuses in East Timor. Its 30+ single-seat Hawk 209 sub-sonic light combat aircraft, derived from the trainer jets the TNI-AU also operates, were the country’s other fighter option.

A $192 million contract began to address that in 2003, by buying 2 SU-27SK single-seat and 2 Su-30MKK twin-seat multi-role fighters from Russia. Indonesia submitted a formal request to buy 24 used F-16s in 2011, but it isn’t backing away from its high-end Flanker fleet. In fact, the TNI-AU has steadily added more:

India’s Aerial Tanker Competition

IL-78 Refuels SU-30MKIs Side
IL-78MK with SU-30MKIs
(click to expand)

767 wins extended life, but no bid; Revised RFP; Initial Round 2 tests complete. (Jan 6/12)

The IAF already operates Russian IL-76 transports, and 6 or 7 related IL-78MK “Midas” aerial tankers. As the Indian Air Force inducts high-value aircraft grows, however, the need for aerial refueling tankers grows along with them. That’s why India plans to buy another 6 aerial tankers, in order to meet its modernization objectives.

By the mid-2000s India’s Air Force was expressing interest in buying modern aerial tankers, AWACS radar planes, maritime patrol aircraft, and other long-range, high-value aircraft. India is receiving IL-76TD based A-50EI Phalcon AWACS radar aircraft from Israel, and has ordered Lockheed Martin’s C-130J-30 Hercules transports for its special forces and Boeing’s 737-derived P-8i Poseidon for maritime patrol. A project is underway to develop a mid-size AWACS aircraft, and a competition will select a similar-sized maritime patrol plane to complement the new P-8is. Aerial tankers enhance the capability of nearly every aircraft in this set, along with India’s fighter fleet.

In order to add to its fleet, however, the IAF must first overcome India’s bureaucracy: