Sunday, 27 September 2015 - 8:55am IST | Place: New Delhi | Agency: dna | From the print edition
Nepalese deputy PM and home minister, Bamdev Gautam told dna in an interview that it is keeping its options open and will not bow to any pressure.
Nepalese people and Madhesi party leaders block a bridge in Birgunj, a town on the border with India, around 300 kilometers (200 miles) east of Kathmandu on Friday PTI
Upping the ante, said it is looking at establishing contacts with through land route and with other countries through air if the blockade on India border does not end soon.
Nepalese deputy PM and home minister, told dna in an interview that it is keeping its options open and will not bow to any pressure.
“It is true that India is a strong country and a big economy but to live we will have to make alternative arrangements. It is within our rights to have alternative arrangements… Nepal has never bowed down to anyone and will not bow even now. We will establish contact with China through land and with other countries through air to get the essential supplies,” said Guatam.
Blaming squarely the government of India, Gautam said that all border check posts along Indian border have closed down and the Indian government has fully supported the blockade.
“Indian representatives say it is not Indian government’s policy but the Indian officials at the border have told us that they are doing it as per the instructions of their government. This blockade has been done in favour of Madhesi parties. About 29-30 years ago India had done blockade for several days when was the PM then Nepal showed that Nepal can never be bowed down due to blockade,” said Gautam.
People in have started feeling the pangs of the blockade on the India-Nepal border that continued for the fourth successive day. Several petrol pumps reported shortage of fuel supply in the valley and many turned the vehicles away.
Sources in the government said that the road leading to border check point with China at Tatopani near Sindhupal Chowk that was devastated in the earthquake is being rebuilt and will not take more than seven days to complete.
“It is hardly 114 kilometres from Kathmandu and once ready supplies can reach Kathmandu within 4-6 hours. The other border check point with China, Syapra Besi near Nuakot is also only 132 kilometres away and can be opened up in a few months if needed. China would be more than happy to help us,” said a highly-placed Nepalese government official.
India, however, considers this as more of a posturing by Nepal. Senior government sources dealing with the situation said, it is easier said than done as Nepal knows how much it depends on India, and the Chinese will also not be interested. Nepal is using this only as a bargaining chip.
“The Madhesis have genuine concerns which have not been met by Nepal’s constitution. Nepal would do well if it calls the Madhesis, listens to them and at least gives them some assurance to end this crisis and blockade,” said a senior official.
It's a phrase thrown about often in this business, but in the compulsively bumpy world of Indian aviation procurement, there are few occasions when an item chosen for the armed forces is a certain, unequivocal game-changer. The Indian government's decision to clear a deal for 15 Boeing Ch-47F Chinook heavy lift helicopters steps far from the slapdash, frequently fallible procurement paths the armed forces have taken all too often. For one thing, the Chinook . Two, the government's decision to close the deal comes nearly three years of negotiations later -- an indication, perhaps and hopefully, that India has closed the best deal it could for the product. But now that the decks are truly cleared for a direct commercial sale contract between the Indian MoD and Boeing Defense, it's useful to examine sentiments within the Indian Air Force, which will operate the Chinooks possibly from its Chandigarh base, but possible closer to the country's capital too. Here are five reasons why the CH-47F Chinook in IAF colours (as detailed for the first time by artist Saurav Chordia above) could be a true game-changer in Indian service:
1. The IAF has had a troubled run with its spare heavylift rotory wing capability. Of the four it bought in the eighties, three remain (one was written off after a severe crash-landing five years ago). But even before the accident, the platform has had typically severe serviceability issues that have mostly seen one in the air at any given time -- not the worst of scenarios for such a small fleet, but grossly less than what the IAF wanted from the beasts. Replaced with a full-sized fleet of new generation helicopters will give IAF planners the kind of heavylift rotor wing flexibility they've never had before. Squadron-sized numbers (and, of course, newer circumstances) will shore up serviceability and put more numbers in pilots' hands. The last few years have demonstrated that the ability to have more than one of these helicopters in the air at any given time is the difference, quite literally, between life and death. More numbers of heavylift copters in aero-bridge operations during humanitarian relief or disaster reconstruction work will be crucial.
2. Trials in 2010-11 convinced the IAF in no small measure that the tandem rotor capability would enormously boost what they were already doing with the conventionally framed Mi-26, especially in high-altitude operations. A comparison of what the tandem rotored Chinook could do in terms of landing approach capability, centre of gravity envelope etc., as opposed to the proved to be too substantive to ignore. In simple terms, the IAF was convinced the Chinook could get more done, cleaner and safer.
3. The Chinook is substantially smaller and with a lower payload capacity than the Mi-26, but a higher degree of loading/unloading flexibility (especially rear loading) coupled with a significantly greater number of cargo/troops/equipment configurations convinced the IAF that switching to the tandem rotor machine made more sense than explore the very capable Mi-26T2, that sports better engines, avionics and safety features. The Chinook's performance with under-slung cargo also won the IAF over.
4. The Chinook's flying qualities, agility in the air, significantly lower rotor diameter and landing flexibility will allow the IAF to fly it where it couldn't have even thought of taking the Mi-26. High altitude border areas, along narrow ridges and valleys, to deliver equipment, humans or materials for construction, road-building/repair, communications infrastructure building, disaster relief, casualty evacuation or any of the several other mission profiles the Chinook is built for. What is that a gamechanger? Because the IAF cannot satisfactorily deliver payloads to precise sites. If not fully in some areas, tandem rotor operations will close the gap significantly, allowing the IAF to deliver closer to sites of requirement than ever before.
5. The Chinook is only the second heavylift helicopter the IAF will have ever operated. Unlike the Mi-26 that has performed strictly a troop/cargo transport role, the Chinook will obviously have a special missions profile as well. While the IAF has been looking at the MH-47 special operations configuration, the CH-47F variant it has chosen will definitely be used for special operations training and exercises, and integrated with the larger joint special forces orbat.
In what will provide the Indian Air Force (IAF) with additional lethality, the actual integration process of the BrahMos missile with the frontline fighter jet, the Sukhoi-30-MKI, is set to commence.The integration, including mating of the 2.4 tonne (2,400 kg) missile — a miniature version of the existing 3,000 kg Naval and land-based BrahMos — is slated to commence in October. It would include four stages of testing with progress depending on the validation of each step and is expected to be a six-month process, concluding in March next year.
The Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of BrahMos Aerospace, Dr Sudhir Kumar Mishra, confirmed to The Tribune: “Tests of Sukhois carrying BrahMoS are slated to commence in October. Integration of the missile with the Sukhoi-30-MKI is a complex system.”
Sources said the first test will be with dead weight of 2,400 kg. The second test will be by carrying a dummy missile and firing it from the plane. The third and fourth stages of testing are scheduled with actual missiles — but without the 200 kg warhead — and will validate the guidance system and accuracy. All tests will be carried out over the Bay of Bengal.
The BrahMos missile — a joint venture between India and Russia — is a two-stage supersonic cruise missile that, once fired, skims along the surface at a height of just 3-4 metre, making it impossible for enemy radars to pick it up. The IAF version will include a “free fall” system allowing the pilot to fire the missile from an altitude as low as 1,000 feet and as high as 46,000 feet. The missile is programmed to adjust the “free fall” and strike at the selected target. This adjustment of the free fall will be part of the four-stage test.
The missile has a 290-km range developed for destruction of high value and strategic installation. The missile has mid-course inertial guidance followed by homing guidance.
A major breakthrough could be imminent in the Rafale fighter aircraft deal with the French side agreeing to an Indian condition that calls for investing 50% of the deal value in 'Make in India' projects in the defence, security and aerospace sectors. A top team from Paris, led by Engineer-General Stephane Reb, director of the International Directorate of the DGA (General Directorate for Armament) of the French ministry of defence will be in Delhi on Tuesday to work out final price negotiations and take the deal to the final stage, sources familiar with the development told ET.
The French manufacturers of the Rafale fighter will commit to making investments worth $4.5 billion in the Indian industry as part of the deal. Sources aware of the matter told ET that while the French side has accepted in principle a 50% offset clause, which requires the Rafale manufacturers to invest half the deal value in India, the government will also liberalise its stringent defence offsets policy to address some specific concerns of the manufacturer.
A final pact could be ready within a month. Negotiations had been stalled over these offset conditions.
The two sides are now working to finalise the draft Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) that will be signed as part of the deal after the logjam over offsets and pricing was broken following top-level political intervention from New Delhi and Paris. Air Marshal SPB Sinha, the deputy chief of air staff, will lead the final price discussions from the Indian side. As reported by ET, the Rafale deal had been delayed following differences on pricing as well as the offsets clause between the two sides.
The logjam has been broken with a broad agreement on hybrid offsets in which French investments in other Make in India projects will also be considered as meeting offset obligations.
The investments in India could include civilian projects that companies like Dassault and Thales are pursuing. One of the Make in India investments is likely to be in the manufacturing of components of the French Falcon executive jets as well as in the smart city projects of Thales.
On September 1, the Indian negotiating team had been given a go-ahead to conclude the deal following a top-level defence acquisition meet in the Capital. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his French counterpart in the US on Monday and is expected to discuss the state of the negotiations.
The deal, clinched in principal during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Paris trip in April, has since been stuck for over four months now.
The government has decided to induct at least seven squadrons of the made-in-India Tejas Mark 1-A Light Combat Aircraft or LCA into the Indian Air Force, to make up for a shortage of fighters.
The Tejas Mark 1-A is slightly more proficient than the first-cut home-made LCA, the Tejas, but the aircraft still has some flaws. For one, there are doubts about its ability to carry the required payload of weapons. Also, its Indian-made radar needs to be replaced with an Israeli radar.
The IAF has agreed to induct the Tejas Mark 1-A as it urgently needs more than 120 lightweight fighters to be used for air defence and to intercept enemy aircraft. A squadron has about 16 to 18 aircraft each.
It had earlier agreed to induct 40 Tejas',
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and defence public sector unit Hindustan Aeronautics Limited or HAL, who are manufacturing the LCA have promised a more agile Mark 1-A.
Sources, told NDTV that changes will be made in the ballast and the landing gear making the Tejas Mark 1-A about 1000 kg lighter than its 6500-kg predecessor. Delivery can begin next year.
Defence Ministry sources told NDTV that "the IAF needs to have a minimum number of aircraft at all times. Till the time the indigenously built Tejas Mark II is ready this is best option available."
The Tejas Mark 2, expected to address the flaws in the Mark 1-A, will not be ready for induction or series production before 2024-2025.
The Air Force will find itself very short of fighters after it decommissions three squadrons of its MiG 21 and one MiG 27 squadron this year; it will lose the rest of its 10-odd squadrons of the vintage Russian-made MiGs by 2022.
The government is buying 32 Rafale fighters from France to be delivered in the next five years.
on 28th, IN held an event for the medias to introduce the coming INS Kochi..
5 images from ChinaNews Agency...as usual, IN only opened the front deck or Heli deck of a vessel to most of the media/Public.