Foray to South Korea signals India's arms export ambitions

[3Idiots]

Foray to South Korea signals India's arms export ambitions

A large DRDO team is heading to Seoul where it will be one of the biggest exhibitors at the Aerospace and Defence Exhibition later this month.

For over six decades, slow progress in developing indigenous defence equipment and a quaint Nehruvian squeamishness about exporting arms have together made India’s presence in the international arms only that of a buyer --- last year the world’s biggest.



Now that has begun to change. A large Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) team is heading to Seoul, in South Korea, where it will be one of the biggest exhibitors at the Aerospace and Defence Exhibition (ADEX-2013) later this month.



The DRDO will display a variety of indigenous defence systems at Seoul, including the Akash surface-to-air missile (SAM), the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), the Pragati surface-to-surface missile (SSM), an airborne early warning system (AEWS) and several other high-technology systems like sonar, battlefield radars, and identification-friend-or-foe (IFF) systems.



After half a century of operating below the international radar, often in the teeth of tough international sanctions, the DRDO’s emergence at Seoul highlights a growing confidence. With Rs 1,57,000 crore worth of DRDO-developed systems already in service with the Indian military and more on the cusp of delivery, the DRDO is targeting the Asia-Pacific region, where the rise of an assertive China is driving strong defence spending.



“A large number of products developed by DRDO and produced by Indian Industry including those being displayed at ADEX-2013, have immense export potential,” says the DRDO.



The military’s reluctance to induct DRDO weaponry into its arsenal has hindered overseas interest in Indian equipment. But that is changing with the army and air force placing large orders of Akash SAM systems, the Tejas fighter entering squadron service, the Arjun tank proving its capability in comparative trials with the Russian T-90, and a string of development successes in ballistic missiles, radars and avionics.



The DRDO chief, Dr Avinash Chander, confirms that at least two south-east Asian countries have expressed interest in buying the Indo-Soviet Brahmos supersonic cruise missile. He has declined to name the countries, but MoD insiders say they include Vietnam and Indonesia. There is also interest in the Akash SAM.



Significant foreign orders would drive down production costs, which are high because the Indian military places such small orders that economies of scale are unobtainable. The air force has so far ordered just one squadron of Tejas (20 aircraft), with one more squadron promised later. The army has ordered just 124 Arjun tanks, while an order of at least 300 tanks is needed for indigenising key components like the thermal imaging sights by purchasing technology and manufacturing them in India.



The DRDO intends to set up a marketing arm, a measure recommended by the Rama Rao Committee in its still classified 2008 report, entitled “Reconfiguring DRDO”. Meanwhile, the DRDO is doing its marketing in-house. In August, it sold an American company the technology to manufacture an Explosive Detection Kit in the US.



“We have been hesitant in showing our capabilities in building weapons. But in ADEX-2013, we will be telling the world that India is here. Our presence at Seoul will provide an opportunity for building technology partnerships for R&D and manufacture, and for creating export potential,” says Chander.



Several private sector companies that have partnered DRDO in manufacturing advanced defence platforms will also attend ADEX-2013. Tata Power (Strategic Electronics Division), which has built two of the Akash launchers that will be on display, will make its presence felt in Seoul. So too will public sector undertakings, Bharat Electronics Ltd and Bharat Dynamics Ltd.



“We want to project not just the DRDO, but all of India’s emerging defence capabilities. Indian industries are well-poised to emerge as Tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers to foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), which will build capabilities and enhance exports,” points out the DRDO chief.



Amongst the hurdles before foreign vendors who choose to partner Indian companies are: obtaining licences to produce defence equipment in India; and obtaining export permissions. The DRDO chief says that these are not major issues, and the MoD would evaluate overseas requests on a case-by-case basis.



ADEX is being held at Seoul from Oct 29 to Nov 3, with more than 30 countries participating. The MoD has planned an Indo-Korean defence meet, where the Minister of State for Defence, Mr Jitendra Singh will deliver the inaugural address, and an Indo-Korean industries meet.


Foray to South Korea signals India's arms export ambitions | Business Standard

 

[surya kiran]

What is Pragati?

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Lol.. :

The DRDO chief, Dr Avinash Chander, confirms that at least two south-east Asian countries have expressed interest in buying the Indo-Soviet Brahmos supersonic cruise missile. He has declined to name the countries, but MoD insiders say they include Vietnam and Indonesia. There is also interest in the Akash SAM.

Lol @ soviet.... (true though) the vietnamese already bought yakhont.. the rumour/news circulation since the past few years should have died by now.. bit i guess... lol..

Same goes for arjun mbt.. only 119-124 ordered/in service... LCA still "likely" to be inducted in 2015..

What is Pragati?

Yellow journalism.. prithvi SSSM = pragati SSSM ...

 

[IND151]

We must aim at increasing our arms export.

The artcle alerady states that Vietnam and Indonesia are interested in Brahmos; there is huge scope for export of Brahmos, Prahar, Nag, Akash SAM etc, along with other weapons.

 

[kurup]

Indian display in Aerospace and Defence Exhibition (ADEX-2013)

Pragati SSM Pragati is an export variant of the Prahar tactical battlefield support missile which was tested in July 2011 and is meant for the Indian Army’s artillery arm.
The system that will be exhibited at Seoul broadly has the same specs as the Prahar though it is being advertised abroad with slightly different ranges than what has been reported domestically for the Prahar (see the specs sheet given below). Importantly, Pragati like Prahar also depends on an indigenous ring laser gyro based inertial navigation system that can receive GPS updates to remove accumulated errors.

Now the market for such tactical battlefield missiles has been expanding in recent times as armies around the world want to possess rocket artillery that would allow them to engage communication and ammunition nodes in the rear. The Chinese and Israelis have been early movers in this market and have exhibited long ranged precision guided systems of this variety in the past few years. The United States has of course sold the ATACMS to its allies here and there. Be that as it may, the fact that a usually conservative MEA has approved the exhibition of offensive weapons overseas for potential sales in a much more concerted manner is indicative of a welcome shift in the Indian mindset. Needless to say, defence exports can help India defray the costs of development and serve as a major tool for diplomacy.

Coming back to the Pragati, if India is able to bring down production costs for this system a large market could exist for it amongst ASEAN and African countries. Now, the Prahar/Pragati configuration shares its missile frame and some avionics with the Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor from DRDO’s ballistic missile defence program. So both the AAD and Prahar/Pragati could actually be produced in tandem facilitating greater economies of scale thereby bringing down costs associated with both sets of systems.

In a manner of speaking, a part of the total R&D costs of the Pragati has in any case been amortized by those expended on developing the basic airframe of the AAD interceptor. Apart from the Pragati the following systems have also made it to Seoul as DRDO delineates in the following release:

AKASH (Surface to Air Missile System) Akash is a medium range surface to air missile system which provides area air defence to mobile, semi-mobile and static vulnerable points/ areas against multi directional air threats. The weapon system can operate in autonomous or group mode of operation. State of the art real time OS and open system architecture of the weapon system provides fully automatic and network centric operation.

ASTRA (Beyond Visual Range Air -to-Air Missile) Astra is a BVR Air-to-Air Missile having high Single Shot Kill Probability (SSKP), and is very reliable. It is an all aspect, all weather missile with active Radar terminal guidance. It has excellent ECCM features, smokeless propulsion and process improved effectiveness in multi-target scenarios. It can be launched in both autonomous and buddy mode operation with features for lock-on before launch (LOBL) and lock-on after launch (LOAL).

ABHYAS (High-speed Expendable Aerial Target) High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) offers a realist threat scenario for practice of weapon systems. HEAT-ABHYAS is an expendable high-speed unmanned aerial target developed by DRDO. ABHYAS is designed for autonomous flying with the help of an autopilot. A lunberg lens in the nose cone improves the RCS of the target for weapon practice. It also has an Acoustic Miss Distance Indicator (AMDI) to indicate the miss distance.

LCA (Light Combat Aircraft-Tejas) The Light Combat Aircraft(LCA) is an indigenous fighter aircraft developed by ADA with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited as its principal partner, in India. The air force variant christened Tejas is the smallest, light weight, multi role, single engine, tactical fighter aircraft with compound delta wing. LCA is being developed to the meet the versatile and stringent requirements of the Indian Air Force (IAF), as its front line multi mission tactical aircraft. LCA fighter has take-off clean weight of 9800 Kg and can carry external stores of up to 3500 kg. The special features of LCA fighter are compound delta Planform, Relaxed static stability, composite structure, fly-by-wire flight control system, glass cockpit, etc., LCA fighter can carry Air-to-Air missiles, Air-to-ground missiles, Anti-ship missiles, Laser guided Bombs, Drop Tanks, Night targeting pod, EW suite and bombs of various weights. LCA Tejas is an amalgamation of contemporary concepts and technologies which makes the aircraft very agile and carefree maneuvering capabilities. LCA fighter has excellent handling qualities and performance characteristics. It rockets off the runway and into the air in a mere 500 meters. It has control harmony and carefree handling characteristics. With efficient fuel consumption and in built air refueling capability LCA Tejas is a contemporary fighter. The Indian Air force has placed production orders for LCA fighter.

LCA Navy (Naval Light Combat Aircraft) The Naval Light Combat Aircraft (LCA Navy) is being developed to meet the requirements of I the ndian Navy. LCA Navy will operate from an Aircraft Carrier with a concept of Ski-jump and lands in 90 meters using an arrester hook engaging an arrestor wire on the ship. Derived from the Air force version it is longitudinally unstable, fly-by-wire aircraft making it an agile war machine. Flight control system of LCA Navy is augmented with Leading Edge Vortex Controller (LEVCON) aiding reduction in approach speed for landing. Auto throttle function incorporated in LCA Navy reduces pilot load by maintaining constant angle of attack during the critical phase of flaw-less carrier landing. Fuel dump system is an additional feature in LCA Navy to enable safe landing by reducing weight in the event of an emergency immediately after launch from a carrier. Landing gear of LCA Navy has been adequately strengthened to withstand increased landing loads in carrier operations. LCA Navy is supersonic at all altitudes and has Air-to-Air, Air-to-Sea and Air-to-Ground roles.

LCA Trainer LCA Trainer is a two seat tandem configuration Air Force Trainer derived from the fighter version. It is mainly used for training purpose, even though it has the capability to launch weapons. It has been an endeavour on the part of the developers to maintain maximum commonality amongst all the LCA variants i.e LCA fighter, LCA Trainer, Navy Trainer and Navy fighter. Front fuselage is modified to accommodate the second cockpit. Both front and rear cockpits of trainer are configured to replicate the Pilot Vehicle Interface (PVI) as in the fighter version. The trainer version has drooped nose for better cockpit vision and larger canopy to accommodate rear cockpit with additional vision for rear cockpit. It has mechanical interconnected control stick, Rudder pedal and throttle. LCA Trainer has been designed not only as a trainer but also as precision weapon launch platform for Air-to-Air, Air-to-Ground, Air-to-Sea missions with effective stores management system capable of handling a wide range of weapons and stores. It can also be equipped with variety of sensors like Multi Mode Radar, Litening Pod and Helmet Mounted Display and Sight (HMDS).

 

[kurup]

Continued ...

AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning and Control) AEW&C systems detect, identify and classify threats present in the surveillance area and act as a command and control center to support different air operations. The system with its multiple Communication and data links alerts and directs fighters against threats while providing “Recognizable Air Surface Picture” to Commanders at Ground Exploitation Stations. It also comprises electronic and communication support measures that interrupt and classify unfriendly radar transmissions and communication signals.

AAAU (Active Antenna Array Unit for Surveillance) The AAAU houses primary Radar (PR) and Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) electronics. The PR is the active electronically steered array Radar with a normal detection range and an extended range against RCS of fighter class of aircraft. Two radiating planar arrays assembled back to back and mounted on top of the aircraft fuselage provide 240 deg Coverage on either side of AAAU. The SSR emits a message querying the target in a particular sector. Replies from the target are automatically associated with the primary radar detections.

TRMM (Active Antenna Array Module) TRMM is the state-of-the-art technology for active array radar which is indigenously developed and productionized with a private sector enterprise. It has undergone severe environmental qualifications for airborne application. An extensive study on thermal aspects carried out and optimized. IFF Interrogator (Identification Friend or Foe System)

The IFF Interrogator is a compact, light-weight system using state-of-the-art technology and can be used for ground/ surface as well as airborne application. It operates as per the recommendation of Annecture-X of ICAO and STANAG 4193. It is designed using VME architecture that provides complete flexibility for futuristic upgrades. Operation in Mode S-level 2 gives capability of selective addressing and data link features which is very critical in dense air-traffic. IFF Transponder (Aid Platform Identification) The Airborne/surface IFF Mk XII(S) transponder is a compact and light weight system and can be tailor made into different form factor depending upon the platform requirement. It is designed using CPCI/SBC based architecture that provides complete flexibility for futuristic upgrades with all the system features as per standard laid down by ICAO/STANAG 4913. It has MIL 1533 and ARNIC 429 interface for integration with mission controller and data computer/ aircraft system.

IFF CIT (Identification System for Fighter class) The Combined Interrogator Transponder is state-of-the-art compact light weight system that can be used in either interrogator mode or transponder mode specially designed for airborne application to avoid fracticide while using BVR weapons. It has Gigabit Ethernet/ MIL 1553/ ARINC 429 interface that are mostly available interfaces for integration with mission controller and other aircraft systems.

WLR (Weapon Locating Radar) WLR is a coherent, electronically scanned pulse doppler radar. The radar automatically locates hostile artillery, mortars and rocket launchers and tracks friendly fire to locate the impact point of friendly artillery fire to issue necessary corrections. The radar is designed to detect projectiles with small cross section across the battle space horizon. The radar uses advanced signal processing techniques for detection and tracking projectiles in the presence of ground, weather clutter and other forms of interference in EW scenario. Vehicle based physical profile of the radar is designed for high mobility, quick deployment and decamp. System is designed to survive physical rigors of battlefield and soft hostile electronic warfare. The radar comes with an advanced navigation system that provides accurate position information. Software advanced solutions compensate for terrain variants like slope.

ROHINI (3D Medium Range Surveillance Radar) 3D Medium Range Surveillance Radar, Rohini is a ground based mechanically scanning Pulse Doppler radar for air space surveillance to detect and track air targets with reliability, even under hostile EW operational environment. The flexible architecture is a reliable and adaptable technology for multiple applications – early warning for air defence weapon system, air defence sensor at airbases. The radar has advanced technologies like digital receiver, programmable signal processor providing high resolution, accuracy, response and information availability. The radar, packaged on two vehicles, is easy to operate, mobile, transportable by air, rail and road, can be deployed and decamped in less than 30 minutes.

BFSR-SR (Battle Field Surveillance Radar – Short Range) BFSR-SR is a battery powered, light weight, man-portable surveillance radar. It can search a specified sector, simultaneously perform track while scan on multiple targets and carry out doppler based classification of various ground surface targets.

ABHAY (Compact Hull Mounted Sonar (HMS) System) ABHAY is an advanced integrated active cum passive sonar system designed for shallow water ASW platforms. It is specifically targeted for installation on smaller platforms such as ASW corvettes, coastal surveillance and patrol vessels. It employs advanced adaptive signal and information processing techniques for detection, tracking & classification of targets. The hardware architecture is based on state of the art open-architecture processor technologies that will enable smooth up-grade of the system capabilities in the future. A compact transducer array, modular front-end signal conditioning hardware and high efficiency switched mode power amplifiers make up the rest of the system.

3G UWACS (Underwater Acoustic Communication System) 3G UWACS is a state-of-the-art Underwater Wireless Acoustic Communication System based on SDR Architecture. This system incorporates advanced modulation and coding techniques in addition to data recording and analysis features. The system offers the user a tunable wideband communication capability over multiple bands in voice and data communication modes. In addition to the enormous flexibility in operation through a comprehensive GUI, it also supports remote operation and monitoring through standard networking technologies.

CTD Logger CTD Logger is a state-of-the-art sensor for measuring the three important oceanographic parameters – salinity, temperature and depth. These parameters form the regional description of ocean. Salinity is determined through conductivity measurement, and depth through pressure measurement. Speed of sound in ocean depends to a large extent on salinity, temperature and depth, thereby necessitating the accurate profiling of these parameters for sound profiling and characterization. As the conventional surveillance systems onboard ships and submarines use the acoustic method of detection and ranging, CTD logger finds immense applications for use in maritime or homeland port security, apart from its use in ocean research. So apart from some key munitions being developed by DRDO that are either already in service with the Indian military or will certainly see service with the Indian military (i.e Astra, Prahar) we also find a host of sensor equipment on display- an area that has emerged as a domestic strength. Of course, the LCA family will also be showcased and I leave you with this video of the LCA during the test phase.

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