India exercises option for six more Hercules transport aircraft

[sathya]

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has exercised its options for a further six Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules transport aircraft under a USD564.7 million contract modification announced by the US Department of Defense (DoD) on 18 July.

The deal includes field service representatives and three years of post-delivery support after the first aircraft delivery, and is set to run to 30 April 2020. Once delivered, these new aircraft will be based at Panagargh in eastern India, the proposed headquarters of the Indian Army's new XVII Mountain Strike Corps.

India received the first of its initial batch of six C-130J-30 aircraft in February 2011, with the remaining five arriving in-country by September of that year. Operated by the specially formed 77 Squadron at Hindon Airbase, near New Delhi, these aircraft are used primarily for special forces operations. In August 2013 a C-130J-30 demonstrated the type's ability to support Indian military operations in the far north of the country when it landed on the world's highest airstrip in the Himalayan Ladakh region bordering China.

With six aircraft already in service, the IAF signed a letter of offer and acceptance for the additional six platforms in December 2013. The total value of these six new platforms, including engines, spares, and support is USD1.1 billion, bringing the cumulative value of India's C-130J-30 buy to USD2.06 billion.

In May 2014 an IAF C-130J-30 crashed on take-off near Gwalior, around 370 km southwest of New Delhi, killing all five crew members. Official sources ascribed the cause of that incident to wake turbulence, rather than any mechanical fault with the aircraft.

The IAF's contract to procure additional C-130J-30 platforms is part of a wider recapitalisation and build-up of India's airlift capability. Over recent years, the country has signed for 10 (and received 8 to date) Boeing C-17 Globemaster III strategic transport aircraft, and is developing with Russia a tactical twin-engined jet transport aircraft, known as the Multirole Transport Aircraft (MTA).

Also, the IAF has received 12 Dornier Do-228 light transport aircraft manufactured indigenously by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and has launched a competition to buy 56 light/medium tactical transport aircraft. The frontrunners for that requirement are the Airbus DS C295 and Alenia Aermacchi C-27J aircraft. Finally, in 2009 the IAF signed a USD398 million contract with Ukrspetsexport, the Ukrainian state defence export agency, to upgrade the IAF's fleet of Antonov An-32 'Cline' transport aircraft to extend their service lives from 20 to 40 years.

 

[trident2010]

Good development !!

 

[Koovie]

Very good

So is the reason for the recent C 130 crash determined (officially) ?

 

[Contrarian]

What is the IAF thinking!

Why are they so highly prioritizing the Transport fleet?
They have practically doubled their airlift capacity in the last 3 years and they are still prioritizing it!
- Even now they have ordered the repeat C-130J.
- You can bet that After this their next contract will order the remaining 6 C-17 (India is already the second largest operator of C-17 after USAF)
- The Avro replacement tender was finalized two days back - for 52 planes iirc.

Whereas the most urgently required assets in IAF are the Tankers and AWACS.

The Tanker negotiations with Airbus have been held on for aeons and the additional AWACS are nothing more than a mirage(pun not intended) at the moment, even the two which are to be bought from Israel.

As of this moment IAF does not even have enough Tankers and AWACS to effectively cover 1 front of a war, let alone the stated goal of preparing for 2 fronts.

@Capt.Popeye @Oscar @sancho @Dillinger

 

[nik22]

What is the IAF thinking!

Why are they so highly prioritizing the Transport fleet?
They have practically doubled their airlift capacity in the last 3 years and they are still prioritizing it!
- Even now they have ordered the repeat C-130J.
- You can bet that After this their next contract will order the remaining 6 C-17 (India is already the second largest operator of C-17 after USAF)
- The Avro replacement tender was finalized two days back - for 52 planes iirc.

Whereas the most urgently required assets in IAF are the Tankers and AWACS.

The Tanker negotiations with Airbus have been held on for aeons and the additional AWACS are nothing more than a mirage(pun not intended) at the moment, even the two which are to be bought from Israel.

As of this moment IAF does not even have enough Tankers and AWACS to effectively cover 1 front of a war, let alone the stated goal of preparing for 2 fronts.

@Capt.Popeye @Oscar @sancho @Dillinger

May be they think "Lets get whatever they can get quickly. Otherwise they won't get this either". One thing that is going in favor of US is FMS route. Since other require contracts/negotiation who knows how many years more it would take.
BTW, a noob question. How many tankers India have and need? Does India really need too many tankers? Sukhoi carries huge quantity of Fuel and we would just need tankers for China. I do not know if any other fighter in Indian inventory would require in air refueling. AWACS I can think that 3 more may be required. But there has not been any urgency shown by IAF, so they have some plan?

 

[Abingdonboy]

So is the reason for the recent C 130 crash determined (officially) ?

I don't think it has been officially confirmed but unofficially the IAF has confirmed it was pilot error AFAIK- the Hercs were carrying out low level para-drop training which is an incredibly dangerous task as is. Lessons will be learnt by the IAF no doubt.

What is the IAF thinking!

Why are they so highly prioritizing the Transport fleet?
They have practically doubled their airlift capacity in the last 3 years and they are still prioritizing it!
- Even now they have ordered the repeat C-130J.
- You can bet that After this their next contract will order the remaining 6 C-17 (India is already the second largest operator of C-17 after USAF)
- The Avro replacement tender was finalized two days back - for 52 planes iirc.

Whereas the most urgently required assets in IAF are the Tankers and AWACS.

The Tanker negotiations with Airbus have been held on for aeons and the additional AWACS are nothing more than a mirage(pun not intended) at the moment, even the two which are to be bought from Israel.

As of this moment IAF does not even have enough Tankers and AWACS to effectively cover 1 front of a war, let alone the stated goal of preparing for 2 fronts.

@Capt.Popeye @Oscar @sancho @Dillinger

I guess it is because both the C-130J-30 and C-17 are procured under a single vendor process under the FMS route- about as efficient as the Indian procurement process can be right now. The A330 MRTT deal, let's not forget, has faced issues for years- it had been selected years ago and then cancelled after Fin Min concerns about its unit price and the Midas being cheaper up front, the bid had to be restarted (this time taking into account life cycle costs thank god) only for some issues being raised last year about some long dormant probe into Airbus (all this nonsense seems to have been cleared up now). I have no idea what is going on with the 2 follow-on PHALCON AWACS and I agree the IAF should be perusing this with more vigour but who knows what is going on behind the scenes.

To be fair the transport fleet is the backbone of any AF and it is very heartening to see the IAF is paying attention to this before the situation gets serious. The IAF in all honesty is modernising across the board- attack helos, transport helos, transport a/c, fighters, AARs etc etc just some elements of this are proving to come online quicker than others.


Btw bro it is 56 not 52 a/c for the Avro replacement.

BTW, a noob question. How many tankers India have and need? Does India really need too many tankers?

IAF has 6 IL-78MKI AARs right now, 6 A330 MRTT (which will also add to the IAF's airlift capacity btw @Contrarian ) will be ordered soon, a further 6 are part of the follow-on clause of that procurement. The IN is also interested in AARs so will likely be getting their own A330 MRTT fleet by the end of the decade. The total number of AARs the IAF needs by 2022 when the IAF has 42 fighter SQDs, 12 C-130J-30s, 45+ MTAs (mock ups have shown IFR probes) and 8+ AWACS with IFR capability would probably be around the 20-22 mark IMHO (there s likely also to be other a/c in service with India by 2022 with IFR capability that I haven't even considered- V-22 perhaps? C-27Js might even come with IFR probes) . The IAF doesn't do a whole lot of power projection beyond Indian shores and as you pointed out the MKI has a huge internal fuel capacity as is not to mention the IAF uses buddy-buddy refuelling for the MKIs (as will their Rafales) so there isn't a need for many more than that at 2022 but beyond 2022 they will need to be adding more for sure.

 

[axisofevil]

We indians have lost many opportunities because of foolishness. When we Got Independence, US was very supportive and enthusiastic about India, as it was the most populous democracy. Nehru looked the other way, wanting more to be a socialistic. Tried to show his statesmanship writing stupid letters to UN suggesting plebiscite in Kashmir and what not. We are still struggling about it. US (JFK) offered India with a ready made nuclear bomb to explode and get into the Nuclear Haves club. We refused. Only Nixon was very critical of us. Then we sided with Soviet Russia during Cold War and invented the stupid concept of NAM rejecting US's extended hand of partnership, because of which they had to befriend Pakistan, which made Pakistan become at par with India. We have rejected every partnership call from Americans, whereas they have helped us so much, the last one being in the Nuclear supplier Group's acceptance of India as a nuclear power even though we haven't signed NPT. Today, when China is encircling us from all direction, a global situation is emerging where US is trying to check China as China is claiming land of almost all its neighbours, not just our Arunachal Pradesh. I truly hope we don't blow this opportunity up. Life is a journey. Wherever we see opportunity we should make good use of it. The breaking up of USSR and Putin ignoring India after that; the 1965 war with China should tell us that there are no permanent friends in this world. It's all issue based. And nothing but America is a better natural ally of India as have been acknowledged by our recent leaders. Let's make good use of it rather than shying away from it. Please, please, please, DON'T BLOW IT THIS TIME..

 

[cirr]

Build your own damn aircrafts。

 

[HariPrasad]

Very good

So is the reason for the recent C 130 crash determined (officially) ?

Yes, There was no fault with aircraft.

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

Build your own damn aircrafts。

We are building - UAC/HAL Il-214 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Genesis]

We are building - UAC/HAL Il-214 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That's a pretty good one, I mean, I don't know about the Indian reservation about buying chinese weapons, I'm comfortable with buying Indian if it's good. Since we aren't really developing that particular plane at the moment, I think China would be comfortable with buying a few dozen for ASW operations.

The price is very attractive, I doubt China can keep the price down too much even if we develop it ourselves.

It's just 2017 first flight and just one year later it's operational? Seems too fast, these planes require long periods of testing, as safety is a major concern.

 

[Echo_419]

Build your own damn aircrafts。

We are building - UAC/HAL Il-214 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
it takes time to have a mature Aircraft Industry & TOT from these planes will help us further

 

[saikumar]

great news

 

[Capt.Popeye]

What is the IAF thinking!

Why are they so highly prioritizing the Transport fleet?
They have practically doubled their airlift capacity in the last 3 years and they are still prioritizing it!
- Even now they have ordered the repeat C-130J.
- You can bet that After this their next contract will order the remaining 6 C-17 (India is already the second largest operator of C-17 after USAF)
- The Avro replacement tender was finalized two days back - for 52 planes iirc.

Whereas the most urgently required assets in IAF are the Tankers and AWACS.

The Tanker negotiations with Airbus have been held on for aeons and the additional AWACS are nothing more than a mirage(pun not intended) at the moment, even the two which are to be bought from Israel.

As of this moment IAF does not even have enough Tankers and AWACS to effectively cover 1 front of a war, let alone the stated goal of preparing for 2 fronts.

@Capt.Popeye @Oscar @sancho @Dillinger

While Procurement matters for the IAF are not really hunky-dory; there is no need yet to push the "panic-button".

Then; I do not agree that the Refuellers and AEWACS need to be moved to the top of the requirement list. Not just yet. Its the IAF's sword-arm; the fighter-fleet that needs attention, with the over-riding need for Trainers.
So far as the AARs are concerned; the 6 IL-78s in the fleet; which can make do. Of the transports, the C-17s and C-130s can fly nearly the length and breadth of the country on a single load of fuel. While the IL-76s and An-32s soldier on in their assigned roles (which does not call for AARs). While the Avros are strictly relegated to Training and general Hack duties now, they are not a vital part of the IAF's fleet.
Now to answer your question, about prioritising the Transport requirements: its only aimed at the C-130 airlifters. Which is aimed at beefing up the "last-mile" air-delivery capabilities, esp in the North and NE. Hence even the Chinook acquisition MUST be fast-tracked. Even that will then require a repeat order, after juggling other demands on resources.

So far as the AEWACs are concerned; if the Ground based Radar System acquisition is proceeding on track (along with the Aerostat program) then the the AEWACs requirements gets breathing time.

Do not get too carried away with notions of two-front wars. That is appropriate only for the likes of Bharat Verma who saw Wars on every tree-branch or hiding under every bed.

My priority list sees Trainers on the top of the list, alongside attempting to keep the Fighter Fleet numbers. After that sustained effort to upgrade the AD network and beef up the Radar/Sensor network. AEWACs can follow that.
So far as AAR/IFR capability is concerned; the Airbus MRTT aircraft acquisition project seems to be back on track. The 6 AARs in that lot can come through pretty quickly, since its a commercial deal of an existing aircraft model.

 

[acid rain]

Modi's visit will see a lot deals signed.