News for Mirage-2000 upgrade

[ejaz007]

India Bows to Dassault Maintenance Demands
By vivek raghuvanshi
Published: 5 Aug 12:16 EDT (16:16 GMT) Print | Email

NEW DELHI - After resolving differences on technical issues, French company Dassault and the Indian Defence Ministry inked an agreement Aug. 5 on maintenance of the Indian Air Force's Mirage aircraft fleet.

Ministry sources said a six-month stalemate between the two sides was finally broken when the Indian side acceded to the French company's demands pertaining to charges on liquidated damages.

Half of the Air Force's 46 Mirage 2000-H aircraft faced grounding had the stalemate persisted, a service official said.

Dassault had insisted on renewing the maintenance contract only if liquidated charges are calculated at the rate of 0.5 percent of the total contract on a monthly basis. The Defence Ministry wanted the 0.5 percent to be calculated per week.

Sources in the ministry said the Aug. 5 agreement meets Dassault's demand.

Dassault had threatened to take the matter to the courts, which would have led to long delays in Mirage repairs.

The repair contract originally was signed in 1982, when the Mirage aircraft were delivered, and was due for renewal in 2007.

India Bows to Dassault Maintenance Demands - Defense News

 

[ejaz007]

Indian Air Force, Thales, Dassault Rushing Mirage Fighter Upgrade Negotiations
Dated 7/11/2008

The Indian air force appears eager to conclude negotiations with Thales and Dassault Aviation on the offset package for the upgrade of India's 51 Mirage 2000s to the 2000-5 standard (M-2000H/TH upgrade), according to executives here.

It is likely that the contract will be signed before India's general elections in early 2009. But if it's delayed, there is concern there could be a delay of at least two years and an escalation in costs. Thales is not willing to disclose the value of the contract, expected to finish price negotiations by mid-November. A military official says the aircraft fleet is running dangerously low, under 29 squadrons -- 10 less than the minimum required.

The new capabilities include longer-range detection and weapon firing against multiple targets and an extended operating envelope that will allow a border-protection mission, for instance, with two upgraded Mirages instead of the current six, according to Thales.

Once the order is given, within 40 months Thales has committed to retrofitting two aircraft of the first phase in the initial operational configuration, which includes French equipment. Another two will be retrofitted in Bangalore along with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL). The remaining 47 will be assembled in India.

"The project is part of a broader strategic partnership between France and India to be implemented under a government-to-government agreement," says Pierre-Yves Chaltiel, senior vice president for Thales aerospace government programs.

"We'll give India a good level of autonomy," says Gerard Christmann, Thales vice president and general manager of electronic combat solutions in the aerospace division.

The Indian air force and HAL soon will discuss the second phase to organize rotation of the Mirage fleet to maintain some aircraft. Efforts include integration of indigenous equipment, including the Israeli Litening pod that India is not purchasing from Thales.

Thales, which has been successful in making its industrial imprint in India with 350 employees in six locations, says it is exploring cooperation with Indian companies on the technical side of new equipment for missile seekers, as well as radar technology.

The multitrack RDY-3 radar being equipped in the Mirage is the same generation the French air force is equipping on its M-2000D, with an increased range from 40 to 50 nautical miles compared with the existing Radar Doppler Multifunction system.


Indian Air Force, Thales, Dassault Rushing Mirage Fighter Upgrade Negotiations | India Defence

 

[su-47]

I hope we get Rafale for MRCA. IAF loves its Mirages, and Rafale, as the French replacement for the Mirage, seems a good, logical choice for MRCA.

 

[p2prada]

I hope we get Rafale for MRCA. IAF loves its Mirages, and Rafale, as the French replacement for the Mirage, seems a good, logical choice for MRCA.

Yeah! and we can replace the radar with israeli AESA(2052) and work on the rafales to fire russian weapons too. a good mix.

 

[Munir]

Yeah! and we can replace the radar with israeli AESA(2052) and work on the rafales to fire russian weapons too. a good mix.

You guys already had Indian radar, hud etc etc... Why going for Israel?

The fun is that these Mirages will still be a lot less then F16MLU-B52

 

[sudhir007]

Is it worth or worthless deal for paying $40-45 million per plane for upgradation

Rs 10,000cr deal likely for Mirage-2000 upgrade - India - NEWS - The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for Paris on Monday to further consolidate the ‘strategic partnership’ with France, the two

countries are now all set to ink the around Rs 10,000 crore deal to upgrade the Mirage-2000 fighter jets in IAF’s combat fleet. This will be the second mega defence deal to be signed with France in recent times after the ongoing mammoth Rs 18,798 crore project to construct six Scorpene submarines at Mazagon Docks in Mumbai.

With defence secretary Vijay Singh being part of the PM’s entourage to Paris, sources said the announcement about the upgrade of the French-origin Mirages is very much on the cards during the trip. The ‘differences’ over the upgrade project had been ‘resolved’ after almost two years of hard-nosed negotiations, which were bogged down for some time because French companies Dassault Aviation (aircraft manufacturer) and Thales (weapons systems integrator) wanted close to Rs 14,000 crore for the programme.

‘‘The two sides have now arrived at a reasonable price around Rs 10,000 crore. The first four to six Mirages will be upgraded in France, with the rest 50 or so being upgraded in India by Hindustan Aeronautics under transfer of technology,’’ said a source.
Under the upgrade, the entire airframe will be stripped down to be re-wired and re-equipped with new avionics, mission computers, glass cockpits, helmet-mounted displays, electronic warfare suites and of course weapon systems to extend and enhance the operational life of the multi-role fighters by around 20 years.

India had first inducted 40 Mirages in the mid-1980s, with over 20 more being bought in later years. IAF has had a ‘good’ experience with the fighters, which successfully carried out ‘targeted bombings’ during the 1999 Kargil conflict. Some years ago, IAF had even pitched for the advanced Mirage-2000-Vs for its gigantic $10-billion project for 126 new medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA).

The defence ministry, however, told IAF to go in for ‘a global tender’ for the MMRCA project, and France too closed its Mirage production line. Now, the French Rafale is competing with American F/A-18 ‘Super Hornet’ (Boeing) and F-16 ‘Falcon’ (Lockheed Martin), Russian MiG-35 (United Aircraft Corporation), Swedish Gripen (Saab) and Eurofighter Typhoon (consortium of British, German, Spanish and Italian companies) in the hotly-contested MMRCA race.

 

[ouiouiouiouiouioui]

there are no new Mirages available in the market, Dussault has closed the line for Mirage. Infact the whole MRCA issue is due to the non availability of Mirage. Around 2000-01 IAF had initially wanted 126 Mirage, but however the MOD dragged the issue long enough for Dssault to close the Mirage line so that they can work on Rafale and then was born the competition for MRCA,

 

[Rajkumar]

Is it worth or worthless deal for paying $40-45 million per plane for up gradation

what are you talking about. MKI costs 45 million/plane then why would we pay for old mirage for just up gradation?
simple logic

 

[ouiouiouiouiouioui]

ASIAN DEFENCE: Mirage-2000 upgrade will plug India’s combat jet gap

check this out ..

 

[RPK]

there are no new Mirages available in the market, Dussault has closed the line for Mirage. Infact the whole MRCA issue is due to the non availability of Mirage. Around 2000-01 IAF had initially wanted 126 Mirage, but however the MOD dragged the issue long enough for Dssault to close the Mirage line so that they can work on Rafale and then was born the competition for MRCA,

The upgrade will be done at HAL india with TOT

 

[ouiouiouiouiouioui]

yes it is know already that this is with TOT....

In February 2009 the IAF was on the verge of awarding a contract for the upgrade of the Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft to French company Thales Aerospace at an estimated cost of more than Rs 100 crore per aircraft. The entire fleet of 51 Mirage 2000 aircraft would be upgraded to Mirage 2000-9. The Mirage upgradation would entail the upgradation of the avionics suite ( glass cockpit, inertial navigation system, open system architecture computer etc.) and the new Thales AESA radar and electronic warfare suite ( radar warning receiver, self- protection jammer etc), and arming the aircraft with MBDA MICA air-to-air missiles that have beyond visual range.

Under the Thales proposal, the company would deliver the first two aircraft from its facilities in France within 40 months of the signing of the contract, and would simultaneously assist Hindustan Aircraft Limited (HAL) in upgrading another two aircraft in India in the same time frame. Thereafter, HAL would upgrade one of the remaining 47 aircraft every month

 

[ouiouiouiouiouioui]

Word is that the upgrade will bring India’s Mirages to the full Mirage 2000v5 Mk 2 standard, including a new RDY-3 radar with greater air-air and air-ground capability, a new all-digital cockpit, and improved electronic warfare systems. These will be tied into a joint tactical information data link system (JTIDS, usually Link 16 compatible but not always), plus helmet-mounted sights for off-bore-sight heat-seeking missiles. As part of the upgrade, the aircraft will also be equipped with MBDA’s Mica family of medium range missiles.

MBDA will probably be unamused by India Defence’s December 2006 description of its wares as “an advanced medium-range missile that is the French counterpart to the more capable American AMRAAM missile.” As DID’s AMRAAM coverage noted, while the MICA’s radar-guided version has mediocre range, it also has a heat-seeking IR version that offers a potent medium range ‘no warning’ targeting option. MICA would replace India’s existing radar-guided Super 350 MRAAM and Magic-II short-range infared missiles, offering better performance and range.

Work on the upgrades would be performed by a French-Indian consortium including Dassault (aircraft manufacturer), Thales (weapons systems integrator), MBDA (missiles) and India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

 

[sudhir007]

RDY-3 it is AESA radar ?? and how many mica missile we get from this deal

 

[Mig-29]

http://livefist.blogspot.com/2009/07/heart-of-iaf-mirage-2000-upgrade.html

 

[Mig-29]

Now i am a little bit confused as per the reports which is available to me it says that it will be upgraded with RDY-2 and here some reports say RDY-3.
Can anyone please clarify.