Indian, US and Japanese Navies in
a tendering competition among eleven international manufacturers. The SW 80 is a two-seat light trainer, capable of take-off and landing on standard as well as semi-prepared surfaces. Pipistrel will begin deliveries in eight months, with contract completion 30 months from the signing date of 12 October 2015. The contract also has options for a further 100 aircraft after the third year.
Ukraine completes delivery of upgraded An-32REs
Ukraine’s state-owned defence conglomerate Ukroboronprom has delivered the eighth (and final) batch of 5 refurbished Antonov An-32RE aircraft to the Indian Air Force, completing the Ukranian portion of the $400 million upgrade programme.
The remaining 64 aircraft were to have been upgraded in India, but no contracts have been awarded for local companies to carry out the work, and the conflict in Ukraine has led to unavailability of the required parts or Ukrainian specialists. The status of the upgrade of the remaining An-32 fleet remains nebulous at the moment, with recent reports suggesting that the work could be carried out either by HAL or the IAF at one of its Base Repair Depots (BRDs).
Naval ships, aircraft and personnel from India, Japan and the USA took part in Exercise Malabar 2015, held off the east coast of India from 14 to 19 October 2015. The exercise featured extensive joint training, both ashore and at sea, with participants from the US Navy including the Nimitz- class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt with embarked Carrier Air Wing 1, Ticonderoga- class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy, Freedom- class littoral combat ship (LCS) USS Fort Worth, a Los Angeles- class attack submarine USS City of Corpus Christi, and a Boeing P-8A patrol aircraft from VP-45 ‘Pelicans’ currently forward deployed to Kadena in Japan. Indian participation included two indigenous guided missile frigates INS Shivalik and INS Betwa, Rajput- class guided missile destroyer INS Ranvijay, fleet support ship INS Shakti, Sindhugosh- class submarine INS Sindhudhvaj, and Boeing P-8Is from INAS 312A. The Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force sent a single Akizuki- class guided missile destroyer, JS Fuyuzuki.
The Malabar series of joint exercises, which commenced in 1992, is seen as a key enabler of enhanced interoperability between the US and Indian Navies, along with regional allies ( see exclusive feature in this issue).
INS Sahyadri to NW Pacific and South China Sea
TExercise Malabar 2015
he indigenous Shivalik- class guided missile frigate INS Sahyadri, commanded by Captain Kunal Singh Rajkumar, conducted a long-range deployment to the South China Sea and North West Pacific, in keeping with the Indian Government’s