25 Years Back
From Vayu Aerospace Review Issue I/1989
More Dornier 228s for Vayudoot
Vayudoot is seeking additional capacity through the acquisition of two Dornier 228s from the Indian Air Force. This unusual proposal has been taken up at the Ministerial level and the IAF reportedly pressured to examine the proposal for two of its five aircraft to be given to Vayudoot with its own requirement being made up by HAL a little later.
The IAF which has contracted for 45 aircraft has received five with further additions expected, the Coast Guard has received three with nine more ready to be delivered and further additions to take place in the coming year.
Sea King Mk.42Bs accepted
After extensive delays owing to a number of factors, the first of a batch of 20 Westland SeaKing Mk.42B ASW helicopters was formally accepted by the Indian Navy at Yeovil in West England in mid-January 1989. The prime reason for delays is attributed to the performance of the helicopter’s mission system avionics, involving GEC Avionics AQS-902B acquistics processor, integrated with the MEL Super Searcher radar, Hermes ESM and Thomson-Sintra Hs 12 dipping sonar.
LCA developments
The first prototype of the light combat aircraft (LCA) will fly in 1992 and its production version will be ready in 1996, according to Dr Kota Harinarayana, LCA programme director, Aeronautical Development Agency.
Describing the LCA project as a national programme, he said that it would be the smallest fighter on the drawing board and belonging to the same generation as the French Rafale, the European Fighter Aircraft (EFA) and the Swedish Gripen.
Dr Harinarayana said that the futuristic fighter would fulfill its role as an advanced tactical fighter in air combat and offensive air support operations. It would be highly agile at subsonic speed and would have supersonic maneuverability. The LCA would be light in weight and could be exported, he said, “It should be better than the F-16”, he added.
The director of the Aeronautical Development Establishment Dr KG Narayanan, said that the simulator for solving some of the issues connected with the design of the LCA was already in existence and another simulator for air-to-air combat would be ready in two to three years.
Resource crunch stalls Defence Plan
It is reported that the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has recently approved the Seventh Five Year Defence Plan, four years after the Plan period began in March 1985. Even the formal approval is ambiguous since it has been passed minus its financial implications.
In a recent communication to the three wings of the Armed Forces, the Defence Ministry views that since just one year remains for the completion of the Plan period, the approval was merely a “formality” and that the Service, cases for various projects and demands pending for the past three or four years would be considered on the usualo case-by-case basis.
Indo-French aerospace technologies
India and France may expand their cooperation in the area of aerospace technologies on the basis of some fresh proposals that were considered during the recent visit of the French President, Mr Francois Mitterrand to India.
New MD, HAL Bangalore Complex
Dr CG Krishnadas Nair took over as Managing Director Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bangalore Complex on 14 December 1988. During the past 17 years, Dr Nair has worked in Research & Development, Quality Control and Manufacturing in various capacities as Manager, Senior Manager and Deputy General Manager. As General Manager, he was the Chief Executive of the two manufacturing Divisions viz. Foundry & Forge and Engine Divisions and very recently as the Executive Director of HAL before assuming the present position as Managing Director.
Indian concern on F-16s for PAF
The Indian Ambassador to the United States met the US UnderSecretary of State for Political Affairs, Michael Armacost to convey India’s concern at Pakistan’s request to the US Government for a further supply of F-16 fighter aircraft to augment its fleet. It has been reported that Pakistan, which already has about 40 F-16s is now seeking to add 60 more, raising the overall number to 100.
Mr Armacost is understood to have confirmed that Pakistan had asked for additional F-16s and said the request was being kept in view, but so far no action has been initiated.
Indian Army : new equipment displayed
Two recent acquisitions of the Indian Army were displayed to the public for the first time on 26 January 1989, during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi. These were the ‘Kartik’ Bridge Laying Tank (BLT), developed indigenously by the DR&DO and the Osa-AK surface-to-air-missile system recently acquired by the Indian Army for air defence of field formations.
The Indian Army’s Regiment of Artillery, responsible for battlefield air defence, also deploys the ZSU-23-4 ‘Shilka’ multibarrel radar-directed 23mm cannon, the ‘Kvadrat’ (SA-6 ‘Gainful’) mobile SAMs and SA-7 ‘Grail’ shoulder-fired SAMs, apart from Regiments with the Bofors L 40/70 40mm and ZU-23 twin-barrel 23mm cannon.