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India Project 15A DDG
Indias IAC
[ Last edited by HangPC2 at 28-5-2008 12:12 AM ] |
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Tata, Mahindra to Buy GM's Hummer?
The two Indian companies competed for Britain's Jaguar and Land Rover. Now they're reportedly interested in the U.S. military-type vehicle
by Nandini Sen Gupta
Related Items
After the acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover, Indian auto companies rank high in the global M&A pecking order. Merchant bankers are learnt to have approached both the Tatas and Mahindras for General Motors' (GM) iconic brand, Hummer.
The all-American SUV and pick-up brand, which is often associated with both US military might and sheer Hollywood style machismo, is up for sale as announced by top GM executives earlier this week.
According to auto industry sources, the successful completion of the Jaguar and Land Rover deal has turned the Tatas into hot property in the auto deal beat. Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), which was also in the fray for the two Brit brands, is the other Indian company that merchant bankers are approaching. Neither company has reportedly taken a definitive decision on the deal yet.
When contacted, a Tata Motors spokesperson refused to comment. An M&M spokesperson also refused to comment on the 'market speculation'. Earlier this week, GM announced that it was stopping production at its four plants that build gasoline-guzzling pickup trucks and SUVs.
It also announced that it is looking at all possibilities for its Hummer brand, including a complete sale. General Motors CEO, Rick Wagoner, said, "At this point, we are considering all options for the Hummer brand, everything from a complete revamp of the product line up to a complete sale of the brand."
The move, along with a sharper focus on its electric concept Volt, are a reaction to gas prices and increasing mileage consciousness in the US.
Although an iconic brand, the Hummer has turned into a bit of a hot potato of late thanks to a variety of reasons. Even its most ardent admirer, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who at one point defied Hollywood's hybrid obsession to own a fleet of Hummers, has now given them up.
Its gas-guzzling image does not sit well at a time when oil prices are going through the roof and everyone in the industry is chanting mileage.
Also, its association with the US military makes it a politically incorrect brand. However, in terms of brand recall, it is one of the strongest in the GM bouquet.
According to analysts, the Hummer could be a good option for both the Tatas and Mahindras, provided the price is attractive. Since both companies have a strong SUV presence and global ambitions, this could be a nice fit if the negative brand associations are taken care of.
The Hummer recorded a 35% drop in sales in the first half of this calendar year. Last year, it saw an over 20% drop in sales. Hummers account for just 1% of GM's total sales.
The boxy SUV has military genes that go back to the early 80s. Its civilian avatar came a decade later when AM General introduced it.
GM bought the Hummer brand in 1999, following which it has launched two new products-the H1 and H2.
Sources :
http://www.businessweek.com/glob ... ex+page_top+stories
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India to acquire 22 attack helicopters
PTI
Thursday, May 29, 2008 19:40 IST
BERLIN: In a bid to strengthen the offensive prowess of its armed forces, Indian government has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to acquire 22 attack helicopters.
The RFP document, which includes offset clauses, was issued last week to major global helicopter manufacturers who were given three months time to respond, sources said here.
Confirming this, a senior Eurocopter official said "we have received the RFP and are looking into it. We have to reply by August."
"We will be participating in the bid process and will offer our Tiger helicopter. We are studying the RFP document and preparing our plan of action," Bruno Boulnois, General Manager of Eurocopter (India) said.
Besides Eurocopter which is part of the defence and aviation consortium EADS, the other major contenders for this competition are Boeing's AH-54D, Augusta Westland's AW-129 Mangustu and Russia's MI-28N NightHunters.
The Eurocopter has been involved with Indian Army and the Air Force for several decades now, with its Chetaks and Cheetahs flying in several areas, particularly in high mountainous terrains.
These choppers are the mainstay of the forces situated in the high altitude areas, including Siachen, both for supplies and transportation.
Boulnois said the Tiger, which had day and night fighting capabilities, was designed for various kinds of missions like reconnaissance, escort, air-to-air combat, ground firing support and anti-tank warfare.
This chopper could be fitted with roof-mounted sight and nose-mounted turret guns, besides 68MM and 70MM rockets and Hellfire anti-tank and air-to-air missiles.
Sources: http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1167259
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5th generation fighter aircraft will fly in march next: Adviser
Bangalore, June 14: The country's 'ambitious' fifth generation fighter aircraft will fly during March next, the information to this effect was given by M Natarajan, Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister on Saturday.
Efforts were on to identify a Russian company to provide weapons and electronic warfare systems, Natarajan, who is also the secretary, Defence Research and Development Organisation, said while participating in the inauguration of the Defence avionics research establishment's new campus here.
Conceptualisation studies have begun on Medium Combat Aircraft (MCA) he said.
"We are in the process of evolving a design for MCA", Natarajan said.
LCA has great potential notwithstanding problems, he said and added they were being attended to.
DRDO director R P Ramalingam, in his welcome address, said it would be Field-testing the fourth generation electronic warfare systems in about 18 months for Mig 27 and LCA.
There was also a possibility of extending the tests to fifth generation fighter aircraft, he said.
- Bharat Rakshak -
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IAF's Sarang Helicopter Display Team Adjudged 'The Best' at Berlin Air Show
Thursday, June 12, 2008
16:58 IST
The Indian Air Forces' helicopter Display team 'Sarang' has been adjudged the 'Best looking close formation' aerobatic team at the ILA Berlin Air Show 2008.
Out of the five aircraft formation teams from various countries viz India, Switzerland, Austria, UK and Germany the Indian 'Sarang' stood out conspicuously, doing the Nation proud. It may be recalled that at the recently concluded ILA Berlin Air Show 2008, India participated in a big way. The Indian participation comprised, apart from DPSU's, OFB, DRDO and private defence industries, Sarang helicopter Display team and the Air Warrior Symphony Orchestra of the IAF.
Presently the 'Sarang' team of 4 Dhruv helicopters, 14 officers and 32 airmen led by Wg Cdr Shashank Mishra, having performed at Berlin Air Show, are participating in various displays in England. They are slated to perform at Biggin hill Air Show followed by Waddington Air Show, Fairford Royal International and the prestigious Farnborough International Air Show before returning to home.
'Sarang' helicopter display team of the Indian Air Force was formed in Mar 2002 with the IAF of showcasing the professionalism of the IAF and the giant leap of Indian Aviation Industry. The name 'Sarang' was chosen for the team, as peacock is one of the most enchanting bird, and epitomizes beauty and grace which are the hall marks of teams display. The teams' helicopters have been painted in a unique paint scheme which utilizes bright colours with a peacock form imposed on it.
The team formulated and executed a three helicopter display profile with little experience in the field of display in a very short span of time. The first public display of the Sarang team was during the Asian Aerospace at Singapore in 2004. Since then, the team has graduated to a four helicopter team and has participated in numerous displays in India and abroad.
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India, France to float joint venture to make SAMs
A K Dhar
Paris, Jun 22 (PTI) India and France may soon join hands to make the latest variants of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) with a lethal hundred per cent kill probability, on the lines of the highly successful Indo-Russian Brahmos supersonic cruise missile.
The proposed joint venture, for which intense groundwork has been done by the missile industry officials from both countries, could take shape in a year's time.
The name of the new series of lethal co-produced missile has been proposed as 'Maitri' and it aims to fulfil the demand of the Army, Navy and Air Force in India for procuring thousands of such missiles to cover up the "yawning" gap in country's air defence.
India is currently in the process of replacing its entire range of surface-to-air missile defence system to weed out the ageing SAM series of missile procured from the erstwhile Soviet Union in the late 60's and 70's.
The procurement of the new range of such missiles is to give more foolproof and vibrant defending capabilities to the nation's vital assets, VVIP complexes as well as provide mobile air cover to troops in operations.
"Our missile industry officials are in intense negotiations with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and India's sole missile producer, Hyderabad-based Bharat Dynamics Limited for setting up of such a joint venture," Antoine Bouvier, CEO of the Euorpean Missile Consortium MBDA, told Indian newsmen here.
The French proposal comes as the Indian Army recently floated a 2 billion Euro contract for purchasing 1,000 short- range quick reaction missiles. PTI
- Ptinews.com -
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Second Tejas aircraft breaks sound barrier on maiden flight
16 Jun, 2008, 2314 hrs IST, IANS
BANGALORE: The second indigenously developed light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas flew at supersonic speed on its maiden test flight over Bangalore skies on Monday evening.
"This is the second time a Tejas aircraft has flown at a speed of 1.1 Mach (1,320 km per hour) up to an altitude of 9.5 km in a maiden flight lasting 43 minutes," the state-run Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) said in a statement on late Monday.
The limited series production aircraft (LSP2) was flown by ADA's national flight test centre (NFTC) pilot Wing Commander N Tiwari. As is the practice, the multi-role fighter aircraft was chased by another Tejas prototype version three (PV-3) piloted by Wing Commander R R Tyagi.
The flight test was monitored from NFTC's telemetry station at the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) airport in the eastern suburb of the city.
"The maiden flight of LSP2 is significant on several accounts. This is the second limited series production aircraft that rolled out of the LSP hangar of HAL. It is also the first aircraft powered by the new GE404-IN20 engine and has a new ejection seat version - the Martin Baker Mk 16LG," the aerospace agency said.
The first eight Tejas aircraft is to be delivered to the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Navy between 2010 and 2012 and will be fitted with the IN20 engines from the US-based General Electric.
- Economic Times -
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IAF needs to test its capabilities in foreign lands, says Naik
Sun, Aug 17 02:34 AM
With India's zone of influence now expanding beyond the its mainland, it is important for its air force to test its capabilities in far away and varied environments, Vice Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal P V Naik has said.
Speaking at the Nellis Air Force Base, in Nevada, where IAF is participating in the prestigious Red Flag war games, Naik said by participating in this exercise, "We want to check whether we are capable of projecting power over that kind of distances if not more."
"Secondly, we want to test our logistic and administrative abilities to support such a large number of people so far away from home, without much difficulty. In addition, the IAF also wanted to check whether its personnel are capable of operating in varied environments without much loss of effectiveness."
Air Marshal Naik said as far as operations and capability of IAF aircraft is concerned, there are no problems. But with India becoming a global player, it was important to test, "how good are we in large force engagements against different types of aircraft other than those we own in India."
He added, it is every fighter pilot's dream to participate in the Red Flag, "It helps you fly in a different environment, fly large force engagements which can be debriefed, picturised in a much better manner here than anywhere else and helps you fly in an environment of different kind of aircraft than what you are used to. I was talking to our transport pilots and very rarely do they get a chance to fly in such a dense environment, so these have been some of the major gains of this Red Flag exercise," he said. However, he did point out that it is a very costly exercise and he did not think IAF will take part in another Red Flag for another four to five years.
- PTI -
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Indian Navy to take part in war games in Atlantic
New Delhi: Underlining its increasing strategic prowess, the Indian Navy will for the first time participate in separate war games with the British and French navies in the Atlantic Ocean.
Since the First World War, the Atlantic Ocean has been the stage for strategic warfare for navies the world over.
"We will be participating in the naval exercises at the beginning of the next year at the invitation of Britain and France," a senior naval officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Gaining a foothold
The invitation from the two nations is an opportunity for the India Navy to gain a foothold in the region and work towards interoperability. The exercises will last 15 days.
During the Second World War, the navies and air forces of the Allies and Germany fought furious battles in the Atlantic Ocean to control the supply routes to Britain. It is estimated that the Allies destroyed nearly 800 U-boats, while at least 2,200 convoys (75,000 merchant ships) crossed the Atlantic, protected by Allied naval forces.
"The Indian Navy is working out the itinerary for the exercises in the Atlantic Ocean. We need to test our sonar and other equipment in different environmental conditions and the exercises would provide the right opportunity for this," the officer added.
During the exercise all the three components of naval operations - under the sea, on the sea, and in the air -will come into play.
"The Indian Navy would like to deploy all three components during the exercise to gauge their effectiveness," the officer added.
However, it was not immediately known which warships and other vessels will form the Indian Navy's flotilla for the exercises.
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India begins naval games with France, Africa
New Delhi: Continuing with its policy of constructively engaging countries in West Asia and Africa to make its presence felt in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), India has sent four of its major warships to the Red Sea and the African coast on a two-month-long deployment.
"The Indian ships will be present in the IOR for a while, doing some flag showing and also engaging in naval diplomacy with some port calls, mid-sea exercises and interaction with personnel from the navies of the West Asian countries and the African continent," a top Navy official said.
The Indian warships--INS Delhi, INS Talwar, INS Godavari and INS Aditya-- will simultaneously be visiting countries and ports all along the eastern African coast and some ports in the Red Sea, apart from exercising with the French navy in the Gulf.
The ships from Indian Western Naval Command began their journey end of July and is only expected to come back to Indian shores in mid-September, the official said.
Delhi and Talwar have already completed their visit to Safaga port in Egypt in Red Sea between August 5 and 8, while Godavari and Aditya sailed to Refaet-al-Assad in Syria.
The ships would now be sailing Mombasa, the second largest port-city of Kenya, Darasalam in Nigeria, other east African ports and a couple of ports in Madagascar Island and
Mauritius.
"With India's economic interest in West Asia and African region increasing, Navy will be playing its diplomatic role by visiting more ports all along the coast of eastern Africa, touching the Horn of Africa," the official said.
Apart from exercise with the French Navy, the Indian warships would also have Passage Exercises (Passex) with other navies off the ports during the course of their deployment in the region.
"Most of the navies in eastern Africa are small in size compared to the Indian Navy. What we would be aiming during these interaction is to give them the confidence that India would come to their aid whenever there is a need, considering that we have enough experience in all aspects of naval operations, be it military, diplomatic, policing or benign" the official said.
India would also conduct exercises with other navies during the deployment, related to Human Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) and Search and Rescue (SAR) operations "to both train them and to learn from them."
Once the Indian ships reach Mauritius, they would also tow a Naval ship of the island nation to Kochi for refit and repair. "The Mauritian ship is from the Indian naval service.
It was given to Mauritius for their use and we have an agreement with them for the ship's regular refit and repair. This towing of the Maurutian ship is under that agreement," the officer added.
Navy has been engaging the navies of the IOR for a few years now regularly and it has been especially focusing on the West Asian countries and the African continent on the western sea board. That apart, the Navy has been engaging other navies in the eastern front too.
- Bharat Rhasak -
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India, Russia give final shape to FGFA designs
New Delhi, Aug 18: In a bid to catch up with advances in fighter aircraft designs in the US and Europe, top Indian and Russian defence officials met here today to give final shape to the configuration and design of the planned joint futuristic fifth generation fighter.
The new fighter could cost anything between USD 10 and 12 billion, Indian officials want the aircraft to have super stealth and a very high degree network centricity.
Besides finalising the design of the fighter, the two-day meeting of the top Indian and Russian officials are also holding intensive dialogue to iron out the differences which have recently crept into the bilateral military ties.
The meeting is taking place in the backdrop of the two countries coming close to renegotiating the key Gorshkov aircraft carrier deal, with New Delhi agreeing to a staggering US 2 billion dollar hike for the warship.
Indian officials said a package deal, which had been finalised, was about to be put up to the Union Cabinet for approval.
"In some aspects, we are trying to renegotiate," a top official said. Elaborating, he said, that Moscow's demand for USD 400 million to undertake final trials of the carrier, were "felt to be too high".
- Bureau Report -
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Indian Army General to Take Control of Strategic Nuclear Command
For the first time, an Indian Army General is set to take over command of the country's strategic forces and nuclear arsenal.
Lt-GenBalraj Singh Nagal will take over command of the country's strategicforces and nuclear arsenal, an official announcement said.
Nagal,currently Director General (logistics) at the army headquarters, willtake over as Commander-In-Chief of the strategic forces command onSeptember 30, the announcement said. The army general will take overfrom Vice-Admiral Vijay Shanker, who has been shifted asCommander-In-Chief of the nation's other Tri-service command based inAndaman and Nicobar Island.
Nagal, would be the first armyofficer to take over command of the nuclear weapon operating forces. Sofar, only Air Force and Naval officers have headed the command, whichwas set up very recently. Army along with Air Force are the only twoforces operating nuclear missiles and bombs. India, so far, is makingefforts to build an under-sea missile launch capability.
Armyhas raised three to four specialized missile groups to operate both theshort- and the long-range surface-to-surface Prithvi and Agni missiles.Both the missiles have the capability to carry conventional as well asnuclear warheads. Army has also set up a new unit to operate theIndo-Russian supersonic Brahmos cruise missile.
http://www.india-defence.com/reports-3991
[ Last edited by BeachBoys at 12-10-2008 12:32 AM ] |
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India, Singapore sign agreement for joint Army Exercises
India and Singapore signed a Bilateral Agreement, here today for theconduct of joint Army Training and Exercises in India. DefenceSecretary Shri Vijay Singh signed the agreement on behalf of Governmentof India, while Mr Chiang Chie Foo, Permanent Secretary (Defence) wasthe signatory from the Singapore side.
The bilateral agreementis in furtherance to the agreement signed between the two Governmentson Defence Cooperation on 13 October 2003 and seeks to providefacilities in India to the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) (Army) for thepurpose of joint military training and exercises. The training andexercises involve both Armour and Artillery training/exercises, whichwould be carried out at Babina and Deolali ranges. Suchexercises/training were conducted previously on the basis of an MoUbetween the two countries entered into in January, 2005, which wasextended from time to time, the last extension being upto June 2008.Future joint training exercises would now be conducted under theprovisions of this bilateral agreement.
The agreement providesfor temporary detachment of SAF personnel for a maximum period of eightweeks, up to two times a year. However, small detachments not exceedingeight personnel from SAF may be allowed to stay with their equipmentstationed in India.
Besides the bilateral agreement theassociated Protocols on 'Training', 'Administration & Logistics"and 'Financial Arrangements' were also signed between the twocountries. The agreement comes into effect from today and shall remainin force initially for a period of five years.
Mr. Chiang ChieFoo later called on the Defence Minister Shri AK Antony, where mattersof mutual interest pertaining to Defence were also discussed. He alsomet the Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor and Chief of NavalStaff Admiral Sureesh Mehta.
http://www.india-defence.com/reports-3960
[ Last edited by BeachBoys at 12-10-2008 12:32 AM ] |
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Post time 11-5-2008 12:13 PM
Author
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