New Book: Sukhoi Su30 Flanker in Indian Service

Rs.1,400/-

The Sukhoi 30MKI is without doubt one of the finest multi-role aircraft in the world today.The melting pot of a robust Russian airframe combined with state of the art western avionics and locally developed computers has given the Indian Air Force a quantum leap in offensive capability unrivalled in Asia.

Now,for the first time ever,renowned Aviation Photojournalists Phil Camp and Simon Watson have documented this unique aircraft in a Collector's Edition of a book.

This book traces the development of the aircraft and describes the hurdles that have been crossed to get to the final product. After initial teething troubles,the Indian Air Force has found itself a very capable multi-role aircraft:probably the most capable multi-role aircraft outside the USA.

Book specifications:
Softback - 297x210 mm - 96pp - 308 colour photos
26 Squadron Patches plus 5 colour profiles.
ISBN : 9780 955959707

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Mail at info@anveshan.com for more details

The secret undersea weapon( ATV ???)

Located up the winding shipping channel in Visakhapatnam harbour is a secret, completely enclosed facility known only as the Shipbuilding Centre (SBC).

Inside this dry dock, nearly 50m below ground level, is a cylindrical black shape, which is as tall as a two-storey building and at 104 m in length, is longer than the Qutub Minar lying on its side.

Technicians working on it confess to a surge of national pride: India’s first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine or SSBN is arguably its greatest engineering project.

For over a quarter of a century, the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV), smaller than the USS Alabama from Crimson Tide, has been among the most highly-classified government programmes, if not the most delayed.

Officials still refuse to confirm the existence of the project or the sea-based ballistic missile. A decade after India came out of the nuclear closet in the sands of Pokhran, it has moved some tantalising steps closer to realising the third and possibly the toughest of the three legs of the triad enunciated in its nuclear doctrine: a sea-based deterrent or a secure underwater platform for launching nuclear weapons.

“Things are developing as per schedule,” Defence Minister A.K. Antony recently said of ATV. Early last month, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta was the first government official to not only confirm its existence but also lay down a timeframe: “It is a DRDO project and a technology demonstrator. It is somewhere near completion and will be in the water in two years.”

The admiral had reason to feel confident about the project. Just last month, an 80MW nuclear reactor, smaller than a bus, was pushed into the hull of the submarine and successfully integrated—a milestone in the project approved by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1970.

By April 2009, the submarine will be launched and will begin sea trials before it is inducted into the navy. The goal is to field a fleet of three SSBNs by 2015, one in reserve and two on patrol, each carrying 12 nucleartipped ballistic missiles.

http://specials.indiatoday.com/specials/popup/defence/pop.htm

Possibly the last “gift” to India from the now-extinct Soviet Union, it was designed with Russian assistance in the late ’80s. Based on an entirely new design, the 6,000 tonne submarine (not the elderly Charlie class N-sub as thought earlier) will make India the world’s sixth nation to operate a “boomer”.

Part of the acceleration in the programme has to do with the rapid buildup of Chinese nuclear forces. China operates 10 nuclear submarines, and in the past year, has fielded as many as three new Jin-class SSBNs, each carrying 12 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM). “Given the growing military asymmetry with China, India’s need for a reliable nuclear deterrent that can survive a first strike has never been greater,” says strategic expert Brahma Chellaney.

ATV is in line with India’s nuclear doctrine enunciated in 1999, which calls for its nuclear forces to be effective, enduring, diverse, flexible and responsive to the requirements in accordance with the concept of credible minimum deterrence. The doctrine calls for high survivability against surprise attacks and for a rapid punitive response.

A nuclear submarine that can remain submerged almost indefinitely and cannot be detected underwater, therefore, meets all these criteria and offers an almost invulnerable launch platform for nuclear weapons.

For a country like India with a no-first use policy, it is vital because it prevents a potential adversary from launching a crippling first strike that can knock out all nuclear weapons (see box). It also allows India to inflict considerable damage to the aggressor.

“One submarine carries at least 12 missiles with Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicles, which could mean as many as 96 warheads. When such a submarine goes out to the sea, that many missiles are removed from our own territory. The enemy’s targeting of that many sites gets neutralised,” says Rear Admiral (retired) Raja Menon.
ATV, with its suitably muted acronym, was a euphemism for a longdelayed project. Shrouded in obsessive secrecy for decades, it has been under the direct supervision of the prime minister, who also chairs ATV’s apex committee.

Indian hacker behind largest cyber heist?

LONDON: An unknown Indian hacker is being charged with the greatest cyber heist in history for allegedly helping a criminal gang steal identities of an estimated eight million people in a hacking raid that could ultimately net more than £2.8 billion in illegal funds.

An investigation by Scotland's Sunday Herald newspaper has discovered that late on Thursday night a previously unknown Indian hacker successfully breached the IT defences of UK-based Best Western Hotel group's online booking system and sold details of how to access it through an underground network operated by the Russian mafia.

There are no details yet on how the hacker was identified to be an Indian and if a probe is on to identify the person.

The attack scooped up personal details of every single customer that has booked into one of Best Western's 1312 continental hotels since 2007. Amounting to a complete identity-theft kit, the stolen data includes a range of private information including home addresses, telephone numbers, credit card details and place of employment.

"They've pulled off a masterstroke here," said security expert Jacques Erasmus, an ex-hacker who now works for the computer security firm Prevx.

"There are plenty of hacked company databases for sale online but the sheer volume and quality of the information that's been stolen in the Best Western raid makes this particularly rare... In the wrong hands, there's enough data there to spark a major European crime wave."


The nature of internet crime makes it extremely difficult to track the precise details of the raid, but the newspaper understands that a hacker from India — new to the world of cyber crime — succeeded in bypassing the system's security software and placing a Trojan virus on one of the Best Western Hotel machines used for reservations. The next time a member of staff logged in, her username and password were collected and stored.

With eight million people staying in the hotel group's 86,375 rooms every year, gaining access to the system is a major coup for the cyber-criminals responsible. Given that criminals now have access to all bookings from 2007-2008, and based on FBI-sponsored Internet Crime Complaint Center's reports that the average victim of internet crime loses £356, they are sitting on a potential haul of at least £2.84 billion.

New wing of SPG(Special Protection Group) unveiled

Two SPG troopers, person on the left carries the P-90 Personal Defence Weapon of PDW / sub machine gun which fires armor-piercing 5.7 mm cartridges. Photo: Sipra Das (India Today)



The Special Protection Group, with about 3000 personnel, is used for the protection of VVIPs such as the Prime Minister. Recruits include the Police and the NSG Commandos and they are trained like the US Secret Service. The Officer cadre is mainly IPS Officers from various state/central cadres. The Special Protection Group provides proximate security to VVIPs and the members of their immediate family. Proximate security includes protection provided from close quarters, journey on foot, road, rail, aircraft, watercraft or any other means of transport, and includes places of functions, engagements, residence, etc. They comprise ring round teams, isolation cordons, the sterile zone, and the rostrum & access control to the person or members of his immediate family. The Special Protection Group, over a period of time, grew both in size as well as in specialisation.

Technicians hold Indian flag high at Nevada war games

NEW DELHI: Though air force pilots corner the glory, it is the unsung group of technicians including software experts which keeps the Indian flag aloft during the ongoing exercises in the Nevada desert, U.S. The technicians have ensured availability of all aircraft in scorching heat and tarmac temperatures of over 50 degrees Celsius during flying hours.

Proper planning

In extreme heat conditions, flying machines tend to develop leaks in hydraulic systems, engine oil, gearbox, etc. The performance of the avionics system also becomes erratic as integrated circuits develop problems. However, thanks to proper planning by the IAF technicians, aircraft serviceability was kept high all times. They worked on the tarmac, braving extreme heat in which even touching the metal surface of the aircraft without proper protection is near impossible.

The IAF’s experts from the Bangalore-based Software Development Institute (SDI, AF) indigenously developed software patches to make Su-30 MKI fighters’ avionics compatible with NATO operational philosophy. Wg. Cdr. J.S. Gavankar, software engineer from the institute, now with the contingent, explained: “The SDI software has made the Su-30 MKI platform more versatile and compatible with other air forces.”

The SDI avionics software has “reduced cockpit workload and assisted in increasing the pilot’s situational awareness multifold,” said Wg. Cdr. J.Singh, Flt. Cdr. of 20 Sqn.

This is the first time India has been invited to participate in the Red Flag multinational exercises.

Experts say the joint war games with the U.S., France and South Korea are a major step towards India’s acceptance in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation-led military alliance of pro-western countries.

Flying blind, Sukhois ‘shot’

Flying near-blind in the US, the Indian Air Force’s frontline Sukhoi 30Mki fighters have been “shot” down in missions at the Red Flag wargames, the toughest combat aircraft exercise that the US hosts for its allies.

The Russian-made Sukhoi 30Mkis have been asked to fly in the exercise only after switching off a sophisticated radar and without recourse to a key shield against surface-to-air missiles, a senior air force officer said. The exercise in which the IAF is participating for the first time entered its most complex phase today.

“Shooting down” or getting “shot down” must necessarily take place in a wargame. In 2003, US Air Force’s (USAF) F-15 Tomcat aircraft participating in an exercise out of Gwalior in India were similarly “shot down”.

Despite being hamstrung at the Red Flag games, the IAF contingent was getting invaluable training as part of a “Blue force” tasked to defend its territory against an aggressor “Red force” in the Nevada desert. The range over which the exercise is taking place has mock-ups of several targets that are mostly military establishments, air force spokesman Wing Commander Mahesh Upasani, who is with the contingent, told The Telegraph from the Nellis air force base.

The IAF is participating with eight Su-30s, two IL-78s (mid-air refuellers), an IL-76 (heavy lift transporters) and 247 men led by Group Captain D. Chaudhary. Frontline aircraft from the air forces of South Korea and France and, of course, the US are engaged both with the IAF and against it in the drills.

“Captain Marcus ‘Spike’ Wilson of the USAF Aggressors in his appreciation of the IAF has said the IAF is a world-class air force with great aircraft and great leadership,” said Upasani.

The IAF Sukhois have been asked not to show the full capacity of their BARS II radar so that their signatures may not be recorded.

New defence policy: No to agents

Six global defence and aircraft manufacturers, who are in the race to win the lucrative bid for supply of 126 medium multi role combat (MMRC) aircraft to the Indian Air Force, have submitted a list of local vendors, from whom they would source components, systems and service in addition to offering an increased investment to revitalize India's defence and aerospace sectors in the event of winning the order.

This development, not surprisingly was in response to a new investment-friendly weapons' procurement policy unveiled by Defence Minister A.K. Antony on August 1. The policy specifically mandates that all foreign companies bidding for major Indian defence contracts worth over Rs.3,000-million will have to invest anything between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of the value of the order in the Indian defence and aerospace sectors.

Interestingly, American defence and aerospace majors, Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin have already inked contracts with a number of industrial groups and software and IT services companies to execute the offset clause forming part of the contract, in anticipation of bagging the order. "We are already establishing the ground work that will lead us to success in this large undertaking through early management of Indian industry, both in the public and private sectors" observed Boeing Integrated Defense Systems Vice President (India) Vivek Lall.

On the other hand, the Bangalore-based aeronautical and defence outfit Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) is quite bullish about the benefits flowing to it from the offset clause. According to its spokesman, "We will work with the vendors chosen by the winner." As it is, HAL will license produce 108 of the 126 combat aircraft to be acquired by India, while the 18 jets will be delivered to IAF in a flyway condition.

In the race to grab an estimated US$10-billion order for the supply of 126 combat aircraft: are Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin's F-16 Falcon, Russia's Mig-35, Swedish Jas-39 from Grippen, French Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon from the British, German, Spanish and Italian firms consortium. As it is, these six defence majors had submitted their bid this April. "We will seriously examine all the bids and shortlist the companies in due course" said a spokesman of the Defence Ministry.

It was an anticipated delay in the induction of India's home-grown fourth generation, supersonic tactical fighter Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas that nudged the IAF to scout the global defence market for the procurement of the 126 combat aircraft, that would serve as the frontline fighters by replacing the aging and obsolete Mig-series of fighter jets. As things stand now, LCA Tejas is not expected to be ready for induction till early next decade.

As stated by defence ministry sources, India's new defence procurement policy (DPP-2008) not only seeks to end the "murky role of middlemen and agents" in defence deals, but also put the procurement of armaments and fighting equipment on a fast track with a clear cut focus on transparency at every stage. As New Delhi-based defence analysts point out, in the backdrop of India's emergence as a major and lucrative defence market, with plans to spend up to US$50-billion on the import of defence hardware and equipment over the next five years, the need for a comprehensive well-drafted defence purchase policy has become all the more pronounced.

Till recently, India's defence procurement scenario was under the vicious influence of middlemen, whose questionable role had resulted in the cancellation of a couple of recent military procurement deals. Against this backdrop Antony has made it clear that "we will not allow middlemen in defence deals". And, according to the Ministry spokesman, "as per the new policy, armament companies will have to sign integrity pacts to ensure that no unethical means will be employed to bag these deals".

The new policy also lays stress on enhancing the transparency of technical trials in addition to easing licensing conditions for India's private sector companies to participate in defence production and promoting joint ventures. More importantly, DPP-2008 also facilitates the concept such as "offset banking". As part of this concept, foreign vendors accumulate offset credits for two years preceding the award of a contract. However, the policy also makes it clear that offsets can be banked after getting due permission from the Government, which will examine all aspects of offset banking proposals to ensure that they are advantageous to our defence sector.

In particular, DPP-2008 promises the defence vendors advance information on procurement before floating tenders. Further, it seeks to enhance the financial powers of the Army, Navy and Air Force headquarters. Similarly, as per this policy foreign companies will be allowed to park funds in banks in anticipation of future contracts so that they need not have to manage money for the offset policy when the deal is finalized. But then this DPP makes it clear that the offset will be direct in that it will be allowed only in the defence arena. "The offset policy will be fine-tuned and allowing indirect offset is unlikely, since the Defence Ministry is extremely keen to build the indigenous sector," explains its spokesman.

"The new DPP will hasten indigenization by helping defence public sector units, the Defence Research and Development Orgnisation (DRDO0 and private industry to enter into a joint venture with foreign arms' suppliers," observes Antony. As he stated, the ultimate aim is to reduce India's dependence on foreign arms' supplies and to "ensure that our armed forces will be able to speedily procure world-class equipment from indigenous or foreign sources".

The Defence Minister also stressed the point that a strong and resurgent domestic defence industry, both in the public and private sector, could contribute to meeting the growing needs of the defence forces in a big way. The current policy encourages private participation in the defence production scenario. It also allows 28 per cent FDI in the Indian defence sector. According to Ministry sources, in the new procurement policy "suitable amendments have been effected to pave the way for speedier procurement of weapons, systems and platforms while enhancing transparency at the same time".

Importantly, Antony sees a vastly enhanced role for the local private industry in the country's defence production matrix. "It should be our endeavour to achieve the maximum synergy between defence public and private sectors, in order to create a competitive defence technology edge and strengthen the industry itself." He also expressed the view that DPP-2008 will promote indigenization and encourage wider representation of the industry on panels doing technical evaluation of indigenously designed military platforms.

Recall, till 2001, entry of private sector into India's production sector was barred. It was only after the Vijay Kelkar Committee recommended that private firms be allowed to participate in the production of arms and defence equipment that led to the opening up of the sector in a phased manner to private participation. Today, a number of Indian private entities including Tata Power, Larsen and Toubro, Mahindra and Mahindra, Kirloskar Group and Wipro have all unveiled their plans to enter the defence sector in a big way. "The role of private players has largely been at the sub contract level. Now the second step for them is to reach the sub assembly level and that will take time", says HAL Chairman Ashok.K.Baweja. A beginning has been made.