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27 Oct 08. India's controversial homegrown Light Combat Aircraft(LCA), which is behind scheduled by over a decade, has been given new impetus with the installation of an Israeli radar which will take LCA into the weaponisation stage. Sources say the ELTA-made Multimode Radar (MMR) arrived last week.
India ordered the Israeli radar last year, after the home-grown effort to make the MMR failed three years ago delaying the LCA program by as many years.
An official of the Indian defence ministry said, "The Israeli radar will only be an interim option. The homegrown MMR radar is as good as abandoned and be replaced by the ELTA radar which will be manufactured in collaboration with Indian entities."
The arrival of the Israeli radar has given expectations by Indian scientists for an early LCA induction date. The Indian Defence Minister, A K Antony announced on October 25th that LCA would be ready for induction into the Indian Air Force by 2011 after the Final Operational Clearance in 2010. As such the LCA would be a reality after 26 years added Antony.
In the LCA the MMR's primary role will be to detect and locate targets, process the information, lock on the target and pass this input to the mission computer. From the mission computer this information will be utilized by the pilot as he contemplates weapon release activity. The MMR will also create ground and contour maps when selected.
A scientist of Aeronautical Development Agency said that the MMR is an X-band, pulse Doppler radar with air-to-air, air-to-ground and air-to-sea modes weighing less than five kilograms. Its role is to process the radar receiver output, detect and locate targets, create ground map, and provide contour map when selected.
"The weaponisation of LCA will commence once the Elta MMR is mounted." A senior official said, adding that the LCA will now test critical weapons.
A prototype of the LCA last year fired a fire and forget R73 missile after reaching a height of 6.5 kilometers.
The homemade MMR was being developed by HAL and Electronics and Radar Development Laboratory (Bangalore) along with coordination from the Centre for Airborne Studies (CABS).
Along with the weaponisation stage, the LCA also enters the Flight Certification Stage which is also facing rough weather as the Bangalore-based Aeronautical Development Agency, (ADA) which is developing the LCA has not been able to find an international partner so far. In response to a global bid EADS, SAAB of Sweden, Dassault of France, Boeing and Lockheed Martin of United States and MiG Corporation of Russia have filed their bids.
The Scope of Work includes Flight Envelope Expansion, High Angle of Attack (AOA) flight Testing and Aero-data validation & upgrade or aero database; External Stores Carriage and Release and Flight Tests, with emphasis on stores separation modelling and testing; Wake modelling and Wake penetration Flight Tests; Refinements to existing real-time simulation models/stools.
The Consultancy is to hasten up the flight testing towards Initial
Operational Clearance (IOC)and Final Operational Clearance (FOC). The LCA has so far carried out over 700 flights.
Even the home-grown engine for LCA, Kaveri, is close to abandonment and the Bangalore-based Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) is also on the look out for an international partner to complete the Kaveri. Initially, 20 LCAs will be fitted with GE-404 engines.
Earlier this year, the Indian Air Force asked for an upgrade of the GE-404 engine, to give the LCA more thrust.
Giving clarification, Antony said, "There is no need for any debate on the engines for the LCA as the present engine (GE-404) is doing just fine. But, in future, the capabilities of the engine will be upgraded as and when better options come through".
Safran of France is the front-runner in the race for partnering in the homegrown Kaveri.
The Indian Air Force has placed an order for 20 aircraft. The Indian Air Force will have one squadron by 2011 and will eventually have seven squadrons.
LCA is an advanced technology, single seat, single engine, supersonic,
light-weight, all-weather, multi-role, air superiority fighter, designed for air-to-air, air-to-ground and air-to-sea combat roles.
In November India floated a global tender for the joint development of a Laser Based Directed Infrared Counter Measure System (DIRCM). The selected foreign vendor will be required to transfer technology to India's state owned Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE) based in Bangalore.
Defence Ministry sources said, "Though bids are being sought from vendors in the United States, it is unlikely that foreign companies will be able to transfer technology to the Indian entity in this case, especially with the new establishment in Washington."
Sources said chances of European companies are high in this multi-million dollar competition.
The DIRCM will be used to protect aircraft and helicopters against heat-seeking MANPAD ground-to-air missiles. The DIRCM consists of a jamming turret with a thermal camera which directs the jamming laser beams, at the required wavelengths, towards the incoming missile. The turret is connected to a central processing unit and interfaces to the Missile Warning System (MAWS).
The operational requirements warrant that the power required for jamming in any particular band is equal to or greater than 30 KW/sterdian which is the power of the laser beam.
The protection envelope of the DIRCM system should be capable of providing protection against missiles fired from the lower hemisphere below the aircraft and the system should have a coverage of 360° Azimuth.
The DIRCM system should also be capable of engaging two consecutive threats when there is at least 3 seconds difference between the times of the warnings received from the MWS.
The requirements warrant that the turret should be able to rotate 180 degrees in A azimuth in less than 0.5 seconds and the turret should be able to rotate 60 degrees in elevation in less than 0.5 seconds. The laser should be able to emit laser beams in Bands I Band I and Band IV simultaneously.
When a threat is detected by the MAWS, its coordinates (elevation and azimuth) will be transferred to the system. Subsequently, the DIRCM turret will automatically be directed towards the approaching threat. In the process the system will acquire and track the missile, and will direct the laser beam towards the missile's seeker, disrupting its guidance system and causing it to break lock and miss the protected aircraft.
In October India announced procurement plans for a variety of Air Defence radar systems for the Indian Army, Air Force and Navy worth over $1.5 billion. The move follows a severe attack by India's autonomous Auditing Agency in its latest report stating that India's Air Defence system lacks adequate radars.
The latest Indian Comptroller and Auditor General,(CAG) Report, comprising 97 pages and tabled in the Indian Parliament on October 24th says, "Indian Air Force (IAF) do not possess adequate numbers of surveillance radars needed for providing efficient and reliable detection capabilities for ensuring credible Air Defence"
The shortfall in surveillance radars has affected the overall Indian Air Force Air Defence system. Currently the Air Defence system is made up of the Air Defence Ground Environment System, (ADGES), an integrated network of surveillance radars, air defence control centers, air and missile bases and anti-aircraft guns. The system was developed in the early 70's with equipment purchased from the USSR. ADGES is still the mainstay of the air defence system with surveillance radars deployed across the country.
Giving details of the shortfall of the radar, the CAG report notes, “Shortage of medium power radars (MPRs) needed for ground control and intercept was as high as 53 per cent of the projected requirement. The holding of low-level transportable radars was merely 24 per cent of the actual requirement of the Air Force.”
The shortfall in MPRs has mainly been the result of delays in procurement of radars sought by the Indian Air Force over the last ten years which has compelled the Indian Air Force to, “Operate with only 26 per cent of the authorized holding of these radars when large numbers of these obsolete radars become due for phase-out.” Adds the report.
Another area of shortfall are High-Power Static Radars (HPSR), Mobile Radars and Low Level Transportable Radars (LLTR).
The HPSRs are 3-D radars, which cover aerial threats at a height of 2 kilometres and above and have a range of 450 kilometres. The Indian defence ministry will float global tenders for the purchase of unspecified numbers of HPSRs in the next six months.
Even the latest purchase of LLTRs has run into trouble, as the Indian defence ministry has set up an enquiry against the state-owned Bangalore-based electronics company, Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) for breaching an agreement on production of Low Level Transportable Radars (LLTRs). The agreement was entered into between BEL and SELEX Integrati, a Finmeccanica company, in 2005 under which all future production of LLTRs at BEL will be done on Technology Transfer basis.
However, despite the TOT agreement, BEL has gone ahead to procure the LLTRs for the Indian army worth over $250m under direct purchases and BEL is not producing the LLTRs as per the agreement.
Defence Ministry officials say,"BEL is behaving only as a chanalizing agency in the purchase of LLTRs whereas the company was mandated to produce the future requirements of Indian defence forces on LLTRs on TOT production basis.
The Indian defence ministry had floated an international tender in 2005, in which Thales of France and SELEX had been short-listed for the purchase of over 30 LLTRs. Thereafter an agreement was signed between BEL and SELEX as part of a compulsory requirement of the Indian defence ministry to build future LLTRs requirements at BEL facilities on TOT basis from SELEX.
The LLTRs provide cover against aerial threats operating at Low Levels i.e. up to a height of 2 kilometres and have a range of up to 150 kilometres.
The Indian defence ministry is also planning to procure a variety of Medium Power Radars. The 3-D MPRs can detect aerial threats at a height of 2 kilometres and above and have a range of 300 kilometres. There is acute shortage of these radars with the Indian Air Defence system.
The Indian Air Force is presently holding only 65 per cent of its authorized holding of MPRs with a technical life of 20 years. Nine of these radars are targeted to be phased out by the end of this year and six by 2015. As the home-grown effort to develop MPRs is likely to be time consuming expensive, India has to go hunting for MPRs in the global market.
Not only is there a shortage of radars, even the service and maintenance of existing radars has encountered delays and cost overruns, mainly due to non availability of spares. Currently the maintenance of radars is being undertaken solely by the state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).
A senior Indian Air Force official said, "The maintenance of the Air Defence surveillance radars is done nearly five to seven years late, mainly on account of delays in the Indian defence ministry, BEL leading to steep cost overruns.
A senior Indian defence ministry official said, "They are looking forward to tie-ups between Indian private sector companies and overseas defence companies to design, develop a variety of radars and even engage in the maintenance of these radars rather than depending solely on BEL.
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