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MILITARY ASIA-PACIFIC CABINET COMMITTEE ON SECURITY CLEARS SIX AEW&C AIRCRAFT
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a meeting on September 8, 2021 has approved a `10,990 crore ($1.5 billion) indigenous project to build six airborne early-warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft to expand the aerial surveillance capability of the Indian Air Force (IAF). The AEW&C system has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) which will involve mounting indigenous 360-degree coverage Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar on six Airbus 321 passenger aircraft to be acquired from the existing Air India fleet. The first flight trial of the AEW&C aircraft is expected in four years and the entire project being completed in seven years. At present, the IAF has only three Israeli Phalcon AWACS mounted on Russian IL-76 transport aircraft, with 360-degree radar coverage at a 400 km range and two indigenous “Netra” AEW&C systems with 240-degree coverage radars having a range of 250 km range, fitted on smaller Brazilian Embraer-145 jet platform. There was thus an urgent requirement to boost the 360 degree aerial surveillance coverage of the country. Electronics and Radar Development Establishment is responsible for the design of the radar array. The Defence Electronics Application Laboratory is responsible for the Data Link and Communication Systems for AEW&CS.
MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION NOTIFIES LIBERALISED UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEM (UAS) RULES, 2021 In March 2021, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) published the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Rules, 2021. The existing regulations were perceived by the end users and stake holders as being restrictive in nature as they involved considerable paperwork, required per-
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mission for every UAS flight and very few “free-to-fly” green zones were available. Based on the feedback, the Government decided to repeal the UAS Rules, 2021 and replace these with the liberalised UAS Rules, 2021 which were posted by MoCA on August 26. There are 30 key features like the rules are built on a premise of trust, self-certification and non-intrusive monitoring. The Government aims to become a global UAS hub by 2030 due to India’s traditional strengths in innovation, information technology, frugal engineering and huge domestic demand.
the Joint Working Group on Air Systems and is a major accomplishment for DTTI. The PA outlines the collaboration between US Air Force Research Laboratory, IAF and DRDO towards design, development, demonstration, testing and evaluation of systems to co-develop an ALUAV Prototype. Specific establishment from India is Aeronautical Development Establishment and from US is the Aerospace Systems Directorate.
PROCUREMENT OF 56 C295 TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT FOR THE IAF
LOCKHEED MARTIN AWARDED 5-YEAR CONTRACT TO SUPPORT IAF’S C-130J SUPER HERCULES FLEET
On August 24, 2021, Lockheed Martin was awarded a $328.8 million, fiveyear contract to provide dedicated and comprehensive support for the IAF’s fleet of 12 C-130J-30 Super Hercules Aircraft. Lockheed Martin is the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the C-130Js which is the tactical airlifter of choice for 26 operators in 22 nations. Through this Follow On Support II (FOS) contract, Lockheed Martin teams manage the programme, logistics and engineering support elements necessary to sustain the IAF’s C-130J fleet. The contract spans a five-year-period, is a Direct Commercial Sale and is a continuation of a prior five-year FOSI.
INDIA AND US SIGN PROJECT AGREEMENT FOR AIR-LAUNCHED UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE
As per a notification MoD of September 3, 2021, India’s MoD and US Department of Defence have signed a Project Agreement (PA) for Air-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (ALUAV) under the Joint Working Group Air Systems in the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) on July 30, 2021. The PA for ALUAV falls under the Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation (RDT&E) MoA between the MoD and US Department of Defence, which was first signed in January 2006 and renewed in January 2015. The PA for co-development of ALUAV has been overseen by
The CCS approved the procurement of 56 C295MW transport aircraft from Airbus Defence and Space, Spain for the IAF on September 8, 2021. The C295MW is a transport aircraft of 5-10 tonne capacity with contemporary technology that will replace the ageing Avro aircraft of the IAF. The aircraft has a rear ramp door for para dropping of troops and cargo. Sixteen aircraft will be delivered in flyaway condition from Spain within 48 months of signing of the contract and forty aircraft will be manufactured in India by TATA Consortium within ten years of signing of the contract. This is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company. All fifty six aircraft will be installed with indigenous Electronic Warfare Suite. The project will give a boost to aerospace ecosystem in India wherein several Indian MSMEs will be involved in manufacturing of parts of the aircraft. Before completion of deliveries, ‘D’ Level servicing facility (MRO) for C295MW aircraft will be setup in India. It is expected that this facility will act as a regional MRO hub for various variants of C295 aircraft. This is a major boost to Atamnirbhar Bharat.
AMERICAS LOCKHEED MARTIN TO PARTNER TATA ADVANCED SYSTEMS FOR PRODUCING F-21
Michael Kelley, Vice President – India for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Technique and Enterprise Growth and Brett Medlin, the F-21 India Marketing campaign head, were in India for conferences with the
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