Germany Opt Out of SSK, India Turkey Drone Unit, Drdo Chaff Technology, Gslv Failure Analysis, Massive Tejas Orders Awaited By Private Firms

The private sector waits for massive orders as the Tejas Mk1A program takes off

HAL recently cleared the deal for 99 with GE Aviation for F404-GE-IN20 engines and Private sector companies in India who were involved in the LCA Tejas program from its initial stage in the supply of aircraft fuselage, tail section, and wings are looking forward to massive orders that will come after IAF earlier this year contracted deal for 73 Tejas Mk1A and 10 Tejas Trainers.

HAL wanted private sector companies to invest in the expansion of our facilities even when IAF was not so keen on placing fresh orders, with fresh orders and stable requirements in place, HAL looking in contributing in the development of a stable LCA Tejas ecosystem.

Some of the companies confirmed that once fresh contracts are signed, expansion of the facilities and manpower are on the cards as the Tejas Mk1A program will have a strict delivery schedule and many companies are also prime candidates who will also join LCA-AF-Mk2 and TEDBF.

Germany likely to opt out of Navy’s submarine project, South Korean company may be only vendor

The Navy’s plan to build six conventional submarines in India for an estimated Rs 43,000 crore is heading for troubled waters, with one of the prime foreign technology partners saying that it may not proceed with the negotiations as it finds some of the tender requirements too restrictive.

If the German group does not change its stand, the mega project could be heading for a single foreign vendor situation with South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering as the only contender.

As first reported, the German company had emerged as the frontrunner after a condition was put in the tender for a sea proven Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system, a critical component that will enable these boats to remain submerged for over two weeks, as against the 2-3 days of underwater endurance of the current submarines.

This requirement for a sea proven AIP had effectively removed three of the five shortlisted foreign vendors, leaving only Germany and South Korea in the fray. The other three, Russia, France and Spain do have AIP technology but it is not fitted on a submarine where it can be demonstrated.

Indian DCM Shriram Industries buys 30% stake in Turkish drone maker

A Turkish unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) producer, Zyrone Dynamics, has received a foreign investment from India worth $1 million.

Thirty percent of the firm’s shares, giving it a total valuation of $3.5 million were bought by India’s DCM Shriram Industries, Murat Kanber, co-founder of the Turkish company.

The two companies signed a partnership agreement at this week’s International Defense Industries Fair in Istanbul, Turkey.

At the fair, the firm is showcasing two new UAVs, with the highest flying speed in their class. Defense industry analysts in Turkey and abroad have hailed the performance and growing market share of Turkish made drones.

Now Zyrone will sell its products to India and its neighbours in the Asian market, after which it also hopes to export drones to Europe and Australia.

Did a cryo upper stage process issue cause GSLV to fail?

Nearly a week after the GSLV F10 mission failed after an anomaly in the cryogenic upper stage resulted in non-ignition, the failure analysis committee is in the process of recreating the flight through simulation to pin point the problem.

Isro said given that all the systems had performed as per requirement in all ground tests and this class of the launch vehicle had consecutive flawless launches in the past few years, the space agency feels the problem may not be in the engine.

Initial suspicions are that one of the processes of preparing the engine to do the job - propellant management, maintaining of pressure, inlet/input conditions could have failed. And, if it is a process issue, then the corrections could be carried out in a shorter span of time compared to an engine issue.

Sometimes, the systems that appear to have a good margin during pre-launch tests and previous missions don’t perform as expected when launched.

The GSLV Mk2, for example, has had six consecutive successful flights before last week, which is why ISRO think it may be a process issue. But that’s for the Failure Analysis Committee to conclude.

DRDO develops advanced chaff technology for IAF jets

DRDO has developed an advanced chaff technology to safeguard Indian Air Force fighter jets against hostile radar threats.

This comes a few months after the DRDO developed a similar technology for naval ships to protect them from missile attacks.

The technology was developed in three variants. The Indian Navy conducted trials of all three variants in the Arabian Sea on Indian Naval Ship and found the performance satisfactory.

The advanced chaff technology has been developed by DRDO’s defence laboratory situated in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur.

The Air Force has started the process of induction of this technology after completion of successful user trials.

It is an electronic countermeasure technology used by militaries worldwide to protect their assets, like naval vessels and aircraft. It protects the assets from radar and radio frequency.