MIDHANI’s new plants to make bulletproof vests, armoured vehicles
Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI), the specialised metals and metal alloys manufacturing public sector undertaking under Ministry of Defence, is getting ready to fully commission 60 crore plant at Rohtak (Haryana) for making bullet-proof vests and armoured personal vehicles for the armed forces.
The PSU is assuring armour bullet proof plating
or even mine proof without affecting the overall vehicle performance for any chassis
sourced by the end user with capacity to make up to 25-30 vehicles a year.
Demand is for one lakh bullet proof vests in
the country. Midhani is going to harp on good quality and reliability to the
end user.
“The Checkmate”: Not officially offered to
India
Russia on July 20 at the MACS airshow unveiled
its new Sukhoi stealth fighter jet, “The Checkmate”, designed to compete with
the US made F-35, and soon after it was disclosed by Russian officials that the
aircraft already had got an Asian country has its first launch customer leading
to speculation of India being on the possible client of the aircraft.
A senior official with airforce confirmed that
no such offer has been made to India through any official channels yet but
Russia continues to offer its MiG-35 and Sukhoi-35 jets in India’s fighter jet
requirement.
IAF delegation at the MAKS airshow did visit
the “The Checkmate” stall at the venue but there is no official confirmation if
IAF got separate briefings on the program.
“The Checkmate” will be promoted to India in
the coming days and it likely will make it to India’s premier defense and airshows
planned for next year.
Indigenous Dhanush Gun gets Reviewed to fix
bottleneck issues
A joint team from Indian Army and Ministry of
Defence officials recently visited Gun Carriage Factory, Jabalpur, in MP to
review the integration & production of Dhanush at Gun Carriage Factory
Jabalpur with all the stakeholders to resolve quality & delivery issues.
The first batch of 6 guns supplied in 2019
faced some Quality issues due to which second batch production was affected as
the Indian Army wanted it to be rectified and retested.
Indian Army has placed orders for 118 Dhanush
155x45mm artillery guns that were supposed to be delivered in 4 years at the
rate of 36 guns per annum from the second year but Gun Carriage Factory will
not be able to meet its targets and 118 guns delivery might likely run into its
6th year since the rate of production of 50 guns per year is simply not
possible from 2022.
Indian Army on the other hand wants to procure
400 ATHOS-2052 from Elbit of Israel in a ready-to-use condition and the
remaining 1,180 will be assembled here in India by the foreign supplier in a
partnership with Indian partner Bharat Forge.
China’s first stealth fighter for aircraft
carriers is emerging, but a big problem still weighs it down
The FC-31 is in many ways designed to compete
with the US made F-35, but with some differences. It is slightly larger and has
two jet engines to the F-35’s one. The US Navy’s main fighters, the F-35C and
the F/A-18E, both have a top speed of Mach 1.6, while the FC-31 is reportedly
capable of reaching speeds as fast as Mach 1.8.
Crucially for the Chinese Airforce, the FC-31
is as much as 22,000 pounds lighter than China’s current carrier-based fighter,
the J-15, which is the heaviest carrier-based fighter in service in the world. The
J-15’s weight, combined with the disadvantages of ski-jump carrier design,
severely limits the capabilities of the Chinese Navy’s carrier air wings. But
the FC-31 has its own weight problems. Its empty weight is believed to be as
high as 38,000 pounds. This affects its maximum take-off weight, which is
estimated to be 56,000 pounds.
Higher take-off weights require bigger engines
and more fuel, reducing the amount of armaments an aircraft can carry. By
comparison, the F-35C has an empty weight of 34,800 pounds and a maximum
takeoff weight of 70,000 pounds. The F-35B, the short take-off and landing
version that also operates from US Navy ships, has an empty weight of 32,300
pounds and a take-off weight of 60,000 pounds. The F/A-18E has an empty weight
of 32,000 pounds and a maximum take-off weight of 66,000 pounds.
China’s struggle to produce an efficient high end
jet engine also affects its jets weight. The first FC-31 model was fitted with
Russian engines, just like the J-20. Better engines would allow China’s
fighters to carry heavier loads and operate for longer periods. Turning the FC-31
into a carrier borne aircraft would require other changes, like making the
wings larger, that would also make it heavier.
