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ACIG Special Reports
EUROPEAN EXHIBITORS-I
FRANCE
French president Jean Pierre Raffarin leading a delegation of french aerospace captains visited the show on February 6,in whose presence, three agreements between HAL,SNECMA Moteurs and Turbomeca were signed. These included an agreement for the formation of a joint venture for the setting up of a centre of excellence for manufacturing key components, investment castings and equipment dedicated to aero engines, an agreement for the codevelopment and coproduction of the Shakti-Ardien high power engine for the ALH and an agreement for the supply for rolled ring forgings and precision blade forgings by HAL to SNECMA.
Thales has been a partiticipant in the Indian defence industry since 1953 and is perhaps the largest foreign contributor in the field of avionics and onboard systems for upgrades as well as new projects.Notably,the HAL HJT-36 IJT uses a number of avionic systems from Thales including the HUD, 3ATI, 4ATI displays, AoA, temperature sensors and accelerometers. Thales has also supplied 'Catherine' thermal imagers for the T-90S MBT of the Indian Army.
The Thales Damocles/NavFLIR pod featured on the Mirage-2000-5 Mk2 is the latest targeting and navigation sensor for the delivery of PGMs in day as well as night in the harshest of weather conditions. In the background is Thale's advanced simulation system for the Mirage-2000-5. Over 160 sets of simulators have been delivered by Thales worldwide, including Mirage-2000H and Airbus A-300 simulators to the IAF and the domestic carrier Indian airlines, respectively.
Several statements about the interest and eventual acquisition of 126 Mirage-2000-5 for the formation of a 7 squadron strategic nuclear strike force arise from official and unofficial sources but actual detailed information has not yet been released and this remains speculative.If such a deal is signed, around 70% of the aircraft fleet would be locally manufactured at HAL which has already established an Overhaul facility for the Mirage-2000 at Bangalore. Approved to the ISO 9000 series of quality systems,it remains the only organization authorized to undertake major inspection and overhaul of the Mirage-2000 series,outside France. While the Rafale is not really being pushed for the IAF, Dassault hope that they will find a potential customer in the Indian Navy. There have been one or two official statements about the Rafale-M as a possible alternative to the Mig-29K but the sheer cost of the former could be a prohibitive factor.
The next generation of a well known family: The Matra Mistral-2 and the EADS Exocet series including the MM-40-block-3 extended range ship launched version, the old AM-39 and the sub launched SM-39. Strangely,the SM-39 is expected to arm the Scorpene submarines to be ordered by the Indian Navy, despite the existence of far superior armament in the inventory.
The Aster 15 SAAM and Aster 30 SAMP/T. Aster is a modular family of vertically launched missiles provided with a single interception stage associated with two different boosters according to the ASTER 15 or ASTER 30 models.
Over 250 Falcon-900 aircraft are in service worldwide, operational with air services of 38 different countries. They are backed by Dassault's legendary support and logistics structure throughout their operating zones. The latest Falcon-900EX offers a range of over 4500 nm, with a flight deck featuring a fully integrated Honeywell Primus 2000 avionics suite and an optional Flight Dynamics HGS-2850 Head-Up Guidance system.
On Feb 5 2003, the Larzac would have logged no less than a million flight hours. Powering the Alpha Jet, the MiG-AT and the HJT-36, the Larzac, of which more than 1000 units are in service worldwide, is widely accepted as the best engine in it's thrust class. Though HAL hopes to eventually replace the Larzac on the HJT-36 with an indeginous engine(derived from a derated Kabini core), the former has been invited by SNECMA Moteur and TURBOMECA to plan an uprated 1500 - 1700 dN version of the Larzac, specifically for the HJT-36.
OTHER
The Airbus family. Some 70% of India's domestic and national carriers comprise of Airbus liners. While Indian Airlines operates the largest A320 fleet in Asia, Air-India operates the world's largest fleet of the A-310s,though the latter is ageing and is need of replacement. HAL is currently executing an order to supply 600 passenger doors for the A320 series. HAL also supplies nose undercarriage parts for the same. The A340-400 competing with the Boeing-777-200ER to secure an order from Air-India. It is expected that 222 new aircraft would be acquired in the next 2 decades. Airbus also sources software and designing work from Indian companies such as Computervision India, Vidyacom and Infosys, titanium parts from Mishra Dhatu Nigam.
EADS is a participant in the Mig-29 Sniper upgrade and also independently offers upgrade packages of it's own. The Mako seems to be a bit of an overkill for an advanced jet trainer. The flyaway cost is not expected to be anything commonly affordable.
HAL and ATR France had signed a cooperation agreement in January 2001 for the co-production of ATR42 and ATR72 passenger aircraft modified as per customer requirements for the roles of surveillance, maritime reconnaissance, SAR, VIP transport and civil operations. Joint proposals by HAL and ATR have been supplied to the Indian Coastguard, the domestic carrier Indian-Airlines and the Border Security force. The project is scheduled to be launched on receipt of orders only. While the ATR42MP Surveyor is being pushed for the Indian Coast guard, the latter remains undecided on the aircraft. Four ATR42-320s are, however, already being operated by 'Alliance Air', a wholly owned subsidary of Indian Airlines.
© Copyright 2002-3 by ACIG.org
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