RNI NUMBER: DELENG/2008/24199 `75.00 (India-based buyer only) Aviation www.spsaviation.net RAFALE: FINALLY SP’s News Flies. We Gather Intelligence. Every Month. From India. The Winner        I air-to-air missiles raytheon india president,blair, dragon military: A business aviation: nterview: william nterview: sian tigers Page 10 An SPGuidePublic rise of the rise of the February •2012 February

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Table of Contents News Flies. We Gather Intelligence. Every Month. From India. AviationIssue 2 • 2012

10 Indian Government has begun price negotiations with the Dassault to purchase their Rafale to fulfill the IAF’s requirement a medium multirole combat aircraft.

first Industry Enhanced Design Lead Story 6 32 OEM ‘India is the cornerstone of our TecKnow Winning the Race defence business’: Rolls Royce 7 Spacious & Cost-effective Fifty-four months after the Indian Government floated Regular Departments Civil its largest and most ambitious acquisition effort for combat 4 A Word from Editor 14 Regional Aviation Travellers’ Delight aircraft ever, it has chosen 8 NewsWithViews the French Rafale to meet its 18 Business Aviation – Boeing’s Blended Behemoth MMRCA requirement. Asian Tigers – 49 per cent FDI by Foreign • Airlines

Military SP’s AN SP GUIDE PUBLICATION 12 Forum News Flies. We Gather Intelligence. Every Month. From India. 75.00 (INDIA-BASED BUYER ONLY) BUYER 75.00 (INDIA-BASED ` 22 Strategy Aviationwww.spsaviation.net FEBRUARY • 2012 MMRCA & Beyond Rise of ‘The Dragon’ Hall of Fame  BUSINESS AVIATION 34 IN INDIA 26 Air-to-Air Missiles  REGIONAL AVIATION: RISE OF THE DRAGON  AIR-TO-AIR MISSILES What’s New Around  INTERVIEW: WILLIAM BLAIR, PRESIDENT, RAYTHEON INDIA 35 NewsDigest Space PAGE 10 FINALLY 40 LastWord 29 Debris RNI NUMBER: DELENG/2008/24199 RAFALE: THE WINNER No other Way Out Mess in Orbit SP's Aviation Cover 02-12 final.indd 1 24/02/12 4:11 PM Cover Photo: Interview Rafale’s production line at Merignac, France. The current production rate delivers 11 aircraft a year, Next Issue: 31 OEM with around six on the line at any one time at Regional Aviation in India - Prospects ‘We feel we’re a trusted Dassault’s Merignac site. partner to India’ Image By: Dassault Aviation

Issue 2 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 1 Table of Contents

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Beechcraft King Air 350_SP_Aviation.indd 1 1/19/12 4:53 PM A Word from Editor The MMRCA deal brings with it a staggering 50 per cent of the mammoth $15- 20 billion deal which should come as a boon to the Indian aviation industry – both, public and private – in terms of high technologies’ infusion

inally, the winner is out. On January 31, in spite tion industry – both, public and private – in terms of high of its preoccupations with the assembly elec- technologies’ infusion. In selecting the new technologies, tions in many states, the UPA Government took perhaps the IAF – the most affected service in the field of a bold and much awaited decision to announce military aviation – could take the lead in identifying key the L1 (lowest bidder) in the closely contested technologies that would help the indigenised aviation in- fight between the two finalists, French Dassault dustry provide it with weapon systems and platforms in fu- Rafale and the European Eurofighter Typhoon. And the ture to boost its operational capabilities. It would be sinful Fwinner is the ‘Rafale’. For Dassault Aviation, India’s selec- to forget that, the very reason for which India has opted to tion of the Rafale is not only perceived as a sweet vindica- spend astronomical amounts of foreign exchange for the tion of sorts but also, quite literally, the ‘Kiss of Life’. Earlier, MMRCA deal is to acquire, absorb and, indigenise as much Dassault had felt slighted by India’s decision to go for a of the high technologies that come with the ‘offset’ pro- global tender, when the Indian Air Force (IAF) had express- grammes of this landmark acquisition. India simply cannot ly stated at the turn of the last millennium it wanted more afford to throw away this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to Mirage 2000 fighter jets. Winning the race enables Dassault stand on its own feet. to also open Rafale’s export account, albeit belatedly, which Lastly, do visit us at the upcoming ‘India Aviation 2012’ had the global aerospace industry baffled for years over its at Hyderabad (March 14-18) and later, at the Delhi ‘Defexpo lack of commercial success. India 2012’ (March 29-April 1) where, incidentally, we will Not surprisingly, the declaration of the winner elicited also be the proud, sole and exclusive official media partner. mixed responses ranging from utter joy in the winning In the meantime, Happy Reading. camp to gloom and despair for the losing side. On the po- litical front, while the French government of President Sar- kozy expressed its delight, the British showed their disap- pointment with Prime Minister David Cameron stating that he would request the Indian Government to reconsider its decision. But, the Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony has been candid in his statements that technical and financial merits will not be overruled by geopolitical considerations in the MMRCA deal. Be that as it may, it is hoped that the remaining issues of the deal are sorted out expeditiously and the contract inked during the early months of the financial year 2012-13. It would kick-start the time clock for the IAF to be able to receive the first batch of “off-the-shelf’’ 18 aircraft to form its first MMRCA squadron in 2015-16. It is also hoped that the IAF would exercise its option for more aircraft in the near future to enable it to ultimately raise about 10 MMRCA squadrons. It would certainly help the IAF regaining the ‘numeric’ vis-à-vis its highly depleted combat aircraft strength. But that is not all. The MMRCA deal brings with Jayant Baranwal it a staggering 50 per cent of the mammoth $15-20 bil- Publisher & Editor-in-Chief lion deal which should come as a boon to the Indian avia-

4 SP’S AVIATION Issue 2 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net DAS_50Inde_210x267_SPA_uk_DAS_50Inde_210x267_SPA_uk 08/07/11 15:26 Page1

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Enhanced Cessna Citation Ten Design prototype makes first flight essna’s Citation Ten prototype has made its farther than the Citation X (Model 750). First announced at first flight. The flight lasted more than two hours and the 2010 NBAA convention, the Citation Ten is designed for included tests of stability and control, handling quali- greater fuel-efficiency and increased comfort for up to nine ties, functional operations including the autopilot and passengers and two pilots. Cauto throttle system, engine operability and avionics before Two Rolls-Royce AE 3007C2 engines will take a 36,600 landing at Wichita, Kansas. pound (16,600 kilogramme) MTOW Citation Ten off the “It took a significant amount of work by a large number ground in 5,150 feet (1,569 metres) and give the aircraft of people to get us to this milestone today and I am happy to a maximum cruise speed of 527 knots an hour (977 kilo- report that the aircraft performed exceptionally well,” said metres) and a certified ceiling of 51,000 feet (15,545 me- Michael Voigt, Cessna’s engineering test pilot who flew the tres). The Ten has a maximum range of 3,242 nautical miles Ten prototype. “All systems functioned as expected including (6,008 kilometres), putting city pairings such as New York- the Garmin G5000 avionics system. We are looking forward London, Boston-San Francisco, London-Dubai and Miami- to a successful flight test programme and the Federal Avia- Seattle within convenient one-hop flights. tion Administration (FAA) certification.” The Ten is 15 inches longer than the Citation X, pro- FAA type certification is on track for mid-2013 with first viding extra passenger legroom in the forward club seating aircraft deliveries planned for the second half of 2013. area. With Cessna’s proprietary cabin technology solution, “Our first flight was a great success. We have a great the Ten delivers touch-screen control to the passenger, max- team working on this project and I know they will take this imising the digital entertainment experience. SP dominant aircraft up a notch,” said Kelly Reich, business leader for the Cessna Citation X and Ten. The Ten is a mid-size aircraft with updated design and E-mail your comments to: [email protected] Photogra p h: Cessna performance, enabling it to get to altitude faster and travel

6 SP’S AVIATION Issue 2 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net ec Know T T

Tecnam introduces the Spacious P92 Sea-Sky Hydroplane & Cost-effective

talian aircraft manufacturer Tecnam has value. One reason for the low-cost Tecnam P92 Sea-Sky Hy- recently unveiled the Tecnam P92 Sea-Sky Hydroplane. droplane is that it is produced at Tecnam’s new composites The sixth generation development builds on the suc- production facility, home to both the Tecnam P2008 and cess of both the P92 Echo Classic and P92 Eaglet to of- Tecnam P Twenty-Ten, in Capua, Italy. Ifer potential customers seeking an innovative, spacious and “Our Tecnam P92 Sea-Sky Hydroplane offers you the cost-effective seaplane. pleasure of enjoying both blue waters and blue skies,’’ said Requiring a take-off run of less than 200 metres, cou- Paolo Pascale, Tecnam’s Managing Director. SP pled with an impressive climb rate and a 100 hp engine, the Tecnam P92 Sea-Sky Hydroplane affords ease of operation, both on the water (lakes, rivers or sea) and in the air. E-mail your comments to: [email protected] Photogra p h: T ecnam Tecnam aeroplanes are known for offering outstanding

Issue 2 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 7 Photograph: freewebs.com NewsWithViews I VIEWS 8 of bothconceptsvis-à-vispassenger capacityandfuelef- first B787toitslaunchcustomer latelastyear. A380 inOctober2007versus Boeingwhichhandedoverthe Airbus stole a four-year lead with the commercial launch of A380 andB787wereplagued withaseriesofdelaysbutthe 300 seattosupportits ‘point-to-point’ concept. Boththe fuel-efficient, light-weight ‘composite’ 787Dreamliner250- on the other hand continued to struggle to master its highly el istheworld’s largestcommercialairliner today. Boeing ‘hub-to-hub’ partoftheairtrav- up to800seatsinsupportofthe which withaseatingcapacityof bus produced the massive A380 the airtravellersoftoday. Air concept, seeminglyfavouredby aircraft forits ‘point-to-point’ to theideaofsuitablemid-sized and smallaircraft, Boeingstuck which calledforamixofbig the ‘hub andspoke’concept While the Airbus cameupwith differing theoriesofairtravel. and fiercerivalshadpropagated makers ofpassengerairliners airliner torivalthe Airbus A380? of heart to finally go in for ‘giant’ Then, hasBoeinghadachange it nothingmorethane-rumour? the information highways, or is the newsdoingroundson spokespersons, istheretruthin officially denied by the Boeing years have passed. Even though pilot. Sincethen, morethanfour the groundbyBoeingtest 20, 2007, pilotedremotelyfrom manned X-48BtooktotheskiesforfirsttimeonJuly trials hadoftimecoalescedintoonemomentwhentheun- toil, designanddevelopment, windtunneltestingandground the US Air ForceResearchLaboratory. Years ofresearchand National Aeronautics andSpace Administration (NASA) and neered byBoeingPhantom Works incooperationwiththe for it, the797atits butcontinuedtodevelop ‘Phantom Works’ FacilityinLongBeach, California. the 555-seat Airbus A380, which is 262 feet wide. Boeing decided to kill its 747X stretched Super Jumbo in 2003 after little interest was shown craft will have a wing span of 265 feet compared to 211 feet of its 747, created air terminals for and it has been designed to fit within the newly byBoeingincooperationwiththeNational developed Aeronautics andSpace ResearchCenter.Administration (NASA)Langley The mammothair- Boeing ispreparinga1,000-passengerjetlinerthatcouldreshapetheairtravelindustry. Itsradical “blended wingandfuselage” designhasbeen Boeing’s BlendedBehemoth

Be that as it may, both the rivals soon realised the merits In the1990s, thetwobiggest t w kg three-enginejetwitha6.4mwingspanwasengi- ed wingbody’(BWB)experimentaljetaircraft. The 227- reported thesuccessfultestingofBoeing’s X-48B ‘blend- SP’S AVIATION as in SP’s Aviation, Issue6ofyear2007, wehad

Issue 2•2012 - of itsarchrivalintheracefor civilianaircraft­ lost ground to Airbus’ A380, butalsoleapfrog miles ahead but whenithappens, Boeing willnotonlybeabletoregain today’s airliners. controls, whichinanycasehavebecomeastandard fiton herent instability could be easily taken care of ‘fly-by-wire’ M 0.78. MinordisadvantagesintheBWBdesignsuch asin- tage overthetube-and-wingdesigned A380’s 912kmphor wing andfuselage’design, alsoknownas ‘blended wing the perennialwarbetweentwo ‘giants’. How? behemoth couldprovetobethe “ultimate Airbus crusher” in about itsroll-outinthenearfutureistrue, Boeing’s blended A380 atleastforacoupleofdecades. Whereas ifthestory (`65,000 crore) in development costs, it is stuck with the the A350XWB design. Buthavingaccumulated$13billion swer totheBoeing’s 787Dreamliner, finallytakingshapeas ficiency. Airbus quickly gotontothe A350 ‘composite’ an- The exactdateforintroduction ofthe797remainsunclear, There aremanysignificantadvantagesinthe ‘blended —Air Marshal(Retd) V.K. Bhatia which givesyetanotheradvan- ably atM0.88or1,050kmph, gers onboard, cruisingcomfort- with asmany1,000passen- a tremendous16,000 km range to fuel-efficiency, givingthe797 the airframewhichagainadds lence andcreateslessstresson technology. It reduces turbu- other keyfactorinthe ‘BWB’ in gravejeopardy. Airbus inits A380 programme sive $13billioninvestmentby than the A380, puttingthemas- 33 percentmorefuel-efficient per cent, making it an estimated reduction oftheaircraftby25 This resultsinanoverallweight in providinglifttotheaircraft. ed design)whichcontributes airframe (thankstotheblend- wings butpracticallytheentire cent. Reason:itisnotonlythe crease byanamazing50per ratio whichisexpectedtoin- tant beingthelifttodrag(L/D) body (BWB)’, themostimpor High airframerigidityisan- www.spsaviation.net supremacy.

SP - Illustration: Anoop Kamath NewsWithViews T to FDIinothersectorsofthe economysuchasinretailtrade. decision bythegovernment comes inthefaceofopposition themselves onthisissue. Also significant isthefactthat that thereislackofunanimity amongsttheprivatecarriers nology andoperationalcapability, itissomewhatsurprising dustry willprovidefreshavenuesforoverallupgradeintech - into theirfinancialdifficulties”. Although FDIintheairline- by theIndianPrimeMinisterabouttwomonthsbackto “look bolises fulfillmentofthecommitmenttoprivateairlines ers. The decision, however, sym- support totheloss-makingcarri- in Indiaarenotwillingtoextend pounded asfinancialinstitutions distress ofairlineshasbeencom- and fiercecompetition. Financial ment liabilities, mountinglosses Indian rupee, huge debt repay- in theworld, weakeningofthe charges amongstthehighest price offuel, airportandother environment plaguedwithrising to surviveinahostileoperating industry iscurrentlystruggling as alifelinetotheindustry. The Policy and Promotion, will come by theDepartmentofIndustrial 26 percentasrecommended the MinistryofCivil Aviation and per cent initially suggested by (FDI) of 49 per cent, up from 24 spect offoreigndirectinvestment government, theproposalinre- iprocity aimedatmutualbenefit. nation ifitisaccompaniedbyrec- beneficial totheindustryand rass. However, FDIwouldbetruly appears tobeaviableoptionandaneasywayoutofthemo- ing itdifficulttoraiseworkingcapitallocally, FDIcertainly and desperatelyneedinfusionoffunds. As airlinesarefind- the exceptionofone, alltheotherairlinesareincurringlosses rate intheairlineindustryatanaverageof17percent, with been moreopportune. Despitetheimpressiveannualgrowth VIEWS by foreignairlinesinIndiancarriersispermitted. needs financialsupport. Currently, FDIupto49percentandinvestmentbyNRIs100isallowedontheautomaticroute, butnoFDI are notpermittedanystakeinIndiancarriers. The Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singhsaid, “The aviationindustryisunderalotofstress,” meaningit permitting foreigndirectinvestment(FDI)upto49percent. The Cabinetwillhavetoapprovethismajorpolicyshiftas, ofnow, foreignairlines In alandmarkdecisionaimedatallowinginfusionoffundsfromforeignairlinestoailingIndiancarriers, thegovernmenthaspavedwayfor 49 percentFDIbyforeign airlines The rapidly growing airline industry and the enormous The rapidlygrowingairline industry andtheenormous Yet tobefinallyclearedbythe sions and unfounded security concerns, could not have move held up for long on account of political compul- per centbyforeigncarriersintoairlinesinIndia, a he timing of the decision to permit FDI up to 49 decision topermitFDIup49 quickly withfundsaswouldnormallybeexpected. With sever being somewhat remote, foreign carriers may not rush in as gering cumulativelossesandprospectsofspeedyturnaround invest. However, giventhehighlevelsofdebtairlines, stag- Airlines, Air Asia andBritish Airways arelikelyto bethefirstto puted internationalcarrierssuchasEtihad Airways, Singapore quire thestatusofaglobalairline. As perinitialindications, re- eign carriersseekingtopenetratethe Asian marketsandtoac- should presentalucrativeopportunityforinvestmentby potential therelativelyuntappedIndianmarkethastooffer, ment Indiancarriershaveto operatein. address themaladiesanddistortions thatafflicttheenviron- remain viableinthelong-term, thegovernmentwillhaveto ity maycontinuetobeadistant dream. Fortheindustryto vate carriersstabiliseandtide overthecrisis, butprofitabil- work wouldrequireaprofoundchangeinmindsets. through FDI, speedyactiontoreformtheregulatory frame- under the existing dispensation can be better accessed There isnodoubtthatFDIwillundoubtedly help thepri- Issue 2•2012 —Air Marshal(Retd)B.K. Pandey call forsizeableresourceswhich frastructure developmentwould growth oftheindustry. While in- jor impedimentstothehealthy latory frameworkaretwoma- infrastructure and archaic regu- line industryaround. Paucityof that FDIalonewillturntheair dustry asawhole, itisunlikely 49 percentmaypreclude. airline, afacilitythatFDIlimitof control overtheoperationsof more willingtoinvestiftheyhave Also, airlineswouldperhapsbe are oftendepressedbelowcost. sitive Indianmarketwherefares highly competitiveandpricesen- them totreadintoanuncertain, it maybeadifficultdecisionfor too inspiringfinancially. As such, airline industryitselfisalsonot the stateofaffairswithglobal ing forcumulativelosses. Besides, for clearingdebtsandcompensat- of theirinvestmentwouldbeused verge ofbankruptcy, amajorpart al Indiancarriersteeteringonthe Given theafflictionsofin-

SP’S AVIATION SP 9 - - - Photograph: Dassault Aviation InFocus F therefore, wasinand comfortably so. very much a part of the same legacy and heritage. The Rafale, ernment persuadedNewDelhi tolookatanaircraftthatwas original choicepullingoutof thereckoning, theFrenchGov- cision was a good one, because while the IAF sulked at its the BoeingF/A-18SuperHornet. As it turnedout, thede- process hadexpandedtoincludemorecapableaircraft like rages outright, aswellarecognitionthattheprocurement asperation withIndia’s decisionnot to simplybuymoreMi- the move was controversial, but was seen as Dassault’s ex- a packagebasedonthemuchnewerRafalejet. At thetime, drew theMirage 2000-V from the sweepstakes, putting forth formally floatedtheMMRCA tender, Dassaultabruptlywith- pointments thatprecededthevictory. ing thanmost—makesupforthesteadystreamofdisap - discerning airforces—andaprocessthatismoredemand - For Dassault, winningadealwithoneoftheworld’s most criticism thatitwasaprogrammecursednevertosucceed. to shakeoffyearsoftoughluck, internationalintrigueand manufacturer ofcombataircraft, theRafaleprogrammegets the billions of dollars that will now re-energise Dassault as a commercial success. With theIAF’s stampofapproval, and had theaerospaceindustrybaffledforyearsoveritslackof deal isofenormousprestigevaluetoanaircraftthathas To openitsexportaccount, albeitbelatedly, withtheIndian builds thejet, theselectionis, quiteliterally, thekissoflife. quirement. ForDassault Aviation, theFrenchcompanythat umental mediummulti-rolecombataircraft(MMRCA) re- 10 MMRCA 10 felt slightedby India’s decisionto Winning of sorts. The company hadalways IAF hadexpressly saiditwanted For Dassault, India’s selectionof the the Rafale isasweet vindication Six yearsago, wellbeforetheIndianGovernment had

go for aglobaltender, when the SP’S AVIATION more Mirage 2000fighterjets. craft ever, itchosetheFrenchRafaletomeetitsmon- and mostambitiousacquisitioneffortforcombatair ment floatedwhatwaswithoutadoubtitslargest ifty-fm onths our Race

Issue 2•2012 after he Indian Govern- -

D jet thatshuttleshimaround. with Dassaultsofarhasonlybeen theFalcon900EXexecutive the Indiandefencemarket. Mukesh Ambani’s mostvisiblelink facturing, advanced systems and joint development aimed at ate on, itwouldpresumablybeintheareasofcomplexmanu - ny. While itisunclearwhatareasDassaultand RILwillcooper switching overtothedefencebusinessofSeattle-basedcompa- headed thecommercialaviationbusinessofBoeingbefore ing’s defencebusinessinIndia, earlier. Lall, infactalsohad are beingledbyDr Vivek Lall, whohadbeenthechiefofBoe- ogy cominginfromabroad. vide itwithgreatflexibilityandabsorptivepowerfortechnol- sphere, thesheersizeof company anditsbackingwillpro- that whileRILisarelativelynewentrantintothedefence billion backintoIndianindustry. Industrywatcherssuggest commits todiverting$9-10 contract laterthisyear, it India—if itwinstheMMRCA substantial offsetsrouteinto vide theFrenchfirmwitha The partnershipwillalsopro- ecution oftheMMRCA deal. involve cooperationintheex- which willalmostdefinitely defence andinternalsecurity, (RIL) for joint opportunities in moted RelianceIndustriesLtd Mukesh Ambani-pro- with It mayberememberedthatRIL’s ambitious defenceplans dum of understanding tered intoamemoran- assault Aviation hasen- Dassault signsMo Reliance Industries

• U with www.spsaviation.net - InFocus began an elaborate process of divining a common lexicon to began an elaborateprocessof divining acommonlexicon to sealed commercialbidsofthetwofinalistcontendersand an ideathattheMinistryofDefence(MoD)supportedinfull. that buyingneweraircraftmadebettersenseinthelong-term, down toanexpandedrequirementandtheparallelrecognition augment its Mirage fleet. Something was amiss, but it was put light airplanesthattheIAFhadoriginallysetouttoprocure aircraft were heavy twin-engine fighters, not quite mediumto In several other aspects, itwasanunexpected decision: the modern but also most expensiveaircraft in the competition. had askedthegovernmenttochoosebetweentwoofmost turning severalnotionsontheirheads. Forstarters, theIAF select createdmassiveupheavalintheaerospacemarket, Super Hornet, SaabGripenINandUAC MiG-35. The down ers—the LockheedMartinF-16INSuper Viper, BoeingF/A-18 bids, signalling a shock elimination of the other four contend- were pickedoutandinstructedtoextendthevalidityoftheir commercial bidsweretoexpire, DassaultandEADSCassidian and onethathadmostoddsstackedagainstit. it wasstillconsideredtobeanunderdoginthecompetition, it turnedout, theaircraftreceivedhugeattention. Importantly, aircraft off and reaching out to the public in any real sense. As profile Frenchfirmwassteppingoutintothelight, showingits liament NavinJindal. Itwasthefirsttimeobsessivelylow- flight display, theaircraftflewdignitarieslikeMemberofPar show at Yelahanka, nearBangalore. Apart fromamemorable the firsttimepubliclydisplayedRafalesat Aero India2011 that a milestone in the procurement was close, Dassault for its combatcapabilities. InFebruary2011, correctlysensing Rafale inIndiaandFrance, testingtheaircraftandassessing default choice. Overthemonths, Indiantestteamsflewthe real scaretoacampaignthatitwastheIndianGovernment’s was deniedbytheMinistryofDefence, itprovidedthefirst technical biddidnotmaketheIndiancut. While thereport fale hadbeendroppedfromthelistofcontendersbecauseits curement process had begun, reports emerged that the Ra - MMRCA E jump launchedjet. craft, whilethenaval Typhoon isbeingconceptualised asaski- carriers arelikelytoinvolvecatapult mechanismstolaunchair craft carriers. However, thereareindicationsthat India’s future has beenproposedasafighterfor theIndianNavy’s futureair distant chanceithasiswiththe conceptnaval Typhoon, which for Eurojetinthebigprize. But inaworstcasescenario, theonly indications thatEADSmayprotestthedeal, theremaybehope ITP) hadpeggeditshopesontheMMRCA competition. Mk.2, Eurojet(apartnership of Rolls-Royce, MTU Aero, Avio and India. After losingout toGEintheracepowerLCA Tejas second andfinalchancetohavetheEJ200poweranaircraftfor ing thatthemediummulti-rolecombataircraft(MMRCA) wasits In November2011, theIndianGovernmentopened Two months later, justadaybeforethesixcompanies’ In April 2009, roughlytwoyearsaftertheMMRCA pro- While themulti-billiondollarjetdealisfarfromover, and Eurojet’s final hopeinIndia pect ofneverdoingdirectbusinesswithIndia, consider turbofan enginefortheEurofighter Typhoon facesthepros - urojet GmbH, thecooperative entitythatbuildstheEJ200 rests with naval Typhoon

• - - - - buy. The Indiandealkillsmanyghosts. the reputationofbeingbeautiful jetthatnobodywantedto cently in the form of a scare in the UAE, Rafale had acquired a momentsooner. After astringofdisappointments, mostre- company willacknowledgethat thisvictorycouldn’t havecome a carnival. Dassault’s winisironicin many ways, andeventhe after allaseriousprocurementofweaponplatformand not sault diffidence, othersasthoroughprofessionalism inwhatis til a year before it emerged victorious. Some saw this as Das- form. Indeed, Indiahadn’t evenseen the Rafaleinfleshun- outclassing andoutshoutingtheFrenchaircraftoneveryplat - campaigns thattheRafale’s rivalspitchedin India, outshining, of entitlementwasprogressivelyerodedbythehigh-voltage ly saiditwantedmoreMirage2000fighterjets. That sense decision togoforaglobaltender, whentheIAFhadexpress- cation ofsorts. The companyhadalwaysfeltslightedby India’s procedures tothelastclauseandleftnothingsubjectivity. sources saywasathoroughlyempiricalprocessthatfollowed that iswhatthecommitteeultimatelyachievedthrough it tookaherculeanefforttoarriveatclearlowestbidder, but been oneofthemostcomplexeveradopted. Byallaccounts, vealed intheweeksandmonthsahead, butitislikelytohave ing andselectionprocessisstillclassifiedlikelytobere- possibility ofextendeddeliberations. The MoD’s benchmark- that separated the Eurofighterand Rafale, throwingupthe ports atthetimesuggestedthatitwasawaferofmargin support, maintenancecosts, technologytransfercosts, etc. Re- table matrixofcriteriaincludingunitcost, costofsparesand other words the most economical package judged from a veri- judge whichofthetwoaircraftwasL1, thelowestbidder, in T for fairandprudentselectionofadvancedsystems. idea ofpatentingtheMMRCA evaluationmanualintoatemplate the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik had first mooted the that came into play while making the decision. Former Chief of about howtheIAFmadeitschoiceandvariousparameters year havealsounofficiallyexpressedinterestinbeingbriefed be participatinginjointairexerciseswiththeIAFovernext ficial adviceonhowtomakeagooddecision. Countriesthatwill en is understood to have asked the Indian Government for unof- zil, stillgrapplingwithadecisionbetweentheRafaleandGrip- learning abouthowtheywentdoingit. Forstarters, Bra- months. Already, theIAFhasreceivedenquiriesofinterestin the detailsofwhicharecertaintoemergeovernextfew figure indicatingcontractvaluehasbeenamonumentaleffort, method ofdistillingcomplexfiguresdowntooneconsolidated of treatingflyawaypriceasanindicatorvalueandtheentire rameters, makingadramaticdeparturefromtheusualcustom ing toopinionandchance. Assessing over600performancepa- was forcedtoevolveafreshandobjectivemethodthatleftnoth- craft, intermsofweight-class, vintageandcapabilities, theIAF any earlierexperienceincomparingsuchhugelydifferentair friendly nations looking to purchase new jets. In the absence of for theMMRCA requirementistobepatentedandsharedwith For Dassault, India’s selectionoftheRafale isasweetvindi- play to evaluate six relatively disparate fighter aircraft the Indian Air Forceandthegovernmentbroughtinto he exhaustiveandinnovativematrixofproceduresthat MMRCA evaluation manual to bepatented Issue 2•2012 —SP’s Special Correspondent

SP SP’S AVIATION

•

11 - MMRCA

aving demystified a number of formulae in its quest for determining as to who should

Forum emerge as the ultimate winner of the MMRCA contract, the Indian Air Force (IAF) had, once again by burning the proverbial ‘midnight oil’, MMRCA submitted its findings to the Ministry of Defence by early December last year. But the IAF, along with most of Hthe defence fraternity in the country, waited in vain during the closing days of the year for the announcement to come as a ‘New Year Gift’. Year 2012 dawned with the ‘mother of all de- fence deals’ still shrouded in the fog of uncertainty. Some die- hard doomsday pessimists went to the extent of prophesying that the deal may be called off in totality given the slowdown in India’s economy. But they were soon to lose to the ratio- nalists who reasoned India had travelled too far to backtrack Beyond without losing face and credibility in the international arena. Heading the realists was the Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne himself who in an early January interaction with me- dia optimistically predicted the ‘announcement’ by month end. And as usual, the Chief proved to be absolutely correct in his & optimism. Even though the country was facing a tough political climate due to assembly elections in five different states, the UPA Government took a bold decision to announce the winner (L1) on January 31, in the closely fought contest between the two finalists French Dassault Rafale and the European Euro- fighter Typhoon. As anticipated, the declaration of the winner elicited mixed initial responses ranging from utter joy in the winning camp on one hand, to dark despair and gloom from the side that lost out. For French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was delighted to hear the news, it may come as a much needed political coup to soup up his chances of winning the shortly to be held next presidential elections. He was hopeful that contract negotiations will begin “very soon”. But while the Defence Ministry officials are actively engaged in fine-tuning the pricing details, including the cost of on-board weaponry and royalties for producing the aircraft in India; given the gov- ernment’s present financial worries and less than anticipated revenue collections, any hope of signing the contract before the expiry of the present financial year on March 31, appears remote. Then, there are other issues which could prove to be The reason for which India ‘spoil sport’ in the fiercely contested deal. First, the reported $5 million (`25 crore) difference per unit between the candidates has opted to spend such huge to decide the L1 in favour of Rafale is exceptionally small in- amounts of foreign exchange for dicating that this was a close race— practically a photo finish as per Jane’s Defence Weekly which cautioned, “This is just the purchase of the MMRCA is the first step—Rafale has been selected as the preferred bidder but any student of Indian procurement knows that this means to acquire, absorb and indigenise nothing until the contract is physically signed.” as much of the high technology On its part, EADS was still hopeful of somehow turning the deal around in its favour. The British Prime Minister, that comes with the offset David Cameron, was openly disappointed with the outcome provisions of this landmark deal. and reacted, “I would request the Indian Government to re- consider the fighter jet deal.” But the French plane maker India simply cannot Dassault is so desperate to land its first export customer viation afford to throw away this once- for the Rafale, that it will do everything possible not to lose the initiative of having been declared the ‘preferred bidder’. in-a-lifetime opportunity to Welcoming India’s decision to buy the ‘Rafale’, President stand on its own feet. Sarkozy promised that France would meet all Indian re- quirements connected with the ‘deal’. Be that as it may, from the IAF’s point of view, it is hoped

h: Dassault A Photogra p h: Dassault that the deal is successfully negotiated during the initial

12 SP’S AVIATION Issue 2 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net MMRCA months of the financial year 2012-13 for In the present be achieved only in 2013-14—must it to start receiving the aircraft in 2015- remain on track, with the remain-

Forum 16 time frame. global financial ing weapon carriage and firing tri- In the present global financial sce- als being completed expeditiously. nario, the 126-aircraft deal may go much scenario, the It is worth remembering that the beyond the originally estimated cost of 126-aircraft ambitious LCA programme has so far $10-12 billion (`50,000-`60,000 crore). fallen way short of the original plans Further, India may eventually decide to deal may go to acquire indigenous capabilities in exercise the option of acquiring the ad- much beyond some key technologies, which are ditional 63 aircraft which could take the vital for the design and development overall cost of the MMRCA programme to the originally of modern state-of-the-art combat exceed the $20 billion mark (`1,00,000 estimated cost jet fighters. Out of the five technolo- crore). Given the current economic gies targeted, Indian designers were trends, this deal will always remain un- of $10-12 billion reasonably successful in only two der the watchful eye of the Finance Min- areas, one, dealing with the develop- istry but ad hoc cuts would be disastrous. ment and manufacture of advanced India would have to stay its course if the carbon-fibre composites (CFC) struc- acquisition of badly needed fighters at tures and skins and, two, the devel- a price tag of about $100 million (`500 opment of a modern ‘glass cockpit’. crore) a piece is to be accomplished. It may also be remem- In the field of fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control systems (FCS), bered that the MMRCA programme will extend well beyond success could be achieved only with heavy doses of foreign the current decade and may go beyond the Thirteenth Five assistance. But in two most crucial set of technologies i.e. an Year Plan period (2017-22) to fructify fully. Possible good afterburning engine and a multi-mode pulse Doppler news connected with the protracted programme could be radar, success has continued to elude the Indian scientists. that it would also spread out the expenditure making it easy ‘Kaveri’ project still in a state of limbo, it has been decided to for the government to absorb the financial burden. On the power LCA Tejas Mk I with the General Electric GE F404-IN20 flip side though, it would prevent the IAF regaining its lost engines. Even the Mk II Tejas will be powered by the General combat force levels, as quickly as possible. Electric albeit it’s more powerful GE F414 engine. Similarly, However, having been drained to a record low level of with the indigenous multi-mode radar (MMR) programme still combat squadrons, even with a full complement of 189 air- in its infancy, Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) has been roped craft which will enable the IAF raise about 10 squadrons in to integrate a hybrid version of its EL/M-2032 with Tejas. of MMRCA; it would find it difficult to fully regain its lost This is where the MMRCA programme acquires great im- strength. Why? According to the IISS Military Balance as also portance especially in view of the offset obligations amount- other estimates, at the last count, there were around 290 ing to a staggering 50 per cent of the total programme cost. MiG-21s still operating with the IAF. Of these, around 100 are An early decision by the Indian Government to ‘ink’ the deal of Bison variety which means that the IAF has no option but is most important at this stage. Because, post the announce- to replace at least 200 of the older fighters by 2017-18. The ment, the next five to ten years would be crucial not only for MiG-27 fleet would be the next in line for a phase out which the MMRCA programme and future aircraft induction into means, close on the heels of the Bison version of the MiG- the IAF, but more so to the Indian aviation industry. The in- 21 Bis aircraft, the MiG-27s may also head for retirement by digenous aviation industry on its part will have to selectively the end of the Thirteenth Five Year Plan period—a staggering choose technologies which are needed to help in its own on- 400 aircraft over the next decade. The PAK-FA or T-50 fifth going and futuristic programmes. Some key technologies con- generation fighter known as the FGFA in India is also not ex- nected with the LCA programme have been already discussed. pected to start getting inducted into the IAF before 2020-22. In addition, if Tejas Mk II is planned to be equipped with active This clearly means that whatever India does in the next electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, then this technol- few years, it cannot hope to restore the IAF’s combat aircraft ogy could also be factored in. Perhaps, the IAF—most affected strength to anywhere near the authorised level. This also service in the field of military aviation—could take the lead in means that India would have no choice but to rely on beefing identifying the key technologies which it feels would help the up its Su-30 resources and accelerate the LCA induction pro- indigenous aviation industry to provide the weapon platforms cess to the extent possible. But it is rumoured that the Su-30 and systems to maximise its operational capabilities. spares problems are also pretty serious. The IAF would then The very reason for which India has opted to spend such have no option but to woo Russian original equipment manu- huge amounts of foreign exchange for the purchase of the facturers (OEMs) to provide sustained and reliable spares sup- MMRCA is to acquire, absorb and indigenise as much of the port for the Su-30 fleet if it is to remain the mainstay of the high technology that comes with the offset provisions of this IAF in the foreseeable future. If the Russian product support landmark deal. India simply cannot afford to throw away for the IAF’s Su-30 fleet improves to the desired levels, then this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stand on its own feet. the IAF could consider ordering more of these aircraft—al- The consolidation and maturing of the local defence avia- ready under licensed-production at the HAL Nasik Facility—to tion industry, in fact, it’s very future, depends on the alacrity, fill up deficiencies in its combat force levels. wisdom and seriousness with which the decision-makers The LCA programme—already lagging behind enor- handle this major challenge. SP mously with the full operational clearance (FOC) predicted to — Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia

Issue 2 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 13 Civil regional Aviation Travellers’ Delight

LONGER DURATION FLIGHTS: AirAsia-X in flight

Key forecast figures project Asia as the region that would drive the global growth of aviation industry. Today, many a regional player are vying with the traditional market dominators in providing business as well as pleasure travellers a wide range of choice to select from.

decade ago, the By Group Captain (Retd) ect Asia as the region that would drive Asian aviation scenario A.K. Sachdev the global growth of aviation industry. was circumscribed to a Traditionally, especially in Ameri- handful of large inter- ca, regional airlines were considered national carriers. Today, as those which operate regional air- Asian markets are a trav- craft, that is, aircraft with seating ca- ellers’ delight, with many a regional pacities of 99 or less passengers. This Aplayer vying with the traditional mar- classification is perhaps still somewhat ket dominators in providing business as well as pleasure trav- applicable to the Indian “regional” aviation i.e. connectivity to ellers a wide range of choice to select from. Perhaps the most non-metro cities and towns within India. However, this defi- exciting success story of all in this region is that of AirAsia. nition is no longer tenable with aircraft of the A320/Boeing A former music industry executive, Tony Fernandes, bought a 737 class being used for regional . These single isle failing company in 2001 from the Malaysian Government for (or narrow body) aircraft have seating capacities of 180-odd the token amount of one ringgit (26 US cents) and proceeded to passengers and can do about four hour legs comfortably. AirA- bring it to a standard for which it was named the world’s best sia differentiates between short haul (AirAsia, which flies legs low-cost airline in 2009 and 2010 by the aviation consortium of around four hours) and long haul (AirAsia-X, which flies Skytrax. Fernandes started AirAsia with just two aircraft and longer duration flights). Incidentally, Commercial Aircraft Cor- one destination; and now the Kuala Lumpur-based carrier has poration of (COMAC) is developing the C919 which will close to a hundred aircraft and is a force to reckon with in the seat 150-160 passengers in a two-class layout or 180-190 in regional aviation market in Asia whose economic stridency— a single-class configuration, depending on customer specifica- led by India and China—is a healthy portent of what the future tions. The first test flight is expected in 2014 and certification

Photogr ap hs: Air Asi a & wikimedi holds for the regional aviation scene. Key forecast figures proj- by 2016. The aircraft will be China’s first indigenous narrow

14 SP’S AVIATION Issue 2 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net Civil regional Aviation body jet aircraft (not counting the smaller ARJ21 regional jet), tation mode for the archipelagic South East Asia which in- and COMAC expects to sell 2,000 to 2,200 C919s over 20 years. cludes Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines The C919 is expected to compete with the Boeing 737 and Air- and Thailand and is spread over 24,000 islands across 5,200 bus A320 in the regional aircraft market. China’s big three car- km from east to west and 3,400 km from north to south. riers—, and China Southern The growing extent of Asian regional aviation led (in Airlines—are the possible launch customers for the planned September last year) the International Civil Aviation Organ- C919 aircraft. Airbus holds about 43 per cent, and Boeing cur- isation’s (ICAO’s) Asia-Pacific planning group to approve the rently has a 53 per cent share of China’s commercial jetliner market. As quaintly expressed by a report, ‘A’ of Airbus, and ‘B’ of Boeing will soon be joined by ‘C’ of Comac C919 in the “regional” skies over Asia. Low-Cost Carriers There are three ways for a regional airline to do business. Penetration Rate, 2010 (%) As a feeder airline, it could contract with a major airline, or, 40 operate as a subsidiary, delivering passengers to the major 35 airline’s hubs from surrounding communities. SilkAir is the 35.3 regional wing of Singapore Airlines and operates scheduled 30 passenger services from Singapore to 37 cities in the Asian 29.9 28.6 region (mostly South East Asia, South Asia and China); and 25 thus SilkAir is a “regional airline” subsidiary. Operating un- 23.4 der its own brand, an airline could provide service to small 20 and isolated communities, for whom that airline is the only reasonable link to a larger town. In this role, the term com- 15 17.6 muter airline is generally used. As an independent airline larger than an air taxi or commuter airline service, it could 10 operate scheduled services under its own brand; for example, AirAsia operates to 400 destinations in 25 countries in Asia 5 with its main hub located at Kuala Lumpur. Some other small 0 regional airlines are Berjaya Air, Jetstar (part of Qantas); Ti- Asia Pacific Global US Central/South Europe ger Airways and Nok Air, chiefly owned by Singapore Airlines America and Thai Airways respectively; and Firefly, a subsidiary of Sources: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, Deutsche Bank Malaysia Airlines. These regional airlines are a key transpor-

Boeing/Airbus order backlog by region and country

% of global total % of Asian total

India Europe

20% 18% Malaysia Asia 15% China 32% 24% 25% North America 9% Indonesia

25% 6% 15% 6% 5%

Japan

Other Middle East Singapore & Other

Sources: Ascend, Bernstein Analysis

Issue 2 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 15 Civil regional Aviation

The HOmegrown formation of a new team to work to- chinese regional jetliner: comec wards Seamless Asian Skies (SAS), so aRJ-21 takesoff as to maximise the efficiency of civil aviation in the region. The new group has begun a two-year planning ex- ercise indentifying what needs to be done to improve Asia-Pacific air traffic management (ATM) and will issue a final report in 2013. As most airlines con- tinue to suffer due to high fuel costs and economic uncer- tainties continue to render their profitability a grey area, any initiative to eliminate burdensome airspace regulations and allow traffic to flow as smoothly as technology permits, would be a welcome step. SAS appears to be a step in the right direction. Asian Airlines India has a huge tourism potential and ought to be a major gainer majorly from the prolific regional aviation in Asia. Besides leisure tourism and business, medical tour- Air Astana Jet Airways Air Bagan Jetstar Asia Airways ism is booming in Asia: Thailand, South Korea, Singapore Air China Juneyao Airlines and India are the top leaders in medical check-ups, fertil- Air Do Kam Air ity treatments, joint replacements and cosmetic surgery by Air India Kingfisher Airlines professionals, at a fraction of the cost in the US and Europe. Air India Express Korean Air However, the number of international airports is small in Air Japan Lao Airlines proportion to the total geographic extent of the country. On- Air Lion Air going endeavours to improve airports and allied infrastruc- Air Koryo Malaysia Airlines ture will indeed bring benefits, albeit the speed at which Air Mandala Airlines these initiatives are progressing could be faster. The recent Air Mandalay Mandarin Airlines demand by Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) for Air Seychelles Merpati Airlines a substantial increase in fees proposed by the airport’s op- AirAsia MIAT - Mongolian Airlines AirAsia X Myanmar Airways erator, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has raised Airblue Necon Air heckles at home and abroad. As aptly put by Axel Hilgers, AirPhil Express Nok Air Lufthansa’s Director for South Asia, Lufthansa, “The pro- All Nippon Airways One Two Go posed multi-fold increase of landing charges at IGIA airport Ariana Afghan Airlines Orient Thai Airlines is counterproductive, since India risks pricing itself out of Armavia Pacific Airlines the market for regional aviation hubs in Asia and the Middle Asiana Airlines Pakistan International Airlines East,” India’s Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) Azerbaijan Airlines PB Air met all stakeholders in January to discuss the proposed Bangkok Airways Philippine Airlines 774 per cent hike in landing, parking, navigation and other Batavia Air Royal Brunei Airlines charges sought by DIAL, beginning April 1. AERA proposed Berjaya Air Safi Airways Biman Bangladesh Airlines Airlines an increase of 334.6 per cent at the meeting. As could be Cambodia Angkor Air Airlines expected, almost all representatives of international airlines Airlines (including British Airways, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa) Cebu Pacific Airlines opposed the increase, saying the time is not right for this China Airlines SilkAir steep increase. Alarmingly, Air Asia X, the long-haul arm of China Eastern Airlines Singapore Airlines low-cost carrier Air Asia, has already discontinued flights Skymark Airlines from Delhi and Mumbai because of high airport fees. Air Somon Air Asia has also dropped flights from Hyderabad for the same Citilink SpiceJet reason. Delhi airport is already one of the most expensive CR Airways airports in Asia and the additional cost to airlines and pas- Dragonair SriLankan Airlines sengers is likely to adversely affect its traffic. Druk Air Sriwijaya Air Surinam Airways With nearly all airlines in India having met the DGCA EVA Air Thai AirAsia criteria to fly internationally, their share of the regional avi- Garuda Indonesia Thai Airways ation in Asia should have soared. However, they are strug- GoAir gling with cut-throat competition (which inhibits any fare Airlines Tiger Airways raises), critical DGCA financial audits, very high aviation Airlines Trans Maldivian Airways fuel costs within India, and across the board losses. A deci- TransAsia Airways sion to permit foreign airlines to invest in Indian ones, the Hong Kong Express Airways Turkmenistan Airlines Indian civil aviation sector would perhaps bring some relief Ibex Airlines Uzbekistan Airways especially to the beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines. Changes IndiGo Valuair in the policy framework for civil aviation in India could hold Indonesia AirAsia Vietnam Airlines the key for better exploitation of the potential of the Asian Xiamen Airlines regional market. SP

16 SP’S AVIATION Issue 2 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net 2000S Intro_210x267_GB_062011_VEC.indd 1 04/07/11 10:51 Civil Business Aviation

HAWKER 4000: hawker beechcraft operates 35 aircraft in india

With humongous potential, given the population size, the frenetic economic activity and the need to cover distances between business locations, Asia is transforming like no other region Asian Tigers onsider this—42 per By R. Chandrakanth expected in North America, Europe cent of the world’s popu- or on a worldwide basis. lation lives in Brazil, Rus- sia, India and China (BRIC) Whopping $230 billion worth countries. Of the seven bil- jets by 2021 lion population, China and Honeywell has reported that be- India account for 2.5 billion and one tween now and 2021 business jets Cin three in the world market is either a Chinese or an Indian. totalling a whopping $230 billion (`11,50,000 crore) would That is a world of an opportunity as these population heavy- be sold across various continents. That’s about 10,000 new weights are now emerging as economic giants, on their way business jets up in the sky, primarily driven by BRIC coun- to eclipse the United States. These figures cut across sectors. tries and the Middle East. For the next five year period (about viation, E m b raer & H BC viation, In the realm of business aviation too, this is the emerging 5,000 business jets worldwide), the combined BRIC fleet re- scenario. Honeywell Aerospace in its 2011 report estimated placement and expansion purchase plans has been projected that Asia, Middle East and Africa regions ranked the highest in close to 50 per cent. Medium-to-large aircraft combined ac- assault A assault purchase expectations regardless of the economic environment. count for around 35 per cent of the projected demand through Asian purchase plan rates rose about five points over 2010 lev- 2016, up slightly from what it was a year ago. The next largest els in the survey, and at 45 per cent, lead all world regions. grouping is for long-range and ultra-long-range at 25 per cent. Even with the prospects of slower near term economic growth Light and light-medium aircraft make up to about 21 per cent. worldwide, operators in these regions expect to be active buy- However, there exist bottlenecks in these regions concerning ers. Asian operators have reported strong buying intentions for operator time restrictions, tax and regulatory compliance is- 2013. Planned purchases, if realised, will result in more rapid sues, etc. If these get sorted, the business jet market is going

ardier, D Photogra p hs: Bom b ardier, regional growth in Asia and the Middle East and Africa, than is to further explode in the region.

18 SP’S AVIATION Issue 2 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net Civil Business Aviation With humongous potential, giv- China, India and approvals, creating ground-based infra- en the population size, the frenetic structure, etc, which augurs well for the economic activity and the need to the Middle East growth of the business aviation industry. cover distances between business At the Asian Business Aviation, an locations, Asia is transforming like will be ruling the integral part of Asian Aerospace 2011, no other region. skies in the not the presence of almost all the business jet players reflected their strategies. “We Chinese juggernaut so distant future met key people and marked greater ac- By 2014, estimates are that Chi- tivity over the 2009 event. It was worth- na will have about quarter of the while bringing three aircraft here,” said world’s 800 million new air travel- Ted Farid, Senior Vice President, Inter- lers. Though China reportedly has national Sales, Hawker Beechcraft. over 200 private aircraft (as against Though currently China’s share in over 11,000 in the United States), this is going to change the business aviation market is miniscule, this is expected to dramatically over the next five to ten years as Chinese buy- change drastically and according to Rollie Vincent, President ers are all over. The executive jet market is expected to ride of Rolland Vincent and Associates, a market research, analysis the crest of the aviation growth wave. and consulting firm, China is expected to eventually take 20 It was only as late as 2008, the Chinese Government per cent of all business jets delivered in the world, up from started giving attention to the business jets segment. The about seven per cent today. number of personalised business jets was 32 then, which As per projections by Jason Liao, Chairman and CEO jumped to 56 in 2010 and to 115 in 2011. This is expected of China Business Aviation Group, the market for business to keep moving north. jets in the country would be about $11 million (`55 crore) by 2018, thanks to the efforts of the government which has After USA, maximum number of billionaires in China named general aviation as one of the country’s pillars of It is indeed amazing to know that in a communist set up, economic development in its 2011-15 plan. the number of billionaires is mushrooming by the day. As In line with the projections, Aviation Industry Corporation per Forbes, China has 115 billionaires, next only to the USA of China (AVIC) has started exploring possibilities of co-devel- which has 413. The country is fast emerging as a major fi- oping a business jet made in China in collaboration with some nancial world power, expanding its industrial base and ex- global players. The intent is there. And for plane makers it ploiting its natural resources, all of which have helped it to makes absolute sense to have China as a long-term strategy. create substantial wealth. Reports from China indicate that it is already on course During the Asian Aerospace event last year, the Chinese to build its own business jet. According to the China Daily mining tycoon Lian Guangming had said Reuters, “We’re all newspaper, General Aviation Group and Beihang here. Some of us are ready to buy planes; some others are University signed a contract with four goals—building re- still searching and researching. But I can say that the spring search and development capabilities; industrialising general of private flights in China has arrived.” aviation engines, avionics equipment and general aircraft; With the Chinese Government relaxing norms, the business synchronising technology to world levels; and forming a aviation segment is expected to get a boost. The Senior Vice complete industrial chain. They will invest about $15.7 mil- President of Gulfstream Aerospace Roger Perry said airspace lion (`78.5 crore) in the venture. AVIC is said to be talking and air traffic control regulations were being eased and that with Hawker Beechcraft; Cessna; Bombardier and Israel is a major move forward. China is aware about the needs of Aerospace Industries (IAI), as there is a caveat that original corporate travellers and has started providing quick over-flight equipment manufacturers have to co-develop. The plan in-

established player: looking for robust growth: falcon 7x in flight embraer legacy 650

Issue 2 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 19 Civil Business Aviation

tion segment has been growing and an average growth of 12.5 per cent is anticipated in the next few years.” The number of business aircraft operators is on the rise and will continue to do so. “From the present fleet of about 600, India will triple to 1800 by 2020. The actual growth could be higher, if the issues facing the sector are resolved by the government.” Singh mentioned that “in 2006, the seg- ment grew 26 per cent and when duty of 26 per cent on import was levied, it came down to 10 per cent and 10 per cent is not good enough for a country like ours.” John Rosanvallon, President and CEO of Dassault Falcon, has said, “Our vision for the Indian business aviation market over the long term—15 to 20 years—is very positive based on Bombardier Global 7000: forecasting tremendous a number of fundamentals being put in place. India’s economy growth for china is growing at a very high rate, planting seeds for a fast rise in high net worth individuals and sustained profits for corpora- tions. As companies invest and expand, it is natural to find them using the most efficient and competitive way to trav- deed is to build its own industry than just being a market. el—business jets. We have already seen significant business aviation activity in India and increased investment in the vital Connecting the coasts infrastructure necessary to support safe and reliable opera- The kind of business jets that China will require will be dic- tion of business. Dassault, for instance, already has two offices tated by the development of the Chinese expanse. If the east in the country, with technical representatives and marketing coast gets connected to the western border, then it would re- activities, authorised service centres and a spares depot. quire mid-size and super mid-size aircraft. At present, only ‘It is important that the fledgling private aviation industry a few cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen have in India organise itself and so we warmly welcome the forma- routine maintenance service, though about 20 airports are tion of the Business Aircraft Operators Association (BAOA). said to be operational for business jets and it is anticipated The BAOA will be a strong advocate for further growth of that the numbers will swell. the sector and will highlight the needs of its operators. It will “Bombardier is forecasting tremendous growth for China help set high standards of safety, efficiency and professional- and Asia-Pacific over the next 20 years with industry-wide ism, through the close cooperation of all its members. business jet deliveries forecast at approximately 3,350 units ‘Another important factor is the support of the govern- for the region, including 2,360 aircraft for China alone,” said ment through the modernisation of airports, and the easing Bob Horner, Senior Vice-President, Sales, Bombardier Busi- of regulations to encourage business aviation and private ness Aircraft. “The vast size and strategic importance of this aircraft ownership and operations. We can already see the territory warrants special attention in order to harness the full positive impact of these activities in India. In the 1990s, there sales potential of our Learjet, Challenger and Global aircraft. were only a handful of large cabin aircraft registered in the To this end, we have strengthened the sales organisation, di- country. In 2010, India saw its largest rise in new aircraft reg- viding the territory into two distinct regions, China and Asia- istrations. Dassault Falcon currently has more than a 60 per Pacific/Australia, each represented by a Regional Vice-Presi- cent share of the market for premium large cabin/long haul dent and reporting directly to a Vice-President,” he added. business aircraft and we expect the fleet to double in the next few years. Falcon aircraft are especially valued in India for India surges their performance and their efficiency. They offer economical The growth story of India is similar to that of China, both de- operation and environmentally responsible performance. spite their infrastructure and regulatory hindrances are try- ‘A vibrant business aviation sector is vital for the de- ing to break new ground. A report published by the Firestone velopment of India’s broader economy, to create access to Management Group in 2011, showed India’s business jet fleet more remote areas of the country in comfort and security. had climbed by nearly 50 per cent in the previous three years. Dassault is playing its role with a long-term commitment to The Firestone founder and Managing Director, Justin Fire- building our presence in the country, through new services stone has said, “As the world’s largest democracy, the second and strong customer support. In a country which could of- most populous country and one of the fastest growing major fer the potential for 100 Falcon aircraft sales over the next economies, this quantitative data indicates India is clearly em- 15 years, there is clear justification in our confidence and bracing the need for safe and efficient business jet travel.” in committing the company to further expansion in India.” Firestone said that Hawker Beechcraft topped the list with Daniel Keady, Vice President, Sales, South Asia Pacific/ 35 jets, followed by Cessna 31, Bombardier 25, Dassault 17 and India, Hawker Beechcraft has said, “Hawker and King Air Gulfstream 15. “Embraer, Boeing and Airbus are yet to reach have been operating in India for decades, so the operators double digits with nine, three and two private jets respectively,” can draw from an experienced pilot and engineer pool along added Firestone. “Business aviation in India has been having a with generally good availability of spares. Hawker Beechcraft robust growth,” states Capt. Karan Singh, Managing Director of Corporation (HBC) has been selling aircraft in India for over Business Aircraft Operators Association of India. “Despite the 60 years. India is and will continue to be integral to our inter- issues of taxation, ground infrastructure etc. the business avia- national strategy as a company.”

20 SP’S AVIATION Issue 2 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net Civil Business Aviation

The Asian Wall Street Journal (AWSJ) recently reported operators can draw from an experienced pilot and engineer that India now has 55 billionaires that control nearly $250 pool along with generally good availability of spares.” billion (`12,50,000 crore) in wealth. According to the AWSJ The number of business jet operators in India is on the article, if you compare this with China, it has 115 billion- rise. As per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), aires that control $230 billion (`11,50,000 crore) in wealth. there were 133 non-scheduled operators, including helicop- So as a percentage of GDP, India would be higher. All of this ter and company aircraft. The growth of charter business points towards strong growing economies and this environ- was also on the rise. The leading charter operators in India ment generally fuels business aircraft sales. include Religare Aviation; Deccan Charters; Taj Air, etc. India has had a long history with general aviation and with In 2011, the DGCA approved licenses for 10 general avia- the recent rapid gains in personal wealth, desire for individu- tion operators. Among them, Air One is a prominent player. als to better manage their time and the continued broader ac- Alok Sharma, Air Sahara’s former President and CEO, said to ceptance of aircraft being a business tool, we only see upside be a close confidant of Sahara group Chairman Subrata Roy, for corporate aviation in India. As for the HBC products, both has started Air One. Air One has inducted Citation XLS and has the Hawker and King Air range are a great fit for the Indian plans to induct in the next six to eight months – Lineage 1000; market as the King Air with its economical operating costs Dauphin AS 365 N2 and Eurocopter Ecuriel AS 355N. Both Chi- and great short field performance and the Hawker with its na and India depict the same growth picture, the same oppor- full seats full fuel capability, have proved their worth. Both tunities, similar kind of hurdles, etc and they now realise how products have been operating in India for decades. So the they need to open up their economies to propel further growth.

Middle East business aviation riding the crest wave The business aviation industry is relatively small when com- Business Aviation Scenario pared to the airline industry in the Middle East region, but it India is an industry that is growing in its importance in the region. Non-scheduled operators (including ) 133 Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways, Saudi Arabian Airlines, etc Leading operators in India have stamped their global presence in quick time. Not to be left behind are several players in the general aviation seg- Reliance Infrastructure/Transport/Travels 15 ment who have carved a niche for themselves, such as Royal Deccan Charters (including helicopters) 14 Jet; Execujets, etc. The Middle East Business Aviation Associ- Religare Aviation (including helicopters) 11 ation (MEBAA) has predicted that business aviation segment AR Airways 8 will represent 40 per cent of the total Middle East aviation Aircharter Services 7 market within four years The Founder Chairman of MEBAA, Taj Air 4 Ali Al Naqbi has said that MEBAA is determined to take busi- There are many operators with one or more aircraft in the fleet ness aviation further up the economic and political agenda in the region. “We are the industry forum that expresses the China needs of operators responsible for approximately 450 busi- As per New York-based JetNet as of August 2011, there were ness aircraft currently based in the region, with a consider- 163 business jets in Mainland China able fleet increase anticipated.” Leading General Aviation operators “The business aviation market in the Middle East is now Deer Jet – 40 (including 19 managed) at a crucial stage in its further development, and is poised to BAA 24 reach $1 billion (`5,000 crore) by 2018,” said Naqbi. TAG Aviation 20 “The business aviation market in the Middle East has Metrojet 20 matured to the extent that today, a business jet is viewed in the region as a powerful tool to enable quick and conve- Jet Aviation Asia 13 nient access to customers, within the region and worldwide. Asiajet 9 They are recognised as a vital business asset by local en- trepreneurs, and larger regional companies,” declared John In 2011, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Rosanvallon, President and CEO of Dassault Falcon. approved non-scheduled operators licences for 10 general Shane O’hare, President and CEO, Royal Jet said that de- aviation companies (including operators). They are: spite the challenges, the Middle East business aviation mar- Air One Aviation 1 ket has bucked the global trend and followed an upward curve over the past 12 months, driven in part by a growth in Aviators India 2 demand in the large VIP aircraft such as the Boeing business Bhaskar Exxoil 1 jet and the increased availability of super mid-sized aircraft. Global Avianautics 1 The Middle East market is at the forefront of the global Invision Air 2 recovery. Fuelled by double-digit growth in Qatar, continued Jyothi Aviation 1 reconstruction in Iraq and positive percentage point growth Rainbow Air 1 in all markets, the region is thriving. One of the factors help- Ventura 2 ing its growth is its strong links and geographic proximity Maritime Energy Heli Services 1 to the emerging markets in China, the Far East and India. All in all, China, India and the Middle East will be ruling Silver Jubilee Traveller 1 the skies in the not so distant future. SP

Issue 2 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 21 Military Strategy Rise of ‘The Dragon’ All ASEAN and Asia-Pacific rim countries are individually trying to improve the combat potential of their respective

air forces to collectively meet Chinese Stealth: the leapfrogging challenges The J-20 of the Chinese aerospace power. India which also faces the gravest of security threats has done well by adopting a ‘Look East’ policy.

n January 23, Beijing By Air Marshal (Retd) In fact, the process had started in the literally exploded in a riot 1980s with China embarking on a revo- of colourful street danc- V.K. Bhatia lutionary four-point modernisation pro- ers, joyfully marching with gramme under the dynamic leadership their ‘dragons’ collectively of Deng Xiaoping, which included beef- held high over their heads; ing up its economy and military prow- amidst cacophonous din of impressive ess. Three decades of single-minded Ofireworks, to mark the beginning of and dedicated effort has brought about the Chinese lunar New Year. But while the street dragons metamorphic changes in China with its economy still gallop- generally bore joyously playful looks, to usher in 2012 as ing at annual double-digit growth rate and its military power the ‘Year of the Dragon’; it is the Chinese symbolic ‘Dragon’ growing by leaps and bounds. This has also resulted in a major with a barely hidden menacing face and ever-increasing as- shift in China’s national security and military strategies. sertiveness, that is causing ripples of concerns among the Security analysts around the world often use the term global security fraternity. Worst affected are a large number ‘national security strategy’ or simply ‘security strategy’ in the of China’s neighbours in South-East and the Asia-Pacific re- context of the nation’s military concerns or military related gion—not to speak of India, with whom China continues to issues. But ideally, National Security Strategy should refer to have a festering border dispute. the development, application and coordination of all the ele- .in Flashback: In the November-December 1993 issue of For- ments of national power such as political/diplomatic, econom- eign Affairs, an article entitled ‘The Rise of China’ appeared, ic, informational, military, sociological/cultural, etc, to achieve written by Nicholas D. Kristol, the former New York Times col- a nation’s objectives in domestic and international affairs in umnist. He said that China’s economy would surpass that of peace as well as in war. Therefore, logically, it transpires that the US to become the world’s largest by the middle of the 21st in pursuit of a nation’s objectives, multiple strategies such as century. He predicted that the growing economic clout would an economic strategy, a political strategy, a diplomatic strategy, see China expanding its regional sphere of influence not only a social strategy et al—and of course a military strategy—must in economic terms but also in strategic/military terms, espe- coexist. In the present global scenario, no other nation seems cially if there was a power vacuum in the Asia-Pacific region. to have understood this point better than China, which has His observations have turned out close to being prophetic, been resolutely and relentlessly pursuing its national objective

Pho t ogra p h: snafu-solomon blogs o given the emerging security scenario. to become a leading global power in not too distant a future.

22 SP’S AVIATION Issue 2 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net Military Strategy

Unclos: United Nations Convention on Law of the Seas

China’s national military strategy seeks to achieve three ty claims to the SCS and ECS islands, stressing that they sets of national military objectives; one, protect the party and are “indisputable.” Therefore, not only the Paracels and the safeguard stability; two, defend sovereignty and; three, defeat Spartley islands in the SCS which are claimed by China, but aggression, modernise the military and build the nation. As per even in the ECS, it has sovereignty issues over islands such a RAND assessment, Chinese military strategists seem to view as Senkaku islands with Japan—also claimed by Taiwan— the world as a place basically hostile to Beijing’s national inter- which itself is claimed to be part and parcel of People’s Re- ests, especially China’s sovereignty. It is a world where dangers public of China (PRC). As a matter of fact, unification of Tai- to national security lurk everywhere. The strategists view com- wan with mainland China is considered to be a sacred duty petition between nations for advantage as the norm and as a of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of the PRC. zero-sum equation. Change in the global and regional security Although China’s military capabilities lag far behind those environment is viewed as constant and usually dangerous. The of the United States, but it is fast narrowing the technological absence of war does not mean the absence of hostility towards gap. As stated earlier, China is in the midst of a major mili- China. And, over the horizon, today’s much-needed trade part- tary buildup that is driven by the belief that the United States ners can slowly transform into serious economic, political and will be its primary detractor, not only in its quest to realise military rivals. In other words, China perceives most of the its territorial dreams but also in becoming a leading global rest of the world as inimical to its national interests. Second, power. Asia-Pacific nations such as Japan, South Korea, Tai- while China’s military strategists place the utmost importance wan, etc continue to enjoy protection under the US nuclear/ to protection of the ‘party’, their concerns about defending the conventional security umbrella through respective bilateral/ nation’s sovereignty literally borders on being paranoiac. collective security pacts. But China’s growing military prow- Geography continues to be a critical factor for Chinese mili- ess, both in the nuclear and conventional military domains, tary planners. China shares land borders with 14 other nations has started to ring warning bells amongst these nations as to and has border /territorial disputes with practically all of them. whether USA will be able to fight for them when faced with All told, the Chinese claim more than 20,000 kilometres of land an actual military showdown with China. On its part, while boundaries and 18,000 kilometres of maritime boundaries in US continues to be committed to its bilateral/collective secu- the Asia-Pacific region, which it considers being sacrosanct rity pacts in the region, especially in the nuclear arena, it is irrespective of the historical facts or the concerns/interests of also urging the concerned nations to beef up their own con- other nations. While its land border disputes with India and ventional arsenals to help safeguard their national interests other neighbours are well-known to be chronicled here, even vis-à-vis an increasingly aggressive China. in the maritime domain, China has staked large claims causing While China’s military modernisation programmes are great apprehensions, disquiet and discomfiture among its mar- all-inclusive, it is the aerospace sector which has been given itime neighbours. For example, in the South China Sea (SCS), the greatest impetus. China has realised the importance China has claimed a “U-shaped line” of demarcation for its EEZ of air dominance and aerial/missile precision strike capa- and continental shelf for decades (see Map). bilities as a prerequisite to achieving its national/military In 1992, China’s National People’s Congress passed the objectives. Consequently, it has with its own resources and Law on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone. This law Russian help continued to build and modernise PLAAF and specified that the SCS and East China Sea (ECS) islands fell PLAN with state-of-the-art combat aircraft and aircraft car- under China’s geographic scope as well as authorised the rier programmes to improve its aerospace and maritime air PLA to evict intruders, such other states’ naval vessels, from capabilities. With the acquisition of Su-27 and Su-30 aircraft the territory. China has continued to reiterate its sovereign- from Russia and mass production of its indigenous J-11

Issue 2 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 23 Military Strategy fighter aircraft, China is moving ahead at a furious pace to therefore seeking cooperation from Indonesian Aerospace, modernise the PLAAF. In addition, China is churning out Turkish Aerospace Industries, Saab, Boeing, and Lockheed large number of J-10 and FC-1 (PAF JF-17 Thunder) aircraft Martin to develop the KF-X. The overall focus of the pro- to replace its older combat fighter fleets. Last year, China gramme is to produce a fighter with higher capabilities than surprised the global military aviation fraternity by unveiling a KF-16 class fighter by 2020, which would also incorporate its indigenous J-20 fifth generation stealth aircraft. Shortly, stealth keeping in view the North Korean/Chinese threat. the PLAAF would have a large combat force of more than How are the Association of South East Asian Nations 1,500 fourth and fifth generation aircraft on its inventory. (ASEAN) countries, which straddle the underbelly of China, How are the US Pacific allies and the countries in the ASE- re-equipping their air forces to provide a collective securi- AN region responding to the enhanced Chinese aerial threats ty umbrella in the South East Asian region? Out of the 10 and security challenges? The US allies; Japan, South Korea ASEAN member nations, most had been equipped with US and Taiwan, have traditionally depended on the US supplied supplied aircraft and systems with the exception of Vietnam- airplanes such as the F-16 Fighting Falcons, F-15 Eagles and ese Air Force which essentially has Russian jet fighters and F-4 Phantoms, etc, to man their respective air forces and have AD systems on its inventory. Major air forces in the ASEAN comprehensive plans to modernise them. Japan has been so group belong to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indone- concerned by China’s rising air power and increased number sia, and of course, the comparatively new entrant, Vietnam. of Chinese intrusions into its airspace that it had at one stage Most of these air forces have comprehensive programmes requested US for the supply of F-22 Raptor aircraft. However, to modernise their respective fighter fleets. But instead of having failed to get the Raptor because of a US Congress’ ban relying on only the US supplied platforms, combat aircraft on its export, Japan has recently elected to buy 42 F-35 Light- of other global manufacturers are also being considered for ning II joint strike fighter (JSF) fifth generation stealth aircraft acquisition in some cases. to counter the ever increasing threat from China. The selec- Singapore, as stated earlier, stuck to the US in select- tion of the aircraft came about in an open competition which ing the F-15SG Strike Eagle aircraft from Boeing, orders for also involved the Boeing F-18 Super Hornet and Eurofighter which continued to climb to 24 units as last reported. Singa- Typhoon aircraft. The Japanese F-35 deal has also come as pore is also keen to acquire the Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth a much needed shot in the arm for the US Lockheed Martin, fighter by 2015. But if the time frames do not match due to having won the first open-ended commercial contract for the delays in the JSF programme, it may opt to acquire additional JSF. The Chinese scare has also galvanised South Korea to F-15SG aircraft to fill any voids in its operational capabilities. induct the F-35 into its Air Force with the likely signing of The Royal Thai Air Force on the other hand, equipped with the contract for up to 60 aircraft by October this year. Next F-16 Fighting Falcon older A/B models opted for the Swed- in the line could be Taiwan which is also looking at buying ish Gripen MMRCA, 12 of which have been ordered with six additional aircraft from the US. Even Singapore which had already inducted and the remaining to arrive by 2013. The recently opted for the latest F-15SG Strike Eagle aircraft has Royal Malaysian Air Force which had been operating a mix joined the F-35 programme for its future acquisitions. of US Boeing F-18 Hornets and the Russian MiG-29s as its Out of the Asia-Pacific countries facing China in the SCS frontline fighters is inducting Su-30 MKM aircraft in its en- region, which are mostly equipped with the US supplied jet deavours towards modernisation. Vietnamese Air Force is fighters, two countries; namely, Japan and South Korea have heavily equipped with Russian fighters such as the older MiG- pursued indigenous programmes of their own to develop 21 Bis and Su-22 aircraft. In addition, as a follow up to 15 fighter aircraft. Japan for example successfully developed Su-27 aircraft, it is acquiring 32 Su-30 Mk2V MRCAs to boost the F-2 attack fighter. The programme involved technology its operational capabilities. The Indonesian Air Force, while transfer from the US with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) scouting for a new fighter has really diversified its search to of Japan as the prime contractor and the Lockheed Martin include aircraft such as the Russian Su-35 Flanker, JAS-39 as the principal US subcontractor. Beginning in 2005, these Gripen from Sweden and even the Pakistan-Chinese JF-17 aircraft have been inducted in large numbers in the Japan Thunder. In a joint collaboration with South Korea, it is fund- Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) and have been also deployed ing the KF-X programme to acquire up to 50 aircraft in due overseas for joint exercises with the USAF. course. Meanwhile, the Indonesian Air Force has reportedly Japan’s much smaller neighbour South Korea has come received a small number of Su-27 and Su-30 aircraft as well. up with a much more sophisticated programme in the form To conclude, it is clear that all ASEAN and Asia-Pacific rim of KF-X which is being developed by the Korea Aerospace countries—big and small—are individually trying to improve Industries (KAI) in joint collaboration with Indonesian Aero- the combat potential of their respective air forces to collec- space. It is South Korea’s second fighter development pro- tively meet the leapfrogging challenges of the Chinese aero- gramme following on the heels of the FA-50 programme. space power. India which also faces the gravest of security The KF-X is intended to be superior to the KF-16, which threats from its northern neighbour has done well by not only would replace South Korea’s aging F-4D/E Phantom II and embarking on a series of programmes to modernise its fighter F-5E/F Tiger II aircraft, with production numbers estimated force but also by adopting a ‘Look East’ policy. Already part of to be over 250 aircraft. Compared to KF-16, the KF-X will the ASEAN Forum, India needs to build on its bi/multilateral have a 50 per cent greater combat radius, 34 per cent lon- dialogues with the South East Asian and Pacific rim countries, ger airframe lifespan, better avionics including domestically for the overall improvement of the security scenario in the produced AESA radar, and better electronic warfare, IRST, Asia-Pacific region. An all-round positive and constructive en- and data-link capabilities. South Korea possesses 63 per gagement could ensure that the ‘Rise of the Dragon’ is made to cent of the necessary technology to produce the KF-X, and is remain peaceful at least in the foreseeable future. SP

24 SP’S AVIATION Issue 2 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net 277mm Bleed 267mm Trim 257mm Live Scale: 1.0" = 1" = 1.0" Scale: 0 25 3C 4C 50 5100 75 41M 50C 41Y 50K Production Artist: Production Output printed at: printed Output Space/Color: Fr Retoucher: file Name: file ontline Comm ontline Media: Client - Frontline Job # - 120116 Ver. - AD01 - Ver. 120116 - # Job Frontline - Client Bleed: Fonts: Date: Trim: If it is deficient or does not comply with your requirements, please contact: please requirements,your with comply not does or deficient is it If Live: Helvetica (Bold), Helvetica (Plain), Helvetica 65 Helvetica (Plain), Helvetica (Bold), Helvetica 197mm x 257mm x 197mm Page–4-Color–Bleed Full AviationSP 100% BOEG_BDS_APC_1996M_C 1/6/11 .Bowman S. 277mm x 220mm 267mm x 210mm Client: PUBLICA Boeing TION NO TION Cyan unications P unications 220mm Bleed 220mm Material for this insertion is to be examined carefully upon receipt. upon examinedcarefully be to is insertion forthis Material Job Number: Job TE: Magenta Guideline f Guideline 210mm Trim artners or gener or BOEG_BDS_APC_1996M_C Yellow al identification only identification al Pr 1880 Centur 1880 197mm Live 197mm always r always being costs—because lifecycle reduce and components critical of life the extend significantly that innovations with reliability for reputation long-standing its upon builds Apache newest the on-schedule, and On-cost r can you superiority III Block Apache AH-64D oduct: Black Account Executive: Account Creative Director: Creative Boeing Def Boeing TrafficManager: Print Producer: Print y Proof Reader: Proof eady is a critical advantage. critical a is eady Digital Artist: Digital P Art Director: Art Copy Writer: ark East, ark . Ar Do not use as inser as use not Do t Vendor: Print Production at 310-601-1485. at Production Print Buy Client: Legal: GCD: ense Space & Secur & Space ense er: ut 01 o nee,C 90067 CA Angeles, Los 1011, Suite TraciBrown Schawk P Serchuk P. .Serchuk P. Alexander J. Boeing McAuliffe D. . ely on mission after mission. after mission on ely Serchuk tion order tion delivers multi-mission delivers . ity Bleed Trim Live Date/Initials Approved Military Air-to-Air Missiles

BVR MIssiles System: French MICA IR Missile on a Rafale Aircraft

What’s New Around The Chinese are known to be developing what is known as YJ-91 anti- radiation missile. India, on its part, has joined with Russia to develop their Novator K-100 missile much the same way as the other highly successful joint BrahMos missile programme. With a range exceeding 200 km, it would provide a befitting reply to the Chinese challenge.

he evolution of air- By Air Marshal (Retd) correct launch zone to have a chance to-air missiles gener- of successful engagement. It was pos- ally followed the same V.K. Bhatia sible for the target aircraft to ‘break pattern as the platforms lock’ (cause the missile to lose track on which these were car- of the target aircraft) by carrying out ried; namely, the aerial simple manoeuvring. But the seeker vehicles—mostly consisting of jet technologies continued to evolve and Tcombat air superiority/multi-role the present generation missiles in- fighters. Like the fighters which went through generational corporate deadly combinations such as all-aspect seekers leaps in capabilities from first generation to present-day with active/semi-active radar homing, beam riding, infra- formidable fourth, fourth+ and the latest stealthy fifth-gen- red search and track (IRST), electro-optical, etc; mated to

s, U S AF & w i k ip ed ia a S yste m s, eration fighters, the air-to-air missiles also went through helmet-mounted sights and coupled with thrust-vectoring generational accretions in their operational capabilities. devices, with a view to continue to expand their ‘no escape The early first generation missiles such as the US Sidewind- zone’ capabilities. ers and the Soviet K-13 (Atoll) had infrared seekers with Air-to-air missiles are broadly put in two groups. The first a narrow (30 degree) field of view, which required the at- consists of missiles designed to engage opposing aircraft at

Photogr ap hs: m bd tacker to position himself behind the target aircraft in the ranges of less than approximately 20 miles (32 km), these

26 SP’S AVIATION Issue 2 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net Military Air-to-Air Missiles are known as short-range or ‘within visual range’ missiles the BVR air-to-air missile arsenals in both People’s Liberation (SRAAMs or WVRAAMs) and are sometimes called ‘dogfight’ Army Air Force (PLAAF) or the Chinese Air Force and the missiles because they emphasise agility rather than range. Pakistan Air Force (PAF). China benefitted immensely when These usually use infrared guidance, and hence, are also it imported Russia’s frontline fighters such as the Su-27s and called heat-seeking missiles. The second group consists of me- later Su-30s in large numbers. Along with the platforms, the dium- or long-range missiles (MRAAMs or LRAAMs), which Chinese Air Force received a large but undisclosed number of both fall under the category of ‘beyond visual range’ missiles BVRAMRAAMs from Russia such as the R-27 (AA-10 Alamo) (BVRAAMs). BVR missiles tend to rely upon some sort of radar and the R-77 (AA-12 Adder). And keeping up with its reputa- guidance, of which there are many forms, modern ones also tion, China must have reverse-engineered them to come up using inertial guidance and/or ‘mid-course updates’. with its own version of BVR missile. The Chinese latest BVR Even though both types of missiles are being developed missile PL-12 (SD-10) —to be discussed in detail later—could by the leading nations/consortiums in the world, the advent fall into that category. The PAF on the other hand reaped of fifth-generation aircraft with inbuilt design features such handsome rewards by joining (selectively) with the US for its as stealth, capability to super-cruise and long-range, highly global war on terror (GWOT). It was able to sign a contract for capable active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars, 500 AIM-120C-5 AMRAAMs to arm its US supplied F-16 C/D it is the BVR designs which are being pursued more vigor- Block 52+ fighters. In addition, it will surely be the recipient ously. The aim is to achieve ‘first-look’, ‘first-shoot’ and ‘first- of the PL-12 Chinese missile to go with its fleet of—jointly kill’ capability i.e. to engage and destroy enemy aerial targets produced with China—JF-17 Thunder jet fighters. even before they sense the presence of own predator aircraft. What has the IAF got in its arsenal of BVR air-to-air mis- There are little more than just a handful of nations/group of siles to offset the formidable challenge from its two main nations which are engaged in the art of developing the state- adversaries? First, along with its MiG-29 air-superiority of-the-art BVR missile systems. These include France (MICA), aircraft, the IAF had received R-27 missiles which fall in Israel (Derby), People’s Republic of China (P-12 or SD-10) and the category of medium-range BVR missiles in two ver- South Africa (Darter). Russia which has generally been in the sions i.e. with IR heat seeking or semi-active radar hom- lead in air-to-air missile technology has a number of examples ing seeker heads. However, Su-30 MKI and the upgraded such as the R-27, R-33 and R-77 (also known as ‘AMRAAMski) to Bison standard MiG-21 aircraft can carry state-of-the-art because of its performance which is comparable to or better R-77 (also known as RVV-AE) active radar seeking missiles. than the US AIM-120 advanced medium range air-to-air mis- Su-30s can also carry the R-27 extended range (ER) BVR sile (AMRAAM). A group of European nations which include missiles. The IAF is also likely to get the French MICA dual- Germany and the UK are developing the MBDA Meteor mis- use (BVR + close combat) missiles as part of the upgrade sile. India has recently joined this elite group of nations with package for its Mirage 2000 deal, signed recently at a cost its own under development BVR missile, called the ‘Astra’. exceeding $2 billion (`10,000 crore). A quick look at the two main adversarial air forces in In- As stated earlier, China and India are two countries in dia’s neighbourhood would reveal a considerable increase in the region which are also embarked on developing their own BVR air-to-air missiles— PL-12 by the Chinese and ‘Astra’ by India. These are discussed in more detail below.

China: PL-12 (SD-10) The PL-12 active-radar BVR air- to-air missile became the high- est priority air-to-air weapons programme for China’s military industry since 2002 in terms of effort and importance. It pro- vides the PLAAF with a sophisti- cated domestic airborne weapon on par with mainstream Western Air Forces around the world. The new PL-12 active guided air-launched anti-aircraft missile uses the radar and datalink from Russia’s very capable Vympel R-77 combined with a Chinese missile motor (another shin- ing example of Chinese capabil- Air-to-air Weapons: AN AIM-120 missile ity to innovate/reverse engineer). being fitted on an Some sources claim the resulting F-16 Fighting Falcon combination has a greater range than the Russian missile, and a

Issue 2 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 27 Military Air-to-Air Missiles

Air-to-air Weapons: a PL-12 (SD-10A) with JF-17 on display at Farnborough Air show 2010

fire-and-forget active guidance (from R-77) capability compa- The Astra missile uses a terminal active radar-seeker rable to the modern US AIM-120 AMRAAM. to find targets and a mid-course inertial guidance system The PL-12 has four engagement modes. To take the with updates, to track targets. The on-board ECCM capabil- greatest advantage of its maximum range, it will use a mix ity allows it to jam radar signals from an enemy surface-to- of command guidance (via a datalink) plus its own inertial air battery, ensuring that the missile is not tracked or shot guidance before entering the active radar terminal guid- down. This indigenous missile is intended to have perfor- ance phase. The missile can also be launched to a pre-se- mance characteristics similar to the R-77 RVV-AE (AA-12), lected point, using its strap-down inertial system, before which currently forms part of the IAF’s missile armoury. The switching on its own seeker for a terminal search. Over missile is 3.8 metres long and is said to have configured short ranges, the missile can be launched in a ‘fire-and- like a longer version of the Super 530D, narrower in front forget’ mode using its own active seeker from the outset. of the wings. Astra uses a HTPB solid-fuel propellant and a Finally, the PL-12 has a ‘home-on-jam’ mode that allows it 15 kg high-explosive (HE) warhead, activated by a proxim- to passively track and engage an emitting target, without ity fuse. The missile has a maximum speed of Mach 4+ and ever using its own active radar or a radar from the launch a maximum altitude of 20 km. The missile can reportedly aircraft. This capability is the foundation on which the ca- undertake 40 g turns close to sea level, when attacking a pability of anti-radiation missile is developed. The seeker is manoeuvring target. Although designed to use a locally-de- connected to a digital flight control system that uses signal veloped solid fuel propellant, DRDO is also looking at rocket/ processing techniques to track a target. The missile’s war- ramjet propulsion to provide greater range and enhanced head is linked to a laser proximity fuse. kinematic performance. It is claimed that the missile will The PL-12 is claimed to have an operational ceiling of have a max launch range in excess of 80 km. at least 21 km, with a maximum effective range of 70 km and a minimum engagement range of 1,000 m. The missile AWACS Killers has a 38+ g manoeuvring limit. According to Chinese claims, With the proliferation of the AWACS in the region’s air PL-12 is more capable than the American AIM-120 A/B, but forces, which are tremendous force-multipliers in modern slightly inferior than the AIM-120C. The PL-12 can be de- air warfare, efforts are being made to develop long-range ployed by the J-10, Shenyang J-8F, Shenyang J-11 air-to-air missiles which enable the attack aircraft to launch and JF-17 combat aircraft. these missiles also called, ‘AWACS Killers’, without risking themselves by having to get into the heavily protected air- India: Astra space around these high-value assets of the adversary. The India’s Astra missile programme is headed by the Defence Chinese are known to be developing what is known as YJ- Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The goal of 91 anti-radiation missile. India, on its part, has joined with this programme is to provide the Indian Air Force (IAF) with Russia to develop their Novator K-100 missile much the an indigenously-designed beyond visual range air-to-air mis- same way as the other highly successful joint BrahMos mis- sile to equip the IAF’s Mirage 2000, MiG-29, Su-30MKI and sile programme. With a range exceeding 200 km, it would the Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA). provide a befitting reply to the Chinese challenge. SP

28 SP’S AVIATION Issue 2 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net Space Debris

i Mess Orbitn Without determined efforts on an international scale, it may be only a question of time before the most useful regions of space become too hazardous to operate in. The need of the hour is to avoid creating any more space debris.

fter just half a cen- By Group Captain (Retd) tute a potential risk to life and prop- tury of spaceflight, there’s erty. However, since space exploration so much ‘junk’ up there Joseph Noronha, Goa began no one has ever been hurt by that it is becoming a falling debris. In September, when the major hazard. When the out-of-control bus-sized Upper Atmo- United States launched sphere Research Satellite was expect- Vanguard I in 1958, its makers could ed to plunge back to earth it did create Ascarcely have imagined that it would a bit of a scare. But NASA claimed that survive many decades. In fact it remains the oldest artificial the chances that a human being might be hit were just one item still in orbit around the earth. Out of the known popu- in 3,200. Considering that earth’s population exceeds seven lation of 19,000 large objects and about 30,000 total objects billion, the chances of a specific person “P” being hit were ever launched, a little over 1,000 are operational satellites; the less than one in 21 trillion. In comparison, the chances of other surviving objects are, by definition, space debris. “P” being struck by lightning are as high as one in 60,000. Most objects orbiting the earth cannot remain circling forever. Slowed down by the outer fringe of the atmosphere Kessler’s Killer Syndrome they eventually burn up as they return to earth. A few larger Of far greater concern is the threat of damage to satellites.

Photogra p h: Esa objects may reach the ground practically intact and consti- Several confirmed and suspected impact events have al-

Issue 2 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 29 Space Debris ready taken place in space. According to a recent US study, resistance to collisions simply by increasing the thickness of the amount of debris orbiting the earth has reached “a tip- its walls. However, this also increases the mass of the satel- ping point” for collisions, which could in turn generate more lite and makes it a lot more expensive to launch. Specially debris. The vast majority of debris consists of small objects, designed shields, known as Whipple shields, take advantage one cm or less across, numbering perhaps tens of millions of of the fact that two thin walls separated by a small space are separate fragments. Between one and 10 cm size, there are more resistant to debris penetration than a single thick wall. estimated to be over 5,00,000 items. What of the large items The outer wall absorbs much of the debris impact energy of junk? There are already 22,000 objects in orbit that are big and so the inner wall is not ruptured. This design is named enough (10 cm or more) to be tracked from the ground. They after the astronomer Fred Whipple who came up with the could cause severe damage to human-carrying spaceships idea in the 1950s. Whipple shields and modified versions of and expensive satellites especially in low earth orbit (LEO). it are installed on the ISS. However, this method does not of- A worrying possibility is that if the existing junk does not fer 100 per cent protection either. decay from orbit before impacting other objects, the number of debris items will continue to grow even if there are no further Destined for Destruction rocket launches. A one kg object, for example, at a closing ve- The Kessler Syndrome is not just an abstract event that might locity of 10 kmps (36,000 kmph), can be more destructive than occur sometime in the future; it may already be happening. the explosion of one kilogramme of TNT. Such a ‘hypervelocity There’s enough debris currently in orbit to continually collide impact’ can catastrophically break up a 1,000 kg spacecraft if and create even more debris, raising the risk of multiple space- it strikes a high-density portion. In the event of a breakup, nu- craft failures. As early as the 1980s, NASA and other US organ- merous fragments larger than one kg would be created; these isations attempted to limit the growth of space debris and their could, in turn, collide with other objects creating yet more de- efforts met considerable success. However, not all nations were bris. A single satellite failure, therefore, could lead to cascading on board. On January 11, 2007, China conducted an anti-sat- failures of many satellites over a period of a few years, perhaps ellite missile test and it became the largest single space debris months—a possibility known as the Kessler Syndrome. If the incident in history. It is estimated to have created around 3,000 Kessler Syndrome comes to pass, the threat to human space- pieces of ‘trackable’ debris and millions of smaller pieces that flight missions may be too great to plan operations in LEO. may persist in orbit for decades. Another major debris disaster On April 2, 2011, for the fifth time in three years, the happened on February 10, 2009, when the deactivated 950 International Space Station (ISS) started its engines to dodge kg Kosmos 2,251 satellite and the operational 560 kg Iridium a piece of debris that was closing in rapidly and was feared 33 satellite collided. Both were destroyed and the collision re- to be on a collision path. Other spacecraft are also regularly sulted in around 1,900 new orbiting debris items. forced to scurry out of the way of approaching rocket and Space technologists have always taken pride in design- satellite debris. Such action to evade large objects may need ing satellites to survive the tough launch phase and endure to be resorted to more frequently in future. the harsh environment of space. They have been relatively unconcerned about what comes next. There’s growing need Mitigation Measures to design satellites so that on completing their useful life, the How is collision risk reduced? Space tracking, by organisa- last action of the drama would be a controlled re-entry into tions like the US Space Surveillance Network, holds the key. the earth’s atmosphere to achieve their complete destruc- Such networks maintain a database of all known rocket tion. One technique already tried is to attach an electro-dy- launches and keep the various components under constant namic tether to the spacecraft on launch. At the end of its surveillance. Computer programmes then predict possible useful life, the tether is rolled out and slows down the space- collisions between large space debris objects and high-value craft till it de-orbits. Rocket booster stages might also in- spacecraft. When they detect the likelihood of such a colli- clude a sail-like attachment that could later be unfurled and sion, the threatened spacecraft is manoeuvred (by small on- achieve the same result. However, none of the existing so- board rockets) out of harm’s way. However, such drills are lutions is currently technologically mature or cost-effective. expensive and can disturb delicate experiments. Besides not Without determined efforts on an international scale, it all satellites have the ability to manoeuvre. may be only a question of time before the most useful regions Most detection systems like radar and lidar (optical detec- of space become too hazardous to operate in. The need of tion device) can only track space objects larger than about 10 the hour is to avoid creating any more space debris. Per- cm, with typical masses of the order of one kg or more. But the haps the most sensible proposal is to make it mandatory for damage due to smaller debris is rapidly becoming a significant launch vehicle operators to absorb the cost of debris miti- threat. And there has always been the possibility of being hit gation by giving them a “one-up/one-down” launch licence by meteors and micrometeorites—leftover material from the policy to earth orbits. In this system, operators would need formation of the solar system. Since the 1990s, chipping of sat- to build the capability into their launch vehicle to rendezvous ellite windows and other surfaces has become all too common. with, capture, and deorbit an existing abandoned satellite Even a one-cm object can cause severe damage to a satellite, from approximately the same orbital plane it intends to oc- so collision avoidance will never be 100 per cent effective. Sta- cupy. As for getting rid of the huge amounts of existing space tistically, it is more likely that spacecraft will be lost to things debris, it might include strange methods like vacuuming up too small to track. The main way to avert this is to improve small items with cosmic nets, magnets or giant umbrellas— tracking techniques for potential spacecraft-killing objects. techniques that still belong to the domain of science fiction. The other main method is to provide a debris shield for Would governments and launch agencies be prepared to enhanced protection. A spacecraft can be given enhanced bear the considerable costs involved? SP

30 SP’S AVIATION Issue 2 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net Interview OEM We feel we’re a trusted partner to India In an interview with SP’s Aviation, William L. Blair, President of Raytheon India, said that Raytheon wants to build on and expand its relationships in India, and be a partner to both private industry and government. Excerpts of the interview:

SP’s Aviation (SP’s): Does Raytheon view India as an Empowered with exportable signals intelligence and important market? unique tactical maritime technology, Raytheon’s maritime William L. Blair (Blair): The term ‘market’ implies a strictly patrol aircraft capabilities are designed to meet the needs of business arrangement. And with Raytheon in India, you have civil and military customers in the Asia-Pacific region. a relationship that extends well beyond a contract on a piece Our maritime-based reconnaissance, surveillance and of paper. Raytheon has been in India for more than 60 years, target acquisition capabilities, versatile exportable sensor of- and after that length of time, I think it’s safe to say we feel ferings and multi-INT integration expertise for multiple plat- we’re a trusted partner to India. We’ve expanded our com- forms enable us to create the right solutions for mission needs pany’s footprint in India by moving our operations to a new, while providing a clear path for future upgrades as needed. larger office in Delhi and adding more people to the team. Additionally, in the past few years we’ve developed tie-ups SP’s: What were the other technologies you showcased with a variety of Indian entities, to include defence public at Singapore that were of interest to India? sector undertakings and private companies. We are in the Blair: I talked about our air-launched weapons portfolio process of finalising a number of additional arrangements. of course, but we also had a suite of land combat weapons, So, the answer to your question is, Raytheon wants to build such as the Javelin weapon system and man-portable Serpent on and expand its relationships in India, and be the trusted launcher. We also had details on Excalibur there, as well as a partner of choice to both private industry and government. range of sensors that focus on our maritime and littoral sur- veillance solutions. Additionally, we have a number of other ca- SP’s: Can you give an example of what you had at the pabilities for international customers from the most advanced Singapore Air Show, which was of interest to Asia? electro-optical/infrared sensors to cutting edge radar surveil- Blair: Well, one example that comes to mind is our intelli- lance technologies. Surveillance and sensor capabilities for In- gence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) technology so- dia include the AAS-44C (V) multi-spectral targeting systems lutions. The capabilities we offer to our customers are very for use on MH-60R and MH-60S helicopters and the APY-10 relevant to the broader Asian region and map directly to some and SeaVue XMC surveillance radars. Onboard the MH-60R of the pan regional challenges all our customers face. For helicopter, our airborne low frequency Sonar and MK 54 light- example nearly 80 per cent of today’s global trade is trans- weight torpedo provide the sensor and weapon for an anti- ported in ships’ hulls and securing maritime supply chains submarine warfare mission. The MK54 is also deployable from against disruption presents an enormous challenge for the the P8 Poseidon aircraft. globalised world. Over 60,000 vessels transit the Straits of The SeaVue radar family is known for its proven ability to Malacca every year with much of the cargo aimed at meeting detect small maritime vessels in high sea states. It has been critical energy needs of Asia-Pacific countries. acknowledged for detecting stealthy self-propelled semi-sub- Raytheon is a world leader in addressing a wide range mersible crafts that pose a significant threat to the US home- of littoral and deep ocean threats. The company’s maritime land security. At Raytheon, we’re ready to bring this capability patrol aircraft capabilities provide an integrated solution for to India where maritime and coastal surveillance are of para- enhanced situational awareness and mission effectiveness mount importance. This versatile airborne surveillance radar that addresses a wide range of challenges customers cur- can also be used for commercial and military applications, in- rently face. These include border security, maritime surveil- cluding customs drug enforcement, border surveillance, exclu- lance, disaster relief, environmental monitoring and mul- sive economic zone (EEZ) monitoring, illegal traffic monitor- tiple military applications. ing, and oil spill detection. SP

Issue 2 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 31 InDUSTRY OEM India is the cornerstone of our defence business Addressing a press conference, Nick Durham of Rolls-Royce, said that the company is now looking at how to provide its customers more value for money

ndia is the cornerstone of Rolls-Royce global de- Director for Customer Business, South Asia, Rolls-Royce. Be- fence business,” said Nick Durham, President, Custom- sides it’s more than 55-year-old partnership with the Hindu- er Business, UK and International Defence, Rolls-Royce, stan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the company utilises engi- addressing a press conference in New Delhi recently. neering service centres in Bangalore launched with Quest in IAdding that the company is now looking at how it would 2005 and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in 2010, and has provide its customers more value for money. a MoU with Larsen & Toubro, signed in 2010 to address civil Durham highlighted India’s role in the globalisation of the nuclear opportunities globally. The service centres with TCS Rolls-Royce defence business, and spoke about the benefits of and Quest have more than 700 engineers, being provided ex- partnered support in the context of Rolls-Royce services strat- pertise and skill development opportunities by Rolls-Royce. egy. He spoke at length about the company’s availability con- On being asked to elaborate on the future collaborations tracting for UK Ministry of Defence and how the company man- with the IAF, the officials said, “We are discussing with them, aged to help the government save costs by 50 per cent through explaining what we know and what we have. Nothing specific its ‘Rocet’ and ‘PSOP’ maintenance support programmes for has been proposed.” Likewise, to a query raised by Jayant the RAF’s Tornado and Eurofighter fleets, respectively. Dur- Baranwal as to what would the company prefer, the foreign ham spoke about Rolls-Royce support to UK’s tanker aircraft military sales (FMS) or direct commercial sales (DCS) route, programme as well, which is more than 60-year-old now and Durham said, “That’s not our business. It is the commercial how greatly the entire effort was appreciated by the UK MoD/ arrangement that we have with the defence companies based RAF, especially on the successful conclusion of the Libyan air on our capability and relationship.” campaign. “The company is now looking at setting up service The officials also spoke about the MissionCare agree- delivery centres to help our defence customers,” he said. ments in place with the IAF for the AE2100 and AE3007 Though the officials chose not to comment on the Indian engines installed on its C-130J and Embraer Legacy aircraft, Air Force (IAF) medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) respectively. He said that the company’s service solutions deal, they spoke highly about the EJ200 in the Eurofighter are now extending beyond propulsion system into engine Typhoon with the (RAF). The company of- capability provision and platform management. Speaking ficials said that it has proven itself in the Libyan war, which, about the milestones achieved by the company in 2011, the initially planned for 30 days actually lasted for eight months officials spoke about their involvement in Eurofighter Ty- with tremendous increase in the flying effort. “The EJ200 phoon, C-130J, C-27J, Global Hawks, etc. met the high operational demands and surpassed 6,000 On the Indo-Rolls Royce cooperation front, the latest engine flying hours achieved over extended operational de- milestone achievement was the groundbreaking ceremony ployment with individual sorties lasting up to seven hours or last month in December 2011 for the construction of a new more, without a single case of engine withdrawal”. manufacturing facility in Bangalore to produce components Replying to a question put by Jayant Baranwal, Editor- for the Rolls-Royce Trent family of civil aero engines. The in-Chief, SP’s Aviation, whether Rolls-Royce will help India, state-of-the-art facility is owned by the Inter-national Aero- if it goes to war, Durham said, “It is always our intent to find space Manufacturing Private Limited (IAMPL), a joint ven- a way to support our customers.” ture between Rolls-Royce and HAL formed in 2010. Sched- On the offset clause, the officials said that they have no uled to start production in 2012-13, IAMPL will incorporate issues with it. “Rolls-Royce has great personal relationship the latest Rolls-Royce manufacturing techniques and will be with India since the last eight decades, an easy relationship, developed as a ‘Centre of Excellence’ with worldwide use of constantly evolving. The Defence Procurement Procedure to- its products. SP day is not what it was earlier, it’s changed,” said John Gay, —Sucheta Das Mohapatra

32 SP’S AVIATION Issue 2 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net

Hall of Fame very field of human en- many of the company’s aircraft, includ- an afterburner. The plane had a very deavour has its share of re- ing the Fairey Primer, , long tapering nose which meant that cords, none more than avia- , and the pilot would have to fly blind dur- tion. The speed record—the compound-helicopter. In 1954, he be- ing take-off, landing and taxiing on the highest air speed attained by came Fairey Aviation’s Chief Test Pilot. ground. To compensate, the nose sec- Ean aircraft of a specified class—holds He worked two years on the Fairey Del- tion and cockpit drooped 10 degrees— a particular fascination in the popular ta 2 (FD2), a research plane produced establishing the pattern for Concorde’s imagination. The Fédération Aéronau- in response to a specification from the famous nose droop years later. tique Internationale (FAI) awarded the UK for investigation Setting a speed record was no easy first officially recognised air speed matter because the measuring de- record to Alberto Santos-Dumont vices were on the ground while in November 1906, when he flew the flight had to be at a high al- his 17-bis aircraft at 25.65 miles titude. It called for extreme skill per hour (mph). Considering that and flying accuracy. After getting the first controlled powered flight airborne, Twiss had to climb and in history—by Wilbur Wright in the accelerate to reach over a speci- Wright Flyer in December 1903— fied point on the ground at a par- was flown at about 6.82 mph, this ticular speed and height where was no mean achievement. The re- a huge telescopic camera would cord inched upward gradually till photograph the plane and start the 100 mph mark was crossed by the timing process. Then, in per- Jules Vedrines who piloted a De- fectly level flight, he had to keep perdussin Monocoque at 100.18 his plane accurately on course to mph in February 1912. All these where the second camera waited. records were set at sea level. How- He was at 38,000 feet high (an ever, the advent of jet-powered altitude with optimum conditions aircraft triggered a new wave of for supersonic flight and which al- record-breaking flights beginning lowed the contrail of the FD2 to be with flying faster than the speed of clearly visible) and flying at over sound (760 mph at sea level) and Peter Twiss 1,000 mph along a measured nine speed marks had now to be set at mile course along the south coast high altitude. For many years, na- (1921-2011) of Britain. With the afterburner tional technological prowess was engaged, fuel consumption was measured by ever-higher speeds, He was initially rejected as very heavy and this limited the and the pilots who flew the latest a pilot by the . endurance severely. Reaching designs became famous. In Oc- the maximum speed prematurely tober 1955, the air speed record He joined Fairey Aviation meant fuel might run out too ear- stood at 822.1 mph in the name of ly. However, attaining it too late Colonel Horace Hanes of the USA, as a test pilot in 1946 and might mean not flying the timing flying a North American F-100C flew many of the company’s lap at the desired speed. Twiss Super Sabre. Then Peter Twiss de- made several attempts at the re- cided to break it. aircraft, including the Fairey cord but on each of the flights at Lionel Peter Twiss was born in Primer, Fairey Gannet, Fairey least one element in the complex Lindfield, UK, on July 23, 1921. He chain needed to verify the feat was initially rejected as a pilot by Firefly, and Fairey Rotodyne failed. However, on March 10, the Fleet Air Arm. However, when compound-helicopter. In 1956, he flew the FD2 at a new the Second World War broke out in world air speed mark of 1,132 1939, he was enlisted as a Naval 1954, he became Fairey mph, an increase of some 300 Airman and learned to fly. He was Aviation’s Chief Test Pilot. mph over the record set in 1955. assigned to fly Hawker Hurricanes The FD2 became the first aircraft and stationed on a merchant ship ever to exceed 1,000 mph in level for its defence against long-range flight and made Peter Twiss a na- German aircraft. Take-off from the tional hero overnight. He died on deck was performed with the help of a into flight and control at transonic and August 31, 2011, at the age of 90. SP catapult. However, there was no way to supersonic speeds. Its maiden flight, —Group Captain (Retd) get back—the pilot had either to try and with Twiss in the cockpit, occurred on Joseph Noronha, Goa return to the land or bail out close to October 6, 1954. It was a mid-wing the convoy and hope to be recovered. tailless delta monoplane, with a circu- Footnote: The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird cur- rently holds the official air speed record for In 1945, Twiss attended the Empire lar cross-section fuselage and air-inlets a manned air-breathing jet aircraft, with a Test Pilots School. He joined Fairey Avi- blended into the wing roots. The en- speed of 2,193.2 mph—a mark set on July ation as a test pilot in 1946 and flew gine was a Rolls-Royce Avon RA.5 with 28, 1976.

34 SP’S AVIATION Issue 2 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net newsDigest BY SP’s Special Correspondent

Delayed decision on new momentous in the future. lected for user trials. Black Kite HAL scouts partner for ab initio trainer With the Bangalore-based units with wingspans of 300mm Dornier Do-228 Aeronautical Development and 430mm have already been Agency (ADA) leading the ef- test flown in remote-controlled fort and a string of DRDO labs and autonomous modes, show- and academic institutions like casing its capability to fly au- IIT-Kanpur working on different tonomously and demonstrate elements of the proposed strike loitering capabilities, crucial for drone, the IAF is keen that the surveillance. The big challenge scientists deliver a state-of-the- now is to perfect a flight control art platform to augment the system that makes possible fully By now, the Indian Government country's growing manned fleet. autonomous flight in a cluttered was expected to have cleared a ADA and DRDO have been in urban environment. HAL plans to offer its customers deal for 75 basic trainer aircraft discussions with several coun- Apart from the armed forces a cockpit upgrade for in-service after it identified Swiss firm Pila- tries for possible technology tie- and paramilitary forces, a hand- licence built Dornier Do-228 and tus as the lowest bidder last year. ups, though the IAF has insisted ful of police forces like the Chan- has floated a tender to select a However, fresh questions based that the AURA's major compo- digarh Police have shown inter- co-development/co-production on a rival protest are understood nents and systems be designed est in assessing the capabilities partner for the Do-228 glass to have slowed the award, be- in-country. In an ideal situation, of MAVs for urban operations. cockpit upgrade programme. coming a cause of deep conster- the AURA's materials, engine, HAL's Transport Aircraft Di- nation within the IAF. on board electronics, software HAL scouts for AFCS vision (TAD) has laid down that While MoD sources indicate and sensors will be developed for LUH the Do-228's new glass cockpit that it is only a matter of time and built in-house. One of the should comprise primary flight before the Cabinet Committee on chief development effort associ- displays, engine indication and Security (CCS) takes up the pro- ated with the AURA programme crew alert system (EICAS), in- posed deal and approves it, there is the Dehradun-based Defence tegrated standby instrument are problems that the govern- Electronics Application Labora- system (ISIS) and flight man- ment is now forced to deal with. tory's (DEAL) effort to develop agement system (FMS). HAL In September 2011, Defence brand new secure datalinks that requires interested bidders to Minister A.K. Antony informed will allow the AURA to meld into retrofit one HAL-built Do-228 the Parliament that he expected existing and future net-centric the deal worth `2,900-crore (ap- As its three-tonne light utility he- specimen with a digital cockpit infrastructure in service with licopter (LUH) takes shape, the as a display model. proximately $596 million) to the IAF and other two services. be concluded by March 2012. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited HAL lists the responsibilities In November, the IAF Chief re- DRDO tests mini drones (HAL) has invited bids from glob- of potential technology partners vealed that the Finance Ministry al suppliers to design and supply to include participation in the had cleared the deal, despite a the automatic flight control sys- project definition phase (PDP), significant budgetary overrun. tem (AFCS). HAL has called for integration of the cockpit systems On January 4 this year, it is the development of a three-axis with the aircraft's digital auto- understood that the deal came simplex digital AFCS that is in- pilot (forward fit) and several up before the CCS along with a terfaced with helicopter sensors other areas spread across three contract for MICA missiles for and stability, controllability and phases. About 100 Do-228s with the IAF's upgraded Mirage 2000 autopilot actuators. conventional analogue cockpits jets. However, while the latter HAL is working hard to meet are currently in service with the was approved, the Pilatus deal timelines, considering that it is IAF, Navy and Coast Guard, and remained hanging, presumably The DRDO has conducted fresh working to meet an order of 187 HAL assesses a requirement to as a result of queries that have tests of a slew of mini drones be- units (126 for the Army and 61 for upgrade them over seven years. been raised. Pilatus has declined ing prepared for the armed forces the IAF). Following the first pub- HAL also anticipates that to comment on any requests for and paramilitary forces as part of lic display of the LUH mock-up in the Do-228 will be under li- January 2011, HAL is currently in information it has received from the National Programme on Mi- cence production for at least the cro Air Vehicles (NP-MICAV). The the process of selecting a turbo- the government, or if it has at all. next five-ten years. Beyond the Black Kite, Pushpak and Golden shaft engine for the platform. aircraft already in service, HAL DRDO UCAV programme Hawk micro air vehicles (MAV) In September last year, it also wants to begin offering new moves forward were tested outside Bangalore opened two bids for Turbome- Do-228s with a new digital au- In a significant boost to India's this week as part of a focused ef- ca's Shakti engine (which pow- classified unmanned combat fort to build advanced MAVs. In- ers the ALH Dhruv and light topilot to replace the existing aerial vehicle programme, titled tegrated with thermal, daylight or combat helicopter prototypes) KFC-250 Flight Director/Auto- autonomous unmanned research night vision optics, the MAVs are and the LHTEC (Rolls-Royce and pilot system on an immediate aircraft (AURA), the government being built to be capable of au- Honeywell joint venture) T800. basis, and has floated a request is considering bestowing it with tonomous flight at an altitude of In a break from tradition (and for proposal (RFP) to meet this "major project" status. Sources at least one km, providing a real its existing agreement with Is- requirement as well. HAL has in the Indian Air Force (IAF), the time downlink of video, still imag- rael on the Dhruv programme), revealed that it already has or- primary customer for the ambi- ery and other data if required. HAL has asked for indigenously ders for six aircraft fitted with tious stealth unmanned combat The three MAVs were dem- developed designs for the LUH the proposed digital autopilot aerial vehicle (UCAV), have been onstrated before the Integrated glass cockpit, in an effort to and glass cockpit. • pushing for greater Ministry sup- Defense Services (IDS) in May offset the foreign component For complete versions log on port for a programme that is 2010, after which the Golden percentage contributed by the to: www.spsaviation.net & likely to be one of India's most Hawk and Black Kite were se- engine and flight control system. www.spsmai.com

Issue 2 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 35 newsDigest Military 10th flight of Lakshya-II PTA (STOVL) aircraft have been RoundUp and this was the first time delivered to the US Marine Quick Asia-Pacific that these capabilities were Corps. The two jets are now demonstrated. assigned to the second Ma- AgustaWestland IAF Chief visits Malaysia rine Aircraft Wing's Marine Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. A-29 Super Tucano for the Fighter/Attack Training • PZL-S´widnik, an AgustaWestland Browne, Chief of the Air Staff, Afghan Air Force Squadron 501 residing with company, has announced that Indian Air Force (CAS, IAF) the host 33d Fighter Wing at it has signed contracts with the was recently on a four-day Eglin AFB, Florida. Both fifth Polish Ministry of National Defence official visit to Malaysia from generation fighters will be valued at approximately €90 million January 30 to February 4, used for pilot and maintainer ($118.3 million) for the supply of 2012. During his stay at training at the new F-35 In- five W-3WA Sokół helicopters and the Kaula Lumpur, he met the tegrated Training Centre. The upgradation of 14 helicopters. The Malaysian Chief of Defence two F-35B, BF-6 and BF-8 manufacture and upgrading activities Force General Tan Sri Dato are the first two F-35 deliver- will be undertaken at the PZL-S´widnik Sri Zulkifeli bin Mohd Zin and ies to the Department of factory in Poland. The five new W-3WA Chief of Royal Malaysian Air Defense in 2012 and the sev- Sokół helicopters will be configured Force, General Tan Sri Dato The US Air Force has ap- enth and eighth F-35 aircraft for VIP transport and used by the Sri Rodzali bin Daud and proved a contract worth delivered to Eglin AFB since Polish Air Force to provide transport discussed a wide range of more than $350 million that July 2011. Previously, the services for senior military and bilateral issues on defence co- will provide the Afghan Air base had received six F-35A government personnel. operation. It may be recalled Force with at least 20 A-29 conventional take-off and that a team of IAF pilots Super Tucano light air sup- landing aircraft for induction Alenia and technicians was sent to port aircraft, ground training into the USAF. Malaysia in 2008 for a period devices and all associated • Alenia Aermacchi has delivered of two years to train the Ma- maintenance and support Lockheed Martin receives the fuselage to the ATR consortium, laysian pilots, weapon system equipment originally slated contract for PAC-3 missiles to be assembled in Toulouse to build operators and maintenance to arrive mid-to-late 2013. the 1,000th aircraft. The ceremony staff for the smooth induc- According to Brigadier was attended by the company’s top tion and operation of their General Tim Ray, the NATO management and the employees newly acquired Su-30 MKM Air Training Command- who have been engaged in the ATR fighter aircraft. They also Afghanistan commander, the programme for many years. helped them set up a Systems Tucano was "tailor made" for School for the Su-30 MKM at the Afghan's counterinsur- Australia Gong Kedak Air Base. Dur- gency mission and provides a ing his just concluded visit, cost-effective, easy to sustain • Boeing subsidiary Boeing Defence the Indian Air Chief visited platform. The light air sup- Australia and Thales Australia have Gong Kedak and Subang port's addition marks the Lockheed Martin received named the Eurocopter EC135 as the Airbases and held talks on final major complement to contracts totalling $921 preferred platform for their bid on the issues including professional the Afghan Air Force's inven- million from the US Army Australian Defence Force Project AIR exchanges, Su-30 training, tory of more than 100 varied Aviation and Missile Com- 9000 Phase 7 – Helicopter Aircrew courses, maintenance and aircraft and sets the stage mand for hardware and Training System. A fleet of more than logistic issues. for future growth. A coalition services associated with the 1,000 EC135 aircraft worldwide has of 37 contributing nations combat-proven Patriot Ad- amassed 2.2 million flight hours till Lakshya-II PTA proves are charged with assisting vanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) date. The helicopter is part of suc- IT mettle the Government of Islamic Missile Segment programme. cessful training systems in Germany, Flying at sea skimming height Republic of Afghanistan in The contract includes fiscal Switzerland, Spain, Japan, and in of about 15 metres at DRDO’s generating a capable and year 2012 (FY12) missile Australia with the Victorian and New test range near Balasore, sustainable Afghan National and command launch system South Wales police forces. Lakshya-II the advanced ver- Security Force ready to take production for the US Army sion of DRDO’s pilotless target lead for their country's secu- and a follow-on sale of the AviancaTaca aircraft (PTA) has demon- rity by 2014. PAC-3 missile segment to strated its full capability. In a Taiwan. In 2009, Taiwan be- • AviancaTaca, which includes flight lasting over 30 minutes, Americas came the fifth international subsidiary AeroGal of Ecuador, has it was made to dive down customer for the PAC-3 mis- signed a purchase agreement for 33 from an altitude of around US Marine Corps’ first two sile segment. eco-efficient A320neo and 18 A320 800 m to just 12 m and main- F-35s delivered Lockheed Martin is the Family aircraft. The order, which is tained the required altitude prime contractor on the PAC- the largest from a single airline in for the specified time before 3 missile segment upgrade the region in terms of number of demonstrating auto climb- to the Patriot air defence aircraft, follows a MoU signed during out. The entire flight was pre- system. The PAC-3 missile the Le Bourget Air Show in Paris in programmed and was totally segment upgrade consists of June 2011. successful. It demonstrated the PAC-3 missile, a highly various technologies and sub- agile hit-to-kill interceptor, BAE Systems systems including auto soft- the PAC-3 missile canisters ware correction to prevent (each of which hold four • In a collaborative arrangement loss of mission, engaging and PAC-3 missiles, with four with the South Australian Govern- flying in way point naviga- The first two Lockheed Mar- canisters per launcher), a fire ment and Rosebank Engineering, tion mode while carrying two tin production model F-35B solution computer and an BAE Systems has announced that tow targets, etc. This was the short takeoff/vertical landing ­enhanced launcher electron-

36 SP’S AVIATION Issue 2 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net newsDigest Appointments offer to Switzerland for RoundUp its Rafale fighter jets after Quick EADS the government decided EADS has announced that its Board of Directors has des- in November 2011 to buy Australia’s biggest advanced aero- ignated Tom Enders to take over as the CEO when Louis Sweden's Gripen planes. space components manufacturing Gallois steps down at the end of his mandate. Concurrently, Dassault has sent a letter to and treatment operation will be built Arnaud Lagardère will assume the role of Chairman of the Swiss parliament (which has in South Australia. The new facilities Board currently held by Bodo Uebber. The change over will yet to approve the Novem- will make some of the world’s most take place after the company’s Annual General Meeting ber decision) offering 18 advanced aerospace components (AGM) on May 31, 2012. The Board has also announced fur- Rafale planes for 2.7 billion in two facilities run by BAE Systems ther evolutions of the management team effective from June Swiss francs (€2.24 billion, and Rosebank Engineering. The BAE 1, 2012 including: $2.96 billion), reported Le Systems facility will specialise in • Fabrice Brégier will succeed Tom Enders and become CEO Matin Dimanche, which machining parts and the Rosebank of Airbus, EADS' largest division, and Günter Butschek, cur- said it had seen the letter. In Engineering facility will provide rently Head of Operations of Airbus will be affected to the November, Dassault lost out specialised treatment and metal position of COO of Airbus. on a bid to replace Switzer- finishing services. • Harald Wilhelm will become Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of land's ageing F5 fighter fleet EADS, alongside his present role as CFO of Airbus. when the Federal Council Boeing • Marwan Lahoud will be reappointed as Chief Strategy and opted instead to buy 22 Saab Marketing Officer (CSMO). Gripen fighter planes for an • The Boeing Company has • Thierry Baril will assume the role of Head of Human Resourc- estimated 3.1 billion Swiss been awarded a $687.5 mil- francs. But the Parliament lion modification to a previously es (HR) for EADS. still has to approve the deci- awarded fixed-price-incentive-fee EADS North America Chief Executive Officer Sean O’Keefe sion. The Swiss Government multi-year procurement contract for has been appointed Chairman of the company’s Board of had earlier considered Ra- 14 additional fiscal 2012, Lot 36, Directors, replacing Ralph D. Crosby, Jr., who has retired. fales, Gripens and Eurofight- F/A-18E aircraft and one additional ers for replacing its ageing fiscal 2012, Lot 36, F/A-18F aircraft Lockheed Martin fighter fleet. contained in the F/A-18 multi-year III Lockheed Martin has announced that its Board of Directors production contract. Work is expected has approved the appointment of Larry A. Lawson to serve Hungary extends Gripen to be completed in October 2014. as the Executive Vice President of the Aeronautics business contract area. The appointment follows the announcement of Ralph D. Brazil Heath’s retirement; the transition is effective April 1, 2012. • Brazil is speeding its research and Finmeccanica development programmes to perfect Finmeccanica has announced that the Board of Directors of a tactical transport aircraft to rival its US subsidiary DRS Technologies has appointed William the C-130 Hercules amid predictions J. Lynn III as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The that the global market needs no less appointment is effective immediately. Lynn replaces current than 700 substitutes. The Brazilian Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark S. Newman who aviation research and development is retiring. teams and manufacturer Embraer is Hungary is taking a long-term trying towards early completion on a BAE Systems strategic decision to continue prototype that will be competitive in BAE Systems has announced the appointment of Dean McCu- operating Gripen and ensur- price, fuel-efficient and equipped with miskey as Managing Director and Chief Executive of its India ing the continued develop- multi-role attributes of the old US operations with effect from March 2012. Dean is currently ment of its national capabil- workhorse Hercules and its modern Group Chief Information Officer based in the company’s ity. Sweden and Hungary are successor, Lockheed Martin C-130J. London headquarters. extending the cooperation for another 10 years, until 2026. Eurocopter The partnership is a contract ics system and launcher company’s facility in Marietta. between two governments, • Eurocopter’s EC 135 fleet with the ­support hardware. In 2011, 33 C-130J Super where Saab acts as a sub- German Federal Police has reached Hercules were delivered a contractor. the 1,00,000 total flight hour mark. Lockheed Martin delivers new production record for In 2001, the Swedish The fleet performs thousands of 2,400th C-130 Hercules the C-130J model. The air- and Hungarian Governments operations annually across Germany On January 30, Lockheed craft were delivered in six dif- entered into a lease-purchase for law enforcement, home security Martin’s C-130 Hercules ferent configurations for six agreement, with a further and helicopter emergency medical programme reached yet an- operators: the US Air Force modification in 2003 that services missions. other historic milestone with Air Mobility Command, US included 14 Gripen C/D (12 the delivery of its 2,400th Air Force Special Operations single-seat and two twin-seat Insitu aircraft. The aircraft is an Command, US Marine Corps, aircraft). All aircraft were MC-130J Combat Shadow Canada, India and Qatar. delivered in 2006 and 2007, • Insitu, Inc. has been awarded II assigned to US Air Force and all 14 aircraft were in a $21 million modification to a Special Operations Command Europe operation with the Hungarian previously awarded firm-fixed-price and will be operated by the Air Force by the end of 2008. contract to exercise an option 27th Special Operations Wing Dassault makes Swiss The current contract was due for operational and maintenance at Cannon Air Force Base. new offer to expire in 2016, but the services in support of the ScanEagle The delivery of this aircraft It has been reported that countries have now decided unmanned aerial systems. These follows a record year for the French aircraft maker to extend the partnership by services will provide electro-optical/ C-130J production at the Dassault has made a new another 10 years.

Issue 2 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 37 newsDigest Show Calendar ny chaired by Sheikh Hamdan When one cockpit is in the RoundUp Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan and full-motion, full-mission simu- Quick 6–8 March the very first company in the lator, another cockpit can be Abu Dhabi Air Expo Middle East to have been connected to the fixed-based infrared and mid-wave infrared im- Al Bateen Executive Airport, granted a commercial licence docking station and used as a agery in support of US Marine Corps Abu Dhabi, UAE to provide medical evacuation flight training device. operations in Operation Enduring www.adairexpo.com (Medevac) services, has fur- Freedom to provide real-time imagery ther enhanced its capability to and data. 13–15 March meet the steady growth and Industry Unmanned Aircraft demand for Medevac services. Mexico Systems Conference Having performed over Americas Holiday Inn on the Bay, San 1,310 missions, Royal Jet • Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris Diego, CA, USA continues to be the most Record year for world's has signed a purchase agreement for www.uaswest.com successful Medevac opera- most powerful jet engine 44 eco-efficient Airbus A320 aircraft, tor with strong year-on-year The GE90 engine experienced comprising 30 A320neo and 14 A320 14–18 March growth and has the largest its most successful year in aircraft. The order represents the larg- India Aviation 2012 number of patient transfers. 2011, accumulating airline est single commercial aircraft order Begumpet Airport, Hyder- All of Royal Jet’s air ambu- and freighter operator com- ever by an airline in Mexico. Volaris abad, India lances are equipped with mitments for 400 engines is also the first airline in Mexico to www.india-aviation.in the most advanced onboard with a list price of more than order the A320neo and will announce medical equipment and tech- $11 billion. This surpasses its engine selections for the aircraft 26–27 March nologies and are manned and the previous record of 250 at a later date. Air Power Middle East operated by specially-trained engine commitments in 2007. Crowne Plaza Hotel, Muscat, and experienced in-house The production rate for Norway Oman medical teams. Royal Jet’s the GE90 is growing, with www.meairpower.com Medevac missions provide plans to produce more than • Norwegian Defence Minister bed-to-bed service starting 180 GE90 engines in 2012 Espen Barth Eide wants to try to 27 March–1 April from any medical facility up from 170 engines in 2011. coordinate Norway's purchase of the FIDAE INTERNATIONAL AIR where a patient may be com- The production rate is expect- new F-35 fighter planes with other & SPACE FAIR ing from to the next medical ed to climb to 225 engines in non-US nations which are interested Arturo Merino Benitez Air- facility or hospital that the 2014. The GE90 story centres in buying the aircraft. Barth Eide port, Santiago, Chile patient is destined to go to. on an extraordinary faith presented the idea as he was leaving www.fidae.cl/portal_fidae.aspx in technology. Launched on the US Thursday evening, after he met AS365 N3 Dauphin simulator the 777, the GE90 featured Bob Stevens, the Chief of Lockheed 29 March–1 April certified to Level D several technology "firsts"— Martin, which manufactures the F-35 Defexpo India 2012 The Helicopter Academy including carbon-fibre com- fighter planes. The other countries Pragati Maidan New Delhi, to Train by Simulation of posite fan blades. The engine interested in the F-35 are Great India Flying (HATSOFF), the joint has continued its stellar Britain, Canada, Turkey, Denmark and www.defexpoindia.in venture owned equally by performance with an in-flight the Netherlands. the Hindustan Aeronautics shutdown rate (IFSD) of Norway has become the first 4–7 April Limited (HAL) and CAE, has 0.001, which means only one European customer for the advanced AEROEXPO MOROCCO announced that its simulator engine IFSD per one million Leap-1B-powered Boeing 737 MAX Menara Marrakech Airport, cockpit for the Eurocopter engine flight-hours. with an order for 100 airplanes. Marrakech, Morocco AS365 N3 Dauphin helicopter In addition to an un- In addition, the airline ordered 22 www.fr.aeroexpo-morocco. has been certified to Level D, rivalled thrust rating of additional CFM56-7BE-powered com/accueil_en.html the highest qualification for 1,15,000 pounds, the GE90- Next-Generation 737-800s. The flight simulators, by India’s 115B offers the enhanced total engine order is valued at 11–13 April Directorate General of Civil performance and efficiency of approximately $2.9 billion at list SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL Aviation (DGCA) as well as three-dimensional, aerody- price. Both the Leap-1B and CFM56- BUSINESS AVIATION SHOW the European Aviation Safety namic (3D aero) compres- 7BE engines are products of CFM Shanghai Dachang Airbase, Agency (EASA). HATSOFF sor and wide-chord, International (CFM), a 50/50 joint Shanghai, China also announced that its three swept composite fan blades. venture between Snecma (Safran www.shanghaiairshow.com/ simulator cockpits—a Bell The GE90-115B performance group) and GE. SIBAS 412, a HAL civil/conventional and efficiency, coupled with Dhruv, and the Eurocopter the GE90-115B dual annular Russia 18–21 April AS365 N3 Dauphin—have combustor technology, signifi- AERO FRIEDRICHSHAFEN been certified as Level 2 cantly limits fuel consumption • A modernised A-50U Mainstay Messe Friedrichshafen, (JAR)/Level 6 (FAA) flight and restricts hydrocarbon airborne warning and control system Friedrichshafen, Germany training devices (FTDs) when emissions to 40 per cent of (AWACS) aircraft has entered service www.aero-expo.com used as fixed-base, non-mo- the level permitted by current with the Russian Air Force. The AWACS tion simulators in the docking international standards. has an advanced onboard com- station installed at HATSOFF. puter, satellite communication, radar Civil Aviation HATSOFF uses a CAE-built Europe systems and has the capability to full-mission simulator “moth- detect various types of flying targets, Asia-Pacific ership” that features CAE's Thales and Aerovisión including helicopters, cruise missiles revolutionary roll-on/roll-off present Frontex with UAV and supersonic aircraft. The A-50 Royal Jet expands Medevac cockpit design, which enables Thales and Aerovisión have can track up to 10 fighter aircraft for capability cockpits representing various given a real flight demonstra- either air-to-air interception or air-to- Royal Jet, the international helicopter types to be used tion of the unmanned aerial ground attack missions. luxury flight services compa- in the full-mission simulator. vehicle (UAV) Fulmar for the

38 SP’S AVIATION Issue 2 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net newsDigest European Agency Frontex, Airbus marks 2011 with account the production ramp RoundUp the organism in charge of co- record order and delivery up starting in 2012. During Quick ordinating the border control a press conference held in operations of the European Paris, Filippo Bagnato, Chief Saab Union member states. Fulmar Executive Officer of ATR, said, is a wholly Spanish project “Our success is based on • The defence and security company that is a global solution that our ability to answer to the Saab has signed a major support uses the Maritime Surveil- market requirements. Airlines agreement with Sikorsky Aerospace lance Systems of Thales- are increasingly looking for Services regarding technical main- Group. These systems supply planes that combine the low- tenance and support for Sweden's images and video in real time est operating costs, cutting- Black Hawk helicopters. and integrate the information edge technology, comfort and in a security system, as is Airbus delivered 534 commer- environmental friendliness. Sikorsky the case with border con- cial aircraft to 88 customers In this context, ATRs and trol. Such systems facilitate (10 new) and booked 1,419 particularly our new series • Sikorsky Aircraft, a subsidiary of surveillance and control of net orders in 2011, making of aircraft, the 72-600s have United Technologies Corporation, has maritime and border traffic it the most successful year proven to be the best choice selected Meggitt Polymer & Com- and can provide inestimable in the company’s history, for regional routes in terms of posites and Meggitt Safety Systems support to rescue operations. and the 10th in a row with a meeting these requirements. for the newly-formed team building The UAV Fulmar is a production increase. The 534 a next-generation helicopter—known small-size model (3.1 m) deliveries beat the previ- as the S-97 Raider—for evaluation weighing only 19 kg that can ous record set in 2010 by 24 Space by the US military. Meggitt’s failsafe fly at a height of 3,000 m and aircraft. Airbus Military also technology will prevent aircraft achieve 150 kmph, with an delivered a record number Americas fuel systems from rupturing from eight-hour flight range that of 29 aircraft. Airbus had a the impact of crashes or bullets, would allow it to fly up to 800 record order intake of 1,608 Boeing begins NASA solar while its fire protection systems will km without having to refuel. (1,419 net) commercial air- electric propulsion study deliver fully integrated detection and craft, worth $169 billion gross The Boeing Company has suppression. The Raider aircraft pro- 1,000th ATR fuselage ($140 billion net) at list prices. begun work on a four-month gramme follows Sikorsky’s successful completed in Pomigliano In value terms, Airbus’ share NASA contract to develop X2 Technology demonstrator aircraft, of total aircraft sales (above a mission concept study which in September 2010, achieved 100 seats) in 2011 is 56 per for solar electric propul- more than 250 knots flight speed, or cent gross (54 per cent net). sion technologies. Under the twice the average cruise speed of a Despite the challenging mar- $6,00,000 firm, fixed-price conventional helicopter. kets, Airbus Military won five contract, Boeing will evalu- new orders for its light and ate concepts that combine Soyuz medium aircraft (CN235 and high-power solar arrays with C295). Overall, the backlog is advanced electric thrusters • The 1,785th flight of a Soyuz 4,437 aircraft valued at over to power spacecraft and pay- launch vehicle was carried out Janu- $588 billion at list prices, or loads to high earth orbit and ary 26, 2012, from the Baikonur Cos- On January 27, Alenia Aer- equalling seven-eight years of deep space destinations. modrome in Kazakhstan. Arianespace macchi delivered the fuselage production. The military back- and its Russian partners report that to the ATR consortium, to log stands at 222 aircraft, in- Lockheed Martin and NASA the progress cargo spacecraft was ac- be assembled in Toulouse to cluding 174 A400M, 22 A330 place 2 Grail into orbit curately placed on the target orbit for build the 1,000th aircraft. The MRTT, 18 light and medium Both of NASA’s Gravity Re- another mission to the international ceremony was attended by and eight P-3 conversions. covery and Interior Labora- space station. This was the first Soyuz the company’s top manage- tory (GRAIL) spacecraft were family mission in 2012. Arianespace ment and the employees who ATR sold 157 aircraft in 2011 successfully inserted into orbit is the world’s leading launch service have been engaged in the ATR around the earth’s moon. The and solutions company delivering programme for many years. missions will analyse the inter- innovative solutions to its customers With 1,000 fuselages and nal structure and gravitational since 1980. stabilisers built, over 1,190 forces of the moon. Lockheed orders, 970 aircraft deliv- Martin built the twin robotic Strata Mubadala: Abu ered, ATR is in the ‘Top Ten’ spacecraft and is conducting Dhabi of the world ranking for the flight operations for NASA’s Jet most successful commercial Propulsion Laboratory. • Strata Mubadala Aerospace's airplanes in civil aviation his- In early March this manufacturing unit has won an tory. Operated by 186 airlines year, the science phase of Airbus package worth more than in 90 countries, every 20 Regional aircraft manufac- the mission will start. For $1 billion (Dh3.67bn) in its first seconds an ATR takes off in turer ATR has recorded its nearly three months, the 18 months. Strata, the advanced the world. Over 800 million best commercial year in twin robotic spacecraft will composite aircraft-structures maker passengers have been flying 2011, posting firm sales of map the gravitational field of in Al Ain, has won its first work pack- with this aircraft since the 157 planes and options for an the moon in unprecedented age on the new Airbus A350 XWB, programme started. In 2011 additional 79 aircraft. These detail. This data will be used to provide wing components called it won 157 orders and, with 157 firm sales (13 ATR 42s to determine the structure of flap-track fairings. The Strata deal a backlog of 224 aircraft con- and 144 ATR 72s) round out the lunar interior from crust is part of Abu Dhabi's ambitions tinues to lead the segment of the manufacturer's order to core and advance human to become a major player in the regional air trans- book for a record high of 224 understanding of the thermal lucrative aircraft manufacturing and port up to 90 seats, with an aircraft, ensuring three years evolution of the moon and maintenance industry. 80 per cent market share. of production, taking into other terrestrial planets. •

Issue 2 • 2012 SP’S AVIATION 39 LastWord No other Despite the rhetoric on government support and periodic infusion of funds, Way Out chances of a turnaround for n Saturday January 14, 2012, hundreds of the national carrier appear passengers booked to travel by Air India were somewhat remote. The old stranded at the airports across the country as a section of pilots went on a day-long strike throw- adage that “the government ing flight schedules out of gear. However, by the end of the day, near normalcy was restored as pi- has no business to be in lots resumed work in response to assurance from the manage- business” could not be more apt Oment that their grievances would be addressed without delay. Strikes in Air India are triggered often for even trivial rea- than in the case of Air India. If sons. Nearly a year ago, 700 pilots of the Indian Commer- the airline is to survive, there is cial Pilots Association (ICPA), the derecognised union of erst- while Indian Airlines, went on a strike over issues of parity in no alternative to privatisation. emoluments with the ex-Air India pilots. Early January this year, the 8,000-member strong Aviation Industry Employees Guild (AIEG), issued a strike notice to the airline as they had not been paid salary since November 2011 and since August Mascarenhas, who had been in senior positions with Air India had not received productivity-linked incentive (PLI) which management for several years, was appointed as the CMD in constitutes 70 per cent of their emoluments. This was hardly 2001. However, on account of differences with the then Minis- surprising as the airline has a debt burden of `43,000 crore ter of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on his push for privatisation of Air and accumulated losses of over `20,000 crore. The airline India, he was summarily removed. Similarly, Raghu Menon, a also owes `230 crore to oil companies, undisclosed sums to bureaucrat, who took over as the CMD from V. Thulasidas, fell the Airports Authority of India and over `400 crore towards out of favour with the then MoCA and was eased out. repayment of loans. Besides there are other miscellaneous Arvind Jadhav, an officer of the IAS cadre, had the de- financial commitments such as dues to vendors, caterers, termination to put the airline back on track. Despite his bold expenditure on maintenance, repair and overhaul, commis- decisions, he did not succeed due to lack of support from the sion to agents, payments towards IT and reservation systems, government as also lack of cooperation from the employees etc. But as per AIEG, emoluments of employees have been whom he had managed to antagonise. When he handed over withheld despite rise in passenger revenues by `109 crore in last year, the airline was in serious financial distress with August and `1,200 crore equity from the government in the staggering cumulative losses. Rohit Nandan, another bu- last fiscal. The AIEG perceives this as a total disregard of the reaucrat who has served in the MoCA and has taken over as welfare of employees and utter mismanagement. the CMD from Arvind Jadhav, has been in office just for four But like strikes, if Air India has displayed any consis- months. But as yet there are no signs of the reversal in the tency, it has been in respect of mismanagement, more so downslide. Perhaps the malaise is so deep that one ought not after Praful Patel’s historic strategic blunder of merger of to expect miracles. However, the way Air India has been man- Indian with Air India. From an annual loss of `448 crore in aged especially in the last five years, it is abundantly clear 2006-07 pre-merger, losses in 2007-08 jumped to `2,226 that bureaucrats have proved inept in managing a large com- crore, `4,000 crore in 2008-09, `5,400 crore in 2009-10 mercial venture. Bereft of autonomy and freedom of action, and `7,000 crore in 2010-11. The management has not only their difficulties are compounded by unwarranted bureau- been under pressure battling internal problems of the air- cratic and political interference. It is also clear that despite line and the obstinate unions, the challenges they have been the rhetoric on government support and periodic infusion of confronting on account of constant political and bureaucrat- funds, chances of a turnaround for the national carrier ap- ic interference have been more daunting. pear somewhat remote. The old adage that “the government Russi Mody, who was the Chairman and Managing Direc- has no business to be in business” could not be more apt than tor (CMD) of Air India in 1993, quit in disgust as his efforts in the case of Air India. In the final analysis therefore, if the to turn the national carrier around were frustrated by bu- airline is to survive, there is no alternative to privatisation. SP

Photogra p h: S guide ubn s reaucratic sloth and interference by the government. Michael — Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey

40 SP’S AVIATION Issue 2 • 2012 www.spsaviation.net TREASURE HOUSE

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