VI/2015 Aerospace & Defence Review Unique.Unique. AheadAhead ofof thethe Art.Art. Unique. Ahead of the Art. Interview with the CNS Exercise Malabar 2015 Super Carriers Ahoy ! Imperatives of Amphibious Aircraft Airbus DS/Military in Spain The Hawks of Dega and Surya Kirans ShinMaywaShinMaywaShinMaywa Advert_for Advert_for Advert_for MYB MYB MYB & & MAI.indd &MAI.indd MAI.indd 1 1 1 20/11/1220/11/1220/11/12 2:18 2:18 PM 2:18 PM PM FOR MISSIONS AS VARIED AS THE TERRAIN. AT LOCKHEED MARTIN, WE’RE ENGINEERING A BETTER TOMORROW. SU-30MKI ONLY THE BEST © 2015 LOCKHEEDED MAMMARTIN CORPORATION www.irkut.com Live: n/a Trim: H: 255mm W: 175mm Job Number: FG15-0006_120 Designer: Daniel Buck Bleed: H: 280mm W: 215mm Publication: Vayu Aerospace Q/A: Becky Maddux Gutter: None Visual: C-130J Communicator: Carla Krivanek Resolution: 300 DPI Country: India Due Date: 11/19/15 Density: 300 Color Space: CMYK VI/2015 VI/2015 Aerospace & Defence Review ‘An Ocean of Dedication ceremony at INS Rajali, Airbus Military 32 home base of INAS 312A which 78 Opportunities’ operates the Navy’s Boding P-8I fleet in Spain took place in October 2015 even as 5000 flight hours of the P-8I fleet was Interview with the CNS Exercise Malabar 2015 celebrated. Super Carriers Ahoy ! Imperatives of Amphibious Aircraft Airbus DS/Military in Spain The IN’s The Hawks of Dega and Surya Kirans 50 In Vayu’s exclusive interview, Admiral ‘Super Fighter’ RK Dhowan, Chief of the Naval Staff Vayu’s UK Editor Richard Gardner Indian Navy P-8I of INS 312A at INS Rajali, reviews the Indian Navy’s determined reports from Seville, Spain, after the Arakkonam (photo : Angad Singh) modernisation process and projected Airbus Defence and Space annual Trade capabilities. The CNS highlights the Media Briefing (TMB’15), with focus on multitude of opportunities offered to various programmes, many of them of EDITORIAL PANEL India’s aspiring classes looking to the interest and relevance to India. Navy for a way of life. The Indian Navy’s MiG-29K/KUB was MANAGING EDITOR commissioned with INAS 303 some 84 Surya Kirans Vikramjit Singh Chopra Exercise years back and in this update, Sayan New Avatar Majumdar writes about its key systems EDITORIAL ADVISOR 39 Malabar 2015 and its primary role in establishing local Admiral Arun Prakash air superiority (photos by Angad Singh). EDITORIAL PANEL Pushpindar Singh 59 The Imperatives of Air Marshal Brijesh Jayal Amphibious Aircraft Dr. Manoj Joshi Lt. Gen. Kamal Davar The Indian Air Force’s Surya Kirans Lt. Gen. BS Pawar Warships and submarines from the aerobatic display team has been re- Air Marshal M. Matheswaran Indian, Japanese and US Navies established with new BAE Hawk Gp Capt JC Malik converged in the Bay of Bengal for a Mk.132 aircraft. In an exclusive, Vayu’s Angad Singh reports on their current Cdr M Nirmal weeklong joint exercise in October Cmde Sujeet Samaddar writes on the and future plans. Monica Arora 2015. Vayu’s Angad Singh was on hand to file this first hand report from multifarious missions of amphibious Angad Singh Chennai as well as from on board the aircraft and focuses on the ShinMaywa DSEI 2015 Richard Gardner (UK) US Navy’s Nimitz-class supercarrier, US-2i which has been subject of 88 Reuben Johnson (USA) USS Theodore Roosevelt. detailed negotiations and could well be manufactured in India. Bertrand de Boisset (France) Dr Nick Evesenkin (Russia) Super Carriers 44 Battle Stations ! Tamir Eshel (Israel) Ahoy ! 64 ADVERTISING & MARKETING MANAGER Husnal Kaur The biennial Defence and Security BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Equipment Exhibition (DSEI) in September 2015 is covered in detail by Premjit Singh Vayu’s Editorial team, led by UK Editor Richard Gardner, with an overview of After visiting the guided missile stealth Aspects of the strategic partnership the 1600 exhibitors that took part, with destroyer INS Kochi (D64) earlier this with America are reviewed by Ajai national pavilions from 42 countries and year and being briefed on its features Shukla, the most important of which 8 visiting warships. Indian capabilities PUBLISHED BY: and technology, Vishnu Som of NDTV could involve design of the Indian were also on display, both from the Vayu Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. presents a possible naval scenario Navy’s future (super) carriers, possibly public and private sectors. involving the Indian Navy’s latest and D-43, Sujan Singh Park, equipped with the revolutionary most lethal warship. New Delhi 110 003 India EMALS. Also: EMALS; World Market Tel: +91 11 24617234 for Conventional Submarines; The Hawks of Dega Admiralty Shipyards; DCNS sails Fax: +91 11 24628615 53 48 Boeing P-8I : Vayu’s Angad Singh spent time ahead !; Rolls Royce and IN; The e-mail: [email protected] Enhancement for the IN with the Indian Navy at INS Dega in Yak-13; Turkish Coast Guard e-mail: [email protected] Visakhapatnam and reports on the Aviation; Flying the ‘Hump’; Along Navy’s advanced jet training squadron the Aluminium Trail. INAS 551 Phantoms. Printed at Aegean Offset Printers Regular features : Commentary, Opinion, Geo Politics, The opinions expressed in the articles Aviation & Defence in India, World published in the Vayu Aerospace and Defence Review do not necessarily reflect Aviation & Defence News, Ancient the views or policies of The Society for Aviator Anecdotes, Vayu 25 Years Aerospace Studies. Back, Tale Spin. Visit us at: www.vayuaerospace.in C O M M E N T A R Y The Sense of Shock and Awe the wake of the Arab Spring (2011) has declined over the years. And at this juncture, it can be damaging for Turkey he downing of a Russian aircraft by Turkey is the latest if its relations with Russia and Iran deteriorate - powerful twist in centuries of tangled relations between two T neighbours both. On its part, NATO can be expected to great powers with a long history of tension and rivalry, one prevent further Russian-Turkish hostilities... in the interest that dates back to the Crimean War (1856). Contextualised of Russian cooperation in combating ISIS and ending the with the past, the targeting of the Su-24 jet will be recorded Syrian conflict. as the first time since the Cold War that a NATO member The sense of shock and awe is frightfully overwhelming. has shot down a Russian military aircraft. Lessons of history would suggest that such incidents have the potential to From The Statesman ignite deadlier confrontation and not least in the context of Syria that has reached boiling point. On the face of it, The Dragon sets sail Turkey has bared its angst over continued breaches of its hina has signed a 10-year agreement that will allow airspace over the past two months, more accurately ever Cit to set up and use a naval logistics base in Djibouti, since Russia began its air-strikes on Syria on 30 September, an enclave-sized African nation near the strategic maritime as much against the rebels as against ISIS. chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. On this day, however, as a Turkish map has indicated, With this, Beijing has overturned its long proclaimed policy the plane had entered its airspace only briefly as it that China would never set up overseas military bases. crossed a piece of Turkish territory that projects into Chinese military bases are sprouting all over the South Syria. Transcending the map-pointing conclusions, the China Sea, which Beijing claims as its own. The Djibouti Syrian factor is pivotal in the evolving game theory. The base will be overseas even by China’s own definition. government in Ankara is acutely aware that its attempt to China has drawn a thin veil over its Indian Ocean base get rid of President Assad has come a cropper, and that by claiming it is designed to support anti-piracy activities. it now has diminishing influence over developments in But no one should take that claim seriously. The Somali Syria. The international power-play now includes Russia, pirates’ problem has almost disappeared. the USA, and France and the military involvement might New Delhi has accepted Beijing has legitimate security in due course of time include Britain as well. concerns and interests regarding the Indian Ocean. India While the response of NATO is awaited, its member- has also urged a multilateral dialogue on China’s other nations will almost certainly lend rhetorical support to concerns about the Indian Ocean. Turkey, a fellow-member. That said, the Western alliance China, however, has declined to discuss the issue cannot afford to be impervious to President Vladimir and preferred to woo littoral countries, while developing Putin’s accusation that Turkey is the “accomplice of maritime capacities in and around the ocean. India can terrorists”. Ankara has been known to lend its support to only presume that China sees their respective military and the Syrian armed opposition, including extreme groups political influence in this region as a zero sum game. like Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham, over the past Beijing’s strategists argue that the slow but steady three years. At another remove, it is said to have allowed withdrawal of US naval power from the Indian Ocean the self-declared Islamic State to sell oil through Turkey. means that China must take up some of these policing Altogether, geopolitics has assumed a lethal dimension activities. They also argue India is not up to the task. The in the midst of the international power-play, and the sorry record of India’s investment in naval power makes it downing of the Russian plane is but a symptom of the difficult for New Delhi to argue otherwise.