SP's Aviation July 2010

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 Alternate Engine Programme for JSF  US Aerospace Majors II  C-27J Spartan  MMRCA Update  Special Mission Aircraft  Regional Aviation Infrastructure  Industry: AESA AN/APG-80 Business Aircraft DELENG/2008/24199

RNI NUMBER: Financing PAGE 20 A powerful partnership. www.northropgrumman.com/mmrca MMRCA The elephant is revered as a remover of obstacles and a harbinger of success. An F-16 with Northrop Grumman’s operationally proven APG-80 AESA fire control radar system could orporation C become the modern day symbol of protection for one of the world’s largest air forces. orthrop Grumman N The team of the Indian Air Force,

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TABLE of CONTENTS News Flies. We Gather Intelligence. Every Month. From India. AviationISSUE 7 • 2010

36 Regional Aviation Make it Viable and Profitable

INDUSTRY 38 Homeland Security ‘It is Portable and Back Packable’

40 OEM The Proven Best

SHOW REPORT 42 Snapshots A Glimpse of ILA Berlin Cessna Finance Corporation (CFC) claims that it provides a turnkey, one-stop approach to potential aircraft owners 20 (seen here is Citation CJ 2) HALL OF FAME 43 James H. Doolittle FIRST 8 Unmanned Refuel Cover Story

REGULAR DEPARTMENTS TECH WATCH OWN YOUR WINGS The number of top-of-the-rich. 6 A Word from Editor 9 – Another Feather on the Cap Indians who can acquire a – Unblinking Eye private plane is skyrocketing. 7 NewsWithViews Financing by companies like Cessna, Embraer, etc has become - Mars Space Odyssey MILITARY a key enabler in buying or 10 InFocus 14 Industry leasing an aircraft Scuffle over Second Engine US Aerospace Majors •

17 MMRCA �� 11 Forum In Progress �� www.spsaviation.net �� What’s the Alternative?

�� Industry �� 25 �� �� �� India may Need 50-100 �� 44 NewsDigest �� �� Airlifters: Alenia �� �� 32 Special Mission Aircraft �� 48 LastWord

�� On Unusual Missions �� VIP Syndrome

SP's Aviation 07 of 10 final.indd 1 7/16/10 12:58:42 PM

Cover Image: CIVIL The Indian economy is growing and so is the number NEXT ISSUE: of high net worth individuals. The slashed price tags of Current and Future - 28 Infrastructure the business jets is tickling their urge to buy. T3 The New Terminology Military Aero Engines Cover image: Anoop Kamath

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 1 TABLE of CONTENTS

PLUS... PUBLISHER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DESIGN & LAYOUT Jayant Baranwal Senior Art Director: Anoop Kamath Designers: Vimlesh Kumar Yadav, EXECUTIVE EDITOR Sonu Singh Bisht Subir Ghosh DIRECTOR SALES & MARKETING Neetu Dhulia ASSISTANT GROUP EDITOR SALES & MARKETING R. Chandrakanth Head Vertical Sales: Rajeev Chugh Sales Manager: Rajiv Ranjan SENIOR VISITING EDITOR SP’S WEBSITES Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia Sr Web Developer: Shailendra Prakash Ashish Web Developer: Ugrashen Vishwakarma SENIOR TECHNICAL GROUP EDITORS 25 C - 2 7 J S p a r t a n Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey © SP Guide Publications, 2010 Lt General (Retd) Naresh Chand ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION Inland: Rs 900 • Foreign: US$ 240 COPY EDITOR Sucheta Das Mohapatra Email: [email protected]

ASSISTANT CORRESPONDENT LETTER TO EDITOR Abhay Singh Thapa [email protected] [email protected] ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Abhishek Singh FOR ADVERTISING DETAILS, CONTACT: [email protected] CONTRIBUTORS [email protected] INDIA [email protected] Air Marshal (Retd) N. Menon [email protected] Role of Special Group Captain (Retd) A.K. Sachdev SP GUIDE PUBLICATIONS PVT LTD 32 Mission Aircraft Group Captain (Retd) Joseph Noronha A-133 Arjun Nagar, (Opposite Defence Colony) EUROPE New Delhi 110 003, India. Alan Peaford, Phil Nasskau, Tel: +91 (11) 24644693, Rob Coppinger 24644763, 24620130 Fax: +91 (11) 24647093 USA & CANADA Email: [email protected] Sushant Deb, LeRoy Cook, Lon Nordeen, POSTAL ADDRESS Anil R. Pustam (West Indies) Post Box No 2525 New Delhi 110 005, India. CHAIRMAN & MANAGING DIRECTOR Jayant Baranwal REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE BENGALURU, INDIA ADMIN & COORDINATION 534, Jal Vayu Vihar Bharti Sharma Kammanhalli Main Road Bangalore 560043, India. Survi Massey Tel: +91 (80) 23682534 Snapshots of Owned, published and printed by LONDON, UK ILA Berlin 2010 42 Jayant Baranwal, printed at Shikha Thukral Kala Jyothi Process Pvt Ltd and Area Sales Manager, Europe published at A-133, Arjun Nagar 64 Western Road, Southall Middlesex (Opposite Defence Colony), UB2 5DX, United Kingdom New Delhi 110 003, India. All rights Mob: +447404424208 reserved. No part of this publication may be MOSCOW, RUSSIA reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or LAGUK Co., Ltd., (Yuri Laskin) transmitted in any form or by any means, Krasnokholmskaya, Nab., photocopying, recording, electronic, or 11/15, app. 132, Moscow 115172, Russia. www.spguidepublications.com otherwise without prior written permission Tel: +7 (495) 911 2762 of the Publishers. Fax: +7 (495) 912 1260

2 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net SPS Aviation SCACCHI 210X267:Layout 1 16/12/2009 16.25 Pagina 1

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A Word from Editor With the price tags for some private jets taking a dip by as much as 35-40 per cent from what they were in 2008, buyers are beginning to scout around for purchases. A rupee that is also stronger against the US dollar now, is making things easier.

n the last issue we had just glided over the news rate of growth of airlines and the tardy pace of development of the T3 launch. But the sheer magnitude of the of aviation infrastructure continued to widen impinging on the terminal is such that it takes time for even the boom in the airline industry. There is an imperative need to awe to sink in. This time out the need is to be accelerate the pace of development of aviation infrastructure elaborate, for what you might have been reading in order that the full capacity of aviation industry is exploited.” in the general news media would have been cur- We have our T3, but a lot more is needed too. sory and meant for, needless to say, for people who don’t Three days after the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Ibelong to the industry. SP’s Aviation always tries to fill up inaugurated T3 (on July 3), the first two-seat, fly-by-wire, these information gaps, and so we have for you an elabo- trainer version of the naval light combat aircraft (LCA) Te- rate article on the latest pride of India. Terminal 3 of the jas rolled-out marking a milestone achievement in the de- Indira Gandhi International Airport has not only signalled velopment programme undertaken by HAL and ADA. The the landing of India on the world aviation map, it is also Indian Navy had also played a significant role in the project a clear indicator of India’s capabilities in creating world through close monitoring and support. We also bring you a class infrastructure. And all this happened a little over report on the event. three years that work started on this integrated terminal. Await your comments and look forward to offering you Being counted among the world’s best gives one a differ- even more exaustive inputs on the issues that concern the ent sense of pride altogether. Kudos to Delhi International aviation industry. Airport Limited, the joint venture company comprising the GMR Group, Airports Authority of India, Fraport, and Ma- laysian Airport Holdings. The air of excitement pervading the business aircraft market, as the article presenting the big picture on the subject says, is almost palpable. The shape of the economy looks much better than what it was two years ago. This has been reflecting directly on the aviation industry. With the price tags for some private jets taking a dip by as much as 35-40 per cent from what they were in 2008, buyers are beginning to scout around for purchases. A rupee that is also stronger against the US dollar now, is making things easier. Things are only in the take-off stage now; business aviation will do so when infrastructure—airports, parking spaces, private terminals, maintenance facilities—caters to this sector. A lot of people are waiting and watching. Not everything, however, is comfortable on our home turf. Elsewhere in this issue we look at regional aviation and how smaller towns are getting left behind in this race for communication and development. We have handled the subject earlier, Jayant Baranwal but ‘Make it Viable and Profitable’ takes a hardnosed look at Publisher & Editor-in-Chief the subject. The article points out, “the gap between the high

6 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net ILLUSTRATION: ANOOP KAMATH NewsWithViews cylindrical11.9mMedicalModuleX3.2m housesmedi two room,the main control room, atoilet and two bedrooms. The individualcompartments, a kitchen cum dining room, a living crew. The cylindrical 3.6m X 20m modulethefor hasHabitablelivingarea main TheModuleprovides sixthe 6 sq m each, and an engineer of Italian-Colombian origin Diego Urbina.a physiologist respectively; a French engineer Romain CharlesSukhrobKamolov andAlexander Smoleevsky, surgeona and sionalastronaut from China. Theothers include two Russians mander of the mission and the com youngest and engineer Russian is a Wangis Yue, a profes years.38 and oldest,The Alexei Sitev 26 between aged Chinese threeRussians, two comprises Europeans and countries, one 40 morethan 6,000 applicants from volunteers, of six selected out of crew The days. 520 lastingtrip round entire the with days; 240 furthera takewillGetting home orbit. in remaining others and planet the on days 30spending them of experiments—with half performingdaysandflighttasks two 250 spend will and crew years. The months 18 between take could which miles)million 34 of distance (one-way back & solarsystemMarsEarthfromto the through hurtlingspacecraft a of conditions the recreate to the most serious terms. arduousmission in any other but coura geous thevoluntary crew think norof the organisers the days.plusnableneither500But forts’ for an astoundingly intermi in a hangar with no sun, no fresh water and no ment‘creatureamounts to little com more than sitting inside agiant tin can culedtheentire mission joke,asa suggesting that theexperi landerand Martian surface. Thecritics ofMars500 have ridi imitation spacecraft interplanetary its using a vehicle, space T VIEWS will remain closed until November 2011 and the crew must manage using the food and equipment stored in the facility. The organisers of the the of organisers The facility. the in hatch The stored days. 520 equipment next and the food for the home Agencies. using Space their Problems be Russian manage and will must Biomedical European that the crew of module the include the and Institute programme into the 2011 at walked November then facility until and Mars500 closed press their the the remain in entered to will crew talked determined six-men crew and the the when as somber GMT), hrs Moscow, was in (11:49 mood time The located local closed. hrs was 13:49 at hatch the started and Mars to ‘spacecraft’ mission simulated full-length first the 3, June On MARS SPACE ODYSSEY The 550 sq m complex consists of four distinctcomplexfourconsistsmodules.mof sq 550The designed been has Mars500 is called, would duplicate the actual journey to toryMarsspaceofexploration. in TheMars500 Mission, itas longest duration simulation ever conducted the in the his be perhaps ground-based experiment would he ------four compartments: a refrigerated compartment for food stor watersupply, etc.largestThe Storage divided Moduleisinto tem,air-conditioning ventilation& system,sewagesystem & videocontrola communicationand system, analysisgas sys and will be equipped with a control and databiting phase.collection willItaccommodate system,threetoup crew-members Mars Landing Module will be used during the 30-day Marsand or telemedical, laboratory and diagnostic investigations. examinations medical routine equipment for and berths calThe of serious preparations for the Mars Space Odyssey. Mars500 mission is an inescapable necessity—part and couldparcel ensure its success. To indoctrination which conditioning, and achieve training human the the ultimate aim therefore, only is2030-35, it mankind’sensure by Marstowith tryst exploration endeavours. While technology will certainlyfastgainingnecessary the evolve priorities theirrespectivein space areJapan,European etcUnion,andtheRussiaUS, the like periment. Manned missions to Mars spearheadedexentirethe of partbykey psychologicallikely countries a changesare Issue 7•2010 —Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia h ln msin bt hs very these mission, but long the havetheir ups and downs during conversation. willway crew The two- a for minutes 40 take will ‘earth’ with contact radio their Even Earth. planet the of sight and weightlessness. They will lose radiation flight, for exceptspace countered by astronauts on a real en conditionsbethe likelyto of many experience will members be extremely hard. side the metallic containers would in days 520facility. for Staying food and equipment stored in the thecrewmustmanage usingthe closed remainuntilNovemberand2011 will hatch’ ‘Spacecraft the endurance as human of test extreme an mission. is Mars500 humanfactors ofsuchgrueling a investigations of facilitate to up bathroom, sauna and a gym. containing a another and house able food, an experimental green non-perish another for and age During the mission,Duringcrewthethe Thecomplex hasbeenrigged

SP’S AVIATION SP

7 ------irst F

F Unmanned Refuel Northrop Grumman to demonstrate aerial refuelling Two Global Hawk UAVs

he Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency Not only will the aerial refueling be autonomous, but (DARPA) has awarded a $33 million (Rs 154 crore) since Global Hawks are HALE UAVs, it will also take place contract to Northrop Grumman Corporation to at a much higher altitude than has been previously demon- demonstrate aerial refueling of a National Aero- strated with manned aircraft. It will also be the first time nautics and Space Administration (NASA Global that HALE UAVs would have flown in formation. THawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) by a sister ship. The “The importance of aerial refueling is clear in the way programme will be designated KQ-X. military aviation depends on it today,” said Jim McCormick, Northrop Grumman will retrofit two of the high altitude the DARPA programme manager for KQ-X. “This demon- long endurance (HALE) UAVs, one aircraft pumping fuel stration will go a long way towards making those same into the other in flight through a hose-and-drogue refueling advantages a reality for the next generation of unmanned system. The aerial refueling engagement will be completely aircraft,” he added. autonomous. The engineering work will be accomplished at the Carl Johnson, vice president, Advanced Concepts for Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems Development Cen- Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems said, “Demonstrat- tre in Rancho Bernardo, California. Pilots from NASA, NOAA ing the refueling of one UAV by another is a historic mile- and Northrop Grumman will fly the Global Hawks from the stone. It adds aerial refueling to the list of capabilities that NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force can be accomplished autonomously by Global Hawks, it Base, California. SP NORTHROP GRUMMAN NORTHROP opens the door to greatly expanded operational utility for —SP’s Aviation News Desk UAVs and it promises to increase the safety and reliability of aerial refueling between manned aircraft by reducing pi- E-mail your comments to: [email protected] PHOTOGRAPH: lot workload.”

8 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net Watch Another ech ech T

T Feather on the Cap Boeing’s ScanEagle compressed carriage test ﬂied successfully

oeing has successfully flown its ScanEagle Com- “This is a big step towards adding another aircraft with pressed Carriage (SECC) unmanned airborne sys- additional capabilities to Boeing’s UAS stable,” said Ron Per- Btem (UAS) at a testing facility in eastern Oregon. The kins, Director, Boeing Phantom Works’ Advanced Unmanned 75-minute flight evaluated the aircraft’s airworthiness and Airborne Systems. “The vehicle’s 132-inch wingspan and fold- flight characteristics in a simulated intelligence, surveillance ing aero surfaces allow it to be carried on an aircraft pylon or and reconnaissance (ISR) mission. in a container, giving the warfighter the choice of operating it The SECC powered by a six-horsepower, heavy-fuel engine from air, underwater, ground or surface platforms,” he added. was launched from a ground vehicle, flew an autonomous The SECC is a long-endurance, autonomous UAS designed flight plan at various altitudes and provided streaming video to provide ISR, targeting and battle-damage assessment. SP from its electro-optical/infrared sensor package to a nearby —SP’s Aviation News Desk ground station. The SECC was recovered using the same runway-independent SkyHook recovery system used by the Sca- nEagle and Integrator unmanned airborne systems. The SECC E-mail your comments to: system will complete additional tests in the coming months. [email protected] Unblinking Eye Northrop Grumman awarded contract for US Army Airship

new hybrid airship weapons sys- ighters with persistent ISR capability to tem, larger than the length of a increase awareness of the ever chang- A football field will take to the skies ing battlefield. in 18 months to provide an unblink- Under the agreement, awarded by ing, persistent eye for more than three the US Army Space and Missile De- weeks at a time to aid US Army troops fence Command/Army Forces Strate- in Afghanistan. gic Command, Northrop Grumman will command and control. Northrop Grumman Corporation has design, develop and test a long-dura- Northrop Grumman has teamed up announced that it has been awarded a tion hybrid airship system within an with Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd of the Unit- $517 million (Rs 2,417 crore) agree- 18-month timeframe and then trans- ed Kingdom using its HAV304 platform,

ment to develop up to three long endur- port the asset to the Middle East for Warwick Mills, ILC Dover, AAI Cor- ance multi-intelligence vehicle (LEMV) military assessment. poration, SAIC and a team of technol- systems for the US Army. The company LEMV will sustain altitudes of ogy leaders from 18 US states to build has designed a system with plug-and- 20,000 feet for a three-week period and LEMV. Northrop Grumman will provide play capability to readily integrate into it will operate within national and in- system integration expertise and flight NORTHROP GRUMMAN NORTHROP the Army’s existing common ground ternational airspace. It will be forward- and ground control operations to safely station command centres and ground located to support extended geostation- take off and land the unmanned vehicle SP

BOEING & troops in forward operating bases—the ary operations from austere operating for worldwide operations. main objective to provide the US warf- locations using beyond-line-of-sight —SP’s Aviation News Desk

E-mail your comments to: For more information and video, visit: PHOTOGRAPHS: [email protected] www.spsaviation.net

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 9 PHOTOGRAPH: PRATT & WHITNEY InFocus F-35 Lightning II continues unabated Battle over the second engine for the US’ JSF contract, the US defence budget announced on February February on announced budget defence US the contract, to rununtil2013. demonstration (SDD) phase of the F136 initiative, scheduled and development system the for contract crore) 11,200 (Rs billion $2.4 a team GE/R-R the awarded (DOD) Defence of Department facility.US Ohio the Evendale,2005,In August July 2004, theF-136hadbegunfullenginerunsat theGE’s by and earnestness complete with commenced programme development F136 JSF.The the for engine terchangeable’ venture), with the responsibility for developing the F136 ‘in Engine team was formally created in July 2002 (a 60:40 Fighter joint GE/R-R engine.The F136 their of development the bine also started receiving funds from 1996 onwards to start com GE/R-R development,the engine F135 the in lead the from Lot6onwards. engine contracts were planned to be competitively tendered 2010,the after engines,but F-135 P&W the by powered be engine.to F136 Accordingly,were (GE/R-R) F-35s initial all introduce competition with the General Electric/Rolls-Royce then and F-100, the with had F-16 the as plant, power its as F-135 (P&W) Whitney & Pratt the with F-35 the of ment develop complete to was plan The fighter).air-dominance USAF’sthe on fitted Raptor F-119 F-22 from (derived F135 and F-35 the of development with parallel in F-136 the on work funded and outset the from procurement engine tive competi for planned had calculations their in Pentagon the Martin proposing JSF designs powered by F119 derivatives, Whitney’s & F119. available—Pratt While this led to then both Boeing and engine Lockheed suitable only the use direct to ed be teams competing the that demanded prudence aircraft, demonstrator a of concept the building to came it phases of what became the JSF programme. However, when money eachyear. adding by alive programme the keeping Congress the with engine development programme is being turned on its head continuing decision of not pursuing with the F-136 alternate the scene. It is now five years on in the running be that Pentagon’sto relevance the even and performance, cost, gine’s en their about war disinformation a of other the accusing is side each debate, of web the into ensnared get industry A SECOND ENGINE Scuffle over 10 MODERNISATION

However, in less than a year after the award of the the of award the after year a than less in However, took P&W philosophy,while above the with keeping In initial the in studied were engines several redux, To

SP’S AVIATION and more players from the Capitol Hill and the and Hill Capitol the from players more and F-35 (JSF) Fighter Lightning II continues to rage unabated. Strike As more Joint the for engine second the over battle the threats, veto dential mid continuing Congressional support and Presi

Issue 7•2010

------permanent lid over the F136 programme but for the US US the for but programme F136 a the put over have lid would permanent This fighters. F-35 Martin’s Lockheed the for engines provider of as sole the engine, the F135 of maker Whitney, the & Pratt F136—leaving the excluded 2006, 6, that itmayfinddifficulttodefend. ground on Pentagon put would process thought of reversal reasons.compelling very This some for too that and engine second the have to strategy a was certainly there that ment tion in the true sense of it, it can’t be denied by the establish gramme.wasn’tthere that conceded is it if Even competi a down on cut the already to upward spiraling costs revoked of the F-35 being pro pro is which option engine an just alternate was gramme the that is establishments defence costs? in control and product quality ensuring of heart very the at be to sidered anath an con is universally monopoly competition ema in today’s while world, Isn’t programme? engine an for in alternate going of stand earlier its from face volte a done has into be so, Pentagon If the that is why it that pale insignificance. would programme engine alternate GE/R-R the with continue to required billion (Rs $1 the billion crore), $380 1,775,800 staggering a reaching possibly costs the development. the programme, F-35 of the the glare overall under billion seen When complete $1 to needed is another crore) says 4,600 (Rs of accomplished, cent per already 70 than task more the with and, F136 the for crore) engine. standard production first the testing in reached been reheat having full thrust engines—with SDD and pre-SDD on testing hours of 800 than more totaled has team engine fighter the government— US 2010—the the with year contract SDD its of current year fourth the in and handled been successfully have glitches/delays Minor extent. to possible best schedules the planned the to sticking by track on remains F-136 the of development the that ensured has part its on team GE/R-R The contrary. the to requests DOD the de spite alive programme engine ‘alternate’ the keep to funds provide to continued has Congress year, US Since each the then, 2006. during later 2007 year financial for funds ed allocat and request DOD the overturned which Congress, What appears to be emanating from the concerned US concerned the from emanating be to appears What 14,000 (Rs billion $3 received has GE/R-R the date, Till

—Air Marshal(Retd) V.K. Bhatia SP www.spsaviation.net ------MODERNISATION rum Fo What’s the Alternative?

The reliability and life-cycle costs are the real factors which would determine whether the alternate engine programme is allowed to run or not

he very object of the alternate engine programme, thrust as the other types in its conventional configuration to the General Electric/Rolls-Royce (GE/R-R) F136, is power F-35B version of the JSF. a massive 40,000 lb (180 kN) thrust class engine, All the P&W 135 versions, i.e. -100, -400 and -600 are which was to be specifically designed with an aim already installed in the F-35A, F-35C and F-35B models of to be “interchangeable” across the three variants the JSF, actively involved in flight testing. But that was to be Tof the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) pro- expected as P&W had clear lead over GE/R-R. But the F136 is gramme. The three variants of the JSF are F-35A—conven- not too far behind with most of the development milestones tional take-off and landing (CTOL); F-35B–short take-off and having been achieved including the difficult STOVL configura- vertical landing (STOVL) and F-35C – carrier variant (CV). tion. Interestingly, in their respective STOVL version both en- The engine was to compete with Pratt & Whitney (P&W) gines are dependent on a revolutionary, high-tech and intri- F135 engine to give the JSF customers an alternative option cate LiftSystem designed and developed by none other than in terms of selecting the power plant for their respective the Roll-Royce. In the STOVL configuration, the P&W F135 F-35 fleets. A derivative of the earlier YF120 engine which the engine produces 18,000 lb (80.1 kN) of lift thrust. Combined GE had developed for the ATF (F-22 Raptor programme but with thrust from the LiftFan (20,000 lb/89.0 kN) and two roll lost to P&W 119 engine), the F136 is an augmented turbofan posts (1,950 lb/8.67 kN each), the Rolls-Royce LiftSystem pro- with a twin spool, counter-rotating, axial flow, low aspect ra- duces a total of 41,900 lb (186 kN) of thrust, almost the same tio compressor and an axial flow, counter rotating turbine. vertical lifting force for slow speed flight as the same engine The P&W F135 engine is a two-shaft engine that has produces at maximum afterburner, without the extreme fuel a three-stage fan low pressure (LP) and a six-stage high use or exhaust heat as wet thrust. The STOVL version of the pressure (HP) compressor. The hot section features an an- F136 is being developed for a similar combination of thrust nular combustor with a single-stage HP turbine unit and a (s) configuration as for the P&W 135 engine. two-stage LP turbine. The afterburner features a variable It is ironical that while the engine majors, Pratt & Whit- converging-diverging nozzle. The conventional and carrier ney on one hand and the General Electric and Rolls-Royce aviation engines, the F135-PW-100 and F135-PW-400, have combine on the other, are engaged in a fierce verbal war, a maximum thrust of approximately 43,000 lb (191 kN) and they are also intricately linked with each other in the en- a dry thrust of approximately 28,000 lb (125 kN) and power gines’ programmes for the JSF F-35. Both are extolling their WWW.JSF.MIL the F-35A (CTOL) and F-35C (CV) versions, respectively. The own products while berating the other whether it is the cost major difference between the -100 and -400 models is the of development, engine performance, reliability, maintain- use of salt-corrosion resistant materials. The STOVL variant, ability, or, for that matter, even the scope of further improve-

PHOTOGRAPH: F135-PW-600, delivers the same 43,000 lb (191 kN) of wet ment/product upgrades, etc. But what is the reality and why

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 11 MODERNISATION

is the Pentagon against the F136 at this later stage of its tage as it shortens engine life. The argument against a larger rum development programme? core pumping more air is that it makes the engine (and air-

Fo The Pentagon planners’ biggest fears are triggered by craft) heavier. In any case, at this stage, the argument is the already escalating per unit cost of the F-35 and its ad- purely academic. Further, it must also be remembered that verse impact on the numbers of aircraft that the USAF, USN extra thrust will not help the STOVL F-35B unless the lift fan and the US Marines would be able to afford while staying is also uprated—not an easy task. within approved budgets. This appears to have led Penta- On the operational front, there is a strong sentiment in fa- gon to cut funding for the F136 programme— perceived at vour of the alternate engine. As the JSF programme matures, this stage to be an unnecessary duplication to P&W engine the F-35 will become the mainstay of not only the USAF but (F135) already installed in the three versions of the aircraft also of USN and the US Marines. Without a competing and and working satisfactorily. But doesn’t this run contrary to interchangeable JSF engine, an engine problem could cause the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 which a fleet-wide JSF grounding, plummeting US fighter power to became a law to mandate competition through the entire a near zero operational capability—an unthinkable scenario life of major defence programmes to cut down cost overruns indeed. This would specially hurt the USAF as it plans to and delays in major weapon programmes? replace many different models of its strike fighters with the The JSF is the largest weapon procurement programme sole multi-role F-35 aircraft. in history—a multi-role fighter aircraft replacing numerous In the final analysis, the reliability and lifecycle costs are models, with potential production for the US Air Force, Navy, the real factors which would determine whether the alter- Marines and international customers to reach 3,500-4,000 nate engine programme is allowed to run or not. Here, his- aircraft in the next 30 years with the US alone going in for tory seems to be on about 2,500 fighters. This is the reason that despite what is the side of the com- being hammered out by the P&W propaganda machine and peting F136 engine. endorsed by the Federal government, the competing GE/R-R As the JSF It is well-known that F136 continues to receive bipartisan Congressional support, in the F-16 procure- in tune with the requirements of the Weapon Systems Acqui- programme ment programme of sition Reform Act. Countering the P&W rhetoric, the compet- somewhat similar ing GE/R-R advance their case by stating that F136 develop- matures, the magnitude as the ment is now more than 70 per cent complete and poised for F-35 will planned F-35 pro- a more than 30-year competition with Pratt & Whitney. In gramme, the P7W support, the GE/R-R Fighter Engine Team recently offered become the F100 engine’s safety the US Defence Department a unique fixed-price package mainstay of record and main- encompassing initial F136 production engines in the years tenance costs were leading to head-to-head competition. The competing engine not only the rather uninspiring maker alleges that changing course mid-stream would hand USAF but also before the US govern- a $100 billion (Rs 4,67,000 crore) monopoly to P&W. ment funded the GE In projecting their case, the GE/R-R combine emphasise of USN and F110 alternate engine that the F136 engine is on budget, and consistently receives the US Marines as a head-to-head top reviews from the Joint Programme Office for programme competitor. By intro- execution, including budget performance. On the develop- ducing competition ment costs front, different sets of figures are being bandied in the F-16 engine about by different players but an impartial and independent programme, it were analysis would reveal that if the STOVL-related impacts were not only the safety to be factored out of the P&W programme (the Rolls-Royce records which were ‘LiftSystem’ being common to both but avoided by GE/R-R), improved considerably but it also brought about a stunning both engines would cost about the same to develop. The real 21 per cent overall cost savings. On the JSF front, this could competition would come in to play between the two over pro- equate to a staggering sum of more than $20 billion over the duction prices and life-cycle costs. life of the programme. On the technical front, the GE/R-R Team takes the argu- A former US Under Secretary of Defence and a leading ad- ment over alternate engine further by stressing that F136 vocate for Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act, Jacques was specifically designed for the JSF with built-in growth Gansler said it best when he wrote that a single-source en- potential (unlike the P&W 135 which is a derivative of the gine contract for the JSF was a “bad acquisition policy and F119 originally designed for the F-22 Raptor). Designed bad public policy.” Despite the overwhelming historic evi- later, the F136 has a larger core than the F135. The F136 dence and the fact that the alternate engine needs only $1 pumps more air, while the F135 runs hotter. But for now billion infusion for completing the development programme, they produce approximately the same thrust because that why has the US Department of Defence decided that it pre- is governed by the area of the exhaust nozzle, which (devel- fers a single-source contractor for the JSF engine? Gansler oped by P&W) is common to both. If a need for more thrust adds, “The theory seems to be that over time, increased vol- emerges with later block of F-35, GE/R-R will be able to take ume for one manufacturer yields lower cost and better qual- advantage of F136’s larger core and greater airflow. P&W ity.” History has revealed more than once that this is simply on the other hand, will have to run the F135’s smaller core not the case. The Pentagon perhaps has the answers. SP at even higher temperatures which is certainly a disadvan- —Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia

12 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net 277mm Bleed 267mm Trim 257mm Live Scale: 1.0" = 1" = 1.0" Scale: 0 C of-a-kindmission flexibility. worldA ofcapability andvalue, ready now. humanitarianrelief into virtually anyenvironment, theC-17 provides one- Whetherit’s transporting out-sized cargo andpersonnel ordelivering p T heC-17 Globemaster IIIis the world’s most capable airlifter, able to er 1. OA, OE HN EVER. THAN MORE TODAY, -17. 25 formthefull range ofboth tactical andstrategic airlift requirements. 3C 4C 50 5100 75 41M 50C 41Y 50K Output printed at: printed Output Production Artist: Client - Frontline Job # - 115620 Ver. - AD01 - Ver. 115620 - # Job Frontline - Client Space/Color: Frontline Communications Partners Communications Frontline Retoucher: file Name: file Media: Bleed: Fonts: Date: 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 Trim: Live: Helvetica (Bold), Helvetica (Plain), Helvetica 65 Helvetica (Plain), Helvetica (Bold), Helvetica D.Seymour 277mm x 220mm 210mm x 267mm x 210mm 257mm x 197mm Page–4-Color–Bleed Full Aviation SP 100% BOEG_IDS_C17_1832M_I 3/10/10 Client: PUBLICATIONNOTE: Cyan Boeing 220mm Bleed 220mm Material for this insertion is to be examined carefully upon receipt. upon carefully examined be to is insertion this for Material Magenta Job Number: Job Guideline for general identification only. Do not use as insertion order.insertion as use only.not identification Do general for Guideline 210mm Yellow BOEG_IDS_C17_1832M_I T rim Black 80CnuyPr at ut 01 o nee,C 90067 1011,CA Los Suite Angeles, East, Park Century 1880 197mm Live 197mm Product: Account Executive: Account Creative Director: Creative TrafficManager: Print Producer: Print Proof Reader: Proof Digital Artist: Integrated Defense Systems Defense Integrated Copy Writer: Copy Art Director: Art Art Buyer: Art Vendor: Print Production at 310-601-1485. at Production Print Client: Legal: GCD: Boeing McAuliffe D. P.Serchuk J. Alexander P.Serchuk P.Serchuk Schawk Helen Kim Helen Bleed Trim Live Date/Initials Approved MILITARY INDUSTRY

By Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey, Bengaluru

he Second World War laid the foundation of the US Aerospace industry whose wartime ac- complishments are regarded as the most out- standing and laudable. However, with the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, demand for weapon systems dimin- ished and it led to several mergers and acquisitions leav- Ting only a few major players in the global market. While Boeing Defence, Space & Security and Lockheed Martin dominate both the domestic and international markets, the other leading players are Northrop Grumman, Gen- eral Dynamics, Raytheon, Honeywell, GE Aviation, Textron Corporation and Rockwell Collins.

LOCKHEED MARTIN With its headquarters in Maryland, Lockheed Martin was formed in March 1995 by the merger of two of the world’s premier technology companies, Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta. Soon after, the company also forged a strategic union with Loral’s defence electronics and systems integration divisions. With a workforce of around 140,000 as per data of 2009, Lockheed Martin is an advanced technology company with global presence and is specialised in aerospace, defence and security. It enjoys a pre-eminent position in the world in the field of design, manufacture and support of military aircraft. The company’s aim is to provide the necessary capability in the regime of aeronautics for the armed forces of the US and its allies to conduct military air AEROSPACE operations in any part of the world. Today, Lockheed Martin is the world’s largest defence contractor with bulk of its revenues being generated through orders placed by the US government and foreign military customers. In 2008, only 15 per cent of the revenue accrued from international trade. Since its inception, Lockheed Martin has been engaged in constant research and development of high-performance combat, air mobility and reconnaissance aircraft. Lockheed Mar- tin’s Skunk Works, well known for innovations, has in the last six decades, been credited with advanced research and the suc- MAJORS cessful development of a number of cutting-edge technologies. ABHISHEK / SP GUIDE PUBNS The company’s expertise as ‘systems integrator’ significantly While Boeing and Lockheed dominate American enhances value, capability and attributes of its products. aerospace industry, the other leading players Combat aircraft include Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin has produced some of the most versatile multi-role combat aircraft in the world in response to the Raytheon, Honeywell, GE Aviation, Textron

USAF, LOCKHEED MARTIN & USAF, demands of aerial combat scenarios of the future. Developed in the mid-seventies, over the last 36 years, the F-16 has Corporation and Rockwill Collins. Browse through evolved into a fourth generation fighter. Today, it continues the second instalment of the article. to be fielded as a frontline aircraft in many air forces in the

PHOTOGRAPHS: world and with the offer of the F-16 IN Super Viper, is one of

14 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net MILITARY INDUSTRY the contenders for the contract for 126 medium multi-role Transport aircraft combat aircraft for the IAF. For five decades, Lockheed Martin has been engaged in the Another unique aircraft developed in the seventies by design, development and manufacture of some of the most the Lockheed Skunk Works is the F-117 Nighthawk that pio- capable military transport aircraft in the world both for tac- neered the concept and design for ‘stealth’. Lockheed Martin tical and strategic roles. The most widely used aircraft have was also a partner in the development and manufacture of been the C-130 Hercules for tactical air transport operations the successor of the F-117, the F-22 Raptor—the only oper- and the C-5 Galaxy and later the C-5M Super Galaxy, a sig- ational fifth generation aircraft in the world today. In 2001, nificantly upgraded version, for strategic airlift operations. Lockheed Martin won a $200 billion (Rs 900,000 crore) con- The IAF is to receive in the near future, six of the C-130J tract to develop and manufacture the fifth generation F-35 modified for special operations. This is likely to be followed Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. The initial order for 3,000 by orders for more. is the largest order for combat aircraft since the F-16 Fight- ing Falcon. Capable of short as well as vertical takeoff and Reconnaissance aircraft landing, the F-35 amalgamates new technologies that would Apart from the P-3C Orion, long range maritime patrol air- provide unprecedented levels of lethality and survivability. craft that has been the mainstay for the USN for decades, two other highly successful aircraft for high altitude strategic reconnaissance developed by Lockheed were the U-2 and the SR-71, the latter holding a record for its speed.

Opportunity areas in India With the recent upswing in the strategic relationship between India and the US, and robust growth in the Indian economy, there is considerable optimism in the company with regard to long-term business opportunities in areas of military hardware for the Indian armed forces in general. Possible areas of interest to the US aerospace industry would be air-defence radars, weather radars and C4ISR-related net-centric operations requirements for the Indian Air Force.

NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORPORATION

Early History Ranking behind Boeing Defence, Space & Security and Lock- heed Martin Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corporation today is one of the leading aerospace companies in the US focussed on the defence sector. The origins of the company lie in Avion Corporation established in 1928 by a World War I veteran John Northrop. An infantryman turned aerospace engineer, John Northrop later founded the Northrop Corporation. This company was responsible for designing, developing and manufacturing several aircraft during and after the Second World War. Some of the eminently successful designs were the B-35, P-61 Night Fighter known as Black Widow, F-5 Freedom Fighter of which over 2,200 were manufactured and the T-38 that constituted the Thunderbirds, the renowned formation aerobatic team of the USAF. The company suffered some setbacks on account of a few controversial and unsuccessful designs such as the Flying Wing Bomber and the B-49, intended to be an improved version of the B-5, the F-20 Tigershark, the advanced tactical fighter (ATF) for the USAF, and the troubled B-2 stealth bomber. In the early Seventies, competing for the new light LM FIGHTERS: (TOP TO weight combat aircraft for BOTTOM) FIFTH GENERATION the USAF, Northrop fielding F-35 LIGHTNING II JOINT the F-17 Cobra, lost out to the STRIKE FIGHTER; F-16 HAS EVEOLVED INTO A FOURTH F-16 from General Dynamics. GENERATION FIGHTER AND THE Later, Northrop together with STEALTHY F-117 NIGHTHAWK McDonnell Douglas came up

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 15 MILITARY INDUSTRY

LM WARHORSES: (TOP) into the business jet segment C-130 HERCULES IS THE MOST WIDELY USED AIRCRAFT FOR producing and selling 200 TACTICAL AIR TRANSPORT Gulfstream I aircraft. However, OPERATIONS; P-3C ORION IS this part of the business was A SUCCESSFUL AIRCRAFT FOR sold in the late seventies. MARITIME RECONNAISSANCE Other successful programmes of Grumman were the 313 extremely versatile F-14 Tomcat carrier based swing-wing combat aircraft that entered service in 1973, the E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning platform capable of simultaneous tracking of over 600 targets, the A-6 Intruder attack bomber and the EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft. In the mid-eighties, Grum- man showcased the advanced technology demonstrator, the X-29, that had wings swept forward. Another success story was the joint surveillance target attack radar system (JSTARS) that was proven in the Gulf War in 1991. Sadly, the ambitious B-2 stealth bomber programme continued to flounder.

Foray into Space Grumman’s foray into the space market began with a contract from NASA for the lunar module for the first moon landing. With credibility based on flawless performance of the lunar module, NASA followed up with orders another 11 lunar mod- ules, two mission simulators and wings for the space shuttle.

Spate of Acquisition Known for its strengths as a manufacturer of military aircraft and naval systems, after acquisition of Grumman, the new entity added capabilities in the regimes of defence electronics and systems integration. Perceiving enhanced requirement for intelligence gathering and precision operations in the post-Cold War era, the new company went on an acquisition spree buying off a large number of firms special- with a redesigned version of the F-17 which came to be ising in communications and intelligence systems, space- known as the F-18 Hornet. based sensors, electronic components manufacturing, unmanned aerial vehicles and shipbuilding for the Navy. With Northrop Acquires Grumman these acquisitions, the company was able to effectively alter Northrop Grumman came into being in April 1994 during its strategy and enhance focus on cutting edge technologies the turmoil in the industry following the end of the cold in the defence industry. War, when Northrop Corporation acquired Grumman Cor- poration another well-known producer of military aircraft. The Company Today An attempt two years later by Lockheed Martin to acquire While Northrop Grumman maintained its capability in the Northrop Grumman did not succeed reportedly on account military aircraft segment and consolidated its position as the of intervention by the US government. world’s largest builder of naval ships, it also emerged as a leader in the field of defence electronics. It was able to quite Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation easily extend its business beyond the USAF to the US Navy The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation was created and successfully battled the prevailing turbulence in the in 1929 by a US Navy engineer-pilot Leroy Grumman. The aerospace industry. The new thrust areas of the company first successful carrier borne fighter aircraft built in the early are Systems Integration, Defence Electronics and Informa- thirties by Grumman was the F-4F Wildcat that sported fold- tion Technology providing to the US Armed Forces bulk of the ing wings. During World War II, Grumman built its successor, requirement of airborne radar systems, including the AWACS the F-6F Hellcat as also the amphibious J-4F Widgeon and the and Information Technology. It continues to be the largest TBF Avenger naval attack bomber. At the rate of 500 aircraft builder of ships for the Navy. The latest feather in its cap is per month, by the end of the war, Grumman had produced the Euro Hawk developed jointly with EADS that has recently over 17,000 aircraft, mostly for the US Navy. After the War, the completed its maiden flight successfully. Northrop Grumman company developed jet engine powered aircraft such as the would in all likelihood join hands with EADS if the latter opts F-9F Panther used extensively in the Korean War and the F- to bid for the contract for 197 aerial tankers for the USAF. SP 10F Jaguar which never entered service. Newer jets included the Tiger, Cougar, and Intruder. In 1958, Grumman ventured (To be continued)

16 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net MILITARY MMRCA

In Progress While assurances from various quarters that the MMRCA would be in service by 2014 might appear somewhat unrealistic, it is ABHISHEK / SP GUIDE PUBNS imperative that the deal is ﬁnalised expeditiously

ne of the most exhaus- By Air Marshal (Retd) groundwork had commenced, it was tive and arduous flight V.K. Bhatia evident that the next phase of the pro- evaluation trials con- curement procedure could be under- ducted by the Indian Air taken only after the elections and the Force (IAF) in its quest formation of the new government at for selecting an Medium the Centre. Flight Evaluation or ‘field Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) which had spilled trials’ is just the fourth of the eight phases of DPP (see ta- Oover into the month of May appear to be finally over. It may ble) but due to the UPA’s return to power for the second be recalled that last year just prior to India’s Parliamenta- term this phase thankfully was not overly delayed. ry Elections, the IAF had completed the Herculean task of To flight evaluate all competing aircraft, the IAF had technical evaluation of the responses to India’s request for chalked up a comprehensive programme involving tests at proposal (RFP) from the six global bidders and submitted three different locations in India: technical and humid con-

PHOTOGRAPHS: EUROFIGHTER, MIGAVIA.RU, SAAB GROUP, US NAVY & US NAVY SAAB GROUP, MIGAVIA.RU, PHOTOGRAPHS: EUROFIGHTER, the report to the Defence Ministry. Subsequently, while the ditions tests in Bengalure; hot-weather desert trials in Jais-

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 17 MILITARY MMRCA

TOP CONTENDORS: THE RUSSIAN MIKOYAN MIG-35; in the respective manufactur- LOCKHEED MARTIN’S F-16IN STAGES AS PER DPP ALREADY COMPLETED SUPER VIPER AND SAAB’S ers’ country locations. The GRIPEN NG DEMONSTRATOR 1 Formulation of services Qualitative Requirements bidding aircraft were also 2 Solicitation of offers planned to be flight evaluated 3 Technical Evaluation sequentially by the same sets of designated teams in India 4 Field Trial and abroad. To refresh memories, the six competitors in the STAGES TO GO fray for India’s Rs 50,000 crore ($10 billion plus) ‘mother 5 Staff Evaluations (probably completed by now) of all defence deals’ are the Saab JS-39 Gripen, Eurofighter Typhoon, Rafale from Dassault, Mikoyan MiG-35, Lockheed 6 Technical Oversight Martin F-16IN Super Viper and the Boeing F/A-18IN (a ver- 7 Commercial Evaluation sion of the Super Hornet). 8 Contract Singing and Management In the event, the flight evaluation phase could commence only in August/September 2009. The task was nothing short of daunting but it must go to the credit of the IAF and the participating vendors that the flight testing phase could be almer, Rajasthan and Leh in Ladakh area of Jammu & Kash- completed within a couple of months’ spill over from the mir for the conduct of high-altitude trials where the terrain original schedule of March/April 2010. So what is next? Is exceeds 10,000 ft amsl (above mean sea level). In addition, this a good omen for the things to shape up better as far as while the single-seat versions of the participating aircraft sticking to the schedule is concerned? were planned to be conducted in India, the twin-seat ver- Reportedly, the IAF is once again burning the prover- sions as also selected weapons’ trials were to be carried out bial midnight oil to complete the next stage of the coun-

LOCKHEED MARTIN’S F-16IN SUPER VIPER joint manufacture of the jet fighters with Indian partners. Lockheed Martin has offered a customised version of the In order to satisfy the offset requirements, Boeing has F-16, the F-16IN Super Viper for the Indian MMRCA con- taken a lead by signing long-term partnership agreements tract. It will be more advanced than the F-16 Block 52s with HAL, Tata Industries and Larsen & Toubro, who will sold to Pakistan. Based closely on the F-16E/F Block 60 play a significant role in production and assembly of the supplied to the UAE, the features on the F-16IN would in- aircraft, if selected. clude conformal fuel tanks, a Northrop Grumman AN-APG- 80 AESA radar, a General Electric F110-132A engine with EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON 143 kN full reheat thrust with FADEC, advanced all-colour Eurofighter is offering the latest Tranche-3 Typhoon for the glass cockpit and helmet mounted cueing system. In addi- Indian requirement, equipped with the Captor-E (CAESAR) tion, Lockheed Martin has offered India to participate in AESA radar. EADS has invited India to become a partner its F-35 Lightning II aircraft in the future, more so, if the in the Eurofighter Typhoon programme, if the Typhoon F-16 is chosen. wins the contract and will be given technological and development participation in future models of the aircraft. BOEING’S F/A-18E/F SUPER HORNET The EADS has further elaborated that if India becomes The Super Hornet variant being offered to India, the F/A- the fifth partner of the Eurofighter programme, it will be 18IN is based on the F/A-18E/F model flown by the US able to manufacture assemblies for the new Eurofighters. Navy and currently being built for the Royal Australian The manufacturer has recently offered to include thrust Air Force (RAAF). Raytheon’s APG-79 AESA radar being vectoring nozzles (TVNs) with the Eurofighter’s EJ200 en- offered with the aircraft will have limited transfer of tech- gines for India. Thrust vectoring will improve operational nology, up to the level approved by the US government and capabilities and better engine efficiency vis-à-vis fuel burn meeting India’s RFP requirements. Boeing has proposed and will provide increased thrust under certain conditions.

18 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net MILITARY MMRCA try’s labourious Defence Pro- the rival bidders on the other, curement Procedure, i.e. staff may have made the European evaluation, sifting through the entries, namely the Euro- immense sets of data it must fighter Typhoon and the Ra- have collected during the fale, somewhat cheaper than flight evaluation stage. And if before. However, it needs to it is able to actually complete be appreciated that in the this highly complex and diffi- long run, delays would in- cult task within the scheduled evitably raise the programme timeframe and hand over the costs and prevent in-service report to the Ministry of De- induction of the winning air- fence (MoD) by June-end, it craft on schedule. would indeed be a record of In all probability, the IAF sorts. But would the record- would have lived up to its self- breaking efforts of the IAF made promise of completing help accelerate matters? Over- the ‘staff evaluation’ phase by all, the acquisition process has June end and handed over the dragged on to such an extent report to the Technical Over- as to call for rebidding as per sight Committee (TOC) for the the contract rules. On April next phase. It is expected that 28, the MoD was forced to the TOC would do its bit with act under its own DPP rules the same sense of urgency as in extending bids by a year, the IAF because the remain- which in turn allows the ven- ing steps, especially the ‘com- dors to revise the bids up or mercial evaluation’ and ‘price down. A year’s delay should negotiations’ are complex pro- normally drive the costs up by cedures that cannot be gone 5 to 7 per cent under normal FLYING HIGH: through in a hurry. However, at circumstances, but the volatil- DASSAULT’S RAFALE DOES A this stage, it can only be hoped ity factor could cause havoc to LOW LEVEL PASS; F/A-18E/F that the final phases are com- SUPER HORNET DOING A the vendors’ calculations. In view of the MANOEUVRE pleted without stagnation in negotiations. present day global economic uncertainties All in all, while assurances from various and the resulting fluctuations in inter-cur- quarters that the MMRCA would be in ser- rency relationships, the volatility factor vice by 2014 might appear somewhat un- could take ominous proportions. For ex- realistic, it is imperative that the deal is fi- ample, it is rumoured that the slide down in the value of nalised expeditiously. The IAF cannot wait interminably for Euro on the one hand and the fierce competition among the much needed combat capability transfusion. SP

EJ200 has also been offered as a possible power plant for extensively during the Aero India 2007 air show. Gripen In- the indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA) programme. ternational is offering the Gripen Next Generation (NG) for the IAF which has increased fuel capacity, more powerful MIKOYAN MIG-35 engine, higher payload and upgraded avionics. The Mikoyan MiG-35 is the production version of the latest MiG-29 incorporating mature development of the DASSAULT RAFALE MiG-29M/M2 and MiG-29K/KUB technology, such as glass The Rafale has the distinct advantage of being logistically cockpit and fly-by-wire, AESA radar and so on. The Rus- and operationally similar to the Mirage 2000, which the sian manufacturer is also offering full transfer of technol- IAF already operates and has used with great success dur- ogy. If continuity was a major factor in aircraft selection, ing the Kargil War. The French government has cleared MiG-35 would have a decisive advantage as the IAF al- full technology transfer of the Rafale to India, including ready operates 65 MiG-29s and the Navy has ordered 16 that of the RBE2-AA Active Electronically Scanned Ar- MiG-29Ks for its aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (for- ray (AESA) radar, which will be integrated with the Ra- merly Admiral Gorshkov). However, it is quite obvious that fale by 2010. The IAF will have full access to the source the overall outcome of the competition would heavily lean codes, which will allow Indian scientists to re-programme on operational capabilities of each contending aircraft for any sensitive equipment as and when required. Das- the final selection. sault has also offered to fit the indigenous Kaveri engine into the Rafale at anytime, if the IAF so desires. On the SAAB GRIPEN NG other hand, there appears to be some concerns about cost The single-engine Saab JAS 39 Gripen has been in the con- issues but these may be overcome by the fact that India tention of the MMRCA competition from the very beginning. and France have recently agreed to “go beyond a buyer- The aircraft, both the single and twin-seat versions flew seller relationship”. •

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 19 BUSINESS AVIATION FINANCING

As most potential owners of private aircraft are not from the aviation industry, buying or leasing an aircraft is an unfamiliar territory YOUR COVER STORY By Group Captain (Retd) Joseph Noronha, Goa Own Wings

he air of excitement pervading the business aircraft market is almost palpable. After two years of gloom, improving demand means the industry can confidently look forward to a strong show- ing—perhaps as early as the end of the year. What’s more, emerging markets, especially in Asia, are taking the lead. The wider world may be in deep Tdread of a double-dip recession, but the Indian economy is cheerfully projected to grow between 8.2 and 9.5 per cent this fiscal. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is making bold statements forecasting double-digit growth by 2012. At the same time, the number of top-of-the-rich-list Indians— the kind that might acquire or at least use a private plane—is skyrocketing. According to the 2010 Merrill Lynch-Capgemini World Wealth Report, the number of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in the country with minimum investable assets of $1 million (Rs 4.6 crore) rose to 126,700 in 2009 compared to just 84,000 in 2008. Such customers account for about 10 to 20 per cent of business aircraft sales. Slashed price tags are also tickling the urge to buy. With quotes for some private jets plummeting by as much as 35- 40 per cent from their 2008 peaks, large and small companies are again eager to make purchases. And since prices ABHISHEK / SP GUIDE PUBNS

& are almost invariably quoted in the US dollars, a strong rupee further sweetens the deal for the Indian buyer. Only one thing is necessary to complete the picture—finance.

JETS AT A PRICE When the first Learjet burst on the scene in October 1964, it opened up a new vista of fast, efficient and super-comfortable business aircraft. Since then, there’s been no looking back. India currently has over 500 private aircraft—around half of GULFSTREAM, DASSAULT AVIATION DASSAULT GULFSTREAM, them fixed-wing—and the other half helicopters. However, according to Gulfstream Aerospace, the country’s share of EMBRAER, EMBRAER, business jets is less than one per cent—just 123 of the 18,000- strong global fleet. Is it time to rewrite the story? LUXURY IN AIR: CITATION XLS+ OFFERS COMFORT OF FLYING IN A CESSNA, Six manufacturers dominate the global business jet scene— Bombardier, Cessna, Dassault, Embraer, Gulfstream Aerospace NEARLY 19-FOOT-LONG STAND-UP CABIN. INSIDE THIS EXCEPTIONALLY and Hawker Beechcraft. Together they offer a wide variety of QUIET EXPANSE, YOUR SENSES WILL over 40 sleek and attractive models to suit every need and INSIST THAT YOU ARE IN AN AIRCRAFT COSTING MILLIONS MORE! PHOTOGRAPHS: budget. They also appear uniformly bullish on their prospects

20 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net BUSINESS AVIATION FINANCING

Own YOUR Wings

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 21 BUSINESS AVIATION FINANCING

LUXURYLINERS: EMBRAER’S LINEAGE1000; GULFSTREAM G550; EMBRAER PHENOM in the country. For instance, 100; (OPPOSITE PAGE) Roger Sperry of Gulfstream GULFSTREAM G150; CITATION MUSTANG AND Aerospace says, “We are very DASSAULT’S FALCON 7X optimistic about India. We have good business here as India is an expanding market.” Gulf- stream offers mid-size jets like the Gulfstream G150 and leads the large-cabin, long-range segment with aircraft like the G550. Bombardier alone expects to sell at least 250 jets in India over the next 10 years. Its family of business jets stretches from the light Learjet series (the latest Learjet 85 is expected in 2013) to the super-large ultra-long-range global series. Besides, the light Citation CJ2+ and superlight Citation XLS+ Cessna offers the popular Citation X super-midsize model. Embraer will soon have seven corporate jets on offer ranging from the very light Phenom 100 to the super-large Lineage 1000. Hawker Beech- craft listings stretch from the light Premier IA to the super-midsize Hawker 4000. Business turboprops in the market include YOU HAVE A DREAM? WE GIVE IT WINGS! the Cessna Caravan series, Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350i, A business aircraft represents a sizeable investment and Pilatus PC-12NG, Piper Meridian and Piaggio Avanti II. should bring value that exceeds the cost. Insurance, fuel, But the beautiful jets don’t necessarily come cheap. At the maintenance, airport fees, catering, crew and hidden costs lower end of the spectrum, the Cirrus Vision SF-50 personal jet can add up to a pretty packet. For customers who foresee costs just $1.72 million (approx Rs 8 crore). Even a millionaire a requirement of 100 hours or less of flying per year, jet can go for one, perhaps with the help of a modest loan. Cess- card or block charter arrangements usually are the most na’s Mustang offers excellent value for money at $3.1 million suitable. Above that, fractional ownership—similar to the (approx Rs 14.5 crore) apiece while Embraer’s Phenom 100 familiar time sharing plans of tourist resorts—becomes the costs around $3.8 million (approx Rs 18 crore). The superlight option of choice. Leasing or buying a jet makes sense only if Cessna Citation XLS+ is quoted at $17.6 million (approx Rs 82 annual utilisation is above 250 hours of flight time, prefer- crore). While the Bombardier Challenger 300 super-midsize ably around 300-350 hours. And once the decision to lease jet goes for $24.2 million (approx Rs 113 crore), the Hawker or buy it is taken, finance often holds the key. 4000 in the same category costs $22 million (Rs 103 crore). Buying a business aircraft is a lot more complicated than However, a company intending to buy a high-end, long-range leasing one. Only relatively well-heeled customers are likely jet like the Embraer Lineage 1000 or the Dassault Falcon 7X to decide to purchase such a pricey asset. Apart from the would need to lay hands on almost $50 million (approx Rs 234 satisfaction of exclusive ownership of the object of desire, crore) with only small change left over; while a Gulfstream the main advantage is that the owner can claim tax benefit G650 (due in 2012) could carry a price tag of over $58 million and offset other income by depreciating the value of the air- (approximately 271 crore). Large corporate jetliners like the craft, perhaps in as little as five years. But aircraft residual Boeing BBJ3 cost $69 million (approx Rs 323 crore), and the value—which cannot always be accurately predicted—might Airbus A320 Prestige costs a whopping $85 million (approx cloud resale prospects. Rs 397 crore). Where does that kind of money come from? Buying involves much planning and judicious negotia-

22 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net BUSINESS AVIATION FINANCING

Thomas Low, CEO, Cessna Finance Corporation

Financing has become a key enabler in the purchase of a business jet. How an aircraft is to be paid for is often as important a decision as the aircraft itself. The market is broad for both business jets as well as financing but seldom do we find one company that does both well. Cessna Finance Corporation (CFC), a subsidiary of Textron Financial Corporation, a part of Textron Inc., is a sister concern to Cessna Aircraft Company. Cessna, the manufacturer of the Citation business jet family and CFC work together to provide a turnkey, one-stop ap- tions including critical comparison of offer prices. An avia- proach to aircraft ownership. This approach not only tion finance consultant is strongly advisable. A contract is allows the purchaser to benefit from the value of oper- signed and initial deposits made, and thereafter the pur- ating a Citation, it also allows CFC’s global expertise in chase agreement is finalised. After satisfactory inspection business jet financing to be used to make financial and and balance payments, the customer is ready to take the economic sense. delivery. However, the procedure of importing an aircraft With offices in London, Sao Paulo, Singapore and in into India often takes several months. Hanging over the several US locations, CFC currently finances in 74 coun- whole process is the need to obtain approvals and com- tries – and counting. Each of its global offices is staffed plete import licensing requirements with the Directorate with a complete range of financing experts managing General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Reserve Bank of India credit, documentation, administration and sales func- (RBI), Customs department, etc. Though non-scheduled tions. This promises to deliver a highly customised level operator permit (NSOP) holders are exempt from customs of customer service that is in tune with both Cessna and charges, aircraft imported for private use attract around your local needs. 25 per cent duty. CFC financing is competitive globally. Through Janu- Sounds complicated? Since most potential owners of pri- ary 2011, rates are fixed for 10 years at 7.65 per cent vate aircraft are not from the aviation industry, buying or for Mustang and Caravan financing and 6.75 per cent leasing an aircraft is an unfamiliar territory. That is why last fixed for 10 years for all other business jets. Amortisa- year the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) announced tion is typically 12 years. the launch of CAPA Aircraft Advisory, India’s first profes- Since all we do is finance Cessna aircraft, we under- sional end-to-end aircraft acquisition service. The advisory stand your needs and work hard to make your financing is aimed at demystifying the process of selecting and acquir- process fast and seamless while also offering attractive ing an aircraft for private or general use. rates and terms. • Aircraft manufacturers like Cessna also make the cus-

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 23 BUSINESS AVIATION FINANCING

It also enables Embraer to provide solid assistance to its customers in terms of seeking financing opportunities and putting together aviation financing operations. Jose Eduardo Costas It is important to note that many of such credit providers Vice President, have a strong presence in the aviation financing market Sales & Marketing–Asia Paciﬁc, and are prepared to offer tailored financing solutions Embraer Executive Jets following a usual customer credit assessment and a comprehensive evaluation of the transaction structuring Embraer Asia Pacific alternatives. As the world’s third largest manufacturer of commercial aircraft and the leading manufacturer of commercial aircraft Embraer in India with up to 120 seats, and with a history and legacy span- Embraer has enjoyed a good reception of our aircraft in ning over 40 years, Embraer has built a reputation based on India, with customers for all our products types, i.e. Com- quality products that meet the needs of its customers. mercial, Executive and Defense. Embraer’s expertise lies in the design, development For instance, Embraer’s E-Jets (commercial aircraft) have and manufacture of aircraft flown by airlines as well as by been operating in India for the last few years and Embraer’s distinguished individuals and corporations. executive jets have also been embraced by the business avia- Together with the creditworthiness of our customers, tion community; the Company has customers for our Legacy the solid reputation, quality, strong background and value 450/500, Legacy 600 and Lineage 1000 jets in India. retention of our products have proven to be valuable as- The Indian Government also has four Legacy 600 air- sets in terms of facilitating access to aviation credit lines craft which they use for the transport of authorities, while by our customers. BSF has a Legacy 600 as do four individual businessmen While Embraer is not itself a credit provider, Embraer’s in the country. customers have generally been able to obtain adequate mar- At the same time, Embraer has around 30 orders for the ket financing not only for commercial aircraft transactions, entry-level ultra-light and light Phenom 100 and 300 aircraft but also for those of executive jets. And again, although not respectively in India. These orders have been made by In- a credit provider, Embraer is ready to assist its client’s ef- vision – who has purchased 18 Phenom 100’s and 2 Phe- forts to seek third party financiers in the marketplace. nom 300’s for an Air Taxi operation operating only Phenoms For such purpose, Embraer has a well-known team of – and Aviators who has purchased 2 Phenom 100’s, amongst aviation finance experts acting globally, who interact with other clients. the aviation credit providers on a continuing basis, thus The first of these deliveries will take place in the 3rd providing aviation financiers with an appropriate level of quarter of 2010. The other customers are business per- comfort and willingness to partake in the financing of Em- sons who have purchased the aircraft for both business braer-manufactured aircraft. and leisure utilisation. •

tomer’s task easier. Cessna has financed several of its Cita- and advantages of customised travel, including a signifi- tion sales in the Indian market via its finance captive Cessna cant boost to executive productivity. Business aviation en- Finance Corporation (CFC)—a service unique among busi- hances personal and corporate security as well. As India’s ness jet manufacturers. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is major airports get even more congested, demand for pri- looking to use its non-banking financial arm—Mahindra vate and business aviation especially at smaller airports is & Mahindra Financial Services (Mahindra Finance)—to fi- bound to grow, creating attractive opportunities for inno- nance sales of aircraft manufactured by the Australian firm vative aviation enterprises. The government’s commitment Gippsland Aeronautics, which is now part of the Mahindra to increase the number of operational airports in the coun- group. M&M rightly feels that easing finance hassles could try to around 500 by 2020 will largely benefit business and make all the difference in boosting aircraft sales. Indian general aircraft in the first instance. It is only after a trail banks are also playing an ever-increasing role in aircraft has been blazed that commercial airlines may follow. financing, but they need to build sufficient expertise in the Will the impressive potential of business aviation in India field. Some banks already seem to have burnt their fingers be realised? The answer is if only business aviation infra- through hefty loans given to the debt-ridden domestic air- structure—airports, parking spaces, private terminals, FBOs lines in better times and are reportedly requesting the RBI and maintenance facilities—were not constantly outstripped to relax the rules so that these advances do not appear as by demand; if only the certification and registration of busi- bad loans on their books. ness aircraft could be speeded up; if only issues concerning import duties on private aircraft and essential components THE ONLY WAY IS UP could be sorted out; if only flying and landing permits were The decade ahead is likely to see rapid growth in business easier to obtain; and if only sufficient financing sources, spe- aviation. A robust economy and dynamic business culture cialising in business aviation, were available to encourage have resulted in strong wealth creation. More and more diffident customers. globalised Indian companies are discovering the flexibility A bright future beckons, if only. SP

24 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net MILITARY INDUSTRY India may need 50-100 airlifters: Alenia The Finmeccanica Company claims that the medium military airlifter C-27J Spartan on offer to the BSF and IAF is the best and sees the Coast Guard, NSG and the IN as potential buyers

ndia’s diverse borders and the and good for humanitarian support and growing internal insurgencies By Sucheta Das Mohapatra medical evacuation. It has 36 stretchers seem to have given rise to the with oxygen points,” he added. need for more number of new- C-27J Spartan is a contender for generation medium military BSF’s requirement for two military Iairlifters. While the Indian Air Force aircraft. Trials for the purpose were (IAF) has released a request for information (RFI) for 16 me- done in July last year at Bengaluru and Leh. The company dium military aircraft, the Border Security Force (BSF) has a officials, however, believe that apart from the Indian Coast request for proposal (RFP) for two such aircraft. But senior of- Guard, the National Security Guard and the Indian Navy can ficials at Alenia Aeronautica and its parent company Finmec- also be potential buyers of the C-27J. But the officials, hopeful canica believe that the real requirement could be much more. of good business in India, are unhappy about the lowest bid Asserting that the C-27J Spartan is the perfect aircraft for (L1) factor in defence procurement. “It is difficult to compare both the military and paramilitary forces in India, the com- our products with others. I believe the best way as can be pany estimates that the country may require 50-100 medium seen in some countries is to evaluate what is called value for military airlifters in the money. It is not just per- near future. sonal evaluation; value “When we beat against for money can also be the requirement, we al- determined through cal- ways win. C-27J Spartan culations of the amount is highly cost effective, spent on transportation. has extreme operational Our aircraft can load 11.5 flexibility and is the only tonnes. If you calculate aircraft of its class offer- how much it costs to move ing interoperability with 1 tonne, than it makes heavier airlifters,” claimed more sense. There is an- Roberto Leva, Country Di- other aspect—the produc- rector-India, Alenia Aero- tivity—the mix of payload nautica, while briefing SP speed and range. Our air- Guide Publications on the craft has bigger payload, varied capabilities of the goes faster, can transfer C-27J Spartan at New Del- more goods in the same hi. The company asserted timeframe, and has longer that unlike other military range. If you look at pro- aircraft which were at first ductivity, you can see that built as passenger aircraft, the average can be much the C-27J Spartan was bigger. The productivity of originally manufactured for the military. Leva said, “C-27J C-27J Spartan is better than other aircraft. It has the capabil- has been designed to be fully autonomous even in remote ity to move the cargo from one point to the other at a faster areas and in volatile regions of the country like Kashmir. Its speed,” claimed Leva. load mission kits, altitude variation capability, auxiliary pow- On being asked about their views on the proposed hike LENIA AERONAUTICA

A er unit, low fuel consumption, real redundancy, and powerful in foreign direct investment (FDI) from 26 per cent to 49 engine to escape easily, ballistic protection, manoeuverability, per cent, Paolo Girasole, Country Head-India, Finmeccanica, interoperability because of smaller fuselage and compatibility said that FDI is a pain in the neck. “A company is an Indian, with Lockheed Martin’s C-130J makes it apt to operate in In- Italian or US company according to many things and not

PHOTOGRAPHS: dian conditions.” “The C-27J is also perfect as a civil aircraft only the share. I think 26 per cent is a limitation,” he said.

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 25 MILITARY INDUSTRY

ogy, we have reached about € 6 billion (Rs 35,100 crore) C-27J SPARTAN offset commitment worldwide. “We have sold everywhere, but Turkey is a big example General/Performance of transfer of technology of ATR 72. We have established a Characteristics strong cooperation with the local company. The integration General Characteristics of the system involved deeply the local company and a • Crew: 3-pilot, significant level of transfer of technology. Turkey is an co-pilot, loadmaster example of one of the deepest cooperation in transfer of • Capacity: 60 troops technology as well as offset cooperation.” or 46 paratroops or 36 On being asked about any offset commitment in UAE, stretchers with 6 medical Leva said, Alenia Aeronautica has no offset commitments personnel • Maximum Payload: 11,500 kg in UAE. As a part of our big offset commitments, we have (25,353 lb) Greece with 12 aircraft and we also have offset commit- • Length: 22.7 m (74 ft 1/2 in) ment in countries where you have the Eurofighter, for ex- • Wingspan: 28.7 m (94 ft 2 in) ample the Saudi Arabia.” • Height: 9.70 m (31 ft 10 in) “The Italian Government is involved in 20 per cent of • Wing area: 82 m2 (880.6 sq ft) our offset commitment. From industrial point of view, Fin- • Empty weight: 17,000 kg (37,479 lb) meccanica owns 35 per cent. We acquired all the avionics • Max takeoff weight: 30,500 kg (67,241 lb) activities from BAE systems, now a part of Selex Galileo. So • Powerplant: 2 × Rolls-Royce AE2100-D2A turboprop, 3,460 now we have a big chunk of industrial partnership in UK. kW (4,640 hp) each Finmeccanica’s strategy is to make the system sustainable. • Propellers: 6-bladed Dowty Propeller 391/6-132-F/10, 4.15 m (13 ft 7 in) diameter Now we are in UK and the US too. India is a country of par- amount importance for us. We understand the willingness Performance of the company and we are ready to give,” said Girasole. • Maximum Cruise speed: 325 KTAS • Maximum service ceiling: 9,144 m (30,000 ft) DISTINCT FEATURES Range The C-27J Spartan offers unique qualities not found in air- With 11.5 tonnes (max) payload 1,000 nm (1,852 km) craft derived from commercial turboprops. It has been de- With 10 tonnes payload 1,100 nm (2,037 km) signed and tested as a military aircraft using military stan- With 6 tonees payload 2,301nm (4,262 km) dards to produce a robust, safe and performing aircraft. The Ferry 3,200 nm (5,926 km) airlifter has internal auxiliary power unit which helps it op- Radar System erate from short and rough airstrips in remote areas. Simi- Northrop Grumman AN/APN-241 low power colour radar larly, the built-in cargo handling system, the variable altitude Modes of operation: Monopulse ground mapping with Doppler landing gear, and the power-steered nose wheel speeds up beam sharpening, weather and turbulence detection, air tar- ground operations and minimises risks in unsecured loca- get detection, windshear detection, beacon mode for drop-zone tions. The airlifter’s simple, versatile and effective design of- identification fers the largest cargo box in its category and a wide-fuselage Avionics cross-section that accommodates military vehicles over 11 MIL-STD-1553B digital data bus architecture tonnes of payload, and 60 troops or 46 paratroops. Compatible with emerging future air navigation system (FANS) The C-27J is easy to operate and affordable to maintain under the most demanding conditions. It is powered with Communication Rolls-Royce AE2100 turboprops; Honeywell glass cockpit and 2 ARC-210VHF/UHF radio, 1 VHF/UHF direction finder (DF), Dowty super efficient six-bladed propellers, and is equipped digital audio inter-communication (ICS) • with full authority digital electronic control. The strong propulsion system in the airlifter gives it access to a wide range of The officials claimed that technology and not political re- airfields, enabling landings on short, unprepared strips, as well lations is their strength. “We have the best products and the as hot weather and high-altitude conditions. Its large cross-sec- best technology and that is our strength. We have the best tion (2.60 m high, 3.33 m wide) and high floor strength (4,900 gun, the best helicopter, and whenever we offer a product, kg/m load capability) allows heavy and large complete military we offer the best,” said Girasole. equipment to be loaded. The airlifter can transport fighter and With regard to transfer of technology (ToT), the officials transport aircraft engines, such as C-130, Eurofighter Typhoon, said that they are open to it. “We recognise the willingness of F-16 and Mirage 2000, directly on their normal engine dollies India to grow its own industrial self-reliance. For example, without further special equipment. the 76mm naval gun used worldwide is produced in India The C-27J Spartan which is a part of the US Joint Cargo with great satisfaction of its manufacturers Bharat Heavy Aircraft (JCA) programme was first received by Italy in Octo- Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Oto Melara. We have trans- ber 2006 and thereafter purchased by countries like Bulgaria, ferred all the knowhow. There is now a requirement for Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Morocco, Romania, and Slovakia. SP the 127 mm gun and we are open for the new system—full transfer of technology. I think we are very good at that,” said Girasole. Adding to it, Leva said, “As in Alenia Aeronautica, For more information and video, visit: we have a long and successful offset for transfer of technol- www.spsaviation.net

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SPs_267x210_CURRENCIES_IND.indd 1 10/06/2010 11:25 CIVIL INFRASTRUCTURE 3The New erminology TCongratulations once again to Delhi International Airport Limited for making the country proud. The new IGIA terminal is a clear indicator that India is capable enough to create world class infrastructure.

By R. Chandrakanth

hen the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh dedicated to the nation the Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi on July 3, he signalled the landing of India on the world aviation map. The swanky terminal built in a record time of 37 months at a cost of Rs 10,000 crore is not just a milestone Wfor the Indian aviation industry, but a clear indicator of India’s capabilities in creating world class infrastructure. SUPER JUMBO LANDS AT While the Prime Minister T3: EMIRATES AIRLINES pointed out that the project ex- AIRBUS A380, WORLD’S LARGEST PASSENGER AIRLINER, DOCKED AT T3 AT 3.30 PM ON JULY 15 ABHISHEK / SP GUIDE PUBNS & SS PHOTO, PIB SS PHOTO, PHOTOGRAPHS: EXPRE

28 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net CIVIL INFRASTRUCTURE

MAKING HISTORY: THE PRIME MINISTER, DR MANMOHAN SINGH INAUGURATING THE INTEGRATED T-3 TERMINAL emplified India’s resolve to OF THE INDIRA GANDHI bridge and bridge fast enough INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, IN the infrastructure deficit in the NEW DELHI ON JULY 3, 2010. country, Civil Aviation Minister THE CHAIRPERSON, UPA SONIA GANDHI, MINISTER FOR CIVIL Praful Patel had a ready re- AVIATION, PRAFUL PATEL AND sponse – 35 non-metro airports THE CHIEF MINISTER OF DELHI, would be upgraded in a pub- SHEILA DIKSHIT ARE ALSO SEEN ALONG WITH DR SINGH. lic-private partnership model by 2011. The Chennai and Mumbai airport upgradation programmes were on course and these developments were setting the tone for India’s transformation, he pointed out. Considering the fact that India is soon moving towards the top five aviation markets in the world, from its present position of ninth, the new terminal and other airports (Hyderabad and Bengaluru are fine examples of Greenfield airport developments on a global scale) will herald that. It is estimated that India’s aviation sector has the potential to absorb up to US $ 120 billion of investment by the year 2020 and accordingly Air India ﬁrst mover at T3

ir India which is the first mover at T3 hopes to develop a formidable Aprimary hub, from which it will be able to connect ‘India to the World’. Its first flight at T3 landed on July 14 from New York, signifying how the hub is going to facilitate seamless passenger experience. 22 international destinations Air India which has partnered with DIAL has set goals of providing unmatched choice of destinations from Delhi. With the commencement of services to Melbourne and Chicago and resumption of services to Seoul, the national carrier will be serving a total of 22 international destinations from Delhi comprising New York, Chicago, Toronto, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Tokyo, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Kathmandu and Kabul. Over one lakh seats per week On the domestic front, Air India would be connecting 47 destinations from T3, thus expanding its seats on offer on all its services from 82,000 seats per week to about 1,04,00 seats per week in each direction, an increase of over 25 per cent. Chairman and Managing Director of Air India, Arvind Jadhav said “T3 is part of Air India’s turnaround plan. It will benefit the airline by increasing its revenue by 8-9 per cent in the short-term and 10-15 per cent in the long-term”. •

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 29 CIVIL INFRASTRUCTURE Terminal 3: Swanky, User- friendly and Awe-inspiring

t the inauguration of the Indira Gandhi International Airport Terminal 3, counters and 95 immigration counters await the passengers and numerous Asomeone likened the large infrastructure projects such as “airports” walkalators and escalators will help passengers cruise through the terminal to what Jawaharlal Nehru, the architect of modern India, had called large with ease. One of the walkalator being used at T3 is said to be the longest in dams – “temples of modern India”. How true. Asia at 118 metres. With massive investments, Terminal 3 is a landmark infrastructure Manufactured by ThyssenKrupp of Germany, T3 will have 89 travela- project, leaving one completely in awe. The sheer expanse of Terminal 3 tors (or automated passenger walkways) in addition to 63 elevators and 31 is mesmerising. escalators. Eight of the travelators will be inclined, the first of their kind in India. Given the sheer size of the airport terminal building, such a facility is a delight. The terminal, along with its four boarding piers, will measure around Key features 1.25 km from one end to the other. The travelators will be a boon to passen- • Common Check-in concourse with 5 level in-line baggage system for gers, who otherwise would have a daunting task of walking to the boarding faster processing gates, some of which are more than 500 metres away. • 168 Check-in counters and 95 immigration counters for international passengers Airport Operations Control Centre (AOCC) – the nerve centre • 78 passenger boarding bridges – among the highest for a single ter- State-of-the-art airport operations cntrol centre (AOCC) has started working minal in the world for existing terminals and will control the operations of T3 as well. AOCC is • 800 flight information display systems the “brain” that controls all airport operations. It is the control centre of all • Extensive retail, food and beverage outlets to suit every taste and airport operations and ensures collaborative decisionmaking (CDM) between budget all airport departments in the quickest possible time. The new AOCC boasts • Direct connectivity to city centre via dedicated Metro Express line of the biggest video wall in Asia. This 10x5 metre wall holds 28 screens that – a first in the country display information inputs from the entire airport through live camera feeds. • Multi-level car park for more than 4,300 cars directly connected to AOCC is going to play a crucial role in managing any foreseeable disruption the terminal in airport operations and handle emergencies effectively. • Separate 2,200 surface car parking • Eight lane approach road to terminal and high speed metro in progress Safety and security • 100 room transit hotel for passengers About 3000 security cameras have been installed to keep an eye on every corner of the airport premises. As part of the ORAT Programme, more than 10,000 staff were trained and familiarised with the new facilities and systems 78 aerobridges for quick transfers at T3. Trained security personnel, passenger support staff and registered It is a 9 level building featuring 78 passenger boarding bridges for embarkations taxi operators with biometric cards are being put up to ensure a much safer and disembarkations. The famous Changi International Airport at Singapore travel to and from the new airport terminal. has 64. These aerobridges have been imported from Shinmaywa, Japan and Retail – shop till you drop ThyssenKrupp, Germany. Ready to welcome travellers, the terminal has the Almost 20,000 sq m of retail area offers duty free stores. Passengers are most modern technology for check-in process and baggage retrieval. going to get the feel of a huge mall inside the terminal itself. Shoppers are The common user passenger processing system (CUPPS) and an ad- going to have a tough time choosing from a mind boggling variety of prod- vanced 5 level in-line baggage handling system with explosive detection ucts by the best of Indian and international brands. Swanky lounges, nap technology ensures quicker processing and higher security. The conveyor and shower rooms are surely going to add to passenger delight. To satisfy belt which measures 6,400 m can handle 12,800 bags per hour. Delhi In- different taste buds, the leaders in food and beverage industry are soon go- ternational Airport Limited (DIAL) has engaged Munich Airport International ing to offer a variety of wining and dining options at the new terminal. Pizza (MUC), the experts in operational readiness and airport transfer (ORAT) pro- Hut, Copper Chimney, Costa Coffee, KFC, Flavours, Café Ritazza and the Food gramme, for trials and transfer of airport operations to T3. Village together with fine dining and well-stocked bars will make the pas- A380 compliant sengers want to wait for their flights more. T3 is ready to handle load full of passengers from Airbus A380s as well with its The pioneer in airport duty free retailing – Aer Rianta International is compatible runway, passenger boarding bridges, and superior baggage han- setting up duty free shops at Terminal 3. With over 60 years of experience, dling system. Emirates, the Dubai-based premier airline has said that it would ARI is acknowledged and respected as one of the world’s leading airport fly A380 from Dubai to Delhi on July 15 as a one-time gesture. “The fact that we retailing specialists, engaged in modern retail centres at major airports in are bringing the A-380 here is a reiteration of the potential that we see in the Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, and the Middle East. Considered Indian market and our intent to partner with the nation in its growth,” Emirates’ among the pioneers of the airport retail business, it started retail operations Senior Vice President Majid al Mualla said. at Shannon Airport in Ireland way back in 1947. It was also instrumental in setting up the Dubai Duty Free, which is now one of the largest duty free Travelators – great walkthroughs operators in the world. Spread across a footprint of 5.4 million sq ft, the building has sprawling piers IGIA’s T3 is not just an airport terminal, but a whole destination in which measure 1.2 km from one end to the other. Sparkling 168 check-in itself. •

30 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net CIVIL INFRASTRUCTURE

the government has launched a modernisation and capacity Terminal 3 which is three times its size. expansion programme of major airports which, it is believed, The terminal which commenced international opera- will have a cascading benefit for the Indian economy. tions on July 14 and domestic operations are scheduled to begin on July 31, is spread over 5.4 million square feet. The 50 MILLION PASSENGERS BY 2015 magnificent terminal is expected to handle 34 million pas- As per market reports, approximately 29.8 million passen- sengers a year, to go up from the present 25 million. The ter- gers travelled to/from India in 2008, a surge of almost 30 minal is projected as the next important hub in the Asian re- per cent from the previous year. The projections are that by gion with improved connections to other cities in the world, 2015, international passengers will touch 50 million and besides spurring feeder traffic to international destinations. more foreign airlines will make India their hub to emerging markets. With world class infrastructure such as that of PRIVATE-PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP Terminal 3, the aviation sector is expected to catapult to a The Chairman of GMR Group (the consortium leaders), higher altitude. The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) G.M.Rao, said, “Terminal 3 symbolises the aspirations of a has indicated that domestic air travel will be between 25 per new and vibrant India. It demonstrates the abilities of our cent and 30 per cent, and international passenger growth planners, designers, engineers and contractors. And as an around 15 per cent. engine of growth, it opens immense possibilities for the eco- These figures are indeed encouraging and will materi- nomic development of this region.” alise only when airport infrastructure and allied services Mr. Kiran Kumar Grandhi, Managing Director, Delhi Inter- move up the scale. With over 95 per cent of foreign tourists national Airport Limited (DIAL) and Chairman – GMR Airports, arriving by air and air cargo accounting for about 35 per said, “DIAL is taking every step to ensure that the passengers’ cent of the total value of Indian exports, the emphasis, no experience at T3 and IGIA as a whole is a smooth one and for doubt, is on creating world class airports. that we are imparting extensive training to our staff.” Understanding the importance of infrastructure develop- DIAL is a joint venture consortium of GMR Group (54 ment, the Government of India has enunciated a National Civil per cent), Airports Authority of India (26 per cent), Fraport Aviation Policy which among other things has mandated that & Eraman Malaysia (10% each). GMR is the lead member of airports have to boost international trade and tourism; to pro- the consortium; Fraport AG is the airport operator, Eraman vide airport capacity ahead of demand; to ensure total safety Malaysia - the retail advisors. and security of aircraft operations, etc. In January 2006, the consortium was awarded the concession to operate, manage and develop the IGI Airport fol- INTERNATIONAL HUB lowing an international competitive bidding process. DIAL The Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport an- entered in to an operations, management and development swers these requirements. Designed by the US architectural agreement (OMDA) on April 4, 2006 with the AAI. The initial firm HOK, the airport is a landmark development, though it term of the concession is 30 years extendable by a further may get dwarfed in front of the Dubai International Airport’s 30 years. SP

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 31 MILITARY SPECIAL MISSION AIRCRAFT

ERIEYE 2000 AEW&C AIRCRAFT BASED ON THE SAAB PLATFORM

On Unusual Missions The US which has maximised the use of different aerial platforms as special mission aircraft for such roles have gone to the extent of deﬁning the air travel tasks of its national leadership as special air missions

n the dead of a tranquil winter By Air Marshal (Retd) the ‘special mission’ aircraft in the ex- night, none of the Al-Qaeda ter- V.K. Bhatia ercise of modern day combat and non- rorists would have known in combat aerial tasks. their dying moments as to what In a wider sense, combat roles could came tearing from the skies include strategic (special) reconnais- above, smashing into their ve- sance, unconventional warfare such as hicle, exploding with the force of a pow- induction/extrication of Special Forces Ierful bomb, rending men and machine personnel into and out of dedicated & BOMBARDIER

to smithereens. The fatal blow came combat zones using different techniques F from a US Special Mission aircraft—a heavily modified AC- like direct landings/take-offs, para-trooping including with USA 130 Spectre gunship performing the role of an airborne how- high altitude high opening/high altitude low opening (HAHO/ itzer—in a remote village, in support of Allied Special Forces HALO) parachutes, use of gunships as airborne artillery, com- during the ongoing operation, Enduring Freedom, in Afghani- bat search and rescue (CSAR), airborne early warning/and stan. Close air support roles include supporting ground troops, control systems (AEW/AWACS), in-flight refuelling, special escorting convoys and flying urban operations. The gunship maritime patrol, unmanned reconnaissance and attack, psy- squadrons are part of the Air Force Special Operations Com- chological and information warfare, etc. PETER LIANDER, BOEING, BOEING, PETER LIANDER, mand (AFSOC), a component of United States Special Opera- Some major non-combat special missions could encom- AB / tions Command (SOCOM). pass humanitarian assistance including disaster manage-

SAAB These aircraft typically operate in the denied areas. In this ment, meteorological monitoring, aerial fire-fighting, etc. The context, perhaps the oldest US AFSOC mission is delivering US which has maximised the use of different aerial platforms and supporting special operators behind enemy lines, a func- as special mission aircraft for such roles have gone to the ex- tion that began as early as in the Second World War. But that tent of defining the air travel tasks of its national leadership

PHOTOGRAPHS: is just one part of the ever widening roles being performed by as special air missions. The USAF’s VC-25s, a pair of heavily

32 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net MISSION-CRITICAL ADVANTAGES WHATEVER THE MISSION

For more than 40 years, some 300 Bombardier special mission aircraft have been selected by countries around the globe to fulﬁll a wide spectrum of missions ranging from government VIP transportation, through search and rescue, to C4ISR. Today, we continue to meet the critical needs of governments, armed forces and commercial operators with high performance Global, Challenger and Learjet series jets and Dash-8/Q-series turboprops. We meet your needs. We deliver.

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CONTA C T CLIENT A D # PUBLI C ATION I NFO

(514) 341-2444 #230 Bombardier Aerospace BBA-2427 SP GUIDE PUBLICATIONS PVT LTD Full Page Bleed Ad or [email protected] Specialized & Amphibious Aircraft SAAads10CDN Issue No.: #7, #8, #9, #12 of 2010 trim = 210 mm x 267 mm bleed = 220 mm x 277 mm MILITARY SPECIAL MISSION AIRCRAFT

MISSION POSSIBLE: BOEING E-3 SENTRY; E-8C JOINT SURVEILLANCE TARGET ATTACK modified Boeing 747-200B for Presidential RADAR SYSTEM AIRCRAFT AND E-6 Mercury Airborne Command Post and KC-135 STRATOTANKERS air travel, and bearing a Call-sign ‘Air Force Communications Centre: The E-6 Mercury is One’ when the US President is on board, an American military aircraft developed by are the world’s most famous aircraft. Boeing. It was specially built to operate as During the Cold War era, the United an airborne command post and communi- States played a leading role in developing and deploying ‘spe- cations centre, relaying instructions from the National Com- cial mission’ aerial platforms to perform a plethora of roles. mand Post. This military aircraft was derived from Boeing No military aviation enthusiast can ever forget the US spy 707-320. planes such as the U-2 for carrying out strategic reconnaissance over the Soviet territories and when one was brought KC-135 Stratotanker: The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an down by a SAM-II missile, replacing it with the uncatchable aerial refueling military aircraft. It was the US Air Force’s and invincible SR-71Black Bird, which at Mach 3+ capability first jet powered refueling tanker. Similar in design to the still holds the record of the fastest manned aircraft ever pro- later and enlarged Boeing 707 airliner, it was initially tasked duced. The US also mastered the art of not only developing to refuel strategic bombers, but was used extensively in the but also converting large-bodied civil airliners and military Vietnam war and later conflicts such as Desert Storm to ex- cargo aircraft to perform myriad special mission roles. Some tend the range and endurance of both air force and navy examples are. tactical fighters and bombers. A number of KC-135A and KC-135B aircraft have been modified to EC-135, RC-135 E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System: The Boe- and OC-135 configurations for use in different roles ing E-3 Sentry is an airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft based on the Boeing 707 that provides all- KC-767 Military Aerial Refueling and Strategic Transport Aircraft: weather surveillance, command, control and communications The KC-767 is a military aerial refueling and strategic trans- to the United States, United Kingdom, France, Saudi Arabia port aircraft developed by Boeing from the Boeing 767-200. and NATO air defence forces. It is distinguished by the disc- This aircraft’s role is an air-to-air tanker and was first flown shaped radome above the fuselage. in May 2005. Primary users of the specialised military aircraft are Japanese Air Self-Defence Force and Italian Air E-8 Joint STARS - Battle Management and Command and Control Force. It is in the reckoning for the USAF’s aerial tanker Aircraft:Derived from a Boeing 707-300 series commercial replacement programme. airliner, the sophisticated E-8 Joint STARS or joint surveillance target attack radar system is a modern US Air Force C-130 Hercules in Different Avatars: The USAF has made copi- battle management and command and control aircraft. It ous use of the Lockheed Martin’s highly versatile military was especially built and designed to track ground vehicles turboprop C-130 Hercules aircraft for varied special mission and some aircraft. It collects imagery and relays tactical pic- roles and especially for its Special Operations Command. tures to ground and air theatre commanders. The examples are: MC-130E Combat Talon I and MC-130H Combat Talon II E-4B Advanced Airborne Command Post: The Boeing E-4 Ad- aircraft that infiltrate, resupply and ex-filtrate US and allied vanced Airborne Command Post is a US Air Force aircraft Special Operations Force (SOF) units during day and night created to serve as a survival mobile command post for the and in adverse weather. National Command Authority including the US President, De- MC-130P Combat Shadow aircraft, which fly clandestine fence Secretary and successors. It was developed from Boe- (low-visibility), low-level, single- or multi-aircraft missions, ing 747 and its project name is Night Watch. primarily at night, penetrating politically sensitive or hostile This specialised military aircraft is designed to survive territory to refuel other aircraft. MC-130Ps can also deliver an EMP with systems intact and has state-of-the-art direct SOF and equipment by airdrop. fire countermeasures. It is capable of operating with a crew AC-130H Spectre Gunship and the AC-130U Spooky Gun- of 48 to 112 people, the largest crew of any aircraft in US ship aircraft, which conduct close air support, air interdic- Air Force history. tion and force protection operations. The close air support

34 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net MILITARY SPECIAL MISSION AIRCRAFT missions include supporting troops in contact, escorting being made to perform special mission roles. There are no convoys and urban operations. Air interdiction missions are straight forward answers to what makes a normal business conducted against preplanned targets or targets of opportu- jet or regional transport aircraft into a good Special Mission nity. Force protection missions include air base defence and aircraft. The suitability of the platform depends on many facilities defence. factors—operational, technical and economical. Operational EC-130 Commando Solo aircraft, which conduct psycho- aspects critical for such missions could be climb rate, oper- logical operations and civil affairs broadcasts in AM, FM, ating ceiling, etc, but the real driving factor appears to be and high frequency radio, TV, and military communications less fuel burn and therefore lower operating costs in smaller bands. The missions are flown at a maximum altitude to platforms, made possible by comparative miniaturisation ensure optimum broadcast range. of different sensors used for special mission roles. Since special mission aircraft operate almost continuously, operat- Helicopters: MH-53J/M Pave Low helicopters, which conduct ing costs weigh heavily in selecting the right platform. It is low-level, long-range, undetected penetration into denied little wonder then that the major producers of business/re- areas, at day or night and in adverse weather, for infiltra- gional aircraft such as Bombardier, Hawker Beechcraft, tion, ex-filtration, and resupply of SOF. Gulfstream, Embraer and Saab, etc have adopted their respective products for special missions. The Royal Air Force Tilt Rotor Aircraft: The V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft have Airborne Stand-off Radar (ASTOR) programme is a shining been essentially developed for the US Marines and the USAF example of the use of Bombardier’s Global Express which Special Operations Command. The CV-22s are being used for has been heavily modified by Raytheon to carry its Synthetic long-range vertical takeoff and landing, infiltration, ex-filtra- Aperture Radar (SAR). Saab on the other hand has created an Erieye 2000 AEW&C aircraft based on the Saab 2000 platform. The Israeli Eitam (Sea Eagle) based on the G550 business jet was recently unveiled by Gulfstream and Israeli Aerospace Industry (IAI). The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer has also mated its Emb-99 and Emb-145 with Erieye systems to create cost-effective AEW&C solutions.

The Indian Scenario: The Indian armed forces led by the In- dian Air Force (IAF) have forayed into the area of ‘special air missions’ relatively recently. The IAF made a start by induct- ing the IL-78 Flight Refueller Aircraft about a decade ago which have been gainfully employed not only over the Indian skies but also during the IAF’s participation in numerous international air exercises including the famous ‘Red Flag’ of the US. The IAF has recently acquired the most coveted and ASTOR (AIRBORNE STAND-OFF valued AWACS of its own – heavily modified IL-76 with the RADAR) PROGRAM UNDERLINES Israeli Phalcon system. By the end of the year, it would have THE CREDENTIALS OF THE three such systems and has option for three more. GLOBAL EXPRESS AS A SUPERIOR C4ISR PLATFORM Another eagerly awaited aircraft is the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, six of which have been ordered with possible first induction by end-2010/early 2011. C-130Js of the IAF would be specially kitted out for ‘Special tion and resupply missions. The Osprey provides increased Operations Forces’ and would greatly enhance its ‘special air speed and range, low-altitude adverse-weather penetration missions’ capabilities. On the unmanned front, the IAF has compared to rotary-wing aircraft. been operating the Israeli Searcher II and Heron systems very effectively. These systems have since been acquired by Unmanned Aircraft Systems: The US has remained in the lead the Indian Army and Navy as well. in the use of unmanned aircraft systems as well, with ever Deeply committed to meaningful modernisation, the IAF increasing use of these systems in the conduct of asymmetric continues to induct special mission aircraft and systems, some- warfare, especially during the ‘Iraqi Freedom’ and ongoing times also referred to as force-multipliers into the service. The ‘Enduring Freedom’ operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, re- Indian Navy has its own programme and is in the process spectively. Global Hawk has earned a global name for itself of acquiring state-of-the-art Boeing P8I Poseidon multi-role in the field of persistent, long-range strategic/tactical surveil- maritime patrol aircraft (MMPA). A lot of indigenous effort is lance in different theatres of operations. Similarly, Predator also being devoted by the Defence Research and Development MQ-1and the recently inducted Reaper MQ-9 are doing yeo- Organisation (DRDO) to develop manned and unmanned sys- men service not only in the field of aerial reconnaissance but tems for the defence forces. The IAF is specially looking for- also in the armed role which has come to be known as the ward to a successful outcome of the AEW&C system being de- dreaded ‘drone attacks’. veloped on an Embraer EMB-145 airframe in keeping up with the global trends of selecting cost-effective smaller platforms New Trends: In the recent decades, new trends have emerged for AEW&C application—made possible by miniarurisation of whereby copious use of business/ small regional aircraft is onboard sensors and control systems. SP

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 35 CIVIL REGIONAL AVIATION

Make it Viable and Proﬁtable Modernisation of airports is capital intensive and as regional aviation would directly beneﬁt the states within which the airports are located, state governments should seize the initiative

he second wave of resur- By A.K. Sachdev, A scheduled air transport service gence in Indian aviation Bengaluru was described as an air transport ser- which can be traced back vice undertaken between the same two to roughly the year 2005 or more places and operated according brought a gradual reali- to a published time table or with flights sation that the extent of so regular or frequent that they consti- benefit that the national economy as tute a recognisably systematic series, Talso the air traveller would derive from each flight being open to use by the pub- aviation would be directly proportional to the reach of the lic. In contrast, a scheduled regional air transport service was supporting infrastructure. It was evident from the staggering defined as a scheduled air transport service which operated numbers of aircraft being ordered by airlines, that capacity primarily in a designated region and which on grounds of op- was not going to be a problem. However, an interrogation erational and commercial exigencies, was allowed to operate mark hovered ominously over the pace of infrastructural de- from its designated region to airports in other regions, except velopments that was needed to keep up with the frenetic pace the metro airports of other regions. The regional airlines were of induction of new aircraft by airlines on a high, both old and not permitted to operate on Category I routes (See Box). new. Despite several initiatives by the government towards The regional airlines of the southern region which has expanding the base that civil aviation was to serve, the intent three metros were allowed to operate between the metros has not matched the action and the pace of growth remains within the southern region namely Bengaluru, Chennai and stunted for regional airports, all “non-metro” by definition. Hyderabad. Scheduled regional airlines did not fall under During the latter half of 2007, the apprehension on the part the purview of route dispersal guidelines and thus were of the government that smaller cities and towns would remain prohibited from trading off their ASKM on Category II, IIA largely bereft of benefits of the air travel bonanza that was and III routes with scheduled operators. As can be seen, the imminent, led to the promulgation of the policy on regional spirit behind the government’s initiative was to bolster air- aviation. The policy recognised the need to promote air con- line connectivity to the non-metro airports. However, the gap nectivity between specific regions and to enable more efficient between the high rate of growth of airlines and the tardy air travel within the region, as well as linking such regions pace of development of aviation infrastructure continued to and expand air travel services with Tier II and Tier III cities widen impinging on the boom in the airline industry. There within the country’s aviation network. For the purpose of this is an imperative need to accelerate the pace of development policy, the airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ben- of aviation infrastructure in order that the full capacity of galuru and Hyderabad were termed as metro airports and the aviation industry is exploited. ABHISHEK / SP GUIDE PUBNS regions were identified as North, South, West, East/ Northeast, Vision 2020, a wishful document produced by the Minis- coinciding with the Flight Information Regions (FIRs). The air- try of Civil Aviation envisages 500 operational airports with ports within a region were specified by the Airports Authority almost every district having one, albeit a small one, by 2020.

PHOTOGRAPH: of India (AAI) for the respective regions. Thanks to the Second World War, India has a large number

36 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net CIVIL REGIONAL AVIATION of airstrips strewn all over the country. If all these are in- a typical case of an airport with inadequate infrastructure. cluded, the total number of airports in the country is 451. While the terminal building is modern and aesthetically However, some of these are unusable and some are fit for pleasing, there are serious shortfalls on the operational side. use only by very small aircraft. The Airports Authority of The runway length is only 6,000 ft restricting operations by India (AAI) puts the number of active “airports” in India at larger aircraft such as the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737. No 136; of these, 94 are owned by AAI and the remaining are civilian flight is permitted to operate after 4:00 pm due to either under the Ministry of Defence or owned privately or the total absence of facilities for operations at night. This by state governments. means that on many foggy days, when poor visibility peri- The first phase of development planned by the government ods prolong past noon time, flights originating from Delhi involves 35 non-metro airports (see box). The total estimated cannot reach Dibrugarh within its hours of operation. Thus, cost of modernisation is Rs 61.62 billion of which around three while on the one hand, India can proudly boast of the world’s fourth is planned for terminal buildings, car parks, cargo and eighth largest airport terminal in the world (T3 in Delhi), the airside facilities and the rest on city side works. City side devel- regional airports appear destined to progress ponderously opment is planned via the PPP route in most of these airports. in the years to come. While the government would have liked to develop all these The new airports being developed by AAI are likely to be airports simultaneously, constraints of funding prevented that passed on to private companies or consortiums for their con- from happening and the hold back during the recession phase tinued operation as AAI is unlikely to be able to effectively meant a further slowdown of the developmental work. Thus administer all of them. When that happens, the woes of air- the upgradation and modernisation of the non-metro airports lines and air passengers are likely to increase as the experi- have been staggered in accordance with assessed priorities. ence of privatisation of the metros has shown so far. Unfor- Modernisation work has also commenced in some form or tunately, in this context, the government has shown a lack of the other in 13 other airports. foresight in as much as the scope of the Airports Economic The infrastructure that is required to support passenger Regulatory Authority (AERA) has been restricted to the larg- and cargo traffic does not end with the erection of modern er airports (by volume of traffic). This means that currently terminal buildings. To get scheduled flights to operate there, a only five non-metro stations come under the scope of AERA. whole host of other supporting facilities are required such as Even in the future, when a non-metro airport handles traffic air traffic control (ATC), meteorological facilities, trained per- volumes to qualify for being placed under AERA regime, its sonnel, crash and fire fighting facilities and security, to name change of status would not be automatic but would require a few. Unfortunately, the news is not good there too. The cur- prolonged legislative action. Thus, the infrastructure being rent cadre of trained personnel in these areas of specialisation developed for regional aviation would largely be out of the is far from satisfactory. The airport at Bagdogra—a gateway regulatory envelope created by the AERA Act. to several tourist locations in the East—has not been able The Indian Constitution lists aerodromes under Item to overcome its security and congestion problems for many 29 of the Union List. This implies that the Union Govern- months. The trouble is not that CISF authorities are not aware ment exercises legislative and executive powers related to of the severe short- airports. It also means that the primary responsibility for age of manpower in development of airports rests with the Union Government. Bagdogra and the While the PPP model predominates in the context of metro Category- I peculiar geography airports, regional aviation infrastructure is unlikely to pro- Routes Connecting Directly of the airport’s se- vide the passenger traffic volumes needed for reasonable Mumbai – Bengaluru curity hold area, profits sought by private entrpreneurs. Some other models Mumbai – Kolkata Mumbai – Delhi but also the over- could sustain airports and should thus be considered dur- Mumbai – Hyderabad whelming shortage ing planning infrastructure development. For example the Mumbai – Chennai of CISF manpower special economic zones (SEZs) set up in the vicinity of new Mumbai – Thiruvananthapuram across the country. or under-development airports could represent a critical Kolkata – Delhi Similar shortages mass capable of sustaining an airport. The concept of an Kolkata – Bengaluru of air traffic con- aerotropolis an entire sub-city with houses, factories, of- Kolkata – Chennai trollers and meteo- fices, hotels and leisure facilities, could well make an airport Delhi – Bengaluru Delhi – Hyderabad rological personnel viable and profitable. Delhi – Chennai have meant that Tourism could provide another medium for develop- Non-metro Airports Under some airports can ment. Witness the case of Bellary in Karnataka which cut Development in Phase I only function for a down the travel time from Bengaluru (the nearest metro) to Agra, Agartala, Agati, Ahmedabad, limited number of Hampi from seven hours to an hour and a half. Some other Amritsar, Aurangabad, Bhopal, Bhu- hours every day, airports, like Nagpur, Kochi and Hassan, are located ide- baneshwar, thus severely re- ally from a geographic point of view to emerge as dedicated Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Dehradun, stricting their rev- cargo hubs. Modernisation of airports is capital intensive Dimapur, Goa, Guwahati, Indore, Imphal, Jammu, Jaipur, Khajuraho, Lucknow, enue generation and as regional aviation would directly benefit the states Madurai, Mangalore, Nagpur, Patna, capability. within which the airports are located, it would be advisable Port Blair, Pune, Rajkot, Raipur, Ranchi, For example, for state governments to seize the initiative. Simultaneously, Trivandrum, Trichy, Udaipur, Vishakhapat- the airport at Di- other concessions and special benefits to agencies involved nam, Varanasi, Vadodara. brugarh inaugu- in the development endeavours would further benefit the rated recently, is case for proliferate and profitable regional aviation. SP

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 37 INDUSTRY HOMELAND SECURITY

‘It is portable and back packable’

Prabha Gopinath, Strategic Campaign Director for unmanned aerial systems, Honeywell, spoke at length to SP’s on the capabilities of T-Hawk micro unmanned aerial vehicle. Read on to ﬁnd out the distinct characteristics of the UAV.

SP Guide Publications (SPs): Can you share the technical Deterrence: Simply by flying it along their route of manoeu- and performance characteristics of the T-Hawk micro vre, the T-Hawk gives clear indication that there are sur- unmanned aerial vehicle in detail? veillance assets in use and that observation is under way. Prabha Gopinath (Gopinath): The T-Hawk Micro Air Vehicle Attacks typically begin with the element of surprise either System comprises two micro air vehicles, a ground station and with an IED or an ambush. Using a T-Hawk would be a clear ground support equipment, although alternate configurations and effective deterrent and can deter the assailants. are available. It is portable by soldiers, back packable and does Deception: A T-Hawk flying a secondary route deceives ter- not require any special launch or recovery hardware. rorists about the intent or the T-Hawk can be sent down a The T-Hawk endures flight up to 50 minutes at sea level or primary planned route to distract terrorists and allow gov- 44 minutes at an altitude of 5,500 feet, for any combination ernment forces to surround them. of hover and forward-flight manoeuvres. Its service ceiling is Detection: A T-Hawk can be sent in advance of a route to 10,000 feet with a maximum forward speed of 40 knots. The provide awareness of the territory about to be crossed. The T-Hawk supports line-of-sight operations to a range of 10 km, T-Hawk would detect any enemy activity because typically and detects and recognises a man-sized target at a slant range distance of 250 meters by day or 150 meters at night, with a target location error of 50 meters CEP. PRITAM BHAVNANI, THE NEWLY APPOINTED PRESIDENT OF E/O and Infrared cameras allow daytime or nighttime HONEYWELL AEROSPACE INDIA SPEAKS ON T-HAWK operations. We see India as a potential market for T-Hawk, es- SPs: The T-Hawk MAV appears to have great potential for pecially in the Northeast. The paramilitary forces in use by the security forces in homeland security scenarios Assam, Chhattisgarh and some other states have ex- such as fighting India’s internal Naxal violence. Could you pressed their interest in the T-Hawk. We had made HONEYWELL throw some light as to how this vehicle could be gainfully a demonstration to showcase the capabilities of the T-Hawk before a group of different organisations at employed by India’s defence/paramilitary forces? the College of General Warfare in April this year. We Gopinath: T-hawk can be used by the CRPF in the follow- are looking forward to more such demonstrations. •

PHOTOGRAPH: ing ways:

38 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net INDUSTRTY HOMELAND SECURITY assailants are within line-of-sight of common roads if wait- ed. There are communication links on pre-defined frequencies ing to ambush. The T-Hawk would easily spot anybody along for the command and control and for the video down link. the travel route. Inspection: Once the T-Hawk detected indicators of enemy SP’s: The T-Hawk is reportedly designed to be ‘back- activity, it could be flown closer to confirm the evidence. If pack’ equipment. Could you explain as to how the ve- human beings were spotted, it could perform detailed in- hicle is maintained under extreme field conditions? spection with its 10X zoom camera to confirm that the peo- Gopinath: The T-Hawk breaks down into a soldier-portable ple observed were indeed enemies and not innocent civil- package or transport into the field. All spares needed for rou- ians or tribals. Such early confirmation would give the CRPF tine maintenance are packaged into the backpack. Normal time to employ common anti-ambush tactics or even set up maintenance is performed at 10-hour intervals and consists a counter ambush. primarily of cleaning filters, camera lenses and fuel lines. Overwatch: Once the CRPF patrol is in contact with the enemy, the T-Hawk could provide overwatch while the CRPF SP’s: In the event of the T-Hawk being selected for use units retreated into defensible positions. It would allow by the Indian security forces how soon can the company them to monitor the attack avenues and would also cover start supplying the product to the Indian Government? their flanks and rear from attack. In this capacity, it is a Gopinath: The T-Hawk is in production and several hundred powerful force multiplier, since the effect of having a single units have been delivered to the US and foreign militaries. T-Hawk would be equivalent to having additional companies Honeywell can deliver units to the Indian military and para- of CRPF soldiers each oriented along the axes of threat. military agencies within 6 months of the receipt of an order Relief Column: After an attack, terrorists have been known or ever sooner. We also have a pool of loaner vehicles for to set up a secondary ambush to hit the relief columns. If the the forces to start developing tactics and procedures well in relief column had T-Hawks, they could be sent ahead to scout advance of production shipment. SP out the route, inspect the site of the original attack, give intelligence on enemy presence and deployments, and perform (A detailed coverage of the role of UAVs in homeland security the above mentioned five missions for the relief column. will appear in the next issue of SP’s Aviation.)

SP’s: What are the various sensors on board which give the T-Hawk the ‘hover and stare’ capability? Gopinath: The hover capability is derived from the fact that the T-Hawk is a VTOL air vehicle. As such, it is able to move forward and then stop and hover anytime, much like a helicopter. The stare capability is derived from the T-Hawk’s cameras; daytime and infrared cameras that can be used to observe objects/people and perform detailed inspections as needed.

SP’s: Can the vehicle be operationally deployed in day/ night all-weather scenarios? Gopinath: Yes. The T-Hawk can fly day or night and has been tested to fly in rain, wind, dust and other typical combat conditions.

SP’s: Does the T-Hawk have the capability to see through thick foliage/forested terrain? Please elaborate. Gopinath: The T-Hawk cannot directly see through thick foliage but it can detect thermal signature of activities going on under the foliage such as cooking fires or other warmth, for example. The T-Hawk performs well in mixed jungle areas.

SP’s: How do the vehicle’s sensors detect IEDs buried under the earth’s soil/roads/ tracks, etc? Please explain. Gopinath: We cannot answer due to customer sensitivity; please understand that keeping some information private allows the T-Hawk to better serve Honeywell’s customers.

SP’s: Please explain as to how the vehicle is remote-con- trolled from the ground and how effective its sensors are at its peak operating altitude? Gopinath: The vehicle is fully autonomous and can be pre-pro- grammed with a flight path or can be flown manually as need-

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 39 INDUSTRY OEM

The Proven Best Northrop Grumman is actively pursuing relationships with Indian companies that will satisfy MMRCA transfer of technology requirements for F-16IN with Northrop Grumman’s AESA radar

SETTING THE AESA STANDARD FOR MMRCA economies. The IAF benefits from the maturity of technol- Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman have set the bar ogy as well as the production techniques we have honed high in bringing the Indian Air Force (IAF) the best Active over more than three decades in electronically scanned Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) system in the industry. array technology. From a technological standpoint, the AN/APG-80 shares its advanced developmental lineage for hardware and software SUPERIOR MISSION CAPABILITY modes with the F-22’s AN/APG-77 and the F-35’s AN/APG- The F-16IN remains the Ultimate Fourth Generation Fighter 81. Additionally, the IAF receives the benefit of an opera- for many reasons. The aircraft is highly manoeuverable, and tionally proven system. the weapons and avionics systems remain unmatched. The

SP GUIDE PUBNS Northrop Grumman’s world-leading expertise as a ra- F-16IN’s APG-80 multifunction array radar demonstrated

dar provider translates into cost savings for future AN/ unmatched performance during MMRCA Flight Evaluation APG-80 customers. We create all our AESA arrays and Trials in India. With near simultaneous multimode interleav- the fire control systems to which they belong under one ing, the AN/APG-80 allows the pilot to focus on mission per-

PHOTOGRAPHS: roof, making the most of engineering and manufacturing formance without the burden of having to manage multiple

40 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net INDUSTRY OEM

will receive the benefits of existing radar modes that have been used operationally for five years in the F-16 Block 60. The customer will also receive the benefits of shared ad- vancements in hardware and software technology with the AN/APG-77 and AN/APG-81. Northrop Grumman is actively pursuing relationships with Indian companies that will satisfy MMRCA Transfer of Technology requirements. The specific components that qualify as transferrable technology are determined by US law. Defense industry companies follow guidance provided by the United States Department of Defense and Indian Ministry of Defence. We have had very constructive conver- sations with dozens of Indian companies, including BEL, CENTUM, Dynamatics and others, and look forward to the partnerships that will ensue once the F-16IN is selected. Lockheed Martin has a strong history of building full F- 16 production lines in countries outside the US (Korea, Tur- key, Belgium, and the Netherlands). We hope that that will be the case here.

THE BOTTOM LINE ON AESA Northrop Grumman has been delivering production of Electronically Scanned Array radars for 35 years, and is the world leader in this technology. The APG-80 represents the world’s first exportable Active Electronically Scanned radar functions. Pilots may continue air-to-air target track- Array radar, and the maturity of its extensive mode suite ing and identification while maintaining situational aware- is unmatched. The Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grum- ness of ground threats. Additionally, the AN/APG-80 creates man team is the only MMRCA competitor who can say that very high resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar maps which APG-80 AESA tactical doctrine has been thoroughly refined may be used for day/night, all-weather precision strike mis- over five years of operational use as seasoned F-16 flight sions. The APG-80 is the only AESA radar in the MMRCA instructors have provided Northrop Grumman with invalu- competition to have demonstrated its performance in India able recommendations for enhancing the APG-80’s already during MMRCA Flight Evaluation Trials. robust tactical performance. These suggestions have helped In the same fashion the performance capabilities of us to continually refine how best to use the APG-80’s myr- Northrop Grumman’s F-22 radar (AN/APG-77) and F-35 iad capabilities, well beyond the radar’s original technical radar (AN/APG-81) were established by customer specifi- specifications. cations determined by customer-unique requirements, the All of which serves to further position the Lockheed F-16IN APG-80 meets and in some cases exceeds the re- Martin F-16IN as the clear choice for the MMRCA pro- quirements set forth for the MMRCA competition. The IAF gramme. SP

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 41 SHOW REPORT SNAPSHOTS

A GLIMPSE OF ILA Berlin June 8-13, 2010 ILA-BERLIN.DE PHOTOGRAPHS: WWW.

42 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net Hall of Fame AMES DOOLITTLE WAS A noeuvre, the pilot flies on the outside a one-way mission. Instead of return- brave and adventurous pilot of the loop, sending the blood rushing ing to their launch ship after the raid, who later became a top-rank- to the head due to extreme negative the planes would continue west to the ing US military commander. ‘g’. In a Curtiss fighter, he commenced Asian mainland and try their fortune at He was second only to Charles a dive from 10,000 feet, pushing the rudimentary landing strips in China. JLindbergh in fame—at least in Ameri- nose ever forward. He reached 280 On April 18, 1942, the bombers ca. Doolittle inspired an entire genera- miles per hour at the bottom of the dive successfully took off from the aircraft tion of young people to take to the air. (upside down) then climbed and com- carrier USS Hornet. They reached Ja- And his daring 1942 raid over Japan pleted the loop. He was also the first pan and bombed their targets in Tokyo, probably marked a decisive turning person to win all three major aviation Kobe, Yokohama, Osaka, and Nagoya. point in World War II. Fifteen of the aircraft then headed James (Jimmy) Harold Doo- for their recovery airfield in Chi- little was born in Alameda, Cali- na, while one crew had to land in fornia on December 14, 1896. In Russia due to their bomber’s un- October 1917, he joined the US usually high fuel consumption. Of Signal Corps Reserve as a flying the sixteen B-25s, only one man- cadet. He soon became a flying aged a safe landing at an airfield. instructor. In 1922 he set a new Some crew members were cap- record for a flight across Ameri- tured by the Japanese and even- ca. Using a De Havilland DH-4 tually executed. As did most of the equipped with primitive naviga- other personnel who participated tional instruments, he took 21 in the mission, Doolittle’s crew hours and 19 minutes to fly from bailed out safely over China when Pablo Beach, Florida to San Diego, their aircraft ran out of fuel. By California, with just one refuelling then they had been airborne for stop. In 1923, he joined the Mas- about 12 hours; it was night time sachusetts Institute of Technology and the weather was stormy. where he eventually obtained a By World War II standards, the PhD in aeronautical engineering. damage done to the Japanese war His scientific acumen, combined industry was minor. However, the with flying skill, helped him ap- true impact was psychological. preciate the importance of new JAMES H. The raid was a shattering blow aviation technology. to Japanese pride and a major Perhaps his most significant DOOLITTLE morale-boosting victory for the contribution to aviation was the United States. It showed the Japa- development of instrument fly- (1896 - 1993) nese that their homeland was vul- ing. At the beginning of powered nerable to air attack, and forced flight, pilots flew by motion sense, Doolittle was the ﬁrst them to withdraw several front- judging height, speed and direc- line fighter units from Pacific war tion visually. But Doolittle realised pilot to ﬂy an outside loop, zones for homeland defence. The that flying would remain a fair- which aviators were Japanese attempt to close the per- weather activity unless pilots were ceived gap in their Pacific defence able to control and navigate the otherwise warned against perimeter probably led to the de- aircraft regardless of what they as being potentially deadly cisive American victory during the could see. In 1929, he became Battle of Midway in June 1942. the first pilot to take off, fly and A firm believer in strategic land an aircraft using instruments bombing, Doolittle later com- alone, without a view outside the manded the Eighth Air Force cockpit. He helped develop and test the racing trophies—the Schneider Trophy during its greatest successes: the first later universally used artificial hori- in 1925, the Bendix Trophy in 1931, American bombing of Berlin, the sus- zon and directional gyroscope. He at- and the Thompson Trophy in 1932. tained bombing campaigns against tracted wide public attention with this Doolittle became a civilian for a Germany’s oil industry and other facili- feat of ‘blind’ flying and later received decade, but the December 1941 Japa- ties, and finally the virtual destruction the Harmon Trophy for conducting the nese attack on Pearl Harbour brought of the mighty Luftwaffe. James Doolit- experiments. His achievements made him back into action. He was tasked to tle died at the age of 96 on September safe airline operations possible irre- plan the first retaliatory air raid on the 27, 1993. He is the only person to be spective of the weather. Japanese homeland. He volunteered to awarded both the US Medal of Honour In 1927 Doolittle became the first lead the top secret carrier-borne attack and the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s pilot to fly an outside loop, which avia- of sixteen B-25 medium bombers. Be- two highest honours. SP tors were otherwise warned against as cause carrier landings were impossible —Group Captain (Retd) being potentially deadly. In this ma- for the 10 tonne aircraft, this would be Joseph Noronha, Goa

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 43 NEWSDigest MILITARY TEJAS NAVY SETS SAIL QuickRoundUp Asia-Pacific The first two-seat, fly-by-wire, trainer version of the naval light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas rolled-out on July 6, marking ARIANESPACE IAF to upgrade Su-30 a milestone achievement in the development programme Fighter Aircraft undertaken by HAL and ADA • Argentine satellite operator ARSAT has chosen Arianespace to launch its Arsat-1 satellite. Arianespace has signed the launch Service & Solutions contract with Argentine operator ARSAT (Empresa Argentina de Soluciones Satelitales Sociedad Anonima) to orbit the Arsat-1 satellite by mid-2012. It IAF is going to upgrade 50 will offer a wide range of telecom- Su-30 MKI combat aircraft munications, data transmission, with the help of the original telephone and television services equipment manufacturers mainly across all of Argentina,

(OEMs) from Russia. Su-30 PIB Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay. MKIs have been inducted into the IAF in four phases. The BAE SYSTEMS ones to be upgraded are from

the first phase and the project PHOTOGRAPH: • A BAE Systems seeker detected and is likely to be completed in destroyed a unitary target perform- the next three to four years. he roll-out of the first two-seat, fly-by-wire, trainer version ing the lowest endo-atmospheric Of the 50 aircraft, around five of the naval light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas, designated as intercept to date for the terminal would be sent to the Russian Tthe first Naval Prototype (NP-1) and also referred to as the high atitude area defence weapon facilities while the remaining LCA (Navy), on July 6, 2010, marked an important milestone in system flight test programme at would be upgraded in India. the development programme jointly undertaken by the Aeronau- the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Under the modernisation pro- tical Development Agency (ADA) and the Hindustan Aeronautics Kauai, Hawaii. The test conducted by gramme, the aircraft will be Ltd (HAL). The Indian Navy has also played a significant role in the US Missile Defense Agency and upgraded with state-of-the- the project through close monitoring and support. Lockheed Martin the THAAD prime art avionics and various other The momentous event was witnessed by Defence Minister A.K. contractor and systems integrator, capabilities. The airframe of Antony, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Verma, Secretary De- verified the interceptor and other sys- these aircraft would also be fence Production R.K. Singh and dignitaries from HAL, Defence tem components capability to detect strengthened to equip them Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and other public and to intercept a unitary short range with air-launched version of sector units (PSUs), private industries and educational institutions ballistic missile. the 290 km range BrahMos supporting the project. supersonic cruise missile. The Out of the assembly hangar, the NP-1 having overcome major BOEING Su-30s were inducted into technical challenges, is now ready to undergo systems integration the IAF in the late 90s and at tests followed by ground runs, taxi trials, its maiden flight hopefully • Boeing has announced the present six squadrons of the by the year end and deployment by 2015 on-board the indigenous completion of the firm configuration aircraft are in service. aircraft carrier (IAC) currently under construction at the Cochin for the 787-9 Dreamliner. Boeing Shipyard. Expected to fly in 2012, the NP-2 will be the single-seat accomplished this milestone after Casualty evacuation by IAF fighter version that will in due course, replace the Indian Navy’s years of collaboration with airline helicopters in Congo ageing fleet of Sea Harriers. Both the prototypes, NP-1 and NP-2 customers and partners to determine On the night of July 2, a fuel will be employed to prove the technologies involved in the develop- the optimal configuration for the new tanker loaded with gasoline ment of a potent combat aircraft to be operated from the IAC the stretch version of the Dreamliner. overturned in the village of Navy plans to acquire in the future. Designed to carry a wide vari- The 787 Dreamliner is an all-new Sange (36 km from the town ety of weapons and equipment like the BVR missile, anti shipping twinjet designed to meet the needs of of Uvira) in South Kivu Prov- missiles, conventional bombs, guns and electronic countermeasure airlines around the world in providing ince of Democratic Republic devices, the Tejas Navy is the only aircraft in the world in the light nonstop service between midsize cit- of the Congo. The accident weight category. With a total requirement of over 50 aircraft, the ies with new levels of efficiency. The took place in the close prox- Indian Navy has placed orders for six so far at a total cost of $180 delivery of the first 787 is planned for imity of various houses and million (Rs 830 crore), reflecting firm commitment. the fourth quarter of 2010. commercial shops; there was Compared with the air force counterpart, the LCA (Navy) is fit- an explosion and the ensuing ted with a stronger landing gear with longer struts, arrester hook BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE fire caused approximately for quick stop on touchdown and drooping nose for better view 230 fatal casualties and more for the pilot during landing on a carrier deck. Powered by the GE • Bombardier Aerospace has an- than 190 people injured. On F404-IN20 engine, the aircraft is designed for ski-jump take off and nounced that Deutsche Lufthansa AG the morning of July 3, IAF arrester recovery with landing loads higher than that on the air of Germany has placed a firm order helicopters on UN Mission in force version. Sanctioned in 2003 at a cost of Rs 950 crore, the for eight CRJ900 NextGen regional Congo were tasked to carry first stages of the programme include design and fabrication of two jets. The transaction involved the ex- out casualty evacuation of prototypes along with a shore based test facility (SBTF) at Goa to ercise of eight previously announced the seriously injured patients simulate operations from a carrier deck. While the roll out is being purchase rights. from Sange village to Bukavu. seen as a landmark event, it is understood that ADA is in search Two helicopters were tasked of a global aerospace major as a partner to accelerate the pace of COMMUTER AIR TECHNOLOGY for casualty evacuation role the programme and resolve some technical issues.• while a third was tasked with —By Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey, Bengaluru • Commuter Air Technology (CAT), carrying various senior UN of-

44 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net NEWSDigest APPOINTMENTS India includes six C-130Js, RoundUp training of aircrew and main- Quick BAE SYSTEMS tenance technicians, spare BAE Systems has appointed Deepak Parekh, Chairman of the parts, and ground support an aerospace & defence company, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), to its India and test equipment. Also in- reported delivery of a modified Advisory Board. Parekh joins two other accomplished leaders cluded is India-unique opera- Beechcraft 200 aircraft to General from the world of business and diplomacy, Ravi Bhargava and tional equipment designed to Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. Naresh Chandra, who are in the board since September 2009. increase Special Operations (GA-ASI) two weeks ahead of the capabilities. proposed delivery schedule. CAT, BOEING a company specialising in intel- Boeing has appointed Kory Mathews as Vice President of EADS consultancy for In- ligence, surveillance and reconnais- F/A-18 and EA-18 programmes within Boeing’s Global Strike dian armed forces sance (ISR) modifications, training, Systems division. Mathews succeeds Bob Gower, who has EADS Defence & Security and special operations support, been named vice president, Boeing Military Aircraft, India. (DS) will supply consultancy had been awarded a commercial services to the Indian armed contract to install a CAT-developed GULFSTREAM forces in developing the ISR pod on the B200 aircraft by Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation has appointed Joanne system architecture of its GA-ASI. Davis as Director, Government Contracts. She reports to airborne early warning & Jim Dempsey, Vice President, Sustaining and Government control (AEW&C) programme. DEFENSE SECURITY Programmes. On June 13, DS was awarded COOPERATION AGENCY a two-digit-million Euro con- LOCKHEED MARTIN tract by the Indian Defence • The Defense Security Coopera- The Lockheed Martin board of directors has elected Thomas Research Design Organisation tion Agency notified Congress of a J. Falk, Kimberly-Clark Corporation Chairman and Chief to provide support in the de- possible foreign military sale (FMS) Executive Officer, to its board, with effect from June 25. velopment of system archi- to Oman of logistics support and tecture with particular regard training for two C-130J-30 aircraft, RAYTHEON to certification and mission including associated equipment Raytheon Company has appointed Dr Thomas A. Kennedy equipment optimisation. . and parts. president of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS), effective immediately. Kennedy succeeds Daniel L. Smith, who Americas EUROCOPTER will retire from the company, effective July 30, 2010. Boeing P-8A Poseidon • American Eurocopter has an- SAAB completes 1st In-flight test nounced that an EC120 helicopter The board of the defence and security company Saab has ap- operated by the Baltimore Police pointed Håkan Buskhe as new President and CEO. Buskhe will Department has become the first take up his position on November 1, 2010. EC120 in the world to reach 10,000 flight hours. The Baltimore Police Department’s fleet consists of four ficials to the site. A total of 32 has a diameter of 178 mm, EC120s, which they have been serious burn casualties were can carry a warhead contain- operating since 2000. The EC120 is airlifted by the three helicop- ing explosives weighing 15 powered by a fuel-efficient Turbomeca ters in 13 sorties towards this kg and can be fitted to any Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft ARRIUS 2F engine and is known for its mission. fighter aircraft. It is intended T2 successfully completed the high manoeuvrability, state-of-the-art for eventual integration with programme’s first mission ergonomic cockpit and low noise Astra missile test-fired for the IAF’s Su-30 MKI, MiG-29, systems test flight on June signature. second consecutive day Mirage 2000, Jaguar and the 8 in Seattle. T2 will be used India has test-fired Astra, Tejas light combat aircraft. to verify integrated mission LOCKHEED MARTIN the indigenously developed Describing Astra as a futuris- systems performance during beyond visual range (BVR) tic missile, the DRDO scien- flights in Seattle and at Naval • The ninth Lockheed Martin F-35 air-to-air missile at Chandi- tists said the weapon could Air Station Patuxent River, Lightning II stealth fighter has en- pur in hours after carrying intercept targets at supersonic Md. During the three-hour tered flight testing and has become out the first night trial of the speed (mach 1.2 to 1.4). flight, the joint Boeing and the second test jet to fly with the weapon on July 6.The second Navy test teams exercised next-generation avionics package consecutive trial comes after First India C-130J in full colour mission computing on all five that will populate all operational the missile was test-fired for operator workstations and F-35s. The F-35A conventional takeoff the first time for night trial in successfully demonstrated key and landing (CTOL) variant, known as inclement weather conditions systems—including acoustics, AF-3, flew for 42 minutes during its during night. The data gener- mission planning, tactical first flight. The F-35’s avionics are the ated were being thoroughly data-link, communications, most comprehensive and powerful examined by the Defence electronic support measures ever to fly in a fighter. Research and Development and flight test instrumenta- Norway had placed a contract Organisation. It is claimed that tion—for the first time. in November 2007 for four C-130J the single stage, solid-fuelled The first Lockheed Martin The US Navy plans to Super Hercules through the FMS Astra is more advanced in C-130J Super Hercules for purchase 117 P-8A anti-sub- programme. The first was delivered its category than the contem- India has completed painting marine warfare, anti-surface in November 2008 and the fourth porary BVR missiles and is at the company’s Marietta, warfare, intelligence, surveil- has been delivered recently. The capable of engaging and de- Ga., facility. The aircraft now lance and reconnaissance new fleet enables Norway to meet stroying highly manoeuvrable enters flight test in prepara- aircraft to replace its P-3 its national airlift mission require- supersonic aerial targets. The tion for delivery at the end of fleet. Initial operational ca- ments and missions in support of 3.8-metre-long missile, which the year. The programme for pability is planned for 2013.

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 45 NEWSDigest SHOW CALENDAR The Indian Navy has also Aerospace Systems sector. RoundUp ordered 8 Poseidon P8I as Based on the Block 20 Global Quick 19–25 July its next generation multi-role Hawk, Euro Hawk will be FARNBOROUGH INTERNA- maritime patrol aircraft. equipped with a new signals international organisations like the TIONAL AIR SHOW (FIA) intelligence mission system UN and NATO. Farnborough, Hampshire, UK Northrop Grumman’s developed by EADS Defence www.farnborough.com APG-81 performs flawlessly & Security, providing standoff NORTHROP GRUMMAN Northrop Grumman Corpo- capability to detect electronic 25–28 July ration’s new APG-81 ac- and communications emitters. • Northrop Grumman Systems 46TH AIAA/ASME/SAE/ tive electronically scanned Corp. has been awarded a $38.3 ASEE JOINT PROPULSION array (AESA) radar met and New Hawk trainer flies past million not-to-exceed modification CONFERENCE & EXHIBIT exceeded its performance ob- major milestones to a previously awarded firm-fixed- Nashville Convention Cen- jectives successfully tracking price contract for the procurement ter & Renaissance Hotel, long-range targets as part of of three low-rate initial production Nashville, TN the first mission systems test vertical takeoff and landing tactical www.aiaa.org flights of Lockheed Martin’s unmanned aerial vehicle units. F-35 Lightning II BF-4 air- Work will be performed in San 26 July–1 August craft During the F-35 flight, Diego, Calif., and is expected to be EAA AIRVENTURE the Northrop Grumman APG- completed in October 2012. OSHKOSH 2010 81 radar met and exceeded Wittman Regional Airport, performance expectations, A significant achievement PILATUS AIRCRAFT Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA tracking long-range targets at has been achieved with the http://www.airventure.org all aspect angles with excel- first 500 sorties, and 500 fly- • Pilatus Aircraft Ltd has handed lent stability. Additionally, ing hours, completed on the over the first of the six PC-12 NG 27–30 July the F-35 Lightning II aircraft UK Royal Air Force’s (RAF) multi-purpose liaison aircraft ordered AVIATION OUTLOOK was equipped with Northrop Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer by the Finnish Air Force during a AUSTRALIA 2010 Grumman’s revolutionary (AJT). The RAF received the commemorative ceremony at the Four Seasons Hotel, Electro-Optical Distrib- first of their 28 Hawk AJTs, company’s headquarters in Stans, Sydney uted Aperture System, which also known as the TMk2, in Switzerland. http://www.terrapinn. provides passive missile and 2009. Significant progress com/2010/aviation aircraft threat detection, as with the aircraft, which is RAAF well as infrared day and night used to train fast jet pilots of 11 August vision which is projected di- the future, has been made to • Australian Minister for Defence SAFETY STANDDOWN rectly onto the pilot’s helmet date.Complementing the air- Senator John Faulkner has announced LATIN AMERICA 2010 visor for a fully spherical craft, Wing Commander Brian the arrival of another six F/A-18F Hilton São Paulo Morumbi, view around the aircraft. Braid of RAF Valley said, “It Super Hornets at RAAF Base Amberley, São Paulo, Brazil has all the familiarity of the Twelve of the RAAF Super Hornets www.safetystanddown.com Europe world renowned and much have now been delivered by Boeing. loved Hawk series of aircraft, 12–14 August Euro Hawk Unmanned but has the added bonus of SIKORSKY LATIN AMERICAN BUSINESS Aircraft first flight being packed with the latest AVIATION CONFERENCE & technology and avionics. The • The first S-70i Black Hawk EXHIBITION (LABACE) Hawk TMk2 is set to revo- helicopter has successfully Congonhas Airport, São lutionise the way the RAF completed its first flight, officially Paulo, Brazil trains its future fast jet pilots launching an international variant www.abag.org.br under the UK Military Flying and the newest Sikorsky Aircraft Training System.” product to follow in the legacy of 16–20 August the Black Hawk helicopter. The AVIATION OUTLOOK new international variant utilises a AFRICA 2010 The Euro Hawk unmanned CIVIL AVIATION global supply chain and is the first BMW Pavilion Conference aircraft system (UAS), built by Black Hawk helicopter ever to be Centre, Cape Town, Northrop Grumman Corpora- Asia-Pacific assembled in Europe. South Africa tion and EADS Defence & Se- http://www.terrapinn.com/2010/ curity, has successfully com- India’s first full-fidelity heli- SNECMA aviationza/ pleted its first flight by flying copter simulator for two hours and climbing to The Helicopter Academy to • Royal Jet, the VIP Charter Operator 24–27 August 32,000 feet. “The Euro Hawk Train by Simulation of Flying based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab AUVSI’S UNMANNED marks the first international (HATSOFF), the joint venture Emirates, has awarded new engine SYSTEMS NORTH configuration of the RQ-4 owned of Hindustan Aero- maintenance, repair and overhaul AMERICA 2010 Global Hawk high-altitude, nautics Limited (HAL) and (MRO) contract to Snecma (Safran Colorado Convention Center, long-endurance (HALE) UAS, CAE, has announced that its group) for its CFM56-7B engine Denver, CO, USA and strengthens Northrop Bell 412 full-mission simu- fleet. Snecma which is the OEM, will http://www.auvsi.org Grumman’s first trans-Atlan- lator has been certified to provide MRO services for all CFM56- tic cooperation with Germany Level D, the highest qualifica- 7B engines powering the operator’s 6-8 September and EADS Defence & Securi- tion for flight simulators, by Boeing Business Jets. Snecma has INDESEC EXPO 2010 ty,” said Duke Dufresne, sector India’s Directorate General worked with Royal Jet for eight years Pragati Maidan, vice president and general Civil Aviation (DGCA) and and this long-term contract clearly New Delhi, India manager of the Strike and the European Aviation Safety reflects Royal Jet’s confidence in www.indesec-expo.com Surveillance Systems Divi- Agency (EASA). The CAE-built Snecma. sion for Northrop Grumman’s full-mission helicopter simu-

46 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net NEWSDigest lator at HATSOFF features uled terms without jeopardis- teams within this division at RoundUp CAE’s revolutionary roll-on/ ing the production schedule a central site. Quick roll-off cockpit design, which under other contracts. enables cockpits represent- SPIRIT AEROSYSTEMS ing various helicopter types ATR and Giugiaro Design SPACE to be used in the simulator. partner • Spirit AeroSystems Inc., the world’s The first training programme Asia-Pacific largest independent supplier of HATSOFF is for operators of commercial airplane assemblies and the Bell 412 helicopter. Addi- ISRO sends five satellites into components, has formally opened its tional cockpits for the Indian orbit with its PSLV launch new 500,000-square-foot manufactur- Army/Air Force variant of India’s space agency ISRO ing facility in Kinston, N.C. Employees the HAL-built Dhruv, the civil successfully launched its at the facility will design and manu- variant of the Dhruv and the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle facture the composite centre fuselage Eurocopter Dauphin will be (PSLV) rocket on July 12 upper and lower shells (section 15) added to the HATSOFF train- Leading regional turboprop that also sent five satellites and front wing spar for the Airbus ing centre over the next year. manufacturer ATR and including the advanced high A350 XWB aircraft using state-of-the- world-renowned Italian resolution cartography satel- art technology and processes. The design house Giugiaro Design lite Cartosat-2B into orbit. ceremony was hosted by Spirit Presi- INDUSTRY unveiled their partnership ISRO’s PSLV weighs 230 dent and CEO Jeff Turner, and Airbus for the development of the tonnes, is 44 metres tall and President and CEO Tom Enders. Europe new ATR ‘-600 series’ cabin, the five satellites together named ARMONIA. ATR and weighed 819 kg. The Carto- TERMA First night flight ever by a Giugiaro Design have worked sat-2B weighed 694 kg. The solar plane! closely together to create an other satellites were the Alge- • Terma has signed a contract with The Solar Impulse HB-SIA, ultra modern, appealing and rian remote sensing satellite the Polish Defence for the supply with André Borschberg at its comfortable cabin. The name Alsat-2A (116 kg), two nano of self-protection equipment for 22 controls, successfully com- ARMONIA is linked to beauty, satellites (NLS 6.1 AISSAT-1 Polish helicopters. In many ways, the pleted night flight by staying harmony, balance and calm, weighing 6.5 kg built by the contract with a total value of a three- airborne for an incredible 26 themes apparent in the new University of Toronto, Canada digit million figure (exact value has hours before landing at 0900 design. Giugiaro Design has and one kg NLS 6.2 TISAT not been disclosed) is a milestone. hrs on July 8, to the cheers been involved in many high built by the University of Ap- To date, this is the largest contract of a crowd of supporters who profile and highly acclaimed plied Sciences, Switzerland) on self-protection equipment which came to celebrate the great car, corporate aircraft, train, and STUDSAT, a pico satel- Terma has entered into. Further, it is milestone. This flight is the ship and motorcycle de- lite weighing less than one Terma’s first contract of this kind for longest and highest in the sign projects. The synergic kg, built jointly by students one of the new NATO countries. history of solar aviation. approach established with of seven engineering col- the ATR engineering team leges in Andhra Pradesh and US Ulan-Ude Aviation plant represents an important step Karnataka. Twenty minutes delivers helicopters forward for both firms. The after blast off, the rocket first • In a signed memorandum of agree- new ARMONIA cabin marks released Cartosat-2B followed ment (MOA), US Air Force and Navy Giugiaro’s entry into the by Alsat-2A and the three officials have partnered to maximise commercial aviation interior small satellites. With this commonality, eliminate redundant design market, enabling it to launch, ISRO also crossed a effort and increase interoperability use its expertise in creating new milestone in launching between the Broad Area Maritime stylish, practical, ergonomic, third party satellites by send- Surveillance unmanned aircraft efficient and effective designs. ing three foreign satellites systems and the RQ-4 Global Hawk into orbit, reaching a total of system. The MOA also directs the Ulan-Ude aviation plant Safran inaugurates new 25 satellite launches. establishment of a Synergies Working (UUAP), a part of Russian R&D centre at Massy Group to identify synergies in basing, Helicopters, the Russian On June 30, Jean-Paul Israel’s ‘Ofeq 9’ satellite maintenance, aircraft command and helicopter industry hold- Herteman, Chief Executive launched control, training, logistics. ing company, is delivering Officer of Safran, inaugu- On June 22, Israel’s ‘Ofeq 9’, helicopters to UTair ahead of rated Sagem’s new François an advanced remote sens- UNITED TECHNOLOGIES schedule set in the contract. Husseno facility, the main ing satellite, was launched UUAP delivered two Mi-171 Research & Development cen- and successfully injected into • United Technologies Corp., Pratt & helicopters (in Mi-8AMT ver- tre for the Safran Electronics orbit by means of a ‘Shavit’ Whitney Military Engines has been sion) to UTair in late June, division in Massy, near Paris. satellite launcher. In the awarded a $57.5 million modifica- although they were supposed Also attending the ceremony next phase, the satellite will tion to convert a previously awarded to be delivered in late 3Q was Vincent Delahaye, Mayor undergo several tests for advance acquisition contract to an 2010 according to contract. of Massy. The inauguration validation of its serviceability undefinitised contract action. This Such changes in schedule are was a major milestone in the and satisfactory performance. modification further provides for the due to UTair requiring more extensive restructuring and Israel Aerospace Industries procurement of 32 low-rate initial aircraft due to an increase in development effort at the Ltd developed and produced production F-135 propulsion systems: freight traffic. Despite pro- Massy plant, which started the satellite in response to an 10 conventional take-off and landing duction workload (the plant in 2008 and was supported order placed by the IMOD, for the Air Force; 16 short take-off intends to manufacture 75 by an investment of 60 mil- in cooperation with various and vertical landing for the Marine helicopters in 2010), UUAP lion euros. It also marks a other local industrial compa- Corps; four carrier variant for the has managed to manufacture pivotal step in the develop- nies, including: El-Op, IMI, Navy; one STOVL for UK; and one for and deliver the helicopters to ment of Safran Electronics, Rafael, Tadiran-Spectralink, the Netherlands. the customer ahead of sched- by bringing together various Elisra and others. •

Issue 7 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 47 LASTWord VIP Syndrome

he Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has Captain of the aircraft in the recent past redefined safety norms for opera- by the VIP on board tion of civil aircraft carrying VIPs. Issue of the set of either directly or in- fresh directives on the subject by the DGCA comes directly, that steered Tafter the tragic accident nearly a year ago of a helicopter be- the hapless soul into longing to the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The ill-fated an erroneous deci- aircraft was carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S.R. sion culminating into Reddy and party who perished in the crash. It is a practice to a disaster. There have Unless a foolproof review and modify if necessary the existing rules and regula- been a number of such tions pertaining to civil aviation after every major accident cases within and out- system to provide especially if it involves a VIP. As such, this step by the DGCA, side the country both immunity to though somewhat belated, should not come as a surprise. in civil and military fly- However, despite the fact that VIP flights have always ing regimes. In a rath- the captain is been under reasonably stringent regulatory control, acci- er disgraceful incident evolved, the DGCA dents resulting in fatality to VIPs in such flights whether on in India, a helicopter fixed wing aircraft or on helicopters, have been occurring pilot of the Indian Air directives with with disconcerting regularity. If accidents have occurred fre- Force was ordered to regard to safety of quently in the past with VIPs on board, it is highly unlikely be arrested by the VIP that these would have taken place on account of any defi- on board when he re- VIP aircraft may ciency in regulatory control. fused to carry an addi- prove to be only Once again in this instance, as a sequel to a report con- tional passenger that taining a slew of recommendations by the Tyagi Commit- would have resulted in cosmetic tee investigating the accident, the DGCA has reiterated the the aircraft exceeding provisions that have more or less existed in one form or the maximum all-up- another to govern the conduct of flights by a civilian aircraft weight limit for take- carrying VIPs. The directives stipulate minimum experience off. Blatant violation of level of the pilot-in-command (PIC) as holding either a valid rules and regulations commercial pilot licence (CPL) or an airline transport pilot under pressure from VIP passengers and especially those licence (ATPL) with at least 3,000 hours of flying experience, without even rudimentary knowledge or understanding of of which 2,000 hours should be as a PIC on the type of air- the nuances of air safety is a frequent occurrence and has ac- craft to be flown and a minimum of 50 hours of night fly- quired proportions of a menace that now appears somewhat ing experience. For helicopter pilots, the PIC should possess difficult to eliminate or even regulate. similar licence with 2,000 hours of flying experience includ- The most recent case is that of the crash at a Russian ing 500 hours as PIC on the same type of aircraft and at airport where an aircraft with the President of Poland Lech least 10 hours of night flying experience. PIC for both fixed Kaczynski on board, was trying to land reportedly in heavy and rotary wing must also hold valid instrument rating. fog disregarding advice from the Air Traffic Control to divert Apart from the focus on the qualifications and experi- to another airfield where weather conditions for landing ence levels of the PIC, the new directives include rules for re- were safer. It is understood that the pilot, Arkadiusz Pro- cruitment and training of pilots, crew and engineers. Rules tasiuk, an experienced professional of the Polish Air Force, and regulations governing maintenance of aircraft, repairs, was aware of the President’s desire to land at the planned mandatory on board equipment for instrument flying and destination on account of political compulsions as also of criteria for airworthiness certification have also been enun- an episode in the past in which a colleague was sacked for ciated. Further, the regulator has placed restrictions on VIP not complying with the President’s wishes under similar cir- flights when “weather conditions are not conducive to safe cumstances. Forced into committing a grave error of judg- operations” and has also stipulated that every VIP flight ment under intangible pressure from the President, the pilot would be operated with “a multiple crew composition”. along with the VIP entourage met with a fiery end.

P KAMATH While the DGCA has attempted to cover a wide range of Unless a foolproof system to provide immunity to the areas to enhance air safety, one critical issue, that of the role Captain of the aircraft from unwarranted pressure from ANOO : of the VIP or his cohorts on board which could seriously im- overbearing VIPs on board is evolved, effect of the fresh di-

ATION pinge on air safety, has not been addressed at all. Loosely de- rectives issued by the DGCA with regard to air safety in op- scribed as VIP passenger syndrome, many a flight has end- eration of VIP aircraft may prove to be only cosmetic. SP

ILLUSTR ed in a tragedy as a result of unwarranted pressure on the — Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey

48 SP’S AVIATION Issue 7 • 2010 www.spsaviation.net

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