III/2016 Aerospace & Defence Review Enter the Gripen E Dream Aircraft Carrier Iron Fist 2016 Red Star over Syria Defexpo 2016 review Hinds of the Hindu Kush Meeting your operational needs is our mission IAI Lahav IAI – your one-stop address for helicopter avionics and upgrades • Modular integrated avionics packages tailored to meet operational requirements • Optimized integration of advanced mission equipment and sensors • Mission-driven displays and controls for enhanced air crew performance and safety • Comprehensive helicopter support www.iai.co.il [email protected] III/2016 III/2016 Aerospace & Defence Review “Weapons … On briefings during the event, some of that such a ‘Gnat Redux’ could well go 42 which briefly appeared in the Special into service within 6-7 years, and all that Target …. On Time !” Show Dailies issued by Vayu on the first is needed is ‘faith’! three days of Defexpo 2016. 95 Red Star over Syria 73 Dream Aircraft Enter the Gripen E Dream Aircraft Carrier Carrier : Will it Iron Fist 2016 Red Star over Syria Defexpo 2016 review Hinds of the Hindu Kush ever be built ? Cover: Saab’s next generation Gripen E fighter, which was rolled out on 18 May 2016 This special Vayu-on-the-spot (photo: Saab) report by Angad Singh covers the Iron Fist firepower demonstration at EDITORIAL PANEL the Pokhran range in Rajasthan, the mammoth day-night event featuring At the tip of Russia’s designs for MANAGING EDITOR over 180 IAF aircraft, ranging from domination in Syria is the might of the transports and UAVs to fighters and Vikramjit Singh Chopra Vice Admiral Subhash Chopra, one resurgent Russian Air and Space Forces. attack helicopters. This edition also In this well researched review, Sameer EDITORIAL ADVISOR included a number of notable ‘firsts’, of the Indian Navy’s pioneer aviators and veteran carrier pilot who retired Joshi traces events since mid-2015 and Admiral Arun Prakash as the IAF demonstrated its “capability as VCNS and was Grey Eagle of Indian major escalations after the Su-24 shoot to punish”. down in November 2015. The situation EDITORIAL PANEL Naval Aviation in his time, writes with characteristic passion on his on ground today remains volatile, even Pushpindar Singh Enter the Gripen E ‘dream’ which has the Indian Navy as the Russians have changed tack, now Air Marshal Brijesh Jayal 52 commissioning a ‘super carrier’, as deploying modern helicopter gunships Dr. Manoj Joshi an epitome of excellence for India’s in the theatre. Lt. Gen. Kamal Davar shipbuilding efforts. Lt. Gen. BS Pawar 106 Hinds of the Air Marshal M. Matheswaran 78 ‘Learn from friends Hindu Kush Gp Capt JC Malik and study opponents’ Cdr M Nirmal Monica Arora Angad Singh Richard Gardner (UK) On 18 May 2016, Saab rolled out Reuben Johnson (USA) the first new Gripen E at its facility in Bertrand de Boisset (France) Linköping, Sweden with more than 500 Dr Nick Evesenkin (Russia) invited guests present for a first look at Tamir Eshel (Israel) this “revolutionary” multirole fighter. Equipped with a highly integrated and The second part of a series on ADVERTISING & MARKETING MANAGER sophisticated sensor suite, the Gripen the history of Russian submarine The Mi-25/35 ‘Hind’ has been a Husnal Kaur is subject of a structured offer by the development and building, this focuses ubiquitous presence in Afghanistan Swedish Government to India to meet on the experience of Soviet designers for several decades, beginning with BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER the IAF’s requirement, first formally as they strove to adopt global best its employment by Soviet forces Premjit Singh made during the ‘Make in India’ week practices in their work on increasingly against the Mujahideen but now also at Mumbai in February this year. advanced vessels through the early used by the Afghan Air Force in its th decades of the 20 century. continuing battles against the Taliban. 57 In Wake of The Government of India have recently PUBLISHED BY Defexpo 2016 86 Flying against the supplied some Mi-35s to Afghanistan, Wind a major change in policy even as more Vayu Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. air power is required in this strife-torn D-43, Sujan Singh Park, country, south of the Hindu Kush mountains. New Delhi 110 003 India Tel: +91 11 24617234 Also : Chinks in the DPP 2016; Fax: +91 11 24628615 IAF at Red Flag 2016; New stripes e-mail: [email protected] for the White Tigers; The Afghan e-mail: [email protected] Air Force today; Robotic Aerial Warriors; Belgian Sea Kings. Vayu had a major presence at the 9th Professor Prodyut Das continues Printed at Aegean Offset Printers Land, Naval & Internal Homeland to advocate the need for an Indian- Regular features : and Security Systems Exhibition, held developed light fighter, based on the Commentary, Opinion, Viewpoint, Geopolitics , Aviation & Defence in The opinions expressed in the articles at Naqueri Quitol in Quepem Taluka considerable data available after the air published in the Vayu Aerospace and of South Goa in late March 2016. wars of the past decades, not only in the India, World Aviation & Defence News, Defence Review do not necessarily reflect This report analyses various aspects sub-continent but various theatres in Ancient Aviator Anecdotes, Vayu 25 the views or policies of the Publishers. and includes specific interviews and West and South East Asia. He believes Years Back, Tale Spin. Visit us at: www.vayuaerospace.in C O M M E N T A R Y delivered. Air Vice Marshal (retd) Kapil Kak, formal additional IAF in downward spiral director of Centre for Air Power Studies, traces the root cause of the wo recent presentations made by defence minister Manohar IAF’s woes to the decades-old practice of research/production agencies TParrikar to Prime Minister Narendra Modi have had one focus: overestimating indigenous capability and delivery timelines. “It is this the crisis within the Indian Air Force. This escalation of the IAF’s ‘overpromise-underdeliver’ syndrome, never questioned by political troubles to the highest political authority’s attention highlight the leadership, that has brought the IAF to this sorry pass,” he rues. fact that worry has now turned into consternation. The IAF is eleven The contract to buy the modest number of Rafales, however, has squadrons short of its sanctioned strength : it has just 31 fighter aircraft no transfer of technology clause. This means India cannot repair and squadrons against the sanctioned force of 42 squadrons. Within the upgrade the aircraft. Hence, the government is now again on the lookout next few years, all its vintage MiG-21 and MiG-27 fighters will be for another new fighter to fill in the gap. Late last year, defence minister retired. Sluggish domestic production means that their intended Parrikar made an intriguing statement, that India was looking at ‘one replacement, the indigenous Tejas LCA will take over a decade to fly or two’ light fighters to build in the country under ‘Make in India’. in. Serviceability of the IAF’s mainstay of over 200 Su-30s is a cause Parrikar has effectively restarted the Medium Multi-role Combat for concern as are delays in a programme to jointly develop futuristic Aircraft (MMRCA) campaign but under the benign auspices of his fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) with Russia. government’s ‘Make in India’ campaign. Three of the fighter types in “Our numbers are not adequate to fully execute an air campaign in competition with the Rafale in the MMRCA contest are back with a two-front scenario,” Vice Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal BS Dhanoa offers to build their aircraft locally with attractive offers for transfer of said at a press conference in New Delhi. (The defence ministry’s technology. In the past few months, executives from Boeing, which operational directives of 2009 require the armed forces to prepare makes the F/A-18 Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin, manufacturer of for simultaneous war with China and Pakistan). “Probability of a the F-16, and Sweden’s Saab which makes the Gripen, have made two-front scenario is an appreciation you need to do. But are the interesting presentations and lucrative offers. The foreign aerospace numbers adequate? No. The squadrons are winding down,” he stated. firms would partner with private sector firms to make the aircraft in The IAF’s troubles come at a time when Pakistan and China India, thereby reducing the IAF’s dependence on HAL. A new waiting are transforming their air forces quantitatively and qualitatively, game for the IAF may just have begun. narrowing the gap between the IAF and the PAF and the PLAAF. Extract from an article by Sandeep Unnithan, in India Today Pakistan recently ordered a fresh batch of F-16s from the US and will complete upgrading its existing fleet of over 80 F-16s, supplemented Predator XP by the Sino-Pak JF-17. China in turn will field close to 800 fourth India and US need some space now and fifth generation fighters by 2020. n the eve of his latest visit to India, US secretary of defence Ashton For a service which began an ambitious transformation a decade OCarter spelt out the American perspective on ties with India at a back, the IAF has made some strategic blunders. One of the biggest meeting at the CSIS in Washington DC. Cutting through the hype, he mistakes was in its long-delayed quest for multi-role combat aircraft. said that while the US was looking for “closer and stronger” relationship This began as a straightforward requirement for 126 Mirage 2000 with India, it was not looking for “anything exclusive”, beyond what fighters in 1999 which turned into a decade-long multi-cornered emerges from the convergence of interests in the US pivot to Asia and fight for an M-MRCA, the contest lasting over a decade, with costs India’s ‘Act East’ policy.