Showing posts with label Eurofighter Typhoon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eurofighter Typhoon. Show all posts
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
Monday, 1 August 2011
Future and Past of Eurofighter : A Comparison
The multi-national Eurofighter Typhoon has been described as the aerodynamic apotheosis of lessons learned from the twin engine “teen series” fighters that began with the F-14 and F-15, continued with the emergence of the F/A-18 Hornet, and extends through to the most recent F/A-18 Super Hornet variants. Aerodynamically, it’s a half generation ahead of all of these examples, and planned evolutions will place the Eurofighter near or beyond parity in electronic systems and weapons.
The 1998 production agreement among its 4 member countries involved 620 aircraft, built with progressively improved capabilities over 3 contract “tranches”. By the end of Tranche 2, however, the 4-nation Eurofighter agreement still had 236 fighters left to go, even as welfare state programs and debt burdens were making that buy difficult to afford. A 2009 compromise was found in the EUR 9 billion “Tranche 3A” buy, and the program has renewed its efforts to secure serious export sales. Their success will affect the platform’s modernization plans.
Eurofighter: Design & Evolution
The Eurofighter program emerged out of a long and conflicting set of multinational efforts to design a new European fighter. By 1983, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain had coalesced around the Future European Fighter Aircraft (FEFA) program. That partnership lasted only until 1985, as differences with France over carrier compatibility, weight limits, and France’s insistence on setting key aircraft requirements and taking the lead industrial role, ended their partnership. Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain established Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH in 1986 to manage the Eurofighter project, while France went its own way and developed their Rafale fighter.
Both projects went on to develop clipped delta, canard-equipped twin-engine fighters, whose “radar shaping” designs significantly lowered their radar signature compared to earlier fighters like the Mirage F1, Tornado or F/A-18A-D Hornet. Even so, it would be a misnomer to call them stealth aircraft. The standard term is a “4+ generation” fighter, distinguishing them from “5th generation” aircraft like the American F-22A Raptor and Indo-Russian PAK-FA.
While the Rafale’s development emphasized weapon load and multi-role capabilities, squeezed budgets and ample fleets of strike aircraft led the Eurofighter consortium to focus on the air superiority role. Their excellent aerodynamic design and good thrust to weigh ratio was coupled to a very integrated set of electronic sensor and defensive systems, including a pilot-friendly cockpit design that included the first use of voice input in a fighter. This makes them very capable in their chosen role, able to compete or best serving competitors short of the American F-22A Raptor.
Unfortunately for the consortium, this strength ended up being the flip side of their biggest weakness. Initial “Tranche 1” machines were severely hobbled on the export market by their poor ground attack capabilities, a serious weakness in a world of multi-role fighters. When combined with the plane’s $100+ million cost, the result has been a slew of lost export competitions. Their victors were not Dassault’s Rafale, which had gaps of its own, and is still looking for its first export win. Embarassingly, the Eurofighter has usually lost to modernized, multi-role versions of the very F-16s and F-15s it was meant to supplant. That, in turn, has affected prices and the pace of upgrades.
Britain has upgraded some of its Tranche 1 machines with LITENING surveillance and targeting pods, plus system upgrades that allow the use of some precision weapons. Other Typhoon owners are farther behind.
The Tranche 2 fighters that began delivery to member countries in 2008 have added precision ground attack capabilities, but still fall short of the full capabilities and weapon arrays offered by competitors like the American F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and F-15E Strike Eagle. The lack of a helmet-mounted display (HMD) prevents the Typhoon from taking full advantage of its new air-to-air missiles, and removes a potential improvement for the ground attack role. The lack of an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar leaves the Eurofighter a generation behind in radar technology.
Tranche 3 Eurofighters will reportedly be based on the Tranche 2 standard, with upgraded power systems and electronics that can more easily support future growth and upgrades. Those fleet-wide upgrades are ongoing; they include a BAE “Striker” HMD that is just now entering service, and an available upgrade to an “E-Scan” AESA radar by 2015.
Other upgrades that have been discussed but not committed have included upgraded thrust-vectoring engines to match modern Russian fighters and the American F-22, and even a Eurofighter carrier variant.
Even as these upgrades are being discussed, however, the Eurofighter’s export window as a leading-edge fighter choice is closing. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is aerdynamically inferior, but it offers a stealth fighter with a tested AESA radar, a wider array of sensors, and sensor fusion at an even higher level. By the end of this decade, 5th generation projects like the Russo-Indian PAK-FA will also become viable choices for some export targets.
Successful upgrades can keep the Eurofighter Typhoon competitive, even in that environment, if its production line lasts long enough. The key word will be “competitive.”
For air-to-air combat, the Eurofighter currently relies on long range detection using its mechanically-scanned, phased array ECR-90 CAPTOR radar and PIRATE IRST (infra-Red Search & Track) system, coupled with an array of weapons that will include MBDA’s long range, ramjet-powered Meteor air-to-air missile. Current Typhoons can and do mount Raytheon’s medium range AIM-120 AMRAAM instead. Close-in dogfights can be handled using ASRAAM, IRIS-T or AIM-9X missiles, coupled with fast slew-and-point capability using its canards and soon, a helmet-mounted sight. Non-British Eurofighters will also have a 27mm Mauser cannon on board, considered by many observers to be the best fighter cannon on the market.
For precision attack, some British and German Eurofighters have been fitted with LITENING-IIIsurveillance and targeting pods, and later Typhoon versions are qualified to use GPS-guided and laser-guided bombs. Expansion of the Typhoon’s ground attack weapon choices is an ongoing process, with planned weapons including long range Storm Shadow and KEPD cruise missiles, medium-range PILUM glide bombs, short-range Brimstone light strike missiles, and ALARM anti-radar missiles.
The Typhoon’s Praetorian (formerly EuroDASS) self-protection suite is designed for 360 degreee coverage, with high automation. The Defensive Aids Computer (DAC) controls a package that includes Towed Radar Decoys, a Missile Approach Warner (MAW), wingtip ECM pods, and a Countermeasures Dispensing System (CMDS). They are integrated with each other, and with the Eurofighter’s radar and IRST.
Eurofighter: Industrial Structure & Orders
Technically, the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) is the customer for the Eurofighter project. Eurofighter GmbH is the contractor, with joint ownership by all of the key industrial partners: BAE Systems, EADS, and Finmeccanica. Overall, Eurofighter GmbH cites a total of 100,000 supported jobs in 400 companies across Europe.
Aircraft production work shares were designed to correspond to the number of aircraft ordered under the 1998 Umbrella Contract:
37.5% UK (232). BAE Systems: Front fuselage including foreplanes, canopy, dorsal spine, tail fin, inboard flaperons, rear fuselage section.
30.0% Germany (180) EADS Deutschland: Main center fuselage. Airbus spinout Premium AEROTEC is the main sub-contractor.
19.5% Italy (121). Alenia Aeronautica: Left wing, outboard flaperons, rear fuselage sections
13.0% Spain (87). EADS CASA: Right wing, leading edge slats.
The Eurofighter’s 2 EJ200 turbofans deliver 20,000 pounds thrust each in reheat mode, and are manufactured by the EUROJET partnership of Avio (Italy), ITP (Spain), MTU Aero Engines (Germany) and Rolls-Royce (UK).
The Euroradar consortium supplies the ECR-90 CAPTOR radar, and is developing the “E-Scan” AESA successor. It is led by Finmeccanica subsidiary SELEX Sensors and Airborne Systems in Edinburgh, UK (formerly BAE Systems Avionics), and also includes EADS and Spain’s Indra.
The Eurofighter contract was designed to protect the fairness of each participants’ agreed manufacturing work shares, by making it very expensive to back out of committed orders. On the other hand, European defense spending continues to decline due to pressure from welfare state commitments and debt burdens, even as European military operational deployments and their costs have increased. Hence the fractious contract negotiations around Tranche 3, and also theinvestigation of foreign sell-offs by the member countries.
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Eurofighter: Design & Evolution
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| From Weapons and technology |
The Eurofighter program emerged out of a long and conflicting set of multinational efforts to design a new European fighter. By 1983, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain had coalesced around the Future European Fighter Aircraft (FEFA) program. That partnership lasted only until 1985, as differences with France over carrier compatibility, weight limits, and France’s insistence on setting key aircraft requirements and taking the lead industrial role, ended their partnership. Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain established Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH in 1986 to manage the Eurofighter project, while France went its own way and developed their Rafale fighter.
Both projects went on to develop clipped delta, canard-equipped twin-engine fighters, whose “radar shaping” designs significantly lowered their radar signature compared to earlier fighters like the Mirage F1, Tornado or F/A-18A-D Hornet. Even so, it would be a misnomer to call them stealth aircraft. The standard term is a “4+ generation” fighter, distinguishing them from “5th generation” aircraft like the American F-22A Raptor and Indo-Russian PAK-FA.
While the Rafale’s development emphasized weapon load and multi-role capabilities, squeezed budgets and ample fleets of strike aircraft led the Eurofighter consortium to focus on the air superiority role. Their excellent aerodynamic design and good thrust to weigh ratio was coupled to a very integrated set of electronic sensor and defensive systems, including a pilot-friendly cockpit design that included the first use of voice input in a fighter. This makes them very capable in their chosen role, able to compete or best serving competitors short of the American F-22A Raptor.
Unfortunately for the consortium, this strength ended up being the flip side of their biggest weakness. Initial “Tranche 1” machines were severely hobbled on the export market by their poor ground attack capabilities, a serious weakness in a world of multi-role fighters. When combined with the plane’s $100+ million cost, the result has been a slew of lost export competitions. Their victors were not Dassault’s Rafale, which had gaps of its own, and is still looking for its first export win. Embarassingly, the Eurofighter has usually lost to modernized, multi-role versions of the very F-16s and F-15s it was meant to supplant. That, in turn, has affected prices and the pace of upgrades.
Britain has upgraded some of its Tranche 1 machines with LITENING surveillance and targeting pods, plus system upgrades that allow the use of some precision weapons. Other Typhoon owners are farther behind.
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| From Weapons and technology |
The Tranche 2 fighters that began delivery to member countries in 2008 have added precision ground attack capabilities, but still fall short of the full capabilities and weapon arrays offered by competitors like the American F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and F-15E Strike Eagle. The lack of a helmet-mounted display (HMD) prevents the Typhoon from taking full advantage of its new air-to-air missiles, and removes a potential improvement for the ground attack role. The lack of an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar leaves the Eurofighter a generation behind in radar technology.
Tranche 3 Eurofighters will reportedly be based on the Tranche 2 standard, with upgraded power systems and electronics that can more easily support future growth and upgrades. Those fleet-wide upgrades are ongoing; they include a BAE “Striker” HMD that is just now entering service, and an available upgrade to an “E-Scan” AESA radar by 2015.
Other upgrades that have been discussed but not committed have included upgraded thrust-vectoring engines to match modern Russian fighters and the American F-22, and even a Eurofighter carrier variant.
Even as these upgrades are being discussed, however, the Eurofighter’s export window as a leading-edge fighter choice is closing. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is aerdynamically inferior, but it offers a stealth fighter with a tested AESA radar, a wider array of sensors, and sensor fusion at an even higher level. By the end of this decade, 5th generation projects like the Russo-Indian PAK-FA will also become viable choices for some export targets.
Successful upgrades can keep the Eurofighter Typhoon competitive, even in that environment, if its production line lasts long enough. The key word will be “competitive.”
For air-to-air combat, the Eurofighter currently relies on long range detection using its mechanically-scanned, phased array ECR-90 CAPTOR radar and PIRATE IRST (infra-Red Search & Track) system, coupled with an array of weapons that will include MBDA’s long range, ramjet-powered Meteor air-to-air missile. Current Typhoons can and do mount Raytheon’s medium range AIM-120 AMRAAM instead. Close-in dogfights can be handled using ASRAAM, IRIS-T or AIM-9X missiles, coupled with fast slew-and-point capability using its canards and soon, a helmet-mounted sight. Non-British Eurofighters will also have a 27mm Mauser cannon on board, considered by many observers to be the best fighter cannon on the market.
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| From Weapons and technology |
For precision attack, some British and German Eurofighters have been fitted with LITENING-III surveillance and targeting pods, and later Typhoon versions are qualified to use GPS-guided and laser-guided bombs. Expansion of the Typhoon’s ground attack weapon choices is an ongoing process, with planned weapons including long range Storm Shadow and KEPD cruise missiles, medium-range PILUM glide bombs, short-range Brimstone light strike missiles, and ALARM anti-radar missiles.
The Typhoon’s Praetorian (formerly EuroDASS) self-protection suite is designed for 360 degreee coverage, with high automation. The Defensive Aids Computer (DAC) controls a package that includes Towed Radar Decoys, a Missile Approach Warner (MAW), wingtip ECM pods, and a Countermeasures Dispensing System (CMDS). They are integrated with each other, and with the Eurofighter’s radar and IRST.
Technically, the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) is the customer for the Eurofighter project. Eurofighter GmbH is the contractor, with joint ownership by all of the key industrial partners: BAE Systems, EADS, and Finmeccanica. Overall, Eurofighter GmbH cites a total of 100,000 supported jobs in 400 companies across Europe.
Aircraft production work shares were designed to correspond to the number of aircraft ordered under the 1998 Umbrella Contract:
37.5% UK (232). BAE Systems: Front fuselage including foreplanes, canopy, dorsal spine, tail fin, inboard flaperons, rear fuselage section.
30.0% Germany (180) EADS Deutschland: Main center fuselage. Airbus spinout Premium AEROTEC is the main sub-contractor.
19.5% Italy (121). Alenia Aeronautica: Left wing, outboard flaperons, rear fuselage sections
13.0% Spain (87). EADS CASA: Right wing, leading edge slats
The Eurofighter’s 2 EJ200 turbofans deliver 20,000 pounds thrust each in reheat mode, and are manufactured by the EUROJET partnership of Avio (Italy), ITP (Spain), MTU Aero Engines (Germany) and Rolls-Royce (UK).
The Euroradar consortium supplies the ECR-90 CAPTOR radar, and is developing the “E-Scan” AESA successor. It is led by Finmeccanica subsidiary SELEX Sensors and Airborne Systems in Edinburgh, UK (formerly BAE Systems Avionics), and also includes EADS and Spain’s Indra.
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| From Weapons and technology |
The Eurofighter contract was designed to protect the fairness of each participants’ agreed manufacturing work shares, by making it very expensive to back out of committed orders. On the other hand, European defense spending continues to decline due to pressure from welfare state commitments and debt burdens, even as European military operational deployments and their costs have increased. Hence the fractious contract negotiations around Tranche 3, and also the investigation of foreign sell-offs by the member countries.
In June 2009, the partners took a diplomatic way out, splitting Tranche 3 into 2 parts. At the end of July 2009, the 4 partner nations placed a EUR 9 billion Tranche 3A order, which will keep production going for several more years. The table below summarizes the Eurofighter’s evolving production plans, from the original 1985 plan to the 1998 agreement, and then planned and actual orders for each production tranche.
| 1985 | 1998 | Tr 1 | Tr 2 | Plan 3 | Tr 3A | Tr 3B | Actual TL | |
| Britain | 250 | 232 | 53 | 67 | 88 | 40 | 0 | 160 |
| Germany | 250 | 180 | 33 | 79 | 68 | 31 | 37 ? | 143 |
| Italy | 165 | 121 | 28 | 47 | 46 | 21 | 25 ? | 96 |
| Spain | 100 | 87 | 19 | 34 | 34 | 20 | 14 ? | 73 |
| Austria | 15 | 15 | ||||||
| Saudi | 72 | 72 | ||||||
| TL | 765 | 620 | 148 | 299 | 236 | 112 | 76 ? | 559 |
Eurofighter Typhoon to Display Agile Multi-Role Capability
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| From Weapons and technology |
The Eurofighter Typhoon will be making a rare demonstration of its unrivaled agility and engine power with a full weapon load air display at this year’s Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) from the 15th to 17th July at RAF Fairford.
BAE Systems Chief Test Pilot for Combat Air, Mark Bowman, will fly a Warton based development aircraft (IPA 5) on each day of the show and a full scale replica of the aircraft, including full weapon display, will be available for general public access. In addition, the RAF will have a Typhoon on display in the static aircraft park.
IPA 5 will fly in a swing-role configuration, including four Paveway II laser guided bombs, two 1000 ltr fuel tanks, four AMRAAMs (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles) and two ASRAAMs (Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles) and will highlight to the trade and public visitors that the Typhoon is agile regardless of weapon load, pulling up to an impressive 5.5g and in excess of 20 degrees angle of attack.
Mark said: “I am looking forward enormously to displaying at RIAT this year. The aim is simply to demonstrate the Typhoon's power, performance and presence in a truly representative combat load. Different than most other 'clean aircraft' displays, I hope the observer will get a real sense of why Typhoon is not only at the forefront of world combat aviation, but also acknowledge the role of European technology, engineering and ingenuity in producing this 'awesome' aircraft”.
Most air displays are achieved by reducing fuel and weapon loads, however with this display, IPA 5 demonstrates significant weapon carriage and manoeuvrability whilst still able to demonstrate carefree handling for the pilot.
This will be the biggest ever Royal Tattoo for Typhoon and will highlight how Eurofighter Typhoon is the world’s most advanced, new generation multi-role combat jet. Eurofighter will also be sponsoring the crew’s enclosure at the show.
Saturday, 25 June 2011
Next-Gen Eurofighter E-Scan Radar to Enter Service in 2015
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| From Fighter Planes |
After one year of industry funding, the Eurofighter and Euroradar consortia have received renewed strong support from the Partner Nations and have agreed to continue the full scale development programme of the next generation E-Scan radar, confirming the 2015 entry into service date.
Supported by the Eurofighter partner nations: the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and Spain, Eurofighter GmbH and Euroradar began full scale development of the new CAPTOR-E radar in July 2010.
The new radar will have AESA capability that far exceeds any other radar available today and in the foreseeable future and will be developed to satisfy the requirements of the Partner Nations and customers across the globe.
The new radar will retain the key features of the existing market leading Captor-M radar in order to exploit the maturity of the current system, using latest generation technology to provide further advanced performance. The Typhoon’s AESA radar will offer a variety of benefits over M-Scan, including increased detection and tracking ranges, advanced air-to-surface capability and enhanced electronic protection measures.
The new AESA array, larger than the ones available to our competitors thanks to the Typhoon’s voluminous radome, will be fitted on a repositioner that will provide a wider field of regard when compared to those installed or scheduled for introduction on other fighters.
The new radar will offer customers the freedom to retrofit their existing Typhoons when required. The radar will have significant growth potential and both existing and new customers will be able to participate in tailoring the radar to meet their individual operational requirements.
The new AESA Radar is part of the platform and systems enhancement ongoing with Eurofighter to ensure Typhoon leads the way as the world’s best new generation multi-role combat aircraft.'
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Turkey - US vs EU fighters
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| From Weapons and technology |
Turkey, with its plan to purchase 100 fighter jets -- for which it was going to shake hands with Lockheed Martin for $16 billion, but later suspended due to the American aerospace company's refusal to share technology with it -- has also received an offer from Europe, one that includes the sharing of the know-how Turkey wants.
Speaking to Today's Zaman on the condition of anonymity, a leading executive from European Eurofighter -- an aerospace consortium of Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom -- said they agree to fulfill Turkey's demands to that end. “We are ready to share all software codes and critical technologies with Turkey,” the official said. Previously the Lockheed Martin director responsible for the F-35s Turkey initially agreed to buy said that what Turkey wanted was not acceptable because of “financial and cost constraints.” The American company declined to comment on the issue despite Eurofighter's offer.
Earlier in March, Turkey announced that it was putting the planned purchase of 100 F-35 fighter jets from the US on hold because the Pentagon refused to share the source code used in the software designed for the aircraft, as well as the codes that might be used externally to activate the planes. Lockheed is the Pentagon's top supplier by sales. It builds the F-16, F-22 and F-35 fighter aircraft, as well as the Aegis naval combat system and THAAD missile defense.
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| From Weapons and technology |
Without the source code, Turkish engineers wouldn't be able to make any changes to the software that operates the jets. The external flight codes are equally important, if not more so, as they can be used externally to navigate the jets.
Saturday, 21 May 2011
F-35 could be out of japan shopping list
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| From Fighter Planes |
The F-35 stealth jet could be dropped from the list of potential candidates for Japan's next-generation fighter because lengthy delays have cropped up in its development. Instead, the F/A-18 Super Hornet is expected to be picked to replace Japan's F-15 Eagle fleet. The F-35 Lightning 2 stealth fighter has long been considered the front-runner.
That's far outside Japan's goal for taking delivery of its next mainstay fighter by March 2017, which means the F-35 faces being dropped. Japan has expressed serious interest in the F-35, F/A-18 and the European-designed Eurofighter Typhoon.
In April, Tokyo narrowed down its selection to three choices — the F-35, F/A-18 and Eurofighter. At that time, the government briefed developers about the capabilities and specifications Japan is looking for in the new fighter. The Defense Ministry is expected to make a selection by the end of this year after receiving proposals from the manufacturers of the three aircraft by late September.
The new aircraft will replace the F-15, developed by McDonnell Douglas, now part of Boeing Co., as Japan's mainstay fighter and will also replace the aging fleet of F-4 Phantoms, which will be decommissioned.
The U.S. government says the delay in the F-35 development program mainly stems from problems in its operating software program and the aircraft's vertical takeoff and landing capabilities for the U.S. Marine Corps.
The U.S. armed forces plan to procure more than 2,400 of the fighters for $112 million (about ¥9.14 billion) each, a twofold increase from the estimated price in 2001, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
The single-seat and single-engine F-35 is currently under development mainly by major defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. The F-35, which features stealth capability, is to be a multipurpose fighter capable of air support, tactical bombing and air defense missions.
The F-35 is being jointly developed by the United States, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Turkey Norway, Israel and Singapore. Lockheed Martin is the main developer.
The F/A-18 Super Hornet strike fighter, developed by McDonnell Douglas, is a twin-engine multipurpose fighter that can be based on aircraft carriers. Earlier, Japan expressed hope for acquiring the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter developed jointly by Lockheed Martin and Boeing, but the United States dashed that notion by banning its export and by terminating the F-22 program itself.
Thursday, 19 May 2011
2 Billion $ for IAF Mirage-2000 upgrade
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| From Fighter Planes |
Faced with a dual threat from Chinaand Pakistan, which have even come together to manufacture fighter jets, India is really cranking up military aviation contracts. Even as the $4.1 billion deal for 10 American C-17 Globemaster-III strategic airlift aircraft awaits the final nod from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), another major contract is now headed that way.
Long-awaited deal with France for the upgrade of 52Mirage-2000 multi-role fighters in IAF's combat fleet is "finally ready" at a cost of almost Rs 11,000 crore ($2.4 billion).
This is also now going to CCS for approval. Another big contract, which was being progressed simultaneously, for around 450 MICA (interception and aerial combat missiles) systems to arm the upgraded Mirages is also in the final stages now.
This comes after long-drawn negotiations with French companies Dassault Aviation (aircraft manufacturer), Thales (weapons systems integrator) and MBDA (missile supplier), which were "initially asking for much more", said sources.
Under the contract, the first four to six Mirages will be upgraded in France, while the rest will be retrofitted in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) with transfer of technology from the French companies.
This means the overall Mirage upgrade package, including the fire-and-forget MICA missiles and the infrastructure build-up at HAL, will eventually cross the Rs 15,000-crore mark.
It obviously raises questions whether it would be more prudent to simply buy new fighters rather than upgrade older ones at such a huge cost. IAF, however, argues the "retrofitted" Mirages -- with new avionics, radars, mission computers, glass cockpits, helmet-mounted displays, electronic warfare suites, weapon delivery and precision-targeting systems -- would remain "top-notch fighters" for almost two decades more.
With a depleting number of fighter squadrons (each has 16 to 18 jets), down to just 32 from a `sanctioned strength' of 39.5, IAF is going for a mix of upgrades and new inductions to stem its fast-eroding combat edge over even Pakistan.
There is, for instance, the ongoing upgrade of 63 MiG-29s under a $964 million deal inked withRussia in March 2008. Then, India is also progressively inducting the 272 Sukhoi-30MKIs contracted from Russia for around $12 billion. Moreover, the first lot of the around 120 indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft will begin joining the force from end-2013 onwards.
India also wants to ink by December this year the $10.4 billion project for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA), in which only the French Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoons are now left in contention after ejection of the American, Russian and Swedish jets.
On top of this all, India hopes to begin inducting 250-300 advanced stealth fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA), being co-developed with Russia, from 2020 onwards, in what will be its biggest-ever defence project at around $35 billion.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Eurofighter airshow begins in Europe
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| From Weapons and technology |
The 2011 events and exhibitions calendar will be a busy one for Eurofighter who will have a presence in aerospace and defence events across the world. Following successful participation at Aero India in Bangalore and IDEX in Abu Dhabi during February, the Eurofighter Typhoon team have begun the summer season with events in both Turkey and the Czech Republic this week.
Eurofighter has been in attendance this week at IDET 2011 in Brno, Czech Republic, the 11th International Exhibition of Defence and Security Technologies and one of the largest in Central and Eastern Europe. Eurofighter has a stand at the show which will include the latest Helmet Mounted Symbology System (HMSS) and a scale model of the Typhoon.
In addition, Eurofighter have had a significant presence at IDEF 2011, the 10th International Defence Industry Fair in Turkey which was held between 10th and 13th May, 2011 at Tuyap Fair, Convention and Congress Center in Istanbul. The Eurofighter stand included a CAPTOR-E radar, Praetorian DASS pods, a PIRATE/IRST model, a Meteor missile, a Eurofighter Typhoon scale model and a HMSS dynamic display. The stand area included a Eurofighter cockpit demonstrator which was manned by an Alenia Aeronautica test pilot and Italian Air Force pilot.
Eurofighter are attending many shows across Europe this summer in order to highlight the capabilities of the aircraft and the significant benefits brought by participation in the programme. For both Turkey and the Czech Republic, the Typhoon will bring full operational independence as well as full NATO and coalition interoperability to their air forces. In addition, a wide range of industrial partnership opportunities would be developed thanks to the broad spectrum of activities the Eurofighter partner companies have in all sectors of defence, aerospace and security.
India`s effect on world fighter market
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| From Fighter Planes |
India is clearly a key player in shaping the future of Chinese power, globally and in the Pacific. Neither the U.S. nor Europe is planning a lower cost export fighter. Indian leadership when they saw the Chinese role out of the J-20 understood its impact on global markets. This is an advanced aircraft, which will have implications for upgrades for customers of Chinese fighter aircraft.
The Bush and Obama Administrations have seen the Indian fighter contract as a cornerstone of building military relationships as part of the curtailment of China. U.S. commentators have largely interpreted the elimination of the US aircraft as due to the inability of the U.S. to transfer advanced technology to India, the US lost. This is at best a generous interpretation.
These are 40 year old air frames; and the uncertain technology transfer process surrounding the U.S. offerings certainly raised questions in the Indian minds about the ability moving forward to upgrade its new franchise combat aircraft.
Either Eurofighter or Rafale promise a much newer airframe, with upgrade paths. And a merging of India with European combat aircraft expertise could provide a significant boost to exports into the 2nd and 3rd world.
And this puts the Europeans dead center into the question of the evolution of Chinese military capabilities. They will be part of the effort to constrain China, whether they want to or not.
The Indian leadership has made it quite clear that one has to choose between Pakistan and India. And the recent findings from the elimination of Number 1 in the most famous global terrorist organization – Osama Bin Laden – have not helped.
Indians believe that the Pakistani military and government are harboring terrorists and the long stay of Bin Laden in Pakistan certainly seems to be puzzling. The U.S. is engaged in a campaign with no end in Afghanistan, what a colleague called a permanent IDIQ for the US Army; continues raids into Pakistan which both result in, from an Indian point of view, downplaying the significance of India. The elimination of U.S . aircraft is surely part of this process. And also raise questions about the other programs in play, the P-8 and the C-17.
One could note as well the absence of focus in Europe on what it means if Europe and India get joined at the hip on building new fighter aircraft for the indefinite future.
First, Europe or at least part of Europe, now has to back India in any fight with China.
Second, the EU commission’s notion of lifting Arms Embargos against China is certainly challenged by Europe’s own actions.
Thirdly, the balancing of China and India now becomes a core European priority.
Fourth, and how will European labor unions respond to the transfer of the future of European fighter combat construction to India?
And for the U.S. it is also clear that Eurofighter or Rafael will not be the last manned combat aircraft built by Europeans. The European engagement in JSF is significant and will continue.
But now there is an alternative track being generated by the prospects of a Euro-Indian combat air project. Of course, potential is not actuality. And many challenges have to be met on the path of a new combat aircraft coming from the Indian-European partnership, but certainly there is a distinct possibility.
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| From Fighter Planes |
But the Indian decision to downselect European combat aircraft does raises a number of core questions about the potential impacts on the global defense industry. First, whichever European company or consortium wins will be in a key position to build a new manned fighter for Europe itself in the future. There is significant potential for India and Europe to sort through a collaborative effort, which will not just be about SELLING a fighter TO India, but rather reshaping European offerings to Europe in the future.
Second, assuming the Indian collaboration can yield a cost effective and capable product, such a product could become globally viable with significant 2nd and 3rd world sales opportunities.
Third, perhaps the Euro-Indian team could also anchor a version of the SAAB global offerings. SAAB has offered a combat aircraft and a command and control aircraft and would clearly wish to add a UAV to the mix. There is a potential to take the Euro-Indian team into such waters whereby sensors and weapons can be distributed across three platforms, unmanned, manned and C4ISR.
Fourth, the Chinese-Indian competition just ramped up in the aerospace field. Now Europe will have an interesting problem managing the competition. India would clearly like offsets from whomever will win which will embed European aerospace further into a partnership with India. How will China respond to all of this?
Fifth, and not forgetting the United States: Will its offerings in India make it through the Obama Administration’s policy machinery on technology transfer issues. And let us be clear it is not about transferring technology it is about having a timely, transparent and well managed PROCESS to work with partners.
What are the strategic potentials of a Eurofighter in India from an industrial point of view? Much depends on what India is able to do and can re-organize itself to do. If properly organized, India could shape a significant aerospace future and Eurofighter could become a key stimulant to such a future.
The collaboration necessary to make Eurofighter work in India – with significant local support – requires more than simply transferring technology. It requires in effect a European and Indian concurrent engineering process. If such a process can be shaped in the period of constructing, enabling and supporting an Indian Eurofighter then several other possibilities emerge.
An Indian-European congruent engineering capability could shape the future of exports from India to the second and third world combat aircraft markets. Here European engineering excellence combined with Indian manufacturing capabilities and IT excellence could create a global gamechanger. Not exactly Tata Nanos for the aerospace market but you get the point.
The congruence could craft the next generation of manned European combat aircraft as well. Such an aircraft could be designed with the other innovations in mind with significant impact, namely 5th generation aircraft and remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs).
Then the possibility of working a sensor and processing enterprise across manned assets –combat aircraft and command and control aircraft – as well as RPAs can be envisaged. For different clients, different mixes of sensors and communication and management assets could be placed on the combat versus large aircraft versus UAV platforms. Such mix and match possibilities could drive serious innovation.
And finally, EADS as key Eurofighter company has other assets of interest to India, such as Airbus commercial and military Airbus platforms. A400Ms and A330 tankers could be in play, and notably related to the sensor enterprise discussed above. The air tanker is an especially interesting platform to include in the mix because of all the space inside the A330 tanker, which can be used for C2 and related options.
And of course, Airbus, unlike Boeing, has demonstrated a willingness to build overseas final assembly plants. The US after turning down the opportunity to build tankers in Mobile, Alabama, and freighters and future Airbus commercial products may be shocked to see such facilities some day in India.
The French Rafale is one of the two European aircraft downselected in the Indian fighter competition. Although the plane has yet to win an export order, the flagship Dassault combat aircraft has progressed to the point that India as well as Brazil could seriously select it as their next generation combat aircraft.
A major advantage vis a vis Eurofighter is that the Indians already have in their Russian aircraft a higher altitude combat aircraft and in this way similar to Eurofighter. And when the Indians did not select the engine for their light combat aircraft from the consortium supplying the Eurofighter engine, many analysts assumed this meant that Eurofighter would not be downselected in the fighter competition. A GE engine was selected for the LCA.
The Rafale is a multi-mission aircraft closer to the F-16 or F-18 class aircraft than to the F-15 or the Eurofighter. Several Indian sources have made it clear to SLD that the class of aircraft, which the F-16 represents, is in the sweet spot of their needs.
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| From Fighter Planes |
The French Air Force and Navy have evolved the aircraft over the past few years in actual operational settings; as such the aircraft has demonstrated its multi-mission capabilities and ability to be supported in relatively austere settings. There is a common concern of those countries, which have NOT selected Rafale, and that is the belief that the plane is underpowered. And this certainly is not the case with the Eurofighter. Might this mean that the SNECMA engine could be replaced in favor of a GE-Snecma variant yet to be determined? Or do the French and Indians work on a new engine? Or that simply the aircraft continues as it is in the competition and if it wins, continues the course?
A Dassault-Thales team would be at the heart of any alliance with the Indians in shaping the future of Rafale. Thales as a global company could become significantly enhanced in its ability to shape price competitive products with such an alliance, and be well positioned in the next decades both for products in the second and third world as well as working a new basis for R and D and manufacturing in their European operations.
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
MIG Setback
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| From Weapons and technology |
The Indian Defence Ministry’s announcement that the Russian Mig-35 failed to make the short list for the Indian tender to purchase 126 warplanes under the MMRCA (Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) programme was bad news for the Russian Aircraft Building Corporation MIG. But it was not exactly a “bolt from the blue”. The result was expected. Why?
There were six fighter planes competing for the $11 billion tender, which would load aviation industries for years to come. These were the American F/A18E/F Super Hornet by Boeing and F-16IN Super Viper by Lockheed Martin, the French Rafale from Dassault Aviation, the Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon (from EADS), the Swedish Gripen NG (Saab) and the Russian Mig-35.
At the 7th Aero India-2009 international air show in Bangalore, the sponsors described the Mig-35 as “absolutely the best”, as this writer heard from loudspeakers at the Yelokhanka air base. Huge roadside pictures of the Mig bearing the words “MiG – with India, for India!” were erected every 10-15 km on the way to the airfield.
But two years on, at Aero India 2011, the Russian fighter was not even on display. All the competitors were present and made demonstration flights, but not the Mig-35. The Indian ambassador to Moscow was reportedly trying to persuade the Russian firm to send its plane to Bangalore, but they decided not to. Apparently, they already knew that the plane had no chance of winning the MMRCA tender.
What is the explanation for this? A few years ago, the Indians made a revolutionary decision to diversify their arms purchases. They have a point. It is not a good idea to put all one’s eggs in one basket. Who knows what might happen and one cannot depend on a single arms supplier and its potential and ability to provide spares and to modernise equipment supplied earlier.
The equipment used by the Indian army and navy is 80% Russian/Soviet. The problems of the Russian defence industry, which is going through hard times, have an immediate impact on supplies to the Indian armed forces. The Vikramaditya (formerly the Admiral Gorshkov) aircraft carrier is a striking example. India commissioned its modernisation at the Sevmash shipyard, but the ensuing seven-year delay virtually doubled the price.
There are other, subjective factors. Yes, the Mig-35 looks very much like the Mig-29K, which the Indian Defence Ministry bought from Russia for the Vikramaditya carrier. Yet, in reality, it is a totally new plane that can ensure air superiority and precision strikes on land and surface targets without entering the enemy air defence zone. The Mig-35 is equipped to change direction quickly, which gives it a major advantage in a dog fight situation. The cockpit is fitted with LC displays and front window indicators and is suited to night-time operations.
The Mig-35 is equipped to change direction quickly, which gives it a major advantage in a dog fight situation. The plane can carry weapons on nine external suspension points and even act as a refuelling plane. But the designers of the Mig-35 are especially proud of its avionics, which have no peers among European fighters, claims Nikolai Buntin, chief designer of the Mikoyan firm. First, it enables the fighter to operate by day and by night in any weather. Second, its survival chances in air combat are dramatically increased owing to advanced radioelectronic and optical electronic warning and response systems.
Basically, this is what the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Dassault Rafale, which made it to the short list at the tender, can do. Yet the Mig-35 has, in addition, a radar station with an active phased antenna grid developed by the Fazotron-NIIR corporation on the basis of the serially produced Zhuk-ME radar installed on the previous Mig-29K/KUB and Mig-29SMT models. The station tracks 30 air targets and provides for a simultaneous attack on six air and land targets at distances of up to 130 kilometres. The radar can also make maps. Problems arose, however, with that radar.
Fazotron-NIIR is going through hard times. The Indian delegation that studied the situation at the Russian enterprise working on the Mig-35 programme apparently had doubts as to whether the firm could fulfil the future contract on schedule. The approach was applied to the entire Mig-35 plane, which has a robust defence complex that warns the pilot of an attack, allowing him time to dodge an enemy missile or use his own weapons pre-emptively. The French Rafale and the European Typhoon have not yet have produced such a complex commercially, so they will take some time to launch serial production. Given the problems that bedevil the Russian defence industry, the time may be extended and the Indians chose not to expose themselves to yet another problem with the Russian aviation industry.
Indeed, several months ago, the Indian customers set some demands on their partners. Specialists have counted 14 of them, including replacement of some on-board equipment with foreign analogues, increase in the power and lifespan of the plane’s engines, and simplification of servicing and repairs. These requirements were not met on time. One can guess why. Perhaps some Russian aviation industry officials have decided that winning the tender was a foregone conclusion. Given other equal conditions and combat qualities, they thought the Mig-35 would beat its rivals on the “price/efficiency” ratio. Alas, this was not to be.
It is, of course, somewhat consoling that the American F/A18E/F Super Hornet and F-16IN Super Viper did not make it either, even though the Americans devoted a lot of time and money to enable their fighter planes to break into the Indian market. But sensible people look for the reasons for their defeats in themselves.
It is no tragedy that Russia lost the biggest aviation tender of recent years. Our military and technical ties with Delhi will survive it. We will continue working on the BraMos missile, on the fifth-generation fighter, the MTA transport plane, the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), frigates and submarines, including the nuclear-powered Nerpa. We have a good many joint projects. It is important for both sides to draw lessons not only from successes but also from setbacks. As for the Mig-35: it will fly, if not in Indian skies, then in Russian and perhaps in some others.
