India (Superthread)

[a_majoor]

The Indian army is looking to replace their fleet of BMP's with a modern 8X8 IFV similar to the LAV. In addition to the 30mm cannon and coax machine gun, it also mounts 2 X ATGM and is also amphibious:

http://www.military-today.com/apc/kestrel.htm

Kestrel APC
The new Indian Kestrel 8x8 armored personnel carrier is similar to modern Western designs

Entered service ?
Crew 3 men
Personnel 9 men
Dimensions and weight
Weight 22.5 - 26 t
Length ?
Width ?
Height ?
Armament
Main gun 30-mm cannon
ATGW Javelin
Machine guns 1 x 7.62-mm
Ammunition load
Main gun ?
ATGW ?
Machine guns ?
Mobility
Engine diesel
Engine power 600 hp
Maximum road speed 100 km/h
Amphibious speed on water 10 km/h
Range ~ 600 km
Maneuverability
Gradient 60%
Side slope 40%
Vertical step 0.6 m
Trench 2 m
Fording Amphibious


  The Kestrel 8x8 armored personnel carrier was developed in India by Tata Motors and DRDO. It is also referred as Wheeled Armored Amphibious Platform. It was first publicly revealed in 2014.

  Design of the Kestrel is similar to modern Western armored vehicle of this class. Engine is located at the forward part of the hull while troop compartment is to the rear. It is claimed that this APC is based on a modular design. The Kestrel is intended to operate in the frontline, carrying soldiers into the battle zone. It has adequate protection and firepower.

  This new Indian armored vehicle has an all-welded hull. Seats are attached to the roof for improved blast protection. Fuel tank are placed outside the troop compartment for additional safety.

  The Kestrel is fitted with Norwegian Kongsberg MCT-30-R remotely controlled turret, armed with American 30-mm Mk44 Bushmaster II cannon. This weapon is used on a number of modern armored vehicles, such as Bionix IFV, CV9030 IFV, Guarani APC, Pandur II APC and some other. It is possible to convert this cannon to a 40-mm caliber. Only barrel and few parts have to be changed. This cannon fires Armor-Piercing Incendiary (API), High-Explosive Incendiary (HEI) and Armor-Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot Tracer (APFSDS-T) rounds. This cannon has effective range of 3 000 m. There is also a secondary 7.62-mm machine gun. The Kongsberg turret allows the installation of Javelin anti-tank guided missiles along the cannon.

  A prototype that was revealed in 2014 also had a remotely controlled weapon station with 12.7-mm machine gun and one more Javelin launcher. It was mounted on top of the turret roof. Production APCs can be fitted with various weapon stations and turrets, depending on customer requirements.

  This new Indian armored personnel carrier has a crew of three and carried 9 fully-equipped troops. Infantrymen egress and dismount via rear power-operated ramp. Also there are roof-hatches for emergency exit. Troops are provided with firing ports and associated vision blocks to fire their individual weapons.
 
The Kestrel has high power-to-weight ratio for mountainous terrain. It is powered by a turbocharged diesel engine, developing 600 hp. Engine is located at the forward part of the hull. This armored personnel carrier is fully amphibious. On water it is propelled by two water jets.

 

[CougarKing]

A different breed of radicals who might be just as suspicious of and belligerent toward India's western trading partners as they are of Pakistan...

Reuters

Hardline Indian Hindus become Modi's enemies from within

By Andrew MacAskill and Rupam Jain Nair

RISHIKESH, India (Reuters) - In an ashram near the Ganges river in the Himalayan foothills, Indian priest-turned-politician Sakshi Maharaj mimes rowing a boat to illustrate what will happen if Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government ignores Hindu nationalist demands."Modi will have to be a boatman: one oar must focus on the economy and the other must concentrate on the Hindu agenda," says Maharaj, clad in saffron robes and sitting cross-legged on a bed.

He twirls his bejeweled fingers in the air, explaining that otherwise the boat will spin in circles.The Hindu priest, who has been charged with rioting and inciting communal violence, is the embodiment of hardline religious elements in Modi's party whose strident behavior is dragging on the government's economic reform agenda.

In recent months, Maharaj has created uproar by describing Mahatma Gandhi's Hindu nationalist assassin as a patriot, saying Hindu women should give birth to four children to ensure the religion survives and by calling for Hindus who convert to Islam and Christianity to be given the death penalty.For the first time since the election last year, some lawmakers in Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are rebelling against his focus on mending the economy and governance at the expense of promoting Hinduism.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[George Wallace]

The radicals in India have been flying under the radar for quite a few years now, with the focus of most nations being on Al Qaeda, and now ISIS/ISIL

 

[CougarKing]

An update on the Indian Navy's expansion to counter China's PLA-N:

From Reuters via Rappler

India clears $8B warships project to counter Chinese navy
It comes just months after ordering new submarines to close the gap with the Chinese navy in the Indian Ocean

Sanjeev Miglani, Reuters

Published 9:45 AM, Feb 19, 2015

NEW DELHI, India – India's government has cleared a $8 billion plan to build the country's most advanced warships, defense sources said, just months after ordering new submarines to close the gap with the Chinese navy in the Indian Ocean.

Since taking over last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has signaled his resolve to build a strong military after years of neglect that military planners say has left India unable to fight a two-front war against China and Pakistan.


(...SNIPPED)

The Times of India said the government had also approved 6 nuclear-powered submarines for a further $8 billion. The defense source said he had no knowledge of the nuclear submarine program, which traditionally has been kept under wraps.

The frigates in a program called Project-17A will be built at government shipyards in Mumbai and Kolkata, in a boost for Modi's Make in India campaign to build a domestic defense industrial base and reduce dependence on expensive imports that have made India the world's biggest arms market.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[a_majoor]

More on Indian radicalization, only this time it seems to be the Hindus against the Christians. There are plenty of religious divides that could potentially hamstring India, the danger suggested here is their Prime Minister may be a force that encourages or fails to moderate radicalism, rather than a force against radicals:

http://www.the-american-interest.com/2015/03/30/which-modi-will-we-see/

Which Modi Will We See?

In an important article in The Hindu, an Indian Christian recounts how for the first time in his life, he feels genuinely threatened in his homeland for his religious beliefs:


The new war on Christianity is counterproductive, and strategically stupid. It will not only harm the image of India globally, it puts into jeopardy the millions of Hindus living peacefully and happily in the U.S., Britain, Europe, Canada and Australia. I have already begun to read about hate graffiti sprouting up on Hindu temples in the U.S. The NRIs who funded the Modi campaign will not be pleased about the damage to India’s image just as they are beginning to be proud of the country’s emerging global position. Nor will they appreciate the backlash that might affect them sooner or later, as news spreads to churches abroad about the vandalising of Christian churches, the rape of nuns in Kolkata and Orissa, and the burning down of a Delhi church. […]

I opted, very decisively, to stay in India, in the 1970s, when most of my Hindu friends from university fled to the U.S., Canada or Australia in search of a materially better life. I stayed because I am Indian. This is my home. And I, too, as retired IPS officer Julio Ribeiro said in a recent article, feel threatened for the first time in my life, in my country.

Some have been calling Narendra Modi the “Indian Erdogan”. Like Turkey’s Erdogan, Modi represents a mix of opposition to an entrenched, secularized ‘deep state’ that involves elements of liberal reform, along with, perhaps, a religiously based identity politics with a strong authoritarian streak. It is not yet at all clear whether the same grandiosity and intolerance that has become such a danger to Turkey’s economic and political development will appear in India. But the treatment of religious minorities is an important indicator, and one of several that we will be watching.

“Whither India?” is one of the most important questions in the world today; a big part of the answer will unfold as we see how Modi the modernizing liberal and Modi the Hindutva activist manage the tensions between them.

 

[a_majoor]

India's defence bureaucracy makes ours seem like a model of speed and efficiency:

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htsub/20150407.aspx

Submarines: Indian Scorpene Scandal Sizzles
   
April 7, 2015: India's effort to build six French Scorpene submarines under license has been delayed once again. That previous delay was in late 2014 when India said the first Scorpene would enter service in late 2016. Before that (2012) it was announced that the first Scorpene sub would not be ready until 2015. The most recent delays (caused by problems procuring components) will delay the first Scorpene until 2017, or later. The problem is mainly poor management by the Indian firms building the Scorpenes. One of the worst examples of this occurred in 2013 with the departure of ten Spanish technical advisors for the Scorpenes. Their contract expired at the end of March 2013 and, despite the expiration date being well known, Indian bureaucrats were unable to get a new contract in place on time. Similar avoidable delays have occurred several times already and the price has gone up with each delay.

Building the subs in India is very important because it will leave India with thousands of workers and specialists experienced in building modern submarines. But it appears that all this will be wasted because the defense procurement bureaucrats seem to have learned nothing. These officials already caused numerous delays and cost overruns during negotiations to build these diesel-electric submarines. The bureaucrats mismanaged this deal to the extent that it is now more than five years behind schedule. But it is even more behind schedule if you count the several years the Indian bureaucrats delayed it even getting started. The purchase contract was finally signed in 2005. The delays and mismanagement have so far increased the cost of the $4 billion project by 25 percent (to $834 million per sub).

In contrast Malaysia ordered two Scorpenes in 2002. These were built in Spain and France and delivered seven years later. The original plan was to have the first Indian built Scorpene delivered at the end of 2012. But now, because of problems getting the construction facilities and skilled workmen ready, the first Scorpene won't be delivered until 2017 (at the earliest), with one each year after that until all six are delivered. That schedule is subject to change and probably will, for the worse.

After the bureaucrats and politicians dithered for nearly a decade India finally signed a deal to buy the Scorpene in 2005, The delays led to the French increasing prices on some key components and India has problems in getting production going on their end. The first Scorpene was to be built in France, with the other five built in India. While some problems were expected (India has been doing license manufacturing of complex weapons for decades), the defense ministry procurement bureaucrats never ceased to amaze when it came to delaying work or just getting in the way.

The Scorpenes are similar to the Agosta 90B subs (also French) that Pakistan recently bought. The first of the Agostas was built in France, but the other two were built in Pakistan. The Scorpenes purchase was seen as a response to the Pakistani Agostas. The Scorpene are a more recent design, the result of cooperation between French and Spanish sub builders. The Agosta is a 1,500 ton (surface displacement) diesel-electric sub with a 36 man crew and four 533mm (21 inch) torpedo tubes (with 20 torpedoes and/or anti-ship missiles carried). The Scorpene is a little heavier (1,700 tons), has a smaller crew (32), and is a little faster. It has six 533mm torpedo tubes and carries 18 torpedoes and/or missiles. Both models can be equipped with an AIP (air independent propulsion) system. This enables the sub to stay under longer, thus making the sub harder to find. AIP allows the sub to travel under water for more than a week, at low speed (5-10 kilometers an hour). Two of the Indian Scorpenes are to have Indian made AIP installed.

All this ineffective urgency is in play because India's submarine fleet is dying of old age and new boats are not going to arrive in time. It's not like this was a surprise, but the Indian defense procurement bureaucracy has long been noted as slow, sloppy, and stubborn, especially in the face of demands that it speed up. The twisted tale of the tardy submarines is particularly painful.

The plan was to have a dozen new subs in service by the end of the decade. At present, there will be (with a bit of luck) three or four of them in service by then. The procurement bureaucracy is still seeking a supplier for the second batch of six diesel-electric subs. This second six probably won’t even begin arriving by the end of the decade. It's hard to say, although the defense procurement nabobs speak of "fast tracking" this project, but long-time observers are not expecting speed.

Because of the Scorpene delays, some of the elderly Type 209s are being kept in service (but not allowed out to sea much) for several more years. Meanwhile several of the older Kilos have reached retirement age. Thus, by the time the first Scorpene arrives in 2017, India will only have five or six working subs. India believes it needs at least 18 non-nuclear subs in service to deal with Pakistan and China.

The hulls of all six Scorpenes have been completed, but filling those subs up with all the necessary equipment is an even more difficult task. Moreover, India insists that some of that equipment be manufactured in India, and that introduces even more complications and delays. Indian firms have a spotty track record in this area.

India is also building and buying nuclear subs. India received a Russian Akula nuclear attack (SSN) sub last year. This one is on lease with the option to buy. Indian SSNs and SSBNs (missile carrying boats) are under development, as they have been for decades.

While India was largely concerned with the Pakistani navy when the Scorpene contract was negotiated and signed, China is now seen as the primary adversary. The Chinese subs are not as effective as the Pakistani boats, both because of less advanced technology and less well trained crews. Pakistan noted this and recently ordered eight late-model Chinese subs. India could use their Scorpenes to confront any Chinese attempt to expand their naval presence into the Indian Ocean. Thus the delays and cost overruns with the Scorpenes are causing quite a lot of commotion in India. But at the rate India is going, it will take some 15 years of construction before all six of the Scorpenes are in service. At that point, India would have about a dozen subs (including nuclear powered models under construction). China will have over 60 boats, about 20 percent of them nuclear. China does have a lot for its warships to deal with off its coasts and in the Western Pacific but it does retain the capability of putting more subs off the Indian coast than can the Indian Navy.

 

[CougarKing]

Diplomat

Sea Trials of Indian Navy's Deadliest Sub Going 'Very Well'
However, the Indian Navy still lacks a capable ballistic missile with which to arm the INS Arihant.

Sea trials of India’s first indigenously developed ballistic missile nuclear submarine (SSBN) are going “very well”, Indian Navy chief of staff Admiral RK Dhowan observed last week on the sidelines of a naval aviation conference, according to local media reports.

The 6,000-ton nuclear-powered submarine, INS Arihant, began sea-trials  in the Bay of Bengal on December 16, 2014  (the day Pakistan formally surrendered to India in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 that lead to the creation of Bangladesh). The sea-trials are scheduled to last nine months, followed by extensive weapons testing on board of the vessel lasting at least an equal amount of time. The Arihant‘s reactor already went critical in August 2013.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[a_majoor]

More on the Indian Navy's procurement woes:

http://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2015/05/08/cannibalism-in-the-indian-navy/

Cannibalism in the Indian Navy

by Stephen Green

May 8, 2015 - 1:31 pm

It isn’t quite as bad as the headline suggests:

The new Russian built Indian aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, was supposed to be fully operational by mid-2014 and it was, sort of. What was missing was its primary anti-aircraft missile system; the Israeli LRSAM/Barak 8. Also missing was the short range AK-630 Russian made six-barrel 30mm close-in weapon systems (CIWS), for defense against anti-ship missiles. A year later (Vikramaditya arrived from Russia in January 2014) a temporary solution was found. A 32 year old Indian frigate is about to be retired and had an older version of Barak installed a decade ago. This Barak system will be removed and installed in Vikramaditya as will two AK-630 systems from the frigate. It will likely take at least a year to move the Barak and AK-630 systems from the Godavari class frigate to the Vikramaditya. Long range anti-aircraft missiles are a major part of the carrier air defenses and Barak 1 will do until Barak 8 is ready.

Ya do what ya gotta — and I guess it’s some small comfort that we’re far from the only country with a broken procurement system.


Read more: http://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2015/05/08/cannibalism-in-the-indian-navy/#ixzz3apU97hkP

 

[a_majoor]

India's navy orders another aircraft carrier. This one is close to the size of the UK's "Queen Elizabeth" class:

http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/07/india-will-build-65000-ton-aircraft.html

India will build a 65000 ton aircraft carrier with catapult launch

The size and specifications of the Indian Navy's future aircraft carrier have been officially acknowledged. The navy has written to at least four major global shipbuilders, asking for proposals to help in designing a 65,000 tonne carrier that would be about 300 metres long.

The letter of request, issued by the Indian Navy on Wednesday, specifies the carrier should be capable of speeds greater than 30 knots (56 km per hour). However, it is silent on whether it prefers nuclear propulsion, or conventional diesel or gas turbines.

The navy's letter states the carrier will embark 30-35 fixed wing combat aircraft, and about 20 rotary wing aircraft (helicopters). It would have a catapult to launch fixed wing aircraft, which would make the carrier a "catapult launched but arrested landing", or CATOBAR vessel. For India's naval aviators, this would involve a major change from a long tradition of getting airborne from a "ski-jump" at the end of the flight deck.

While not mandating an "electromagnetic aircraft launch system" (EMALS), the navy has specifically mentioned it as an option. The United States Navy's latest carrier, the 100,000-tonne USS Gerald R Ford, which will be commissioned next year, is the world's only current carrier featuring EMALS.

There was an agreement between the USA and India for the USA to cooperate with India on their aircraft carriers and for the USA to allow access to some carrier technology.

France's Charles de Gaulle carrier has a steam catapult launched but arrested landing system and is about 42500 tons, 261 meters long and goes at up to 27 knots

UK HMS Queen Elizabeth is 70000 tons, 280 meters long and goes up to 25 knots. It has no catapult and will use aircraft with jump jets (F35 variant)

The navy's letter has gone out to US company, Lockheed Martin; UK company, BAE Systems, French shipbuilder, DCNS, and Rosoboronexport, the Russian export umbrella agency.

The letter pertains to the vessel that is commonly referred to as the "indigenous aircraft carrier number 2", or IAC-2. Currently, Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) is building IAC-1, a 40,000-tonne carrier named INS Vikrant, which is scheduled to be commissioned in 2018.

INS Viraat will supplement INS Vikramaditya, the 45,000-tonne carrier bought from Russia, which was formerly named the Gorshkov. Another, older carrier, INS Viraat, is expected to be retired by the end of this decade.

Experts have begun evaluating the implications of the navy's specifications. It is pointed out that asking for 25-30 fighters and 20 helicopters on a 65,000 tonne, 300-metre-long carrier would limit the size of the aircraft on the ship. If heavy fighters are to be a part of the ship's complement, it would need to be bigger; if the MiG-29K is retained, it would need a foldable nose to occupy less hangar space.

It is also pointed out that specifying a speed in excess of 30 knots eliminates certain forms of propulsion, notably an all-electric drive, which is environment friendly and economical.

 

[CougarKing]

More on India's new carriers, plus a picture of the launching of the INS Vikrant 2 from June. The article is on her slightly larger sister ship, the future INS Vishal, though.

Diplomat

Revealed: Details of India's Second Indigenous Aircraft Carrier
New details emerge about India’s second indigenously built aircraft carrier.

India’s second indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC-2), the INS Vishal, the second Vikrant-class carrier, is slowly taking shape. Recently, the Indian Navy outlined the specifications of this carrier in a letter of request issued to shipbuilders worldwide. Many of the details, including the tonnage and the physical dimensions of the carrier, are in line with older expectations. For example, the Vishal will displace 65,000 tonnes—25,000 tonnes more than the first indigenous carrier, the INS Vikrant.

The Indian Navy’s Naval Design Bureau clarified other features: the carrier will travel at 30 knots, a hair above the Vikrant, and come in at a length of 300 meters, longer than the 262 meter Vikrant. The Navy’s letter of request also outlines plans for the carrier to field between 30 and 35 fixed-wing combat aircraft and 20 rotary wing aircraft. In many ways, though this carrier will be the second in the indigenous Vikrant-class, it represents a significant upgrade over the first carrier, which was bogged down in delays ahead of its successful undocking in early June 2015. The Vishal and Vikrant, along with the modified Kiev-class Vikramaditya, will form the carrier backbone of India’s Navy, and, with the decommissioning of the INS Viraat, the longest-serving aircraft carrier in the world, the total Indian Navy carrier count will stand at three.

(...SNIPPED)

Note the distinctly non-Russian design, courtesy of Italy's Fincatieri.

Pics courtesy of Bager1968 from the Warships1 forum.

 

[CougarKing]

India's inability to fight a two-front war against both China and Pakistan is a problem exacerbated by India's current fighter acquisition troubles:

Diplomat

India’s Fighter Acquisition Troubles
As the Indian Air Force reduces the FGFA requirement, its fighter capacity continues to shrink.

By Daniel Darling
September 01, 2015

Confronted with shrinking combat aircraft capacity, the Indian Air Force appears willing to swap projected numbers on paper for actual fighters on hand. At least, that is the message being conveyed by IAF brass as they once again trim their fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) requirement.

Reports in the local media indicate that the IAF has reduced the scope of its outlined FGFA procurement down to just three squadrons of fighters (roughly 18 aircraft apiece), plus a handful of extra aircraft for training purposes. This would place the total requirement at around 65 Russian-built T-50 fighter jets, far less than what was envisioned back in the middle of the previous decade when the unit figure was placed at 214 aircraft. This latest reduction also represents the second time the IAF has downsized its requirement, with the first coming in October 2012 when the service announced a reduction from 214 fighters down to 144.

Once again the IAF finds itself in the midst of a major fighter procurement project that promises a lot, delivers nothing in the short term, and is subject to localized industrial work share and advanced technologies that serve to both complicate and potentially derail negotiations

(...SNIPPED)

The Indian government has mandated that the IAF field a 750-unit jet fighter fleet for the purpose of conducting a two-front war if necessary against neighboring rivals, China and Pakistan.

This would require 42 squadrons to be stood up and operationally ready.

Instead, the IAF is able to field 32-34 squadrons on paper, with India’s Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Defence noting this past April that due to attrition, obsolescence, poor serviceability rates, and ongoing upgrades to the combined fighter fleet, in actuality the IAF has just 25 functional fighter squadrons on hand.

As if those numbers are not stark enough for India’s defense planners, around 40 percent of the roughly 580 fighters in the IAF fleet consist of aging Soviet-legacy MiG-21s and MiG-27s slated for retirement within a decade.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[CougarKing]

Another major sale from the US to India:

UPI

India inks deal for Apache, Chinook helicopters
Boeing says India has signed a contract for the purchase of Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and Apache attack helicopters
By Richard Tomkins  |  Sept. 30, 2015 at 7:05 AM

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- India's Ministry of Defense has finalized a commercial direct sales order with Boeing for production, training and support of Apache and Chinook helicopters.

Under the order, India is to receive 22 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters and 15 CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, Boeing said.

The order for the Apaches, however, did not include engines, Apache engines, weaponry and radar, which will come under a U.S. Foreign Military Sales deal, according to the Indian publication Business Standard.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[CougarKing]

An update on the INS Arihant: more deterrence against Pakistan?

Diplomat

India’s Deadliest Sub to Test-Fire Missiles
The Indian Navy’s INS Arihant will undergo missile tests this month.

L1001025
By Franz-Stefan Gady
October 15, 2015

After successfully completing sea trials, the Indian Navy’s first indigenously developed ballistic missile nuclear submarine (SSBN), INS Arihant, is expected to begin missile tests this month The New Indian Express reports.

Once this month’s missile tests are successfully completed, the submarine is slated to enter service with the Indian Navy during the International Fleet Review held in the port city of Visakhapatnam in February 2016, according to an Indian defense official.

The first of two missile tests scheduled for this month will involve the Nirbhay long-range subsonic cruise missile–India’s answer to the U.S.’s Tomahawk and Pakistan’s Babur missile–and developed by the Defense Research & Development Organization (DRDO).

(...SNIPPED)

 

[a_majoor]

The Indian navy takes delivery of a new conventional submarine. While the project has gone over time and budget, they are forging ahead to introduce this series into the fleet:

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/submarine-project-scorpene-sea-trials-today/

Submarine Project Scorpene sea trials today
The sea trials are likely to continue for the next 10 months until the commissioning of the submarine, which is slated for September 2016.

Kalvari, the first of , will be set afloat on Thursday at the Naval Dockyards in Mumbai. The event is significant given that it completes the building of the much-awaited platform and kickstarts the beginning of sea trials.

The sea trials are likely to continue for the next 10 months until the commissioning of the submarine, which is slated for September 2016.

Defence ministry sources said the delivery schedule of the submarine will be adhered to. Scorpenes, the Project- 75 submarines, are built by state-owned Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) along with French DCNS. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had in April witnessed the undocking of the vessel in a ceremony at Mumbai. Six of these submarines are to be delivered to the Navy by 2020.

While the project has been running behind schedule, the Navy is in dire need of submarines in light of recent accidents which have reduced the fleet to a handful of conventional submarines.

- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/submarine-project-scorpene-sea-trials-today/#sthash.8cmyJwcQ.dpuf

and a bit on how this sub's AIP works:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorp%C3%A8ne-class_submarine

Air-independent power[edit]

The French Module d'Energie Sous-Marine Autonome (MESMA) system is being offered by the French shipyard DCN for the Scorpène-class submarines. It is essentially a modified version of their nuclear propulsion system with heat being generated by ethanol and oxygen. A conventional turbine power plant powered by steam generated from the combustion of ethanol and stored oxygen at a pressure of 60 atmospheres. This pressure-firing allows exhaust carbon dioxide to be expelled overboard at any depth without an exhaust compressor.

Each MESMA system costs around $50–60 million. As installed on the Scorpènes, it requires adding a new 8.3 metres (27 ft), 305 tonne hull section to the submarines, and results in a submarine able to operate for greater than 21 days under water, depending on variables such as speed.[citation needed]

Some of the submarines built for the Indian Navy will have Phosphoric acid fuel cell powered AIP modules designed by Naval Materials Research Laboratory of Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation.[8][9]

DCNS also is developing a second-generation hydrogen fuel cell AIP modules for future Scorpène models.

 

[CougarKing]

PAK-FA for India?

Diplomat via the Russia Insider

Russia Close to a Massive Deal to Supply 5th Generation Fighters to India

India is close to signing on to a $35 billion deal to buy 154 Russian-made PAK FA T-50 fighters - some of which would be assembled in India
Franz-Stefan Gady Subscribe to Franz-Stefan Gady
(The Diplomat)
11 minutes ago

A collaboration contract for joint work and delivery of 154 Perspective Multirole Fighter (PMF), the derivative Indian version of the PAK FA T-50 fifth generation fighter jet, is expected to finally be signed during the Indo-Russian summit this December, The Financial Express reports.

The agreement, which already was supposed to have been signed this July, includes a fixed order of 154 aircraft, a definite work share commitment, and a detailed order of the number of single- versus double-seat PMF (aka Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft) fighter planes. According to the draft agreement, the aircraft will be built in India, but all of the components will be manufactured in Russia.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[a_majoor]

I have to wonder about this. India has signalled displeasure with the PAK-FA itself and possible work sharing arrangements between India and Russia in the past. The Russians themselves have put the project on the back burner (the initial order for 50 was put on hold and there are only 12 in service; the various prototype and pre production craft).

If this turns out like a previous project where the Russians supplied an aircraft carrier (with a significant ballooning of price and delivery time), then the Russians are likely looking for ways to milk a lot of cash out of their frustrated client.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

I have to wonder about this. India has signalled displeasure with the PAK-FA itself and possible work sharing arrangements between India and Russia in the past. The Russians themselves have put the project on the back burner (the initial order for 50 was put on hold and there are only 12 in service; the various prototype and pre production craft).

If this turns out like a previous project where the Russians supplied an aircraft carrier (with a significant ballooning of price and delivery time), then the Russians are likely looking for ways to milk a lot of cash out of their frustrated client.

That or they are looking for a new partner to supply certain components since the falling out with the Ukrainians. 

 

[a_majoor]

This is actually an answer posted in a thread in NextBigFuture. This is one of those ideas which is far too sensible to taken seriously by the powers that be:

http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/11/china-j31-stealth-fighter-knockoff-of.html

Here's what another Bharat (his real name) says about Chinese carrier ops and why Pakistan isn't India's real threat:

“As far as I know, no combat aircraft has actually flown off a sailing carrier, a Chinese carrier,” Karnad said. To the contrary, he said, Chinese pilots are still crashing regularly when they try to land on a simulated carrier deck ashore — something much shorter than a conventional runway but still far more manageable than the rolling, pitching deck of a ship.

Nevertheless, Karnad considers China the No. 1 threat to India in the long-term. It’s not Pakistan, with which India has fought at multiple wars, declared and otherwise. Pakistan lacks the economic base to sustain a military that can threaten its much larger neighbor, he argued. India would do better reaching out to Pakistan and reopening trade along British-era rail lines and co-opting Islamabad instead of confronting it.

“We fixate on the wrong threat… looking in the wrong way at Pakistan when the real threat is China,” Karnad told the audience at Carnegie. As a result, “you really do not have the kind of capabilities to thwart and deter China from the larger design of containing India.” Karnad’s referring to China’s so-called “string of pearls,” a series of agreements and investments in countries from East Africa to Sri Lanka to Burma.

http://breakingdefense.com/2015/11/indian-machiavelli-urges-confronting-china/

It should of course be remembered that India and China fought a war that New Delhi lost. Many Indians haven't forgotten this and see the PRC has its chief rival in Asia. Pakistan are inconsequential minnows in the long run, India's real enemy comes from its north. That's something our own Borat would do well to remember.

 

[CougarKing]

While rival Pakistan has to make do with their prop-driven Orions, India's first Poseidon squadron enters service:

Diplomat

India Inducts First Squadron of Anti-Submarine Warfare Plane

India’s defense minister officially inducted eight Boeing P-8I Poseidon aircraft into the Indian Navy last week.
L1001025
By Franz-Stefan Gady
November 17, 2015

On November 13, India’s Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar officially inducted the Indian Navy’s first squadron of Boeing P-8I Poseidon aircraft at Rajali Naval Air Station in southern India, about 70 kilometers off Chennai.

According to a press release from the Indian Navy, the Indian defense minister flew in on board a P-8I Poseidon aircraft prior to attending the official ceremony. “During the flight, Shri Parrikar was given an exposure to various sensors and other sophisticated state-of-the-art equipment and their capabilities,” the press statement reads.

In his remarks, Parrikar pointed out that even during the extensive trial and testing phases the P-8I aircraft had “achieved a number of operational milestones” including “participation in the search effort for Malaysian Airlines Flight MH 370, the first successful firing of air launched Harpoon Block II missile in the world, torpedo firing, and active participation in major naval exercises.”

The new unit — designated Indian Naval Air Squadron 312-A — will be permanently based at Rajali Naval Air Station.

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[CougarKing]

More subs for India:

Defense News

India May Order Additional Scorpenes
By Vivek Raghuvanshi 12:25 p.m. EST December 3, 2015

NEW DELHI — The Indian Navy is considering buying additional Scorpene submarines to top an earlier six-vessel order, Indian Navy Chief Adm. Robin Dhowan said at an annual news conference here Thursday.

Though he did not give any details on the number of additional French-made Scorpene diesel-electric attack submarines being considered, a senior Indian Navy official said, there is a requirement for three additional Scorpenes. A formal note to request the additional submarines has not been submitted to the Ministry of Defence.

The Navy's Scorpene project itself is behind schedule by more than four years.

Under the 2005 deal, the first submarine was to have been inducted in 2012 but now has been delayed until December 2016. Earlier, the Indian government had threatened to impose penalties if the submarines were not inducted on a schedule, with the first one to be inducted in August 2015 and the remaining five every six months following.

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