India Has Scrapped Tender For 22 Attack Helicopters

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sayar we develop many things only to be rejected by the services at the end we spend a fortune developing then another fortune buying foreign weapons i know people are profiting somewhere in this but it has been repeated too many times and at this point we should be much more indigenous in our weapons needs.
 

Yusuf

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Guys Indian forces want the best and the best did not participate in the RFP. No Apache, no Super Cobra. Its clear that they will be in the next RFP.

Indigenous ones will also come. But we need them for the moment. Thats why the number required is only 22 and not say 200.
 

Yusuf

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A billion dollars is not a small amount.
 

Soham

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not many countries would except terms for a low number like that??
We also need to check if they fit in our required role. Thus the number 22.
If they prove to be ideal, more can always be ordered.
 

Auberon

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We also need to check if they fit in our required role. Thus the number 22.
If they prove to be ideal, more can always be ordered.
You are right. Ariel close combat support is a new role for Army Aviation, it will evolve slowly as the infrastructure and pilots trained for the role also have to be considered. In fact, IIRC prior to induction of Dhruv and this attack chopper tender, one of the mottos of Army Aviation was "Unarmed Into Combat".
 

screwterrorists

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makes sense they canceled if they dont have competitors meeting requirements. its a big order.
its just ironic that they will be delayed because 2 pulled out because of inability to make deadlines.
 

jackprince

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Mate, serving in the Union of India's Armed Forces is an honourable priveledge, not a matter of preferential right. There is no lack of applicants for the army, but only a handful make it through. This is due to the fact that the cream of youth these days simply don't consider the Forces as a career option.
There's also another factor that is information regarding the recruitment process. One of my friend wanted to apply for NDA, but he couldn't because of age-limit, which he crossed by 2 months when by the time he passed 10+2. Another of my friend was told (apparently some moron who was supposed to be an informed person about defence) that he couldn't join because of his heght. He stood 5'5''. But recently he met a distant relative serving in military shorter than him who entered the service after college. Get this we live in a part of country where we hardly, if ever meet an army personnel in person.

I know some of you'd say they should have tried to get more info., but that's not my point. in our culture we steer clear of army - only in movies or in news we what our army is like. Even movies are rare, or so totally weird that is borderline unbelievable. Our youth needs to know more about our defence forces - apart from occassional one page advertisement about them, and recruitment adv. where most is required the tech people, the general public don't get to know about defence system much.


INDIAN government is behaving radically . i don,t know what they want now? comanche?
chau
Comanche was not a heavy attack helicopter, but armed recon copter. It was scrapped in favour of UAVs.


http://news.chennaionline.com/newsi...b24-46ab-aab3-4ab200335847&CATEGORYNAME=INTER

Army apparently wants to get either AH-64D Apache or AH-1Z Viper (latest super cobra after modifications). Don't forget this two have seen battle, survived them and proven their worth. Which the other three contenders didn't.
 

Auberon

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There's also another factor that is information regarding the recruitment process. One of my friend wanted to apply for NDA, but he couldn't because of age-limit, which he crossed by 2 months when by the time he passed 10+2. Another of my friend was told (apparently some moron who was supposed to be an informed person about defence) that he couldn't join because of his heght. He stood 5'5''. But recently he met a distant relative serving in military shorter than him who entered the service after college. Get this we live in a part of country where we hardly, if ever meet an army personnel in person.
Your friend can apply for CDS after grad if he wants to.
As far as the other friend goes, height requirements are different for different categories, certain things enable you for relaxation. If he's overage now but wants to serve, he can try out for TA.
 

VayuSena1

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it would be better if the IA and other armed forces chose our own product then go for imported mall........ LCH and MCH should be developed and funded by our armed forces.
Yes, even though most Indians as I have seen don't have high hopes with LCH, I am optimistic that this would be serving IA and IAF in a couple of years. It took Dhruv 10 years to come into material and now see how useful it is to all our 3 branches. No one can deny that. Therefore, I feel that LCH though might take 2-3 years from today, but we would definitely be getting a pleasant surprise from HAL.
 

screwterrorists

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Yes, even though most Indians as I have seen don't have high hopes with LCH, I am optimistic that this would be serving IA and IAF in a couple of years. It took Dhruv 10 years to come into material and now see how useful it is to all our 3 branches. No one can deny that. Therefore, I feel that LCH though might take 2-3 years from today, but we would definitely be getting a pleasant surprise from HAL.
While I heartily welcome patriotic sentiments and do believe indigenous arms industries need to nurtured at this very crucial stage, the indian army looks for the best.

Quite honestly, right now the LCH is not the best. In fact, I haven't seen a prototype. Dhruv wasn't just accepted out of the blue. It had to prove its capability. Im proud to say it was brilliant. If LCH is able to perform up to and above standards, AWESOME! but the Indian army nor the air force can take chances on whether the LCH will be a success. If it is, im sure they will be more than delighted as it saves them much trouble: costs, repairs, technicians, sale clearance, parts, commonality, etc. If it is not, God i hope not, the army would be stuck.

Plus, the LCH in its operational clearance form at the projected late 2010 would not be very advanced as compared to something acquired today. It will need time to develop, as did the Dhruv. Only now is the WSI variant of Dhruv becoming reality. While the LCH is developed, the army needs a deadly platform to operate.

I apologize for bursting your bubble or perhaps for sounding rude.
But this is the reality.
 

Triton

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Attack chopper RFP cancellation to affect op preparedness: IAF

New Delhi, Apr 01, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- With the government cancelling the tenders for procuring 22 attack helicopters, the Indian Air Force (IAF) today said it would delay acquisition of the platform, affecting it operational preparedness.

"It (RFP cancellation) will delay the acquisition. Any such delay affects our operational preparedness. But I suppose we got to live with this," IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major said here.

Tenders for purchase of 2.5-tonne, twin-engine attack helicopters issued in May 2008 was cancelled last week, as the Defence Ministry had received responses only from three of the six global chopper manufacturers which had been approached for the platforms and the offers had not met the requirements of the IAF.

The RFP was sent originally to Anglo-Italian AgustaWestland, US's Boeing and Bell, French Eurocopter, Russian Kamov and Mil.

"It has been cancelled because some companies could not meet our requirements and others could not respond," Major said on the sidelines of the inaugural flight of the IAF's Boeing Business Jets here.

Fresh tenders for the helicopters would be issued soon, he added, but did not specify a time frame for the RFP.

With this move of the government, the IAF's plans to operationalise the 22 attack helicopters beginning 2010 would be hit considerably and could be delayed beyond 2012, IAF sources had said earlier.

Asked if the IAF was looking at a new Advanced Jet Trainers (AJTs) to hone the skills of rookie fighter pilots in place of the newly inducted British 'Hawks', Major said the Air Force had not stated it was "not continuing" with the BAE System's AJTs. "We have not said we are not continuing with the same type. Have we? It is just that the press has said. We have said nothing on the issue," he said.

The IAF chief said that the Defence Ministry had only issued a Request for Information for an AJT and that it did not mean that the Air Force would place no more orders to augment the 66 Hawks it had purchased from BAE Systems in 2004.

The Hawks deal had an in-built provision for 33 more aircraft, apart from the 66 that was ordered originally.

"It is only a Request for Information (RFI), that's all. So, it doesn't mean anything. So please don't come to conclusions, because you can ask for RFI for anything that you want. It is a daily process with us. So it is not an RFP, as somebody had reported, it is RFI. Actually, it has no significance," Major said.

On the problems with the MiG-29 air-superiority fighter jets, the IAF chief said Russia had an air crash recently with one of their aircraft due to a problem in the tail fin.

Major said the IAF to faced a problem with its fleet of MiG-29s several years ago, but the Air Force had overcome it with due modernisation, though one odd aircraft may still need modifications. The IAF had purchased 66 MiG-29s for three of its fighter squadrons in the late 1980s and the aircraft were upgraded in the beginning of this decade.

"Many years back, we had a similar problem, but we have got ways and means of rectifying it. We have modernisation kits. We have checked out our aircraft. One odd may require a slight modification. Otherwise we have no issue with them. We are well aware of it and we have the necessary fix for this," Major said.

To a query on the violence in Pakistan, the IAF chief said: "We are always prepared. Our levels of preparedness...We raise them, maintain them as and how the situation develops. We are always alert. We are always ready."
 

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