Mighty India Power

The chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) K Radhakrishnan has said India is preparing to launch its second moon mission 'Chandrayaan-2' by 2013. "The Chandrayaan-2 we are planning to have in the year 2013 and by that time we should have our GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) flying with the Indigenous Cryogenic Engine Stage that's the target with which we are working," Radhakrishnan told reporters in Kolkata. Radhakrishnan said some snags have been identified in flight-testing of the Indigenous Cryogenic Engine, which is being analysed. He said this would be sorted out in about a year. "A flight testing of the Indigenous Cryogenic Engine Stage, in April, and as you know we had some snags there. We went through a very detailed analysis as to what happens and why it happens and we have come to a couple of scenarios in which such a snag would have occurred and our immediate task is to confirm that through testing on the gro...

The second of the three follow on Talwar class stealth frigates being built by Yantar Shipyard, Kaliningrad, Russia was ceremoniously launched on 23 Jun 10 by Mrs Ramma Dewan, wife of Vice Admiral D K Dewan, the Vice Chief of Naval Staff. The launching ceremony was attended by Governer of Kaliningrad Region, The Commander-in-Chief of Baltic Fleet of Russian Federation and other senior dignitaries from the Russian side in addition to Senior Indian Navy officers posted in Russia. The frigate, christened ‘Tarkash’ during the ceremony, belongs to the elite Talwar Class of ships, three of which namely Talwar, Trishul and Tabar are already in service with the Indian Navy. The first follow on ship, christened ‘Teg’ was launched on 27 Nov 09. These frigates have been constructed to suit Indian Navy’s specific requirements and are highly potent platforms. Their mission in Navy spans the entire spectrum of Naval warfare, viz Air, Surface and Sub-surface. The ships are capable of operating in B...

With growing importance being placed on climate change and mitigation strategies, India's space agency ISRO is in the process of launching a satellite to study greenhouse gases, "In the next 2-3 years, ISRO will carry out the first of the launches which will be dedicated to (studying) greenhouses gases like carbondioxide, carbon monoxide, nitric oxide and things of that kind," Planning Commission Member and former chief of ISRO, Dr K Kasturirangan told reporters here today. The satellite was in design stages and the Ministry of Environment and Forests, which will play a substantial role in the funding of this project, has asked ISRO if the measurements relating to the gases could be made globally. "The US and Japan have already put such satellites and the idea is to see if India can look at the greenhouse gases using satellite sensors," Kasturirangan said.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is likely to launch in September a nano satellite being built by students of SRM University in Chennai, a senior official said on Saturday. "The satellite is being built by the students. It has to be tested before it can be included as a payload. Perhaps in September, the satellite may be launched," V S Hegde, Scientific Secretary ISRO said. The space agency is also planning soon to launch Cartosat, a cartography satellite, he told reporters on the sidelines of Indian Youth Science Congress, which was held at SRM University campus. On the failure of ISRO's GSLV that flew with indigenously developed cryogenic engine in April this year, Hegde said "The failure analysis committee is looking into the causes. The committee is expected to submit its report soon".

India's first indigenous Naval Light Combat Aircraft, the LCA (Navy) NP1 is scheduled to roll out from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) design hangar on July 6. The Defence Ministry has said that the aircraft will be an important milestone for the prestigious Naval Program of Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), Bangalore. The Chief of The Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Verma would be the Chief Guest at the function. 'Roll-Out' is a significant milestone when the aircraft is brought out of the build hangar, where the aircraft is actually assembled part by part, ready for the phase of systems integration tests leading to Ground runs, taxi trials and flight. Once the ground based tests are completed, the NP1 is expected to fly by the end of this year and the NP2 is likely to fly by the end of 2011. The aircraft, with state of the art technologies and punch, is designed to operate from the future Indigenous aircraft car...

Anti-tank missile Nag on Sunday was successfully test-fired from the Army's Field Firing Range at Shamirpet, near here. This time it hit a moving object. Last Sunday (June 6), it destroyed a stationary target and proved its capability of destroying a target at a close range of 500 metres in three seconds. This Sunday, Nag smashed the moving target in 3.2 seconds after its launch at 10.30 a.m., a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) official told TheHindu. The test-firing was conducted by missile scientists from the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) after the Army requested for a close range launch on a moving target. The missile punched a hole as it pierced through the target, which was specially developed by Hyderabad-based Delta Technologies in collaboration with DRDL. Director of Research Centre Imarat (RCI), S.K. Ray, RCI Associate Director S.K. Chaudhuri, Director of Missile Systems Quality Assurance Agency Commodore S. Patel and other DRDO...

India’s fighter strength has been declining in the recent years, as the MiG-21s that comprises the bulk of its fleet are lost in crashes, or retired due to age and wear. While the buzz might be around the multi-billion dollar medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) deal for the purchase of 126 fighter planes for which American, Russian, French, Swedish and European fighter makers are hot in the race, but that still leaves replacement of the MiG-21 fleet. In such a scenario, the news that Tejas, India’s second indigenous jet fighter design, after the HF-24 Marut of the 1950s, successfully undertook its maiden test flight this month, has brought cheers to the country’s defence establishment. With this successful flight, the indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA) programme is close to the initial operations clearance, which is expected to be completed by December this year, according to Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO). The remaining effort will mostly revolve around f...

ISLAMABAD: When a senior security official here was asked why Pakistan was not developing long-range missiles, unlike in India, his answer revealed how these two nuclear foes' geopolitical priorities may be diverging. "We don't have ambitions like India has, so we don't need to develop any further long-range missiles," he said. "Our missiles cover the entire India, so that's it." Indeed, India has raised eyebrows developing a new long-range missile with a capacity to hit most of China, a signal of how New Delhi's focus is tentatively moving away from an obsession with Pakistan to more global issues. For decades, these two countries, which have gone to war three times since independence from Britain in 1947, have been synonymous with each other. Diplomats often like to talk of India-Pakistan as "hyphenated". But India is trying to move from that old beat, seduced more by its growing role in the global economy, its stellar growth ...

The user trials of laser-guided bombs developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) were conducted on Wednesday by Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft over the Pokhran range in Rajasthan. The ADE is a unit of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The flight tests with the laser-guided bombs were conducted after extensive simulation, design validation and ground experiments. A series of flight evaluations was done earlier and one of them took place in January. A DRDO press release said the flight tests had demonstrated the accuracy, reliability and performance of these precision air-launched bombs. A number of high technology components were developed by the Indian industries for this advanced weapon package, which had reached the maturity level, a DRDO official said.

Indian aerospace scientists have developed an in-flight collision avert system that prevents unmanned aerial vehicles from crashing into enemy aircraft or other objects. The model predictive static programming algorithm protection system, developed at the Indian Institute of Science, uses a series of installed collision guidance algorithms as instructions that allow the UAVs to detect objects, especially if they are flying low. This includes tall buildings, towers and other aircraft, including commercial passenger planes. The MPSP Algorithm can also be used in medium- and long-range missiles to ensure they don't crash into objects such as anti-missile missiles as they approach their own target. MPSP can redirect the missiles back on course to their target without loss of accuracy. The developer, Radhakant Padhi, 37, said he has been working on algorithms for aerospace for more than a decade and perfected the algorithm technology during his project related to advanced missil...

After Russia and Israel, India is now all geared up to finalise a missile co-development project with France to manufacture a new range of Short Range Surface to Air Missiles (SRSAM) for the armed forces. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India and the French missile manufacturer Matra BAE Dynamics Alenia (MBDA) will jointly work on this project, according to a news report in the Indian Express. The defence deal is likely to be signed in the coming months. Jean-David Levitte, Diplomatic Adviser to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, had last year said that the new system may be the Maitri, and may incorporate technology from India's Trishul SAM and MBDA's MICA. The project according to the report was initiated in 2007 and has taken more than three years to finalise. The next-generation low-level, quick-reaction missile which will be inducted by the Army, Navy and Air Force, could also be made available for export.

India will induct its 5,000 km range nuclear-capable Agni 5 missile by 2011 to allow it to join the group of nations possessing Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile, the Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said Tuesday. "Work is progressing satisfactorily in the development of Agni 5, which is expected to become a reality next year. With this, DRDO would have given India a comprehensive indigenous strategic capability," Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat as saying. The Agni 5 will be the first canisterised, road-mobile missile in India's arsenal. It will be able to carry multiple warheads and will have counter-measures against anti-ballistic missile systems. The Agni 5 is a three stage solid fueled missile with composite motor casing in the third stage. Two stages of this missile will be made of composite material. The missile will utilize a canister and will be launched from it. Sixty percent of the missile will be simil...

Tejas aircraft LSP-4 launched itsfirst flight today at a supersonic speed of 1.1 mach that left behind a significant milestone in the aircraft industry. The aircraft of this limited series departed at 1110 hours from HAL’s airport at Bangalore. It landed after a supersonic fly in the air for 40 minutes. The IAF will finally take control of this aircraft that will be delivered to them in December this year. The director of aeronautical development agency, P Subramanya said that this launch was a major bench mark for the LSP after the maiden flight flew with supersonic speed. In order to prove the capabilities of the combat aircraft, DRDO intends to build eight more LSPs under the LCA program. "The aircraft took off at 1110 hours and landed 40 minutes later. The Test Pilot, Group Captain Suneet Krishna, flew the aircraft to an attitude of 11 kms and went supersonic, touching 1.1 Mach speed," the defense ministry officials said. Subramanya added that the next step wo...

A Rohini sounding on its way to space. Developments in aerospace technology will enable rockets to use atmospheric oxygen as fuel. In an attempt to make its rockets lighter and carry heavier satellites, the Indian space agency is planning to flight test by the end of this year its own air-breathing engine that will use atmospheric oxygen as fuel. Air-breathing engines use atmospheric oxygen and burn it with the stored on-board fuel to generate the onward thrust. Conventional rockets carry both oxygen and chemical fuel on board. “We will be doing a series of ground tests of the air breathing engine soon. We are planning an actual launch of a sounding rocket - ATV D02 - powered by such an engine by the end of this year,” an official of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS on condition of anonymity. The rocket will fly from Sriharikota, India's rocket port located around 80 km from here. In March, ISRO flew an advanced technology vehicle D01 (ATV-D01) weig...