HAL Seeking Private Sector Partner to Manufacture its 320 daN turbojet for missiles / drones

HAL developed 425 Kgf Manik turbojet for Nirbhay cruise missile

HAL intends to design and develop a 320 daN (326 kgf) thrust class jet engine for various applications.

The single spool turbo jet engine would have an envelope diameter of 310 mm and length of 740 mm.

It would be capable of operating in altitude range of Sea Level to 8.5 km.

The engine would have a SFC of 1.175 kg/daN-h, a starting envelop of 8.5 km to SL @ 0.4 to 0.8M, endurance of 1,000 sec

Physical Parameters and Weight

Length <= 740mm (Excluding LRUs)
Diameter <= 310mm
Dry weight < 44-kg (Excluding LRUs and cartridge Starter)

Initial Requirement

2 engines for Technology Demonstrator (TD)
10 prototype engines for various certifications / qualification trials
5 deliverable engines for limited series production

Private Sector Manufacturing Partnership

HAL on May 31, 2016 released a RFI for 'Selection of an Indian partner to manufacture aero engine in India.'

The due date for submission of a response to the RFI is August 10, 2016

HAL has invited interested Indian partners to undertake the manufacture of the engine by establishing all the required facilities including test rigs and engine test bed. HAL will manufacture 2 technology demonstrators and 3 qualification test units.

In the proposed partnership arrangement, the marketing of end product will be in the scope of HAL.

The current projection is to produce about 12 engines over 2 years time frame after initial development phase. The engine under development is likely to undergo changes during the productionisation. Once the development phase is completed, it is anticipated that the total no of engines required would be around 250 over 5 to 6 year period.

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ISRO's Forthcoming ATV-D02 Scramjet Test Details

The photo above of the ATV-D01 mission shows two scramjets strapped to the second stage of a Rohini-560

ISRO is poised to fly the maiden test of its scramjet engine developed under the Air Breathing Propulsion Project (ABPP) in the next few days .

A component of ISRO's Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) project, the ABPP aims to reduce the size of launch vehicles and increase their payload capacity, facilitating cheaper access to outer space.

ISRO refers to the scramjet test mission as ATV-D02 or Advanced Technology Vehicle Development Flight 2. (In March, 2010 ISRO conducted an unpowered flight test of the Scramjet engine using the ATV-D01 mission.)

The ATV-D02 mission will use a Rohini-560, a two stage sounding rocket, to test the scramjet. The rocket will feature two active scramjet engine modules and the associated fuel feed system. The scramjet engines would be symmetrically strapped to the second stage of the rocket for the experimental flight. (Rohini-560 is ISRO's largest sounding rocket. The 560 designation comes from the 560mm diameter of the rocket.)

ATV-D02 will use scaled down ramjets, each half-meter long and weighing 45-m long.

Apart from demonstrating hypersonic ignition at Mach 6, ISRO hopes to sustain combustion for 5 seconds.

The Rohini second stage will achieve a height of 70 km and sustain Mach 6 +.05 and dynamic pressure (80 + 35 kPa) for seven seconds. These conditions are required for a stable ignition of active scramjet engine combustor. Once lit, the scramjet will sustain hypersonic flight for five seconds.

At Mach 6, the drag on a air vehicle is considerable. A challenge with scramjet propulsion is to develop more thrust than drag. ISRO hopes to demonstrate good thrust value with its scramjet engine.

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Bharat Forge Kalyani and Uralvagonzavod Sign 155mm SP Howitzer Co-production Deal

"MSTA-S" self-propelled guns. Source:mil.ru [via RIR]

General Director of the "Uralvagonzavod" corporation Oleg Sienko and the CEO of the Indian company Bharat Forge Kalyani of the Kalyani Group signed a memorandum of understanding providing for the establishment of the co-production of self-propelled artillery units (SAU) in India. It's not clear if the deal will bring the Russian gun back into contention for supplying SP 155mm howitzers to India under its artillery modernization program. [source]

The ET reported on July 1, 2016 that MoD had wrapped price negotiations with L&T for purchase of 100 guns, earmarked for deployment along India's border with Pakistan.

A contract has been finalized and will be forwarded for approval to the Cabinet Committee on Security.

The value of the contract - Rs 4,500-crore - makes it the largest to be entrusted to the industry.

L&T, along with its technology partner Samsung, will produce the guns in India at L&T's Strategic Systems Complex at Talegaon near Pune with close to 50% indigenous content.

The Indian Express reported on January 11, 2016 that MoD on December 22, 2015 opened the price bid of L&T, the only gun to qualify in the trials. Price negotiations with L&T will commence this month and are likely to be concluded in this financial year. The deal for 100 guns is estimated to cost between Rs 4,500 to Rs 5,000 crore. The contract will also have a follow-up option clause of 50 additional K9 Vajra-T guns.

The first 10 guns are to be supplied by L&T to the Army within 18 months of signing, with the balance 90 guns to be supplied in the next two years.

Additional details are available on my paid (Rs 500/- per year) access site IDP Sentinel.

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Russia's Project 23000E Shtorm (Storm) Aircraft Carrier Design: A Strong Contender

Photo credit: Artem Tkachenko / Wikipedia

Russia has offered its "Shtorm" nuclear aircraft carrier design to India for purchase, the Defense News reported on July 12, 2016. A diplomat with the Russian Embassy confirmed that a Russian team visiting India last week made the offer. The Deccan Herald confirmed the visit today reporting that the Russian team had met Defense Secretary G Mohan Kumar. MoD is likely to seek opinion of the Navy and undertake a detailed cost-benefit analysis before taking a call on the offer. In March 2016 the Izvestia newspaper had reported that Russia's Krylovsky State Research Center (KRSC) would be offering its new multipurpose heavy aircraft carrier design called Project 23000E Shtorm (Storm) for the Indian Aircraft Carrier-2 (IAC-2) project. The Shtorm project was first revealed to the public in June at the Army-2015 show near Moscow, where a scale model of the ship was exhibited. The model featured a split air wing comprising navalized T-50 PAKFAs and MiG-29Ks, as well as jet-powered naval early warning aircraft and Ka-27 naval helicopters. The presence of AEW&CS models on the deck suggested the carrier would be able to operate heavy aircraft, perhaps using a Russian developed EMALS analog. The Shtorm design has a displacement of up to 100,000 tons, is 330 meters long, 40 meters wide, and has a draft of 11 meters. It has a nuclear power plant, although initial plans state a conventional one may also be used. The ship is designed to sail at up to 30 knots (around 55 km/h) and withstand sea state 6-7 (characterized by waves up to 9 meters high).

Navy Seeing Design Finalization by 2016 End

The Hindu reported on January 22, 2016 that design of the carrier would be frozen by the end of 2016. Feasibility study has started and would be completed in 8-10 months leading to a design freeze. Design consultancy will be sought from foreign companies with expertise in carrier design and construction. Five countries have been identified for the purpose — the U.S., Russia, France, the U.K. and Italy — all of which currently operate carriers. With the December 2016 deadline looming, the Shtorm would be a strong contender with an already finalized design.

Design Cooperation with the US

India and the US are exploring the feasibility of co-designing INS Vishal under DTTI. That may prove to be too little too late.

Nuclear Propulsion

EMALS based carrier operations require lot of electrical power, mandating nuclear propulsion (NP). Russia has built and operated nuclear powered heavy cruisers. It earlier helped India develop NP for Arihant class SSBN. It's likely that Russian NP ToT for a super carrier would come with less strings attached than US ToT. Additional details on the IAC-2 (INS Vishal) project are available on my paid (Rs 500/- per year) access site IDP Sentinel.
Access to the site is free for one year for those who purchase my maiden novel 'Triumph in Surrender'. Click hereto purchase the book from Amazon.

The reason for the small access fee are explained at this link.