May 15, 2024 | International, Security
March 31, 2021 | International, Aerospace
German contractors Rheinmetall, Hensoldt and Diehl Defence have teamed up to bid on the country’s envisioned short-range, air-defense program.
January 23, 2020 | International, Naval
By: Vivek Raghuvanshi NEW DELHI — India on Tuesday announced the selection of domestic and foreign defense companies for the construction of six diesel-electric submarines with air-independent propulsion technology as part of an effort worth more than $7 billion. The submarines will be manufactured in India under the Navy's P75I program and guided by the Ministry of Defence's Strategic Partnership model, which aims to build indigenous capabilities, a senior ministry official told Defense News. Two domestic shipyards companies — state-owned Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited and private sector firm Larsen & Toubro — were shortlisted to collaborate with five overseas original equipment manufacturers — Rubin Design Bureau of Russia, Naval Group of France, Navantia of Spain, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems of Germany, and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering of South Korea. “The defence acquisition council approved the shortlisting of Indian strategic partners and potential original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) who would collaborate to construct six conventional submarines in India,” the MoD said in a statement. An expression of interest was issued in June 2019 to four domestic companies: Mazagon; Larsen & Toubro; Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited; and a consortium of Hindustan Shipyard Limited and Adani Defence. An internal MoD committee rejected the Hindustan-Adani Defence bid because it did not meet eligibility requirements, and the ministry noted that Reliance Naval and Engineering did not meet financial requirements. A separate, restricted expression of interest was issued in July 2019 to the five foreign OEMs as well as Saab of Sweden. Saab chose not to participate in the program, citing lack of clarity. For the P75I program, the Rubin Design Bureau is offering the Amur 1650 submarine; France is offering the Scorpene 2000; Navantia has offered the S-80-class sub; TKMS offered its HDW class 214; and Daewoo is offering its KSS-III. The MoD official said submissions were accepted in September and selection done early this month. A senior Indian Navy official said the OEMs must provide full technology transfer of critical systems of the submarines such as air-independent propulsion technology, sensors, and communication and electronic warfare suites. They must also help establish a domestic supply chain for spare parts and material as well as assist in training the local labor force, the official added. The OEMs are free to set up joint ventures or equity partnerships, or make royalty arrangements with Indian prime partners and other domestic suppliers. Another MoD official said a request for proposals will be issued to two shortlisted Indian companies who will set up a technical partnership with one of the five shortlisted OEMs and submit both financial and technical bids by the end of 2020. Thereafter, the technical and financial bids will be evaluated, with final selection expected in mid-2022. The selection will be made based on the lowest price offered, he added. Under the P75I program, the submarines must be made up of 65 percent indigenous material. The MoD said any contract between an Indian strategic partner and a foreign OEM must include provisions for the protection of classified information. In addition, the shortlisted OEMs must confirm their willingness to cooperate with the selected Indian company, including life-cycle support and transfer of technology. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/01/22/india-makes-initial-bid-selections-for-7-billion-submarine-project/
June 14, 2019 | International, Aerospace
Leonardo and Diamond Aircraft Industries are teaming up to offer a version of Diamond's popular twin-engine DA62 aircraft customized for maritime surveillance missions. The new variant, designated DA62-MSA (maritime surveillance aircraft) will be on show for the first time at the Paris Air Show. It will be outfitted with a full intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) suite based on Leonardo's ATOS (airborne tactical observation and surveillance) mission system. The collaboration is a response to the need for cost-effective, short/medium-range land and maritime surveillance platforms in regions such as South America, Africa and Asia Pacific. The DA62-MSA meets this requirement by bringing together an affordable and pilot-friendly aircraft with a full set of state-of-the-art sensors which, through the ATOS mission system, deliver a single, intuitive operational picture to the crew. The DA62-MSA's baseline sensor fit will include a Leonardo Gabbiano Ultra-Light TS Radar, which comes with an extensive suite of modes including optimized maritime patrol capabilities (such as high sea state detection), high resolution ground mapping via synthetic aperture radar (SAR) modes, ground moving target indication (GMTI) and weather avoidance modes. The aircraft will also come with a high definition electro-optic (EO/ IR) turret which, like the radar, will be fully integrated into the operator's touch-screen ATOS display in order to follow and manage the surveillance missions. Sensor options will also be offered for users who require additional capability, including Leonardo's SAGE electronic support measures (ESM) system and Spider communications intelligence (COMINT) system. SAGE provides tactical threat awareness and strategic intelligence gathering in the radio-frequency (RF) environment, while Spider can detect, intercept, identify and geo-locate communications of interest. More than 110 twin-engine special mission aircraft have been sold by Diamond and more than 60 ATOS systems are installed by Leonardo on 10 different platforms, including for Italy's Air Force, Guardia di Finanza (customs police) and Coast Guard, and Australian Customs. With the DA62-MSA, Leonardo and Diamond are able to offer an extremely cost-effective and user-friendly light ISR solution for maritime security needs, with a takeoff weight of 2,300 kilograms, endurance of up to eight hours and up to four crew able to operate with land and maritime radar. Liqun Zhang, CEO of Diamond Aircraft said, “Diamond Aircraft is very proud to step into such an important strategic partnership with Leonardo to provide a cost-efficient high-performance maritime surveillance solution to the market. We all recognized the importance of such a capability and the high demand of many countries to protect their borders against illegal fishing and other criminal operations, this new airborne solution, based on our DA62 special mission aircraft, will be available to the market by the end of the year, ready to deliver and provide security and surveillance tasks. During Paris Air Show 2019, stand A6, the very first time Diamond will static display this configuration to the audience.” “Partnership is central to Leonardo's way of doing business and as such we are delighted to be working with Diamond Aircraft on this venture. Our aim is always to provide the optimum solution to our customers and we believe that this combination of Diamond's platform with a full suite of Leonardo sensors and our mission system provides an extremely compelling offer for this market segment,” said Fabrizio Boggiani, senior vice-president, Airborne Sensors & Mission Systems, Leonardo Electronics. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/leonardo-and-diamond-aircraft-partner-to-offer-maritime-surveillance-variant-of-da62/