Archive For January, 2014
India is hoping that its own regional navigation satellite, on the lines of China’s, will become operational by 2015, the government said. Replying to a question on India’s space programme vis‐a‐vis China’s, Minister of State in the PMO Mr V. Narayanaswamy told the Lok Sabha that the first satellite for the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite […]
India will have another date with the troubled Geo‐Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) in the first week of next year, attempting to put into space GSAT‐14. The launch on August 19 was called off following a glitch in the second stage of the engine. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) replaced the second stage at […]
As India prepares to give the initial operational clearance (IOC‐2) to its home grown fighter Tejas on December 20, the scientists at the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) are delighted that over 20 years of their hard work will finally pay rich dividends. NAL Director Dr Shyam Chetty said that the technologies developed for Tejas will […]
The Mars Orbiter must have taken a long and hard look at planet earth on Nov 30, 2013. Exactly 49 minutes into next day (IST), engineers at ISRO began to crank up its velocity to levels where the earth can no longer hold it in its orbit. After 22 minutes of this exercise, it was […]
A calibration exercise involving pilotless target aircraft (PTA) fitted with a new engine, developed in collaboration with an Italian firm, has been planned this month. The tests are scheduled to be conducted from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur off the Odisha coast. Defence sources said the air trial also features fighter aircraft Mirage […]
Just as Ratan Tata had dreamt of making the Nano a family car, especially for families compelled to travel on two-wheelers, the Tatas’ low cost aviation venture, AirAsia India, a joint venture between Air Asia Bhd (49 per cent), Tata Sons (30 per cent) and Telestra Tradeplace (21 per cent), will target “first-time travellers”, AirAsia […]
Preparing to supply 126 Rafale combat aircraft to India, French firm Dassault Aviation is carrying out gap analysis of aerospace PSU HAL’s fighter plane production capabilities to recommend upgrades. Dassault Aviation and HAL have to work together to produce 108 Rafale fighter planes in India as part of the contract to supply 126 Medium-Multi-role Combat […]
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has set up a state‐of‐the‐art facility equipped with some of the best aerospace manufacturing technologies to take up the Tejas series production. With a built‐up area of 28,000 sq m, the Light Combat Aircraft (Production Group) has already started the series production of Tejas with the mandate of delivering the first […]
The iconic MiG‐21 FL ‐ a variant in the MiG‐21 series of fighter aircraft ‐ that heralded the dawn of the supersonic jet era for the Indian Air Force half a century ago, passed into military aviation history at an emotional fly past and parade at an airbase. Two pairs of MiG‐21 FLs took off […]
The Tejas fighter will have to cross six milestones in the next 15 months, before the aircraft is given the final operational clearance (FOC). The December 20 initial operational clearance event, ahead of the expected induction of the first series production aircraft into the Indian Air Force by March 2014, would pave way for the […]