Race with China.. where does India stand..??

ISRO denied having any race with China.. India has always denied having any kind of race with china,whether that is of arms, exports, natural resources, space or technology. 

At the same time, we cannot ignore the comparitive between India and China. Lets start with basic facts:

Parameter:	India	China
Total population	1.2 billion	1.34 billion
Area	3.3 Million Sq Km	9.7 Million Sq Km
GDP(nominal)	$1.9 Trillion	$8.25 Trillion
Per Capita (per person per year)	$1,592	$6,094
Now comes Military comparison
Active Personnel	1.325 Million	2.285 Million
Military Budget	$48.9 Billion	$114.2 Billion
Total Aircraft Strength	1,962	2,743
Helicopters	559	100
Total Tanks	3,555	7,950
Armoured Fighing Vehicle	2,293	18,700
Self propelled Guns	330	2,500
Mulitple Launch Rocket System
System	292	2,600
Total Navy Ships	170	972
Aircraft Carrier	1	1
Submarine Strength	15	63
Frigates	14	47
Destroyers	8	25
Corvette	24	0
Amphibious Assault craft	16	228
Maximum Range of Missile 3	3,000 tested	13,000 tested

There can still many parameters that can be compared. There are certain important points to be notes. India and China have been top importers of arms in last three years. what has changed is China has become fifth largest exporter of arms too (5 yrs ago, the export was nil).

India has always been in denial mode with regards to competition with China.

Drones - Virtual War

Recently US decided to use drones for helping(?) Libyan rebels fight against Libyan leader. In another country (Pakistan), there has been huge hue and cry about the use of drones against the militancy. US already uses drones in the border region of AfPak (Afghanistan-Pakistan) against the taliban. These drones have been very successful in their operations. Almost 230 attacks have been made without about 2300 men killed in the attack in drone attacks in Afghanistan.

US had long back Unmanned Arial Vehicles which could fly across pacific non-stop.

Use of drones has taken war to next level. The human intervention is minimised considerably by use of such automated weapons.

US has effectively minimised the human loss (their) in any ongoing wars. Irrespective of their loosening hold on the financial markets, their hold on the military is tightening and quite gripping. Any economy without a strong military support cannot remain powerful.

Use of such automated weapons, US makes sure that, their own human losses are minimised and so the opposition to military intervention by US is brought down.

The opposition to military intervention in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc was due to the human losses in the war. By using such weapons and tools, US will continue interfering in others affairs and at the same time, reducing their risks involved in such operations.

All these operations in various countries act as good ground for live experiments of such weapons/vehicles.

HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYBODY........

India has successfully crash landed moon probe on moon's surface. Further details will be posted soon..

some pics sent by chandrayaan

Indo US Deal Loses its Sheen

The day the Nuclear Suppliers Group(NSG) granted unique waiver to India to trade in Nuclear related technology & fuel irrespective of its signing of NPT & CTBT, India has made its way to nuclear group through backdoor. India can be termed as only country which is recognised as nuclear weapon state, allowed to trade in nuclear material without signing NPT & CTBT. So technically India while can have all privileges of nuclear weapon state but is not bound by any law as other states are.

There is one more implication of the NSG waiver granted to India. India now does not NEED Indo-US civilian nuclear deal. The main objective of India entering into deal with India was

• Able to trade in nuclear material so that we can import uranium for our power plants and the same time divert own uranium for weapons program. ( I had discussed this earlier also)
• Able to import dual use technology for our own purpose military & civilian prupose.
• Our Military nuclear programme should be legitmised.
• Our chances of getting Permanent membership of security council is increased.

To get that we required two things to happen

1. Recognition of separate programme for civilian & military nuclear programme (approval from IAEA was required for it)
2. Trading in nuclear related material (NSG waiver did that for us)

Now once that is done, the question is does India need Indo-US deal. The answer to that is not so simple but we can live without it also. It was possible to live without all these steps also but after these steps the need of the deal is diminished though not demolished.

We shoulod realise that post NSG waiver, we can trade in nuclear related material with any country so now we are not dependent on US for nuclear supplies. The objective of US in this deal was multipronged:

1. It convinced its own public that they are doing this for non-proliferation.
2. A counter balance to China in Asia.
3. Creating business & jobs in their non-existent nuclear supplies companies in US.

Russia & France are ready to enter into such deal with India at any moment. We can even use our demand potential and NSG waiver as bargaining chip while entering into deals with lesser know countries for perpetual supply of nuke material. these would include counties like poland, angola.

But there lies some risks in not operationalising 123 deal viz.

1. US can exert pressure on smaller countries to not trade with India.
2. India's entry into exclusive security council will be in-ordinately delayed.
3. We can expect US to exert influence on all activities with India.
4. If it can extract waiver from NSG, then it can possibly get it reversed also.

In this situation what is the path that India should undertake.

If India enters into deal with US, the Hyde Act can create problems for us in the later years to come. As we tie up for fuel supplies with US, they can then easily exert influence us on any policy matter as our energy would be dependent on their supplies.

India is in such a situation where it does not need 123 deal but at the same time cannot deny to enter into deal.

The course of action should be as follows:

1. As elections are round the corner, delay the ratification of 123 deal. Let that ratification get spilled over to next coming government.
2. Advance talks with other countries for similar deals (maxim - "Do not put all your eggs in one basket")
3. After ratification, delay making policies for private participation in nuclear sector.
4. Allow immediately imports of dual use technology. (irrespective of any situation , the technology once acquired cannot be taken back, we can always copy it and make claims of being indigenous)
5. Allow dual use tech in renewable energy resources & other high tech areas. ( we should use that to develop technology to do nuclear testing simulations, so that we do not need to test other weapon ever again).

These are some of the steps that India can take.

Now it is upto our leadership to decide the path to undertake.

Pakistan to mass produce JF-17 Single Seat Multirole Chinese Fighter Aircraft

Pakistan began on Tuesday Jan 22, 2008, the mass assembly of a JF-17 fighter at an aircraft-manufacturing plant in the northwest of the country, national television reported.

The JF-17 Thunder, also known as the FC-1 "Chao Qi" Fierce Dragon in China, is a single-seat multirole fighter aircraft developed by China. It is based on the design of Russian MIG 33, which was rejected by Russian Airforce. Earlier the costs odf these planes was said to be $10 million but the curretn reports suggests that the costs have escalated to $20 million per piece with production of 300 planes. Earlier the serial production was to be started in Jan 2006 but got delayed due to modifications/upgradations sought by pakistan air force.

China had made a deal with Musharraf in 1998 to manufacture 150 such aircrafts in Pakistan. About 50% of the on-board equipment and avionics for the fighter will be manufactured in Pakistan at the Kamra plant, while the rest of the assembly parts are to come from China.Pakistani Air Force Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed, said last year that 15 aircraft would be manufactured in 2008, and a further 20 next year, with an ultimate goal of achieving the capability to manufacture 25 to 30 aircraft per year.Pakistan has announced that it could procure 150-300 aircraft to meet the tactical and strategic needs of its Air Force and to replace the Chengdu F-7P fighters in current service.Beijing delivered two $20-mln JF-17 fighters equipped with Russian-made RD-93 engines to Pakistan in March 2007, prompting Indian protests. India claimed the deal was a violation of the end-user agreement between Russia and China.

The JF-17 is a light weight, all weather, multi-role aircraft having a capability to fly at a speed of Mach 1.6 and a high thrust to weight ratio. The aircraft has the ability to engage targets at all speeds and altitudes within the conventional flying envelope. In the surface attack and interdiction role, the aircraft can strike at long distances. The combat jet has been installed with an advanced flight control system, which is a mix of conventional and fly-by-wire controls, making it highly agile and manoeuvrable.
The aircraft would be capable of carrying short-range, beyond visual range, anti-ship as well as anti-radiation missiles. Additionally, the carriage of high and low drag bombs, laser guided bombs, run away penetration bombs and cluster bombs would be catered for.

India's Cryotech!!! Really India's!!???

(For full resolution photo click here)

Almost everybody has been lauding about India's successful testing of "Indigenous" cryogenic engine for full flight duration of 720 seconds on November 15, 2007 for upper stage of India's GSLV. Ground test for 480 seconds was conducted in August 2007.

ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair while delivering the thirty-second foundation day lecture on `Space Technology Development - Management Perspective' at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore said that "we have completed the qualification of indigenous cryogenic engine. It is as good as Russian one."

Now, does that mean it is almost as good as the one we got it from Russia or we have made a engine comparable to Russian one is anybody's good guess. Vijainder K thakur claims that the Indian cryogenic engine is none other than Russian oxygen/hydrogen liquid-propellant rocket engine KVD-1. It is the only one of its kind in the world. The reasoning & the references given by V K thakur are found to be quite credible. (he has also listed references at the end of the article) The article mentions that India had entered into $120 million contract for supply of 2 KVD-1 cryogenic engines & complete transfer of technology with the Glavkosmos. In 1993 US forced Russia to cancel that contract citing violation of MTCR(Misssile Technology Control Regime). Glavkosmos renegotiated the contract to exclude transfer of technology and the sanctions were lifted by US. later ISRO exuded confidence of bulding own engines but faltered in its development. The development is in process since 1986. In december 2001 we renegotiated the contract & further development of launch was collaborated, that also meant that Russia will also help in development of current technoogy.

There are some other aspects which tells us that the engine is definitely indigenous but not exactly true to its term. The Engine developed may be indigenously but the tech has not been sold to us by the Russians rather stolen by us from Russian Cryogenic engines supplied to us for our own GSLV launchings.

You would recall that India entered into contract with Russia for supply 5 cryogenic engines for launches og GSLV in December 2001. Except for the failure of the launch of GSLV F02 in July 2006, all the other launches were fairly successful. The official reason for failure of F02 launch was said to be faulty regulator in one of the Four strap on boosters to the launch vehicle. My wild guess was that the ISRO is not so naive to make a mistake in strap on booster. Rather the failure was because of the Faulty Cryogenic engine fitted in the launch vehicle. The original engine was used by India to copy the tech involved in it. Nowhere did anybody discuss about what happened to the cryo part of launch vehicle. By placing the blame on the strap-on booster, gaze of all was shifted away from cryo part. The realty must be that cryo engine was used by Indian scientists to develop our so called very own engine.

Vijainder Thakur is correct in assessing that ISRO has not told the complete truth. India has really been facing lt of hassles in developing critical technologies. rather they be for MBT Arjun, missiles under IGMDP (Integrated Missile Development Programme), Ummaned Arial Vehicles or Bullet Proof vests for Armed forces. All have seen major failures. None of the above said programmes have had successes to the considerable levels.

The real test of Cryogenic engine does lie in testing but successful launching of GSLV having indigenous engine.

"EKA" Fastest in Asia, 4th fastest in world, Supercomputing Elite in India now....

India's Tata Group has catapulted India into a new league by launching Asia's Fastest Supercomputer named "Eka" which means number Uno in sanskrit.

The supercomputer at Computational Research Laboratory(CRL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Ltd., has been adjudged fourth fastest supercomputer according to Top 500 supercomputer list, the International Conference for High Performance Computing.

Some Info:

"Eka" has been developed jointly by CRL and Hewlett Packard. The system has peak performance of 170 teraflops(Trillion Floating Point Operations) and sustained performance of 117.9 teraflops as LINPACK benchmark. The system has 1800 nodes. It has been developed using HP's Cluster platform 3000 BL460C system. It uses quad core clovertown processors from Intel.

It has incorporated CLOS architecture and uses fibre based infiniband interconnect technologies. It has Linux Operating System. The cost of the machine is $30 million wholly financed by Tata Sons Ltd. It uses 14,240 processor cores.

CRL has 2.5 MW captive power installed for "Eka" at pune. 20% of the staff at CRL comprises of PhDs. CRL was incorporated in February 2006 and its facility is in Pune spread over 4,000 sq ft area. The company plans to increase its staff strength from 60 to 90 by the fourth quarter of this year.

Comparatives:

The IBM's Blue gene has been adjudged as fastest supercomp in the world with performance of 478 teraflops which is more than three times that of "Eka". The second fastest machine is also from IBM blue gene range wih speed of 167.3 teraflops installed in Germany. The number three system is from New Mexico Computing Applications Center (NMCAC) with speed of 126.9 teraflops.

The second ranked supercomputer in India, rated 58th in the Top500 list is at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. Others are ranked 152, 158, 179, 336, 339,340 and 371.

Quotes:

Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata Group said:

"High performance computing solutions have an ever-increasing role in the scientific and new technological space the world over. The Tata Group has supported this development activity and is extremely proud of the team that has developed and built this supercomputer, which is now ranked as the world's fourth fastest. I am sure this supercomputer and its successor systems will make a major contribution to India's ongoing scientific and technological initiatives."

S Ramadorai, chairman of CRL and CEO and MD of Tata Consultancy Services said:

"CRL's supercomputer, EKA, has put India at the forefront of high performance and supercomputing technology globally. EKA gives us the ability to address applications in multiple disciplines including software development and research, The successful launch of the supercomputer has been driven by an exemplary team at CRL working collaboratively with scientists across the Tata Group."

Mr. Balu Doraisamy, Managing Director, HP India Sales said:

“HP is honored to partner with Tata CRL, a leading name in the field of High Performance Computing, from the inception stages of the project, all the way through its production. We are proud to work collaboratively with Tata CRL to take forward their vision of being a global leader in HPC, building scalable and cutting-edge supercomputer architectures while making affordable research in India a reality.”

Operability:

In the near term, CRL is targeting and developing applications such as neural simulation, molecular simulation, computational fluid dynamics, crash simulation, and digital media animation and rendering. The long-term application areas would include: financial modelling, seismic modelling, geophysical signal processing, weather prediction, medical imaging, nanotechnology, personalised drug discovery, real-time rendering, and virtual worlds among others. CRL also intends to offer high-performance and supercomputer system integration, research, applications and software services to its customers around the globe in the area of high-performance computing.

EKA can be applied in the fields of automotive engineering (cross simulation), drug discovery and nanotechnology, according to a company presentation.

Tejas (Light Combat Aircraft Weaponised), test fires combat missile

Light Combat Aircraft developed by India and rechristened as "TEJAS" has formally tested a combat missile. It fired a short range combat missile to test the endurance and flutter disturbances not only on high altitudes but also while firing of missiles.

This test has demonstrated that Tejas is now worthy of armament integration. This missile is developed by Hindustan Aeronautics limited (HAL). Contributions were also made by NAL (National Aerospace laboratories) and IAF (Indian Air Force).

Tejas has till now recorded total of 763 sorties but is still away from being declared as operational. It has the latest fly by wire technique installed in it, which is a state of art technology. The expected date to be operationalised is 2010. It made its maiden flight in 2001.

Commercialization of Defence Industry.....key to have Global influence

India is setting up two new Defence production units, one for production of Bi-Modular Charge System (BMCS). It is an artillery charging device used for 155 mm Bofors Gun. Bofors Gun really proved useful in Kargil war. This indigenous production of parts will really help. AS we recall, India had lot of problems during Kargil war for sourcing of parts for armoury. The other will be producing new generation carbines.

India has also tested armed version of ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter) 'Dhruv'. It is fitted with indigenously developed "Shakti" engine. (the engine has been developed in collaboration with french major Turbomecca). Recently HAL (Hindustan Aeronauticals Limited) had bagged orders for civilian version of DHRUV. Military version was earlier very difficult to export as it had lot of imported content and was restricted for export to various countries.

Due to local content, we can now export these to more countries.

My Comments:

Every industry to survive needs lots of funds. But to innovate and develop new methods, technologies, it needs incentive. Indian defence industry is not devoid of money but of incentive to develop newer ideas and technologies. Commercialisation of Defence industry wil bring in additional revenue to the industry and make it less dependent on Government for its regular functioning. The government funding then can be utilised for only Research & Development purpose only. Introduction of Intellectual Property Rights for the technologies developed and transfering the benefit of the same to the concerned person/party/entity will be the right step to bring in more talent to this sector.

The other factor involving commercial aspect of defence is more leverage in international relations. Once India starts to ramp up its defence production and start exporting material, more and more countries would be dependent upon India for their defence needs. This situation can then be leverage to exert more influence in non-military aspects in international fora. The eco-political benefits of the same will take some time to be noticed, but then every step towards that is a help.

FUSION or FISSION, both are now within reach of India

To produce nuclear power one needs huge cache of uranium & this is in short supply in India. India has been unsuccessfully trying to import uranium on large scale(though both Russia & USA supplied earlier, later USA stopped its supply after Pokhran 1974). India has for long been trying to develop Thorium fuel cycle as an alternate to Uranium based model for its nuclear power generation. I had referred to this in my post on Indo US nuclear deal.

India has made a spectacular development on this front. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has been fore front in developing this technology for India. In an paper submitted by Indian Scientist V. Jagannathan and his team had submitted a paper on novel design of Fast Thorium Breeder Reactor (FTBR) being developed by at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) to the International Conference on Emerging Nuclear Energy Systems (ICENES) held June 9-14 in Istanbul.

This paper emphaises not only that fuel cycle on thorium is practical but that once the fast breeder reactor is build they can also produce both uranium 233 and plutonium from the same reactor. Their calculations show the sodium-cooled FTBR, while consuming 10.96 tonnes of plutonium to generate 1,000 MW of power, breeds 11.44 tonnes of plutonium and 0.88 tonnes of U-233 in a cycle length of two years.

Such an development can help India fulfill its most of the power needs. though this is an theoritical concept, IGCAR (Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research) has successfully built the 30 kW in 1996 named KAMINI. which uses indigenously developed mixed uranium 233 - AL as fuel. The uranium-233-Al fuel can be derived from irradiated thorium. Incidentally, it is the only reactor in the world using uranium 233 as fuel. Based on that experience, India is now in the process of commissioning 500 MWe prototype Fast breeder reactor at kalpakkam.

The reactor based on thorium are said to be safest reactors. with the publishing of the above paper India has proced itself to be pioneer in the field of safe reactors with alternative nuclear fuel like thorium. World has thrice as large as thorium deposit than uranium. India has second largest deposits of thorium in the world.

As a sign of twin success, Cabinet has ratified India's participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, that aims to demonstrate the scientific and technical feasibility of fusion power to produce energy.

The agreement for the same was signed earlier itself. Apart from India, the other ITER partners are the European Union, Japan, China, South Korea, Russia and the US. India will be investing around Rs. 2,500 crore for the same. India's joining ITER is a recognition of our scientific and technical capability in fusion energy.

INS Vikramaditya..... & Indian Naval Force

Russian aircraft carrier Gorkhshov rechristened as INS Vikramaditya will now join Indian naval force only in 2010. Last heard the the retofitting being done by Russia will take some more time, it seems they had underestimated the repairs to be made. As per one of the defence website, they underestimated the length of cabling required by almost 20,000 km.

India already has another aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, INS viraat is decommissioned. even INS Vikrant will be decommisioned in 2012. India desparately needs to upgrade its naval force.

India is also in the process of building new indigeneous aircraft carrier of INS Vikrant class of about 37, 500 tonnes. the building has started in 2005 itself and will be complete by 2011. Two more aircraft carriers wer planned in 2007 but the status is not known whether the process has started or not?

China has also 3 carriers. India had sometime back inducted 3 stealth frigates to its force and also 2 INS delhi class ships. 3 more are planned in INS delhi class.
India really needs to speed up the building process. An effective naval foce is an essential in the days when most of the trad is done through high seas....

A really effective force coupled with associations like Indian Ocean Rim Association, of which India is founder can do wonders...

Indian Aerospace Force 2020

What are the India's objectives in forming Aerospace Command? Will India be able to make that? What are the obstacles in the path for achieving those goals? Do the Indian Airforce have that kind of capability to run an Aerospace Command? whether the India's strategic moves are aligned towards our goals?

All these and much more has been discussed in the article by Pramod Buravalli on indiadefence.com.
It discusses the current Indian Airforce demand for strategic fighters be that F16/18, MIG 35, Grippen or Rafale. It discusses the importance of choosing right kind of Fighter planes. Joint development of 7th generation unmanned fighter vehicles and many other things.

A really effective article.....

One Launch, 4 Parts & One Step to Moon

ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) today(January 10, 2007) successfully conducted launch of it tenth flight of their workhorse launch vehicle PSLV from SHAR, Shriharikota. This launch was unique from many aspects for Indian scientists and also an great leap in their faith in indigenous Space Technology.

The homegrown PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) successfully launched India' CARTOSAT - 2 and Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE) -1, Indonesia's LAPAN-TUBSAT and Argentina's PEHEUNSAT. Cartosat had payload of 680 kg, SRE-1 of 550 kg, LAPAN of 56 kg and PEHEUNSAT of 6 kg.

PSLV has made 10 consecutive(including this one) successful launches since 1994. PSLV was actually designed to launch one tonne payload satellites but its capability has been gradually scaled up. The current flight had total payload of about 1292 kg. Its first stage is one of the largest solid propellant boosters in the world. The fourth stage's propellant has been reduced from 2.5 tonnes to 2 tonnes. The first stage's weight has also reduced by 500 kg. This all has led to sugnificant improvement in its payload capacity.

Cartosat was injected into high polar SSO after 981.3 seconds, 45 seconds later 6 kg PEHEUNSAT was injected. 120 sec later SRE got separated and finally 190 seconds later TUBSAT mounted on fourth stage was separated.

For the first time DLA (Dual Launch Adapter) was used for launching the satellites.

Cartosat carries PAN (Panchromatic Camera) with the spatial resolution better than one metre and swath of 9.6 km. The satellite can be steered upto 45 degrees along as well as across the track. The data from it can be used in LIS (Land Information Systems) and GIS (Geographical Information Systems).

SRE is intended to demonstrate the technology of an orbiting platform for performing experiments in microgravity conditions. After completion of experiments, the capsule will be de-orbited and recovered after splashing it into bay of bengal. The results of this experiment will useful for further manned missions to space and use of Resusable rockets for launching satellites, which will immensely reduce the cost of launching. More information is available of ISRO website.

This launch of today has vindicated the technological prowess of India and also proved that inspite of sanctions by developed nations, India can pursue its space ambitions on it own mettle.

This will also re-establish ISRO and its commercial arm Antirx in commercial launch market and bring in valuable forex for the country.

Countdown to PSLV C7

On Janurary 10 morning, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) will be launching PSLV C7 from sriharikota launch range, which, if successful, will catapult India into the league of select nations who have the capability to launch reusable launch vehicle. it would be controlled through Satish Dhawan Space Centre located at Sriharikota.

PSLV launch will include Cartosat-2, used for mapping of earth & environment, two foreign satellites- Indonesia's Lupan & Argentina's Pehuensat. It will also carry experimental reusable launch vehicle. This experimental RLV is to demonstrate the RLV technology and further refine it. This RLV would orbit earth for about 10-15 days then would brought down. Initially, it would land using parachutes and splash into ocean, later the tech would be further refined to make it land like an aircraft.
Successful completion of this mission would mean India can now lower costs of launching satellites and also look forward to manned missions which require such critical technology. Further missions of ISRO include Chandrayaan, manned mission to space and also unmanned mission to Mars.

Russian Lunar dreams

RUSSIA wants to join Lunar Race started by USA. The article here almost says that Russia is unable to fund its space dreams although it possesses requisite technology to attain its goals.

In a gradual shift of tactics it has now associated itself with several others to complete its ambitions. It has tied up European Space Agency wherein it will supply the technology for launches in form of rockets and boosters while the European Space Agency will give financial aid and help Russia with upgrading Launch facilities. It also wants to enter into similar kind of agreement with USA. Russia's Energia has the requisite technology and complete rpadmap as how to reach for the stars. Earlier in this same column, an article had expounded how Russia is close to attaining Nuclear Propulsion Rocket with speeds almost to 1/10th of the speed of light (albeit these are theoretical findings, actual tests may show a great variance in performance)

The current article also reveals a fact that China's space plans are based on the technology provided by the Russia and it was not an indigenious program as claimed by them at the time of the manned space launch in 2003.

The bottomline is that we too need to acquire tecnology at great speed irrespective of mode of acquiring the same. The end result has become more important than the means used to attain the same. Better India wakes up to these facts or remains always a laggards in the race.....