01 Sep 15. Indian MoD clears Mi-17, Akash, Chetak purchases. India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) approved programmes worth nearly INR140bn (USD 2.2bn) for all three services on 1 September. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) cleared the Indian Air Force (IAF) to buy 48 more Mil Mi-17V5 ‘Hip’ medium-lift helicopters for INR69.92bn and seven more locally developed Akash-2 surface-to-air missile squadrons for INR47.90bn. The IAF will also receive four surveillance radars for INR2.7bn and four of its airfields will receive new air traffic control radar systems for INR2.3bn. The DAC also gave what it described as the “go-ahead” to the MoD committee negotiating the purchase of 36 Dassault Rafale fighters for the IAF in Paris. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
01 Sep 15. Turk copter maker Teams with three Polish firms. Tusas Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), maker of the T129 attack helicopter, has teamed up with three Polish defense companies in the hope of winning a Polish chopper contract. A memorandum of understanding was signed Tuesday in Poland to formalize the partnership, TAI said. TAI’s Polish partners are WCBKT, WZL1, ITWL and MESKO. The partnership was discussed during the IDEF ’15 show in Istanbul May 5-8 to cooperate on KRUK, Poland’s attack helicopter program. Last year, the Polish government issued a request for information for its planned acquisition of 32 attack helicopters. TAI is one of the producers that expressed interest in the contract; the others are Airbus Helicopters, Bell and Boeing. TAI produces the T129 under license from the Italian-British AgustaWestland. While TAI is seeking export deals for the country’s first indigenous gunship it must win US export licenses for any future deal. The T129 is powered by LHTEC CTS800, the commercial and export version of the T800 turboshaft engine for rotary wing applications made by the Light Helicopter Turbine Engine Co., a joint venture between Rolls-Royce and Honeywell. CTS800 primarily powered the AgustaWestland Super Lynx 300 and ShinMaywa US-2 aircraft. In addition to the Turkish attack helicopter program, it also has been selected for the AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat and Lynx Mk. 9A helicopter programs. (Source: Defense News)
17 Aug 15. Australia – Contractors sought for submarine rescue system. The Department of Defence (DoD) is inviting companies to register for the provision of an air-transportable Submarine Rescue Service (SRS) as part of Project SEA 1354 Phase 1: Submarine Escape Rescue and Abandonment System (SERAS). The DoD requires an SRS that can be deployed world-wide to rescue personnel in the event of a disabled submarine. The role of any future SRS contractor will be to deliver equipment and services necessary to facilitate submarine rescue operations as well as to support escape and abandonment operations. The SRS will be contractor owned / contractor operated, or government owned / contractor operated. It has an intended operational life of 25 years in support of Collins Class and Future Submarine fleets.
A formal RFT is planned for release between December 2015 and February 2016.
Reference Number: CASG/CSP/ITR0720/15
Issuing Authority: Department of Defence – Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) Response Deadline: 12 October 2015
21 Aug 15. France – Requirement for C130 aircraft. The Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) has a requirement to procure four (4) C130 transport aircraft in flight-ready condition to meet an urgent operational requirement for the Air Force.
The contract includes the following Lots:
• Lot 1: 2 x C130H aircraft equipped for aerial helicopter refuelling.
• Lot 2: 2 x C130H or C130H-30 aircraft for transport logistics and related services
The procurement of C-130s is mainly due problems with the rival Airbus A400M. Allocations for the potential C-130 procurement was made following the discovery of software problems that resulted in the fatal crash of an A400M in May 2015.
It is unclear as to wheth