12 Jan 16. Requirements for New Fighter Jets Are Being Redrawn, Defence Minister Says. The requirements for Canada’s next fleet of fighter jets are being redrawn as part of a thorough defence review ordered by the new Liberal defence minister. Harjit Sajjan said his department is looking at the procurement of military equipment, the size of the Canadian Forces and the theatres where they operate.
“We will consult with the public, through MPs, committees, stakeholders and think-tanks, so that we have a vision in line with our foreign policy objectives,” he said in an interview Tuesday.
Part of that process will be determining what will replace the CF-18 fighter jets. The Conservatives had committed to Lockheed Martin’s F-35 joint strike fighter but the project was heavily criticized for rigging the requirements so that only the F-35 could qualify. Defence officials had written the requirements to call for a plane with stealth capability, advanced radar and integrated avionics.
During the election, the Liberals said they would not choose the F-35, and re-invest any savings in the navy. Mr. Sajjan has since said he will launch an open process to replace the CF-18s.
“The requirements we create will be those that are needed for Canada’s role,” he said.
He would not say whether Lockheed Martin would be barred from the bidding process, or whether the requirements might now be written to ensure the F-35 did not win. (Source: defence-aerosapce.com/The National Post)
12 Jan 16. L&T shortlisted for ‘Kilo’ upgrade work. Indian private defence contractor Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has been shortlisted to upgrade at least three of the Indian Navy’s (IN’s) Russian-built ‘Kilo’-class diesel-electric submarines for an estimated INR50bn (USD747mi). Industry sources said the Project 877EKM ‘Kilo’ variants would be retrofitted at L&T’s Kattupalli shipyard on India’s southeastern coast to extend their operational life by 10-12 years as part of the government’s move to indigenise such programmes. Kattupalli was selected by Russian technicians from among three shipyards in late December 2015 for its technical competence and ability to meet the IN’s deadline for the three ‘Kilo’-class submarines’ medium refit (MR). (Source: IHS Jane’s)
12 Jan 16. Russia ‘freezes’ India out of MTA project, to proceed alone as Il-214. Russia looks set to continue development of the Multirole Transport Aircraft (MTA) on its own after Ilyushin froze co-operation with India on the joint project, state media announced on 13 January.
With the preliminary design of the twin turbofan tactical airlifter now all but finalised, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) will likely continue with the detailed design phase of the Il-214, as it is known in Russia, through to production without Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the TASS news agency quoted Ilyushin CEO Sergey Velmozhkin as saying.
“It has been frozen as a joint Russian-Indian project,” he said.
While the report gave no particular reason for this development, it was reported in December 2015 that UAC and HAL were in disagreement over the type of powerplant to be fitted to the aircraft, with the former preferring the PD-14M – a modified version of the already in-service Aviadvigtel PS-90A-76 turbofan as fitted to the Il-76 ‘Candid’ – and the latter wanting a completely clean-sheet engine with full authority digital engine control (FADEC).
“The PS-90 does not have FADEC but the necessity of such a system was not there in the technical specifications initially,” the president of UAC, Yury Slyusar, told the Indian Economic Times at the time. “It was added later. The technical requirement [for performance] is fully satisfied with the PS-90 engine.
“So the official status is that we have finished the advanced preliminary design stage over a year ago [and] that has to be accepted by the Indian side. We hope they accept the design and move forward,” he added.
The Il-214 is expected to have a payload of between 15