Lockheed Martin Unveils ‘F-21’ Fighter Jet for India at Aero India 2019

BENGALURU, India–Lockheed Martin further emphasized its commitment to India by unveiling the F-21 multi-role fighter for India. Specifically configured for the Indian Air Force, the F-21 provides unmatched Make in India opportunities and strengthens India’s path to an advanced airpower future.

The F-21 addresses the Indian Air Force’s unique requirements and integrates India into the world’s largest fighter aircraft ecosystem with the world’s pre-eminent defence company. Lockheed Martin and Tata Advanced Systems would produce the F-21 in India, for India.

Speaking on the occasion, “The F-21 is different, inside and out,” said Dr. Vivek Lall, vice president of Strategy and Business Development for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. “The new [F-21] designation highlights our commitment to delivering an advanced, scalable fighter aircraft to the Indian Air Force that also provides unrivalled industrial opportunities and accelerates closer India-US cooperation on advanced technologies.”

This unprecedented Make in India opportunity combines the strength of the world's largest defence contractor with India's premier industrial house to deliver a historic win-win for India and the United States.

Ministry of Railways will launch a massive recruitment drive

New Delhi, India- Ministry of Railways is going to launch a massive recruitment drive to fill up its vacancies in various categories of posts which are essential for smooth and safe running of trains.

           

On 23.02.2019, an Indicative Notice will be published in Employment News on the forthcoming recruitment.  Indian Railways has over 1.3 lakh vacancies in different departments which needed to be filled up.

  The eligible candidates for the first tranche of recruitments in Non-Technical Popular Categories can do registration of online applications from 28.02.2019. The posts included in these categories are Junior Clerk cum Typist, Accounts Clerk cum Typist, Trains Clerk, Commercial cum Ticket Clerk, Traffic Assistant, Goods Guard, Senior Commercial cum Ticket Clerk, Senior Clerk cum Typist, Junior Account Assistant cum Typist, Commercial Apprentice, Station Master etc.

           

like Staff Nurse, Health & Malaria Inspector, Pharmacist, ECG Technician, Lab Assistant, Lab Superintendent, etc.

            On 08.03.2019, online registration will open for candidates eligible for Ministerial and Isolated Categories like Stenographer, Chief Assistant, Junior Translator (Hindi) etc.

            In all, there are expected to be 30,000 vacancies in the above three recruitments. In addition, the Ministry of Railways will also recruit about 1 lakh staff in Level-1 (erstwhile Group-D Categories) for which online registration would open on 12.03.2019.

There will be reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC) (non-creamy layer) and for the first time there will be reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) candidates. Besides, there will be reservation of posts for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (Pw BD), Ex-Serviceman (Ex SM). Besides, for Level-1 post, there will reservation for Course Completed Act Apprentices (CCAA).The vacancies in the above categories, except Level-1, will be available on Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) websites, after opening of online registration for the respective category. The vacancies of Level-1 will be available on website of Railway Recruitment Cell (RRC). Applications for all post will be accepted online only.

Indian Railways is already in the process of recruiting over 1.5 lakhs candidates in various safety categories like Assistant Loco Pilot and Technicians, Safety Category posts of Operating Department and Technical Department such as Civil Engineering, Electrical, Mechanical, Signal&Telecommunication in both the Level-1 and Supervisory Categories. This also includes over 10,000 recruitments in Railway Protection Force organization.

Dublin Airport Begins Construction on North Runway

Dublin, Ireland- The Construction of Dublin Airport’s second runway has officially commenced. The new runway is 2.1 miles (3.2 km) long and is expected to be complete by 2021.

Speaking on the occasion, The Prime Minister of Ireland said, “Dublin Airport is our main gateway to the world and is crucial for Irish tourism, business and trade. This new runway is part of the government is ($ 131 billion USD) project Ireland 2040 plan to modernize our infrastructure, remove bottlenecks and enable future growth.”

According to the Dublin Airport, the airport capacity is already full and the new runway is “urgently needed”. Last year the airport welcomed over 31 million passengers Share Ross, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport said, “The North runway will bring new airlines that operate here already to expand their networks. This will open up new long-haul and short-haul market and provide a greater choice of routes and airlines.”

In fact, the route map of the airport will be expanded this year with new connections to North America, Ukraine, and Shenzhen, China.

The new north runway was first planned in the 1960s, when the airport proposed two runways with parallel north and south runways. The south scheme was opened in 1989. The north runway scheme was approved a decade ago but was put on hold in 2007 due to increase in number of passenger numbers at the time and a recession.

The north runway is just one part of a larger expansion at the airport. The Airport said the airport plans to spend ($1 billion) on new piers and aircraft stands. Dublin Airport will be able to handle 40 million passengers annually after the expansion.

Earlier, Dalton Phillips, the Chief Executive of DAA said, “We are constructed and we need it now.” The airport believes the expansion is needed to complete with other airports in Britain and Europe. In addition, a new air traffic control tower is currently under construction at the airport. The 285 foot (86.9 meters) tower will become the tallest structure in the country. – Airline Greeks 2018

Russian Helicopters to take part in Aero India - 2019

Bangalore / India- Russian Helicopters Holding Company (part of State Corporation Rostec) will take part in the 12th edition of Aero India - 2019 from February 20 to 24 in Bangalore, India. Russian Helicopters will showcase the shipborne version of Ka-226T helicopter as well as the vast range of civil-purpose helicopters.

This year, the key exhibit at the Holding Company’s booth shall be the mock-up model of a light shipborne Ka-226T helicopter. The naval version of Ka-226T features blade folding system of main rotor. Also, the helicopter boasts the state-of-the-art avionics suite, its components and systems are fit for operation under aggressive conditions of marine environment. Owing to its small dimensions, the helicopter can be deployed on ships and low-displacement vessels. Ship-based Ka-226T helicopter may be used to perform search and rescue, as well as transport missions day and night in standard and adverse weather conditions.

“No doubt, India is our strategic partner and at this show we are planning to continue discussions on one of our key projects: the localization of production of Ka-226T in this country. Moreover, in view of the voiced interest in procuring light utility ship-based rotorcraft we shall put an increased focus on presenting the capabilities of naval version of Ka-226T.   The helicopters in such configuration are being delivered to the Russian special-task aviation and already have a favorable track record. This rotorcraft may become a logical continuation of the current cooperation we are building within the scope of the “Make in India” program”, noted Andrey Boginskiy, Director General of Russian Helicopters Holding Company.

The Holding Company shall also showcase the mock-ups of Ansat and Mi-171A2 rotorcraft and conduct a set of negotiations on the prospective deliveries of these helicopters. India is to become one of the first foreign operators of Mi-171A2: currently the Holding Company is finalizing joint TC validation activities with the Indian authorities. The first Mi-171A2 shall be handed over to the Indian customer in 2019.

Besides, the visitors of Aero India shall see the mock-up model of a utility Mi-38 helicopter.  This is one of the most computerized civil helicopters in the world: The flight control and navigation suite enables automated enroute flight, landing, hovering and stabilization in any flight mode. The integrated on-board equipment suite IBKO-38 installed on Mi-38 supplies the crew with information of sufficient quality and quantity to guarantee top flight safety. Due to the implemented technical solutions Mi-38 surpasses other helicopters in its class in terms of load-/passenger-carrying capacity and major flight performance. Mi-38 is intended for operation in a wide range of climatic conditions including maritime, tropical and cold climates.

In addition to presenting its products, Russian Helicopters shall focus on discussing after-sales support of rotorcraft operated by the foreign customers. The new format of ASS offered by the Holding Company is aimed at structuring strategic relations with an operator and implies execution of long-term no-bid agreements and transition to life cycle support contracts.

MBDA to display next generation air Combat Capabilities’ at Aero India 2019

Bengaluru, India- MBDA, a European developer and manufacturer of missiles plans to offer next generation air Combat Capabilities for the Indian Air Force.

The Company which was formed as a joint venture by a merger of the guided missile divisions of Air Bus, Leonardo and BAE Systems in Europe is exhibiting a full range of missiles and missile Systems at the India’s premier air show – Aero India 2019

Air Dominance System on display at Aero India 2019 in Bengaluru from February 20 to 24 includes:

METEOR

Meteor is the next generation of Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) system designed to revolutionise air-to-air combat in the 21st Century. The weapon brings together six nations with a common need to defeat the threats of today as well as the future emerging ones.

Guided by an advanced active radar seeker, Meteor provides all weather capability to engage a wide variety of targets from agile fast jets to small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and cruise missiles. It is designed to meet the most stringent of requirements and is capable of operating in the most severe of clutter and countermeasure environments.

The weapon is also equipped with data link communication. Aimed at meeting the needs of a network centric environment, Meteor can be operated using third party data, enabling the Meteor user–the pilot–to have the most flexible weapon system.

ASRAAM

ASRAAM is in service with the Royal Air Force as its Within Visual Range (WVR) Dominance weapon. The weapon is also in operational service with the Royal Australian Air Force on its F/A-18 Hornet. In WVR air combat, the ability to strike first is vital. A pilot engaging an enemy needs a missile that reacts more rapidly than ever before with the speed and agility to maximise the probability of a kill regardless of evasive target manoeuvres or the deployment of countermeasures. ASRAAM has proven this capability.

ASRAAM accepts target information via the aircraft sensors, such as the radar or helmet mounted sight but can also act as an autonomous infrared search and track system. The RAAF has demonstrated successful ‘over the shoulder’ firing in Lock on After Launch (LOAL) mode against target drones that were behind the wing-line of the launch aircraft. Already fully integrated with proven reliability on Typhoon, Tornado and F/A-18, ASRAAM is also being integrated onto the F-35 Lightning II. Proven capability demonstrated by firings from a range of aircraft, including: F-16, F/A-18, Tornado F3, Tornado GR4 and Typhoon aircraft.

MICA

MICA is the multi-mission air-to-air missile system for the Rafale and the latest versions of Mirage 2000-5 combat aircraft. It has a high level of tactical flexibility in order to meet the most demanding operational requirements:

Beyond Visual Range (BVR) multi-target / multi-shoot

Enhanced Short Range (SR) performance

Maximum flexibility for multi-role / swing-role aircraft

MICA has a totally dual role. It is able to cope with both BVR and SR combat situations and exhibits very high performance in both situations. The weapon covers Beyond Visual Range situations and in addition offers 2 guidance systems with its 2 interoperable seekers:

RF MICA with radar seeker provides all weather shoot-up / shoot down capability IR MICA with dual waveband imaging infrared seeker surpassing latest generation AAM missiles. MICA outperforms other BVR missiles with its unique stealthy interception capability provided by its silent seeker.

BRIMSTONE

BRIMSTONE provides a combat proven, low collateral, close air support weapon offering to the fast jet operator the unique capability of engaging a wide range of target types, including fast moving vehicles / vessels in both land and naval environments and in both direct and indirect modes. The latest generation Brimstone builds upon the successful Brimstone Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) which deployed the weapon into front line operations with the RAF.

Operationally deployed in the Afghanistan, Libya conflicts, Brimstone has proved to be the weapon of choice with its ability to perform surgical strikes in time critical missions with a true day / night capability.

SMARTGLIDER

SMARTGLIDER is another long-range strike weapon and is optimised to counter anti-access strategies and other emerging battle space threats. It forms a family of all-up-round glide weapons, with folding wings and a range of over 100 km allowing the combat platform to stay at safe distance from the enemy defences. With the smallest member of the Smart Glider family being just 120 kg, a Rafale will be able to carry as many as 18– allowing the destruction of multiple targets or the saturation of even the most complex air defence systems.

MISTRAL ATAM

MISTRAL ATAM has been delivered to India to equip the HAL weaponries version of the Advanced Light Helicopter, the ALH Rudra. The system is based on two launchers each deploying two MBDA air-to-air Mistral missiles. Given the wide range of roles that the Rudra will have to undertake, ATAM will provide the helicopter’s crew with a weapon that is not only easy to use but one that can be operated in the whole flight envelope from nap of the earth to 15,000ft and at flight speeds from hovering to up to 200 knots. The same system has successfully undergone integration on the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) platform also manufactured by HAL.

HAL Leads the Show at Aero India 2019

Bengaluru, India- Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has taken a lead role in organizing the entire Aero India -2019 to be held at Air Force Station, Yelahanka, Bengaluru from February 20 to 24, 2019.

Besides providing huge logistic support, HAL will showcase its prowess in defence and aerospace centred on the theme ‘Innovate, Integrate and Lead’.

“HAL is poised to tap into the opportunities during the forthcoming Aero India and will highlight its indigenously designed and developed fixed and rotary wing platforms, technologies covering power plants and latest R&D offerings. HAL is an industry leader and will continue to leave a mark as a formidable player in the domestic and global defence market,” says Mr. R Madhavan, CMD, HAL.

Flying display:

HAL’s indigenous products Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, HTT-40 (Basic Trainer Aircraft), first indigenously upgraded Hawk Mk132, named as Hawk-i, Civil Do-228, Advanced Light Helicopter (Rudra), Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) will fly during Aero India 2019.  Both fixed and rotary wing aerobatic teams Suryakiran (Hawk aircraft) and Sarang (ALH-Dhruv) will enthrall the audience.

Static display: 

On static display, HAL is showcasing Light Utility Helicopter (PT-1), Light Combat Helicopter (TD-2), Advanced Light Helicopter (Rudra) and ALH MICU (Medical Intensive Care Unit).

Key attractions at HAL pavilion:

The main attraction of HAL’s indoor pavilion is the demonstration of tail boom folding and main rotor folding of the Naval Utility Helicopter (NUH), as a Technology Demonstrator.  The NUH is the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv with customization to meet the operational requirements of the Navy.

For the first time, HAL’s Supersonic Omni Role Trainer Aircraft (SPORT) simulator will be positioned at the HAL pavilion. HAL is keen to launch the indigenous development of SPORT (Aircraft) with 4++ generation or equivalent capabilities to bridge the gap in pilot training to command front line fighters. The SPORT aircraft will be utilized for fighter training after Advanced Jet Training stage and before induction of pilots into a frontline fighter squadron.

Another star attraction at the pavilion will be the aerospace corner, virtual and holographic room and Jaguar aircraft simulator.

Air Show theme:

As part of the ‘Innovate’ theme, HAL will showcase Hindustan Turbo Fan Engine (HTFE-25) and Hindustan Turbo Shaft Engine (HTSE-1200) as technology demonstrators, Rotary UAV, models of avionics and mechanical system Line Replacement Units (LRUs) and various complex manufacturing capabilities.

The ‘Integrate’ area will present HAL’s emergence as a product integrator in the aerospace and defence industry. Scaled models of Do-228 military aircraft, LCA fighter and Sukhoi-30MKI (with the major sub-assemblies) will be displayed projecting the lead role played by HAL in developing domestic aeronautical suppliers and the eco-system for manufacturing high-end aircraft.

The ‘Lead’ theme will position HAL as a leader in development of products and certification of aircraft, helicopters and LRUs that meet the customer requirements. Scaled models of LCA trainer aircraft, HTT-40 aircraft, Civil Dornier aircraft, ALH Mk-IV (Rudra), ALH Civil version, LUH (Light Utility Helicopter) will be displayed as lead products under development along with the milestones and achievements. Cockpit wall display (with Multi Function Display) of LCA Mk-IA is another highlight.

Airbus readies large-scale presence at Aero India

A 330 NEO

New Delhi, India- From flying and static displays of its best-in-class products to showcasing its cutting-edge aerospace services, Airbus has planned one of its biggest-ever participation at Aero India to be held in Bengaluru from 20 to 24 February, 2019.

The centrepiece of the flying displays will be the A330neo – the latest addition to the leading Airbus widebody family featuring advanced materials, new optimized wings, composite sharklets and highly efficient engines that together deliver 25% reduced fuel burn and CO2 emissions. Demonstration flights will be performed by the new generation tactical airlifter C295 which can perform multi-role operations under all weather conditions.

On static display will be Airbus’ most versatile twin-engine rotorcraft – the H135 & H145. The H135 is known for its endurance, compact build, low sound levels, reliability, versatility and cost-competitiveness. The H145 is a member of Airbus’ 4-tonne-class twin-engine rotorcraft product range – with designed-in mission capability and flexibility, especially in high and hot operating conditions.

Visitors at the Airbus exhibit at Hall E 2.8 & 2.10 can witness the company’s continued commitment to supporting the growth of India’s aviation, defence and space sectors, particularly in the areas of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Startup India’. Aerospace fans can also savour interactive virtual and augmented reality experiences at the Airbus stand.

“Aero India is the jewel in the crown of the world’s largest defence and third-largest commercial aviation market,” said Anand E Stanley, President and Managing Director of Airbus India & South Asia. “Airbus’ large-scale commitment to the show demonstrates that India is more than a market, it’s a core base for us.”

On display will be scale models of the C295 – medium transport aircraft; the A330 MRTT – Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft; the A400M – the most versatile airlifter currently available; the SES-12 – a geostationary communications satellite and a holographic display of the Hybrid SAR Earth observation radar satellite.

In helicopters, scale models of the H225M– the military version of Airbus’ H225 Super helicopter; the AS565 MBe the all-weather multi-role force multiplier; along with the H135 and H145 will be on display. Commercial aircraft scale models will include A330-900, the member of Airbus’ A330neo new generation widebody, the A321neo and ATR 72-600.

Airbus will also demonstrate a wide range of service offerings, including through its fully owned subsidiaries Satair and Navblue, with particular focus and demonstrations of Skywise-based digital services. Also, on display will be Airbus’ Advanced Inspection Drone which accelerates and facilitates visual checks, considerably reducing aircraft downtime and increasing the quality of inspection reports.Airbus Bizlab will also partner with Invest India to organise the ‘Startup Day’ at Aero India.

It is Airbus’ firm belief that technology and talent are the key to unlocking the enormous potential of the region. In India, it has sought to foster innovation and entrepreneurial spirit through Airbus BizLab, which will be present at Hall E 2.9. Visitors will get a first glance of the opportunities that the startup accelerator has created in the Indian innovation ecosystem.