This stateme
nt appears to indicate that IAI was considered at some point, but was dropped for the very reasons that the JPost report lays down. Short point: the Gripen is thankfully very much still in the race, and Saab is in fact a little bemused by the belated report on IAI’s exit from the NG programme, though the truth remains that IAI was forced out by US pressure.
In addition, Flightglobal’s very authoritative aerospace columnist Stephen Trim
ble has his own take on the whole affair. He writes that Saab had already dropped IAI as an option for the Gripen NG’s sensors and has offered India the Gripen armed with an AESA radar made by Italian avionics firm Selex Galileo (see slides). He adds another vital nugget of information — that the original Thales radar was blocked by the French (conflict with the Rafale), and therefore Saab was forced to scout for other radar vendors.
If Selex Galileo is the choice for Gripen IN radar then SAAB is dead in the water. Vixen 1000ES is indeed a paper radar and will only be available by 2015 at the earliest.
So we cut off F16 and F18 from the race.
Gripen is back.
Though it could have done with out this controversy
It is evident that SAAB is now counting on babu infested MOD's ability to indefinitely delay MMRCA contract so that Gripen IN with the new Vixen 1000ES can have a shot.
Here is a SAAB statement underlining their hope.
India's planned 2014 in-service date could drift to perhaps 2020. "The 'first six months' took 18"
Anon @ 5:16 pm
You hit the nail right on the head. The way India is going about strutting off this contract, has every aircraft manufacturer rolling their eyes in agony. There is simply no professionalism in the MoD. Just a bunch of Ghooskhor babus out to milk the supplier and india's taxpayer. The delays are because the babus work at a certain speed. Remember the airforce has yet to have an official look in into the aircraft. The trails are yet to start.
Then there will be protracted negotiations, where MoD babus will force the manufacturer via their indian agents to provide ghoos money to the Congress party fund, the swiss bank or cayman island bank accounts of the Defence ministry, a few senior MoD babus and a few Air Force Officers. This is a closed circle, and no matter who wins the contract, the ghoos will get paid.
However from the looks of it, the F-18 will indeed win this contract, because this is a good and mature aircraft, the americans are not shy of either bribing or arm-twisting, and they can ram this thing through the MoD by sheer power.
The vixen 1000es is incredible and combined with the new super highspeed databuses and cpu of NG it's the best technology in the race. But time is indeed a factor!
Anon @7:38. you are right.! they all the major manufacturers are rubbed, we may end up making more enemies! remeber we took twenty plus years to finalize HAWK a/c. i think airforce should be given free hands to choose the right a/c in terms of performance with state of the art avionics including i-level,d-level repair test jigs, reliability, MRO issues ,supply of spares w/o strings attached!RM has a daunting task! best of luck sir!
they all the major manufacturer…please read the above as " the way all the manufacturers are rubbed…" sorry for the typo!
No paper radar indeed, the Vixen family is mature and tested. This is how it's going to happen:
DATE:07/06/09
SOURCE:Flight Daily News
Bob Mason, Selex Galileo's executive vice-president, radar and advanced targeting, says the Vixen 1000E's advantage comes from the use of a swashplate mounting, which enables the active array to be rotated by +/-100°. This beats a fixed AESA during beyond visual-range and off-boresight missile firings, and while acquiring synthetic aperture radar imagery, he says. "We will be delivering a prototype this year for them to fly, and then will upgrade it over the next 18 months."
Source link:
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/06/07/327209/paris-air-show-gripping-gripen.html
kutte babus kill them all
Only Vixen 500E is ready. Vixen 1000ES is a paper radar yet. Sure the first prototype is to be delivered this year which has to be followed by years of testing. The in-service date for Vixen 1000ES is 2015, that is if all goes as planned.
At this rate our own desi AESA would be ready in time. Heck, Tejas Mark2 would be ready by the time this contract is finalized.
If Tejas wasnt such a slowbo we wont be having this contract in the first place. As much I would like Tejas Mark2 to come on time the reality is that there is no precedence of ADA ever having met any deadline in over 20 years of LCA development.
Tejas is not a slowbo. This is a true blooded 4.0 gen aircraft. For a nation which has only previously designed a 2nd gen aircraft, this is a phenomenal leap for India. This has been achieved by taking nearly the same time as a comparable aircraft takes in development in the west, inspite of technology denials and at a fraction of the cost.
Compare the Tejas with the JAS Gripen. SAAB has access to just about everything, from technology to parts manufacturers all over the world. All they have to do is to create a concept, and then order the parts and assemble the final product.
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Anon@ 6:49 AM
kutte babus kill them all
This comment was hilarious. ROTFL. Haste haste paagal kar diya.