INDIAN ARMED FORCES CHIEFS ON
OUR RELENTLESS AND FOCUSED PUBLISHING EFFORTS

SP's Aviation - ISSUE No 3-2019

Issue Features

• 

  EXCLUSIVE

  MILITARY | CAS INTERVIEW
  Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa lifts veil off India’s UCAVs
  

  In his most recent interview, exclusively to SP’s Aviation’s Vishal Thapar, Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa, Chief of the Air Staff, provides a peek into the capability the IAF immediately needs. For the first time, India’s Air Chief discloses details about the Tapas and Ghatak UCAV programmes.

• 

  MILITARY | MODERNISATION
  Chinooks Inducted
  By Vishal Thapar

  India’s military modernisation plan to beef up war fighting capability in the mountains begins to fall into place. A Chinook can rapidly induct 50 troops or 20 tonnes of weaponry per sortie to mountainous battlefields

• 

  AIR STRIKE | BALAKOT
  India Finally uses Military Option Against Terrorists in Pakistan
  By Air Marshal S.B.P. Sinha (Retd)

  To deter Pakistan from retaliating/escalating after such air strikes, IAF’s numerical superiority needs to be restored expeditiously by arresting depleting numbers of fighter aircraft and fast-tracking procurement of six additional FRA

• 

  AIR STRIKE | BALAKOT
  Used in Balakot air strike, Spice Bombs & Litening pods being ‘made in India’
  By Vishal Thapar

  In the spotlight after the path breaking Indian airstrike on the Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camp at Balakot in Pakistan on February 26, the Spice smart bomb fired...

• 

  AIR STRIKE | VIEWPOINT
  Aircraft of Choice for Strike Role: The Mirage 2000
  By Air Marshal Anil Chopra (Retd)

  Despite its vintage, the Mirage 2000 fleet is still the most potent platform the IAF currently has on its inventory to undertake strike missions deep into enemy territory

• 

  AIR STRIKE | VIEWPOINT
  Netra — The Indian Eye in the Sky
  By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd)

  The Netra served as the “operational brain” that guided the 12 Mirage 2000 strike aircraft of the IAF as they flew into enemy territory and destroyed a major terrorist camp

• 

  CIVIL | E190-E2 DEBUT
  “Break-Even by Selling Just 50 Seats Per Trip”: Cesar Pereira to Bleeding Indian Carriers
  By Vishal Thapar

  Brazilian manufacturer hard sells its Profit Hunter as the turnaround solution for carriers struggling with their balance sheets

• 

  EXCLUSIVE

  CIVIL | E190-E2 DEBUT
  “Untapped 70-150 seat jet segment has great promise in India, waiting for first mover to reap rewards”
  

  In an exclusive interview to SP’s Aviation’s Vishal Thapar, Embraer’s Vice-President Asia-Pacific Cesar Pereira blames the woes of domestic Indian carriers on a faulty business model built around a fleet of big aircraft

• 

  CIVIL | REGIONAL AVIATION
  Maturing Markets for Regional Jets in Asia
  By Group Captain A.K. Sachdev (Retd)

  The potential of regional airliners will need to be exploited in pursuit of India’s ambition to become the third largest civil aviation market in the world in the next decade

• 

  SAFETY | ANALYSIS
  Boeing 737 Max 8 Under a Cloud
  By Captain Ajit Agtey

  As a result of a conscious decision taken by the company to keep the operator in the dark, there have been two accidents in which 346 lives have been lost

• 

  SAFETY | BOEING
  Letter from Dennis Muilenburg to Airlines, Passengers and the Aviation Community
  

  We know lives depend on the work we do, and our teams embrace that responsibility with a deep sense of commitment every day.

• 

  A Word from Editor-in-Chief
  By Jayant Baranwal, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

  While the Mirage 2000 aircraft went into enemy territory to pulverise terrorist training infrastructure, the Netra, though confined to Indian airspace, was virtually the “operational brain” of the mission

• 

  NEWS WITH VIEWS
  Lockheed Martin Offers F-21 for the IAF
  By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd)

  At Aero India 2019, Lockheed Martin unveiled the F-21 multi-role fighter jet for India, to be produced locally.

• 

  HALL OF FAME
  Nancy Harkness Love (1914-1976)
  By Joseph Noronha

  Motivated by patriotism and love of flying, Nancy proposed that if women could not be employed on active flying, they could ferry new aircraft from factories to military bases

• 

  LAST WORD
  Jet Crisis: Learn & Remodel
  By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd)

  Airlines need to induct aircraft of the right size and guard against over-capacity as both these could be detrimental to their business strategy

• 

  NEWS | DIGEST
  Space is the new battlefront: India Conducts a Surprise Anti-Satellite Missile Test
  By Vishal Thapar

  Ballistic Missile Defence interceptor PDV Mk-II tweaked for capability to destroy enemy satellites

• NEWS | DIGEST
  Appointments
  

  On March 1, 2019. Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar, PVSM AVSM VM & Bar, took over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Air Command, Indian Air Force.

• 

  NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | ASIA PACIFIC
  India Prospects 21 Mothballed Russian MiG-29 Fulcrum Fighters
  

  India has projected a request to Russia for an urgent shipment of 21 MiG-29 “Fulcrum” fighter aircraft. The MiG-29 Fulcrum is a twin-engine fighter aircraft developed by the Mikoyan design bureau in the 1970s as an air superiority fighter.

• 

  NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | ASIA PACIFIC
  UAE’s Calidus Developing Light Attack Aircraft
  

  The UAE is reportedly developing its first light attack aircraft. The defence company Calidus, is manufacturing the aircraft named B250, which is currently being tested.

• NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | ASIA PACIFIC
  US Seeking Information on Misuse of the F-16 by Pakistan
  

  The US State Department is seeking information on the misuse of Americanmade F-16 fighter jets by Pakistan against India in violation of the end-user agreement.

• NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | AMERICAS
  US Air Force Resumes Pegasus Delivery
  

  The US Air Force has received a KC-46 Pegasus on March 11, 2019 after the aircraft passed a Foreign Object Debris inspection at Boeing’s production facility.

• NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | AMERICAS
  Northrop Gruman’s Offer of AN/APG-83 AESA System
  

  Northrop Grumman has offered to replace the obsolete radar on the US Boeing B-52H Stratofortress strategic bombers with its AN/APG-83 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.

• NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | AMERICAS
  Lockhed Martin to Sell Falcon Air Defence System to UAE
  

  Lockheed Martin has targeted the UAE for the sale of the Falcon Air Defence System. Lockheed Martin, Diehl Defence and Saab had unveiled the Falcon, a short and medium range air defence system...

• NEWS | DIGEST: MILITARY | AMERICAS
  Boeing’s Latest Unmanned Platform
  

  Boeing has introduced its newest Unmanned Platform, called the Boeing Airpower Teaming System. Boeing Australia designed the system, which is the company’s largest investment in a new aircraft outside the US.

• NEWS | DIGEST
  Quick RoundUp
  

  Airbus has delivered the first upgraded Tranche 1 Eurofighter to Spain. The enhancements include the introduction of hardware modifications, which support the Operational Flight Programme...