More C-17s,
AW139s for UAE
On the fi nal day of the International
Defence Exhibition and Conference
(IDEX) show in Abu Dhabi, the United
Arab Emirates armed forces announced
the purchase of two Boeing C-17A
Globemaster IIIs. The deal is valued at
$618 million. The transports will join
six C-17As already in UAE Air Force
service.
During the course of IDEX, the UAE’s
military also confi rmed an order for
nine more AgustaWestland AW
helicopters, worth approximately $
million. Six of them will be outfi tted
for search and rescue (SAR) and the
remaining three will be used for VIP
transport. The UAE’s Joint Aviation
Command recently took delivery of
three AW139 SAR helicopters from a
previous order, and an additional three
are expected to be delivered later this
year.Minehunter delivered to Japan
A fi rst example of the AW101 equipped
with the Airborne Mine Counter Measures
(AMCM) mission fi t has been delivered
to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
Known as the MCH-101, the helicopter
is equipped to tow the AN/AQS-24A
airborne mine hunting system and the
Northrop Grumman AN/AES-1 AirborneLaser Mine Detection System (ALMDS).
The AMCM-confi gured MCH-101 was
handed over at Gifu on February 27 and it
is the eighth of 13 AW101s that Kawasaki
is building for the JMSDF under license
from AgustaWestland. It is now at Iwakuni
for trials with 51 Kokutai and will enter
service in 2016.AgustaWestlandhttp://www.combataircraft.net May 2015 17COUNTRY
Viraat to retire in 2016
The Indian Navy plans to decommission the
aircraft carrier INS Viraat next year. Withdrawal
of the carrier, which formerly served with the
UK’s Royal Navy as HMS Hermes, will leave
the Indian Navy with a single carrier, INS
Vikramaditya. This will be joined by a 40,000-
ton indigenously-built carrier, INS Vikrant,
scheduled to arrive in service in 2018.
The 24,000-tonne Viraat is now 56 years old,
the Centaur-class ship having rst entered
Royal Navy service in 1959. After serving as the
agship of the British forces during the 1982
Falklands War, Hermes was withdrawn by the
RN in 1984 and sold to India.
In recent years, Viraat has su ered from
increasing maintenance costs and the reduction
in the BAe Sea Harrier eet to just 10 aircraft.India looks to arm Hawks
The Indian Air Force and BAE Systems are in
talks with a view to arming the IAF’s eet of
Hawk Mk132 advanced jet trainers (AJTs). The
plan is to integrate some of the same weapon
systems used in the SEPECAT Jaguar strike
aircraft.
The adapted Hawks would be used for strike
co-ordinated armed reconnaissance (SCAR)
and close air support missions. Stores would
include ASRAAM missiles, Litening targeting
pods, and precision attack weapons, including
the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System
(APKWS).India lines up more PC-7s
India’s Ministry of Defence has approved
plans to acquire an additional 38 Pilatus PC-
basic trainers at a cost of CHF230 million. Until
now, India has purchased 75 PC-7s but it has
an overall requirement for 181 aircraft in this
category. From the current orders, a total of 59
PC-7s have been inducted to service. Delivery
of the remaining 16 from the earlier contract is
scheduled for completion this year.After the 113 PC-7s are delivered, India
will concentrate on the Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited (HAL) HTT-40, which is planned to ful ll
the outstanding basic trainer requirement.
The MoD also approved purchase of a single
Lockheed Martin C-130J to replace an example
lost in an accident in March 2014.Dassault and HAL reach Rafale agreement
In a bid to put the $12-billion Medium Multi-
Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender back
on track, Dassault Aviation and Hindustan
Aeronautics Limited (HAL) have come to an
agreement over guarantees for the 108 Rafale
ghters to be license-built in India. These
will follow an initial 18 aircraft that are to be
completed by Dassault in France.
With the agreement, Dassault agrees to be
a co-contractor for the Indian-built jets. The
French company will accept responsibility
for components that it provides to the HAL
assembly line.
Dassault also con rmed that the rst payment
has been received from Cairo for 24 Rafales, and
that three aircraft will be delivered to Egypt this
year. It will deliver ve Rafales to France in 2015
in addition to the rst three to Egypt. A second
batch of three ghters will be supplied to Egypt
in December or January.
Meanwhile, France is reportedly in the ‘ nal
stage’ of negotiations to sell up to 36 Rafales to
Qatar.First Indian MiG-29 upgrade
A rst MiG-29UPG ghter to be modernized in
India began test ights in February. In 2009, the
Indian Air Force (IAF) and RAC MiG signed an
agreement on the upgrade of 62 IAF MiG-29s to
produce multi-role MiG-29UPGs, equipped with
new avionics.
The rst six MiG-29s were modernized in
Russia, while the remainder are due to be
upgraded in India. Four aircraft are currently
undergoing the reconstruction process in India.INDIA
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