US and India Developing a 'Special Relationship' Like the US and Britain?

If you have watched cable news television in the last several months, you have probably seen a Make in India (MII) ad or two. To be sure, the US-Indian relationship is not only that of buyer-seller, it’s about prospective partnership in the defense sector: The US envisions India as a long-term, geostrategic and security partner. How India perceives this relationship going forward with respect to Russia and China will be telling.

Furthermore, there are high expectations for India’s role in Afghanistan, which have been improved by its willingness to re-engage dialogue with Pakistan at the Heart of Asia Conference earlier last week in Islamabad.

Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter recently reconnoitered in Washington, and their latest official meeting signals that the US is indeed paying more attention to Asia. Whether or not the US is cultivating a new "special relationship" remains to be seen; however, it is worth noting that India is the only country for whom US authorities have established a special cell within the Pentagon to handle defense collaboration.

The India Rapid Reaction Cell (IRRC) falls under the purview of the International Cooperation Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. The significance of this initiative should not be understated.

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The United States ambassador to India said the two nations increasingly have a common vision of security across the Indo-Pacific region that is translating into “our forces and systems … becoming interoperable” for an array of missions.

Ambassador Richard Verma, speaking Friday at The Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C., think tank, said this is particularly true in the maritime domain. In the past week, Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar meet with Adm. Harry Harris, Pacific Command commander in Hawaii, and then flew on an MV-22 Osprey with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) to see first-hand carrier strike group operations as part of their two-day discussion “of deepening security relations.” Carter earlier in the year became the first American Defense secretary to tour an Indian operational command.

Verma added that 2015 marked the beginning of the nations’ Defense trade technology initiative (DTTI) to “further integrate our defense industries” most notably in aviation and aircraft carrier development. In the last year, the ambassador said bilateral defense trade amounted to $14 billion, including a $3 billion contract with Boeing to deliver AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and CH-47 Chinook heavy lift helicopters to India. In turn, India will manufacture some parts for the Apaches.

Looking ahead into early 2016, he cited India’s planned involvement in the next Rim of the Pacific exercise, the United States participation in India’s Fleet review in February and both participating in a regional special operations forces (SOF) exercise in January.

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In a blast of rotor wash from a Marine MV-22 Osprey, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Indian Minister of Defense Manohar Parrikar came aboard one of the largest and most technical expressions of American power projection — a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.

Parrikar’s delegation of civilian officials and flag and general officers from all branches of the Indian military nibbled on treats from Ike’s galley before watching F/A-18s catapult from the flight deck and quizzing the ship’s crew on the day-to-day realities of carrier operations.

The trip — while a textbook execution of the Navy’s age-old distinguished visitor carrier visit program — took on extra significance as the U.S. and India continue to outline how the two countries could cooperate in constructing India’s second domestically built aircraft carrier and deepen bilateral operations.

Before departing the Pentagon on Thursday, Carter and Parrikar held a joint press conference to serve as an update on how defense cooperation between two countries is progressing since the early 2015 India and U.S. Defense Technology and Trade Initiative agreement.

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China's Aerospace Sector is as Dependent on Ukrainian Jet Engines as on Russian

Recent discussions with Ukrainian technicians indicate that China's aero-engine industry continues to depend on Ukrainian technology almost as much as it does on Russian propulsion systems.

Impressions of the state of China's aero-engine programmes among staff of the Ivchenko-Progress design bureau in Zaporozhye, southeastern Ukraine, are that Chinese efforts remain stymied by technological bottlenecks, despite public announcements and displays of "indigenous" engine designs.

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India Wants EMALS, jet Engine Tech Transfers From US

US cooperation in engine technology was a top issue for Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar when he met US Defense Secretary Ash Carter Wednesday and Thursday in Washington, said an Indian Defence Ministry source.

India needs engine technology for its proposed homegrown advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA), which is still on the drawing board. Availability of a higher thrust advanced engine would kick-start the AMCA program, under which India proposes to build medium combat aircraft similar to the Rafale, which it is buying from France, said a senior scientist of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which is developing AMCA.

Another priority is cooperation on development of an electro-magnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) for the proposed Indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vishal, the MoD source added.

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India Reviving Kaveri jet Engine as Ghatak Engine for UCAVs

The Narendra Modi government is set to give the green light to a Rs 3,000-crore plan to develop Ghatak, a new engine that will power India's first unmanned combat aircraft, or drones capable of delivering bombs as well as tackling aerial threats, as part of a project that envisages major participation of the private sector.

Ghatak will be a derivative of the abandoned Kaveri project that had been in the works for over two decades, officials said. The key difference in the current plan is the proposed participation of the private sector in a significant way.

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Pratt & Whitney Jet Engine to Power Long Range Strike Bomber (if GAO shoots down protest)

As the aerospace world anxiously awaits the Government Accountability Office’s verdict on whether to allow Northrop Grumman to begin construction on the Pentagon’s Long Range Strike-Bomber (LRS-B), new details help paint a clearer picture of who will build crucial parts and systems.

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If Northrop builds LRS-B, GE Aviation will manufacture the primary and secondary power distribution systems, not the plane's engine, according to a source with knowledge of the program. GE was partnered with the Boeing-Lockheed Martin team on the power plant, the source said.

The news that GE is not the winning engine maker fuels speculation that Northrop's bomber will be powered by Pratt & Whitney engines. Although nothing is certain, some have hypothesized that LRS-B will use Pratt's F135 engines, according to a recent analysis by Jim McAleese.

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The rumor is the engine is an ADVENT derivative with an F135 core.

China's J-20 Stealth Fighter Needs a new Engine

The J-20 combat aircraft, a new generation of combat aircraft, is currently engaged in intensive trial flights. According to photos circulating online, a newly designed J-20 coded 2013 carried out a series of low altitude maneuvers that demonstrated its relatively advanced performance.

Concerning the question of when the aircraft will be on active service, military expert Song Xinzhi said in a Beijing Television broadcast that J-20 is still using an prototype engine and it would be optimistic to expect it to come into service within one or two years.

From the photo we can clearly see features of the nose including the radome layout, the cockpit, and the canards.

An online report from Russia indicated that the maiden flight of the first prototype was made in January 2011, that China has already tested the sixth prototype of J-20, and that the J-20 at its initial stage is already an aircraft carrier killer.

According to the report, it takes five to six years for a new fighter to enter service. Therefore, it is very likely that this fighter will be equipped with a full set of avionics and arms in 2017.

Could the J-20 be operational within two years? Song Xinzhi points out that J-20 is still using a prototype engine which can only meet the demands of trial flights. A better engine is needed to unleash its full performance potential.

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General Electric's Angel Trumpet: a Mini Jet Engine 3d Printed

Consider it a jet engine for the Oompa-Loompas. GE engineers working on the future of aircraft manufacturing recently showed off some of their capabilities. They made a simple 3D-printed mini jet engine that roared at 33,000 rotations per minute.

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US Air Force Already Looking at Upgrades to F-35: Lasers, new Engines, Avionics

The U.S. Air Force is on track to declare Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet ready for initial combat use by August or September 2016, and officials are already looking at possible future upgrades to its weapons, propulsion and avionics.

Major General Jeffrey Harrigian, the two-star general named in January to oversee all things F-35 for the Air Force, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday the program was making good progress, but he was keeping close tabs on key items required to meet the target date.

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"We are already considering and thinking through what are some of the technologies that will be part of the F-35," Harrigian said. "This is not the time to rest on your laurels."

Harrigian gave few details but said potential upgrades could include new avionics systems, radar, laser weapons and a new more fuel-efficient engine.

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First 3D Printed Jet Engines Created

Working with colleagues from Deakin University and CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), researchers from Australia's Monash University have created the world's first 3D-printed jet engine. While they were at it, they created the world's second one, too. One of them is currently on display at the International Air Show in Avalon, Australia, while the other can be seen at the headquarters of French aerospace company Microturbo, in Toulouse.

A team from the Monash Centre for Additive Manufacturing and spin-off company Amaero started with an older gas turbine engine contributed by Microturbo. Still in working order, the small engine was used for auxiliary power in aircraft such as the Falcon 20 business jet.

Led by Prof. Xinhua Wu, the team proceeded to take the engine apart, and scan all the individual components. Using computer models obtained from those scans, a laser sintering process was then utilized to selectively melt metal alloy powder, building up two copies of each component in successive layers. When those parts were subsequently assembled, two metal replicas of the original engine were produced.

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China Cyber Spies Stole Vast Amounts of Data on F-35, Including Critical Engine and Radar Designs

Chinese spies stole key design information about Australia's new Joint Strike Fighter, according to top secret documents disclosed by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

German magazine Der Spiegel has published new disclosures of signals intelligence collected by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and its "Five Eyes" partners, including the Australian Signals Directorate. The intelligence reveals new details of the directorate's efforts to track and combat Chinese cyber-espionage.

According to a top secret NSA presentation, Chinese cyber spies have stolen huge volumes of sensitive military information, including "many terabytes of data" relating to the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) - also known as the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.

The leaked document shows that stolen design information included details of the JSF's radar systems which are used to identify and track targets; detailed engine schematics; methods for cooling exhaust gases; and "aft deck heating contour maps".

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PAK-FA New Engine has Slipped two Years to 2017 at Earliest

Lenta (citing Interfaks) says a source close to ODK General Director Vladislav Masalov says a PAK FA with the “second phase” engine will fly in 2017.

He reportedly said the “second phase” engine will replace “item 117″ and give PAK FA supercruise capability while being 15-18 percent more fuel efficient and cheaper to maintain.

Lenta notes the developmental engine is “item 30″ not “item 129″ as cited previously in Russian media.

The AL-41F1 is “item 117.” Current PAK FA prototypes and the Su-35S have “item 117S” (AL-41F1S) engines.

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India DRDO Abandoning Indigenous Kaveri Jet Engine Project

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has decided to wind up the Kaveri engine (GTX-35VS) programme, signaling an end to a desi dream of equipping its own fighter jet with a home-grown power plant. Sources in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed to OneIndia on Tuesday that the DRDO has already moved a file recently seeking the closure of the ambitious engine development project undertaken by Bengaluru-based Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE).

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Kuznetsov Claims Completion of Bench Testing for PAK-DA Strategic Bomber Engine

Russian military aircraft engine designer Kuznetsov has announced completing bench tests of a new propulsion system in development for a next-generation bomber.

The Samara-based company says in a 7 November news release that the
early bench test supports the Russian government’s plan to complete first flight of the promising aviation complex - long-range aviation (PAK DA) aircraft by 2019.

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A Technology for US Special Forces TALOS Powered Armour? DARPA/ASU's Jet Pack for Running Faster

Jetpack helps soldiers run faster from ASU Research on Vimeo.

More Details Why India is Unhappy With the PAK-FA Program

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has expressed concerns to Russia over technical problems and delays plaguing the USD10.5 billion Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) programme, which is based on the Russian Air Force's Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA platform.

Official sources told IHS Jane's that the IAF's primary objections to fighter's preliminary design features included the inadequacy of its AL-41F1 engines, its stealth features and its weapons carriage system.

Differences also emerged over the operational capability of the Byelka active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. Additional IAF concerns include the overall development cost of the aircraft, its maintainability and safety features, the sources said.

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US Air Force Presses Ahead with Sixth Generation Fighter, LRS-B Engines

The US Air Force is moving ahead with plans to develop a sixth-generation fighter jet engine based on technological improvements achieved through an ongoing effort to produce a power plant for a future long-range bomber.

In a request for information released 19 August, the air force said it plans to release a final request for proposals for the adaptive engine transfer programme (AETP) in the first quarter of fiscal year 2015, “notionally December 2014.”

AETP is aimed at finding mature engine technologies that will feed into an engineering and manufacturing development program, according to Pentagon documents. The eventual goal is to design, build and test a 45,000lb-thrust-class fighter engine “suitable for further development and ultimate installation into combat aircraft.”

The programme is a direct follow-on to the Air Force Research Laboratory’s adaptive versatile engine technology (ADVENT) programme. General Electric and Rolls-Royce North America developed engines that meet the 25 percent efficiency metric under ADVENT.

GE currently has a full ADVENT engine in testing that is designed for a “bomber application,” says spokesman Matt Benvie. Northrop and a Boeing-Lockheed Martin team are expected to compete for the LRS-B contract that will be awarded in spring 2015.

GE and Pratt & Whitney in 2012 scored contracts under the follow-on adaptive engine technology development (AETD) programme. AETD will produce a fighter engine core based on ADVENT technologies by 2016 that incorporates ceramic matrix composite material to improve heat tolerance and acceleration.

AETP will further mature the core’s heat tolerance and mate the core with an adaptive fan. The effort will conclude with a full-engine test either on a ground test bed, aboard a Lockheed Martin F-35 or in an “unnamed flight test application,” Benvie says.

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General Electric Offers 50+% Korean Content for Engines for South Korean Air Force's Stealth Fighter

General Electric (GE) intends bidding to supply engines to power the Republic of Korea Air Force's (RoKAF's) proposed KFX indigenous fighter aircraft.

The company said on 21 August that if selected to participate in the KFX programme, it would build the powerplants in collaboration with local industry, ensuring more than half the KFX engine components were made and assembled in South Korea.

According to South Korean media reports, the government will issue a tender to continue the full development of the aircraft before the end of 2014, with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) likely to be selected to lead the programme in collaboration with foreign system developers.

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French Jet Engine Maker Snecma Targeted by Hackers

French aerospace engine maker Snecma, a unit of Safran, was attacked by hackers who exploited a vulnerability in Microsoft Corp's Internet Explorer, according to a computer security researcher.

It was not clear how successful the hackers had been in their efforts to breach Snecma's network, according to the researcher, who has studied malicious software and infrastructure used by the hackers.

A spokeswoman for Snecma's parent, Safran, said she had no immediate comment.

The researcher said the malicious software used by the hackers contained code that identified Internet domain names belonging to Snecma. The researcher declined to be identified by name as he was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

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