The promotional video was produced by the Israeli arms company Rafael and aired at Aero India 2009 held in Bangalore last month. The video has been derided by some commentators as badly produced and virtually all consider it invariably funny. The StratPost story has made news with the New York Times, with Ronald Mackey writing about it in the blog The Lede, not to mention in other commentaries and observations on the internet.
Matiur Rahman Nizami, the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, said while addressing a meeting of his party, “The killing mission was executed from Indian intelligence headquarters through close monitoring.” He also added that India pulled a masterstroke by destroying the border guards and trying to weaken Bangladesh’s army and national security.
The fighter aircraft company has been accused of corruption in pushing forward sales to South Africa with Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu coming out strongly against the South African arms contract, which also raises common allegations against South African president-in-waiting Jacob Zuma. Other deals with Hungary and the Czech Republic have also been under the scanner for alleged kickbacks being paid for the proposed purchase of the Gripen fighter.
French newspaper Liberation reported the virus to have infected the French Navy’s databases leaving the Rafales ‘nailed to the ground’ on January 15 and 16 this year. The Dassault aircraft Rafale is one of the six contenders for the 126 MMRCA tender issued by IAF.
Israeli arms firm Rafael displayed a Bollywood-style dance number featuring Israeli artists in full Bollywood costume singing in English about the potential for the Indo-Israeli defense trade relationship on large screen televisions at their stall at Aero India 2009 recently.
The recent capitulation by the Pakistan government in the face of Islamist elements in the Swat valley has had led to worried talk of a hardline Islamist eastward creep towards India’s western borders. StratPost finds out if India really has something to worry about.
The Defense Minister AK Antony disappointed the contenders for the 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft contract during Aero India 2009, by declining to fly in any of the planes brought by four of the contenders. The representatives of the companies had hoped to have an interaction with the minister and try and get some hint as to where things where headed with the tender.
Gripen points out that all other fighters are manufactured by the Permanent Members of the UN Security Council.
The Super Viper is the only single-engine aircraft with an operational AESA radar, which is why Lockheed Martin is assured about their standing in the MMRCA race.
So how is the Gulfstream 55O platform-based aircraft different from the IL-76 platform based Phalcon system, of which three units are being purchased by India? Shalom Revivo, Joint Director at Israeli Aircraft Industries draws a whole list of distinctions.
The Australian Trade Commission is present in strength at Aero India 2009, looking to help Australian vendors get a piece of the action as far as India’s aerospace and defense industries are concerned.
The offset requirements raised to 50 per cent with the onset of the Defense Procurement Procedure (DPP) last August, continue to make foreign defense vendors uncomfortable. Bell helicopters had dropped out of the race to supply 197 helicopters to the Indian armed forces because of exactly this reason.
The fighter is in the running for the 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft tender floated by the Indian government along with five other contenders. John Giese of Lockheed Martin says, “By offering the Super Viper to the IAF we’re offering exactly what they asked for in the tender. The IN is designed to meet IAF specifications.”
He said this while briefing the press on the second day of Aero India 2009, when he also indicated the economic downturn would have little or no effect on the defense industry.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is displaying two of it’s old aircraft at Aero India 2009 to allow aviation enthusiasts to savor the IAF’s past, even in the din of the modern-day supersonic fighter jets jetting past. The De Havilland DH82 Tigermoth and Harvard aircraft are on static display at the show.
