Posted on 03/03/2006 8:06:46 AM PST by sukhoi-30mki
March 02, 2006
Indian military attaché scouts Navy aircraft for purchase
Two high ranking members of the Indian military came here Feb. 22, for briefings on the capabilities of the H-3 Sea King for possible purchase from the U.S. Navy.
Air Commodore Rakesh K. Jolly, Air Attaché and Commodore Parasurama Muragesan, Naval Attaché, were shown the Sea King capabilities during a briefing, followed by a hands-on flight demonstration with Capt. Mark Stone, program manager of the Commercial Derivative and Support Aircraft Program Office, PMA-207.
The Sea Kings would be used to outfit the USS Trenton (LPD 14), a decommissioned amphibious transport dock the Indian military is planning to purchase from the U.S. Navy within the next 12 months. The plan is for the Indian military to acquire six H-3 aircraft for the ship.
The H-3 Sea King is a twin engine helicopter designed to fly in all weather conditions. There are several variants, including the SH-3H, used by the Navy Reserves for detection, tracking, classification and destruction of enemy submarines.
The Sea King was commissioned more than four decades ago, and has been replaced by the SH-60F Sea Hawk as the primary anti-submarine helicopter.
In addition to scouting the H-3 Sea Kings, the Indian dignitaries showed interest in MH-60R Sea Hawks, F/A-18 Super Hornets and P-3 Orions.
HECK NO! I'm sick of all these people invading and controlling our 7-11's! When is this kind of stuff gonna stop? /sarcasm
Aren't these kind of old ?
India's enemies are principally Pakistan and China.
They are rather old & most have been phased out of US service,though these should be seen as attrition replacements & not major purchases for India.It's unlikely that if purchased,they would last beyond 2015.
Someone said the Canadian Sea Kings required a bunch of maintenance hours for every hour in the air...
The biggest problem with the Canadians is that their helicopters are old and worn out. They should have been replaced 15 years ago, but the leftists took power and cancelled the order for the replacements.
TSomeone said the Canadian Sea Kings required a bunch of maintenance hours for every hour in the air.
If the Indians buy newer, upgraded copters, they should get years of service out of them. If they buy old, worn out copters, they are just inviting crashes and other problems.
Its a cinch the Indians won't buy any used submarines...
Don't overlook the knowledge that India will gain from acquiring the USS Trenton. Although the ship is 41 years old, it has undergone a number of modernizations during its service life and will be in full operational condition when taken over by the Indian Navy. When commissioned into Indian Navy service, the ex-USS Trenton (LPD 4 class) will be the largest amphibious ship in that navy by a factor of 200%. I suspect the Indians will continue to modernize her and will learn a lot about operating larger amphibious ships that can be incorporated into their next and/or larger amphibious ship designs.
Here are some links:
LPD 4 Class:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/lpd-4.htm
IJN Shardul (largest IJN amphibious ship at present):
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/india/l-shardul.htm
I'm surprised the Indians didn't try for one of the laid up Russian Ivan Rogav amphibious ships. However, given the poor maintenance Russian ships are receiving of late, maybe the Indians found buying a ship laid down in 1965 a better deal.
(Better fate for the Trenton than being turned into a fish reef or blown to pieces in weapon tests.)
From either the Canadians or the British. I think the Russian ones were bought new. The German ones were bought new, although the newest ones are home-made. The French designs will be home made as well.
Didn't they lease four Kilos from Russia?
The Canuks bought 4 diesel subs from the UK.
That was a different deal. The Indian Navy leased four diesel-electric boats from Russia.
right.
Are you sure 4 Kilos were leased????As far as I know most of India's 10 Kilos were newly built.One,the INS Sindhurakshak,was certainly an ex-Russian ship,purchased in 1997.Anyway,even if some were leased,they have all been purchased since then.
We should develop a thriving weapons sales business with India, and we should do this really fast. We should also buy from and trade for India's Russian weaponry, to make a OPFOR force for NATO
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