Young SasMos team delivers mission-critical panel for Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets

By https://twitter.com/writetake

Bengaluru, Oct 6: Much before Prime Minister Narendra Modi readied the blueprint for his Make in India mission, a young team of aerospace engineers from SasMos were developing mission-critical electrical panels for F/A-18 Super Hornet, a fighter its makers Boeing says is the ‘most-advanced one’ that took part in the MMRCA race. While Rafale eventually won the race, Boeing says the Super Hornet didn’t lose either.

On Thursday, SasMos handed over the first electrical panel assembly for the Super Hornets to Boeing -- a high quality job, delivered on time. While often technology might and its mission capabilities eat up all the space when success stories in military aviation are celebrated, the passion behind men gets miniaturised.

This piece should beat that trend, because, more than technology, it is the passion of a young team that’s propelling this chapter of ‘Make in India' story.

Headquartered in Hoody Village, near Whitefield, SasMos HET Technologies Ltd, Managing Director Chandrashekar H G said he had no money when military aviation inspired him. The Mysorean fell in love with flying machines while pursuing his Mechanical Engineering at National Institute of Engineering.

“It’s a real technology that stands out from the rest, because it files. We were just a handful of us who began this passionate journey, with only hope funding us,” says Chandrashekar, now 50 years old.

According to him Make in India is an inspiring concept. “Because a very strong thought is being communicated to look within the country. We are excited at the new opportunities offset has given us,” he says.

The average age of engineers at SasMos is 30 years and today the employee strength has gone up to 450 from the initial 20 in 2008. Interestingly, Chandrashekar’s love for his friends is visible in the name he gave to his company. SasMos stands for Shastri and Mosale – two of his close friends.

Having delivered cockpit panels of F-15s earlier, he says his team took on the challenges of Boeing and its work philosophies. 

“It needs a lot of hardwork to live to a Boeing mandate. We decoded their expectations. We motivated ourselves. And, we knew if we did it once, we could do it again and again,” says Chandrashekar.

While the rules of game didn’t permit him to share any technical details of the electrical panels, nor the numbers, all he could say was it plays a mission-critical role.

Read full report, here: http://bit.ly/2cWROuU

C-17 Globemaster-III to be amongst the show-stoppers at Aero India

By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore: The C-17 Globemaster-III heavy-lift transport aircraft from aerospace giant Boeing, is expected to be a show-stopper at this year's Aero India. Thanks to all the done deals of Indian Air Force (IAF), which has reduced the number of videshi combat fighters at the show, Boeing’s mammoth beast might emerge as an eye-catching flying machine. The IAF will receive the first batch of five C-17 Globemaster-III planes this year, followed by another five in 2014 – as per a $4.1-billion deal, now in play. India will emerge as C-17’s largest international customer, when the last of the transport planes join the IAF fleet.

Boeing says that the C-17s will bring unmatched strategic airlift capability to India. “India’s strategic and tactical airlift capabilities for military and humanitarian airlift will be considerably strengthened with the induction of the C-17 into IAF’s fleet,” Dennis Swanson, Vice-President, International Business Development, Boeing Defence, Space and Security, India, tells Express.

The C-17 is equipped with an externally blown flap system that allows a steep low-speed final approach for routine short-field landings. A C-17 can take off and land on a 3,000-foot runway, including narrower ones. (Across the globe, the standard runway length is 9,000 feet. Bangalore airport runway is 10,200 feet.)  It can also manoeuvre using a three-point star turn and its backing capability. This ability to back up allows it to operate on narrow taxiways and on congested ramps. With its full payload and an initial cruise altitude of 28,000 feet, the C-17 has an un-refueled range of approximately 2,400 nautical miles. The C-17 is also designed to airdrop 102 paratroopers and equipment.

“The C-17s also offers rapid response capability for relief missions anywhere in the world. One of the C-17’s most impressive capabilities is that it can land where other large air-lifters are unable to operate, including an unpaved airfield with no infrastructure. Once on the ground, the C-17 is extremely agile and requires minimal support. Unlike other large transport aircraft, it can turn around and park without assistance and does not have to kneel down for offloading. This saves considerable time when offloading the aircraft and returning it to service” Dennis said.

The C-17 requires a crew of only three – a pilot, co-pilot and loadmaster – reducing personnel requirements, risk exposure and long-term operating costs. It can carry a full array of wheeled vehicles in two side-by-side rows in its cargo compartment. 

Copyright@The New Indian Express

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Boeing to showcase Insitu's ScanEagle, Integrator UAV features at Aero India

 By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore: ScanEagle and Integrator – two versatile unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from the hangars of Insitu -- a wholly owned independent operating subsidiary of Boeing, will be at the Aero India 2013. With an eye to capture the potential market for surveillance platforms in India, Boeing is exhibiting full-size models of these UAVs for the first time in India, which are proven and now flying with armed forces of many nations.

The ScanEagle platform, designed for autonomous land and maritime field operations, is capable of being launched from anywhere and posses longer endurance. The Integrator retains key ScanEagle features like small system footprint, long endurance, autonomy, stabilized imagery, shipboard launch and recovery, low observable signature, and hub-and-spoke operation. It even has capacity to employ a mix of larger payloads, for longer periods, in austere conditions.

“Scan Eagle can deliver the highest quality data possible to tactical decision-makers and is ideal for Indian conditions. We feel India requires high performance, low-cost unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) requirements. Be it the harsh and fast-paced operating environments of land and sea combat, we believe Insitu’s ScanEagle and Integrator platforms offer India ISR capability for different missions,” Dennis Swanson, Vice-President, Boeing Defence, Space and Security, India, told Express.

He said ScanEagle has logged more than seven years of uninterrupted service with the US Department of Defence customers. It was first deployed in-theater under a services contract with the US Marine Corps in 2004, and with the US Navy in 2005. “The UAV is now deployed with military forces in the United States, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Poland and Singapore,” he said.

Though originally designed to track fish populations, these UAVs are engineered to withstand extreme environmental stresses of a maritime environment. “In June 2012, ScanEagle exceeded 6,00,000 combat flight hours, maintaining a 99 per cent mission-readiness rate. Integrator uses the same interoperable launch and recovery system designs that have been used since 2004 in combat and other extreme environments, attaining nearly 100 per cent mission availability,” Dennis said.

Copyright@The New Indian Express

Additional inputs for Tarmak007 members, visitors.

ScanEagle Specs

Performance 

• Endurance: 24+ hours 

• Ceiling: 19,500 ft / 5,944 m 

• Max horizontal speed: 80 knots / 41 m/s 

• Cruise speed: 48 knots / 25 m/s 

System features 

• Propulsion: 1.9 hp (1.4 kw), 2-stroke engine 

• Fuel: Gasoline (100-octane, unleaded, non-oxygenated gas) or heavy fuel (JP5, JP8, Jet-A) 

• Navigation: GPS / inertial 

• Launch: Pneumatic catapult 

• Recovery: SkyHook wing tip capture 

Dimensions 

• Wingspan: 10.2 ft / 3.11 m 

• Length: 4.5 ft / 1.37 m 

Weights 

• Empty structure weight: 28.8 lb / 13.1 kg 

• Max takeoff weight: 44.0 lb / 20.0 kg

AIS for maritime domain awareness 

• Heavy fuel engine with 28 hours endurance 

• Hush engine for reduced acoustic signature 

• Mid-wave IR sensor for Increased nighttime resolution 

• Mode C transponder for aircraft deconfliction 

• ROVER support 

Intergrator Specs

Performance 

• Endurance: 24 hours 

• Ceiling: >15,000 ft / 4,573 m 

• Max horizontal speed: 80+ knots / 41.2+ m/s 

• Cruise speed: 55 knots / 28.3 m/s 

Payload integration 

• Payload electrical power: 350 W 

• Payload data interface: Industry-standard Ethernet 

Dimensions 

• Wingspan: 16 ft / 4.8 m 

• Length: 7.2 ft / 2.2 m 

Weights 

• Empty structure weight: 80 lb / 34.0 kg 

• Fuel limit: 47 lb / 18.6 kg 

• Payload bay limit: 37 lb (combined) / 17.0 kg 

• Payload bay: 35 lb / 15.9 kg 

• Nose bay: 15 lb / 6.8 kg 

• Hardpoint (each): 15 lb / 6.8 kg 

• Outboard wing (each): 3 lb / 1.4 kg 

• Max takeoff: 135 lb / 61.2 kg 

Standard sensor package 

• Electro-optic 

• Long-wave infrared 

• Mid-wave infrared 

• Infrared Marker* 

• Laser rangefinder*

(Inputs: Boeing) 

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P-8I completes first flight

Boeing's first P-8I aircraft for the Indian Navy completed its initial flight today, taking off from Renton Field at 12:02 p.m. Pacific time and landing two hours and 31 minutes later at Boeing Field in Seattle.During the flight, Boeing test pilots performed airborne systems checks including engine accelerations and decelerations and autopilot flight modes, and took the P-8I to a maximum altitude of 41,000 feet prior to landing.

In the coming weeks Boeing will begin mission systems installation and checkout work on the aircraft at a company facility near Boeing Field."The P-8I program is progressing well and we are looking forward to this potent platform joining the Indian Navy as part of its fleet," said Rear Adm. DM Sudan, assistant chief of Naval Staff (Air), Indian Navy."The P-8I will provide India with the necessary speed and reliability to satisfy the Indian Navy's maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare requirements," said Dinesh Keskar, Boeing India president.

Based on the Boeing Next-Generation 737 commercial airplane, the P-8I is the Indian Navy variant of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing is developing for the U.S. Navy. In order to efficiently design and build P-8 aircraft, the Boeing-led team is using a first-in-industry, in-line production process that draws on the company's Next-Generation 737 production system.

"Flying the first P-8 for an international customer is a key milestone for our entire team," said Leland Wight, Boeing P-8I program manager. "We have transitioned to P-8I production, and remain on track to deliver the first aircraft to the Indian Navy in 2013."The P-8I is the first of eight long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft Boeing is building for India as part of a contract awarded in January 2009.

An option for four additional P-8I aircraft was included in the original contract. The aircraft features open system architecture, advanced sensor and display technologies, and a worldwide base of suppliers, parts and support equipment. The P-8I is built by a Boeing-led industry team that includes CFM International, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Spirit AeroSystems, BAE Systems and GE Aviation. (Boeing Press Release)