REVEALED: The BAE-HAL Joint ‘Advanced Hawk’

 

 

Revealed exclusively here on Livefist before its formal unveiling later this month, this is the Advanced Hawk. A joint BAE Systems-Hindustan Aeronautics effort that elevates the proven Hawk jet trainer to a significantly more capable aircraft platform, closer in performance — both real and synthetic — to the fighters it trains pilots for. The 50-50 commercial project with equal risk by the two companies, funded internally over 24 months, has culminated with this single demonstrator aircraft that will be revealed for the first time at the Aero India show on Feb 14 outside Bengaluru.

The product will be jointly marketed by BAE Systems and HAL to existing and new potential customers across the world, with a projected market for at least 300 airframes over ten years, all or most of which will be built in and exported from India, with several Indian technologies and systems.

In details shared exclusively with Livefist, it appears clear that the Advanced Hawk is more than just a fine-tuning of the Hawk, but an upgrade that encompasses perhaps the first deep dive in years into what the Hawk stands for, beyond being just a lead-in fighter trainer.

The changes in the Advanced Hawk are significant. For instance, the Advanced Hawk sports HAL-led engineering tweaks to the aircraft’s wing — the addition of an active slat leading edge and an upgraded combat flap — which adds more flying envelope across the spectrum. Other changes, detailed in the schematic below, importantly include increased engine thrust on the Adour Mk.951, a smart weapons capability (which is probably why HAL has designated it the ‘Combat Hawk’ in internal communications), air-refueling and a brand new panoramic multi-display centered glass cockpit.

In a wide-ranging interaction with BAE Systems top leadership on the Hawk programme, including Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpey, former RAF chief and now senior military advisor at BAE, Livefist obtained the full picture on the first significant Indo-British joint aerospace effort in decades, one that looks to stimulate demand among existing trainer operators and capture markets looking to acquire the Hawk capability. The Indian military operates 123 Hawk Mk.132 jets that provide Stage-III training before pilots progress to operational fighters like the Mirage 2000, Su-30MKI, MiG-29 or Jaguar. We break down the Advanced Hawk effort:1. The airframe used to demonstrate the Advanced Hawk is one of two development aircraft owned by BAE Systems. Engineering changes were made directly to the platform by BAE and HAL in the UK. The aircraft was then brought down to Yelahanka, where it will fly for the first time in its new trim shortly after the Aero India show.

2. BAE and HAL will look to stimulate demand for the Advanced Hawk not just among new customers, but to existing operators as well. India, one of the world’s largest operators of the Hawk, has begun receiving briefings from BAE-HAL on the projected advantages of inserting the Advanced Hawk into future training — as a possible step between the existing Hawk and high performance fighters. The principle advantage being projected is the ability to shift mandatory flying training on frontline fighters to the Advanced Hawk, saving costs and freeing up those fighters for operational tasks and extending their operational life. BAE officials said an internal study indicated at least 30% of current frontline training by the IAF could be downloaded to the cheaper Advanced Hawk with no loss of regimen or rigour. But there are challenges. Already saddled with high value acquisitions and a list of other priority platforms it needs (not to mention an existing Hawk fleet), it will be a hardsell stimulating demand within the Indian Air Force, certainly in the short term. On the other hand, the IAF’s training curriculum has been buffeted by flux over the last few years, and per force compressed with the absence of a ready intermediate trainer. Could a fleet of Hawks brought up to the Advanced Hawk standard simply accelerate the scrapping of intermediate training altogether?

“It’s like putting a Ferrari between a Mini and an Formula-1 car,” says Dave Corfield, head of Hawk India at BAE. The RAF’s Mk.128s can’t simulate the F-35 sensor environment, but the Advanced Hawk can, says Corfield, indicating an immediate market opportunity.

3. Apart from an expanded flying envelope that more physically mirrors the flying qualities of high performance fighters, a major part of the Advanced Hawk pitch is the synthetic fighter environment it simulates for frontline sensors and weapons. Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, who trained on the Hawk Mk.1, has flown in the new synthetic environment afforded by the new generation Hawks (including the Hawk Mk.128s in service with the RAF). “It’s a quantum leap,” Torpy tells Livefist. “Pilots don’t realise they don’t have a real radar or radar warning receiver. It’s very real.”

4. Importantly for India, the BAE-HAL effort seeks to plug fully into the Make In India thrust, making it likely that interest in the platform will directly mean more jobs in India and expanded business for the existing Indian supply chain. The Advanced Hawk, therefore, will make use of the existing Hawk production line in Bengaluru. BAE and HAL, which have both invested internal funds as part of a 2015 MoU, may escalate that into a joint venture or other commercial arrangement (subcontracting/licensing) to administer the Advanced Hawk programme. Depending on interest from customers, the Advanced Hawk could be built in India or the UK — or both. “There’s a low cost production line in India. This could be built in the UK, but it’s cheaper to build it here,” says Corfield.

5. HAL, which has unofficially designated this effort the ‘Combat Hawk’ so far, has done so for a reason. The Advanced Hawk is the first Hawk platform with a specific combat capability, a pitch that straddles both its capacity to simulate frontline weaponry, and also as a combat force multiplier by itself. With a beyond visual range and precision strike capability, several developing economies could see the Advanced Hawk as a combat platform by itself for close air support and so on.

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6. The Indian contribution to the Advanced Hawk is tangible — way more than other so-called joint programmes. Apart from the wing re-design conducted by HAL, the new platform will also sport the slat actuation system from the LCA Tejas. The Advanced Hawk will also offer options for an Indian mission computer, secure comms, datalink and countermeasures systems. A Hawk oversight committee, comprising UK trade and industry and India’s Department of Defence Production have been discussing other areas of synergy in the programme. The group meets next after Aero India in Chennai at which point the Advanced Hawk team will have a clearer picture about global interest.

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7. Existing Hawk customers will also be offered the opportunity to choose upgrade modules from the programme, or simply upgrade their fleets to the Advanced Hawk standard. Depending on the customer, BAE and HAL will jointly decide where such upgrades will take place.

Apart from the demonstrator airframe, BAE Systems will also be bringing a full mission simulator of the Advanced Hawk to Aero India this month.

Hindustan Cables Limited is now Naini Aerospace

Now Naini will also contribute to the Indian Security. In coming days parts of Air force aircrafts will be manufactured in Naini Aerospace. Hindustan Cables Ltd. which is acquired by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd will manufacture various aircraft parts here.

Hindustan Cables Limited was on the verge of closure and the employees had not been paid for two years. Due to workers unrest and movement which started in early September 2016, Central Government sealed the takeover of Company.

That`s when Hindustan Aeronautics Limited began the process of acquiring. On Monday, New Delhi CMD of Hindustan Cables and MD of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited which comes under the defence ministry went to complete the formalities of the acquisition. HAL named the new company Naini Aerospace Limited.

Naini Aerospace Limited will be the subsidiary of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. 125 employees of Hindustan Cables Limited will join the new company on 1st February. Hindustan Cables labour union head Rama Kant informed the staffs about the merger. The staffs are happy with the news.

In a Bid for Defense Exports, India is Giving Contracts to the Private Sector

 

The Indian government has signed a sizable contract with Reliance Defense and Engineering Ltd (RDEL) a company promoted by Reliance Infrastructure, in a major boost for private defense manufacturing. The company claimed that it has signed a contract with India’s Ministry of Defense for the design and construction of fourteen (14) Fast Patrol Vessels (‘FPVs’) for the Indian Coast Guard; the value of the deal is $137.68 million.

Reliance Defense and Engineering emerged as the winner through a competitive bidding process undertaken by the Defense Ministry. Almost all the private sector and public sector shipyards: L&T, Cochin Shipyard Limited, Goa Shipyard Limited, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd had participated.

“This is the first time a private sector shipyard has been awarded a contract to design and build such a class of ships for the Indian Armed Forces. RDEL will be developing the design in-house. Reliance Shipyard, which features the largest dry-dock in the country, has successfully mastered the block-construction technique through unique ‘modular construction technology’ for building large ships for both commercial usage and the Navy,” claims the first private sector company in India to obtain a license and contract to build warships.

This could prove to be a landmark decision in a bid to achieve India’s $2 billion defense export target as all the state-owned companies are burdened with domestic orders and left with little or no space for export assignments.

“The combined R&D expenditure of the government-owned companies is a mere five per cent of their turnover, in comparison of 20% for some global companies. Given such a poor focus on R&D, it is not surprising that they have designed and developed very few products. The average labor productivity of public sector defense undertakings is less than one-fifth that of that of major global defense companies. Exports, a measure of international competitiveness, account for a meager five per cent of their sales, whereas many international companies generate over 70 per cent of their revenues from international customers,” says Laxman Kumar Behera, a Delhi based expert in defense industry and military spending.

Government sources said that in order to build India’s first homemade 155mm/52-caliber towed artillery gun, it can also go to private sector’s kitty as well. The Indian Army has a requirement of more than 3000 artillery guns expected to be inducted in next decade.

Recently, the Indian government has also taken major decision to privatize government owned defense company BEML in order to boost productivity and focus on exports.

AMRC Composite Centre wins funding to help keep UK at forefront of automotive innovation

 

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The Composite Centre of the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing has won £360,000 in funding from Innovate UK to investigate the way composite material is developed for use in automotive components.

The AMRC Composite Centre has formed part of a UK-wide research consortium tasked with creating strong lightweight vehicle and powertrain structures to help deliver lower emissions.

Composite assemblies used in automotive manufacturing, such as side impact beams in door panels or roof panelling are created using separate carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CRFP) structural composite components.

These structures are secured by fixtures that are then ‘over moulded’ together using more composite material, this not only makes the final parts more aesthetically pleasing, but can also incorporate additional functional features and details to any completed structure.

The CRFP comes as ‘preformed blanks’ of material which are then cured to the desired shape; it is the development and production of these preformed blanks that the AMRC Composite Centre will be investigating, using state-of-the-art technologies to create a more cost effective process for manufacturing automotive composite components.

AMRC Composite Centre Partnership lead, Hannah Tew, said: “Our role within the research project is to look at how the preformed blanks can be made cheaper, faster and stronger, using less material to produce lightweight composite automotive assemblies.”

The AMRC Composite Centre will investigate the use of creating the CRFP material using 3D weaving of commingled fibres and co-weaving of carbon and thermoplastic fibres, instead of the traditional 2D weaving:

Research will also be carried out to see if the way the CRFP fibres are orientated during weaving affects the production and quality of the composite material, allowing the team to improve component geometry and lightweight the composite material more than standard composites.

Tew, added: “We hope the research will allow us to prove the technology can work for many other vehicle parts, helping the proliferation and use of composite materials in the automotive sector. This will contribute to increasing cost efficiencies and vehicles that are lighter and produce fewer emissions.”

As there are already moves in Europe to routinely use composite materials within the automotive industry, the research project is important to keep the UK on a par with the capabilities of Europe.

ISRO to launch 103 satellites at one go

 

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It’s not the number that matters, but preventing ‘traffic mishaps’ in space, for personnel of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as they prepare to launch a record 103 satellites at one go by February middle.

Imagine a busy street where the trick – regardless of the number of cars, buses and motorbikes – is all about avoiding a collision. ISRO will find itself in a similar situation with the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C-37 (PSLV C-37) mission.

‘’The number of satellites is not the big thing here. The real complexity lies in deciding with precision the actual orientation, angle and time interval of separation of the satellites. None of the satellites should collide with each other during separation in orbit,’’ K Sivan, director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), the nodal agency for  ISRO’s launch vehicles, told Express.

The idea, in a nutshell, is to separate the satellites in stages – in different directions and at different relative velocities – to avoid a mishap in space. ‘’For the most part, it will be like any other PSLV mission. No technical changes have been made to the PSLV, for example,’’ said Sivan.

A successful mission means ISRO will set a record for launching so many satellites at one go. The space agency’s personal best is 20 satellites.

Although the launch date is yet to be declared, February 15 has been mentioned as a possible D-day.

Even in payload mass and mission duration, the PSLV C-37 mission will not be a unique one, said Sivan. The total payload mass is about 1,350 kg, which is well within the capability of the PSLV. As for duration, ISRO’s record would still stand with the September 2016 PSLV C-35 mission which put satellites in two separate orbits.

Originally, ISRO had announced an 83 satellite payload for the PSLV C-37 mission. Then the number jumped to 103.

Converting waste heat into energy – Composite material yields 10 times voltage output

Converting waste heat into energy – Composite material yields 10 times voltage output
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a scanning transmission electron microscope image of a nickel-platinum composite material. At left, the image is overlaid with false-colour maps of elements in the material, including platinum (red), nickel (green) and oxygen (blue)

Engineers from The Ohio State University have used magnetism on a composite of nickel and platinum to amplify voltage output 10 times or more – not in a thin film, as they had done previously, but in a thicker piece of material that more closely resembles components for future electronic devices.

A growing area of research called solid-state thermoelectrics aims to capture waste heat, produced by electrical and mechanical devices, inside specially designed materials to generate power and increase overall energy efficiency.

“Over half of the energy we use is wasted and enters the atmosphere as heat,” explained Stephen Boona, postdoctoral researcher at Ohio State. “Solid-state thermoelectrics can help us recover some of that energy.

“These devices have no moving parts, don’t wear out, are robust and require no maintenance,” he continued. “Unfortunately, to date, they are also too expensive and not quite efficient enough to warrant widespread use. We’re working to change that.”

In 2012, the same Ohio State research group, led by Joseph Heremans, demonstrated that magnetic fields could boost a quantum mechanical effect called the spin Seebeck effect, and in turn boost the voltage output of thin films made from exotic nano-structured materials from a few microvolts to a few millivolts.

In this latest advance, the researchers have increased the output for a composite of two common metals, nickel with platinum, from a few nanovolts to tens or hundreds of nanovolts. The researchers say this smaller voltage is in a much simpler device that requires no nanofabrication and can be scaled up for industry.

Heremans, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Ohio Eminent Scholar in Nanotechnology, said that, to some extent, using the same technique in thicker pieces of material required that he and his team rethink the equations that govern thermodynamics and thermoelectricity, which were developed before scientists knew about quantum mechanics. While quantum mechanics often concerns photons, Heremans’ research concerns magnons – waves and particles of magnetism.

Research in magnon-based thermodynamics was up to now always done in thin films and even the best-performing films produce very small voltages.

Previously, his team described hitting electrons with magnons to push them through thermoelectric materials. Now, it has shown that the same technique can be used in bulk pieces of composite materials to further improve waste heat recovery.

Instead of applying a thin film of platinum on top of a magnetic material as they might have done before, the researchers distributed a small amount of platinum nanoparticles randomly throughout a magnetic material – in this case, nickel. The resulting composite produced enhanced voltage output due to the spin Seebeck effect. This means that for a given amount of heat, the composite material generated more electrical power than either material could on its own. Since the entire piece of composite is electrically conducting, other electrical components can draw the voltage from it with increased efficiency compared to a film.

While the composite is not yet part of a real-world device, Prof Heremans expects the proof-of-principle established by this study will inspire further research that may lead to applications for common waste heat generators, including car and jet engines.

Composite breakthrough: nano-coating boosts electrical and thermal conductivity

 

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A nano-coating that is claimed to enhance the thermal and electrical conductivity of composites has been developed in a project involving academia and industry.

The collaboration between Bombardier and the Universities of Surrey and Bristol demonstrates that growing carbon nanotubes at high density – via chemical vapour deposition – on the surface of carbon fibre composites allows electrical transport throughout the material.

Dr Ian Hamerton, reader in polymers and composite materials in the University of Bristol’s Advanced Composite Centre for Innovation and Science (ACCIS), said: “This will have wide-reaching benefits in the aerospace industry, from enhancing de-icing solutions to minimising the formation of fuel vapours at cruising altitudes.”

For years, the application of composites in aerospace has been hindered by inherently poor electrical and thermal conductivities.

“The aerospace industry still relies on metallic structures, in the form of a copper mesh, to provide lightning strike protection and prevent static charge accumulation on the upper surface of carbon fibre composites because of the poor electrical conductivity,” explained Dr Thomas Pozegic, research associate at ACCIS. “This adds weight and makes fabrication with carbon fibre composites difficult.”

The new research, conducted at the University of Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) and the ACCIS, is said to show off the potential of carbon fibre reinforced plastics to be made multifunctional, while still maintaining structural integrity. Using this technique, sensors, energy harvesting lighting and communication antennae can now be integrated directly into the structure of the composite material.

Professor Ravi Silva, director of the ATI said: “In the future, carbon nanotube modified carbon fibre composites could lead to exciting possibilities such as energy harvesting and storage structures with self-healing capabilities. We are currently working on such prototypes and have many ideas including the incorporation of current aerospace/satellite technology in automotive design.”

BIG: India Details Make-In-India Fighter Plans

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India’s Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today took questions on a piece of procurement action that’s occupying more mindspace than any other — India’s next Make-in-India fighter lines, adding fresh official detail to a string of programmes that have largely been speculated upon for the past few months. Livefist gives you the low-down:

1. India’s next fighter production line will be of a single-engine foreign type, confirmed defence minister Manohar Parrikar today, clearing up speculation that this was still in doubt (this was a scenario first reported by Livefist here). This, in essence, narrows the next contest to a possible two-horse race between the Gripen and the F-16. Livefist has detailed both campaigns and pitches earlier. Significantly, the Minister said the process of contract would be initiated this calendar year.
2. The Minister however also confirmed that India would consider taking up the manufacture of a twin-engine fighter ‘later’. If the Minister was referring to a foreign line, he confirms projections made, for instance, by companies like Boeing about a second Make-in-India fighter production line in India that follows the single-engine line. Dassault’s own pitch for a greater number of Rafale jets (in addition to the 36 already contracted) would conceivably compete for this deal, though the Minister said an expanded number at this time was ‘speculative’.
3. Speaking today at a Ministry of Defence event, Minister Parrikar noted, importantly, that the Make-in-India fighter would be a deal awarded under the ‘Strategic Partnership’ policy — a scheme that hasn’t been unveiled yet, but that the Minister said would be by the end of January. Vendors and OEMs remain on tenterhooks over how this crucial scheme will play out.
4. Technology transfer and ownership cost will be guiding principles in the selection of the Make-in-India fighters, the Minister said. This isn’t new or surprising — and is a possible safe play owing to lessons learned from the abortive M-MRCA.
5. Minister Parrikar reaffirmed that the Indian Navy would not operate the LCA Navy, but would continue to support its development as a tech demonstrator to validate technologies that will be applied to India’s twin engine naval fighter, presumably an intended carrier version of the AMCA. This makes it official that the Indian Navy will float a separate competition for its own future fighter. However, in what comes as the first bit of hope in months for the LCA Mk.2 programme, the Minister said it would be considered in the next decade. The Minister also indicated that full rate production of the LCA Mk.1 (and subsequently the Mk.1A) would be ramped up to 16 a year.

Trial of nuclear capable Agni-IV missile likely today

A user associate trial of nuclear capable Agni-IV missile is likely to be conducted from a defence base off Odisha coast on Monday. The missile would be test fired from the Abdul Kalam Island test facility. Defence sources said the trial is aimed at revalidating new technologies incorporated in Agni-IV system and checking the readiness of armed forces to launch the missile on its own.While the navigational warning (Navarea warning) has been issued for mariners for the scheduled test, the mission team is working meticulously to achieve success with high accuracy, sources said. Though earlier it was apprehended that the test may be deferred due to logistic issues and late movement of tracking ships, from the issuance of navigational warning, it seems the issues have been sorted out. Defence sources said the intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) would be fired in full operational configuration from a mobile launcher positioned in the launching complex-IV of the test facility. This indigenously developed surface-to-surface nuclear capable missile is the most advanced long-range ballistic missile capable of being launched within minutes from a self-contained road mobile launcher. Having a strike range of around 4,000 km, the two-stage solid propelled missile is 20 metre tall and weighs around 17 tonnes. Compared to the Pershing missile of the US in terms of technology, Agni-IV has many cutting-edge technologies which can meet global standards. The missile can be fired from locations deeper in the Indian hinterland, making it very difficult for the enemy to track and destroy it. The missile also possesses a submarine launch capability. This is sixth test of the missile and second user associate launch. On December 26, India had successfully launched its longest range Agni-V missile which drew attention of many nations including China.

Fractional calculus helps control systems hit their mark

Fractional calculus helps control systems hit their mark

If you’ve ever searched for ways to curb your car’s gas-guzzling appetite, you’ve probably heard that running on cruise control can help reduce your trips to the pump. How? Cars, it turns out, are much better than people at following what control systems experts call a setpoint—in this case, a set speed across varying terrain. Calling upon a branch of mathematics known as fractional calculus, a team of researchers has developed a new setpoint-tracking strategy that can improve the response time and stability of automated systems—and not just those found in your car.

One popular method for tracking setpoints is to use what’s known as a setpoint filter. A setpoint filter helps solve the problem of under- or overshooting a far-away target. Blast furnaces, for example, have to go from room temperature to precisely thirteen hundred degrees to infuse iron with carbon to make steel. Some temperature controllers may overshoot as they quickly try to reach that temperature. Adding a setpoint filter smooths the path to make sure the furnace reaches the target temperature without going over. The problem, of course, is that it takes longer to get there. That’s where fractional calculus comes in.

Compared with classical (or integer-order) calculus, which forms the mathematical basis of most control systems, fractional calculus is better equipped to handle the time-dependent effects observed in real-world processes. These include the memory-like behavior of electrical circuits and chemical reactions in batteries. By recasting the design of a setpoint filter as a fractional calculus problem, researchers created a filter that could not only suppress overshooting but also minimize the response time of a virtual controller

Fractional calculus helps control systems hit their mark

A side-by-side comparison showed that their fractional filter outperformed an integer-order filter, tracking the complex path of a given setpoint more closely.

One drawback of this fractional design is that it’s difficult to incorporate into existing automated systems, unlike integer-order filters, which are generally plug-and-play. But as the world of automation becomes increasingly complex, fractional filters may ultimately set the new standard for controlling everything from robotics and self-driving cars to medical devices.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-12-fractional-calculus.html#jCp

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-12-fractional-calculus.html#jCp