Ukraine’s Motor Sich modernizing An-32 engines for India

Motor Sich based in Zaporizhia has signed a $110 million contract with the Indian Air Force to modernize AI-20 engines for Antonov An-32 military cargo aircraft, a company source told Interfax.
The three-year contract was signed in late December 2009. In all, 100 engines will be modernized starting from the end of this year.
Last July Ukraine and India agreed on the repairs and modernization of 105 An-32 of the Indian Air Force. The contract worth $400 million was signed between the Indian Defense Ministry and Spetstekhnoexport, a subsidiary of Ukrspetsexport. Ukraine won an Indian tender in December 2007.
That was the second largest military technical contract in the history of independent Ukraine. The largest contract of $650 million stipulated the delivery of 320 tanks to Pakistan in 2006.
India said that was the largest contract of the Indian Air Force in recent years.
According to unofficial sources, Ukrainian military exports neared $1.4 billion in 2009, or 20% more than in 2008.
About 40% of Ukrainian military exports go to Southeast Asia and less than 20% to Russia.
Ukrspetsexport forecasted 10% growth of exports in 2009.
INDIA NEED TO MAKE AIRCRAFT ENGINES INDIGENOUSLY WITH THE HELP OF UKRAINE.SINCE INDIA IS PLANNING TO MAKE ITS OWN REGIONAL AIRCRAFT WHICH WILL BE IN SKIES WITHIN A COUPLE OF YEARS...
INDIA AND UKRAINE HAVE ALREADY SIGNED DIFFERENT PACTS IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE AND TECH,THIS WILL BRING A BOOM TO RELATIONS BETWEEN BOTH COUNTRIES.ALSO THIS WILL HELP INDIA IN SELLING THESE AIRCRAFTS IN THE 3RD WORLD COUNTRIES WHICH WILL BE PROFITABLE FOR INDIAN ECONOMY..WITH THIS INDIA WILL BE CAPABLE TO MAKE BIGGER ENGINES MOST PROBABLY OF 270-300 KN WITH ITS OWN R&D WHICH WILL BE USED IN MANUFACTURE OF BIGGER PASSENGER AIRCRAFTS .
IN ADDITION THIS WILL AFFECT OUR NEIGHBOURS RELATION WITH UKRAINE AND INDIA COULD BE CAPABLE OF ACHIEVING NEARLY 25% OF UKRAINE TECHNOLOGICAL EXPORT ..
UKRAINE HAS ALSO GOT THE EXPERTISE IN MAKING OF CRYOGENIC ENGINES , IN WHICH INDIA IS JUVENILE..THE GSLV FAILURES SYMBOLIZES OUR KNOWLEDGE IN THE FIELD...

Bin Laden Raid May Have Exposed Stealth Helo(AVIATION WEEK)

By Bill Sweetman william_sweetman@aviationweek.com

A previously undisclosed, classified stealth helicopter apparently was part of the U.S. task force that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on May 1.
The exact type of helicopter is unknown but it appears to be a highly modified version of an H-60 Blackhawk. Photos disseminated via the European PressPhoto agency and attributed to an anonymous stringer show that the helicopter’s tail features stealth-configured shapes on the boom and the tail rotor hub fairings, swept stabilizers and a “dishpan” cover over a five-or-six-blade tail rotor. It has a silver-loaded infrared suppression finish similar to that seen on V-22s.
See AviationWeek.com/ares for some photographs.
The aircraft was damaged during the mission and abandoned. The mission team destroyed most of the airframe but its tail section landed outside the wall of the target compound and escaped demolition.
Stealth helicopter technology is not new and was applied extensively to the Boeing/Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche, cancelled in 2004. Compared with fixed-wing stealth, more emphasis is usually placed on noise and infrared signatures.
Noise can be reduced and made less conspicuous by adding blades to the main and tail rotors. It can also be reduced by aerodynamic modifications and flight control changes that make it possible to reduce rotor rpm, particularly in forward flight below maximum speed. Infrared reduction measures are crucial - the Comanche had an elaborate system of exhaust ducts and fresh-air ejectors in its tailboom.
Radar cross-section (RCS) reduction measures include flattened and canted body sides, making landing gear and other features retractable, and adding fairings over the rotor hubs. It usually is not possible to achieve the same - you can’t make a helo as radar-stealthy as a fixed-wing airplane, but helicopters generally operate at low altitude in ground clutter. Reducing RCS also makes jamming more effective, whether from the aircraft itself or from a standoff jammer.
UH-60M File Photo: Sikorsky