HAL to supply components for Sukhoi fighters to Russia

Zhukovski: The Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) will supply components to Russia for its Sukhoi range of combat jets for export to third countries, even as India's premier aviation giant prepares to roll out the first fully indigenous Su-30MKI multi-role fighter next year.

India and Russia are expected to sign an inter- governmental agreement on supply on components by the end of this year, a top HAL executive has said.

"We are already supplying navigation and communication equipment for installation on the Su-30MK series of fighters exported by Russia to other countries," GM of HAL's Nasik based Aircraft Manufacturing Division, V Balakrishnan said on sidelines of the International Aerospace Show-MAKS-2009.

The new agreement would provide for expanding the inventory to include the supply of airframe components for the multi-role jets to be exported by Russia, he said.

Russia has supplied Su-30MK series fighters to Malaysia and Indonesia and there are plans to export this powerful weapons platform to Algeria and Venezuela, media reports said.

"Next year HAL will achieve 100 per cent indigenisation of the Sukhoi aircraft - from the production of raw materials to the final plane assembly. We're currently testing the locally produced engine for Su-30MKI and are planning to launch its production in 2010," Balakrishnan said.

"HAL will manufacture 60 Su-30MKI fighters in the full production cycle till 1015," Balakrishnan said.


The aerospace company has a long history of cooperation with Russian aviation industry since it started licensed production of MiG-21 fighters in 1960s, the best combat jet of the Cold War-era. It is now involved in the production of Su-30MKI, believed to be the world's best in its class.

HAL's stall at the MAKS-2009 was inaugurated by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin here.

The IAF is acquiring a total of 230 Su-30MKI multi-role jets by 2015, tailor-made to meet its requirements over next two decades. Under the Sukhoi deal HAL is to produce 140 jets under license involving 'deep' transfer of technology.

The work began in 2004 with the assembly of knockdown kits provided by Irkut Aircraft Corporation, now part of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC).

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Memorable Ashes finales at the Oval

London: The Oval, traditional venue for the final Test of the English summer, stages the latest Ashes clash between England and Australia starting on Thursday.

With the series tied 1-1, England need to win the fifth Test to regain the Ashes.

* 2005. A series generally acclaimed as the greatest ever ended on a suitably dramatic note when Kevin Pietersen scored an audacious 158 to ensure the draw England needed to win the Ashes back after 16 years.

Shane Warne threatened to win the match for Australia with a commanding display of wrist spin. Andrew Flintoff responded with a mature 72 in England`s first innings and a magnificent spell of fast bowling to swing the match back to his side.

* 2001. Australia captain Steve Waugh and his twin brother Mark scored centuries to head another assured victory by one of the handful of great sides to grace the world stage. Warne took seven wickets in England`s second innings to clinch the Australian innings win.

* 1985. David Gower and Graham Gooch, with contrasting methods but equal effect, plundered the Australian attack on a sun-drenched day. England won by an innings to regain the Ashes.

* 1972. Brothers Ian and Greg Chappell scored centuries and Dennis Lillee bowled with tremendous speed to take five wickets in each innings. Australia squared the series against a strong England side and a new era in Ashes history began.

* 1968. Spectators volunteered to help clear water from the outfield after a thunderstorm soaked the ground, enabling Derek Underwood to bowl England to a series-levelling victory. South African-born mixed race batsman Basil D`Oliveira scored 158 in England`s first innings and his subsequent omission from the side to tour the land of his birth sparked the international boycott of the white-ruled republic.

* 1953. Len Hutton, England`s first professional captain, scored 82 as England won back the Ashes for the first time since World War Two.

* 1948. Don Bradman, needing four runs for a lifetime Test average of 100, was bowled second ball by Eric Hollies for a duck. Australia still won by an innings and 149 runs and Bradman`s side did not lose a game in his final tour.

* 1938. Hutton scored a world record 364 in England`s 903 for seven. England, with Bradman unable to bat after fracturing an ankle while bowling, won by an innings and 579 runs.

* 1926. Jack Hobbs scored his final Test century at his home ground and England won to regain the Ashes after four draws.

Bureau Report

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95 killed in Baghdad bomb carnage

BAGHDAD: A wave of attacks across Baghdad killed at least 95 people on Wednesday in the worst day of carnage to hit the Iraqi capital in 18
Blasts in Baghdad
Smoke and dust billow into the sky from the scene of a car bomb in front of the foreign ministry in central Baghdad. (AFP)
months and the bloodiest since US troops pulled out of the conflict-torn nation's cities.

An interior ministry official said 563 people were also wounded in attacks that included two massive truck bombings outside government ministries just minutes apart, including one near the heavily fortified Green Zone, a car bombing and a spate of mortar attacks.

"In the two attacks 95 people were killed and 563 wounded," the official said. A previous toll had 75 dead.

It was the deadliest day in Iraq since February 2008, and came on the sixth anniversary of a truck bombing on the UN compound in Baghdad that killed UN special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 others.

Iraqis pointed the finger at their domestic security forces, which in turn blamed members of executed former dictator Saddam Hussein's regime.

"I was in my home with my family when the roof collapsed on us," said Hamid, 46, who lives a few hundred metres (yards) from the foreign ministry compound which was targeted along with the finance ministry.

"The government promised us security would return, but where is the security?"

One truck bomb exploded outside the foreign ministry in a residential area close to the Green Zone, sending plumes of smoke and dust into the air, leaving a crater three metres (10 feet) deep and 10 metres wide filled with the twisted wreckage of dozens of cars and several charred corpses.

The walls of the ministry compound in Salhiyeh district were destroyed and its facade badly damaged, while cars were buckled and burnt for hundreds of metres. Blast walls surrounding the compound were removed two months ago.

The bombing also destroyed water tanks on houses near the ministry, sending water gushing into homes.

Just minutes before, another truck bomb exploded outside the finance ministry in Baghdad's northern neighbourhood of Waziriyah, also destroying part of a nearby bridge, ministry officials said.

The finance ministry said the refrigeration truck that exploded in what it said was a suicide attack had been carrying 1.5 tonnes of explosives and ball bearings "to cause maximum casualties."

It said 13 civil servants in the ministry building had died in the attack.

"We accuse the Baathist alliance of executing these terrorist operations," said Major General Qassim Atta, the spokesman for the Iraqi Army's Baghdad operations, referring to members of Saddam's Baath party.

He added that security forces had arrested two senior al Qaida leaders in the Mansur neighbourhood of western Baghdad, and that a truck carrying one tonne of explosives had been defused near the Cardiac Hospital in Salhiyeh.

A car bomb also hit a market in the western neighbourhood of Bayaa, a defence ministry official said, while two mortar bombs landed in the Green Zone — an area of foreign embassies and government offices — and one exploded outside, a security official said.

Environment Minister Narmin Othman Hasan said a mortar landed on and slightly damaged her house inside the Green Zone.

The attacks — shortly before Muslims are due to begin the holy fasting month of Ramadan later this week — drew the city to a standstill as security forces shot into the air and closed roads, while ambulances struggled to make progress amid traffic jams.

It was the bloodiest day in Iraq since February 1, 2008, when bombs at Baghdad pet markets killed 98 people.

Recent attacks in the capital have appeared to target various ethnic groups in a bid to reignite the sectarian violence which engulfed Iraq in 2006 and 2007.

Wednesday's violence comes exactly six years to the day after a truck bomb struck the UN offices at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, killing 22 people including de Mello.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he was saddened by Wednesday's "appalling" attacks.

"I am saddened that the violence continues, including the appalling string of attacks today in Baghdad which took the lives of scores of innocent people," he said at a ceremony at UN headquarters to mark World Humanitarian Day.

French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner pledged Paris's "full support" to Iraq, saying the attacks "targeted symbols of Iraqi sovereignty."

Despite a reduction in violence compared with last year, attacks on security forces and civilians remain common in Baghdad, the restive northern city of Mosul and in the ethnically divided oil city of Kirkuk.

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Afghanistan votes today; Karzai the leading contender

Afghanistan is going to polls on Thursday, only the second time in its history. After becoming the country's first popularly elected president in 2004, Hamid Karzai is the leading contender in today's vote.

Security forces in Afghanistan are on high alert as the Taliban have vowed to disrupt the elections.

Some 300,000 Afghan and foreign troops will be deployed to protect the 17 million voters at nearly 7000 polling booths.

Meanwhile, insurgency continues to take its toll on civilians and national and international forces. Six American troops were killed by militants on the eve of elections.

The Afghan government has called for an international media blackout on reporting violent acts on the day of its presidential elections.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai was among the first to vote on Thursday, and speaking to the media right after casting his vote, he said there's been no violence.

However, Taliban violence threat continues to overshadow the dramatic polls. The Helmand province is where the Taliban is expected to be most active. Small Hindu and Sikh communities living in the area are expected to support President Hamid Karzai.

In the Taliban heartland of Kandahar, Karzai hopes to get major support from his Pushtun homeland.

The Taliban is also expected to cause problems in the remote district of Paktia, since they can cross over easily from Pakistan.

Kabul will be the most closely watched. The Taliban are trying to send a message that they can strike anywhere. The second contender, Abdullah Abdullah was born here.

Panjshir, the home of Ahmed Shah Masood, the legendary Mujahideen fighter is expected to see strong support for Dr Abdullah.

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