Article

2006-02-12 India-Pakistan

Salahuddin, the LeT's India operations chief

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Posted by Dan Darling 2006-02-12 02:11|| || Front Page|| [4 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Meanwhile off Vishakhapatnam, the Indian fleet assembles...

Posted by john 2006-02-12 07:38|| 2006-02-12 07:38|| Front Page Top

#2 Need to work on their tactical formations.

Posted by 6 2006-02-12 09:17|| 2006-02-12 09:17|| Front Page Top

#3 This is a fleet review (inspection by the Indian President).
With present Pakistani behavior, one of these days it will not be ceremonial.

Posted by john 2006-02-12 09:20|| 2006-02-12 09:20|| Front Page Top

#4 The Indian President, APJ Abdul Kalam, a former Rocket Scientist (and a muslim BTW) who helped design India's first satellite launch vehicles and ballistic missiles is on the right.

Posted by john 2006-02-12 09:27|| 2006-02-12 09:27|| Front Page Top

#5 An early photo of Kalam

Humble beginings.. the first Indian payloads were delivered to the pad on a bicycle.

Posted by john 2006-02-12 09:34|| 2006-02-12 09:34|| Front Page Top

#6 1964- The payload for one of Kalam's rockets on its way to the launch pad

The first Indian satellite being moved (yes that is a bullock cart - they needed a non metallic transporter)

Posted by john 2006-02-12 09:51|| 2006-02-12 09:51|| Front Page Top

#7 Addul Kalam has written of how honored he felt when Werner Von Braun, on a visit to India, gave him some advice on the SLV he was working on.

It is a great pity the way some Indian muslim commentators like Zakharia have attacked him as not being a "real muslim" because he writes poetry and reads ancient Indian sanskrit scripture.

I suppose only a rabid mullah type satisfies them...

Posted by john 2006-02-12 10:28|| 2006-02-12 10:28|| Front Page Top

#8 John have you heard of anything about Indian Special Froces working with the Afganis/US in Eastern Afghanistan?

Posted by RD 2006-02-12 14:14|| 2006-02-12 14:14|| Front Page Top

#9 Just the occasional rumor.

Probably true though. Indian SF were present pre-911 helping the Northern Alliance. They remain active since the NA allies are their fallback in the event Afghanistan falls back into chaos and Paksitan reasserts influence.

And there is the matter of the airbase in Tajikistan that India operates. It is clearly being used for something very hush hush.

Not something you would see public acknowledgement of.

Posted by john 2006-02-12 14:22|| 2006-02-12 14:22|| Front Page Top

#10 One last photo - the results of decades of Kalam's work - it will launch a lunar orbiter next year.

one would think that muslim parents would encourage their children to emulate Kalam..

But no. They idealize Osama...

Posted by john 2006-02-12 14:31|| 2006-02-12 14:31|| Front Page Top

#11 Interesting tactic to pressure Pakistan on the LeT

J-K will move Interpol to get Lashkar boss

Posted by john 2006-02-12 18:27|| 2006-02-12 18:27|| Front Page Top

#12 Nice looking launch vehicle.

Posted by 6 2006-02-12 18:36|| 2006-02-12 18:36|| Front Page Top

#13 It has issues though...

The strapons are liquid fueled and burn for 160 seconds while the solid fuel core burns for 100 seconds.
The core cannot be jettisoned and is essentially dead weight for 60 seconds.

The reason for this is that the vehicle was put together from componants of the PSLV vehicle. It was not a new design.

The upper stage uses an underpowered cryogenic engine from Russia. The Indian cryogenic engines are still under development.

The GSLV-mark 3 will be much larger (600 tons) and will be a new design, including larger Indian cryogenic motors.

Incidently, the liquid engines are Indian versions of the Viking engines used on the Arianne IV. India obtained the tech from France in payment for design services. France needed the new Viking engines designed but lacked enough aerospace engineers. India had many engineers but no experience with these sorts of engines. The Indians worked under the French and the Viking was developed with India getting the technology in payment.

Posted by john 2006-02-12 18:53|| 2006-02-12 18:53|| Front Page Top

#14 BTW the main rocket uses 140 tons of solid fuel (HTPB/Al/AP) and is one of the largest solid fuel boosters in the world.

Posted by john 2006-02-12 18:57|| 2006-02-12 18:57|| Front Page Top

#15 regarding the bicycle in the photo above

U.S. scientists from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) launched the first small rocket from Indian soil - an American Nike Apache - in 1963. "We were waiting for the payload to arrive when we saw a guy on a bicycle coming up an unpaved road," recalls one NASA veteran of the launch. "He had the payload in the basket."

Posted by john 2006-02-12 20:26|| 2006-02-12 20:26|| Front Page Top

#16 That bicycle did yeoman service, delivering many payloads to the pad.

Hope it is in a museum somewhere in India...

Posted by john 2006-02-12 20:30|| 2006-02-12 20:30|| Front Page Top

#17 And the bullock cart...

Posted by john 2006-02-12 20:31|| 2006-02-12 20:31|| Front Page Top

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