Boeing delivers first C17 for flight test to IAF

[Ayush]

yayyyy!

 

[Hulk]

I had first hand experience of walking on both C-17 and C-5 at US airbase. These are awesome. It will change or deployment capabilities big time.

 

[SHAMK9]

That's one sexy bird, btw, what kind of flag is that on the tail? doesn't look like the average Indian flag, I have noticed this on Indian army's planes very often.

 

[Abingdonboy]

That's one sexy bird, btw, what kind of flag is that on the tail? doesn't look like the average Indian flag, I have noticed this on Indian army's planes very often.

It is NOT meant to be the Indian flag. It is the IAF/IA fin flash that is use in conjunction to the roundals for identification purposes. Such markings are used on all military fixed wing a/c.

 

[Tuchha]

Uuhhh what a pride...Burn neighbors burn..

 

[faithfulguy]

I'm happy to see Indians are excited about this plane. Thank you very much for buying American.

 

[OrionHunter]

I'm happy to see Indians are excited about this plane. Thank you very much for buying American.

There's no doubt American stuff is state of the art with cutting edge technology (unlike the poor quality cloned Chinese stuff! )

But the problem in buying American arms is two-fold:

> Hesitation by the USA for transfer of high technology.
> No dependability on continuous supply of spares etc. America can clamp sanctions at their whims and fancies like they did after Pokhran. So can they be trusted to be a dependable supplier of defence equipment/spares whatever the circumstances?

In addition, the US has been insisting that India should enter into pacts such as the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum Agreement (CISMOA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation, which India thinks is rather intrusive and there unacceptable in its present form.

 

[newdelhinsa]

I'm happy to see Indians are excited about this plane. Thank you very much for buying American.

Make a list what Chinese have been buying from foreign nations, include nuclear reactors into it as well.

 

[IND151]

Let's see what it looks like from the inside...

And some eye candy....

Cheers!

last image is best

 

[sancho]

they are leased and operated by pvt/civilian companies. It's not the Russian state helping out.

Actually it is, since Russian government has leased them and officially supports the French and Mali with supplies and transports. They seems to have their own interest there, but it is kind of strange since several NATO partners hasitate to support.
However, it once again shows that you need bigger aircrafts than the C17 if you really want to project heavy power to greater distances.

 

[Koovie]

Uuhhh what a pride...Burn neighbors burn..

Idiot, dont start to troll.........

 

[Tuchha]

Idiot, dont start to troll.........

Couldn't resist to flaunt ...

 

[Koovie]

Couldn't resist to flaunt ...

Ooops I see, you are quite new to PDF, sry for that "idiot"... but seriously, you can dumb an entire thread with one such comment

 

[Abingdonboy]

Actually it is, since Russian government has leased them and officially supports the French and Mali with supplies and transports. They seems to have their own interest there, but it is kind of strange since several NATO partners hasitate to support.
However, it once again shows that you need bigger aircrafts than the C17 if you really want to project heavy power to greater distances.

Ah, I see- thanks for the info. Wrt needing larger a/c in the context of the IAF- well the C-17 is clearly a massive step up for them and if the need ever arises for a larger a/c to build up force on the otherwise of the globe then the GoI can lease AN-124s/225s for themselves. This is a not all that likely today is it? But to be fair the French don't have their own C-17s or larger transport a/c as such it is having to rely on others who do have such resources the largest transport they are looking at is the A400. The IAF with 10-25+ C-17s, 12+ C-130J-30s, 45+ MTA and 56+ C-27J/C-295 will have a significant transport capacity.

 

[sancho]

Wrt needing larger a/c in the context of the IAF

I didn't said that IAF needs it, just wanted to point out, that it's not the heavy transport aircraft that will be used to transport heavy vehicles to long distances in war times, like many people thinks, since it simply can't carry many of them. That's where AN 124, 225 and the C5 come in and will have clear advantages.
The C17 will be a good addition for IAF in strategic transport roles, be it humanitarian or UN missions. But vehicle transport will still be done with ships, or if needed by leased Antonov aircrafts.
Wrt the transport role within India, the C17 offers advantages only to transport loads to high altitudes or to carry more lighter vehicles, but IAF won't do troop transport with it, because it hardly offers any advantage here:

102 troops, while the C130Js can carry 92 and A400 even 116, the A330 MRTT even 300. So IAF can transport pretty much a similar ammount of troops to more airstrips (thanks to the short take off and landing capability of C130Js), or 3 times the troops to air bases.

(A330 MRTT at Leh)


With the MTA and the smaller transport aircrafts we get, the troop transport area will be filled anyway, which leaves only the medim to heavy transports for the C17 and I still say A400 class transporters, are more useful for Indian requirements.