IAF C-130J Lands At Car Nicobar Base

[Bombay Dude]

You do know this is ILLEGAL??!! What would be the point in doing so and facing the same restrictions, embargoes and sanctions as China where no Western nation will sell them anything remotley cutting-edge. India is in a fortunate position where almost every major weapons manufacturer is offering world-class state of the art technology to India because they trust India. Lost that trust and India is screwed. The technology India is getting in the next 5-15 years will make it unmatched in most levels in the region and ,in most cases, in the world.

Correction.

Equipment.

 

[Abingdonboy]

Correction.

Equipment.

AND technology.

 

[wild_fire1979]

Good to see combat aircraft on the islands

Jaguars? Why do we have them on an island base?

 

[manojb]

look.. no shelter for those million dollar toys. UV rays gonna deteriorate rubber .. do you need a reason for those frequent MIG crashes in India??

 

[Abingdonboy]

look.. no shelter for those million dollar toys. UV rays gonna deteriorate rubber .. do you need a reason for those frequent MIG crashes in India??

Fighters aren't permantly based at A&D but on a rotational basis so potential exposure is minimal. And you can't ***** the state of the infrastructure based on these pics.

 

[Humanist]

thats my home town.... have great time watching birds flying...

 

[sancho]

Was this the first time a C-130 landed there?

Yes, that's why the hype about it, otherwise it's nothing special since IAF used AN 32 or even IL 76 there too. It's a propper air base, so nothing only the C130s could do.

I still feel we should buy more of these aircrafts.

Any further order will reduce the MTA order, because both are the same class of transport aircrafts and since we co-develop MTA, it is obviously more important to order more of them.

 

[Shatterpoint]

Guys will this heavy lift capability offer India a strategic advantage over the dangerous nations that surround India? And is India planning to invest in more heavy lift aircraft?

It's good that India is buying from the USA they are experts in tactical and strategic deployment, I know that both armed forces admire and respect each other and like working together, I can see this relationship is only getting stronger?

What are the views of Indian posters on this?

 

[jha]

Guys will this heavy lift capability offer India a strategic advantage over the dangerous nations that surround India? And is India planning to invest in more heavy lift aircraft?

It's good that India is buying from the USA they are experts in tactical and strategic deployment, I know that both armed forces admire and respect each other and like working together, I can see this relationship is only getting stronger?

What are the views of Indian posters on this?

Yes.. 6 more C-130J will be procured. 10+6 C-17 will also be procured.
In addition to these a JV has been formed with Russia to design and produce Multi role Transport aircraft.

 

[Killswitch]

If the MRTA project with Russia keeps lagging the C139j could be bought in large quantities and effectively kill the program.


Only time will tell.

 

[sancho]

Guys will this heavy lift capability offer India a strategic advantage over the dangerous nations that surround India? And is India planning to invest in more heavy lift aircraft?

C130s are medium class transporters not heavy, but the lift capability will be increased as Jha mentioned and that is obvious even by the paper specs:

HS 748 around 5t payload => will be replaced by C295 or C27J with around 9 to 11t payload
AN 32 around 7.5t payload => will be replaced by C130/MTA with around 20t payload
IL 76 around 45t payload => will be replaced by C17 with around 77t payload

But the more important point is capability increase, especially operating these aircrafts in the northern regions at unpaved or short airstrips could be important and an advantage against potential threats.

It's good that India is buying from the USA they are experts in tactical and strategic deployment, I know that both armed forces admire and respect each other and like working together, I can see this relationship is only getting stronger?

What are the views of Indian posters on this?

"Buying", that's the important point that we have to keep in mind when we talk about procurement from the US, because we remain as a normal buyer for them. On the other side, Russians, Europeans or other western countries offer the advantage of ToT and licence production in India, JVs or even co-developments. All this with less restrictions and way more benefit for the Indian industry. That's why "buying" from the US is good in certain fields, were we either have no other option, or where their products offer a clear capability advantage (M777, Apache, C130J, C17, P8I). Adding these in limited numbers, next to indigenous, Russian or European arms and techs in higher numbers is the best option for Indian forces to increase the defence capabilitiy.