Indian Air Force News & Discussions

[Lord Of Gondor]

IAF Mi-35E in Aggressor colours

This unusually-coloured bird simulated an "aggressor" for two conventionally painted Hinds to take down. Note missing chin gun, and no EO pod, suggesting that this is one of the few IAF Hinds not sporting the IAI upgrade package. This heli was part of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Congo, and has been photographed before in 2003.

From Angad Singh/Airliners

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

Not particularly hard to guess

https://twitter.com/x/status/1404874051064111104

The fleetwide Operational Data Link(ODL) adoption will give a tremendous edge to IAF

https://twitter.com/x/status/1183002966443212800

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

Tejas LSP and MiG-21 Bison in one frame
The Bison looks like it is flying at Mach 2!
Image shared by Grp Capt H V Thakur on Twitter

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

35,000M in 250 seconds!

Newspaper Clipping shared by Maj Gen Dhanoa on Twitter
Fascinating jet!
Zvezda TV has a nice video on the MiG-31 and the team that operate it
Sadly no open source videos on the IAF "Garuda" MiG-25R and her crew

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

Cost versus combat edge: Future of the IAF’s Jaguar fleet is hanging in the balance

“A new Adour 811 engine initially provides about 32.5 KiloNewtons (kN) of thrust. But after about a decade of service, it drops to barely 26 kN,” says a senior IAF pilot with extensive experience flying the Jaguar.

That is a massive penalty
Thankfully tactical work arounds like A2A refuelling will help.
Hope we get A-330MRTT jets early as the Il is tiring rapidly.

 

[Yasser76]

Cost versus combat edge: Future of the IAF’s Jaguar fleet is hanging in the balance


That is a massive penalty
Thankfully tactical work arounds like A2A refuelling will help.
Hope we get A-330MRTT jets early as the Il is tiring rapidly.

After two massively negative years of growth it will be interesting to see India's next defence budget, if there is an increase in real terms or not.

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

After two massively negative years of growth it will be interesting to see India's next defence budget, if there is an increase in real terms or not.

OT:Yes, will be tough for acquisitions.There maybe a setback by a few years for foreign imports (Global Buy/Global Buy and Make items in MoD terms)


Just finished watching the brilliant CGP 2021 at Air Force Academy
Flying display starts at 2Hr 05 Min mark

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

Nice images shared by Vayu on Twitter

Nice Punisher decal on the helmet

OFAB 250-270

The BETAB 500 Penetration Bomb!

The BETAB-500 concrete-piercing bomb is designed to destroy reinforced concrete structures, aircraft and military equipment shelters, runways, airfields, highways, warships.
It penetrates reinforced concrete floors up to 1 m thick covered by up to 3 meters of soil.

Tejas from "The Flying Daggers" in the background

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

IAF had also contracted for the 240 pieces of KAB1500 LGB from Russia in 2018
Not sure of the composition between the Penetration Variant, HE and Fuel Air Explosive variants
These things are massive 1.5 Ton + bombs with single digit CEP

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

Dragons of IAF in the foreground and the Vikramaditya at the back

The freshly overhauled Il-78MKI in the background
Images from the IAF Twitter handle

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

Spectacular shots shared by IAF/IN

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

The F/A-18E Super Hornet from VFA 115 "Eagles", Jaguar from 6 Sqn "Dragons" , MiG-29K from INAS 303 "The Black Panthers" and Su-30MKI from 30 Sqn "Rhinos"(?)
The massive USS Ronald Reagan in the background with the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye from VAW-125 "Tigertails" seen on deck

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye from the "Tigertails"

Img from yesterday's @USNavy photo of the day on Twitter

The Super Hornet from "Eagles"

https://twitter.com/x/status/1407082167474270215

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

And the US Navy press release clears the air on the Su-30 MKI affiliation!
These are from 222 Sqn "Tigersharks"
BrahMos capable jets

(Img from the commissioning ceremony)

Images by the US Navy