Indian Air Force News & Discussions

[SRP]

Air Chief Marshal (Retd.) N.A.K. Browne appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Norway.

Air Chief Marshal (Retd.) N.A.K. Browne appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Norway.

 

[Bhasad Singh Mundi]

Air Chief Marshal (Retd.) N.A.K. Browne appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Norway.

Air Chief Marshal (Retd.) N.A.K. Browne appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Norway.

pilatus magic!!!

 

[Abingdonboy]

pilatus magic!!!

Care to explain? Pilatus is a Swiss manufacturer.

 

[ptltejas]

1. Supersonic Flight of Tejas NP-1 on 22-March-2014.

 

[DacterSaab]

hi I would like to ask you guys what you think is th IAF/INA for aircraft like:-

1.AC-130 Spectre/MC-27J Praetorian
2.E\A-18G Growler
3.CH-53K Super Stallion
4. MV-22 Osprey
5. A-40 Abatros
6. Tu-160 Blackjack
7. AMH (Advanced Medium Helicopter) development based on Mi-17 Hip/Mi-38.
8. NG Combat Transport Helicopter development based on Mi-35 Hind.
9. a STOVL/VTOL capable aircraft (please suggest if you think any existing aircraft maybe modified) - I'll take the lead by suggesting Rafale because I read somewhere it can be pushed to very low stall speeds upto 40 knots I think.

I know many of you would have discussed this several times before but I would really appreciate your replies.

 

[sancho]

My immediate concern is mki upgrade and lca mk1 and pakfa.

Rafale deal will def be signed this year,no doubt about it.

But we have shown 0 intent on signing tha pakfa contract,we need to think more in that aspect.

Plus as earlier pointed out its high time we get serious on indigenous radars,jammers,irst and maws.

All this stuff will be applicable to air force,navy and army so benefits are immence for all three arms.but I am afraid we are spending far too little on r&d

@sancho

Any idea who develops software for our mki's?
The screens looks just like the russian sm's and su-35.
pls tell me I am wrong on this

To keep the LCA thread on topic...

MKI upgrade will come when it's time, so far it is the most capable fighter in the region and with the upgrades of Mig 29s and M2Ks even well supported. LCA and Rafale will only add more to what IAF already has, so no issue.
Early Pak Fa's doesn't fit IAF's requirement and even if they offer an operational edge over Pak and Chinese forces, it is good to put pressure on the Russians to fulfill what they promised in return for our participation in the project.
And you are mistaken about the indigenous efforts, the simple fact that the upgraded MKIs, as well as LCAs will have indigenous EW suits with jammers, modern RWR and MAWS, just like advanced MFDs shows where we already are at a good level. Where we lack behind are the core fields of aircraft design, radar and engine techs. That's why we need Russia to design and develop FGFA it's radar and engines, while we can hope to replace Russian Zhuk ME and RD 33MK around 2020 with indigenous AESA and Kaveri engine.
We need realistic looks on what we can do and what we can't, put that into realistic timeframes and then choose the appplications for it. A constant but slow progress is better that constant failures because of overestimations!

 

[DacterSaab]

the simple fact that the upgraded MKIs, as well as LCAs will have indigenous EW suits with jammers, modern RWR and MAWS,

Could you please provide a source I'd like to read.

 

[sancho]

hi I would like to ask you guys what you think is th IAF/INA for aircraft like:-

1.AC-130 Spectre/MC-27J Praetorian
2.E\A-18G Growler
3.CH-53K Super Stallion
4. MV-22 Osprey
5. A-40 Abatros
6. Tu-160 Blackjack
7. AMH (Advanced Medium Helicopter) development based on Mi-17 Hip/Mi-38.
8. NG Combat Transport Helicopter development based on Mi-35 Hind.
9. a STOVL/VTOL capable aircraft (please suggest if you think any existing aircraft maybe modified) - I'll take the lead by suggesting Rafale because I read somewhere it can be pushed to very low stall speeds upto 40 knots I think.

I know many of you would have discussed this several times before but I would really appreciate your replies.

1) not useful in the Indian threat enviroment, since you need air superiority
2) not on offer and not needed with MKIs and Rafales soon, the early might have dedicated jammers after the upgrade, the latter has excellent jamming capabilities integrated
3) sadly not included in IAFs evaluation for heavy lift helicopters and doubtful for IN, by the lack of suitable vessels. They might opt for a higher number of medium lift helicopters for the LDPs
4) Would great for IAF in CSAR roles, next to the C130Js of special ops and the perfect fit for INs carriers in AEW and MRTT roles. The high unit and operational costs however made procurements difficult so far, but now with Israel, Japan and possibly UAE opting for it, things can change
5) IN wants Japans US-2 amphibious aircraft, although it's pretty costly
6) not needed for India
7) HAL has a medium class helicopter development (called IMRH) in mind and searched for international partners, but nothing happend so far and with IAF ordering high numbers of new Mi 17s, while IN and ICG are likely to go for S70 or NFH90, there is no space left for a new development and if at all, it should be for a NG high speed helicopter
8) Rafale can't take off or land vertically and IAF and IN don't want such fighters anymore.

Could you please provide a source I'd like to read.

There are several spec boards available from DARE, BEL... for the LCA and MKI upgrades, most of them were posted here quiet often.

 

[DacterSaab]

2) not on offer and not needed with MKIs and Rafales soon, the early might have dedicated jammers after the upgrade, the latter has excellent jamming capabilities integrated

I read somewhere that Sukhoi were pursueing a similar development based on Su-27/30/35 platform.

3) sadly not included in IAFs evaluation for heavy lift helicopters and doubtful for IN, by the lack of suitable vessels. They might opt for a higher number of medium lift helicopters for the LDPs

It's capability of carrying vehicles internally would really help us although it won't be able to perform that landing stunt CH-47 is capable of.

5) IN wants Japans US-2 amphibious aircraft, although it's pretty costly

yeah but A-40 has far higher capabilities in fact those two don't even belong to similar weight class.

Rafale can't take off or land vertically and IAF and IN don't want such fighters anymore.

I know Rafale can't take-off or land vertically I'm just saying it might be easier to modify it to do so by fitting 2 vectoring engines similar to the one used on F-35B and making the necessary modifications 'cause it has capability to fly very slowly.
I might be missing something since I'm no tech genius hell I'm not even a student of that field I'm a Bio side student we are supposed be weak at Maths/Physics.
Also I don't think IN should abandon the STOVL experience pool and tactics developed over the decades we should build atleast 1 small aircraft carrier similar to the Italian Cavour (or get a Dokdo with a ski-jump or pay Navantia or someone else for ship similar to Thai Chakri Naruebet or purchase HTMS CN itself as it is it's going to waste) and purchase a dozen or 2 F-35Bs.
STOVL/VTOL tactics have their own advantages the Royal Navy and USMC are not fools to have been using them for long time and intending to continue doing so for the foreseeable future.

8. NG Combat Transport Helicopter development based on Mi-35 Hind.

You did not answer this one?

 

[sancho]

I read somewhere that Sukhoi were pursueing a similar development based on Su-27/30/35 platform.

Su 30 MKI (Growler!!!)

It's capability of carrying vehicles internally would really help us

That capability is indeed important, but the CH53K doesn carry big or heavy vehicles, that's where the Mi 26 still remains the benchmark and where we loose a lot with the selection of the Ch 47.

yeah but A-40 has far higher capabilities in fact those two don't even belong to similar weight class.

Beriev had offered the Be 200, but it seems it lost out in the amphibious competitions, the question is only if it's lost on performance or for political benefits. [/QUOTE]

I'm just saying it might be easier to modify it to do so by fitting 2 vectoring engines similar to the one used on F-35B and making the necessary modifications 'cause it has capability to fly very slowly.

Not possible, the canards gives it the capability to fly at low speeds, but not to hover or do anything vertically. The F35 is a credible modification from the other F35 versions and not just a different engine, which actually caused all the problems in the F35 development. So you can't make Rafale anything similar to that, but would need to develop a whole new aircraft.

You did not answer this one?

Missed that one, but that is already covered by Rudra or armed Mi 17s.

 

[SMStealth]

Could you please provide a source I'd like to read.

Cannot provide a Source. However, a couple of friends of mine are Scientist at DRDO & they work on the said system (Jammers specifically) for LCA & MKI. And I would take there word.

 

[DacterSaab]

Not possible, the canards gives it the capability to fly at low speeds, but not to hover or do anything vertically. The F35 is a credible modification from the other F35 versions and not just a different engine, which actually caused all the problems in the F35 development. So you can't make Rafale anything similar to that, but would need to develop a whole new aircraft.

Why cant we add similar modifications to another aircraft?

This was also built with help from Yak-141. So Russians could build another plane and we could JV or if possible modify some existing design

 

[Scorpion666]

yesterday !! above me house !!

 

[micky]

pilatus magic!!!

yesterday !! above me house !!View attachment 26776View attachment 26777

View attachment 26778

wonderful shots man

 

[DacterSaab]

Cool shots. I'll be buying an iPhone 5s soon so expect more of those from #8Pursoots and #24Hunting Hawks.