- Pilot of the MiG-21 was in position to establish visual recognition as in aerial dogfight 20-25 Km range is considered good if not ideal to establish visual recognition in broad daylight
HRK - we are in the world of conjecture ! The scenario you have laid out can only be debated by people who had SA that day. But what the hell - lets indulge
It maynot be a clear visual recognition. It can be as simple seeker getting a lock on. Remember ground controller was eyes for Abhi. As far as Abhi is concerned - he knew there were no friendlies in his area. He let loose R73 which had seeker lock - it was a passive intercept all the way ! F16 did not know at all. I am not saying he did not visually identify - he may have or may not. Point i am making is - he does not need to.
There is no way when a pilot have FAILED to RECOGNIZE the Target he CLAIM to DESTROY then the identity of fighter must be achieved by other sensors, therefore
This is where you are wrong in some way. Mig 21 does not have non-coperative aircraft recognition capability. In plain speak - the radar/HUD symbology will not tell you if its F16 or JF17; All Abhi will know is that there is a hostile aircraft in the space. Most probably Aided by ground controller .
- Upgraded MiG-21 Bison are equipped with Radar Warning Receivers so they were capable to detect hostile radar signals and based on radar signature could differentiate the type of aircraft
No it does not - thats a feature that relatively modern a/c's have. Su30's , F16's , etc. I can confirm Mig21 does not have that capability.
- Radar of MiG-21 Bison must have Tracked the target as it is "Indian Claim" that upgraded MiG-21 Bison radar 'is' equivalent to "Earlier version of F-16" radars
Actually i would beg to differ. It happened nothing like that. Mig 21 Bison took of from Srinagar; Pir Panjal ranges ensured that PAF Erie was not aware of the two Mig's that were taking off to intercept - this is confirmed by some reports which said that PAF controllers were taken by surprise on the sudden appearance of Mig's. As soon as Abhi climbed above the ranges - (1) his R73 seeker would have locked on OR (2) He would have delayed opening up his Kopyo radar to delay the possibility of adversary getting RWR signal. In any case - seeker got a lock on and he let loose. I am thinking the intercept was within 8KM - so in all probability it was scenario (1). It was complete passive intercept - which makes sense since F16 did not have a clue that R73 is headed his way.In all the entire engagement happened in 30 -45 seconds from Mig take off.The relatively high boresight of R73 meant , he does not need to visually sight the a/c as long as the seeker got lock on.
Again conjecture since that is the premise.
- He was not aware about the target which IAF claim to destroy "till the time he was INFORMED by IAF" after his return to India
He never knew what he hit - as i explained above. Only Ground controllers knew.
Abhi was not blind nor mentally retarded that he could not recognize falling plane which he destroyed [as per IAF claim] just from the distance of 8-10 Km ....
Abhi never knew - He let loose and turned to make home. Infact - if we were to tell him that you missed , he would have believed. He did not know. F16 going down was only confirmed through radar intercepts, EW , Comm and ground forces.
Fantastic - 90% of the forum will not agree to this ! Nice to debate.
We can call those tactics poor or not, matter of the fact is those tactics resulted in SU30MKI's buggering out of the hot zone where PAF fighters were dominating that particular sector. The BARS were not working alright because they were constantly getting jammed. The SU30MKI's didn't take a single shot, and along with the M2K's buggered out of the sector citing radar issues. They knew they would eventually get shot down, and took the smart decision of exiting the area.
BARS had no issue whatsever ! Let me try to address points in a sequential manner.
1) Poor BVR tactics - All the AMRAAMS were launched at Dmax 1 or between Dmax 1 & 2. It has extremely low pk. This may be a tactic - of keeping enemies at bay OR praying for a hail mary pass. Not a single Su 30 fell for it.
2) BARS never had a problem. The two Su 30's were doing ensuring that they were adhering to MAR. If not they would have been toast. So they were cranking all the time - turning hot and cold all the time. They were looking for a firing solution. It never came - due to height differential and ofcourse AMRAAM being the longer range.
3) Heard Mirages had a problem - between you will quote an Indian reporters news item to conclude this. Nothing wrong with that. But the same reporter also said- JF17's were no willing to engage in fight ! M2K's were willing to pick up the fight. Whether it was jammed or not - i dont know. But lets conclude it got jammed.
You are seriously using a politicians statements. His job is to convince domestic audience. Our reporters consider Rafale and mirage same - technically they are inept. No point in bringin this up.
More like the F16 jumped the MIG21 lol. MIG21's were being cheeky flying low, but they forgot the Erieyes could see them clearly and relayed that to the F16's which locked and fired the AMRAAM.
Radars cant see through mountain ranges. AWACS or not. ERIE was suprised when Mig21's came on the scene - due to pir panjal ranges. Pir panjal ensured that there was a blindspot. Its actually was a fav tactic employed by Iraqi forces , greek forces - loiter in mountain ranges and then jump the gun.
You can't hide a loss of F16
There's always a first time - anyways so is the case with Su 30 (if ever that happened)
Lets not go there, as to who has discrepancies and who's case is weak. Where are those 300 terrorists and training camps obliterated? Satellite images clearly has debunked those Indian claims, or those so called imagined surgical strikes.
45 days closing of Balakot camp ! After that a guided tour of Balakot camp which never took the journos to the main spot. Even after a year - journos disuaded from going to Balakot camp. I am not saying this - this is report from BBC. Pak Army - virtually blocked the entire access.
Its been more then 1 year, and where are those cards? Feel free to show us a video of the terrorist camps getting obliterated, similar to PAF released the video of the target that was engaged by PAF. Or maybe a HUD or any evidence of a shot down F16. The evidence that IAF showed, the radar picture was beyond pathetic.
IAF chiefs lament - we did not prepare for information warfare. That was the biggest lesson. Because his own country is critical - we are a complaining bunch. You can check his quotes. So no video exists - due to crystal maze being malfunctioned. Evidence of F16 shotdown - was presented to the media (radar intercepts, etc). Mig21 lies with you - you have the radar and HUD, how do you expect IAF to prove HUD images here ?
Please don't resort to lies to make a point
Dont tell me you dont know ! Its an incident that you guys brushed under carpet !
Now you're clutching to straws, just to remain relevant. Sorry if i called you out on this ridicilous claim of buying R77 from Ebay lol hahaha. What's next, Abhi is a Pakistani haha
In clandestine world - anythings possible. Are you telling me - PAK who was fighting proxy war with russians would not have had access to R73's ? I mean PAF was fighting RuAF - actively over AfPAk (atleast i have heard). With the numerous bases that were over run by mujahideen - you wouldnt have had access to R73 ? Common - its highly likely.