quadbikeYou really don’t know what you are talking about.
1. The Harrier upgrade was minimal, involved changing radars and missiles. Just to have some capability before INS Vikramaditya arrives.
2. The Jaguars are not really old, the production only stopped 2-3 years ago. Many of these have a lot of airframe life left in them and being twin engined they are more survivable. This is the reason why the Jaguar fleet are getting extensive upgrades, avionics, missiles and even engines.
quadbikeI expect a frameless canopy.
quadbikeActually till the new Augusta Westlands arrive the President travels on an old Mi 8/17. Which really looks pathetic to be the transport of the head of state.
Making extensive upgrades to really old airframes do not make much sense. Its not done anywhere in the world.
You may be watching too many movies like Rang De Basanti.
quadbikeRafale would not need replacement by 2029 the French are standardizing around it. I doubt we will see Russians buying Rafale either.
quadbikeCould get problematic if Russians see that its affecting their sales and pull the plug on the engine. 😉
quadbikeProbably true when it comes to the number of warheads. But Delivery Systems ? Really ?
quadbikeMost of them will be retired by the end of the decade. Or at-least that is the plan. Many of the problems come from the fatigue of the aircraft itself and not just the engines, the airframes are not getting any newer no matter what engine you put in.
quadbikeWhat is the point in upgrading the obsolete fighters ? The 21s are near the end of their life and the Swing Wing 27s are kept in service till replacements arrive. Both are really outdated and I see no point in spending huge chunks of money upgrading them.
Get them better survivability packages, better ejection seats etc. till they retire.
The twin engined fighters have a real advantage in terms of survivability perhaps that is why the MRCA is heading in that direction…
quadbikeIndian Navy chopper rescues 4 marooned fishermen in Orissa
Bhubaneswar, Aug 7 (PTI) Four marooned fishermen were today rescued by an Indian Navy chopper in Orissa’s Malkangiri district while a 60-year-old man died and another went missing in flash flood that hit about 40,000 people in the state. “The four persons of Udaygiri village of Malkangiri who were trapped in flood water, were rescued by an Indian Navy chopper early this morning,” Orissa’s Revenue and Disaster Management minister S N Patro told the state Assembly. Making a statement on the flood situation, the minister said the state government had sought help of Defence ministry to rescue the four fishermen as they could not be reached due to high current in river Kolab. The four were airlifted to Malkangiri district headquarters, he said. Gundicha Bhadra (60) died in flood in Bhaskel river, while Jhintu Mali of Bapatiguda village in Nabaragpur district remained missing, Patro said. The minister claimed that members of Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) had successfully rescued 250 school children who were trapped in flood water in Nabaragpur district. Flash flood triggered by heavy downpour hit districts of Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, Koraput, Gajapati, and Balangir, he said adding adequate relief materials were distributed among the affected families. Patro along with two other ministers were scheduled to visit the flood-hit areas tomorrow. The minister said water level in most of the major rivers had started receding and were below the danger mark.
quadbikeMiG-21 fighter jet crashes in eastern India
A MiG-21 fighter jet of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed in the eastern Indian state of Assam, local media reported.
The pilot lost control and the aircraft fell on a paddy field some 25 km from the city of Tezpur on Saturday.
The fate of the pilot is unknown.
India’s fighter fleet consists mainly of obsolete Soviet MiG-21 models. The Defense Ministry plans to phase them out by 2017.
Accidents involving Soviet-designed MiG-21 fighter jets, known as the Bahadhur (Brave) in the IAF, which were produced in India under license and have been in operation for several decades, are frequent in the country.
quadbike6 IAF planes with relief material, rescue workers land in Leh
Leh Six Indian Air Force aircraft carrying relief material, rescue workers and doctors landed in Leh on Saturday to provide succour to the people of the region affected by cloudburst and flash floods.
Two IL-76 and four An-32 aircraft from Chandigarh landed at the Leh Airport this afternoon with 125 rescue and relief personnel of National Disaster Response Force, medicines, generators, tents and emergency rescue kits, a defence spokesman said.
Two teams from Health and Family Welfare Ministry comprising specialist doctors and surgeons from Delhi also reached the flood ravaged town of Jammu and Kashmir. They have brought five tons of medicines with them.
One of IL-76 aircraft had earlier left from Delhi for Leh but failed to land due to inclement weather and returned to Chandigarh. A second IL-76 transport aircraft along with four An-32 aircraft had left from Chandigarh, but had to return. The aircraft landed in their second attempt.
Army personnel along with jawans of Indo-Tibetan Border Police have been deployed in the affected areas to carry out relief and rescue operations, the spokesman said.
So far 291 injured civilians and tourists have been admitted to the military hospital at Leh and 94 persons discharged after treatment, he said.
IAF has agreed to carry bodies of foreign tourists and non-locals to Delhi by air.
The Chief Controller (Research and Development) DRDO, W Selvamurthy, along with a team of experts also arrived here.
The aircraft carried blankets, dry food, medicine and other items to meet the immediate requirement of those affected.
Adequate number of aircraft and helicopters are available at Kargil, Chandigarh and Udhampur to move to Leh, the defence spokesman said.
Air Force has opened a disaster management cell at Chandigarh, consisting of three senior officers including medical officers.
quadbikeIndian Navy to get new helicopters
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has cleared the purchase of 56 naval light utility helicopters, which will cost nearly Rs7,000 crore. These state-of the-art helicopters will replace the existing Chetaks in service.
The Indian Navy requires a twin-engine helicopter of modern airframe design and fully integrated advanced avionics to replace its aging fleet of Chetaks, which were inducted over 30 years ago.
With the DAC clearing the helicopter purchase deal, tenders will formally be floated within the next few months.
The likely contenders to get the RFP (request for proposal), or
tenders, are the European consortium EADS for its Eurocopter, the Anglo-Italian Agusta Westland. Russia’s Rosoboronexport for Kamovs, and the American giants, Bell, and Sikorsky.According to the RFP, the Navy wants choppers with twin controls for both pilots, but at the same time it should be capable of being operated by a single pilot also. The other requirements are the ability to carry out anti-submarine warfare operations with torpedoes and depth charges, besides being suitable for anti-piracy and anti-terrorism roles.
Being able to operate both during day and night, the helicopters will also have the capability to operate in adverse weather conditions, both from shore and off-shore, and from small decks and large decks like that of an aircraft carrier.
quadbikeNo one lost anything nothing is official.
And they knew it before they came the money they spent for trials etc. is nothing in comparison with the value of the contract. Some of them like Boeing, MIG, Lockheed and SAAB are getting other deals anyway.
Look at all the publicity stunts, free rides for journalists, advertisements in bus shelters etc. these were not required by the IAF/MOD. What made these people think thatthe opinions of the public and journos counted even ?
If the report is to be believed Rafale made the final cut, despite making no air-show appearances no rides for ex and current IAF officials (apart from trials) and journalists.
I don’t think Indian MoD is to be blamed for some people trying to sell Planes like Motorcars.
:rolleyes:
quadbikeI think there is clear political undertones now. When the Super Hornet was favourite India had illusions of a grand strategic partnership with U.S, the Obama administration and subsequent developments have changed that notion. This is why India is even reluctant to sign the deals which have reached an impasse. This will adversely affect the C 130, C 17 and p8I but they can still perform their basic purpose and other kit can be added.
Its totally different if you choose a U.S fighter, unless we sign agreements India fear that we may not get what we sign up for. Eurofighter campaign has been quite upbeat about their chances recently anyway.
Well now I think the three possible results are.
1. The government goes with IAF recommendation and select either the Typhoon or Rafale (less likely)
2. The Americans, not wanting to lose the contract will sweeten the deal for the government throwing their backing on some key issues, reprocessing, dual use, UN-Seat, Already talk of Americans loosening arms export rules to help Indian sales.
3. Gripen/MIG emerges as the L1 and MoD or worse Ministry of Finance dismiss the expensive Eurobirds as too expensive (like what happened with MRTT)
quadbike270 MKI
126+ Eurofighter/Rafale
50+ Mirage 2005-2
60+ MIG 29UPG
100+ LCA
Looks good even without adding the Jaguars and FGFA 😉
Sign In
