India’s first AW-101s that will be used for VIP transport roles. Image courtesy livefist blog

Stunning pics !

Very sad to hear this..:(

may they RIP.

Cabinet Committee on Security set to approve Rs 6500 crore project to equip 2 prototypes + 40 Su-30MKIs with around 216 Brahmos ALCMs

NEW DELHI: The government is set to approve an over Rs 6,500 crore programme to mount supersonic cruise missile Brahmos on Sukhoi-30MKI fighters of the Indian Air Force (IAF). The air-launched missile system would significantly add to the conventional offensive capabilities of Indian military might, while intensifying arms race in the region.

The project seeks to mount the missile on 42 Sukhoi fighters, and includes 216 air-version missiles.

Sources said the cabinet committee on security (CCS) would soon be considering for approval the project to mount air version of Brahmos, a supersonic cruise missile jointly developed by India and Russia, on IAF’s most advanced fighter.

The proposal is being moved in the wake of feasibility studies proving that the air-launched version of the cruise missile can successfully be mounted on the Russian made fighter, and can be fired to lethal effect. The government proposes to develop two prototypes of Sukhoi-30MKI fighters fitted with the missile for field trials in the project’s first phase.

Once the two prototypes complete a series of field trials, another 40 of the Sukhoi-30MKI fighters would be fitted with the missile in India, a senior official said.

Some modifications to the fuselage of the fighter are required to accommodate the nine-meter-long missile, sources said. Brahmos Aerospace is believed to have developed an air version of the missile, which is lighter than the other variants and has additional rear fins for aerodynamic stability.

Sources said the entire project would be executed in India by Brahmos Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), with Russia providing design and technical consultancy.
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I thought Tejas performance did not meet all IAF requirements. Have performance parameters been lowered where required to allow Tejas to meet them?

I think that they’re referring to the parameters that needed to be met for IOC-2, which would then pave the way for squadron induction. The FOC will then be achieved in another 2 years and the Tejas Mk2 will be the definitive version that will be inducted in much larger numbers.

Good to see that EMB-145I arriving at Bangalore..hope there are no delays in the integration effort.

some more news on Tejas’ participation in exercise ‘Iron Fist’ next February at Pokhran

24 August 2012

India’s indigenously developed light combat aircraft Tejas will be put to final test at the forthcoming air exercise `Iron Fist’, to be held at Pokhran, in Rajasthan, in February next year.

Tejas will be tested for its capabilities, its lethality, endurance and precision at the air exercises, ahead of inducting it in the Indian Air Force, Air Marshal Anjan Kumar Gogoi, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South-Western Air command, said at a press conference in Jaisalmer.

Tejas had undergone successful performance trials, including weapons trials ahead of its operational clearance and is now planned to be finally cleared for service after this exercise.

If the LCA’s performance is found to be on par with IAF’s requirements on every parameter, the first Tejas squadron will be deployed in Bangalore, he said.
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link

I think you misunderstood me.

The fact that the F-15 is carrying its weapons externally has no bearing here.

Take into account the fact that to fulfil its mission of air superiority, a pair of F-15s has in its disposal a combined 12 MRAAMs and 4 SRAAMs

similarly to complete its mission a pair of T-50s has in its disposal 8 MRAAMs and 4 SRAAMs.

I am not even putting the two types in the same area or at the same time.

I am examining ability to perform mission in relation to payload.

If you want to make things harder, you could consider the T-50 going up against VLO targets which makes the lethality of the missiles deteriorate.

You have to remember than in terms of actually detecting a VLO target an F-15 with an AESA radar and a T-50 stand close. So the ability to direct a missile to a target is similar if not equivalent.

can you follow ?

How could I have misunderstood you? the PAK-FA can, if required, carry missiles externally. So, if the mission so requires and if stealth isn’t the biggest issue on hand, it can carry weapons internally AND externally. in which event, it may well carry as many as the F-15 does and be far stealthier, allowing it to perform a similar Air Superiority mission better and more effectively. I don’t think that the comparison even stands. You’re talking about a stealth fighter as opposed to a fighter with a cross section of 10+ m2.