An Anglo-Indian is to be the next Chief of the IAF. Some conspiracy theorists may suggest that this will tend to favour the Typhoon in the competition against the French Rafale !:P

Air Marshal NAK (Charlie) Browne will be the next IAF Chief of Staff.

New Delhi: Vaisakha 30, 1933
May 20, 2011

Vice Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal NAK Browne will be the next Chief of Air Staff on the retirement of Air Chief Marshal PV Naik from government service on July 31, 2011.

Born in Allahabad on 15 December 1951, Air Marshal NAK Browne was commissioned into the Fighter stream of Indian Air Force on 24 June 1972. With about 3100 hours of flying to his credit, he has had a varied operational experience that included flying Hunters, all variants of MiG-21s, Jaguars and SU-30s.

An alumnus of National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Pune, he is a Fighter Combat Leader, who has also served as an instructor at the Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE) – a premiere flying establishment of the IAF and the Tri-services Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington.

A graduate of the Air Command and Staff College, Albama, USA, he had trained with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the United Kingdom, on Jaguar aircraft and went on to command a Jaguar Squadron subsequently.

During his long and distinguished career spanning 38 years, he has held various operational and staff appointments that include – Joint Director at Air War Strategy Cell at Air Headquarters, Chief Operations Officer and Air Officer Commanding of a SU-30 base, Air-I at New Delhi based Western Air Command (WAC) and Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Intelligence) at Air Headquarters.

He was also responsible for establishing the Indian Defence Wing in Tel Aviv, Israel in April 1997 where he served as the Defence Attache till July 2000. From March 2007 to 31 May 2009 he functioned as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS) at Air Headquarters and was responsible for lAF’s major Modernization Programmes.

Before taking over as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS) at Air Headquarters on 01 January 2011, he was the AOC-in-C of Western Air Command, lAF’s most vital operational Command. Under his command and personal supervision, the first ever landing of an AN-32 (fixed wing aircraft) took place at Nyoma, advance Landing Ground (ALG), located at an altitude of 13,300 feet on 18 September 2009.

Air Marshal Browne is recipient of Param Vishist Seva Medal (PVSM), Ati Vishist Seva Medal (AVSM), Vayu Sena Medal (VM) and is appointed as one of the Honorary ADCs to the President of India.

link

and as Ajai Shukla says

A veteran Jaguar pilot, Charlie Browne is reputed to be favourably disposed towards western equipment… in contrast to the IAF’s so-called “Russian mafia”, which believes that Russian fighters are the very, very best!

BTW, Air Marshal Browne was one of the first batch of IAF pilots to be trained on the Jaguar in the UK..here is a picture of him (when he was a Flt Lt.) along with another former IAF Air Chief, Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi, when they were in Britain.

L to R: – Flt Lt DC Kumaria, Flt Lt SCS Adhikari, Sqn Ldr DDS Kumar, Wg Cdr DR Nadkarni, Sqn Ldr SP Tyagi, Flt Lt NAK Browne, Sqn Ldr M McMahon. Sqn Ldr JS Sisodia is on the ladder.

I think the PAF has inducted ~25-30 JF-17s so far, equipping 2 squadrons. The most likely explanation is the negotiation for the next block of 50 aircraft, as stated by redgriffin.

they recently manufactured the 20th JF-17, SP-20 (Serial Production 20) at PAC Kamra. How many were imported directly from China ? that will tell you the exact number in PAF service.

200 new attack helos?? :confused:
Gosh, the neighbours better watch out…

most of them will be the Light Combat Helicopter variants- the IAF has ordered 65 and the Army wants some for itself as well. In addition there are the 22 heavy attack helicopters (most likely the AH-64D Apache). There may be follow-on options exercised as well, who knows.

cross-posting from BRF

live update from Vishnu’s pgm which quotes MOD ‘sources’

– Mig35 – did poorly in trials
– Gripen – radar underdeveloped. plane itself underdeveloped
– F18 – performance concerns , after sales service concerns
– F16 – future development limited, intrusive US laws

price shown in EF – rafale comparison slide was Euro 90 mil vs Euro 63 mil

retd air marshal of WAC says precision strike capabilities , standoff weapons and AESA radar are most important criteria and whatever we get has to be modular and upgradeable enough to last us 40 yrs and effectively replace retiring older a/c in IAF.

India likely to award trainer contract in 2011 Q3

NEW DELHI — India is poised to shortlist a manufacturer to provide much-needed basic trainer aircraft.

The contenders — Grob’s G-120 TP, Embraer’s EMB-312 Super Tucano, Korea Aerospace Industries’ KT-1, Finmeccanica’s M-311 and Pilatus’ PC-7 — emerged following a request for proposals issued in early 2010. The deal is estimated to cost $1 billion.

“The flight trials [of the competitors] have been completed and we are assessing the evaluation made by the Indian air force,” an Indian defense ministry official says. “We expect to award a contract in the third quarter of 2011 and the [deliveries] are expected to commence some time [in] 2012.”

India is seeking to procure 75 aircraft off the shelf, with 106 to be built by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) under a joint venture agreement.

The selected manufacturer will be required to deliver an initial batch of 12 aircraft within two years of signing the contract.

link to article on AW

more pics

ADA designers insist that Tejas Mk2 will belie all sceptics

Designers insist Tejas will belie all sceptical questioning

Ajai Shukla / Bangalore April 04, 2011, 0:22 IST

With the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) entering service with Indian Air Force squadrons, the designers of this indigenous fighter have explained why they believe this will be the world’s premier light fighter.

The Tejas Mark-II, to be developed by 2014 and roll off production lines by 2018, will perform 40 per cent better than the current fighter. After which would come the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft, the AMCA, which the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) says will be a “fifth-generation plus” fighter, more formidable than anything flying today.

In an exclusive interview with Business Standard, P Subramanyam, director of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), which is developing the LCA and the AMCA, responded to IAF criticism that the Tejas was not yet a world-class fighter. He said the Tejas Mark-I, still being flight-tested, had been flown to just 85 per cent of its full capability. The Tejas Mark-II — in which a more powerful GE-414 engine will replace the current GE-404 engine — would perform another 15 per cent better.

“The Tejas Mark-I will expand its performance envelope to its full capability by end-2012. And, a major performance boost will come from the Tejas Mark-II’s new GE-414 engine, for which we have signed a $700-million (Rs 3,135 crore) contract to build here in India. The Mark-II will outperform the Mark-I by about 15 per cent in the key aspects of take-off run, rate of climb, acceleration, and turn rate. Most of this would come from the higher thrust of the GE-414 engine. Another two-three per cent benefit would come from better aerodynamics… since we will re-engineer the fighter to accommodate the new engine. That overall 35-40 per cent improvement would make the LCA the world’s premier light fighter,” says Subramanyam.

The Tejas Mark-I is scheduled to obtain Final Operational Clearance by end-2012. A fighter is granted FOC when ready for combat missions, with all its weapons and sensors fitted, integrated and tested. The IAF worries that the Tejas, already long delayed, might not obtain its FOC on schedule.

Meanwhile, ADA designers are working on the Tejas Mark-II, which Subramanyam says will fly by 2014, enter production by 2016, and obtain FOC by 2018. “Besides re-designing the airframe to accommodate the GE-414 engine, ADA will also grab the opportunity to upgrade key electronics, especially the flight control computer and some avionics, so that the Mark-II is a cutting-edge fighter when it enters service,” says the ADA chief.

‘No fancy plan’

Brushing aside apprehension of further delay of the kind that has dogged the Tejas programme, Subramanyam insists, “Our design timeline is realistic. The main sub-systems of the Tejas Mark-II will remain unchanged, except for electronics components. So, the Mark-II will not need extensive flight-testing, as most of its sub-systems will have already been test-flown on the Mark-I.”

ADA designers also say “maintainability” of the Tejas has already been established. This key attribute relates to how quickly and easily technicians can service and repair the fighter and, therefore, how quickly it can get out of a hangar and into combat. Of 200 “requests for action” — suggestions from IAF pilots and technicians for design changes that would ease maintenance — most have already been implemented. Just 12-15 remain for implementing in the Mark-II.

link to article on Business Standard

Ajai Shukla got a little confused. What PS Subramanyam was saying is that the Tejas Mk1 has been tested upto 85% of its full flight envelope with the rest 15% to be completed by Dec 2012 when it reaches FOC. Its not like it’ll be at 85% of its full capability throughout and that the Mk2 will achieve the rest 15%.