KramerA new engine is possible with that kind of TOT that is in offer.
And SAAB wont mind helping out ither, maybe using its demo program by doing so.
But still it must be a Customer incentive for such a project.
I didn’t quite understand what you meant here..
Kramera similar upgrade of the Thai F-16A/Bs to Block 50 standard is going to cost them around $40 million and it doesn’t even include weapons.
So, considering the capability that the Mirage-2000-5 possesses, it is sensible still to go for this upgrade. There is a large pool of trained Mirage pilots, tactics are established, infrastructure to maintain it exists, HAL even overhauls the entire aircraft at Bangalore and these are among the main nuclear platforms in the IAF apart from the fact that they are capable of ground strike with guided weapons like the Crystal Maze and LGBs.
All in all, I think its only sensible to upgrade these and use them till their life runs out, rather than letting them become obsolete and incapable of even firing BVR weapons as their main BVR weapon, the R-530D is almost out of shelf life and I don’t believe Matra (or MBDA now) manufactures these anymore. Without a radar upgrade, these will be left BVR less.
KramerThen you should wonder how India feels over India’s decision to buy F-414 for LCA, too.
It doesn’t involve any ToT, only licenced assembly with most components being transferred in kit form. Whereas, the MRCA program is ALL about ToT and transferring knowhow that will allow India to gain quite a bit of technological and manufacturing knowhow.
There is a good reason why they say that the F414 sale for the Tejas Mk2 and the MRCA contest are unrelated.
KramerHow can one be sure that the Gripen NG isn’t as big a risk as a Super Hornet or F-16 Super Viper ? I mean the US could end up withholding key items on the Gripen NG that are sourced in the US and instead put pressure on India to select one of the US birds themselves, simply out of spite or to simply make it that much harder for the Swedes to implement the deal fully. And these Wikileaks really blow holes through the arguments many Swedes have made about their being water-tight agreements to allow sale and technology transfers of products that are being sourced from the US. It certainly appears that behind the scenes, things are a lot more competitive.
I also wonder how Saab feels about its decision to go with the F-414 on the Gripen NG instead of the EJ-200 (despite the involvement of Volvo Aero on the F414), now that they know that the US has actually sabotaged a potentially huge contract in Norway.
I cannot though but wonder if the IAF and the MoD are actually even taking any note of these happenings..About whether they will consider this aspect during the down-select and choose the contenders least likely to impinge on India’s sovereignty.
KramerTejas completes 1500th test flight and test fires its 3rd R-73 during the current series of flights over Goa.
Tejas logged the 1,500th flight today marking a small, yet significant, milestone…
Today’s flight was piloted by Gp Capt Suneet Krishna of NFTC. Tejas fired yet another R-73 missile (a total of 3 during this phase of sea trials) at an altitude of 15 km. “At this altitude very rarely a missile is fired and in that sense it is a great achievement. Last week alone we did 25-30 flights in Goa and Bangalore,” an engineer, attached to Mission Goa, said. Each flight is said to have lasted from 30-45 minutes. “This again demonstrates the serviceability of the aircraft,” he adds.
The DRDO, in the meantime, said in a press release that the Tejas gearbox was finally certified.
Chennai-based CVRDE has indigenously designed and developed Aircraft-Mounted Accessory Gearbox (AMAGB) for Tejas application. The AMAGB is capable of transmitting 250 HP at 16,810 rpm with less than 38 kg of weight. AMAGB operates in two modes i.e., Starter mode and Accessory mode. In starter mode, it aids in starting the engine through Jet Fuel Starter (JFS).
In accessory mode, it drives accessories namely, two hydraulic pumps and an Integrated Drive Generator (IDG).This gearbox has undergone strenuous environmental and structural test. Further, this gearbox has also undergone 1000 hours of Endurance Test. Till date, AMAGB gearboxes have undergone more than 2000 hours of flight testing. As a pre-curser to induction into Indian Air force, ‘Type Approval’ from CEMILAC (Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification) is mandatory. CVRDE has successfully obtained this type approval for AMAGB from CEMILAC.
Kramerand AW&ST also can make bloopers. All reports now point to MICA IR/EM purchase with the Mirage-2000 upgrades.
KramerWikipedia ! hehe..there is no other authoritative source that states that ASRAAMs would be purchased to arm the Mirage-2000-5s.
KramerYes thats true as well. I was just mentioning the R-27 because they’re the oldest of the IAF’s BVR weapons alongwith the R-530D (which is to be retired soon and replaced with MICA EM and Magic II replaced with MICA IR).
Point being that the IAF will operate these active homing BVR missiles when the MRCA is inducted, with the R-27 likely being close to being retired since its shelf life will be nearing an end.
1) R-77 for the MiG-21 Bison, MiG-29UPG, Su-30MKI and maybe Tejas Mk1 and in the very unlikely scenario with the MiG-35 (if it wins the MRCA)
2) MICA-EM for the Mirage-2000-5
3) Astra for the Mirage-2000-5/Tejas Mk2/MiG-29UPG/Su-30MKI
4) Either the Derby/Meteor/AMRAAM/MICA with the MRCA
The IN is a totally different service and has its own stocks and its own weapons depots and maintenance lines. They will operate
1) Derby for the LUSH SHar and N-Tejas
2) R-77 for the MiG-29K
KramerThose missiles don’t have a very long shelf life. Maybe around 15 years or so, or a specified number of times (at most a few hundred carriages) carried on a pylon.
As per SIPRI, the last R-27 purchase made by India was for a total of 20 R-27ER1 and 20 R-27 ET1 missiles in 2000. Now, the main platforms that were meant to use the R-27 were the MiG-29 and Su-30s. After the MiG-29UPG upgrade, their primary BVR weapon will be the R-77, although they should still be able to fire R-27s, maybe even the R-27 ER1/ET1. R-27ET1 (with IR homing head and boost/sustain) is a very useful passive attack missile as compared to the R-27ER1 which uses semi-active radar homing. The earlier R-27E/R/T will still give decent BVR capability but should probably be phased out by the time the MRCA’s BVR weapon is fully inducted.
SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) reported that 300 R-27R1/T1 air-to-air missiles were ordered by the Indian Air Force in 1995 and all 300 missiles were delivered in the same year. SIPRI reported that 1140 R-27E missiles were ordered in 1996 and 250 were delivered by 2001. SIPRI also reported that 1140 R-27R1/T1 missiles were ordered from Ukraine in 1996 and 304 were delivered by 2001. As per the annual UN conventional arms register, the Indian Government reported it had purchased 40 R-27ER1 and 36 R-27ET1 missiles in 1999 and 20 R-27ER1 and 20 R-27ET1 missiles in 2000.
KramerCobham UK to provide weapons carriage and release units for the IAF’s Hawk fleet.
Cobham has a received a $28 million order from BAE Systems to supply weapons carriage and release equipment for the Indian Air Force Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer program.
The contract award follows India’s purchase of 57 BAE Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer Aircraft (AJT) in July 2010, to be built by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. in India. Forty aircraft have been assigned to the Indian Air Force and the remaining 17 for the Indian Navy.
Cobham will deliver significant quantities of Light Duty Ejector Release Units and Carrier Bomb Light Stores (CBLS) training aids to BAE Systems between 2012-14.
Cobham’s Carrier Bomb Release System CBLS 2000 provides the facility for carriage and release of up to four practice stores. It conforms to the latest military specification requirements for the Eurofighter, Gripen and latest Hawk variants.
KramerTejas Mk1 fires another R-73 and also tests its CMDS
India’s Tejas Light Combat Aircraft on Dec. 2 test-fired chaff and flares from the countermeasure dispensing system (CMDS) indigenously designed and developed by Bharat Dynamics Ltd. (BDL), Hyderabad.This was part of the Tejas’ ongoing sea trials at INS Hansa in Goa. Tejas LSP-4, piloted by Group Capt. Suneet Krishna, also fired another R-73 missile Dec. 2, following a firing on Nov. 30.
The CMDS firing assumes special significance, as this is the first time an indigenously developed CMDS was integrated and tested on an indigenous fighter aircraft with an open architecture mission computer and digital stores management system.
“The release and trajectory of these stores were closely monitored by another Tejas chase aircraft flown in close proximity of the test aircraft,” says the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), which builds Tejas. “Visual observation supported by analysis of video recording of the release event indicated that the trial was successful, meeting the stipulated design requirements of the system. The test therefore was the culmination of a long journey of Tejas from a fledgling fighter aircraft to a full-blown weapon system with passive missile and radar jamming capabilities.”
Tejas program chief P.S. Subramaniam tells AVIATION WEEK that the program is on track…
While the Tejas team is excited about the program inching closer to its much-awaited initial operational clearance (IOC), with a series of successful trials and first flights of new platforms from the flight-line, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is watching developments very closely.
When asked to comment on Tejas’ weapon trials in Goa, IAF Vice Chief Air Marshal P.K. Barbora says: “If they [Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.-ADA] can stick to the timelines for IOC and deliver the numbers they have promised by certain dates, it will be a great thing for us.”
KramerFirst IAF Akash SAM squadron to be formed next month. And they’re expecting huge orders from both the IAF and IA.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) soon will form its first squadron of the homegrown tactical Akash Missile System (AMS) at Gwalior Air Base.Bharat Electronics Ltd., the principal integrator for AMS, will hand over the first squadron next month…
P.C. Jain, BEL’s general manager of Defense Radars, says his company has firm orders for two AMS squadrons of 48 missiles worth Rs 1,221 crore ($269.5 million).
BEL hopes to win additional AMS contracts from the IAF and the Indian army.
“We are sure to get additional orders from IAF for six more squadrons soon, estimated at Rs 3,500 crore,” Jain says. “The army might place orders initially for two regiments, and these will be large in numbers as compared to IAF. The expected cost will be close to Rs 7,000 crore.”Each Akash missile weighs 710 kg. (1,565 lb.) and carries a warhead of 225 kg. It has a range of 30 km. (18.6 mi.) and is capable of engaging four targets in different directions, Jain says. Akash radars are comprised of C4I (Squadron Control Center), 3-D Central Acquisition Radar, Flight Control Center and Flight Level Radar.
The surveillance radar can detect 100 targets, and the tracking radar up to 64 targets simultaneously.
“The missile can go to an altitude up to 18 kilometers and engage four targets at a time,” Jain says. “It has a range of 25 kilometers, and we can launch eight missiles simultaneously.”
Kramernot as per PS Subramanyam’s interview. It will be done in the period between IOC and FOC.
KramerAnanth Krishnan reported on his blog that during the on-going Tejas Mk1 trials in Dabolim, more R-73 firing tests were carried out and they also tested out the Countermeasures Dispensers (Chaff and Flares).
Sign In
