Post-April Fools and the Indian government is getting wobbly on the FGFA purchase. It’s looking like the IAF may be better scrapping AMCA and up scaling it as an FGFA replacement. India’s government is focused like a laser beam on Rafale. Dassault better get it while it’s hot, because F-35A is looking warmer by the minute, too.

Rear quadrant MAWS?

You can’t really build hardened shelter or bunker strong enough unsless its deep within a mountain.
The weapons to penetrate a hardened shelter has been developed eons ago..

But if you mean an effort to contain dmg by building good enough shelters , at least u are safe from fragmentation(cluster) bombs.

Well they do have more than a few mountains for which to do that. You can always build varying degrees of hardness, with segments spread out so no one single hit destroys the whole mission.

Rii-

? /scratches head

The Sukhoi’s were an inexpensive buy on the front end, but they are becoming less and less of a bargain. I always wondered if India had kept closer ties to the UK and went with British ventures, would they have faired better the past 50 years. English Electric interceptors and Blackburn Buccaneers. When the British failed to materialize new designs in the sixties maybe still lean towards Spey-powered Mirages. They rightly went Sepecat Jags. BAe Hawks and Harriers. Panavia Tornado GR’s and ADV’s. Eventually Typhoons. Would they really ever need a MiG or Sukhoi? I couldn’t see a need for either if they had kept in the UK’s fold. Could have even took hand me down catapult equipped carriers a few decades sooner than they got the Russian carrier.

The Typhoon and Rafale were meant to be ‘pocket’ heavy fighters, better than F-15A or Su-27P yet in a package 30-40% smaller.

I know people around here are big fans of the F-15, but surely an F-15E driver would never mistake himself for an F-15C Golden Eagle ace. And I’m not so sure that F-15C even kept up with the Typhoon or Rafale F3 when it comes to air superiority, but it’s more than ample to supplement the F-22A and F-35A in their roles. Mark the target, let the ninja swoop by and take out his victim with such precise accuracy that he gets the kill with but a stealthy puff of breath using a rice grain lofted through his freshly mowed reed straw. Where or where is the ninja? He’s not invisible, but you only catch glimpses. Is that him, or is it a feint distraction? Typhoon and Rafale do not offer that kind of reassurance, but they do have good aim with their long bow that out-ranges the opponent’s blunderbuss. Without sure awareness, neither the arrow nor lead shot are true to their goal. While the Europeans were perfecting the art of archery, the U.S. has been perfecting the art of stealth and indirect precision.

No matter the pace, stealth will always be relevant. It’s been pointed out here ad naseum that still is just a facet in the electromatic signals intelligence game. It will only become more relevant, not less. Unfortunately people don’t read the intelligent posts in the forum and would rather participate in low brow battles of wit.

War with China or Russia would be reckless. Not happening. Enuff said.