Depends which dates you go by, she was commissioned 20 years ago this year but she was laid down 30 years ago next year.;)

Judging by present Russian “expertise” with carriers, the IN can expect to have this ship pierside more often than deployed.

To wrap it up:
– 25 yr old ship
– Ramrodded through via political connections
– Major delay and cost escalation
– Most likely a wharf queen
– Not fully capable of being a full fledged carrier due to hangar limitations
– Suboptimal deck aircraft handling due to elevator placements

I’m sure the fishing fleets near Karwar will be in awe of this ship’s power projection capabilities…

Has the CCP apologized to the Chinese people for its hand in killing millions of Chinese during its great leaps, marches and other assorted revolutions, cultural or otherwise?

That reminds me of a question posed to me a few years earlier. How many Chinese had the Japanese killed during its occupation versus how many Chinese the CCP killed directly?

About 300 J-7Es and another 60-80 J-7Gs (with more coming.) About 50 surviving J-7C/Ds. Probably several hundred of the earlier variants as well. A safe guess would be over 500.

With more on the way? So, with a 20-30 yr life, we could be seeing J-7s well into the 2030s. How long with the J-7 lines be open, till the JF-17s start coming out?

MAWS according to what has been publically mentioned. LWS could be a possibility as well. The Avitronics MAWS and LWS are both available to India and ADA has integrated them into a Self defence suite with the R118 RWR.

AFAIK, MAWS requires quite distinct optical port on the surface of the aircraft. I looked at bunch of MKI pics but couldn’t make out anything resembling a MAWS or LWS on the plane.

What LCA prototype is supposed to be equipped with the LWS, MAWS and CMDS? So far, we only see the RWR and perhaps a couple of EW blisters on the nose.

Also, do the MKIs have the LWS and MAWS? If so, can someone point them out on a pic?

Also, will the LCA get this IFF?

The original appeared on an Indian newpaper in mid 2006. This is obviously a PS monkeyed version with the background removed.

In very simplistic terms:

CATOBAR – catapult takeoff and wire recovery
STOBAR – ski jump takeoff and wire recovery
STOVL – ski jump takeoff and vertical recovery
VTOL – vertical takeoff and recovery

CATOBAR has the twin advantages of allowing a higher MTOW for planes and being able to use both carrier runways for launch. Those advantages translates into higher combat persistence (more range and/or more ordance) and higher sortie generation rates. It make the carrier a much more useful and worthwhile investment. Also, CATOBAR carriers can launch E-2 (C-2) type heavies in the support role but STOBAR carriers are limited to just helos in the support role.