Right you are Victor

Thank you 😀

but you should phrase that as MRA/MPA’s are ‘getting’ SAR and ISAR processor equipped radars. Really the operational deployment of these systems is only a recent development within the last 5 years or so and, from the top of my head, only the AIP’d P-3’s have it deployed with any kind of track record. The Nimrod MRA4’s will have the Searchwater 2000MR with SAR/ISAR and obviously the Sea Dragon fits a new system entirely to the Il-38 but both are still very much in the works as far as I can tell!

You are right as well 🙂 that the (I)SAR capability is just now starting to make an appearance onto MRAs and MPAs. But notice that the Brahmos missile itself will only be ready a year or two from now and the systems that will utilize the missiles (IN’s P15A, subs, and perhaps the P17(A?)) are at least 3 years from launch and about 2 years after that for commissioning. By then the IN’s Heron fleet and all of its SD-Mays and at least one upgraded Bear will be able to queue Brahmos from stand-off ranges. So, the missile system will be operational when the IN will have the ability to notionally discretize targets from stand-off ranges. Does that mean that the missile will always be shot from 290km from target? Absolutely not! But will the IN be able to take good advantage of the missile’s stand-off capabilities without putting the queueing platform in harm’s way? There’s a very good chance!

Dont kid yourself Victor long-range standoff weapons have been around for decades. The difference is that now the limitations of those systems in terms of targetting have been shown for what they always were and, with more widespread proliferation of that type of weapon, that defecit is having to be addressed.

Yes, there’s always been long ranged weapons other than the ICBMs and SLBMs but look at what scenarios they were meant to operate in: Most long ranged AShMs were from the USSR and they were meant to take out carriers. In a scenario when the USSR navy is in a shooting war with the USN, do you think either side will care about civilian traffic? But in the Indian vs (anybody) scenario, that will be a MAJOR concern especially in the merchant clogged Indian Ocean. The fact that the IN made an intentional decision to go for long ranged supersonic AShMs shows that they either (a) have the capability to discretize targets at stand-off ranges or (b) will get the ability to discretize targets at stand-off ranges. What good is a missile stand-off missile if the platform and the system cant take advantage of that stand-off feature?

Blending in with the merchants is an oldy but a goody trick. That’s why MRAs and MPAs got the SAR and ISAR modes on their main radars. Not just to see a blip but to actually see the shape of the ship and match it up with the library. Of course the fidelity of the SAR/ISAR image depends on the radar and accompanying system but the capability does exist to discretize contacts to a large, albeit crude, degree.

The gradual but steady move towards stand-off weapons wouldn’t be occuring if there wasn’t a concurrent move towards greater sensor capability at being able to discretize targets at stand-off ranges.

And of course the ROEs and doctrines play into this as well as a way to mitigate the chances of knocking down an airliner or sinking a cruise liner.

Russian PM Fires Head of MiG Combat Plane Maker
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, MOSCOW

Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov fired the head of the MiG combat plane manufacturer, Valery Torianin, and will replace him with the president of aerospace giant Irkut, Alexei Fedorov, a government statement said Sept. 27.

The dismissal of Torianin, after less than a year in the MiG post, was linked to financial difficulties the company was experiencing in fulfilling a contract to India, the newspaper Kommersant reported.

The Russian government in January signed a contract for the sale of 16 MiGs to India for some $700 million.

Fedorov is the current president of MiG’s rival Irkut, an aerospace conglomerate partially controlled by the state whose products include the Sukhoi fighter jet and the Be-200 multipurpose amphibious jet. Fedorov owns 26.7 percent of Irkut.

The change at the top of MiG could reinforce the control of Rosoboronexport, the public agency that regulates arms sales, on MiG, which has the right to independence in contract deals, Kommersant said. In exchange, Rosoboronexport could supply much-needed financial means to MiG, it said.

Analysts in the arms sector are expecting MiG to sign soon a contract worth some $900 million for the delivery of 50 MiG-29s to Algeria.

The MiG orders with India were part of a $1.5 billion deal signed between Russia and India in January.

Russia was India’s main defense supplier during the Cold War years and still accounts for more than 70 percent of the military hardware used by India, although the Indian government has increasingly been looking to Europe, Israel and the United States for defense equipment.

Hopefully, this move will facilitate faster and trouble-free integration of MKI components into the 29K as Fedorov will most likely pull in MKI related integration specialists from Irkut to work on the 29K integration.

Maybe pointing towards the mini-Bars will be going into 29k?

39 Imperial (UK or long) tons = 87,360 lb

39 US (or short) tons = 78,000 lb

39 tonnes (metric) = 85980.3 lb

Only the metric ton is referred to as tonnes the other two are usually referred to as short or long tons. If refering to something naval, it’s usually given that long tons are being used by default.

If Malaysia can get Su-30s for palmoil, why not chickens?

I guess it was worth a try at least… 🙂

I couldn’t find another thread to put it in…

JF-17 deliveries to Pakistan still uncertain
Robert Sae-Liu JDW Special Correspondent,
Beijing

Timely deliveries to Pakistan from 2006 of the Chinese-made JF-17 attack fighter remain in doubt, despite assurances from Islamabad. Problems involve the re-export of Russian-made components, according to sources monitoring the programme.

The JF-17, previously known as the FC-1, is being developed by China’s Chengdu Aircraft Industry under a joint development and production agreement signed with Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) in June 1999. Published reports indicate that Islamabad’s requirement is for 150 platforms.

The first JF-17 prototype started formal flight testing on 2 September 2003 and several other prototypes are to be evaluated before series production is launched. Two Pakistani test pilots began a regular flight test programme on 7 April 2004.

JDW reported a year ago that China holds no rights to re-export the Russian-made Klimov RD-93 turbofan engine that powers the prototype aircraft. This indicated that the programme involving Pakistan could suffer delays.

Islamabad subsequently brushed aside such concerns and chief project director Air Vice Marshal Shahid Lateef affirmed in April that deliveries would start in mid-2006. He said 16 aircraft would be produced initially: eight for Pakistan and eight for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force, with four of the former to be assembled at PAC’s Kamra facility.

More recently, Pakistani sources told JDW that Moscow is unlikely to object to the sale in view of a bilateral agreement on intelligence co-operation signed earlier this month. Foreign sources familiar with the programme are less certain. They point out that there remains no agreement on re-export of the RD-93 engine. Russian hesitation is centred on Moscow’s close relationship with India and this would remain an issue even if China began manufacturing the engine under licence.

These sources say the JF-17’s radar system poses another problem, but it is unclear whether this centres on a similar issue related to re-export rights. The choice of a multimode pulse-Doppler radar was reported last year as involving a competition between Phazotron of Russia with the Kopyo system, Galileo (FIAR) of Italy with the Grifo S-7 and Thales of France with the RC 400.

Additional reporting by Farhan Bokhari JDW Correspondent, Islamabad

I agree.. I only can add that neither Iran, nor any other country in the region are US territories..

While true that the Iran and that region are not US territories, it can however fall under US “interests”.

plawolf,

Hypothetically, what might have China’s response been if MacArthur’s plans to nuke the Chinese border areas were accepted? I am unfamiliar with China’s history at that time, did it have a viable nuke back then?

We can take this to another forum if you like…