recently the PIA signed a deal for Canadian bombardier small jets contrary to the theory that both PIA and PAF would jointly purchase a larger number of Saab2000 to get a synergy of quantity.

All doesnt seem well for the Saab deal 🙁 no news from paf chiefs visit so far 🙁

with this new deal isnt China by a long way the biggest user of the S-300/400 class systems ? EU has nothing even close to it, Israel has limited number of Arrow due to its small size and the Patriot Pac2 is retired (?) and replaced with the much shorter range ‘smarter’ Pac3 which can do some ATBM if its sited properly and missile is coming down its throat.

someday the Aster30-TBMD could be sited on land for EU’s southern nations but I
somehow doubt it.

Crobato, having 100s of TEL and maybe 1500 missiles of the S300 class is very
impressive , there will be gaps thats what the Flankers are for 🙂

well apparently the copies dont work as much as the original coz there’s no reason to be spending a billion $$ today if cheaper ‘clones’ are available. I
think I know what the problem is — at the high end its not just the missile thats important, but the entire Combat System of C3I node(s), attack radars and surveillance radars tied together into a effective system. This is not a easy thing to do, unlike relatively simpler standalone SAMs or other types of missiles like manpads and atgms. Only the US, israel and Russia have so far produced these big distributed systems. Even if one leg is weak, the system is weak.

Secondly, I have a question on the S-400. They claim some sort of ATBM capability and even some capability in the S-300PMU. What kind of tests have been done against simulated or real IRBM targets to prove this claim ?

The Arrow has known tests against the Sparrow drone and now the Scud tests, so we know it works upto a point. The patriots by hook or crook did score hits or near misses against Scuds.

Indonesia has been fighting a islamist insurgency for long in the
island of Aceh near the andamans. there are plenty of indonesian terrorists floating around but the Govt for sure is anti-terrorist as it doesnt depend on them for its survival. there’s also a sizeable hindu minority on the island of Bali.

Militarily they are very weak, with nowhere near the logistics to police and manage the 1000s of islands. the biggest threat to australia maybe just refugees fleeing some future chaos. as the foremost US ally in the region,
I suppose Aus is expected to play some part.

but good weapons will of be use against the expected PLAN expansion in the east pacific and USNs inevitable try to block such expansion.

guys lets drop the Anza -vs- Stinger argument. it doesnt matter either way now since the pilot is dead and plane is downed.

two other incidents have been US ships not flying a indian flag when coming into
our territorial waters as is tradition and a helicopter from a US frigate making a illegal
flight over the kalpakkam nuclear power plant as the ship approached madras for
docking.

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=54071

In the dock & at sea

Two US Navy ships denied docking in Mumbai because they didn’t give list of names of crew; India, US try to sort it out before Sept exercises.

PRANAB DHAL SAMANTA
Posted online: Sunday, August 29, 2004 at 0150 hours IST

NEW DELHI, AUGUST 28: They wanted hospitality but insisted on keeping their names to themselves. India, however, said there should be no secrets between friends. This little disagreement on matters of security and protocol has cast a shadow over Malabar, the Indo-US joint naval exercise scheduled for next month.

In some ways, the reception given to the two US navy ships that made routine visits to Mumbai recently should alert both countries that they need to sort some issues out to ensure, well, smooth sailing.

The big issue is whether the US will tell its hosts just who it’s bringing to the party.

It refused to do this on August 3 when USS Cushing, a Spruance-class guided missile destroyer deployed with the Japan-based Pacific Command called at Mumbai.

Citing security considerations, the ship refused to divulge the names of the 380 personnel on board. India, on the other hand, insisted on getting the list as the US sailors did not have visas.

As a result, the ship was not extended docking facility and was kept in the anchorage area till August 6. To further complicate the issue, the Americans wanted two of their crew to be allowed to disembark so that they could take a flight back to the US.

Eventually, the US Consulate had to intercede on behalf of the two sailors. Immigration authorities, however, refused to budge on the issue of allowing the ship to enter Mumbai harbour until the names of the crew were handed over. The ship spent three days in the anchorage area before turning back.

Once the disagreement in procedures had come into the frame, the Western Naval Command was prepared with its response when USS Mary Sears, an oceanographic military survey ship with a crew of 55, sent in a request two weeks ago to dock in Mumbai on August 25. The Indian Navy said it couldn’t allow this unless names were handed over. As a result, the ship sailed by without stopping in Mumbai.

The strange thing is that both sides insist that their policies have remained unchanged, but there was never any trouble in the past. Said an embassy spokesperson: ‘‘It has been a longstanding US policy not to give out the names of the crew members. US ships sail across the world and there has never been a problem. We also do not insist that ships visiting the US part with the names of their crew.’’

In fact, sources said that while the US navy maintains a record of crew members who disembark when its ships dock in other countries, it does not share their names with the host.

Given that the stated policies of India and the US contrast so sharply on this point, a disagreement was bound to surface. Sources said that unofficial give-and-take on the part of both sides had smoothed such issues in the past. But once the dispute came into the open, both countries had to fall back on their official stands.

Now New Delhi and Washington are trying to resolve their differences ahead of Malabar, the joint naval exercise between the two countries in late September. ‘‘We are looking forward to Malabar and have been preparing for it. And we hope that these issues are resolved before that,’’ said the embassy spokesperson

the griffin_pak photo looks to be a Mig-21 tailfin=> the late Ahuja’s plane.

BVR sniping followed by escape at high speed is the “std” mode of future A2A I guess.