some of the earliest carriers in 1920-30 timeframe had bridge in bow and a clear deck.
in theory is a decent idea. but having a control tower with a commanding view of the airbase is a good idea. perhaps a slim airport style control tower topped with a PA radar and comm masts is ok.
what else should be there in the island ?

FYI india just crossed canada to become PRCs 10th biggest trading partner. bilateral trade has expanded by 41% first five months of CY05 and is expected to reach around $18 bil this year.

there are many mututally beneficial areas like china has a surplus of capacity in textile mill machinery and indian mills who cant buy enough are snapping these up. huawei and ZTE have supplied telephone gear at dirt cheap rates compared to lucent/nortel.

about the eyesore to the west, its management and care has been outsourced to Unkil for time being. going by the express speed of the crackdown post 7/7, it looks like the UK has significant levers there as well – perhaps the remittances by the large emigre community there are vital for the eyesore’s economy.

I have had my eye on Mk41 + SM2-IV for a long time now. and C3I technology to network ships, UAVs, helicopters and planes seamlessly together. the fleet as a living unified “organism”….one sees it , everyone sees it.

$9 bil for 126 planes comes to $71 mil. this includes munitions , spares , tech support, training, simulators also. ==> the per plane cost would be in region of $50-55 mil

Yes R77 is on Bison. aeroindia2003
http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Images/Special/AeroIndia2003/Static-UPG-Missile.jpg

> .why no new weapons ??

Litening will permit all israeli LGB kits and probably compatible with older
paveway2 and SAMP kits also. what else do you want – Jag/mig27 running
around with a Adder is bizarre as it has no radar! archer could be put on
mig27 I guess but usually they will have fighter escort if opposition is expected.

> for how many years will the Jag stay in IAF service from now on ??

the 39 new ones being constructed certainly for 25-30 yrs. the oldest Jags
in IAF are now ~20 yrs old and many will be upgraded to the new std.they
are called Navwass Jags after their older nav system (later blocks have
darin-1)

> why not the same upgrade to the Mig-29baaz too ??

Mig29 wont need the LDP and LRF. needs Bars29 radar, new Mig29K style
glass cockpit (a big issue on Mig29A is pilot workload and cockpit clutter)
and the SPJ components. they are already adder compatible, bars29 is also
adder enabled. IAF is letting IN bear the cost and risk on this one before
dipping in for a free ride :diablo:

Harry can u confirm the 9 twinseater jags were older jags that are upgraded. article says 29 upgrades ordered.

U also posted pix of 8 jags in yellow primer from the new order of 39. how many have
been delivered ?

> and both these engines have nearly the same dimensions and thrust. Coincidence?

since both have to fit inside the a$$ of the LCA and provide thrust to the same airframe weight its obviously a massive co-incidence that they are of similar dimensions and thrust 😀 for the record the kaveri thrust spec was 2000 lb more than the 404 version being used now. the IN20 mod of 404 could have some higher no doubt.

US isnt even willing to provide the technology for pencil sharpener to india – its “dual use- can be used to build nukular weapuns and meeshiles” 😀 , and here you go claiming GE has been providing all the help and technology for Kaveri ? pray tell us then if they are so heavily involved and knowing GE’s abilities, why is the Kaveri still delayed 😀 with a 100 GE engineers on it, we would be in kaveri mk3 by now 😀