nice pics Twinblade. Seems like IN have put some new pictuires in their, otherwise ‘boring’, website.

Btw, the new Indian Navy promotional video for recruitment have at least 4 short clips of Vik-MiG-29K combo, including the MiG-29K trapping the wires. So 2014 promo video is likely to feature the flagship in full.

If anyone missed the article from Combat Aircraft on MiG-29Ks, here it is…. made available for all by the original contributor.
http://t.co/xfdBj6nPqm
http://t.co/3X8oEQKEMU
http://t.co/gX3X8MGK6c
http://t.co/KcIcIG9FWy

Does anyone know how far the Indians are along with their Kolkata destroyers? Wikipedia says two should’ve been commissioned by now, but the latest pictures (circa March this year) show this:

http://i.imgur.com/Mkq1wyZ.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/R1zFBPi.jpg?1?8500

And I’ve heard no news or pictures of any of them actually in service ploughing the waves. Any more knowledgable members willing to enlighten the subject? Cheers.

Dont worry, Indian Navy have plenty of time to wait for these ships. The ship will be armed (and only commissioned) if and when the Isreali’s deliver the Barak-8, which was developed using Indian tax payers money. There is not much of talk on this in the media and the forum because, the delay have no Russian part in it, the two major components missing, the radars and AD missiles have to come from Isreal.

This is not a P-16A class of ships which will get inducted into the service without its core weapon systems. If they want to induct it as soon as possible, its better to arm the three lead units with VL-Shtils or with the 120Km 9m96e2.

Fundamental commonality… 20 years of work developing and testing variations and changes, as well as materials, etc. This is all part of the “past experience” you cite… without this work it would have taken far longer than “2006-2009” timeframe you cite. MiG already had worked out most (if not all) of the changes you cite before the 2004 (not 2006) Indian order as part of the carrier deal.

The time-frame you give covers only the final phase of all this developmental work, which did include keeping the materials, structure, avionics, and powerplant current with those developed for other MiG-29/33/35 variants.

If you are trying to convey that the new MiG-29K/KUB is not a new one compared to the older ones and if you are implying that its only the past 20 years of work that went into the new MiG-29K/KUB, then you are wrong.

The Indian Naval delegation evaluated the Su-33 and MiG-29K back the late 90s and RAC-MiG probably started the work on the new aircraft in 1999 itself and since then atleast six MiG-29s were employed for system development of the new aircraft. The new MiG-29K definitely

Regarding the development of the new airframe itself, it is not a rule that it cannot be done in 3-5 years and basically depend on the finance. So it is not impossible for an experienced OKB like RAC-MiG to have come up with a new MiG-29K design with its first flight in around 5 years. But generally we can consider the development period as from 2000-2006.

Consider the case of PAK-FA, which had full financial backing. The first aircraft flew in around 5 years once the basic design was freezed. And this is an aircraft which is completely new in appearance also, compared to MiG-29K/KUB/M/M2 and Su-35 (is to Su-27). Except for the airframe, a lot of systems like avionics, landing gears etc might have been built upon the experience from the Su-27 family. This is how the new series of MiG-29 family also worked along.

I may also like to add that MiG-29/35 is going to be the intermediate to the LMFS, as what Su-35 is to PAK-FA. All signs point to it. And as some posters had pointed some time earlier, the successor to the MiG-29K is going to be a naval LMFS and not any PAK-Fa variant.

Couldnt find this posted, so the press release from Indian Navy on INAS 303 Black Panthers, courtesy Shiv Aroor

http://livefist.blogspot.in/2013/05/indian-navy-mig-29k-squadron.html

The Indian Navy’s first MiG-29K fighter squadron, INAS 303 Black Panthers was commissioned today at the INS Hansa naval air station in Goa. Happy to say the squadron’s name was first reported here on Livefist in 2009 before the first batch of aircraft were inducted. Excerpts from a press release today:

The MiG-29K is a true swing role aircraft which carries enough punch to undertake Air Dominance and Power Projection missions simultaneously, bestowing the Commander at sea, great flexibility. It takes Indian naval aviation from a defensive stature to one of dominance. The MiG 29K aircraft is a state of the art, all weather, carrier based, air dominance fighter specially built for the Indian Navy. The aircraft has a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound (about 2000 kmph), can pull up to 8 times the force of gravity, can climb to an altitude of over 65000 feet. Armed with an arsenal of some of the most sophisticated weapons in the world it is fully equipped to dominate by engaging targets in air, at sea or on land. Latest avionics, with data link capabilities coupled with its range of armament will enable true power projection. With its air- to- air refueling capability its ranges are also extended to perform true power projection and air space dominance roles.

INAS 303 is commanded by Capt AD Theophilus, an accomplished and experienced Sea Harrier pilot and a Qualified Flying Instructor.

It may be recalled that the MiG 29K supersonic air dominance fighters were inducted by Mr Antony on 19 Feb 2010. Sixteen of these potent aircraft were inducted to form the main combat power of the, soon to be inducted aircraft carrier, Vikramaditya. Since its induction, the aircraft have flown over 2500 hrs and have successfully concluded armament trials of the entire range of arsenal comprising air to surface missiles, air to air missiles, bombs, rockets and guns. After proving in trials the aircraft have also participated in important theatre level exercises with the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force. Having successfully completed all tasks and trials assigned and established its combat potential, the MiG-29K squadron has now been commissioned into front line service to form the sword arm of the Indian Navy.

In the tradition of naming its fighter squadrons in the 300 series, the MiG- 29K squadron, is christened INAS 303 and is being popularly referred to as the ‘Black Panthers’. The number 303 has been derived from the revolutionary .303 rifle cartridge, which in the mid-19th century replaced the traditional lever-action cartridges with pointed-tip bullets, giving it a ballistic advantage over its counterparts. This path breaking technology enabled the bullet to travel at much higher speeds, more accurately and inflict much more damage than its predecessors, thus creating a new standard on which the future guns of the world were built. Drawing similarity to the above mentioned attributes of the rifle the number 303 has been chosen to represent the MiG 29K squadron. Just like the rifle revolutionized the concepts of rifle firing, the induction of the Black Panther squadron marks the beginning of a new era of fighter flying in the Indian navy and hence the squadron is also referred to as “the game changers”. The squadron’s insignia depicts the rare Black Panther, rampant on sea waves, against an azure background.

Other links related to Black Panthers
http://livefist.blogspot.in/2013/05/indian-navair-turns-60-first-mig-29k.html
http://livefist.blogspot.in/2013/05/video-black-panthers-mig-29k-squadron.html

http://www.balancer.ru/sites/i/c/ic….65944_1000.jpg

Nice photo of the mighty Severodvinsk!

Beautiful!

Still didn’t sink huh? Those Australian “experts” have some serious thinking to do… 😀

How dare you question the Aussies shouting from bottom of the earth? Cant you see the sub is already 2/3rd sunk. The rest of it sank after the photo session was over. 😀

Here a good one from Sevmash. Pr.955 & Pr.885
http://sevmash.livejournal.com/

^^^ A-50U looks very nice!

Some IL-112 pictures. I hope it is not too big and within forum rules.

http://militaryrussia.ru/blog/topic-712.html
There was an earlier report about Il-112 being offered to IAF requirement of light/medium transport aircraft.

Some pics of the first project 22350 fregate from last month:

http://www.balancer.ru/forum/punbb/attachment.php?item=327726&download=2
http://www.balancer.ru/forum/punbb/attachment.php?item=327730&download=2
http://www.balancer.ru/forum/punbb/attachment.php?item=327733&download=2
http://www.balancer.ru/forum/punbb/attachment.php?item=327734&download=2

nearly 9 years and counting….yawn….
if they had put that money and time on Pr.1135.6, there would have been atleast 6 units in fleet.

Silly Indians who drool about private shipyard getting orders can learn some lessons on how not to do it in the future from this poorly managed project with a lone shipyard having the monopoly to built it. Severnaya is probably the only yard in the western side of Russia engaged in building primary surface combatant who is still building ships without the new modular approach. And it is very much showing on the hulls that have been completed.