NK artillery did well in the Yeonpyeong engagement. Silencing half of the SK artillery in the first barrage. Out of the 6 K-5 stationed at Yeonpyeong, only 3 was able to fire back. And judging by open source report and satellite photos, SK counterbattery fire was slow and inaccurate. http://defense-update.com/analysis/2010/24112010_yeonpyeong_rockets.html

The widespread civilian damage on Yeonpyeong is also an indication of scale of destruction one can expect in a full scale conflict.

Agree.

The civilian damage was ‘collateral’ probably for lack for very high precision munitions. The target of the artillery was the military installation in retalliation for the naval exercise that ROK conducted in the waters. But, atleast the four dead were related to military – 2 marines and 2 military contractors – and thankfully no civilians were dead.

OMG, I didn’t even bother to replied to 100 guns comment because how obviously ridiculous it was. One really shouldn’t accept as fact a statement that sounds fishy until he has done some basic research.

NK fired between 120-170 rounds during the engagement vs 80 rounds fired by SK. The majority of the NK rounds were fired by one 122mm MRL battery in one salvo. Those did most of the damage. The rest were fired by a few coastal defense guns on Mudo Island. Sat photo of typical NK coastal defense emplacement shows 4-5 gun emplacements.

+1

But the figurers that I remember being reported was 167-180 rounds by ROK in return for the two digit (under 100 rounds) fired by DPRK.

To be fair to the South Korean Army on Yeonpyeong I think they were caught completely by surprise. I doubt they will make the same mistakes in the future.

In a sense No & YES.
Because, the N.Koreans had warned many times to the S.Koreans not to conduct exercises in the disputed area. But nevetherless, the S.Korean due to their superior military might took those warnings as kidding by N. Korea and went ahead. The result was the N.Korea opened up their costal artillery.

Their target was the S.Korean assets in the waters of the disputed area and the land based installation. The funny part is that some media reported that N.Korean shell falling into the seas, when infact the N.Korteans costal battery was targeting the units in the disputed area, both land and sea. 😀

But for an effective fire on units in water, they need something like the Russian 130mm Bereg costal artillery.

Rafale isn’t in the same class as the Su35. There will be a huge comparison in operating costs. It’s more in the class of the Mig35, and even then I still believe it would cost less to operate than the Mig.

That said I think the Rafale would be no easy meat for the Su35.

Nic

+1

But, the problem is that many want to think that Su-35 would be easy meant for Rafale.

This thread was basically a bait, as someone earlier mentioned, to make it a China Su-35 Vs India Rafale pissing contest. But more than China, it is the Russian Airforce who will be using it and Su-35 will indeed be facing the likes of Typhoon, Rafale, Gripen etc etc.

Good to see the armament for Pr.885 blast off…. 😉

http://www.brahmos.com/content.php?id=20

Submarine Launch Version

BRAHMOS missile is capable of being launched from submarine from a depth of 40-50 metres. The missile is installed in a modular launcher vertically in the pressure hull of the submarine. The missile has identical configuration similar to the ship based system.

Submarine launch

The canisterised missile is launched vertically, the nose cap prevents water from entering the ‘air-intake’ during the underwater flight. Once the missile emerges from the water, the sensors provide the “out of water command” and the nose cap is fired for turning the missile in the desired direction to hit the target.

BRAHMOS installation in submarine will increase manyfold the ‘offensive power’ of the vessel without compromising on its ‘defensive power’ as the torpedo tubes can be fully utilized for defence. All studies and simulation trials related to underwater launch have been completed.

The launch trials are expected to begin in 2009, firstly from a submerged platform and depending on the user requirement, a suitable platform will be identified for deployment.

http://www.brahmos.com/newscenter.php?newsid=166

India successfully launches BRAHMOS missile from underwater
(March 20, 2013)

VISAKHAPATNAM: The submarine-launched version of BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile was successfully test-fired at 1410 hrs on Wednesday (20th March 2013) from a submerged platform in Bay of Bengal off the coast of Visakhapatnam.

Creating history, the missile took off vertically from the submerged platform for its full range of 290 kms. Following a pre-defined trajectory, the missile emerged from underwater, took a turn towards the designated target meeting all mission objectives. All the telemetry and tracking stations, including Indian naval ships positioned throughout the flight path, confirmed the pin-point accuracy of the mission.

This is the first time that any supersonic cruise missile is launched vertically from a submerged platform. BRAHMOS vertically installed in a modular launcher in the pressure hull of the submarine will increase the ‘offensive power’ of the vessel without compromising on its ‘defensive power’ as the torpedo tubes can be fully utilised for defence. This new variant of the supersonic cruise missile will add more firepower to the Navy’s underwater weapon delivery capabilities.

When contacted by Journalists, Dr. A Sivathanu Pillai, CEO & MD, BrahMos Aerospace said that “BRAHMOS missile is fully ready for fitment in P75 (I) of Indian Navy in vertical launch configuration which will make the platform one of the most powerful weapon platform in the World.”

Defence Minister Shri AK Antony congratulated the scientists of DRDO, Russian specialists and members from Indian Navy associated with the project for successful test launch of BRAHMOS missile from underwater platform.

The naval variant of BRAHMOS missile has already proved its mettle in both vertical and inclined launch configurations from moving warships. The missile has been successfully inducted in number of frontline Indian Navy warships and will be deployed in other future surface ships. They are capable of both maritime strike and land attack.

pics
http://livefist.blogspot.in/2013/03/first-photos-brahmos-underwater-variant.html

P-75(I) is being mentioned as the future carrier of the system in India and it might mean the the 8-cell Amur-1650 is going to appear in the next half of this decade or maybe earlier.

The launch platform of the test is also interesting.
Wildest guess would be the Kilo/Pr.887 that was in the dock for repair for the last one decade actually being the test bed or any other submarine.
And if it isn’t, the launch platform used during this test being the actual module that is planned for the Amur-1650. So this test could have been for validating the missile and the VL launch module.

Actually the Chinook is a tight fit in the AN-124 with the rotorhead and mast assemblies removed:

C-17 is carrying Chinook with those rotors removed as well and might be having a tighter fit than in An-124.

As for “do India need to transport Chinook globally”? yes they do. India participates in global exercises and United Nations deployments regularly. C17 supported by A330 MRTT can do that for them.

Chinook is not likely to get deployed to UN and most likely they will prefer a cheaper option like Mi-17.

Also as I pointed out the Mi-26 has to be overhauled in Russia and to fly there under its own steam with all the associated costs, time taken and risks flying a helicopter a long way. Indian Chinooks in need of an overhaul in America can be rolled onto their C17 and flown over in hours!

So what is your next excuse?

btw, it looks like a commercially operated Mi-26 is cheaper than a commercially operated Chinook. Maybe that is the reason why commercial operator in Europe prefer Mi-17, Mi-26 and Super Puma for their business.

http://www.almc.army.mil/ALOG/issues/JulAug00/MS580.htm

The initial deployment plan was to fly the two Mi-26’s from Krasnadar, Russia, and Bratislava, Slovakia, to a seaport, where they would be transported by ship to Dili, the capital of East Timor. Until the Mi-26’s arrived, the plan called for using commercially owned CH-47 Chinook helicopters to provide the lift required by INTERFET. However, the cost of the CH-47 option proved prohibitive, so the decision was made to fly the Mi-26’s all the way to Dili—a distance of over 11,000 miles. The aircraft would fly from Krasnadar and Bratislava, link up in Cairo, Egypt (approximately 1,400 miles from their origins), and then transit another 9,500 miles across Saudi Arabia, Oman, India, Thailand, and Indonesia before finally arriving in East Timor.

———————

Mi-26 cargo hold.

Mi-6

Going on this report the recent Indian purchase of CH-47 Chinook will lead to the retirement of the Mi-26.

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20121105/DEFREG03/311050011/Boeing-Chinook-Wins-Indian-Helicopter-Competition?odyssey=mod_sectionstories

I always assumed the Mi-26 would be retained as it fits a different niche. Strategic heavy lift rather then the tactical heavy lift the Chinook performs. Im aware the Mi-26 is a maintenance hog so I can understand why India would want the Chinook which has proven itself as a reliable platform over the years. Of course the Chinook will have a secondary advantage in that it is far more deployable on a global scale as it fits in the new C17 they are buying.

Mi-26 should belong to the special segment of super heavy lift. It is in C-130J & MTA class, but with hovering capability. So operating it comes with its own “premium” bills. We should be comparing its operating cost with the likes of C130J.

The proper thing for Russia to offer was Mi-46, which does not exist asof now. The truth is there is no product from the Russian side to compete directly in that category.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_44d3OT-xI3U/SYOAVjwJZbI/AAAAAAAAAnA/DPvaNpBsEvo/s1600-h/Mi-46+Brochure_Page_2.jpg

So is the Mi-26 heading for retirement with India or has the report got it wrong?

I don’t think it is going to retire quick due to its specialized role. It would even be required if a Chinook crash land. Chinook is specified with a useful payload of 10,886Kg (Boeing site) to 12,700Kg payload in other sources. So any load above these figures does require something very heavy.

I personally have the opinion that it should be transferred to commercial/civilian operators like Pawan Hans (https://www.pawanhans.co.in/site/home.aspx) if IAF does not want it, so that itz better utilized. This will make sure there is a super heavy lifting capacity inside the country and military can use its capability on contract, like how NATO is making use of An-124 for cargo transport.
Due to the military being the owner, use of Mi-26 in civilian purpose is limited and due to usual time consuming affair for processing a request (going through various departments), those in need of its utility might also be shying to forward a request for its use in civilian infrastructure purpose in remote areas.

Its duty have ranged from lifting crashed helo and aircrafts. It has been lifting heavy equipments and during the construction of railway lines few years back in Kashmir, north of India, it was used. There are more such duties in the North East sector for infrastructure projects, but probably it is not used as IAF doesn’t want to spend its service life with civilian duties.

Oh and Chinook loaded into C17… try that with a IL476 😎 I await JSR excuse with baited breath!

what we see below is also true. What an inefficient way to transport two light weight personnel carrier. Mi-26 might be able to transport these inside its cargo hold. Talk about lack of space inside Chinook 😀

Project 22160
http://bastion-karpenko.narod.ru/VVT/22160.html

The model displayed at EuroNaval 2012 is completely different like the above model and it even seems having some sort of VLS in the front.

The Igor Beloysov was launched, a project 21300 rescue vessel of 5000 tons.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com.

Really good news & sight. Hope they complete all the ships without anymore delay and dispatch it to all fleets.

For you… a Russian navy cat back on duty (if I read i correct)… 🙂

http://kuleshovoleg.livejournal.com/107771.html