mmm, I am not sure of that. it was to have limited internal carriage if memory serves right. but then very little about it is known. I guess they decided the risk of depending completely on undeveloped TVC was too much and went for the conventional design.
btw, any particular advantage to the X-32 type of design ?

That was the original plan anyway and also the chief called Tejas a MIG 21++. May be he’s a bit mellowed now as he is nearing retirement.

The increase in Tejas numbers is logical because they selected a twin engined fighter for the MRCA.

😉

that was never the ‘original plan’ quad, I am pretty sure Air HQ does not share its plans with you. please do not pass off your opinion as fact (yet again).
the increase in tejas numbers is logical because that’s how IAF operates, I have been saying this from day 1.

May be he’s a bit mellowed now as he is nearing retirement.

mellowed down in what respect, he has always been a go-getter and if anything he is pushing things at a more furious pace now that he nearing retirement. his stance on the LCA has remained mostly unchanged if youcare to think about it. at IOC the air-intercept radar and A2A missiles were not certified but it was already a damn good CAS platform, nothing wrong with calling it mig21++ based on performance at that moment.
where he went wrong was he failed to account for DDM and people with limited understanding of the technicalities who would misread that comment and start bashing the tejas, which is not what he wanted.

his subsequent comments clearly shows his actual stand :

The LCA, in its present form, is a fourth generation aircraft and we are working with HAL to enhance its capabilities. I am hopeful that the aircraft, in its final operational clearance configuration, will be a much more potent platform, to be a ‘fourth generation plus’

There is also the concern over (for example India’s) problems with spare parts. I accept that ‘Russian jets costs lots to maintain‘ has become internet accepted wisdom and that’s not always the same as fact but India’s woes must give the Argentinian’s pause for thought if nowt else.

there’s a problem with generalizing ‘russian this, russian that’. IAF has generally been quite happy with sukhoi’s support. mig OTOH was horrendous in the 90’s and not that much better even now. ilyushin is another one that does not seem to have managed too well in the post USSR world.

JF-17’s for everyone! the one and only solution for every air force!

que for peddling the tejas ? :diablo:

I don´t understand your point here. USSR DID supply them cheaply, Russia adjust upward prices on Cold War debt. That doesn´t change the fact that USSR was a cheap supplier, in fact unreasonably cheap, as reflected by the fact that nobody offers such deals anymore… :confused:

yes it does. if you sell something cheaply and then raise the price after it has been sold, it doesn’t stay cheap does it ? was it cheaper than western arms, sure it was but the price readjustment meant that it was in effect sold at market prices.
IOW, at the end it was not a favour as some would like to believe.

So what? :confused:

so this, just like russia sometimes helped India, India also helped russia. the point being, India is not indebted to russia, not any more. twinblade’s argument was that we still owed russia for whatever help we received during the cold war.

Are you speaking of your own opinion? It actually doesn´t seem like that to me.

yes, it’s my opinion. just like you are expressing your opinion here. 😎

I wouldn´t say there are no problems between Russia and India, but that doesn´t mean that either side wants to destroy their relationship.
There are more direct ways to accomplish that if that was the intent.
(compare to US´ cutting off of spares and export licences to Venezuela)

canceling a joint exercise planned months if not years in advance AFTER the fleet reaches your ports citing lack of preparation and then sending them on a separate exercise seems designed to do just that. even russian analysts have commented on the stupidity of the move.

you mean they are not as good backstabbers as the americans ? :p

Elta EL/M-2084 MMR

really einstein ? 😀 I wonder why are they calling it arudhra when it is (as you claim) the EL/M-2084 ? :rolleyes:

this looks same as the arudhra to you ?

rayrubik, it’s our old BSmaster prasun sengupta saying it’s israeli, we know what his credibility is. arudhra is a separate program from the radars ordered from israel.

yeah lol, you are talking about the gripen right ? the fighter that was inducted into the air force and declared a stunning success even before it achieved IOC ?