Why not in the same family? what would qualify them for another family?

even people who have very low opinion about your knowledge level can get surprised by your ignorance. add the audacity to still pass comments on such topics, the spectacle becomes one of awe inspiring stupidity.

Are they really still just dropping dumb bombs?

if yes, what’s the problem with that. the CCIP based dumb bomb deliveries are quite accurate.

or do you propose IAF just dump it’s massive stock of dumb bombs into the Indian ocean ? or convert them all to smart bombs with kits at exorbitant cost ?

It seems India is dropping the Kaveri for the LCA!??

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120617/DEFREG03/306170005/India-Scraps-Domestic-Jet-Engine-Plan?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

meh, just how many times would “respected” international defense mags print this 4 year old story as something new ? :rolleyes: go back 2 pages and you will see the same news from some other rag.

They don’t seem to be designed for lift as much as the Mi-24s wings – just take a look at the shortened versions, they show the shape of the aerofoil:
http://en.valka.cz/attachments/5461/MiL-Mi35M2.jpg

the LCH test pilot on BR confirmed that it is built to generate just enough lift to support itself.
I don’t think the mi-24 would be any different, otherwise the shearing stress at the joins would be too much to handle and might lead to material failure.

Also talk about large transparency area.

only for the test objects.

EDIT: So is India buying both LCH and armed Dhruv?

yes. army in particular is very enthused with the WSI dhruv.

this is old bad news being repackaged as new bad news, of course that’s what you would expect in general from international media reporting on Indian defence projects. make the good look bad and the bad worse.

kaveri on LCA is meant as a test bed and not anything more, kaveri in it’s ver 2 avatar is expected to power AMCA and the timelines do not allow for it to power the LCA. this is known since last 2 years if not more.

ok. 😀
But you missed the point.
regarding the engine replacement…it is not that easy. A locomotive engine cannot be lifted from one track to another just like that. If there is no spare engine along with the unit on the same track, then it is going to take a lot more time.

is that how you think rail engines are swapped ?? 😮

every 50 km or so there are service lines where this swapping can take place without hampering main traffic. IR has a LOT of engines for emergencies like this. I don’t think I missed the point. 😉

But lets not talk of engine failure (locomotive or truck), it hardly happens in normal time .

congrats, you have admitted that road TEL does not offer any advantage over rail TEL. since, if you care to remember, this was your only point about the advantage of road based TEL.

so are you claiming that you have seen the rail-mobile units?

you can hardly expect me to answer that isn’t it ?
let’s just say it is nothing like what you described.

I kinda like the An-32 – a very straightforward Soviet workhorse. I get the impression that the Indian AF likes it too.

except the vibrations.

Are you saying that India do not need a road mobile TEL?

even Russia have almost closed the chapter with rail based TEL and India’s “inspiration” and idea for such a thing most likely came from the Russian experience. But it is not the best way. Road mobile TEL is the way to move forward as it can go much more places than what a rail carriage can go.

But in the current situation (with no canisters like Topol-M), the rail carriage would be a better idea as the carriage will give protection to the missile from environment and other factors that could affect its operational life and performance.

But TEL has to be the way forward as it gives good maneuvering space compared to the railway lines.

India’s rail mobile missiles may have been inspired by russia’s but the situation is quite different. India has a far denser rail network than russia and provides significant advantages in terms of camouflaging the missiles. more so than a road mobile missile.

agni-5 is meant to be a road mobile canisterised version so you will get your wish as well.