Indian Delegation to Visit Russia for Leasing Yasen Class Submarine

Lease an 885? Yeah, sure, just take one of the spares lying around… :rolleyes:

Who does India think they are kidding? Or is the Russian defence budget really so pressed that they are going to divert Yasen production to IN?

Two firings from two separate vessels? That is pretty embarrassing.

Right in front of Widodo too!

A requirement for 6th generation is a substantial increase in combat radius and loiter time. If the solution is manned, it will likely require a 2-man crew because humans don’t manage task saturation well after a couple hours in the hot seat.

Larger aircraft (such as those predictably associated with “a substantial increase in combat radius and loiter time”) also pay a lesser penalty for carrying a second seat than smaller aircraft.

Cool to see China’s ongoing progress with this bird, taking the Flanker design to new places. Undoubtedly it will be a valuable asset for Chinese carrier aviation for a long time to come, even after 5G platforms enter the picture. If they are using WS-10 engines that suggests they have resolved the spool-up time deficiency that necessitated AL-31F on J-15.

The F-35 has internal bays, which would make for a better ride than being strapped to a pylon.

F-106 for the fastest internally-stored grocery trips around.

As I’ve no need for a fighter aircraft in my commute, I’ll stick with my Honda Accord… Better gas mileage.

As the question makes no sense in the absence of timelines, mission requirements, budgets and national-strategic considerations, this is as good an answer as any.

Still, I wouldn’t mind an F-35 — would sell for a fair bit I expect. Can I request a “B” model?

PGMs were always about increased lethality and mission effectiveness at reduced cost. Any of the various notions to the contrary are just silly.

If different Flankers variant are made up of 550, which i have my doubts about.. with the Su-27SK being mothballed for several years in PLAAF now.
What is those other 550 jets made of?
J-10’s?
That is even more doubtfull.
Deino is more than welcome to name the various Air regimts that make of of 4+Gent type of jets.. assuming modern even means a 4+gen fighter within PLAAF.
I’ve heard for the last 10 years now the even higher estimates of PLAAF inventory.

“Modern” is my own classification and includes all Flanker types, J-10s, JH-7s and H-6Ks. The RAND report is here. The following table is located on page 76:

I make no claim regarding the accuracy of the figures or reliability of the source and would welcome input from dedicated China watchers such as Deino.

Agreed. Its a no-brainer that China IN TIME will get its new toys for PLAAF, and in numbers.
Be that as it is,i’m not particular impressed by PLAAF anu 2016.

Undoubtedly the PLAAF (and China more broadly) still has a long way to go, but we should not underestimate how far they have already come over the past two decades. A recent RAND report estimates that in 2017 China will have 1100 modern combat aircraft, including 550 Flankers of various types, with numbers increasing by 50+ aircraft per year. Of course airframes aren’t everything, but I expect that comparisons of e.g. PGM stocks would be even less favourable to Russia and India.