Granted Pakistan’s resources are limited, but still — eight (probably used) F-16s isn’t much of a gesture. It would seem to speak more to the limitations of the relationship than its possibilities.

Canada is ending airstrikes in Iraq/Syria. Outstanding!

Unfortunately — unfortunate because it rewards bad behaviour — F-35 is likely the most sensible path forward for Canada at this juncture. And that’s all that counts for LM & USGOV. You don’t have to fool all the people all of the time — just the right people for long enough.

what is the cost of the j-10b?

A lot less than the $120m (2009 USD) unit cost of F-2.

Birds still make our best efforts look like the work of a clumsy toddler.

How embarrassing, and with implications for future export prospects not only of Dhruv, but other Indian aerospace products too.

It would be good to have a more detailed account of the reasons for cancellation of the contract, i.e. the crashes themselves (only two attributed to mechanical failure?) and/or failings in the broader support relationship.

Paul, I am sorry for your loss. From what you have written it sounds like her life was full of joy and love until the end, and I think that’s all we can reasonably hope and ask for. I lost my dog a couple of weeks ago — my best friend of thirteen years — and his decline was, thankfully, similarly rapid. I’m much younger than you are, and this is the first time death has struck so close to home. In the days and weeks since, I’ve noticed I have become more attentive to the people around me, and I believe this is final lesson for me — to cherish those close to us, all the little moments, because we never know when they will be no more.

Here is Punky confused at being told to stay on the grass because his owner wants to take a photo!

Having discovered a packet of chips while out walking:

Just a few hours before the end:

Sorry again for your loss, Paul, my thoughts go with you and your wife.

Failure to approve additional C-17s sounds like an MoD issue to me, rather than an IAF one. Besides, they’ve got $10bn+ of C-130Js, C-17s, AH-64Es, & Chinooks on order. Wouldn’t be all too surprised if the F-35A is next US product on that list.

Unfortunately for Lockheed Martin, Indian incompetence tends to stop short of money actually changing hands. But so long as debacles like the expiry of the C-17 options continue to occur, LM shareholders can live in hope.

BTW how come the PAK FA doesn’t qualify as a ‘shiny bauble’?

Who said it didn’t? It is eminently clear that India failed to assign the necessary resources and political energies required to invest in the FGFA program as was ostensibly planned. The MMRCA debacle sucked all the air out of the room for most of a decade, with little to show for it. Now that the word has come down that additional Rafales will not be entertained, everyone is (a) running around like headless chickens squawking about every remote possibility and (b) being forced against their will to sensible and practical decisions like committing to Tejas.

Not quite sure how one makes the leap from “US offers” to “India accepts” …

I cannot imagine a scenario where a Gen 5 tactical jet would need a two-man crew, unless the computing systems were a woefully deficient throwback to 1970s technology.

There are no two-seat PAK FAs. At one point India proposed to develop (and induct) a two-seat version as part of its FGFA program. Those plans were abandoned some time ago.