MKI @ Waddo – Video

Video Credits : pheonix 47

IAF Sukhois win ‘Spirit of the Meet’ trophy in UK

NEW DELHI: The Sukhoi-30 MKIs of the Indian Air Force on Monday won the “Spirit of the Meet” trophy at the prestigious Royal International Air Tattoo held at Royal Air Force base Fairford in the United Kingdom.

The trophy sponsored by British Aerospace was received by Wing Commander A K Bharti, Commanding officer of the IAF’s 3Oth Squadron ‘Rhino’, and came close on the heels of the Sukhoi bagging the best static display award at Waddington Air show nearby last week.

Significantly, the air show also saw the appearance of an IAF Hawk advanced jet trainer making a silent static display. The aircraft painted in IAF colours is part of contingent undergoing final tests before their delivery to India in September.

Cross-post from BRF, originally posted by Pit.

Russia develops K-100-1 for Su-35
Reuben F Johnson JDW Correspondent
Jane’s Defence Weekly – July 11, 2007

Officials from Agat Research Institute, which is developing the seeker, confirmed that the K-100-1 is the KS-172 relabelled and that the missile has a large diameter (350 mm) Agat seeker — a variant of the 9B-1103M seeker originally developed for an active-homing version of the R-27 AAM.

“We refer to this seeker design as the ‘shayba’ [Russian for ‘hockey puck’] when we are talking about it at the design bureau because it is wide and squat in its shape compared to the rest of the 9B-1103M derivatives,” an Agat technician said.

“The lock-on range for the seeker is 40 km, but this is of course one fifth or less than the overall range of the missile,” said one designer.

Also from JDW, 8th July 2005 ( thanks to Vick for posting )

Indian Su-30K fighters display new capabilities

GEORG MADER JDW Correspondent
Vienna

·India’s deployment of Su-30K fighters for a French exercise was the first outside India

·The Indian Su-30Ks took on French Mirage 2000C and 2000-5 fighters

·French pilots were impressed by the Su-30Ks’ capabilities

India’s pilots have demonstrated the power of their Sukhoi Su-30K aircraft in an exercise that saw ‘Flankers’ flying operationally on European soil, outside Russia, for the first time since the early 1990s.

The exercise provided fresh insight into the capability of the aircraft, its weapon load and the advanced abilities of Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots.

The positive experience follows on from the 2004 ‘Cope India’ exercise with the US when the Su-30s competed successfully against F-15C aircraft.

Six Su-30K aircraft took part in ‘Garuda II’ from 15 June to 1 July alongside French Air Force Mirage 2000s, operating from the 125th Air Force Base at Istres and in skies spanning Marseilles to Corsica.

French pilots involved in ‘Garuda II’ said the exercise demonstrates that India is one of the world’s leading air forces and that their pilots are “outstanding professionals with an amazing ability to adapt and [have] good knowledge of NATO procedures”.

It is the first time that the IAF has taken part in an exercise in Europe and, in exchange for a French deployment to India in 2003 for ‘Garuda I’, the first time it has taken six Sukhoi Su-30K fighters out of India.

The Indian aircraft deployed to Istres from their home base near Delhi via Jamnagar in India’s west.

Refuelling from two Ilyushin Il-78 tanker aircraft, the aircraft flew to Egypt’s Jiyanklis air base near Alexandria and then on to Istres.

An IAF spokesperson said: “We could have gone straight with several refuellings, but we did not want to tax the pilots too hard.”

A French officer added: “The Indians have put themselves visibly into the ‘club’ of the world-leading air arms with that remarkable deployment; the Chinese for example, still cannot do that.”

The Su-30Ks and various French Mirage-2000 aircraft performed mutual air defence missions from 17-28 June, that developed in complexity as the exercise progressed.

The fighters also refuelled from the opposite nation’s tankers. This demanded complex preparations because, despite both sides using the hose-and-drogue system, French and Russian jet engines do not use the same JP-fuel.

Initially the aircraft acted as ‘blue pairs’, doing cross- refuellings and mixed patrols with Mirage 2000Cs equipped with RDI pulse Doppler radars. This was followed by one against two and two against two engagements within visual range, simulating the use of Magic-2 and R-73 (AA-11 ‘Archer’) air-to-air missiles (AAMs).

After 24 June, the arrival of Mirage 2000-5s allowed simulated beyond-visual-range (BVR) combat with the French using MICA AAMs and the Indians using R-77 (RVV-AE or AA-12) AAMs. It was previously believed that only the Su-30MKI fitted with an N011M (Bars) radar could operate the R-77.

Indian exercise leaders referred to the aircraft as Su-30Ks, not Su-30MKs, but several times used the term ‘A-12’ for what they described as “a fully active BVR weapon”.

Official results from the exercise are not yet available.

French pilots used the exercise to assess the ‘threat-benchmark’ of the Su-30. One Mirage pilot said: “In close combat the Mirage [appears] more ‘nervous’ than the Sukhoi. A decision must be achieved in the first minute or the sheer power and the agility of the Su-30 will overwhelm you.”

The latest French frontline fighter, Rafale, was reportedly sought for ‘Garuda II’ but “it has not yet been operationalised in the French Air Force and was thus not available”, a source said.

‘Garuda II’ gave India another good chance of evaluating the Mirage 2000-5 and RDY radar combination, as the IAF will inherit 12 ex-Qatari Mirage 2000-5s and has an upcoming requirement for 126 fighters, which will include that type.

Demanding conditions during the exercise were reported by the Indian side because of “unfamiliar dense airspace with constant fresh restrictions – and the French language-melody on the radio”.

Hyper, whatcha thinkin about ? 😀

Govt okays Rs10,000cr Indo-Israel missile proj

NEW DELHI: In a significant move in India’s missile capabilities and defence cooperation with Israel, the government on Thursday approved a Rs 10,000 crore joint venture { $ 2.5 billion } between the two sides to produce a sophisticated surface-to-air missile for the Indian Air Force.

This is probably the largest joint venture of its kind between India and any other country. It surpasses all previous such ventures, including the hugely successful Indo-Russian Brahmos cruise missile.

The Cabinet Committee on Security on Thursday gave the formal go ahead to the joint venture between Defence Research and Development Organisation and Israel Aerospace Industries Limited for the almost $2.5 billion project.

According to sources, the DRDO would be the ‘prime developer’ for the project which would have Rs 2,300 crore worth indigenous component.

The missile, to replace the aging Russian Pechora missiles, would be a highly sophisticated surface-to-air missile that can provide protection to a ground installation against a variety of threats, including an incoming missile.

The initial plan is to make 18 firing units that would include missiles, at least three launchers, and a command and control centre.

It would have radars for acquisition and guidance. The medium range SAM would be capable of engaging multiple targets and would be a “robust area defence system”, sources said.

Indian MoD

INDRADHANUSH-2007 DRAWS TO A CLOSE AT UK

Curtains were finally drawn on the second bilateral Indo-UK air exercise – Indradhanush 2007, which concluded on a high note here at Royal Air Force (RAF) Waddington on Thursday.

The exercise that began with a series of 1vs1 sorties, reached its crescendo with a highly complex conceivable scenario – a 6vs6 aerial combat involving 4 x Su-30 MKIs, 4 x F3 Tornadoes, 2 x Typhoons and 2 x GR9 Sea Harriers of the Royal Navy. Also airborne were an IL-78 MKI air-to-air refueller and an E3D Sentry AWACS aircraft in the vicinity of the exercise.

This was the first time that the IAF carried out an exercise anywhere in UK. It was also an exercise where the IAF Su-30 MKI’s maiden arrival over the European sky was keenly awaited by thousands of aviation aficionados and spotters, who thronged the perimeter of the airbase unfailingly on a daily basis, all through the exercise duration. This was also an opportunity that provided social and cultural interaction between the two countries.

The exercise wasn’t about winners or losers, yet both sides ended on a winning note. “It was an excellent learning curve for our pilots who will go back with a lot of experience” said the Indian Air Chief. He also thanked the Government and the RAF in England for hosting the IAF. The RAF C-in-C termed the exercise as an ‘outstanding success’.

Earlier, Station Commander RAF Leeming, Group Captain E Stringer while briefing the visiting CAS stated that the |RAF had adopted a ‘building-block’ approach to meet future IAF training and coalition aspirations. “The exercise achieved all its aims and objectives” – he further stated. Summing up on the RAF experience he said that a major outcome of the exercise was the appreciation of the fact that the two Air Forces actually “see the world through similar eyes”, and that there were many “commonalities” in the tactical procedures of the two air forces, thereby laying a foundation for further RAF-IAF interactions. [/b]

plawolf,

Short answer is 17th/18th July.

The exercise ends on 12th July. After that two Flankers and a Midas will participate in RIAT from July 16th to July 18th. Also, as per some spotter reports posted here, IL-76MD s/n K2663, IL-76MD s/n K2878 and IL-78MKI s/n RK3451 have departed to Greece quite sometime back leaving just IL-78MKI s/n RK3452 at Waddo ( among the Flankers ofcourse ) . The planes which have departed to Greece will presumably return to Waddo on 16th and finally the depart on the 17th of July. { E-o-E but I hope this gives a fair idea ! }

And while the F-15 did down a few MiG-25s, there is that one F/A-18 kill the Iraqis scored with a MiG-25. Camp Speicher is named after the Hornet pilot, which didn’t survive.

Arthur,

I was trying to read up some material on that engagement and ‘googling’ helped me come up with this link.

http://www.aiipowmia.com/pgw/speicherpart1.html

Would you happen to have another source of information regarding the engagement that night ?

Thanks.