RayRI would take the 8 figure with a pinch of salt for now.
Errmm..why?Whats the maximum no. it can carry:confused:
RayROne thing I will say is that for a carrier 8 aircraft is kinda very bad.16-20 aircraft isnt very good either but still is much better than 8.With 8 i wouldnt even be able to maintain a 24 hr CAP.
RayRBy stating that the more expensive Western aircraft like the Mirage, is better, while the cheaper MiG-27 is not as good.. is an admission that it is better.
Why are you at all comparing Mig-27 with Mirage?The Mig is a strike and CAS aircraft whereas Mirage is multirole and almost a generation ahead.
RayRwhat with the imaginary PAK_FA plane that for the last god knows how many years has been just a year away from flying, its painfully obvious to all but the most unblinkered eyes that there is no aircraft, just a paper plane.
Oh really?So you think the Indian gov . is just donating all the billions of money to Sukhoi corp for an imaginary product?
btw..F117 first flight 1981..first revealed 1988.
Please do consider before firing off wayward statements right and left nonstop!
RayREdit: hey Gerry why not head over to the middle east and try out your AK skills on coalition troops, see who the better shooters really are…:diablo:
The AK is a very good weapon.Soldiers here love it particularly the COIN troops and the paras and other special ops and they also use various other types from all over the world.
RayR24 F-15s scrambled with AWAcs is excellent operational readiness.
Meanwhile today:A new phase in the arms race is unfolding’ says Putin
“It’s clear that a new arms race is unfolding in the world,” said Mr Putin, one that Russia did not start. And he vowed that Russia would respond to the threats by developing newer and more modern weapons that were as good as if not better than those possessed by Western countries. “We are being forced into retaliating … Russia has and always will have the answers to these challenges,” he said.
RayRThe rules of engagement aside, non will be surprised from the result of that DACT. A variant optimised for the strike role was pitted against a dedicated point-defence fighter, where that does has it main advantages against strikers.
The PAF does use their Mirages in a similar strike role and that does give away the main intention of the DACT held. The main lesson for the M2ks is fast in and fast out, when running into something like F-16s or how to avaide, when trapped.
PAF Mirages are mirage III/V whereas IAF mirage is M2000.M2K is multirole ,not optimised for strike alone.In IAF M2Ks are also used for BVR role , the major advantage of the Mig-29s is that they can employ the RVV whereas M2K can only fire sarh Super 530D.
During Kargil LGB armed M2Ks had M2K escorts itself armed with super 530D.Where as Mig-29s were performing high altitude CAP.
RayRThe Soviet/Russian gear never ever lived up to expectations/hopes of its users.
Lol!There cannot be any other more faulty and generalized statement than this.I can give hundreds of examples from India itself.
RayRIAF: Prefers Mirage 2000, offered high serviceability rates and even though it was not equipped to do the job, was valuable in high altitude ground attack than the dedicated attack aircraft, the MiG-23ML. Their MiG-27 may have been better initially than the Jaguar, but the Indians found the Jaguar to have more potential in capabilities and upgrades than the MiG-27.. not as maintenance costly ..both the Mirage and Jaguar.
In IAF Mig29s score over M2ks in DACT 9 times out of 10.M2K was the apple of the eye for IAF pilots that is before the coming of the MKI.
As far as servicability goes no other aircraft be it eastern or western has figures better than the M2K in the IAF.MKI servicability has set good standards after initial hiccups its said.Must be due to inbuilt health usage monitoring systems.Bison servicability is also much better compared to earlier.
RayRUS$ 1.5 Billion Upgrades For 30 Indian Air Force Military Bases
Dated 7/2/2008
Printer Friendly Subscribe
India, which is planning a $1.5 billion upgrade for its 30 military airports and their air traffic control systems, issued a request for bids in January, a senior Indian Defence Ministry official said.
The Air Force is also buying air defense gear, a senior service official said. He gave no details about the equipment sought but said the Air Force likely will spend more than $1 billion on it.
Invited to bid on the project’s first phase were France’s Thales, the U.S.’s Lockheed Martin, Germany’s Siemens, Italy’s Celex, Britain’s Terma, and India’s Tata Power and Mumbai-based NELCO. That phase will include the supply, installation, testing and integration of equipment subsystems.
The effort is part of India’s plan to increase troops’ mobility in conformity with the latest military doctrine, which stipulates that future wars will be fast, lethal and shorter.
Last month, the Indian government approved the purchase of six U.S. C-130J airlifters to speedily move troops.
The airfields include Adampur, AFA, Agra, Ambala, Bagdogra, Bareilly, Bhatinda, Bhuj, Bidar, Chabua, Chandigarh, Gorakhpur, Gwalior, Halwara, Hasimara, Hindon, Jaisalmer, Jamnagar, Jodhpur, Jorhat, KKD, Nal, Naliya, Pathankot, Pune, Sirsa, Suratgarh, Tezpur, Uttarlai and Yelahanka.
Bidders must include offsets worth 30 percent of their bid, and must agree to complete the work within 3½ years of contract signature. One airfield will become a model airbase and test bed, the official said. Each airfield must receive new lighting, automated air traffic control management system, instrument landing system, distance measuring equipment and a Doppler very-high-frequency omni-range navigation system that works up to 15,000 feet. The winning bidder must also supply six mobile airfield lighting systems to fill in when airfield lights fail, one mobile air traffic control system, and facilities to train people to run and fix the systems.
The automated air traffic control system must operate around the clock, 365 days a year, with lights that have a minimum life of 15 years and operate from zero to 50 degrees Celsius. All equipment should be able to operate on AC power from 160 volts to 260 volts.
RayRInitial price of Gorshkov was `unreasonable`, says Russia
New Delhi, Feb 07: Ahead of the negotiations to revise the Gorshkov aircraft carrier agreement, Russia on Thursday said the initial price of 1.5 billion dollars worked out for the deal was “unrealistic” and needed revision.
But Russia is willing to “compensate” for the cost of Gorshkov if it gets more military orders, which Moscow insists is not linked to 126 fighter planes that India is planning to buy but other defence purchases.
Moscow feels that the agreement for supply of the 45,000 tonne warship was signed at a time when the Russian ship-building company was in bad shape and India “used” the situation to sign the contract at lower price.
The ship-building company was facing closure and was ready to sign any kind of contract when the contract was signed.
“The price was unrealistic,” a Russian official said, adding “it became clear that the price was not adequate once the refitting process (on the warship) started.”
The 1.5 billion dollar contract was signed in 2004 and the warship was to be delivered by august this year. Russia, however, stunned India in November last by demanding an additional USD 1.2 billion for refitting and other works.
After initial refusal to re-negotiate the price, India agreed to hold discussions on the cost.
Defence Secretary Vijay Singh will lead a high-level delegation to Russia on February 19 to carry out physical verification of additional refit work needed to be done on the carrier to justify additional costs as claimed by Moscow.
The Russian side had conveyed that “extensive” refit work would be necessary on the warship which will now have to undergo sea trials for a year in Russian waters under their experts.
Sea trials would cost crores of rupees to be borne by India. It would take three to four years for the carrier to be delivered after a nod is given for new refits.
“During the winter conditions, it is difficult to hold trials in arctic area which is another reason for delay,” the Russian official said.
The Russian demand was earlier opposed by the Naval Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, who publicly said that there should be no revision in the contract.
“We have not given up the obligation but are only reassessing the cost,” the Russian official said.
India has asked for MIG-29 fighters along with Gorshkov, although it traditionally has Sukhois.
The demand for MIG-29 was because India planned to produce smaller aircraft carriers on which these fighters could land.
RayRit is also pretty well documented that for insertion and extraction of troops the Apaches and other modern helicopters are outshone by older generation aircraft namely the Mi-35.
Mi-25/35 arent used now for insertion/extraction of troops.They are just for dedicated attack.I mean it can be used but not together with a combat profile.Earlier Hinds operated with a group of soldiers but the extra weight proved disadvantageous.Also since the Mi-35s have to land for insertion/extraction there is nobody giving fire support at that time.So it was stopped and instead just carried a flight engineer cum machine gunner in the rear compartment.Now the normal tactic is to operate them along with Mi-8s for troop insertion/extraction with Mi-35 giving fire support.
RayRI think its time already to lock up this thread.No use debating when viewpoints cannot be atleast considered due of bias of mind , only viewpoints stated which has been hashed and rehashed plenty of times now.No use dragging the baggage,its better to start afresh.
RayRIAF to induct new attack and heavy lift helicopters: Air Chief
NEW DELHI, FEB 6 (PTI)
The Indian Air Force is going into a high drive to revamp its entire fleet of helicopters by planning to induct two more squadrons of attack gunships, capable of operating in high altitudes, and six heavy lift choppers.
“The IAF plans to acquire two more squadrons of attack helicopters and a squadron of heavy lift choppers,” Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal F H Major told reporters here on the sidelines of a conference.
The move is part of IAF’s modernisation drive to augment both its fighter as well as chopper arm.
The new purchase would give the force capability to operate helicopter gunships in both day and night as also in high altitude areas like Siachen, Jammu and Kashmir and North-East. It would give an option to armed forces as it can be deployed in fighting militants in insurgency-prone areas.
IAF presently has Russian supplied MI-24 and MI-35 and suffers from flight ceiling problem as these helicopters cannot operate beyond 9,000 feet and can be deployed only during the day time.
The US aviation giant Boeing’s world best seller AH-64A Apache helicopters, Russian Kamov and MI series and European consortium EADS would be bidding for the IAF’s order, which could run up to more than a billion US dollars.
Along with attack and heavy lift helicopters, Major said a global tender would be floated jointly with the army within three months to acquire 317 multi-role light helicopters.(:rolleyes: )
If the Navy also joins in the joint Request For Proposals (RFP), which according to the Air Chief, would be out by May, the Indian purchase order could go up to 367 helicopters.
Of the 367 helicopters, Army’s share would be 197, IAF would get 120 and the Navy 50 to 60. The new helicopters will replace the entire fleet of Cheetah and Chetak helicopters in the armed forces.
Naval Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, who was also present at the seminar, said though his force had not yet finalised plans on replacing the Chetak fleet, but is contemplating to push in for its requirement at a later stage.
Major said Request for Information for heavy lift utility helicopters had already been circulated to vendors.
For this contract, the bidders could include Boeing’s CH-47 Chinhooks, Sikorsky and Russian MI’s. IAF already operates a fleet of Russian MI-26 helicopters in this range.
Major said IAF was in the process of finalising procedure for implementing an extended contract given to the Russian to acquire 80 upgrade MI-17IV helicopters.
RayRI’m not talking about SPO-15, which by the way does have a mode if the threat is close to you.
And what “mode” were you referring to eh?:rolleyes:
Sign In
