vikasrehmanSorry, the USN doesn’t need Chinese Carriers to justify its own CBG’s. Especially, in todays very dangerous world………..(i.e. Iran, Pakistan, North Korea, etc. etc.)
That’s like saying the police don’t mind if criminal get’s off on a technicality. So, the police can justify next years budget……….:rolleyes:
Wrong analogy. There is a difference in the mindsets of a police force and that of USA’s.
vikasrehmanClearly, the US, NATO, and India. Must work with Pakistan to resolve the problems…..Otherwise, we are going to see the “terrorist” gaining control over the whole country. One that has Nuclear Weapons……I mite add!:mad:
Scooter, dont believe everything you read in newspapers.:)
vikasrehmanI think you still misunderstand it! The JV will not be at Pak Fa cause Russia had developed most of it before we joint, but at FGFA! Pak Fa will only be the base for our version and they will change the airframe for our needs after Pak Fa is ready. But besides that we can integrate and customize FGFA as we want and did at Su 30 Mki.
This brings to mind a statement regarding MCA. Maybe Abhimanyu or someone would have link, but just a few weeks back we were told that MCA would help to retain the talent pool that LCA has created, and without that it would just simply vanish. Yet if FGFA is going to be so very different from Pak-FA, couldn’t they simply retain the LCA Talent pool and make use of them for FGFA project…we all know how mighty expensive designing & developing two truly 5th gen fighters could be, and from the statements we have had so far, its obvious that both FGFA and MCA would be truly 5th gen machines.
vikasrehman“The entire fleet is not normally grounded” – the entire fleet IS normally grounded if there is an unforeseen error or issue and when it is a first for a type since its induction! The IAF will be extra cautious and go the extra mile. Every fighter type in the AF has faced such a situation one time or the other. Everything is reviewed, cleared and operations resume. With a bunch of OEM representatives around, its another opportunity (and an expensive one at that, considering the human cost and the cost to the exchequer) to review Ops procedures and not squander the same.
#3
a)
“Recurring complaints by pilots about the jet” – if there had been do you think the media would not have picked it up? That apart, everyone here who has spoken to a Su-30 MKI pilot would know they are pleased as punch with the aircraft…….
Now its stuff like this which does make sense, and tries to answer the query. Although (as I agreed before) there are ‘journos’ out there who would not hesitate to writing almost anything, its better to deal with queries (as you have done here) in a logical manner rather than simply putting it in DDM file (albeit you might have to do exactly that sometimes).:)
vikasrehmanBased on the fact that the journo who has jotted the story hardly has done enough interview or research on the IAF or the Sukhois,the AC has 12 years of 0 crash record,it flew thousands of miles with IFR to the US and UK ,earned acclaim in terms of serviceability,combat ability etc,I personally know lots of MKI jocks who regard the AC as an absolute beauty when it comes to flying it.This moron journo perhaps sat in his lousy office and made the story in minutes with his weired imagination and thought it would give him a pat in the back from the Editor.Indian press and the scribes are pathetic when it comes to defence reporting.
Begging your pardon, I dont know how the author compiled the story (IANS was the original source not TOI) and whether he/she did any research on MKI or not. But for some reason he/she did manage to mention many of the good points in this very article that you have mentioned in your above post, i.e. In a blot on its otherwise unblemished record and that The Su-30 has won universal acclaim and that it had more than held their own against the US’ F/A-18 and F-16 combat jets.. Nevertheless I do know what you mean by ‘moron journos’ in that region, but only because of the mention of one negative line, i.e. In the case of the Su-30, however, there have been “recurring complaints” by pilots about problems with the jet, it becomes DDM. Why?
On another note, we know that SU-30 has had an accident-free record for the last 12 years. Although the news story mentions 55 fighters in the fleet, the most recent estimate is close to 80 or so (based on the number of squadrons already in place). Now accidents (even with twin engined fighters) happen all over the world, so the question is why did IAF decide to ground the entire fleet and that too for almost a month (if we are to believe this news story) in spite of an unblemished record for the past so many years? Some might say that I might be reading too much into, and by all accounts I might be doing so. But plese feel free to correct me where Im wrong.
vikasrehmanYes,we call it DDM reporting.:D
Based on what? Could you please elaborate a bit more?
vikasrehmanAny comments about recurring complaints bit?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Sukhois-resume-flying-nearly-a-month-after-crash/articleshow/4576283.cms
Sukhois resume flying, nearly a month after crash
25 May 2009
NEW DELHI: The frontline Sukhoi Su-30 MKI combat jets of the Indian Air Force have resumed flying nearly a month after the entire fleet was grounded
following the crash of one of the aircraft that broke a 12-year accident-free record, an official said.
The aircraft are again being flown even as a 20-member team of Russian experts have been conducting checkups on them.
“The aircraft conducted a sortie last weekend,” a senior Indian Air Force official said, but did not elaborate.
He, however, confirmed that the Russian team summoned to inspect the fleet is carrying on with the checks, inspecting the aircrafts’ airframe and systems.
The IAF grounded its fleet of approximately 55 Russian-origin Su-30s after one of the aircraft crashed last week. Generally, an entire fleet is not grounded if an aircraft of a particular type crashes. In the case of the Su-30, however, there have been “recurring complaints” by pilots about problems with the jet.
The grounding of the Su-30 fleet has given rise to the alarming possibility of “structural faults” with the aircraft.
In a blot on its otherwise unblemished record, a Su-30 MKI crashed in Jaisalmer April 30, killing the co-pilot. The pilot, Wing Commander S.V. Munje, and the co-pilot, Wing Commander P.S. Narah, managed to bail out in time but Narah was killed after he was apparently hit by the falling debris of the aircraft.
Ironically, Narah belonged to the IAF’s Directorate General of Inspections and Safety and was putting the aircraft through its annual safety checks.
The aircraft had taken off from the Lohegaon air base in Pune on a routine sortie and crashed at 10.30 a.m. while returning to its base.
The IAF operates three squadrons of the jet, some of which were bought in a fly-away condition from its Russian manufacturer while the others were manufactured under licence by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
It was not immediately clear to which of these categories the crashed jet belonged.
The Su-30 has won universal acclaim from the air forces of the US, Britain and France whenever it has been fielded against them in war games. Eight Su-30s had participated in the prestigious Red Flag exercise with the US Air Force at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, last year and had more than held their own against the US’ F/A-18 and F-16 combat jets.
vikasrehmanhttp://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200905261628DOWJONESDJONLINE000475_FORTUNE5.htm
India Invites Bids For Combat, Heavy-Lift Helicopters-Official
May 26, 2009
NEW DELHI -(Dow Jones)- India has invited initial bids, estimated to be worth up to $2 billion, from global helicopter companies to supply its air force with 22 combat helicopters and another 15 for heavy-lift duties, a senior official said Tuesday.
“The two (separate) requests for proposals have been issued,” the senior air force official, who didn’t wish to be named, told Dow Jones Newswires late Tuesday. The official declined to elaborate or name the companies that had been invited to bid.
Attack helicopter makers such as Russia’s Kamov and Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, Italy’s AgustaWestland, a unit of Finmeccanica SpA (FNC.MI), and Textron Inc.’s (TXT) Bell Helicopter unit had earlier expressed interest in the deal.
Eurocopter, the helicopter manufacturing unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. (EADSY), too, has pitched its Tiger attack helicopter for the tender while Boeing Co. (BA) is offering its Apache AH-64D Longbow model.
Boeing’s India unit confirmed that it has been invited for both the tenders.
Officials at the other companies weren’t immediately available for comment.
“We have received both requests for proposals and our rotorcraft division is reviewing them,” Vivek Lall, who heads Indian operations at Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems division, told Dow Jones Newswires via telephone.
This is the second time India has issued a tender for the attack helicopters. The first tender – issued in May 2008 – was scrapped in March by the government.
Both Boeing and Bell helicopter had pulled out of the original tender, as the Indian Air Force wanted to buy directly from the manufacturer, but the U.S. wanted it to be a government-to-government deal, defense ministry officials had said earlier.
Boeing also is pitching its heavy-lift, twin-rotor Chinook helicopter. Analysts value the potential deal as ranging from $600 million to $1 billion.
Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (UTX), also plans to bid to sell heavy-lift helicopters, its India and South Asia managing director, A.J.S. Walia, said in February.
vikasrehmanhttp://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-05/26/content_11438829.htm
China to celebrate PLA Air Force’s founding anniversary, aeronautic centennial
BEIJING, May 26 (Xinhua) — China’s largest state-owned aircraft maker said on Tuesday that it has started to extend the China Aviation Museum for a series of celebrations to mark the nation’s rarely-known aeronautic centennial and the 60th founding anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force.
vikasrehmanIsn’t this thread titled Indian Air Forces – News & Discussion Part VI:confused:
vikasrehmanWhy not exchange the 50 odd Mirage 2000s (upgrade is expensive anyway) for Rafale F3s 🙂
And add another type to IAF? What would be the advantage?
vikasrehmanNot happening! The MRCA is a U.S. bird, period.
These other deals are sweetners to keep traditional suppliers somewhat satisfied. Expect the M2k upgrade deal + Lafayette class frigates for the French. EJ-200 for the Tejas engines.
Russians will be placated via $$s for the Pakfa, new gen weapons, more Talwars and perhaps the MRMPA (IL-38 derivatives or MTA).
The mrca otoh, is out of reach for both europeans and russia. JMT.
USS.
I compltely agree with the first and last lines of your post.:)
Regarding sweetners, it does make one wonder who would the ultimate loser be. Considering that the recepients of these sweetners can’t be the losers simply because they would be getting the sweetners, what comes to mind is;
1. Indian defence industry; well if you keep giving out sweetners to keep others happy, you are depriving your own industry of those very sweetners. No doubt that your own industry would also get some sweetners, but every sweetner that is given out means one less for Indian defence industry. I bet Abhimanyu would be happy seeing that I have written these words.:) Only thing I see working for Indian defence industry in this regard is the re-investment clause, but getting more technology in this way simply means you would always be dependent on others for even more advanced technology.
2. Indian armed forces’ future netcentric warfare planning. Although not impossible, but it would be that much difficult if you are trying to make all these different thing from so many different sources part of one massive netcentric warefare model.
vikasrehmanHindustan Times
China now bigger threat than Pak: IAF chief
Rahul Singh
May 23, 2009
Taking China’s dramatic military expansion seriously, the Indian Air Force chief has said China poses a more real and potent threat to India than Pakistan, which remains caught in a vortex of conflict and instability.
Talking to HT, Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major said India was rapidly upgrading its fighter bases in the country’s northeast to boost its military deterrence against China.
“China is a totally different ballgame compared to Pakistan,” the air chief said. “We know very little about the actual capabilities of China, their combat edge or how professional their military is…they are certainly a greater threat.”
The comments are bound to lend urgency to the new government’s China agenda and the need to understand the security implications of the rapidly modernising Chinese military.
The Chinese air force is ridding itself of obsolete platforms from the 1960s such as the J-6 and J-7 (equivalent to MiG-19s and MiG-21s). The People’s Liberation Army Air Force is pushing full steam ahead with the induction of first-rate fighter jets such as Sukhoi-30s, JF-17 Thunder light combat aircraft, J-10 strike fighters, airborne early warning aircraft and midair refuellers to expand the operating radius of its fighter jets.
“The way he (China) is growing, he definitely has the capability. But we should neither put China on a pedestal and say it will chew us up nor lose sight of the fact that they have (acquired) huge capabilities,” Major said.
vikasrehmanBut the last thing the SL govt. would do is get into a tug-o-war between 2 big powers (India-PRC). The current SL Govt. has made that clear. SL will be more like the “little kid brother” who says “please don’t fight”…to his big brothers 🙂
The current SL govt. made it very clear that it wants to get closer with Non-western nations at same time being self-sufficient in certain areas (especially economically) while being much less reliant on western nations. IMHO that is the right way do go…
That should be the way for them to go, and I do certainly hope that SL’s bigger brothers would let her be a little brother only, instead of trying to turn her into a subservient brother for their own gains.
vikasrehmanWell, what advantages do you see in the Super Hornet vs the F-16IN??
For one simple reasons, albeit only a personal opinion. Because PAF would also operate advanced F-16s, though no doubt F-16IN would be superior to any PAF F-16s. As many have pointed out in the past, F-18 is a twin engined machine, would have a better upgrade potential, and could better serve future IN’s interests (if any) vis-a-vis F-16s.
Sign In
