Bharat Rakshak

vivek_ahuja

I understood what you meant. Still don't think that comparison is warranted especially if the only real complaint is that the R-77's aren't good enough. That issue is easily remedied. Not sure why you think a new radar is necessary since it just received a new radar in the upgrade. "Easily rem...

vivek_ahuja

... The sanction for the project is expected in two months and the first trials of the missile could begin in early 2023. ... The worry is the time being taken for this. I appreciate the details you listed here. It fills out the story, but I don't see how what you are proposing is any different (or...

vivek_ahuja

ramana wrote:Sources allows any disinfo/lies to be peddled.

Assuming any sources existed at all and the "Journalist" wasn't just smoking the latest weed while making up the story.

vivek_ahuja

But the unsinkable carrier is also an immovable carrier. And an extremely vulnerable one! This is the key point. For all our hopes and dream for A&N, their inability to move means that every target of significance on these bases can be literally dialed in to the meter by the enemy well in advan...

vivek_ahuja

Can you specify how the R-77 is a "proven dud"? Were the early model AMRAAMs dud's too? Because they were behind the later model AMRAAMs or at best had parity with the R-77? The concern is that the AMRAAM is built on the experience gained from the combat experience of the early generation...

vivek_ahuja

They are receiving Astra and likely, w/this new deal - the R-77-1. The MiG-29 UPG already has Indian made EW to complement its Russian radar. Is the Astra confirmed for the upgraded Mig-29s? Are all Mig-29s now upgraded to the same standard? The R-77-1 remains a mystery for me. Supposedly it has re...

vivek_ahuja

Last year's order for R-77's was apparently for the improved R-77-1. I'm not sure if they are only meant for the MKI's or they will be used on the Mig-29 as well. There is no reason why they can't. The Mig-29 upgrade included a new Radar (Zhuk-M2E I believe) as well as new series-3 engines which ar...

vivek_ahuja

Surprising how SDRE the Indian Arihant is compared to the Fat-assed Russian sitting next to it. 6000 Tons vs. 12000 Tons. Same length but half the beam with a smaller lower power reactor. Somehow the mental image is to expect the boomers being larger than the attack subs. The Arihant truly is a bab...

vivek_ahuja

sohamn wrote:If IN doesn't want our boomers to be clicked then they will hide it inside a secure pen and not moor it in the open.

Does the IN have such covered facilities for its subs?

vivek_ahuja

The Tejas Mk2 can be ready far before that and there is very much an operational need for it in the Air Force. All the squadrons of Jaguars, Mirage-2000's and Mig-29's will have to be replaced by something before the Su-30's start being replaced. A single aircraft that can replace all three is the ...

vivek_ahuja

LCH LSP is already in production and it could be one of the reason for no urgency being shown to sign the contract as IAF will be getting them once complete even if they sign the contract today or tomorrow and a larger contract will also come after that The present deployment is clear indication th...

vivek_ahuja

The most ludicrous purchase is IA buying "6" apaches!! 6! It could have easily paid for the 15 unfinished LCHs and still had some change left over. And that would have been an entire squadron of LCHs with money left over for weapons, maintenance and attrition reserves. What attrition rese...

vivek_ahuja

BTW, I should remind everyone that while the 83 LCAs await orders, the IAF is still flying Mig-21 Bisons against top-of-the-line F-16s+AMRAAMs.

The clock continues to tick...

vivek_ahuja

I do think more Rafales will be ordered before we get the 83 LCAs. I doubt even the IAF will be brash enough to propose yet another imported fighter type from the global market in the midst of all this.

vivek_ahuja

Surprising how SDRE the Indian Arihant is compared to the Fat-assed Russian sitting next to it.

vivek_ahuja

The extra cost will be negligible,but for the additional fixed wing aircraft.around 50+ NLCAs and some extra 29Ks won't break the bank,would cost not more than $2.5/3B. Have you seen the fiasco in the LCA thread for ordering 83 LCAs that are already in production? Or the 15 LCHs that we have been h...

vivek_ahuja

I am not sure we have the budgetary resources or time (given how the IAF is slowly filling up on Rafales) to take a staged "stepping-stone" approach to the AMCA over 15 years. Either make the Tejas Mk2 for its own sake and deploy in numbers, or make way for the AMCA and speed the latter up...

vivek_ahuja

Yet IAF is buying 21 Mig-29s and holding off the 83 Mk1A order to assure that they will be further delayed - perhaps then ask to get 83 MK2 instead. Are we sure the 21 Mig-29s is not a desperate buy in the face of dwindling fleet numbers? Would the IAF buy more Mig-29s given a choice of other curre...

vivek_ahuja

Fact remains that when the IAF needs to gets its hands dirty, it relies on western aircraft and A2G weapons in its inventory. The Mirage-2000s, the Netra and the western standoff weapons. Why else the over-the-top drama for the arrival of the handful of Rafales? I expect the LCA to be a much more po...

vivek_ahuja

IMHO the IAF will use the Mig-29 for what it does best - air superiority. Its not like we have a surfeit of A2A fighters at the moment with the squadron numbers hovering around 30. With the new radar and avionics, missiles, additional fuel, D-29 jammer and the Mig-29's unmatched kinematic performan...

vivek_ahuja

So at best IN will have one carrier at sea and one in the shop - fantasies of behaving like the USN notwithstanding. Indeed. I just want the Vikrant to actually be commissioned at this point and fly Mig-29k off its decks and not go the way of the classic GoI "Technology Demonstrator" prog...

vivek_ahuja

So much discussion here on the Su-30 getting new radars, avionics and other optics. Is that really the pain point for the Su-30 as a weapon-system? Isn't it's legendary powerful radars enough to see the enemy? Or has the Rambha been blinded by the new gen of jammers carried by Pak F-16s? :-? The big...

vivek_ahuja

k prasad wrote:Whenever there's a 'donation' involved, there's absolutely more than meets the eye, and you can bet that theres some larger geopolitical payment being made.

France is quite overtly backing Greece against Turkey. In that context this move makes total sense.

vivek_ahuja

PS: As stated earlier,if we convert the 4 amphibs into multi-purpose light CVs,we would have at least 3 more CVs operating the NLCA preferably, along with ASW/assault helos,which could operate at various points in the IOR,etc. These vessels would cost a fraction of a large CV,affordable ,unlike a $...

vivek_ahuja

Vivek you are right. Nirbhay has not been scrapped. Its been supplanted by a new program intended to deliver a tri-service operational missile. All per public reports btw. This was like "closing the IGMDP". Yeah, but everything else continues as it should. So bureaucratic and budgetary cl...

vivek_ahuja

STAR *cruise* missile entering wind tunnel testing at NAL. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eg8wbmkVoAEyfoi?format=jpg&name=small This thing might very well be a long-range AAM. Unless it has long aspect-ratio wings ready to pop out of somewhere, I can't see a 1000+ km range from this configuration....

vivek_ahuja

Part of the problem is that while India is a capitalist country with private ownership of industry, the government behaves like that of a socialist country, handing vital defense projects to public sector units. We all know how that works out. We retain the slow-moving decision process of a democrac...

vivek_ahuja

Warhead ambiguity is an age old problem that has been studied to death in academia and military circles. At the end it comes down to intent, platforms, and targets. It is as much about the employer of such a weapon calculating its potential escalator impact as it is the defender. At the end of the ...

vivek_ahuja

1) Shaurya is not inducted. Project scrapped, or rather let to die without a whimper 2) Neither is Pragati, Pralay or Prahaar. Somewhere in the dev-trials, user-trials black hole 3) Nirbhay was scrapped as a tech-demonstrator 4) Brahmos Extended range is getting mixed news. Some reports say its bee...

vivek_ahuja

Can we say the same about the GoI? Vivek, I think the fact that PM Modi visited Ladakh on Jul 3 is proof enough of this govt's intention in righting the wrongs in this region. Didn't Nehru also go to Ladakh several times for photo-ops and pose with senior IA officers pointing to the border with the...

vivek_ahuja

Is 100 K-9 Vajra vehicles sufficient for a mobile armored force the size of the Indian Army? I seriously doubt that it is. Are there plans in place to build more once the 100 get completed (they are already well past half-way on that order already)?

vivek_ahuja

@jamwal: this is nice stuff. I will sit back with some popcorn on this thread for a change. Please keep it coming!

vivek_ahuja

The LCA is about the only bright spot in my list of Chimera/Fenix checklist items from 2014 that seems to have gone more-or-less as we thought it would (I mean, we always want more and faster, but what the hell). Compared to the LCH, Nirbhay, Vikrant, AEW and other program fiascos, this program is a...

vivek_ahuja

@Prem kumar: the weak points for the Indian side are the UAVs and Satellite coverage. The latter would be barely sufficient if ISRO sats are being roped in (which they would be, because why the hell not?). But we don't launch enough military satellites right now to provide regular and full coverage ...

vivek_ahuja

Isn't the Shaurya a semi-ballistic missile? How is that going to work in a hot war without accidentally triggering a blatant ballistic missile exchange with China? Will the Chinese (or Pak) radar detecting these launches understand that these launches are in-lieu of cruise-missiles (because we don'...

vivek_ahuja

Are we seeing a repeat of 1962 where the Indian Army deploys itself in a scattered manner on "policing actions" while the Chinese are massing behind? Part of the reason the IA was taken by surprise is because they scattered themselves into small groups trying to cover all border locations...

vivek_ahuja

Not at all. I don't have to tell you this, given your extensive research for your books - the Army knows about logistics and have been careful about spreading too thin. These heights near Spanggur can be reinforced from the Chushul side if need be, so they won't be isolated pickets. Given the free ...

vivek_ahuja

The program was scrapped and now has been resurrected under some other title iirc. Trials to begin in December.... In the meanwhile the only real lacm available is the bmos with a range extension of up to 800km. There is also the shaurya, India's event if the iskander with a range > 1500km Did they...

vivek_ahuja

Wrt long ranged strikes, a less expensive option might be leasing some supersonic long ranged bombers like the tu22. Even a small silver bullet fleet could play a tremendous the in the IOR. These will be quickly available compared to another CV. Another option is the kh32 1000km hypersonic that the...

vivek_ahuja

Given the reality and the known numbers and non-inductions of most of the things you had predicted( AWACs, LCH, missiles, CBGs etc) in your scenarios,How will a current scenario between India and China look in the present day 2020? All I will say on this is that when Chimera was being posted page-b...

Search found 2383 matches