Bharat Rakshak

vardhank

Ok. The main question is: what's the plug-and-play ability? i.e. imagine a situation where we hit major delays with the FBL system. Is it possible to go with FBW for the first tranche and retro-fit FBL later? Or is this impossible to do? (This might be a completely pointless question - maybe we alre...

vardhank

So how is that India's problem? Or do you think that Indians owe them employment and a constant stream of revenue? Read my answer above. The Tejas isn't available in numbers because the IAF didn't order them in numbers. HAL's production capacity for the LCA is not determined by a natural law but ra...

vardhank

Ok, so it would reduce data transfer time, possibly reduce reaction times, and definitely reduce weight and complexity by requiring less wiring. Correct?

vardhank

No, it has nothing to do with others' interests. Any country that faces the loss of a premier armaments manufacturer or the loss of some 10-20,000 jobs, is likely to get desperate and give you lots of trouble, is what I'm saying. Sanctions, denial/delay of other material or technology, against-votes...

vardhank

Honestly, I don't think it's even possible to cancel the MMRCA right now - your reputation as a buyer tanks if you do something like this at such a late stage. Someone had mentioned test-driving a luxury car, and that analogy doesn't work here at all. If you as a customer decide not to buy a luxury ...

vardhank

Noob question, sorry if it's been asked before: How difficult would it be to retro-fit fly-by-light into the AMCA? If it isn't too difficult, would it make more sense to first aim for a FBW system (which we already understand) and get the bird out as early as possible? Also, even more noob: I unders...

vardhank

Honestly, the ONLY Chinese air craft I really fear is the J-30. Internet chatter claim it looks part Rafale, part PAK-FA. BTW, when is the Mk-II supposed to get FOC? Sorry, have I missed something? J-30? or did you mean J-20? Also, mods, I didn't really know where to post this bit, so please move i...

vardhank

By the way an american plane is bound for the finals and the winning.No prizes for guessing that.The whole UPA cabinet looks 'west' nowadays.No pun intended. Two cents... Do I think the F-18 or F-16 are the best planes for India? No. I'd prefer the EF or Rafale, and no, I, personally, would prefer ...

vardhank

@ Krishnan
Thanks. Good primer. Anything on CADPAT and Near-Infrared?

vardhank

Googled this digital camo pattern (the Canadian one is called CADPAT), and it appears it can defeat IR scopes, or Near-Infrared at least, which confuses the issue a little. I don't know whether that means it can defeat HEAT-sensing equipment, or whether it just defeats a visual wavelength known as N...

vardhank

^^
He might be a bit confused - I think he means it won't be visible/ easily visible through NVGs, not thermal imagers. I believe some digital camo patterns (the Canadian army uses these) are designed to be 'invisible' or at least problematic for NVGs/image intensifier-type devices.

vardhank

Even if this means there ill be some corruption, at least it will ensure that reasonably good equipment reaches the armed forces' hands without these endless debates. Really? Heard of the T-90? There HAS to be a check. Yes, in this case I believe the leak is rubbish (and I wish AKA would decide to ...

vardhank

Gurus, a couple of questions on the AMCA design: 1) It looks a lovely, perfectly optimised VLO design, with a minimum number of edges, wings and horizontal stabilisers in one line, etc. Not even the PAK-FA looks quite that smooth. Is this just a good example of learning from others' mistakes, or is ...

vardhank

Is it just me, or does Aroor's rendering not actually look very much like the model?? Why would he spend time on something like this?

vardhank

Also, the IAF appears to want ~50 PAK-FAs, so maybe they're happy with single-pilot A2A-only jets. Who knows if they'll also look at a single-seat AMCA or an actual future LCA?

vardhank

^^ To me as well, but perhaps the IAF sees the AMCA as its future LCA... the small, cheaper, 'numbers' fighter, paralleling the F-16 in today's USAF. It looks as if they basically want two multi-role fighters, one high-end, one low-end. The two pilots thing isn't unreasonable, I guess... it probably...

vardhank

@ Kartik and Indranilroy

Thanks!

vardhank

Sorry, two possibly daft things: 2) I finally saw a good side profile of the N-LCA, and the nose seems incredibly short. Would the radar fit easily in that space? which pic you are referring ? This is the pic I'm referring to, a Tarmak007 pic: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5sP7XwykNSM/TU6q86O4zpI/AAAAA...

vardhank

Sorry, two possibly daft things: 1) Maybe it's just me not being able to spot it on the Mk 2 model, but where's the droopy nose gone? I thought that made a lot of sense, especially the more F-16-like canopy. Or do they plan to have that only on the N-LCA? Wouldn't it make sense on both? 2) I finally...

vardhank

I like it.... it looks like it's meant to FLY and not just be invisible, unlike the F-35, which somehow seems to throw all aero out of the window in its quest for stealth. This draws more from the design philosophy of the PAK-FA. On that note, any indication that the AMCA might use all-moveable fins...

vardhank

with FBW FCS that is no longer a problem.

Haan kya? Awesomeness

Anybody listening out there?

vardhank

Shiv, Nice post on CAS, covers great ground. Maybe we need a Joint Air Support Group or something - trained by the IAF and using IAF bases, but bankrolled and under the command of the Army. You'd need to have choppers, attack planes and top-cover fighters training together, able to move around toget...

vardhank

Rahul M wrote:here's my fantasy fighter, based on LCA Mk1. meant for CAS and limited strike capability.

Nice, and eminently doable, I think. One problem though: AFAIK, delta wings aren't the best for low-level combat - too much wind-buffeting. Can that be compensated for with changes to the FBW system?

vardhank

Germany Offers India Joint Defence Production for Third-Party Sale :D http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/3084/yahooindianews.gif Germany Offers India Joint Defence Production for Third-Party Sale Indo Asian News Service (IANS) Mon, Dec 6 New Delhi, Dec 6 (IANS) Pitching hard to grab lucrative defen...

vardhank

Guys, Perhaps I dont understand International relations. But why do the French need to be molified. The equipment designed by then make you pay through the nose. The service life will not be enhanced for the M2k. Then why pay as much as desided by the French. WRT motlfication, I think that the Nuke...

vardhank

Excuse my ignorance... what's this QE2/QE3 thing? Also, heh, maybe if at any time Pakistan starts making threatening noises, it would be in our interests to keep the Korean peninsula boiling? With China busy on the other side, would Pak try much overt aggression? (I'm talking a very hypothetical sit...

vardhank

Russia, India 'likely' to sign 5G fighter contract in December RIA Russia and India are highly likely to sign a fifth-generation fighter design contract in December, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Thursday. Russia's Sukhoi holding and India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) agreed ...

vardhank

Rohitvats, You call my information hearsay. How is yours different? It's the memoir of a man who may have seen things in a different light, or might have his reasons for not putting the entire picture in (note: I'm not accusing AVM Rajkumar of anything - such reasons are often perfectly benign). Nei...

vardhank

Rohitvats, Looks like we have a problem here. After your post came up, I went off thinking. Then I came back and read vic's and kanson's posts - so now it appears AVM Rajkumar's story isn't entirely complete. It doesn't appear that it was the DRDO's unilateral decision to go for a more advanced figh...

vardhank

Narmad, Fair enough. My rant was not really about the delays in the LCA programme - that just happens to be the one point everyone's latched on to. It was more an assessment of what we could've done differently, with lots of other points, and the list would not have been complete without mentioning ...

vardhank

vardhank, Dont wish to comment on the IA. But the IAF in case of the LCA has done no wrong as far as I can see. That GTRE failed with teh kaveri cannot be laid at the door of the IAF. Also the LCA effort had to be undertaken as a national effort and was taken. The time taken and the delays can be a...

vardhank

^^^ True. My apologies for harping on, but here is where I think the 3rd-gen LCA and the 150 extra Mirages would've made great sense. Anyway, moving on. I think the IAF needs to accept that it doesn't NEED to be on par with the USA (which I think has been a major problem so far). What are our threat...

vardhank

If we look at the last two world wars, Germans did have some of the most cutting edge weapons, rockets, tiger tanks, subs which were the terror of the sea, fokkers which were the scourge of the air In a way actually, this was less true than we think. Look up a book called "Blood, tears and fol...

vardhank

Rohitvats, I've read some of your stuff on BRF, and generally you make sense, though your tone of voice is deplorable. So fine, I'll give YOU the chance to defend your view , which seems to be that the IAF is gold-plated. YOU tell me what you think the IAF has done right in this scenario. <SNIP> :r...

vardhank

OK, this quote business is really annoying. Will try this without. "Did IAF ask DRDO to make the fighter or did DRDO said 'they' will make it? Why don't you clarify this small bit?" Er. I believe it was the MoD that asked for an indigenous fighter? And if the IAF believes it can live forev...

vardhank

Rohitvats, I've read some of your stuff on BRF, and generally you make sense, though your tone of voice is deplorable. So fine, I'll give YOU the chance to defend your view, which seems to be that the IAF is gold-plated. YOU tell me what you think the IAF has done right in this scenario. I'm not an ...

vardhank

^^^ I didn't say it was a discussion. It's my POV. Would be good to hear someone else's too. My point here is that we need some accountability, and some stock-taking, so we don't repeat these mistakes. We have enough problems without the heads of our armed forces being difficult. And yes, with the h...

vardhank

Can you please tell me how the evolution and reaching the present stage of LCA has been held up because of IAF apathy? Constantly changing requirements, maybe? Mission creep that's so severe it goes into a whole new realm? Asking for too much from an organisation that has no practical experience in...

vardhank

Honestly, either the Rafale or the EF would be excellent. BTW, why aren't we linking the IN's RFI for fighters to the MMRCA, at least mentally, if not officially? I favour the Rafale for the IN (my main concern is the navalised J-11). So, would it make more sense for the IN and IAF to have fighters ...

vardhank

My point being, the IAF's being oddly short-sighted. I would think it's in their interests to have fighters that we make ourselves, no? If there are sanctions, if there are delays, or if we fall short of planes during a war, what do they plan on doing? Domestic products would've at least given us th...

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