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by vivek_ahuja
02 Sep 2020 09:37
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

Ahuja sir. Did you just wake up from hibernation in a cold Michigan winter? Your scenario is playing out for real all this while and jingos could use some decent analysis. :mrgreen: I have been ghosting the forum off and on, but work commitments are keeping my participating to a minimum. I try to k...
by vivek_ahuja
02 Sep 2020 07:50
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: INS Vikrant: News and Discussion
Replies: 3269
Views: 796168

Re: INS Vikrant News and Discussion

The only real possibility is mki+brahmos. I suppose we must be thankful for the islands in our possession and the geography of India jutting deep into the ocean giving land-based access to both east and west. The Navy is being shafted by the fixed-budget being gobbled up by the very large land army...
by vivek_ahuja
02 Sep 2020 07:33
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: INS Vikrant: News and Discussion
Replies: 3269
Views: 796168

Re: INS Vikrant News and Discussion

We will always have a reason ready: Economic recession, incompetent MoD, over-ambitious IN changing specs, useless Defence Min, COVID-19 Take your pick! So if Vikramaditya is in the dock for repairs/overhaul/maintenance, we don't get to call ourselves a carrier navy? Nice. :-o I often wonder given ...
by vivek_ahuja
02 Sep 2020 07:22
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

PAF with better more AWACS, 60+ F-16's and 500 AMRAAMs. I am not an expert on air warfare, but this kind of scares me. Made a minor correction but otherwise agreed with all. The thing that gets missed often is that the AMRAAMs are battle-tested in a way the R-77s and other Russian missiles are not....
by vivek_ahuja
02 Sep 2020 07:15
Forum: Strategic & Security Issues Archive
Topic: India's Border Security with China and Pakistan-2020
Replies: 8042
Views: 1529225

Re: India's Border Security with China and Pakistan-2020

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,...
by vivek_ahuja
02 Sep 2020 07:10
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: INS Vikrant: News and Discussion
Replies: 3269
Views: 796168

Re: INS Vikrant News and Discussion

So the Vikrant has been pushed to 2023/24 for commissioning. Um, is anyone here (aside from Chola) upset by this? Or is the correct answer to "shut my pie hole" and accept that "everything is going responsibly and according to expected plans by both GOI and Navy"? I mean, good-go...
by vivek_ahuja
02 Sep 2020 07:04
Forum: Trash Can Archive
Topic: Indian Military Helicopters
Replies: 5318
Views: 1942587

Re: Indian Military Helicopters

Disclaimer: the year is 2020 now. I was checking the notes from Chimera to see what Indian military tech predictions from that scenario have materialized and what died on the wine through the years. Are we still awaiting the order for 15 LCHs to be placed? At least one prediction from Chimera came t...
by vivek_ahuja
02 Sep 2020 06:57
Forum: Mil-Tech Archive
Topic: Indian Missiles News & Discussions - 17 Dec 2018
Replies: 5960
Views: 2252616

Re: Indian Missiles News & Discussions - 17 Dec 2018

The year is 2020 now. I was checking the notes from the Chimera scenarios thread to see what Indian military tech predictions have materialized and what died on the wine through the years. Reading through this thread I got lost and confused about this one, so posing the question here: is the Nirbhay...
by vivek_ahuja
02 Sep 2020 06:45
Forum: Strategic & Security Issues Archive
Topic: China Military Watch - Sept' 2016
Replies: 4649
Views: 1736812

Re: China Military Watch - Sept' 2016

The Chinese naval AEW is a fascinating aircraft in its own right. It is a rip-off of the Hawkeye, sure, but it gives the Chinese a solid platform to start getting their experience on operating such a class of aircraft. Besides, who else was going to sell them one of those Hawkeyes? https://pbs.twimg...
by vivek_ahuja
02 Sep 2020 06:39
Forum: Strategic & Security Issues Archive
Topic: China Military Watch - Sept' 2016
Replies: 4649
Views: 1736812

Re: China Military Watch - Sept' 2016

@Chola: what is the timeline for the various carriers and amphibious assault mini-carriers that the Chinese have in play? I count two ski-jump carriers in the 65k tonnage, plus the Type-003 which is already well under construction towards the 80-100k tonnage fully loaded. When is the Type-003 expect...
by vivek_ahuja
02 Sep 2020 06:30
Forum: Strategic & Security Issues Archive
Topic: China Military Watch - Sept' 2016
Replies: 4649
Views: 1736812

Re: China Military Watch - Sept' 2016

@k prasad: if war is to be had, would you prefer one where the Chinese are extremely well armed and equipped (as their slow but sure exponential growth curve is taking them), or one where we still have the advantage in quality? Which war would minimize human casualties on our side? I think Chola has...
by vivek_ahuja
07 Jan 2020 02:11
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Tejas Mk2 Medium Weight Fighter: News & Discussion - 23 February 2019
Replies: 2694
Views: 1027425

Re: Tejas Mk2 Medium Weight Fighter: News & Discussion - 23 February 2019

I have always wondered why the default assumption for media folks is to assume that if a product is shown to be under development that matches a western product superficially, then it simply MUST be ToT or some handout from said western company. The thought that it could be convergent design involvi...
by vivek_ahuja
07 Jan 2020 02:06
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

BTW, the plot I created for the last page sheds some light for me on some of the reasons why we chose the Embraer platform for the Netra, despite its endurance issues: 1. Its powered by turbofans: has good power-to-weight ratio as per the plots I showed. 2. Its the lowest cost and lowest performance...
by vivek_ahuja
07 Jan 2020 01:57
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

Whew. Common sense, finally. More like low-hanging fruit, no? To me, common sense would entail pulling Embraer out of the blacklist and ordering some more Netras this year so that they start getting delivered in the early 2020s. Make it a national security override to the corruption charges. I feel...
by vivek_ahuja
06 Jan 2020 20:18
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

And how did the lack of AWACS or AEW&C impact the outcome of the air battle? You mean the one battle that has happened when our AEW airplane was on station and waiting? Come on. I find this kind of argument to be a non-sequitur and worse, it misses the main point of the posts above: we do not h...
by vivek_ahuja
06 Jan 2020 05:03
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

Power supply via a fiber optic tether to a ground station did not prove to be a challenge in even the largest aerostat based projects. The challenge has been and continues to keeping the thing performing in adverse weather and over time and to keep the tether in tact as they get larger, heavier and...
by vivek_ahuja
06 Jan 2020 04:23
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

3. I believe as DRDO programs scale up (Akash NG, HPR, XRSAM, AWACS-India) and DRDO has more radar designs to quickly develop variants off of, the IAF will also ask DRDO to look at aerostat radars to supplement its AEW&CS fleet and enhance the coverage of its SAM/BMD network. 4. DRDO is already...
by vivek_ahuja
06 Jan 2020 01:50
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

But without that it becomes quite meaningless. I disagree. There is a lot of general insight to be gained by looking at simple energy/power analysis. Especially when all the assumptions have been laid out for clarity. For example, an AWACS pushing a C-band sensor is optimized for different trade-of...
by vivek_ahuja
06 Jan 2020 01:36
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

Where are the data for that chart coming from? A cursory look shows a few errors. Also, not all the sensors on that chart operate in the same band or are optimized for the same mission. You have frequency diversity there extending from 800 MHz through 5 GHz so efficiency and how the available power...
by vivek_ahuja
06 Jan 2020 01:32
Forum: Strategy, Politics & International Relations Forum
Topic: West Asia News and Discussions
Replies: 1960
Views: 526044

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Has anyone explained what General Suleimani was doing in Baghdad anyway? Why is a foreign General moving in armed convoys in the capital city at the same time as the US Embassy is being ransacked by armed mobs? Coincidence? For all the boohoo from Iraq about "foreign intervention" blah bl...
by vivek_ahuja
06 Jan 2020 01:30
Forum: Strategy, Politics & International Relations Forum
Topic: West Asia News and Discussions
Replies: 1960
Views: 526044

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

while it would be more appropriate for Pk thread why is it that US holds Iran responsible for American death , carries out strikes against their generals but sucks up to Pakistani army who have caused far more destruction to US interests in Afghanistan? Pak has nuclear weapons with religious fanati...
by vivek_ahuja
06 Jan 2020 01:23
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

Look, there is a simple first-principles approach to choosing airplane types for airborne radar systems. I will lay it out here for discussion purposes. Think in terms of power. If you google the radar range equation, you will notice that the maximum range for a radar is determined by the 4th root o...
by vivek_ahuja
06 Jan 2020 00:16
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

VKumar wrote:Can the Do228 be equipped with early warning system and used as a 'trip-wire' ? We can manufacture these afresh.
Nope. It has neither the internal space nor the engine power to host an external radar beam. Think bigger. C295 might be an option.
by vivek_ahuja
06 Jan 2020 00:15
Forum: Strategy, Politics & International Relations Forum
Topic: West Asia News and Discussions
Replies: 1960
Views: 526044

Re: West Asia News and Discussions

Has anyone explained what General Suleimani was doing in Baghdad anyway? Why is a foreign General moving in armed convoys in the capital city at the same time as the US Embassy is being ransacked by armed mobs? Coincidence? For all the boohoo from Iraq about "foreign intervention" blah bla...
by vivek_ahuja
05 Jan 2020 22:53
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

PAF does have more AWACS and is said to be able to monitor 24/7. If that was the case, what happen on Feb 26? when our Mirages had a free run! How could a coverage of 24/7 not detect bogies coming in! Compare that to our monitoring on Feb 27. Did any PAF jets managed to get in? I think the plots an...
by vivek_ahuja
05 Jan 2020 22:29
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

fanne wrote:Boy what a way to start your day - with higher BP
Its what I do best. :rotfl:
by vivek_ahuja
05 Jan 2020 22:27
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

I remember a decade or so back somebody had taken a compass and drawn 3 circles of 500 km on the Indo-Pak border, to naively show its coverage and how awesome it would be . When its time comes I'm sure S400 will turn out to be as equally disappointing as against it gold plated expectations as the P...
by vivek_ahuja
05 Jan 2020 22:22
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

There is a lot of discussion here about the S-400 as a counter for PAF AEW coverage. I should point out that the intent of the PAF in a wartime scenario should be considered when looking at this. What is the defensive goal of the PAF? They need to maintain coverage over their border (without ever pe...
by vivek_ahuja
05 Jan 2020 13:40
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Pakistan Armed Forces: News & Discussion
Replies: 2338
Views: 971923

Re: Pakistan Armed Forces: News & Discussion Thread

Please consider this an open post for archiving purposes. I was doing the analysis for my post in the AEW thread and I realized that I was getting very confused by the PAF Erieye numbers. I am posting what I have collated here, but please consider this open for revision: 2006: Pakistan ordered four ...
by vivek_ahuja
05 Jan 2020 13:10
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

Okay, so every once in a while I get some time to sit and do one of these posts involving some analysis. Here's one I have been wanting to do since the Balakot action. I think its fair to say that from the snippets of information post Balakot that the IAF was struggling to keep the skies covered wit...
by vivek_ahuja
05 Jan 2020 11:16
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

@Vivek K: I read your statement and was about to comment that you have opened the door for the IAF-vs-MOD blame-game to start on this thread. And even before I could post this, I see that the comments to this regard have started. And now the technical comments will soon be lost in the noise. But I t...
by vivek_ahuja
05 Jan 2020 10:16
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion
Replies: 3965
Views: 1168060

Re: Airborne Early Warning & Control: News & Discussion

“The need for more AWACS was acutely felt post the Balakot air strike, with Pakistan being able to deploy its SAAB AWACS 24x7 in the north and south sectors and India being able to cover the two theatres only for 12 hours each day,” one of the officials cited above said. A good example of how in th...
by vivek_ahuja
17 Sep 2019 18:13
Forum: Mil-Tech Archive
Topic: Naval Tejas Mk1/Mk2: News & Discussion - 23 February 2019
Replies: 688
Views: 342313

Re: Naval Tejas Mk1/Mk2: News & Discussion - 23 February 2019

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/navy-to-induct-submarine-khanderi-commission-carrier-dry-dock-on-sept-28/article29439117.ece Asked about the naval Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), which made its first short arrested landing in Goa last week, he (Vice Adm Kumar) said the Navy was fully in support...
by vivek_ahuja
15 Sep 2019 22:14
Forum: Strategy, Politics & International Relations Forum
Topic: The next war in the Persian Gulf
Replies: 294
Views: 78785

Re: The next war in the Persian Gulf

I don't believe anything about this except that they seem to have taken out 50% of KSA production for at least a few days, maybe more. With more to come . The "we did this with DRONES" may be a piskops to scare the insurance companies into hiking Saudi costs 1000%. Very cost-effective tac...
by vivek_ahuja
15 Sep 2019 22:10
Forum: Strategy, Politics & International Relations Forum
Topic: The next war in the Persian Gulf
Replies: 294
Views: 78785

Re: The next war in the Persian Gulf

See, the thing is: if they did have cheap hand-held stuff launched from just outside the perimeter, then you can expect the Saudis to crack down hard on that kind of future repeat action. They will just establish a wide no-entry zone with shoot-on-sight ROE. And that would make this event a one-off ...
by vivek_ahuja
15 Sep 2019 11:24
Forum: Trash Can Archive
Topic: Indian Military Helicopters
Replies: 5318
Views: 1942587

Re: Indian Military Helicopters

@Indranil : glad to hear it. I wish they would give out regular updates to the world on the status of the project and its various planned milestones. It would go a long way in arming their supporters with information to defend against the import lobby.
by vivek_ahuja
15 Sep 2019 11:14
Forum: Trash Can Archive
Topic: Indian Military Helicopters
Replies: 5318
Views: 1942587

Re: Indian Military Helicopters

Since the Mi-38 came up against the Mi-17 variants, I figure might as well add my two cents from this post of mine in the Russian arms thread: I recently saw the new Mi-38 being offered by the Mil folks. Pretty bird: https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_xYAmjaa0Wk/XAanZE8Om9I/AAAAAAAAdnE/gjKAzFYmEYE0RmJlyjYw...
by vivek_ahuja
15 Sep 2019 11:10
Forum: Trash Can Archive
Topic: Indian Military Helicopters
Replies: 5318
Views: 1942587

Re: Indian Military Helicopters

There are so many pressing procurements and replacements required that even considering replacing Mi-17V5s with another foreign import would be criminal. They're relatively new with a large part of the fleet having been delivered recently. And when there is no problem with the type in service so fa...
by vivek_ahuja
15 Sep 2019 11:05
Forum: Military Issues & History Forum
Topic: HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft: News & Discussions - 08 September 2019
Replies: 428
Views: 154811

Re: HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft: News & Discussions - 08 September 2019

IMO, all this talk of armed HTT and surveillance HTT is not worth the time discussing it. The surveillance platform should be an unmanned UAV that can stay aloft for a much longer time; make a lot less noise; require lot less fuel and maintenance, etc.. The armed platform cannot survive in anything ...
by vivek_ahuja
15 Sep 2019 10:56
Forum: Strategy, Politics & International Relations Forum
Topic: The next war in the Persian Gulf
Replies: 294
Views: 78785

Re: The next war in the Persian Gulf

I have been reading the news and am thoroughly confused: what exactly did the drones do? Were they: 1. Carrying missiles/bombs that they fired/released against the oil refineries? 2. Converted into Kamikaze drones and launched into the refineries? 3. Some other electronic attack to trigger a fire at...