Vikram_S, let me make it clear that I am not at all disparaging the flying skills of the SKAT. That they do what they do with what they got speaks volumes about their flying and maintenance skills.... rather what I am getting at is this: what is the PR value of sending the SKAT to Zhuhai without some slick looking indigenous aircraft like the IJT? What was the larger goal of sending them there besides showcasing their formation flying skills? Friendship tours?
i think this picture answers your question about the "PR value" of the SKAT.
read what I wrote again. it speaks volumes that what the IAF can do the PRC still cant and the people at zhuhai, including professional chinese aviators can see it for themselves.
and when you say this: "What was the larger goal of sending them there besides showcasing their formation flying skills?"..it does not reconcile with "let me make it clear that I am not at all disparaging the flying skills of the SKAT. "
if all you think SKAT does is formation flying, which every rookie in IAF learns, then there is nothing to be discussed
FYI, almost all civl aircraft and military aircraft programs source equipment from Western vendors (and, to a lesser extent, from the East). The Russians are doing the same for their civil programs, HAL has been doing the same, so why should the Chinese do anything differently? It would be a grave mistake to underestimate the Chinese.
this only shows you havent been following ARJ progress at all
FYI ARJ managers went to town initially with claims they would source everything locally. later they said "some from abroad" and now it resembles the typical system integration effort of commercial civil aircraft
so understand the context all it means is that chinese tend to talk big on their PR and get away with bs because people dont track their claims on constant basis, most statement are in chinese language and because 90% of chinese people are so brainwashed with china great, china strong that they dont question their govt
Their products are improving very rapidly, and unlike India, failure often means the firing squad, so their program managers and engineers are highly motivated to succeed.
this is quite frankly absolutely wrong and the usual stuff one reads on the internet
indian managers are as motivated as or even more than chinese types and given the financial resources put in comparable programs (just see the defence budget and AVIC1 and 2 setup) it should be evident of the actual setup
and chinese managers rarely get sent to any squad, firing or otherwise
developing country like china cannot afford to throw people away
not india as well
it takes huge corruption scandal, big loss of face for any action to be taken and that is fundamental difference between india and china
fYI china runs on the "you scratch my back i scratch yours principle" in many govt organizations
the complex network between decision makers, politicians and petty pelft is so entangle that it absolutely frustrates professionals who work with them
anyone who has worked with chinese on projects (and gone past first layer of marketing bs) will tell you how protected functionaries in china are
and please make your mind up
nobody here is underestimating china
and that was not your initial claim
but your initial statement of "china overtaking india hour by hour" was clearly wrong the gap is not so large at all
in terms of both sophistcation of system and manufacture india is still keeping pace with china with far lower expenditure and resources in aeronautics
that shows fundamentally indias systems is stronger
tell me, where is chinas hjt-36
who gave HAL the design for an IJT
nobody
the "slick" plane flying about at zhuhai which impress you is nothing but the yakovlev 130 design given by russia to china and which the chinese are now pushing around
yes they are ahead in some areas but byu no mean so much that we should sit and cry
Indian aerospace industry would be far better off to tie up with Brasils's Embraer to develop 100-150 seat commercial planes and military cargo planes than putz about trying to develop something locally with no global commercial prospects.
nopes, its not that simple
what makes you think embraer wants to give a share of its design and manufacturing pie to HAL
its the current market leader and has many of its own plans lined up for that segment
even bombardier will lauigh at us for saying the same
they will accept india only if india breaks into the market by showing its own design and development capability with its own hard earned effort
ur saras, is attempt in that direction
and then they will beat a path to your door for commercial projects because they cant ignore you anymore
otherwise tie up with these guys and keep making doors for their airliners
everyone is talking tot for mrca now because of LCA
and HAL is now planning JVs for LOH, MEdum Helicopter because we did the hard works in ALH
and FYI china itself is contemplating similar project for even widebody aircraft since it is fed up of paying huge money to airbus boeing and fighting for every bit of offset
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