Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Juggi G
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Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Juggi G »

FIRST PHOTOS : Typhoons, Su-30s Roar At Exercise Indradhanush @Kalaikunda!
Livefist
Flying exercise missions of Indo-UK Air Exercise Indradhanush began today at Air Force Station Kalaikunda in East India. The Royal Air Force is participating with Eurofighter Typhoons, an E-3D Sentry AWACS, and a VC-10 mid air refueller, while the IAF is fielding the Su-30MKIs, Mirage-2000s, MiG-27s and an A-50I Phalcon AWACS (for the first time in a joint air exercise).

These assets will be combined along with the aircrew and then divided into the blue and red forces. The red forces are the agressors while blue forces are the defending side. The roles of the participants are changed through out the exercise.

The Degree of Difficulty during the Exercise Missions is Increased by Random Denial of Mid Air Refueling :shock: , and Radar Silence etc.

The major highlight of the exercise is the large number of aircraft operating together and against each other in limited time and space putting the skills of the pilots and the fighter controllers to test.

Air Marshal L K Malhotra of the Eastern Air Command met the participants and addressed them today. In his address he said “ apart from the pilots flying these missions, it is an Excellent opportunity for the Controllers who would be either Controlling these Missions or will be on board AWACS Aircraft as Observers. On the technical side too, there will be a number of areas where both the sides can learn from each others maintainance practices, procedures and management of resources with a view to support flying operations”.
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by shukla »

IBTL
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by SriSri »

Nice pics, thanks for posting. This can be merged with Indian Military Aviation if required.
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by trushant »

thanx a ton Juggi G for the pics...snaps from K'Kunda AFS always bring back fond memories

"These assets will be combined along with the aircrew and then divided into the blue and red forces"
Hope our boys get a handson feel of the Eurocanards..!
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by anirban_aim »

Is it time yet for the IB4TLs???? :mrgreen:
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Rahul M »

nope, no IB4TLing. we do have stand alone threads for major exercises.
kindly post articles and pictures of the exercise here.
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Bala Vignesh »

It's SU-30s vs Typhoons at India-Britain aerial war games
New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS) The last time around, it was a no-contest but this time the Sukhoi SU-30 combat jets of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be stretched to the limit as they take on the Eurofighter Typhoons of the Royal Air Force (RAF) in aerial war games that begin in Kalaikunda in West Bengal Oct 18.

The 17-day Exercise Indradhanush will, for the first time, also feature the IAF's newly acquired IL-78 airborne warning and control systems (AWACS).

The RAF had deployed its Tornadoes the last time the exercise was held at Gwalior in 2007 but they were no match for the SU-30s as was evident from the black 'kill marks' on their tails when they landed.

The Typhoon, which is one of the six fighters in contention for an IAF order for 126 combat jets, was displayed at the 2009 Bangalore International Air Show but this will be the first time it will be seen in an operational role in this country.

'Along with the intent of improving cooperating at international level, the aim of this joint exercise is to enhance mutual understanding and refine procedures for future joint exercise between the two air forces,' Wing Commander Mahesh Upasani, the Kolkata-based chief public relations officer of the defence ministry, told IANS.

Apart from the SU-30s, the IAF will also be fielding its Mirage 2000 and MiG-27 fighters. On its part, the RAF will also be the E-3D Sentry (AWACS) and the VC-10 air-to-air refuellers.

According to the Air Marshal K.K. Nohwar, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command, 'Exercise Indradhanush is an opportunity for both the air forces to get an insight into each others operational philosophies and work cultures. This will greatly enhance the understanding of our air force to operate in scenario involving state of the art technologies'.

In a written brief to the participating aircrews, Air Marshal L.K. Malhotra, Senior Air Staff Officer of the Eastern Air Command, said: 'This exercise will prove to be a boon for both the nations to fine tune their procedures for multinational operations, which are likely to happen with greater frequency in future. It will help fine tune tactics for large force engagements and also share each others experience to hone up the skills even more.'
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Raja Bose »

I still don't get it why the press keeps going for cheap headlines such as "Su-30 vs. XYZ". Lets leave the chest beating for pakis and their gora cousins. Typically both red and blue forces will have aircraft from both sides - after all interoperability is a key aspect.
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Bala Vignesh »

Raja sir,
It just makes for a better headlines... That's all...
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Juggi G »

War Games Over Maoist Badlands
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War Games Over Maoist Badlands
Jayanta Gupta

TNN, Oct 21, 2010, 03.16am IST

KOLKATA: After having successfully staved off an attack by the Red raiders and charting two successful kills, the pilot of the Indian Air Force's Su-30 MKI turned to the Royal Air Force's VC-10 mid-air refueller.

"Permission denied, Blue Two. Raiders still at large," a clipped English accent from the cockpit of the VC-10 responded. The Sukhoi pilot broke away and started a climb in a bid to conserve fuel. He would return to the refueller later. In the meantime, he would try and nail an Eurofighter Typhoon from the Red force.


Actual flying missions of Ex-Indradhanush 2010 started on Wednesday at Air Force Station Kalaikunda after two days of elaborate briefings on standard operating procedures, rules of exercise and familiarisation of the local flying area.

While the RAF has sent in Typhoons, an E3D Sentry and a VC-10, the IAF has fielded Su-30 MKIs, Mirage-2000s, Mig-27s and one of its Phalcon AWACS. This is the first time that the Israeli-made Phalcon is participating in a joint exercise.

"The assets have been combined and divided into the Blue and Red forces. The Red forces are the agressors while the Blue forces are the defending side. The roles of the participants are interchanged throughout the exercise. Both teams consist of RAF and IAF aircraft. The degree of difficulty is being increased by random denial of mid-air refuelling and radar silence. The major highlight of the exercise is the large number of aircraft operating together in limited time and space, putting the skills of pilots and fighter controllers to the test. This is known as Large Force Engagement (LFE) Operations," a senior officer said.

He, However, Made it Clear that the Purpose of the Exercise is Not to Pit Indian Aircraft Against British Ones or to Evaluate Personal Skills by Encouraging Pilots to Show-off. :roll: :-?

"Apart from the pilots flying these missions, it is an excellent opportunity for the controllers who would be either controlling these missions or be on board AWACS aircraft as observers. On the technical side too, there will be a number of areas where both the sides can learn from each others maintainance practices, procedures and management of resources with a view to support flying operations," Air Marshal L K Malhotra of the Eastern Air Command said while meeting the participants.

Air Commodore D K Vashist, commander of AFS Kalaikunda said that the aim of the exercise is to enhance mutual understanding and refine procedures.

"During this exercise, specific emphasis will be laid on exposing the controllers (ATC & AWACS) to large force engagements and protection of high-value aerial assets. Another area of emphasis would be the management of logistical needs to move large forces from one part of the world to another," he said.
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Lalmohan »

the real benefit of these exercises is not in the fighting, but in the movement and deployment of the awacs and tankers and managing the battlespace of multiple defenders and attackers
that is really key, we have a lot to learn from NATO who have been doing this for some time now
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Bala Vignesh »

i have a noob doubt, won't the brit's E-3D AWACS gather ELINT data on our Phalcon, which would be later shared among all NATO members??
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Surya »

yeah so can we :)

so its up to us how smart and careful we are

But in general at this point - we have more to learn

Especially in the way the whole control infrastructure is deployed , maintained and mobile
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Juggi G »

Day 2, Indradhanush @ Kalaikunda
Wg Cdr M Upasani

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Last edited by Juggi G on 22 Oct 2010 13:28, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Juggi G »

War Games Beckon Air Chiefs
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War Games Beckon Air Chiefs
SUJAN DUTTA
Oct. 11, 2010

New Delhi

The Air Force Chiefs of India and the UK are Likely to Personally Lead Fighter Aircraft in War Games out of Kalaikunda in Bengal from October 18.

Air Chief Marshals Pradeep Vasant Naik and Sir Stephen Dalton Will Join Their fighter Pilots In Eurofighter Typhoons of the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) and Sukhois of the Indian Air Force (IAF) that Fly Out of Kalaikunda for Manoeuvres over the Bay of Bengal.

The Air Chiefs Will Join the Drill Towards the End of the Two-Week Exercise, named “Indradhanush”, that Ends on November 3.

The air chiefs are 60 and 61 years of age. Officers in the IAF usually do not fly the demanding fighter aircraft as a routine beyond the rank of Wing Commander.

Both Naik and Dalton have supervised major induction programmes for their air forces.

Dalton was the director of the Eurofighter Typhoon programme when the aircraft was inducted in the RAF to replace the Tornadoes that he flew during the cold war and in armed missions over Iraq.

Naik has flown all types of fighter aircraft in the inventory of the IAF and was among the eight pilots selected to induct the MiG-23 from Russia. Currently, his main job is to ensure the selection of an aircraft under the $12 billion medium multi-role combat aircraft programme.


The Eurofighter Typhoon is one of the six aircraft in competition for that order. The other five are — the F-16 Super Viper, the F-18 Super Hornet, the Gripen NG, the Rafale and the MiG-35.

The Typhoons would be seen in a joint operational scenario in the India for the first time in the exercise at Kalaikunda in West Midnapore. The IAF will be deploying, apart from the Sukhoi 30 Mki, its Mirage MiG 27s and Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) Aircraft. The RAF is also flying in its AWACS (E-3D) and mid-air refuellers (VC-10).

“The exercise Indradhanush is an opportunity for both air forces to get an insight into each other’s operational philosophies and work cultures. This will enhance the understanding of our air force to operate in a scenario involving state-of the-art technologies,” said Air Marshal K.K. Nohwar, Air Officer Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command.

In a written brief to the participating aircrew, Air Marshal L.K. Malhotra, senior air staff officer of the Eastern Air Command said: “This exercise will prove to be a boon for both the nations to fine tune their procedures for multi-national operations, which are likely to happen with greater frequency in future. It will help fine tunetactics for large force engagements and also share each others experience to hone up the skills even more”.

The IAF has modernised the Kalaikunda base and hosts large-scale international exercises there.
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by rohitvats »

Love the flightline of MiG-21 in the background of Typhoon taking off. And brings forth how the time has moved on....earlier, the pics in the news papers and magazines (mainly India Today and Frontline) were mainly of MiG-21/23/27....even the pics of MiG-29 and Mirage-2000 were rare.....first time I saw pic of MiG-29 was when pics of AN-32 carrying the ashes of Rajiv Gandhi and escorted by four MiG-29s was published.....some one told me that in this fighter, "the pilot can lock the missiles on the enemy fighter by simply looking at him..."

How times have changed.....I still have cuttings from a 1994 news report in a hindi paper (which had lot of pics of MiG-27/Mig-23/Mig-21) which spoke about growing relationship between India and USA and how it was possible that in couple of years, "advanced" aircrafts like F-16 could be offered to IAF by USA........

And here.....we have best of the stuff offered to IAF......
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by chackojoseph »

Some Ariel Shots Scroll below.
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Juggi G »

Day 3, Indradhanush @ Kalaikunda

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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by sum »

Where do the Singaporean F16s parked there go when these airbases are taken over for the wargames? Are they shifted to other AFBs?
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by K_Rohit »

Slightly OT- Why have the Mirages not moved to Tipnis Grey?
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Bala Vignesh »

F-16's??? In kalaikunda??? since when???

Added later..
Found this on Google Maps- Its a memorial but can't exactly figure out which bird is that..Link
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Rahul M »

Bala, we have a bilateral agreement with s'pore that allows them to use KKD for training some of their F-16 sqdns with IAF. however I don't think they are based there permanently. btw, KKD is the designated foreign exercise base of IAF IIRC.

K_rohit, perhaps they get away with it because the M2k is IAF's darling ? :D
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Bala Vignesh »

Thanks for the info, Rahul Da...

About M2K, is it more so than Rambha???

Sorry about the OT..
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Surya »

M2Ks are reputed to be populated by the sons and son in laws of the big shots :)

all of them think they are future ACMs :) - just ask the 23, 27, Jag and Bison guys and see how they get worked up :)

it maybe slightly dimmed since the SU 30s came in.
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Jagan »

Bala, the aircraft on display is a mig-25 trainer that was retired sometime back. IIRC Aditya posted a picture of it from one of the exercises.
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Surya »

Singapore F 16s are only there for temp periods not permanently
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Juggi G »

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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Juggi G »

IAF-Royal Air Force Joint Exercise Resumes
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IAF-Royal Air Force Joint Exercise Resumes
Staff Reporter
KOLKATA, October 26, 2010

After a two-day break, fliers of the Indian Air Force and the Royal Air Force were back in the skies on Monday as part of Indradhanush, the joint exercise between the two countries that started in the Kalaikunda Air Force Station in West Bengal's Paschim Medinipur district last week.

“Progressing Well”

“The exercise has been progressing very well so far. None of the sorties was stopped despite bad weather conditions that were seen last week as a result of cyclonic circulations in the head bay, in northern Bay of Bengal,” said Mahesh Upasani, Chief Public Relations Office, Ministry of Defence.

The pilots continued on their respective missions saying that the weather conditions only added to the challenge, he added.

While pilots would continue with missions related to Large Force Engagements for now, the next phase of the exercise will begin on October 27, which includes RADAR denial, he said.

“Focus on Air Defence”

The missions in this exercise are focussed on air defence.

The first phase, ‘Large Force Engagement,' deals with the deployment of a large number of aircraft within a limited air-space, a situation that can be a nightmare for air traffic controllers, but commonly faced in combat situations, sources said.

Since the attack and defence aircraft come in waves, planes come into close proximity in the skies and the skills of both the fighter pilots and fighter-controller (the person manning the RADAR) are tested, they added.

The second phase of the exercise, RADAR denial, deals with a situation when due to unforeseen circumstances, the RADAR stops functioning.
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Singha »

looks like typhoon air defence capability is being soundly tested. makes one think it will take over the primary air superiority mission (if it comes as MRCA) leaving the 230 MKIs to deep and lay heavy munitions on target...finally becoming our Strike Eagle.

armed with captor-aesa radar (1500 t.r modules allegedly), 6 meteor and 4 python5 missiles, it should have a2a advantage over the mki.

I am all in favour of whatever swats down the most plaaf aircraft.
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Juggi G »

RAF Typhoons Fly With IAF Floggers At Exercise Indradhanush

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Photos Courtesy Wg Cdr Mahesh Upasani
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by shiv »

These photos with MiG 27 are truly unique. I don't recall seeing this before and it is likely that it will never happen again.
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Jagan »

shiv wrote:These photos with MiG 27 are truly unique. I don't recall seeing this before and it is likely that it will never happen again.

Unique, but whats with the bad quality of the photos ? Aircraft taken from the shadow side, coming out dark, blurry, Or have we been too spoilt over here?
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Surya »

Or have we been too spoilt over here?

YES -
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Prasad »

No. In this day and age, these make for excellent psy-ops and inspiration. Expecting good quality photos doesn't mean we're spoiled :)
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Aditya G »

I really wish for IAF to restart painting squadron insignia on the aircraft. If not colours then at least grey/black colours should be allowed.
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by andy B »

Singha wrote:looks like typhoon air defence capability is being soundly tested. makes one think it will take over the primary air superiority mission (if it comes as MRCA) leaving the 230 MKIs to deep and lay heavy munitions on target...finally becoming our Strike Eagle.

armed with captor-aesa radar (1500 t.r modules allegedly), 6 meteor and 4 python5 missiles, it should have a2a advantage over the mki.

I am all in favour of whatever swats down the most plaaf aircraft.
GD in one of the recent articles that appeared in the Air Intl. it confirms that the EF has now two different AESA programmes. UKstan is going it alone while the rest of the consortium manufacturing members are following up another programme (the second one is mainly for the aesa requirement for IAF and the article clearly mentions that). It also mentions that the size of the aesa will be bigger than the one carried by the super horny, f35, solah, gripen and rafale. Also the article mentioned that the conventional captor M is quite good and the IAF was also impressed with it during the evals. Will post the whole article soon. But going by this if they do integrate that aesa with the ef then that combined with the perfomance and aam carrying capacity it will make the ef an absolute ace in AtoA onlee...the aesa will also bring good advantages in regards to atog as well me thinks...
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by shiv »

Could these be cellphone images taken by a lone pilot formating in a MiG 27 rather than a "hands-free" co-pilot in a two seater with time to hold a good camera, compose and shoot?
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Cain Marko »

andy B wrote:
Singha wrote:looks like typhoon air defence capability is being soundly tested. makes one think it will take over the primary air superiority mission (if it comes as MRCA) leaving the 230 MKIs to deep and lay heavy munitions on target...finally becoming our Strike Eagle.

armed with captor-aesa radar (1500 t.r modules allegedly), 6 meteor and 4 python5 missiles, it should have a2a advantage over the mki.

I am all in favour of whatever swats down the most plaaf aircraft.
GD in one of the recent articles that appeared in the Air Intl. it confirms that the EF has now two different AESA programmes. UKstan is going it alone while the rest of the consortium manufacturing members are following up another programme (the second one is mainly for the aesa requirement for IAF and the article clearly mentions that). It also mentions that the size of the aesa will be bigger than the one carried by the super horny, f35, solah, gripen and rafale. Also the article mentioned that the conventional captor M is quite good and the IAF was also impressed with it during the evals. Will post the whole article soon. But going by this if they do integrate that aesa with the ef then that combined with the perfomance and aam carrying capacity it will make the ef an absolute ace in AtoA onlee...the aesa will also bring good advantages in regards to atog as well me thinks...
Yes, the Tiffy seems to be THE bird when it comes to A2A, it was designed from ground up with an emphasis on air superiority, and it shows. Exceptional TWR, very high ceiling, big radar are all signs.

The Rafale otoh, is surely more of the multirole type - but no slouch a2a either - it adapts certain rather unconventional means to achieve advantages in this dept. The Mica IIR along with the OSF+Spectra seems like a rather exotic solution. A lightly loaded Rafale - 4/6 Mica all conformally carried, would give a small radar signature headon, and make a good sniper companion to the massive MKI.

If the ATLC exercise results were anything to go by the french bird is certainly no slouch A2A. Can't wait for the upcoming exercises with the CDG wing; it'll be interesting also to see how the 29K stacks up against the Rafale M.

CM
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Re: Exercise Indradhanush 2010 @ Kalaikunda

Post by Misraji »

Isn't that a strange camo scheme for the Mig-27?
Or is it just the photos??

Moreover Hindu had reported that the primary objective of this exercise is
air-defense and large force engagements.
Then why is the Mig-27 participating in it the first place.
And that too with that camo...

~Ashish.
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