Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

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srai
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by srai »

^^^
On MMRCA Rafales, they conveniently forgot to mention the high costs (likely over $25 billion) that the GoI couldn’t afford.

MRFA will go the same way.
LakshmanPST
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by LakshmanPST »

Philip wrote:Found this recent report about the MIG-21 crash,etc.

https://eurasiantimes.com/former-mig-21 ... -in-india/
The first problem that I find with V K Thakur's comments is that he indirectly blames quality of spares of MIG21s for the crashes...
Secondly, he says HAL has Quality Control issues... Hence he says local spares wouldn't be good enough and global spares won't be available... Hence, Tejas could face same problem as MIG21, as in face crashes...
-
Two questions--->
Is quality of onboard spares cited as reason for any of the recent MIG21 crashes...?
Is there any reported QC issue with HAL issued Tejas spares...?

If the answer is 'No' to these two questions, then whatever he said is not objective analysis, but agenda driven...
----
Overall, article sounds like
- MIG21 has QC issues of spares, retire them immediately...
- Tejas could face same QC issues as MIG21...
- So, buy 114 MRFA...
titash
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by titash »

Philip wrote: https://eurasiantimes.com/former-mig-21 ... -in-india/
Xcpts:
MiG-21 Crash: Former Pilot Takes A Dig At HAL; Says Dassault Rightly Rejected Local Manufacturing Of Rafale Jets In India
The article - mildly put - is either naive, or missing the forest for the trees, or grossly agenda driven. Also worth mentioning that "Eurasian Times" is a Delhi based e-paper of little to no fame, having published similarly dubious articles in the past, and the journalist is:

"Younis Dar is a Delhi-based journalist with his heart in Kashmir. He has worked with multiple media organizations and his last stint was with Force (of Praveen Sawhney Fame) magazine where he worked as a senior defense journalist. Younis has studied journalism from the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. An avid science geek, Younis likes to report and write on defense, space and technology, climate, renewable energy and other subjects."

Its very well known that VKThakur had a blog, was no fan of the Tejas previously, and was a Jaguar pilot most of his career. Ideally we should let the MiG-21 & Tejas pilots speak their mind, and hear about MiG-21 & Tejas rationale from the guys who make the decisions at the very top. That would put some credibility on said news reports.
Nihat
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by Nihat »

The mig 21 has 4 active squadron in service and all of them are soon to be retired. Yes, there has been a lot of poor planning leading to loss of lives, but we finally have a path forward.

Biased articles such as these, peddling foreign wars, should now very much be treated with the contempt they deserve.
LakshmanPST
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by LakshmanPST »

I thought there are 6 active squadrons of Bisons... Which 2 squadrons were number-plated...?
Philip
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by Philip »

One of the def. sites says that Ru is to develop an SE version of the SU-57 ,to be offered to India and other countries,as a replacement later on for the MIG-29, keeping a light ( stealth) fighter in its future fighter portfolio. The fighter will have an internal wrapons bay,most probably for AAMs,but larger sized ordnance will be carried underwing. Some confusion," hype" about its hyper capabilities,not the aircraft (!) but a hyper-munition perhaps.

I mentioned earlier that AM Masand on a visit to Russia some years ago, said that we were offered an SE version of the MKI for just $3M a pop. Ru did not develop an SE MIG-21 replacement and lost a huge market of hhousands of aircraft serving countries worldride.Capable and cheap,the 21 was the backbone of the IAF and many other air forces.
Vietnam mentioned in the same report as the first export customer for the SU-57.

What the cost of this SE SU-57 derivative will be is anyone's guess,but right now the Gripen leads SE fighter sales,with the Sino- Pak JF-17 picking up the slack....Nigeria just got a few. If HAL gets its act together soon, the Tejas Mk-1A could be a strong option for many nations,provided the IAF place more orders- another 40+ would be fine to replace the lesser capable Mk-1s, but it also entails a 3rd. line established both for IAF plus fxport orders.
basant
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by basant »

Sir, did you say $3M for a SE fighter? I think it was $5M. No offense but it reminds me more of Adm. Gorshkov and we may have to install radar, sensors, MC, software, landing gear, wings, and other avionics separately.
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by Manish_P »

Sir, the russian LCA could have cost us much more.. it might well have killed off our home-grown LCA Tejas !
srai
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by srai »

Philip wrote:...

I mentioned earlier that AM Masand on a visit to Russia some years ago, said that we were offered an SE version of the MKI for just $3M a pop.

...
:rotfl: Which fool would believe such an offer!!!

If it was $30 million, ok that would be more reasonable and probable. But $3 million? You won’t even get a BTA like Pilatus :P
Manish_P
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by Manish_P »

^^ The Vayu article shared by Basant mentions
Interestingly, during the same visit, while in Moscow, Air Commodore Philip Rajkumar and I were invited by the Chief Designer of Sukhoi. During this meeting, he showed us the design of a single-engine light-weight fighter in class of the LCA (the Su-54), programme that we were pursuing indigenously, built around the R-25 engine already license produced by us for the MiG-21, and offered to build or help to build this type for us within a cost of US$ 5 million per aircraft. While we certainly did not want to abandon the indigenous LCA programme, the offer clearly indicated the opportunities around the LCA as well as other indigenous development programmes with Russian design help while containing costs. Unfortunately, we did not consider this option with any seriousness.
Who knows if we had gone down that route, the Tejas would have looked like a younger sibling of the MiG 29 rather than the Mirage 2000 :)

On the one hand possible sanctions, on the other probable extortion... no easy choices.
VinodTK
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by VinodTK »

Sad to see brave pilots die because of poor quality/old/defective platforms (I do not know the root cause)
However people responsible for current state of affairs are easy to pinpoint:
Politicians
Bureaucrats
To a small extent IAF itself
No one seems to question the first 2 groups (It would not hurt to take some of the Bureaucrats on QA check of the aircraft to see how comfortable they feel)

The poor IAF chief has to fly in a MIG21 to prove they are safe (Bureaucrats & politicians probably feel if the chief is flying the aircraft they must be good).

Then this news today:Phase out MiG-21s from Indian Air Force, advocates write to PM Modi Glad some one is raising the red flag
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by Philip »

Thanks Manish! I was a bit out on the price though, ut one I do remember again by AM Masand was that desi-built MKIs would " not cost more than $1M"! That fig. has been far exceeded by our mighty HAL. That is the sad fact,that DPSUs with the connivance of vested interests keep humouring the DPSUs on budgets,as the GOI can keep on printing money.There's no accountability at all whenthere's a captive market and services who havd to takd it or leave it.The service that really deserves platinum medals is the IN which now designs and builds almost every type of warship or sub,even a fledgling NLCA! This service is going to be the key service that protects our sovereignty the most inthf coming decades as the Chin armada of latter-day " junks" ,will flood the oceans of the world including the IOR.

Now some might remember that long before the CV pandemic I had called for an SE stealth fighter based upon proven LCA tech. developed as a forerunner to the AMCA.This would be a huge leap over the LCA, fill the gap in numbers with a contemporary stealth-era 21 replacement,plus cheaper than the AMCA too which would meet the needs of the IAF for a stealth bird ,which had a goodly no.of heavy MKIs being equipped with BMos,Astra,etc. Given our long experience of the MKI and its AL- 31 TVC engines,we could've attempted an SE design around it in a JV or with Ru consultancy only. It's not too late for a rethink about an SE stealth bird even with a western engine.
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by kit »

So add to the motly mix of TEDBF . LCA mk 2, AMCA,ORCA etc ?

Anything stealthy and single engined in Indias context would need to be the unmanned AURA rather than another single engine stealth design ., and not to have too many programs and fail or delayed at best !!
LakshmanPST
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by LakshmanPST »

VinodTK wrote:
Then this news today:Phase out MiG-21s from Indian Air Force, advocates write to PM Modi Glad some one is raising the red flag
The advocates saying the jets are 50 years old is wrong... The Bisons are 35 year old airframes...
The technology might be old, but calling them 50 year old jets is pure disinformation...
Vivek K
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by Vivek K »

Lakshman, think about it - does the technology in the Mig-21 have similar safety/redundancy as in later generation aircraft? Has the 35+ year old systems tech in the Mig-21s tech kept up with today's standard safety levels? Did Mig retrofit FADECs, redundant Fly-by-wire with custom Flight Control Laws etc. in the aircraft? Is the LCA inherently safer to fly than the Mig-21? Did IAF's distrust of HAL play into deliberate delays in placing orders for the LCA? How does that decision play into loss of pilots? If orders had been released in 2016, there may have been 3 squadrons of LCA flying.

And one of the draw backs with the Mig-21s is their high landing speeds though it seems pilot workload and system failures are greater contributors to crashes with the Mig-21.
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by LakshmanPST »

Vivek K wrote:Lakshman, think about it - does the technology in the Mig-21 have similar safety/redundancy as in later generation aircraft? Has the 35+ year old systems tech in the Mig-21s tech kept up with today's standard safety levels? Did Mig retrofit FADECs, redundant Fly-by-wire with custom Flight Control Laws etc. in the aircraft? Is the LCA inherently safer to fly than the Mig-21? Did IAF's distrust of HAL play into deliberate delays in placing orders for the LCA? How does that decision play into loss of pilots? If orders had been released in 2016, there may have been 3 squadrons of LCA flying.

And one of the draw backs with the Mig-21s is their high landing speeds though it seems pilot workload and system failures are greater contributors to crashes with the Mig-21.
Frankly speaking, I have zero technical knowledge of fighter jets...
Yes, technology in MIG21s is outdated...
But decision to retire them is something only IAF and GOI can take considering all operational and maintenance aspects including maintaining enough numbers...

While I do not know the technical details and exact condition of the airframes, as an outsider all I can say is, within next 2-3 years we will have 2 Tejas Mk1, 2 Rafale squadrons and S400s fully operationalized... So, retiring them after 2-3 years won't create much problem for IAF from numbers point of view...
Given the situation in the Northern border we can not afford to retire them now...

There are a lot of reasons for the current situation and delay in retirement of these jets... Whatever may be the reasons, damage has already happened... But given the current situation, there is nothing much we can do than wait for 2-3 years more and pray that nothing happens to our pilots in this time...
----
But I find these lawyers asking for retirement of these jets problematic and agenda driven... To sound a little political, I feel they want to create a 'Rang De Basanti' type narrative by involving the judiciary... Questioning the quality of spares is not a coincidence... If not corruption, atleast to show the Govt. as irresponsible by getting some random judge issue some statement...
They may even be trying to force the Government to retire them early so that there will be shortage of numbers in the next 2-3 years, though I doubt Govt. will give in to the pressure...
That is why I say it is important to mention that the jets are 35 years old and not 50 years old... Infact, they are almost the same age as Mirages & MIG29s...
I guess I'll stop here...
Vivek K
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by Vivek K »

Everything is not political. We are talking about pilots' lives which ultimately affects morale and also affects response to recruitment efforts of the airforce. Let me ask you a couple of questions:
a) What is more expensive - the man or the machine?
b) Would you be ok with commercial flights if they were to use new build or 30 -35 year old refurbished 707s with standard safety systems from the 80s?
c) Have newer aircraft with FBW and flight computers, better engines become safer or are the old vintage fast, iron birds safer to fly?

What I understand from your post is that because of the situation in the North, it is acceptable to sacrifice pilots (albeit the rate of loss is much reduced due to hard efforts in training and maintenance by all concerned) for national security. I think that is not acceptable as it affects morale and brings in uncertainty in the minds of pilots and where every second counts, the man must have full confidence in his machine.
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by nachiket »

The IAF clearly messed up with the Mig-21 replacement timeline. Putting all their eggs in the MRCA basket and not ordering Tejas in large numbers till the Mk1A came along was a mistake. A realistic assessment of the nation's financial capability to procure platforms performed together with the MoD and MoF could have enabled better decision making. They have still not learned their lessons fully and continue to ask for the 114 MRFA which we can't possibly afford.

But past mistakes aside, now that we are in this difficult situation where squadron numbers are already low and replacements still some ways off, the decision and timeline to retire the Mig-21's needs to be taken with operational needs in mind. Suddenly removing 100 odd fighters from service will have a significant impact on IAF readiness and aircraft availability in a potential conflict. Nobody wants to see pilots dying in Mig-21 crashes, but the IAF cannot take a decision based on that alone if it will adversely affect their ability to do their job of protecting our skies. As heartless as it may sound, there is a risk-benefit analysis involved here and I am sure the IAF has done that and come to the conclusion that they have to keep the 21's flying for the time being.
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by Vivek K »

Well said Nachiket. Sad but the situation we face now. And it seems that military planners create these emergencies deliberately to keep domestic weapons out. They know that HAL cannot deliver rapidly and therefore create these delays and then ask for emergency imports in numbers that a) soak up all money for decades and b) destroy the local industry.

So it is a tried and tested strategy of military planners - with a little callousness thrown in (on their side). But enough said.
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by Rakesh »

Vivek, you make valid points...however Lakshman is fairly spot on with his remark about lawyers asking the Govt to retire the MiG-21. I do not know who these lawyers are, but - at times - lawyers that delve into issues relating to military platforms have some other agenda to push.

Remember the "supposed" Rafale scam? Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and Prashant Bhushan are not arguing against Rafale out of love for Tejas. Their real agenda lies under smoke and mirrors.

Any plane crash is tragic, but we have lost pilots to other aircraft as well (Jaguar, Mig-29, Mirage 2000, Su-30MKI, etc). But you never hear a peep from these lawyers at that time. Retiring MiG-21 right now, will result in imports and I am sure you do not want that.

This is like former PM Deve Gowda arguing for T-72S in place of T-90, when Arjun was present. Replace one import with another import. The IAF has to soldier on with the MiG-21 till her planned retirement in 2025. No other choice.
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by srai »

Manish_P wrote:^^ The Vayu article shared by Basant mentions
Interestingly, during the same visit, while in Moscow, Air Commodore Philip Rajkumar and I were invited by the Chief Designer of Sukhoi. During this meeting, he showed us the design of a single-engine light-weight fighter in class of the LCA (the Su-54), programme that we were pursuing indigenously, built around the R-25 engine already license produced by us for the MiG-21, and offered to build or help to build this type for us within a cost of US$ 5 million per aircraft. While we certainly did not want to abandon the indigenous LCA programme, the offer clearly indicated the opportunities around the LCA as well as other indigenous development programmes with Russian design help while containing costs. Unfortunately, we did not consider this option with any seriousness.
Who knows if we had gone down that route, the Tejas would have looked like a younger sibling of the MiG 29 rather than the Mirage 2000 :)

On the one hand possible sanctions, on the other probable extortion... no easy choices.
Ok. That was in 1988. One has to remember India purchased the MiG-29s back then through barter with the Soviet Union in exchange for bananas! Clearly Philip, that would have been a better proposition to acquire many more MiG-29s for $0 ... bananas only. Different era :)
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by Vivek K »

Rakesh - it’s a tough choice we face now! Best thing is to keep a large inventory of spares and improve maintenance systems. I agree we cannot take 100 fighters out of service. How long can the Mig-21s continue to hold their own? 2-3 years at best.
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by Manish_P »

srai wrote:
Ok. That was in 1988. One has to remember India purchased the MiG-29s back then through barter with the Soviet Union in exchange for bananas! Clearly Philip, that would have been a better proposition to acquire many more MiG-29s for $0 ... bananas only. Different era :)
Surely it was other thing/goods in addition to bananas..
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by kit »

Indeed in the early 90s the Chinese FM had said that it's better to export a single plane than a million shirts !!
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by Aditya_V »

How true is this statement from AIrforce technology

https://www.airforce-technology.com/pro ... r-missile/
I-Derby ER orders and deliveries

India test-fired I-Derby ER missile from a Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) in Goa in April 2021, marking the Tejas LCA’s improved beyond visual range capabilities. India purchased the I-Derby ER missiles from Israel in 2020 under emergency mode during the India-China stand-off in the Galwan valley.

The Indian Air Force’s Su-30MKI fleet is expected to be armed with I-Derby ER missiles by 2022.
Does PIB enhanced version of Derby refer to I-Derby ER? If this news is true and it is integrated with IOC Tejas and I-Derby ER is in service I will be most happy. Swift retreat will become a faster retreat.
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by basant »

It doesn't cite any sources. It's possible that the conclusion was arrived based on Janes' article that 'interpreted' the press release.
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by Cain Marko »

Kc10 tankers and possibly global hawks bring retired by the USAF. Perhaps these can be procured for cheap?
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by brar_w »

They are both being retired because they are an excessive drag on readiness, or are otherwise too costly to upgrade and operate for a number of additional years. Difficult to think any good reason as to why anyone else would want to get them if even the USAF thinks they are better off divesting them and saving on O&S and readiness money so that they could put it down for future systems.
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by srai »

Manish_P wrote:
srai wrote:
Ok. That was in 1988. One has to remember India purchased the MiG-29s back then through barter with the Soviet Union in exchange for bananas! Clearly Philip, that would have been a better proposition to acquire many more MiG-29s for $0 ... bananas only. Different era :)
Surely it was other thing/goods in addition to bananas..
Yes, BATA shoes :twisted:
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by Philip »

And Chiclets! Remember them"
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by VinodTK »

MiG 21 crash in Moga: Deceased pilot’s friends start online petition demanding discontinuation of fighter jet
Days after Indian Air Force (IAF) Squadron Leader Abhinav Chaudhary died after the MiG-21 Bison fighter jet he was flying crashed, the 29-year-old pilot’s friends have started an online petition, demanding that the jet be discontinued from the force.

The online petition ‘Mig 21 aircrafts should be discontinued’ has already been signed by more than 15,000 people. Chaudhary’s friends say the petition is not only about the deceased pilot, but is about “every single pilot still risking their life by flying MiG-21s”.

The online petition reads, “…We lost another young pilot, Squadron Leader Abhinav Chaudhary. He was the only son of his parents. Each year, a number of our fighter pilots are being killed during crashes… Still our young pilots in the IAF squad are being allowed to train on one of the oldest fighter planes in the country… I appeal to the government that these accident-prone aircraft should no longer be allowed by the Indian Air Force.”

Software engineer Anupriya Batra, a childhood friend of Chaudhary’s from his hometown of Meerut, told The Indian Express, “Since May 21, when the deadly crash occurred, memories of Abhinav sitting in front of the television and watching the cartoon ‘Swat Kats’ for hours come to my mind. It was in our school days itself that he had decided to be a pilot… He would always fly them (MiG-21s) with great pride like every IAF pilot does. But the question is how many more such young, bright and passionate pilots will be lost because of these obsolete jets?” Priyesh Jain, another childhood friend from Meerut, says the petition is not just about Chaudhary, but for each pilot risking their lives while flying MiGs. “The question is how many more lives will be lost this way before these jets will be phased out. Like Abhinav, each pilot flying these jets is risking his/her life and it’s deplorable if these jets will continue to fly even after the irreparable loss we have suffered,” he said.

Another friend, requesting anonymity, said, “We believe the jet developed some snag and to avert a major tragedy and loss of lives, he delayed his ejection till there were open fields. He saved many lives and gave his own. We request everyone to support this petition so that our voice reaches the Union government.”

Meanwhile, residents of village Langeana in Moga, where the crash occurred, are planning to install a statue of Chaudhary as a tribute to the pilot.
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by chetak »

Manish_P wrote:
srai wrote:
Ok. That was in 1988. One has to remember India purchased the MiG-29s back then through barter with the Soviet Union in exchange for bananas! Clearly Philip, that would have been a better proposition to acquire many more MiG-29s for $0 ... bananas only. Different era :)
Surely it was other thing/goods in addition to bananas..
shoes, tea, spices, leather and some other consumer items were also involved

In the russia of those times, only potatoes, bread, chicken, oil were available and sometimes other meat too and vodka in plenty.

I spent some time there and we were commonly mistaken for georgians because of our skin tones

but party apparatchiks and high officials were allowed into the better class of hotels in which food was available in plenty. These hotels were normally banned for the aam russkis.
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by Manish_P »

chetak wrote:...
I spent some time there and we were commonly mistaken for georgians because of our skin tones...
You sure can spring unexpected surprises, Comrade Chetak :)
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by RajaRudra »

chetak wrote:
Manish_P wrote:
I spent some time there and we were commonly mistaken for georgians because of our skin tones
Even if it is of few days stay, please consider writing a travel story, how you felt there and many memories.
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by chetak »

RajaRudra wrote:
chetak wrote:
Even if it is of few days stay, please consider writing a travel story, how you felt there and many memories.
wasn't there as a tourist, saar.
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by mody »

The recent news about Isothermal forged compressor discs for the Adour engines of the Jaguar is good news.
Looks like the Jaguar engines will get a new lease of life with the replacement of the hot section engine compressor blades. Most likely this will restore the full thrust capacity of the engines and increase the life. I hope that maybe it can even increase the thrust marginally. The original Adour engines are old and technology used in them should be dated.

4 squadrons of DARIN-III upgraded jags with the re-vitalized engines can serve us for upto 2032-35. The oldest 2 squadrons will start getting retired most likely from 2025 onwards. Maybe we should have gone with about 4 squadrons of new Jags in the late 1990s-early 2000s, in place of the 37 new built Jags that we inducted in that timeframe. With all the new precision guided stand off weapons, they should be more than capable of taking care of business on the western front.

Could even allow us to come with our own engine in place of the Adour, if IAF shows interest in and goes ahead with i-Hawk program as proposed by HAL. If upto 100 i-Hawks as proposed by HAL are to be built, it would make sense to develop and build our own version of the Adour engine. We have had the ToT for the engines and HAL has been tinkering with them and overhauling them for a long time.
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by LakshmanPST »

Will phase out MiG-21s in 3 years, induct Rafales by 2022: IAF chief
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ind ... 680332.cms
The phasing out of MIG21 fighter jets, which have been involved in several accidents over the years, will happen in the next two to three years, Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria said on Saturday.
Discontinuation of flying MIG-21 immediately is not the answer. In another 2-3 years they will be phased out as soon as they get to their life's end.
So, it is quite evident... IAF is waiting for 2 squadrons of Rafales and 2 squadrons of Tejas to be come fully operational... Once they're fully operational, Bisons will be out of service...
We can hopefully expect the 4th MIG29 squadron and the 13th Su30 squadron to be operational by then as well...
"In addition, Airbus A320-based Airborne warning aircraft and follow-up on Embraer aircraft will take place", he said
So, IAF is indeed pursuing for more Netras... How they will bypass the blacklist need to be seen...
But this is welcome news...
Aditya_V
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by Aditya_V »

A couple more important quotes from ACM

https://swarajyamag.com/insta/iaf-to-in ... hree-years
"Discontinuation of flying the MiG-21 immediately is not the answer. In another 2-3 years they will be phased out as soon as they get to their life's end. Our plan to induct 36 Rafales is on target. Once the Rafales are inducted, the focus will be on the induction of the LCA over the next three-and-a-half years", the IAF Chief has been quoted as saying.

The IAF is also focusing on developing the advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA) in collaboration with the DRDO and the industry.

In addition, Airbus 320-based airborne warning aircraft and follow-up on Embraer aircraft will take place,” he said.
Some jingo dreams are taking shape without heavy advance notice to adversaries.

So basically what the ACM said

1)Bison squadrons will be de inducted and possibly some jaguar squadrons will also start retiring
2) NO mention of MRFA
3) Induction of Netra with Embarer and A-320 platform
4) IAF push on LCA and developing AMCA

And offcourse given BRF trend these days, this kind of news is roundly ignored.
shaun
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Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by shaun »

Recent tweets on IJT by HVT , spin test takes 2 years, tests going on briskly and AL 55i being used
Aditya_V
BRF Oldie
Posts: 14331
Joined: 05 Apr 2006 16:25

Re: Indian Air Force News & Discussion - 23 March 2021

Post by Aditya_V »

LakshmanPST wrote:Will phase out MiG-21s in 3 years, induct Rafales by 2022: IAF chief
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ind ... 680332.cms
And No mention of MRFA :D , so hopefully Rafale 36, 40 LCA, 21 Mig 29, 12 Super Su 30 will be added before the Bisons start retiring, the LCA MK1A will replace 2 sq of Bisons and 3 Squadrons of retiring Jaguars.
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