Transport Aircraft for IAF

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Gilles
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Gilles »

Another Boeing C-17 commercial disguised as a News article

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp? ... mid=123560
Long Beach-built Boeing C-17 Globemaster jets owned by the United States, Canada and Qatar are playing an increasing role in operations across war-scarred Libya, including the recent airlift of wounded rebel fighters....

.....A Qatari Air Force C-17 was used in early April to ferry 15 seriously injured fighters from outside the eastern harbour town of Brega, where revolutionaries have been clashing with fighters loyal to longtime Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.....

......The C-17 is likely one of the only heavy-lift jets capable of operating in that country right now, largely because of its ability to land and takeoff on unpaved runways as short as 3,500 feet............

.......The main airport in the capital, Tripoli, remains under the control of Gaddafi, and the tiny one-runway airport in the area of Brega, where the Qatari rescue mission occurred, has been the scene of fierce fighting and is believed damaged......


......However, the mostly flat desert around the small town would be ideal for the C-17, which has operated successfully under similar geographical conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan for years.......

Brega, of course has a 7,200 foot asphalt runway, that can handle many large jets, so in order to make this article plausible, the airport "is believed damaged". And no C-17 has ever landed in "mostly flat desert" areas anywhere in the world, let alone in Iraq and Afghanistan (unless you call landing on the desert runway of Edwards Air Force base where the space shuttle lands, a desert area)
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Gilles »

I know some people here don't care about what goes on in the rest of the world, but here is a picture, taken in Moscow today, of the new Royal Jordanian Air Force IL-76MF on a pre-delivery flight. Its a stretch IL-76 with modern High by-pass PS-90 engines, the same as on the IAF A-50 AWACS. This is the first of an order of two.
Image
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Indranil »

I definitely like the looks of it ... Any idea what they paid for it?

Russians and americans are both making planes for long and both have economies of scale working for them. Yet how come Russian planes less than half the cost. Differential of labour cost can't certainly account for 100s of millions per plane!

What am I missing?

P.S. IAF has serious problems of keeping the 76s in the air. In fact it seems that they havn't had any luck with the newer 78s/50s either. That is why they seem to move away from it for all the deals, be it tankers, AWACs, and of course transport from the looks of it. How can Russia possibly allay that fear that it will not happen with the IL-76MFs? If they can do it, I am sure that we have the requirement and money for 16 C-17s and 16 MFs
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Austin »

indranilroy wrote:Russians and americans are both making planes for long and both have economies of scale working for them. Yet how come Russian planes less than half the cost. Differential of labour cost can't certainly account for 100s of millions per plane!
Labour costs hardly account for much higher cost of aircraft be it russia,europe,india or US , the cost accounted for is the cost of equipment and the huge profits that Western contractors and subcontractors make who supply the parts in building these aircraft.

If you strip the IL-76 of all things russians besides the fuselage and add in western engines ,equipment and avionic/sensors to it , the cost Western IL-76 would be comparable to similar Western types.

Infact there is a quite a sum of difference in cost what Russian manufacturer sells to Russian government and Export customer , for the same equipment all things being equal an export variant cost 20-30 % more and manufacturer makes good profit , while the same equipment is sold to russian MOD with paper thin margins.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Gilles »

Jordan's IL-76MFs were probably completed with previously built but unsold airframes, originally built in Tashkent in the 90s. So the unsold airframes were built in the immediate post-communist era of cheap labor and parts. It is rumored that they paid about in $50 million for each. It will be the first IL-76MF ever sold and delivered.
It unlikely that new IL-476 built from scratch in Russia will sell for under $100 million.
The six IL-78s that the IAF bought, although also built in the 90s, were purchased with the older generation D-30KP engines, like India's IL-76MDs. Only the three A-50s have the new PS-90 engines.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Juggi G »

Cross Post

Spare Parts Situation of the Existing IAF Fleet of
IL-76s
IL-78s
A-50s

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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Singha »

even the russian armed forces are shopping for arms abroad these days. quite clearly the pipeline of new products is inadequate to nonexistent in many areas and the after sales service not upto the mark.

if we have to pay for in dollars anyway, better to get it from non-russian vendors. south korea appears promising prospect.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Austin »

India developing first civilian aircraft
India is developing its first civilian aircraft, which would be a 70 to 90-seater plane catering to the regional aviation market, and a feasibility study is currently on, a top scientist said today.

"We are looking at creating a Regional Transport Aircraft (RTA) which would be 70 or a 90-seater. The feasibility study is being carried out now," M R Nayak, Advisor and Chief Scientist at the state-owned National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) said here.

A high-powered committee headed by former Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) G Madhavan Nair has already been set up to guide the project. He said the aircraft would be developed through the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

Besides NAL which is the nodal agency for the project, the public sector firms participating in the project are HAL, DRDO, ISRP, BEL and ADA, while those in the private sector included HCL, QUEST, Infosys, Mahindras, L&T and Tata Group.

Nayak was speaking at a meeting of Indo-US aviation manufacturers, where Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar said the growing aviation market in the country had greatly enhanced the opportunities for businesses of both countries to collaborate in such projects.

Keskar said India would require 1,150 civilian planes, worth USD 130 billion, over the next two decades, and another USD 30 billion worth of military aircraft, missiles and other aerospace equipment.

The Regional Transport Aircraft (RTA) is being developed to have a range of 800 kilometres, making it conducive for travel within India due to the close proximity of Tier-I and Tier-II cities.

Reports said as many as 400 RTAs were planned to be manufactured with half of them going to the armed forces. NAL was in discussions with global engine manufacturers including Pratt & Whitney of Canada and General Electric of US, and avionics firms like Rockwell Collins and Diehl Aerospace.

Addressing the meet, Aaron Wilkins, Indian representative of US aviation regulator Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), stressed on joint efforts to enhance quality of Indian aviation sector processes and achieve standardisation of Indian equipment.

He said as many as 21 training programmes were being offered on aviation-related technical issues in the country under the US-India Aviation Cooperation Programme.

With fast-paced developments in aviation technology, DGCA was in the process of upgrading its process of certifying the new technologies, A K Saran, Joint Director General of the DGCA, said.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by GeorgeWelch »

Decks cleared for $5.8-bn C-17 Globemaster deal
The deal to buy 10 C-17 Globemaster-III aircraft from Boeing of the US is a step closer to being clinched. The finance ministry, after initial objections, has sanctioned the money for the acquisition.

According to sources, after this development, the only formality left is the approval by the Cabinet committee on security, which is expected soon.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Singha »

the only other bulk operators of russian made eqpt are probably ukraine and china.

should we import spares from china assuming they have localized somethings which we want?

ukraine has no real need for a high readiness af and is perhaps ok with waiting for months until rus factory gives them a production lot.

to me it seems no option but to source OEM spares from Rus given the scale at which we operate...cannibalizing parts from mothballed a/c in peru or sierra leone might be cheap but the risks are too high

we should retired older kit like SAMs , Kamovs as soon as possible and find our own solns like Akash and Spyder. likewise for Mi17 we should make it end of road and focus asap on a new 10t helicopter in collab with eurocopter.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Austin »

I dont think its easy to outsource spare or procure it from any where except OEM be it Eastern or Western aircraft or other platforms.

You can get non-essential stuff like tyres or lights or cockpit LCD but when it comes to key or major aircraft component you have to rely on OEM or its designated suppliers.

Lets say if there was a crash or some failure analysis has to be done the OEM would just say the components procured does not belong to it and the possible cause is that specific component failure or that specific component failed because the other components that dependent on it was not the original from OEM hence we cannot do a failure analysis , Please go to the people who have developed those systems.

So this RFI thing to procure components wont fly much , India will have to work with OEM to get support and components , Much like you cant buy F-16 parts from any where than lockmart and M2K components can only be supplied by Dassult , in the same way MKI components and support will come from Sukhoi or its designated suppliers.

Thats really the downside of importing stuff , you are totally dependent on OEM and OEM can make life difficult if they know you are playing games or opting for components thats not sources from OEM or its designated suppliers.

Considering we import 70 % of defence equipment and the way RFI/RFP is going out these days t these problems are here to stay for a long time to come.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Singha »

+1 to that.

what amazes me is how iran has managed to keep some F-4 phantoms operating ... is there a 2nd hand market from operators like germany disposing off their kit to 'brokers' who sell the plane for the value of its dismantled spares?

or does the US have a secret deal to supply iran with spares in exchange for 'good behaviour' on some fronts?
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Austin »

At $580 million per aircraft that would be the single most expensive system in the entire defence forces of India (leaving an Aircraft Carrier perhaps ) , Handle With Care :)

Do we have a break down of systems , support and spares being procured for C-17 deal ?
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Austin »

Singha wrote:+1 to that.

what amazes me is how iran has managed to keep some F-4 phantoms operating ... is there a 2nd hand market from operators like germany disposing off their kit to 'brokers' who sell the plane for the value of its dismantled spares?

or does the US have a secret deal to supply iran with spares in exchange for 'good behaviour' on some fronts?
Iran can keep operating the F-4 or F-14 via mothballed aircraft or components procured from global arms black market ( we can do the same ) but no way Iran can go to United States and ask for warranty/guarantee/support for such systems ( it wont amuse US any ways :rotfl: ) they have nothing much to loose they will use it as long as it last and as long as the black market can supply spares at many times its original cost with no guarantee for spares whats so ever.

Their mantra seems to be lets make best use of it rather then just throw it and in Iran's case it just works.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by VishalJ »

April 28 2011, Long Beach - Daugherty Field, California.

1st & 2nd C17s for Globemaster Operator # 7 - UAE Air Force
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Singha »

livefist.blogspot.com

The $4.1-billion deal for 10 Boeing C-17 Globemaster-III strategic transports will shortly be signed between the governments of India and the US. Queries sent by India, asking for clarifications on certain costings (which emerged from the Ministry of Finance) have reportedly been addressed to the satisfaction of the contract team. The final foreign military sales (FMS) contract is expected to come up for final approval at the Indian government's apex Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) before contract signature goes through.

When concluded, the single-source ten aircraft deal will be the largest Indo-US military hardware contract yet signed, surpassing the $962.7-million deal for six Lockheed-Martin C-130Js and the $2.1-billion for eight Boeing P-8I Neptune LRMR/ASW aircraft.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Austin »

Model of IL-476 and IL-476 AWACS configuration ( credits Said Aminov/ International Aviation Transport Forum )

IL-476

IL-476/AWACS
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by NRao »

Austin wrote:I dont think its easy to outsource spare or procure it from any where except OEM be it Eastern or Western aircraft or other platforms.

......................

Considering we import 70 % of defence equipment and the way RFI/RFP is going out these days t these problems are here to stay for a long time to come.
There are multiple topics here.

Parts. I do not see it as an issue. IF India can supply a part there should be plenty of takers to make very high quality duplicates. This is no longer 1990s. I just do not see an issue with other companies making quality duplicates.

On the issue of support and warranty, etc, that could be an issue. However, I am sure the IAF has thought this through and has a game plan.

I feel it is a great thing for India. I am very glad that the IAF has broken away from the past!!!!!

I do not see this as much as a snub towards Russia as much as freeing India.

The Russians should be happy for India!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What are friends meant for?
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Rakesh »

NRao wrote:The Russians should be happy for India!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What are friends meant for?
Saar, you know the saying...."There are no friends, only interests."
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by NRao »

Which, then, is cool.

Why would India be worried about OEM?
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Rakesh »

Because our politicians and babus are naive enough to believe that the term friend, has some intrinsic value in the matters of national security and our relationship with other nations. Remember Nehru's Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai or Krishna Menon who consistently embarrassed himself at the United Nations, as to why other countries are giving China a hard time? The 1962 Indo-Sino War changed all that and if I remember correctly, Nehru's exact words were..."Whatever they see, belongs to them." Alas the realization came a little late and we are still suffering because of it.

Only India honours agreements but the other side does not have to. But that is okay, we will still do business with them. That is the way it has been running all this while.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Austin »

Parts that are manufactured or can be manufactured locally are lic built ones , they dont make duplicate but take lic rights from OEM to manufacture it locally along with design document , even those built locally are made from engineering equipment directly imported from OEM.

Its not always feasible to manufacture all the parts locally or the OEM might refuse lic for critical components that has to be directly imported.

This is nothing specific to Russia or any other country , thats how things work thats a BIG pitfall in importing equipment , you are dependent on the OEM through out equipment life time for support and services.

If you use duplicate components or just order from any body other then authorised vendor , the OEM can refuse(legally) to provide any support spares and leaving the entire class of equipment to OEM mercy.

Look at the way how France has been making India dance to its tune for M2K upgrade , its like more then 5 years of negotiation and counting , India has no choice but to opt for OEM which is Dassult , if India refuses to do so the entire M2K fleet spares/support will end up in big trouble.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by arunsrinivasan »

^^
have a query on the implications of this on Rafale - posted in the Rafale / Typhoon thread.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Sanku »

Breaking news of CAG report on Air India/Indian airlines.

Massive scam

Requirement of 28 a/c upgraded unilaterally to 68
Planning commission inputs ignored
Forced to buy from Boeing instead of competition with Airbus.

Primarily the Mins doing.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Austin »

Yeah I saw that they need some 30 odd aircraft , Minister bought 70 odd ...... they recommended a mixed fleet of Airbus/Boeing , minister went for all Boeing fleet ( wonder how much money minister made as kickback from boeing )

Management recommended 50 odd lease , minister went and purchased 50 odd of it , End result they have a huge debt and probably it will end GOI restructuring it. AI would be a great example of how badly an airline can be managed.

Who was the minister Praful Patel during UPA ? No wonder if he was there NCP would have made huge money.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by svinayak »

Singha wrote:+1 to that.

what amazes me is how iran has managed to keep some F-4 phantoms operating ... is there a 2nd hand market from operators like germany disposing off their kit to 'brokers' who sell the plane for the value of its dismantled spares?

or does the US have a secret deal to supply iran with spares in exchange for 'good behaviour' on some fronts?
Balance of power. Grey market is created by US to make sure that such nations can feed and get spares at high costs

All these aircrafts can be built by India if it has JV with other nations such as Brazil and works on it for 20 years.

with Indian vision being clouded during the last 40 year such things are just dreams
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Juggi G »

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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Fidel Guevara »

A400 - Gallic-style dramatic! What would a landing such as this do to the engine, propellers, and undercarriage?
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by VinodTK »

Decks cleared for biggest-ever Indo-US defence deal
Defence ministry sources on Thursday said the Globemaster deal, a direct government-to-government contract under the American FMS (foreign military sales) programme, should get the "final nod" from the Cabinet Committee on Security "within this month".
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Juggi G »

Cross - Post

Peeved IAF Looks Beyond Russia To Revive Ilyushins
Live Fist
Image
Seemingly exasperated by low-availability/serviceability for years as a consequence of what it has described unofficially as "unpredictable Russian support" and the country's apparent unwillingness to honour after-sales commitments, the Indian Air Force is looking for the first time beyond Russia for long-term maintenance and product support of its fleet of Ilyushin-76 heavy transports and Ilyushin-78M tanker transports at Agra, Chandigarh, Delhi and Nagpur.

In April this year, the IAF broke with tradition and floated a global tender to provide its Il-76/78 fleet "service support to ensure IAF requirements to maintain present airworthiness standards" for a period of five years, extendable to ten. The IAF has been improvising plenty to keep the heavy jets airworthy, but does not believe it can continue to do so without solid support. The Russian OEM, apparently, cannot be relied upon. The IAF has stipulated that bidders need to have the support of the Ilyushin Design Bureau.

According to the tender document, "The primary requirement of the contract is to ensure a minimum serviceability of 70% of number of [aircraft] included in the contract during the currency of contract. Period of contract shall be five years, further extendable for another five years. The vendor is required to meet this requirement by providing all the required maintenance and product support." It further stipulates that, "on any single day the serviceability of each fleet (IL-76 and IL-78) should not fall below 50% of total number of ac included in the contract."

Interestingly, the IAF has offered to pay the winning bidder an incentive if higher serviceability percentage above the minimum specified is achieved during execution of the contract. And they'll be penalised if they fall short of the required mark.

Nine IAF Ilyushins which will be undergoing overhaul and total life extension at the time the contract is expected to be awarded will not be included. An additional unspecified number of Ilyushins has remained grounded indefinitely "for want of spares/aggregates which have become unserviceable or expired their TBO/TTL".

Here's the Full IAF Request for Information.
Hey, the IAF's Request for Information has the Serial Numbers of the Entire Il-76/78 Fleet.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Singha »

I am thinking maybe Aeroflot or Volga-dniepr aviation(who operate the famous AN124s) if they operates IL76 could have the engineering expertise and 'contacts' back at ilyushin base and moscow to step in as the maintainer.

still its quite clear the IL76 era of IAF is over. for better or worse it will be C17, AN32upg, AN124-mki (I hope!) and A330MRTT/AWACS (my fervent hope!)

scrap the MRA. Embraer is working on a similar jet engine tactical plane. join them and produce as many as we want in India with solid support and future upg. Embraer sounds about 100x more reliable to me as a partner than cash strapped Rus OEMs and their shaky supply chain. Embraer can source from the best parts makers worldwide incl khanate and indeed they do.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Pratyush »

^^^

The IL MRA may be dead any ways. The only question is will the IAF realise it on time or will they wait another 5 years and then make distress purchase of additional 130s or the EMB jet.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Singha »

Singha
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Singha »

if we compare to MRTA docs from Ilyshun its virtually same size.

KC390 has main cargo bay length of 12.6m , ramp further 6m, height 3m, width 3.35m

from livefist.

Image

Image

it looks , feels and walks the same.

so lets get the duck that quacks!
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Singha »

Ilyushin is unable to give us spares and OEM service for a extensive fleet of IL76 incl vital ones like Phalcon and Midas.

expecting them to co-operate with us and deliver MRTA on time and provide excellent service for it is a pipe dream. sooner we bell this cat the better and call spade a spade. lizard isnt going to wait until we are 'ready' in 20 yrs before whacking our behinds all over the park. as the prime tactical transport MRTA is a vital niche.

its like comparing hindustan motors with honda. both can deliver cars with 4 wheels and steering and thats about where similarity ends. EMB has a track record of producing 1000s of planes at reasonable cost in service worldwide and levels of service accepted by top airlines worldwide. they are already our partner for AEW efforts and surely for desi JSTARs when it comes. we have EMB in service within india, like with paramount airways of coimbatore. they also bring in the best western engines via RR/PW/GE....sfc and engine opex is a good point for MRTA expected to be heavily tasked 365 days a year.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Philip »

Water will find its own level.If the Russians cannot deliver the goods,we will have to find other sources,like Israel,etc.The problem is that the number of IL-76/78 aircraft in service is huge and we cannot just abandon them.Even if C-17s are ordered in bulk,they will not arrive immediately and will still be too few in number for our multiple operations.The situ in Russia is in a state of flux with new projects/systems benefiting from heavy funding,while Soviet era legacy systems have their complexities as many component manufacturers were scattered all over the USSR.The global tender for support for IL-76s,etc., is a sensible one.Ideally,we should embark upon an indigenous replacement programme for AN-32s and IL-76s which will arrive in the next decade.I would even consider a production line for IL-476s in Indian IF complete TOT is obtained so that local support/manufacture of spares by private Indian co.s can deliver where the OEM has failed! This should be the future strategy of all acquisitions,even with the C-17.One can call for global cooperation for both heavy and medium types,the MTA should suffice for the medium role,but we also need another slightly smaller type with more endurance/payload for specialised maritime,EW and utility roles,which can also replace DO-228s,a type required in v.large number for the IN,CG,etc.

PS:Acquisitions for the services has entered a new phase in recent times.During the Cold War it was buy/build at home under licence.The gargantuan Soviet military machine ensured that spares,etc. were usually readily available in bulk.We acquired M-2000s the same way,never thinking about local manufacture,a major fault.Post Soviet-era,we entered into another phase.Su-30s are being manufactured at home,after ensuring that their basic configuration had an Indian "flavour" with an assortment of western and Indian eqpt. installed.The B'Mos missile has been an unqualified success,where local manufacture has experienced little shortcomings.If this route and structure is adopted for new programmes,with all foreign collaborators,then the issue of support,spares,etc. will in course of time reduce substantially,especially if private Indian industry is roped in.The decision to allow private shipyards for warship/sub manufacture is a long overdue but welcome step forward.
Last edited by Philip on 06 Jun 2011 13:44, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Pratyush »

The RTA 70 will make a good starting point for the domestic An32 replacement. But the RTA 7o needs to be completed first.
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by Austin »

Couple of quick notes on this

1 ) KC-390 looks a very good aircraft and its specs closely matches MTA but we have really not seen EMB offering us a joint development for this project.
2 ) HAL certainly seems to be very happy with the MTA deal because according to HAL chairman its for the first time they would be designing a transport aircraft from scratch something they have never done yet , not sure EMB would ever let HAL do that.
3 ) Delay in MTA occurred in harmonizing the IAF/RuAF needs , RuAF was more keen for a stretched An-158 variant (An-178 ) that could carry 15T and was quickly available , IAF insisted on 20T cargo payload capacity finally IAF won the day ,Plus a 100 seater transport aircraft will be developed from MTA.
4 ) They have already signed the deal so its highly unlikey both parties would go back , more ever there is a ready market for 150 aircraft RuAF 100 , IAF 50 ... IAF might go for more later ... KC-390 till date does not have big numbers or committed customers in the end without numbers the project might get expensive
5 ) If we cannot join the KC-390 project never mind we end up competing with them ;)
6 ) Technologically both aircraft will be on equal footing nothing much to choose.
neerajb
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Re: Transport Aircraft for IAF

Post by neerajb »

Following is the list of aircrafts that the PDF mentions, total 23 in number. Didn't find anything about K-3015 and RK-3448, though they were delivered to IAF as well. In addition to these, IAF has three more Il-76/78s i.e. KW-3551, KW-3552 and KW-3553 used as AWAACs.

Code: Select all

  S/N     Type  Delivered
K-2661	Il-76MD	1985
K-2662	Il-76MD	1985
K-2663	Il-76MD	1985
K-2664	Il-76MD	1985
K-2665	Il-76MD	1985
K-2666	Il-76MD	1985
K-2878	Il-76MD	1986
K-2879	Il-76MD	1986
K-2901	Il-76MD	1987
K-2902	Il-76MD	1987
K-2999	Il-76MD	1987
K-3000	Il-76MD	1988
K-3012	Il-76MD	1988
K-3013	Il-76MD	1988
K-3014	Il-76MD	1989
K-3077	Il-76MD	1989
K-3078	Il-76MD	1989
RK-3449	Il-78M	2003
RK-3450	Il-78M	2003
RK-3451	Il-78M	2004
RK-3452	Il-78M	2004
RK-3453	Il-78M	2004
RK-3454	Il-78M	2004
Cheers....
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