UlanBatori wrote:
Cainji, I am sure the Navy leadership understands the implication of their "strategy": MiG-29 is beneath their standards. LCA is beneath their standards. This leaves - what? French and American Navy fighters Rafale or F/A-18, unless they are arguing for JF-17.
Let's see:
1. Admiral Ramdoss, fomer head of Indian Navy. Notorious anti-Indian, spends much of his time slandering India on behalf of foreign entities and commie-pakis. Apparently an enthusiast if not representative of foreign arms dealers.
2. Admiral "golf" Nadkarni, former head of Indian Navy: Spent much of his time during the LCA development, calling for its cancellation. When the LCA actually flew, came out with an article DEMANDING project cancellation, that was so bogus it should have been marked as criminal in its misleading nature.
3. Another Navy boss has been shunted out because his wife was running the Navy, not he. For relatives. By relatives.
These atrocities went on for years and years unchecked. So I think some skepticism by the public is warranted on IN decisions. LCA may not be export-ready, but the IN leadership Alumni Association certainly seems export-ready.
The I in IN stands for India. It is a fact of life that without procurement from the armed services, indigenous weapon development is doomed. So a decision to "have nothing to do with it" by one service, should be unacceptable.
IIRC, when LCA was brought out, the Prototype 5 which was the Navy version, was the most interesting and advanced, since it had several aerodynamic features that others did not have. Now the Navy says it does not meet it's requirements? Are Indian Navy ships somehow special in that the LCA cannot land or takeoff on them? Have IN ships become smaller in the past 10 years? Pilots less skilled? I don't see why. Do they have R&D projects to solve whatever special problems are encountered?
The engine is underpowered? India does not know how to make engines of suitable thrust-to-weight ratio and reliability. That is not fixed by cancelling requirements. Frankly I think the whole setup stinks. Why can't MiG and Sukhoi fighters' engines be adapted, or the LCA adapted, for a match? Ask the Admirals to lose weight and set an example for Navy pilots. Develop lighter weapons.
Meanwhile, China is coming out with aircraft carrier production, and sailing those things all round the world (OK< under tow most of the time..) They are using their own fighters, not French or American. Why does this not work only with India?
The right course of action is for the IN leadership to be invited to a private meeting with the civilian leadership, and given sailing orders. If IN leadership does not cooperate in LCA development, then it is the leadership, not the LCA, that needs to be cancelled. Maybe like the BCCI, Indian netaship could decide that IN needs Phoren Coaches to replace the present top layer?
Maybe a lot of the funds earmarked for Navy procurement should be re-directed to LCA development to solve the outstanding issues.
So yes, given the antics of past leadership, the dissatisfaction with the MiG-29 and now the LCA combine to paint a rather bad picture of IN. Maybe they need to bring back the Mysteres.
Mongolsaar,
I can understand the suspicion wrt said gentlemen, but
I can't understand this.... Notwithstanding the antics of nadkarni types, it was the Navy under Arun prakash that funded the nlca and deputed the rather talented and Senior offixers like Cmdr Balaji and Maolanker to oversee the project. The Chiefs who followed also backed prakashs legacy. Btw, the support for the mk2 continues and MP is on record clarifying this.
After doing all this if the Navy finds that the end product does not work, they are the bad guys?
As far as the comparisons with USA and China are concerned, I'm not sure how they apply... if it works for these two countries, it should work for India? To my eyes Indian forces do not have the luxury of awaiting loong development cycles..... Not when they continually have extremely belligerent neighbors knocking on their door.
Having said this, I have to admit that I was rather surprised that the Indian Navy went with the mk1 design to begin with. To my layman eyes, it seemed like a doomed effort for stobar type ops when even the land based version seemed like it was underpowered.... The light single engine thingie leaves very little room for error and a twin engine design might have been a better way forward. Or at least a medium class design if it had to have a single engine ala fsolah. Spider sense tells me that same c crap will happen with the mk2 if they persist with a 10 ton engine for what is likely to be an 8 plus ton airframe. But then i am a mere layman enthusiast when it comes to such things.