nam wrote:The fact that Chinese started with a ship platform for their active array program ( took 15 years to deploy it), tells you the priority they had given for naval build up.
Ship based radar will always be fewer in number and expensive. So this naval build up is not sudden, planned long time back. Their first version was air cooled. The latest version on 52D is liquid cooled.
Along with the missiles,radar is one domain we have done well. All thanks to BMD program. When there is funding, we are able to get things done.
We should have been cranking out AESA radars in numbers and make it cheaper to operate and export. We have a great base with AESA, alas we have not been able to use this advantage.
Obviously, a naval buildup of this magnitude is not sudden. We know from our own programs that lead time is immense and so projects must be scheduled years if not decades ahead.
Nam ji, the difference between us and them is production — not just in the hull but in electronics as well.
They have their own Aegis in numbers with the Type 052C, Type 052D, Type 055, the Liaoning and their new carrier under sea trials.
The same with their AEW radar with the KJ-200, KJ-500, ZDK-03 and KJ-2000.
We, otoh, are putting in Israeli radars for all of our spanking new incoming systems. No matter whether it is the Vikrant, the Visakhapatnam, the P17A or the Tejas, the radar will be Israeli, Israeli, Israeli, Israeli in that respective order.
This is what happens when we run lab experiments with LRDE and provide no funding for actual use and production because the phoren stuff is always better.
The chini stuff could be shite and stolen and full of Ukrainian TOT but they have things in numbers and on ships and aircraft that provide income to improve and innovate. All because they are racing with the Americans.
It seems we will be happy enough with proclaiming the MF STAR to be superior. We need to be in a race with Cheen but we starve our own horses while feeding and riding phoren ones.