brar_w wrote:chetak wrote:why on earth would the IN be the only customer in the world to say, to hell with stealth and many other features.
Because designing an advanced 5th generation land based fighter with stealth, integrated avionics, supercruise and a flexible IWB is complex enough that demanding the same for a ruggedized navalized fighter, that can operate from both STOBAR and CATOBAR carriers, comes with a truck full of technical and schedule risk especially when the learning curve for 5GFA has only started. If the IN wants a MiG-29K replacement, operational on a carrier deck within 15 years then it would have shed quite a bit of that risk and that is what it appears to have done. If the IN felt that the MiG-29K's were "30-year platforms" (like the recently retired F/A-18's for example) then it could have possible taken a little more risk and asked for more capability. But if the decision is driven by schedule and the need to get operational aircraft on the deck by so and so date then something has to be traded.
+1