IAF at Red Flag / Nellis AFB 2008

Victor · Post by **Victor** » 09 Jul 2008 07:39

Aren't the avionics mainly Indian, Israeli and French? Can't be much left to hide.

ranganathan · Post by **ranganathan** » 09 Jul 2008 08:13

The most important ones are russian and indian and they have to be hidden.

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 09 Jul 2008 17:27

Folks,
The avionics being modular, it is standard operating procedure of any competent organization to switch out sensitive equipment prior to such exercises especially when being conducted out of the country.

anupam · Post by **anupam** » 11 Jul 2008 07:16

Anyone visiting WPAFB ?

JaiS · Post by **JaiS** » 11 Jul 2008 23:25

IAF has reached Mont De Marsan. Credits for this report go out to:

sud_ouest_spotters-at-yahoo-dot-com

Mont de Marsan Log 11-7-2008

SB 042 SU 30
SB 046 SU 30
SB 048 SU 30
SB 049 SU 30
SB 107 SU 30
SB 109 SU 30
SB 110 SU 30
SB 115 SU 30

K 2661 IL 76
RK 3453 IL 78
RK 3454 IL 78

JaiS · Post by **JaiS** » 11 Jul 2008 23:30

Indian Su-30 fighters depart for Red Flag exercise

It will be the first time that the Russian-made Su-30MKI will participate in multinational manoeuvres involving US and other NATO fighters. India expects to spend around Rp1 billion ($23 million) on its participation in the air combat exercise.

neerajb · Post by **neerajb** » 11 Jul 2008 23:52

So the Su-30 MKI is left with Litening pod only for strike mission with Paveway.

JaiS · Post by **JaiS** » 12 Jul 2008 00:23

From Nellis AFB's website.

Southern Nevada residents may notice an increase in military aircraft activity starting July 19 to Aug. 1 and again from Aug 9-23, 2008, as Red Flag exercises take place here.

RED FLAG PARTICIPANTS

August 2008

Red Air
F-15s and F-16s, Nellis AFB, Nev.

Blue Air
F-15s, Jacksonville, Fla.
F-15s, Eglin AFB, Fla.
Rafale', French Air Force

Air-To-Ground

Rafale', French Air Force
F-15s, Nellis AFB, Nev.
SU-30s, Indian Air Force
F-15Ks, Republic of Korea Air Force

Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses
EA-6Bs, NAS Whidbey Island, Wash.
F-16s, Nellis AFB, Nev.
F-16s, Eglin AFB, Fla.
EC-130Hs, Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.

Command and Control; Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance
E-3s, Tinker AFB, Okla.

Airlift
C-130s, French Air Force
C-17s, McChord AFB, Wash.

Air Refueling

KC-135s, unit to be determined
IL-76/78, Indian Air Force

Luxtor · Post by **Luxtor** » 12 Jul 2008 04:25

JaiS wrote:From Nellis AFB's website.

Southern Nevada residents may notice an increase in military aircraft activity starting July 19 to Aug. 1 and again from Aug 9-23, 2008, as Red Flag exercises take place here.

RED FLAG PARTICIPANTS

August 2008

Red Air
F-15s and F-16s, Nellis AFB, Nev.

Blue Air
F-15s, Jacksonville, Fla.
F-15s, Eglin AFB, Fla.
Rafale', French Air Force

Air-To-Ground

Rafale', French Air Force
F-15s, Nellis AFB, Nev.
SU-30s, Indian Air Force
F-15Ks, Republic of Korea Air Force

Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses
EA-6Bs, NAS Whidbey Island, Wash.
F-16s, Nellis AFB, Nev.
F-16s, Eglin AFB, Fla.
EC-130Hs, Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.

Command and Control; Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance
E-3s, Tinker AFB, Okla.

Airlift
C-130s, French Air Force
C-17s, McChord AFB, Wash.

Air Refueling

KC-135s, unit to be determined
IL-76/78, Indian Air Force

What? No Eurofighter?

Victor · Post by **Victor** » 12 Jul 2008 04:52

It would be huge for a Nellis Raptor to appear and do a waltz with one of our Sukhois.

I was watching Youtube videos of both and it seems the Su-30 MKI is more maneuverable. Either that or the Raptors have not worked out their entire envelope yet. Although they can seemingly do the same stuff, the Raptors look more tentative with their thrust-vectoring aerobatics.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Jul 2008 05:53

with 80 raptors in squadron service I would think flight testing is all done and put away.

neerajb · Post by **neerajb** » 12 Jul 2008 10:10

Can someone enlighten me how the Flanker would acquire the targets without the radar. Is it going to get the target data from F-15Ks or Rafale to engage the targets using litening pod? I always thought that conventional bombsights use radar input for providing fire solution, so how the Rambha is going to drop conventional bombs without radar?

Shankar · Post by **Shankar** » 12 Jul 2008 17:51

IRTS maybe

maz · Post by **maz** » 13 Jul 2008 01:08

Based on the serials, is it likely that a/c from two SU-30 sqns are involved?

Aditya_M · Post by **Aditya_M** » 13 Jul 2008 23:39

Luxtor - Britain is not a participant at this year's Red Flag, and neither are Spain / Italy / Germany. So no Eurofighters.

neerajbhandari - Target acquisition through third party (J-STARS et al) and through pre-flight mission briefings.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 14 Jul 2008 14:26

something tells me that the su30's are going to be bounced during ingress and exit and will have to fight their way through!

more interestingly, it opens up possibilities for USAF to sanitise defenses for IAF to penetrate - some interesting joint ops possibilities

Kapil · Post by **Kapil** » 15 Jul 2008 12:45

Wow,

so the MKIs will operate in tethered mode with J-Stars etc?
And they won't even show off their IRST?
And the FCL in a cockpit will actually be hitting 'ground' targets?
And they dont even get to do their own Electronic sweep?

Woe betide us

JTull · Post by **JTull** » 15 Jul 2008 14:04

Singha wrote:with 80 raptors in squadron service I would think flight testing is all done and put away.

They were declared operational about a year ago. BTW, there was a one-aircraft flying display at the Air Tattoo in fairford last weekend (apparently, first time outside US)

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 16 Jul 2008 13:11

Completely hypothetical scenario, since we are into the subject of maintaining privacy of the hi tech stuff on the MKI.

What would happen in the unfortunate event that an MKI crashes during an exercise on foreign land?

You can bet there will be a complete leak of tech knowhow of all recoverable parts in such a situation. How do we manage such a scenario?

Kapil · Post by **Kapil** » 16 Jul 2008 15:01

Hi,

I think there are pre-agreed mutual understandings/etc .
While the host country can use guile and resources to find info,it won't do that in an obvious manner.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 16 Jul 2008 17:57

Indian Air Force's SU-30 plane being refuelled over the active volcano of Mount Etna in Sicily enroute to USA for Exercise 'Red Flag' on Tuesday.

tsarkar · Post by **tsarkar** » 16 Jul 2008 18:24

When Barren Island exploded, all IN planes were asked to stay off due to emissions of sulphuric acid (that corrodes parts) and silica (that turns into glass on the airframe/engines due to the heat)

Some official observations at http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/2004/04_08_26.html

I couldnt make out whether they're actually flying in the plumes

Avid · Post by **Avid** » 17 Jul 2008 03:21

Aditya_M wrote:Luxtor - Britain is not a participant at this year's Red Flag, and neither are Spain / Italy / Germany. So no Eurofighters.

It would be huge for a Nellis Raptor to appear and do a waltz with one of our Sukhois.

I was watching Youtube videos of both and it seems the Su-30 MKI is more maneuverable. Either that or the Raptors have not worked out their entire envelope yet. Although they can seemingly do the same stuff, the Raptors look more tentative with their thrust-vectoring aerobatics.

Actually there are multiple Red Flag Exercises every year - not one. This year 4 Red Flag Exercises are scheduled. IAF is participating in Exercise #4 for year 2008.

Some nit-picking:
* F-22 participated in two Red Flag exercises this year (first time it has participated in Red Flag).
* F-22 are not based at Nellis, but only at at Langley, VA (with first overseas deployment, not basing, recently)
* F-22 participated in the Jan Red Flag and March Red Flag

Here's the list of July Exercise (2008 #3 - July 21 - Aug. 1) includes, UK, Brazil, Turkey, Sweden. Be interesting to watch out for any buzz we can pick about the Gripens we can. That is followed by the one in which IAF is particpating.

RED FLAG PARTICIPANTS
July 2008

Participating units are subject to change at any time.

Red Air
F-15s and F-16s, Nellis AFB, Nev.

Blue Air
F-15s, RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom
F-5s, Brazilian Air Force

Air-To-Ground
B-52s, Minot AFB, N.D.
F-16s, Turkish Air Force
Gripens, Swedish Air Force
F-16s, Hill AFB, Utah

Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses
EA-6Bs, NAS Whidbey Island, Wash.

Command and Control; Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance
E-3, Tinker AFB, Okla.
E-3, NATO

Air Refueling
KC-135s, Fairchild AFB, Wash.
KC-135s, Turkish Air Force
KC-137, Brazilian Air Force

Some other nit-pick
* UK and Australia have already participated this year in Red Flag (January 2008)
* F-22 was introduced for the first time to Red Flag at the time

From: http://www.nellis.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123037340
More than 200 aircraft, including the F-22/A and about 5,200 military personnel from the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, are taking part in the training. There will be two periods scheduled during this exercise with each period lasting two weeks.

Do a google on Red Flag F-22 and you will find plenty of articles about how frustrated the RAF and RAAF pilots were trying to deal with the F-22. Gives you an excellent idea of its capability.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 17 Jul 2008 06:49

Indian Air Force SU-30 MKIs fly over the Atlantic Ocean en route to the United States to participate in Red Flag, an aerial training exercise

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 17 Jul 2008 07:19

Good picture-why the airbrakes?

khukri · Post by **khukri** » 17 Jul 2008 07:21

sanjaykumar wrote:Good picture-why the airbrakes?

photo opportunity!

Kakarat · Post by **Kakarat** » 17 Jul 2008 11:45

More Glory: Sukhois over Portugal - Shiv Aroor

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 17 Jul 2008 11:54

so looks like usual strategy of 1 midas + 4 flankers leaving in a group, followed maybe 30-60mins later by the second identical element.
its always good to have Ma-hen close by over the ocean...food, guidance and
shelter.

when the F22's hit the IDT bug, its was the accompanying tankers (with non space age instruments) who saved them. F22's visually followed them home.

Dmurphy · Post by **Dmurphy** » 17 Jul 2008 12:17

its always good to have Ma-hen close by over the ocean...food, guidance and
shelter

wonderful description!

Wonder if that pic/coverage will make the Animal Planet!

Victor · Post by **Victor** » 18 Jul 2008 08:28

Indian air force stops at Lajes (Azores US Air Base) on their way to Red Flag
Some nice pictures.

The Azores has been a US/UK aircraft carrier in the Atlantic for a long time. Google maps/wikimapia seems to have left the air base in low res.

Raman · Post by **Raman** » 18 Jul 2008 10:00

maz wrote:Based on the serials, is it likely that a/c from two SU-30 sqns are involved?

This picture proves that SB-115 is also from No.20 Sqn. The difference is that the three digit serials (SB1xx) are HAL built.

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 18 Jul 2008 18:18

Las Vegas, Here we come

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 18 Jul 2008 18:31

a low level run 4 abreast and two rows like "Con Air" over the strip would
set the town on fire.

followed by the IL78s doing a pass at 100ft .... shake the good old boys off
the porch...conspiracy nuts would soon be streaming in all the way from
san diego to boise to photograph the secret exercise with the roosians...

the council of world govt jewry would be blamed on radio talk shows for this
erosion of american values.

Radman · Post by **Radman** » 18 Jul 2008 19:14

are they going across the atlantic b/c of refueling considerations?

Victor · Post by **Victor** » 19 Jul 2008 20:52

Mother hen and chicks over Azores

jahaju · Post by **jahaju** » 19 Jul 2008 23:49

http://www.nellisspotters.com/Spotting.html
AFB frequencies are also listed?

chitre · Post by **chitre** » 20 Jul 2008 20:48

Avid wrote:
Some nit-picking:
* F-22 participated in two Red Flag exercises this year (first time it has participated in Red Flag).
* F-22 are not based at Nellis, but only at at Langley, VA (with first overseas deployment, not basing, recently)
* F-22 participated in the Jan Red Flag and March Red Flag

A little OT here,
but some more nitpicking,
F-22s are not just based at Langley, but at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska aswell.

Victor · Post by **Victor** » 20 Jul 2008 22:52

chitre wrote:
Avid wrote:
Some nit-picking:
* F-22 participated in two Red Flag exercises this year (first time it has participated in Red Flag).
* F-22 are not based at Nellis, but only at at Langley, VA (with first overseas deployment, not basing, recently)
* F-22 participated in the Jan Red Flag and March Red Flag

A little OT here,
but some more nitpicking,
F-22s are not just based at Langley, but at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska aswell.

Sorry to beat a dead horse but here is even more nitpicking when considering Raptor bases (not just operational bases):

Raptors are currently assigned to six bases across the United States. Flight testing takes place at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif. Operational tactics development is ongoing at Nellis AFB, Nev. Pilot and crew chief training takes place at Tyndall AFB, Fla. Operational Raptors are assigned to the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Va., the 3rd Wing at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska and the 49th Fighter Wing at Holloman AFB, N.M. Raptors will also be based at Hickam AFB, Hawaii.

Link

Indrajit · Post by **Indrajit** » 21 Jul 2008 18:55

Indrajit · Post by **Indrajit** » 21 Jul 2008 18:59

Some more....
Picture credit- johngibson@ www.fencecheck.com

http://www.fencecheck.com/forums/index. ... 6073;image
http://www.fencecheck.com/forums/index. ... 6190;image
http://www.fencecheck.com/forums/index. ... 6180;image