Just look at the threats that the IAF faces today and will face 10-15 years from now. There is the new F-16 Block 50, F-16 MLU'ed to close to Block 50 standards and JF-17 of the PAF, there are the J-11 and J-10s of the PLAAF and these are the main threats. I don't see how the Mirage-2000-5 cannot adequately handle any of these threats for the duration that they exist. After all, they won't be going un-supported anyway, with AWACS support in most cases and maybe even Su-30MKIs supporting them since there will be 280 of them inducted by the time the Mirage-2000s are fully upgraded.Cain Marko wrote: I have read it before Kartik, but went through it again to make sure I was not forgetting something. Nothing there that suggests a quantum leap over what the IAF will get in the same timeframe. However, as impressive as the M2k-5/9 is (and we don't know for sure what we are getting - is the the ICMS 2 or 3 or IMEWs?, Scalp? Hammer?), none of this is going to sound too impressive in 10, even 5 years. Once the MRCA and Tejas Mk2 start coming in, they will doubtless have all these features and more.
It would have been worth it perhaps 3-5 years ago, but now we can expect these birds to start coming in around the same time as the ones mentioned above, to what end? This capability will not allow us any significant advantage over the current threats, it comes in too late for that. Even worse, 15-20 years later, everything that seems impressive on the M2k-5/9 will sound rather obsolete but India will be stuck with this and the dollars sunk in it for the remainder of the M2ks lifespan. Rather save the $s, go with a cheaper upg. and buy more MRCA.
A simple LUSH type upgrade will be good enough - EL-2032/Derby along with Dash/PYthon are not much different from Topsight/Mica. I'd wager that adding the Astra to this bird would be a lot cheaper than trying that with an RDY. Even if the hps are not increased to 9, so be it. A little less exotic perhaps but much cheaper and rather effective. Even the French themselves did not opt for an uber M2k-5 upgrade ala the ARabs and went with something more modest since they knew that the Rafale (a far more potent a/c) was on its way. India is in a similar position - after 2015, almost everything that comes in will be well ahead of the M2k-5. In this situation, something similar to a cheaper and almost equally good Israeli upg should be enough.
The only capability that I really like, and it is not there in the article you linked, is the MIca IIR - that is special, and perhaps it will make the whole thing worthwhile. ADmittedly, there are other aspects to such upgrades - OEM support etc, which may hamper uptimes. In that sense, the French option might be a necessary expense.
But damned if it is not pricey!
CM
I'd like to see someone tell me how exactly the F-16 Block 50 or the JF-17 cannot be tackled by a Mirage-2000-5 with all the bells and whistles that it is supposed to get. And also point out which other aircraft apart from the Su-30MKI and the MiG-29UPG and Tejas Mk1/2 can do so at significant distances from their home bases. the IAF is obviously happy enough with them to want to keep them going till they can last, and without compromising on their fighting qualities by going for a piecemeal upgrade.
An Israeli upgrade with Elta 2032/Derby/Python-5 would've been handy if we couldn't afford this upgrade, but it would take more time for the Israelis to develop all the required solutions and then start upgrading them. And I doubt that it would've been as affective as the one that the French are offering. The Astra is nowhere near being operational so hoping that it will become the Mirage's main BVR weapon is a bit risky.
BTW, the French did upgrade 37 of their Mirage-2000Cs to the -5 standard, which is close to what the IAF is getting.