Indian Air Force (IAF): News

nah, screw rafale- mig-35 all the way111
because at the end of the day rafale is still just a medium 4.5 gen bird- no need to pay for FGFA prices.
its kinda like paying top dollar for an umm, 7-8 chick after getting a perfect 10 chick-doesnt make much sense.
Oh and did i mention its for sloppy seconds?

New Delhi, Oct. 19:

Five Indian Air Force planes have been grounded in Ukraine where they had been sent for a refit and upgrade.

The five Antonov 32 aircraft — the last batch of 40 from the IAF’s fleet of about a 100 — were to be delivered by Ukraine in August.

The AN32 aircraft is integral to the daily operations of the IAF, transporting troops, materiel and dropping rations and stores at high altitude posts as well as being deployed for search and rescue during natural disasters.

But Ukraine’s continuing troubles with Russia are now threatening to hit the Indian military hard. The IAF has taken the first blow.

The upgrade of the aircraft is stuck because Russia has refused to supply some of the components that are to be fitted in the aircraft.


link : telegraphindia.com/1141020/jsp/nation/story_18944730.jsp#.VESIGPmSzIU

We can look at alternatives to look at Russia upgrade these for us if its feasible.

I hope this does not affect India buying arms from Russia in the future


http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-india-grounds-sukhoi-30-fleet-safety-checks-on-2028330

par far wrote:I hope this does not affect India buying arms from Russia in the future


http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-india-grounds-sukhoi-30-fleet-safety-checks-on-2028330

It shouldn't, or at least I don't expect it... This was just one crash, and they don't even know the cause, coulda' been the pilot for all I care!

Mike E wrote:

par far wrote:I hope this does not affect India buying arms from Russia in the future


http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-india-grounds-sukhoi-30-fleet-safety-checks-on-2028330

It shouldn't, or at least I don't expect it... This was just one crash, and they don't even know the cause, coulda' been the pilot for all I care!

Lets hope that this is a pilot error or one of western countires may be doing this. Russia needs to send in some engineers.

Probably not but India has quite the history in jet crashes. Could be a fluke in that aircrafts fly by wire. Doubt it will have any significant findings. Many of these jets are made in India under licensed agreement with HAL so they have the expertise in finding it out.

They say 9 crashes but thats false, only 4 or 5. As well, its common practice to ground all jets till investigation is thorough. Same pilot for two crashes. Either bad luck or pilot needs more training.

'India to Launch Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft in Another 5 Years'

The product design work of Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft has been started by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and the vehicle is expected to be ready in 2018, Dr Tamilmani, Director General (Aeronautical Systems) DRDO, Bangalore has said.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the three-day international meet on ‘Product Life Cycle, Modelling, Simulation and Synthesis (PLMSS) at VIT university on Monday,’ he said the aircraft would be equipped with twin engines with super cruise power and for the first time it would be using the stealth technology to ‘hide’ from radar surveillance.

The work on the design of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) that began nearly 20 years back had culminated in developing vehicles using indigenous technology and the first batch of 40 such aircraft would be ready for defence utilization by the year 2017. The Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) would manufacture four vehicles this year, eight by next year and sixteen each in the following two years, Tamilmani added. With the advent of communication and automation technology, system engineering and other tools, the message to the world community is: ‘India can build new-state-of-art aerospace technology products and is ready for competition.’ Tamilmani said each of the LCA would be built at an estimated cost of `200 crore and these aircraft would be subjected to around 14,000 failure simulation conditions, to test the efficacy of the technology before they were deployed for the army. The ground work on designing the aircraft was started in the year 1993 and the prototype would be ready in the next five years. “We had to build the technology all by ourselves from scratch as no agency was willing to share the technology. Even though we have taken a little more time to develop the technology, we have now laid a strong foundation in this field,” he noted.

“We are slowly making policy changes in the production of civil aircraft also. The government has allowed to manufacture 70 to 100-seater aircraft in the next five years,” he said. The private sector would be involved in a big way, to work with the National Aerospace Laboratories and the HAL.

‘PLM is Time Saving’

The Product Life Cycle Modelling (PLM) technology has helped reduce time in developing new products in the automobile manufacturing sector, especially the two-wheeler industry and has had an impact on the aerospace industry, observed Padma Shri Venu Srinivasan, chairman and managing director of TVS Motor company.

The PLM technology had emerged as a big advantage for many companies to compete with international products on parameters of cost and production, he added. The ‘product recall’ by many companies had become common now because the process of rectifying defects had become easier, he said.

According to recent media reports , first IAF Mirage-2000H upgraded to Dash 5 standards recently had its first flight in France , Mirage 2000s has been the backbone of Indian Air Force since decades. The French multirole, single-engine fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by French-based Company Dassault Aviation was inducted in Indian Air Force in 1980s.

The upgraded version of Indian Air Forces Mirage 2000H made its first flight at Istres-Le Tube air base in France, on Sunday. Forty-nine Mirage 2000H aircraft are being upgraded to Mirage 2000-5 Mk2 in the course of next seven years.India has paid USD 2.4 billion to upgrade its 49 jets.

As part of the USD 2.4 billion, the upgrades of Mirage 2000 fighter jet would include-
1- New avionics, including an advanced navigation system, mission computers, Mil 1553 B data with Digibus, a pulse doppler radar that can find objects out to 70 nautical miles.
2-Two displays and an advanced head-down display in a glass cockpit.
3- Electronic warfare systems, including new radar warning receivers with instantaneous wide-bank receivers, an integrated missile warning receiver with continuous time-to-impact information, and new jammers and countermeasure systems.
4- Increased fuel capacity
5- Four Derby beyond-visual-range missiles
6- Two short-to-medium-range Python V missiles
7- Long-range smart munitions
8- Full mission simulators

http://www.militaryparitet.com/ttp/data/ic_ttp/6921/

http://www.livefistdefence.com/2014/10/twice-lucky-pilot-in-yesterdays-su-30.html

There is interesting claim, that crashed Indian Su-30MKI was in process of landing and the plane suddenly catapult pilots before touch down. In the other article we could see, that cover for braking shoot is open, so it is most possible, that pilot by mistake by mistake launch brake shoot. As the plane was in low altitude and have low speed, it is most possible, that the plane computer recognize this mistake as dangerous and automatically catapult the crew and save their lives.

Russian supplier’s stance a hurdle in MiG-29 upgrade

NAGPUR: The Indian Air Force (IAF) is struggling to get a vital component from the Russian original equipment maker (OEM) of MiG-29 fighter aircraft, without which the ongoing upgrade of the plane may not be complete.

In a first ever move, IAF has tied up with a private player Taneja Aerospace Limited, a Pune-based company, for fixing the latest components in the MiG-29s. This will extend the aircraft's life cycle by another 40 years. Though everything else has been sourced, IAF has so far not had the latest navigation systems to be fitted along with the new systems, without which the work shall remain incomplete.

The components have been supplied from the Russian OEM, while some of the smaller spares have been developed by base repair depots (BRD) of the IAF. The BRDs come under IAF's maintenance command headquartered at Nagpur. However, when it comes to finally flying the aircraft, the plane will also be needing the navigation systems. "There have been long-drawn negotiations with RAC-MiG the company that makes the aircraft but there has been no result so far," said a senior IAF official closely related to the project.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-01-04/news/57663468_1_rafale-deal-dassault-aviation-asqr

If so, Russia will win a precious ally, and very very good assets.
I suspect dark pressures from US to France, because of India's stance in Asia.

Let's wait and see what will happen.

ABU DHABI — Moscow and New Delhi have agreed to perform design work in India on what Russia claims would be a "fifth generation" version of the Su-35, an agreement that may lead to an Indian variant of the fighter jet, the Russian Military Complex chief said.

The announcement makes India the first country to sign a contract, however preliminary, for the S version of the Su-35.

"We have been negotiating and have signed the intention protocol for the Su-35," Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov said during the IDEX show in Abu Dhabi last month. "Now we are working on designing ideas for this contract and on creating a manufacturing platform for the aircraft of the fifth generation."

Rostec is Russia's state-run corporation that oversees export of high-tech products.

Chemezov said the jet would be developed to meet the Indian Air Force's requirements. He did not say how many of the jets India might plan to buy.

Russia claims the Su-35S would be a fifth generation fighter, as opposed to the legacy fourth generation Su-35. That implies stealth, but it's unclear whether the jet would be on par with an F-35 joint strike fighter.

In India, however, no source in the Defence Ministry could confirm that any deal had been signed with Russia on the Su-35S. An Air Force official did say that the Russians have made one or two Su-35S presentations in the past six months on how it can help replace India's MiG-21 and MiG-27 fighter aircraft, which are due for retirement in seven or eight years.

Russian industry sources said the fighter will be priced at $85 million. That could make it competitive with Dassault Aviation's Rafale, and could have implications for India's proposed purchase of 126 Rafales. New Delhi selected the Rafale as the preferred bidder in a protracted competition in 2012, but has yet to make a final decision on the purchase.

Indian and French defense ministers discussed the Rafale deal during Jean-Yves Le Drian's recent visit to India, an Indian MoD source said. But Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar did not provide a time commitment to Le Drian on when the deal will be signed.

Parrikar told Le Drian that state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) has been asked to complete cost estimates for the Rafales it will build under license.

The French defense minister's spokesman was not available for comment.

A Dassault Aviation spokesman, asked about the Indian agreement for design work on the Su-35S, said the Indian Air Force chief has said a Sukhoi cannot replace a Rafale.

In India, the Economic Times, reported on Feb. 19 that Indian Air Force chief Arup Raha ruled out a purchase of additional Su-30s as the Russian fighter and the Rafale complemented each other rather than the former replacing the latter.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to visit Paris in April, which could be an opportunity for some clarification on the potential Rafale deal, Agence-France Presse has reported.

Russian aircraft makers have been eagerly proclaiming their willingness to step in if India ultimately rejects the French jet. Many believe Russia wants to undercut France as punishment for Paris refusing to deliver two Mistral helicopters carriers to Russia amid deepening tensions with Ukraine.

"If [India] needs additional Su-30MKI fighters, then we are ready to work out such an agreement," Sergei Goreslavsky, deputy director of Russia's arms export agency Rosoboronexport, told the RIA Novosti news agency on Feb. 16. India operates a large fleet of Sukhoi Su-30 fighters, some of which have been locally produced by HAL.

And Russia's RSK MiG says it would offer an upgraded version of its developmental MiG-35 if India reopens the tender.

"We have every chance to compete [for the contract]," MiG chief Sergei Korotkov said at Aero India on Feb. 18, according to the RIA Novosti new agency. "We have not lost hope that a future tender or competition will be announced."

India remains dependent on Russia to supply weaponry and the two countries have been successful in conducting joint development programs involving advanced technologies, including the co-production of the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile.

"Efforts will be made to modernize the Indian defense forces with emphasis on Make-in-India defense programs," an Indian MoD official said. "India remains committed to buy advanced technologies."

India's dependence on Russia for the bulk of its weapons systems, said defense analyst Nitin Mehta.

"India wants to buy advanced systems like the Rafale, even at a higher cost," he said. "[But] dependence on Russians will remain ... and it would be difficult to find the resources to replace these with advanced systems immediately."

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the Su-35S would enter Russian service this year as part of the expansion of the Air Force and Naval Aviation branch.

"Currently, we're testing a new Su-35S multifunctional fighter jet. This year, the new aircraft should enter service. This is the main task for this year," Shoigu said in February.

China is also considering a purchase of Su-35s. A February report by Zvezda, a television network run by the Russian military, said that long-running talks might conclude with a deal to buy 24 fighters on May 19.

Chemezov said that the contract, if signed, would provide China with the fourth-generation Su-35, not India's fifth-generation S model.

"This aircraft is called Su-35-4 plus PAK-FA generation and we are negotiating with China and we are in progress and I hope it will be over soon. I wouldn't like to discuss contracts that have still not been signed," he said. "The important point is that this is a very unique aircraft that has not been delivered to any country."

Another potential customer for the Su-35 is Egypt. Last fall, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi signed an arms deal reportedly worth $3.5 billion. Egyptian media reported that the package included Su-35s.

But Chemezov said no firm purchase deal had been settled.

"We have not signed anything with Egypt; we signed an intention protocol and we are negotiating it. I hope soon we will sign a contract," he said.

Experts have suggested that Egypt, long a customer of US arms makers, would have trouble integrating Russian hardware.

"This would require a significant investment and both sides have been in negotiations for years without results," said Ruslan Aliev, of Moscow's Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies.

But Chemezov said the two countries have already agreed on training protocols in case the purchase goes through.

"As a matter of fact, the terms and conditions of the contract that have been signed maintain not only the delivery and other terms but also the training," he said. "First the pilot will be trained in Russia and later in Egypt, as an example when we supplied the helicopters to the Pentagon, which were then delivered to Afghanistan the pilots took their training to Russia."

Pierre Tran in Paris and Vivek Raghuvanshi in New Delhi contributed to this report.

Can some1 plz calrify what is with this Su35S deal , never heard it before . how many 5th gen fighters project india is going to have ?

FGFA,AMCA now Su35s ?

whats the angle to this . i can put a link to the article
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/strike/2015/03/08/russia-india-fighter-jet/24121253/

apparently there is no Su-35 deal so far

George1 wrote:apparently there is no Su-35 deal so far

the media has lost so much credibilty .dont know whom to trust .

India is pushing for "5th gen fighter" version of Su-35.    

http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2015/03/09/rafale-russia-fifth-gener_n_6829102.html
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/strike/2015/03/08/russia-india-fighter-jet/24121253/
http://idrw.org/archives/59484
http://soha.vn/quan-su/vu-rafale-nga-muon-danh-bat-phap-bang-su-35-the-he-5-20150309222042247.htm

What the

So what about Indian T-50 ?

GarryB wrote:No such thing as a 5th gen Flanker.

You could spend trillions on the Su-35 and still not make it as stealthy as FFGA.  Why bother?

BTW they could get one extra FFGA for each Rafale they don't buy.

are these media outlets copying eachother articles and helping spread the rumour ?

GarryB wrote:Uncertainty in the media is not usually good for business, but in this case I suspect it might be India to get a better price/deal from France, but also Russian media hopeful of more contracts/sales.

I suspect even the pro US papers might even be encouraging it to try to squeese France out of their traditional market and try to get a leg in... wait for stories about how dangerous it is to restrict yourself to one supplier... no matter what the record is for that supplier of course, and how America makes nice planes that they are very keen to sell.

It might just be India trying to pressure France to assist Russia... ie no Mistral... no Rafales... but I really think it does come down to the enormous price per aircraft that France is demanding... they mention 10 billion, but that was the original contract price so they can hardly be complaining about that now can they?

I suspect the new 22 billion price is closer to the truth... which begs the question... are 126 Rafales worth 22 billion when you are also buying and unknown number of FFGAs for 25 billion.

If they are really costing 22 billion for 126 aircraft then I would buy a few extra Su-30s and a few extra FFGAs and spend the rest on a few hundred extra Tegas's...

but if the price is hiked then dassault is no longer the L1 bidder . i think india will press for the $10bil price
also i think i read in article during the 2015 airshow where dassualt said thier price is not changed from day 1

here is another article claiming the deal is sealed LOL

http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/03/10/401095/India-to-spend-25bn-on-Russian-5G-jets
but it is presstv