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Originally Posted by Ironhide
(Post 4544635)
IAF has been invited to buy them at the price they were built – which is below $25 million (Rs 175 crore)...Russia has confirmed that it will upgrade the 21 MiG-29s now being offered to the same standard as IAF’s other three MiG-29UPG squadrons. That would add another $15 million or so to each fighter’s price. |
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Originally Posted by ads11
(Post 4544892)
... PS: AlphaKilo, maybe you could check a flight path tracker to see if those Rafales made it all the way to India in one stint? That could explain why they had a tanker with them to get them over in one jaunt. |
| The first aircraft built by Dassault Aviation for the IAF, a two-seater variant, made its maiden flight on October 30 in France and is designated RB 008, according to official sources. “RB stands for Air Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria as he had a major role in the contract negotiations,” an official source said. Air Marshal Bhadauria was the Deputy Chief of the IAF during the contract negotiations for 36 Rafale jets and is presently the Air Officer Commanding-In-Chief of the IAF’s Training Command. In September 2016, India and France signed a €7.87 billion Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for 36 Rafale multi-role fighter jets in fly-away condition. The surprise announcement for the 36 aircraft was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to Paris in April 2015, citing “critical operational necessity” of the IAF. RB 008 will be the 36th aircraft to be delivered to the IAF in 2022, 67 months after the contract is signed, the source added. As per terms of the IGA, deliveries will begin 36 months after the signing of the contract and be completed in 67 months. |
| Meanwhile, sources said, four of the balance 35 Rafale fighter aircraft will be in the production line at Dassault’s plant in Bordeaux at the beginning of next year. This, sources said, is as per schedule and will lead to delivery of the first French fighter jet to IAF in September 2019. The last Rafale would join the IAF from France by April 2022. |
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Originally Posted by AlphaKilo
(Post 4544915)
Usually on delivery flights, they always take a break. IAF always halts in Doha or Muscat, as they are friendly bases. May be they carried their own fuel with them to avoid refuelling once in India, which would mean they are display jets and not delivery. |
| The last port for the Rafales before reaching Bengaluru was Al Dhafra Air base in UAE. The Rafales were accompanied by a mother aircraft, a tanker, over the Benagluru skies. |
| Mark I Tejas, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) designed and developed in India, on Wednesday overcame its last hurdle by finally bagging what is called the FOC certification. The FOC or final operational clearance, coming on the first day of Aero India 2019, certifies that the world’s lightest fighter plane is “ready for battle.” Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd is also ready to start producing 16 LCAs in the improved FOC version, HAL CMD R.Madhavan said. The first 16 are almost fully delivered in the intermediate IOC. Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa noted that Tejas has shown its fire power over its 1,500 sorties.Calling the FOC a milestone for LCA Mk1, he said, "You saw today how the aircraft flew and the sorties it made. During Gaganshakti of April 2018 and in last week's Vayushakti also it accurately dispensed weapons on the target and delivered in air to air combat." As for formally placing an approved but pending order for 83 LCAs, the Chief of Air Staff said it was a separate matter as an RFP (request for proposal) for a purchase from HAL was under process. "After that we should take up LCA-Mk2 which is a few points above this and which in the long term would replace the [present combat fleet of] the Jaguar, the Mirage and the MiG-29. After that we go to AMCA [the fifth generation Advanced Medium combat Aircraft]" that is on the drawing board at LCA's developer, the Aeronautical Development Agency. Declaring the FOC, DRDO Chairman G Satheesh Reddy under whom ADA functions, described it thus: "This is the best ever moment for any aeronautical engineer, and a landmark day for scientists, industry and the air force." Mr. Madhavan said HAL and IAF would jointly finance its 1380-crore infrastructure. He recalled that the LCA is the first Indian fighter aircraft after Marut of the 1960s: 147 HF-24 Marut fighter-bomber aircraft were built by HAL and operated by the IAF between 1967 and 1990. |
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Originally Posted by srishiva
(Post 4547615)
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/indi...home-topscroll Unmanned and manned aircraft working together. HAL is developing this along with a startup. Just wondering if its too much for the pilot to handle the unmanned drones accompanying his aircraft and trying to feed commands to them. Cant be part of dogfight I guess. |
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Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat
(Post 4548688)
My guess: The unmanned aircraft won't be operated by the pilot of the accompanying manned aircraft. There will be a separate pilot operating it from the ground, under the instructions from the pilot of the manned aircraft or someone on ground. Edit: I read the article just now. It does say that the drones will be assigned specific tasks by the pilots on board the manned aircraft Jaguar Max. So no one from ground controls the drones. But the article says pilots (pleural) onboard the Jaguar Max. Does Jaguar Max has a crew of two? |
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Originally Posted by srishiva
(Post 4548740)
Only old Jaguars have one seat. So this could be having two seats. Jaguar is a ground attack aircraft so maybe the drones help in multiplying the targets. |
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Originally Posted by locusjag
(Post 4548823)
Any thoughts on Lockheed Martin selling us the idea of an "all new" F-21? I read a Popular Mechanics article yesterday on how it will only really be a F-16 by another name and with advanced features. The name "F-16" comes loaded with a historical connotation and there'd be criticism inevitably that it's too old for the IAF; renaming it to F-21 is a smart marketing move...kind of how a Nissan with luxurious features becomes an Infiniti that can be sold to an entirely different clientele, the kind who wouldn't touch a lowly Nissan with a 10 foot beanpole. |
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Originally Posted by skanchan95
(Post 4548849)
The F-21 was the designation given to IAI Kfirs that were leased to the US Navy's Fighter Weapons School(Top Gun) and were operated as aggressor aircraft alongside A-4s and F-5s against USN and USMC jets. |
| To re-box the legendary F-16 as the F-21 is just plain stupid!!! They should have stuck to the original F-16 Block 70 designation. |
| The “F-21” also has some tricks the Block 70 doesn’t have. Lockheed's promotional video shows the fighter with a remarkable ten missiles—eight medium range, radar-guided AMRAAM missiles plus two AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles. The F-21 can be seen carrying a Sniper electro-optical targeting pod, also produced by Lockheed Martin. In service with the U.S. Air Force, the Sniper pod provides HD forward-looking infrared (also known as thermal imaging), a dual mode laser, video data link, and digital data recorder. The F-21 also features an aerial refueling probe for refueling using the drogue system and a huge flat panel cockpit display. |
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Originally Posted by locusjag
(Post 4548858)
To harken back to the older days, to an older designation - all in order to appear modern as against the F-16 name. That's convoluted! Actually, it appears that the F-21 offered to India would have a few step-ups compared to the block 70 - Source: https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...d-fighter-jet/ |
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Originally Posted by shortbread
(Post 4551373)
Does anyone know as to why in a critical engagement like chasing away invading enemy jets, the IAF uses the clearly dated Bisons vis a vis a more current jet in their arsenal like the Sukhoi? Knowing fully well about the developing situation wouldn't the nations best weaponry be readied to be used in action? I apologies if the question is stupid, but my knowledge on the matter is very limited. |
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