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If you want to an IAF game, take the older version of this game from the same company. The graphics etc are better and the missions are wide ranged and the hardness is enjoyable. This one is simply bad in terms of physics and controls and I finished the game in 20 minutes at the hardest setting.

I guess the older game is called "Guardians of the Skies"
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...hreye.iaf.gots

Will check it out. But since I'm an old school gamer (Prince of Persia era), I find mobiles unsuitable for gaming. I have a STEAM account and occasionally play flight sims on my computer though. :)

Or may be their aim was to force the Su-30s to go on the defensive and to prevent them from maneuvering to get a missile lock on the Mirage & JF-17 strikers. In that process, they were hoping for a easy Su-30 kill, till Wg Cdr Abhinandan charged at them full steam and the rest is history. I also think the IAF may not have expected them to take BVR shots, completing disregarding the peacetime RoEs. If & when there is a next time in future, the IAF will hopefully retaliate with full force.

I hope it is the Active Radar Homing variant of the R-27 and not the semi-active one. In today's scenario, the concept of SARH missiles is hopelessly ineffective.

DCS? CAP2?:)

From the sources, IAF was well prepared for this kind of a misadventure from the PAF. They themselves did not want to violate the RoEs and hence were from the time of scramble ordered to be on the defensive mode with ECMs (electronic counter measures) active. The offensive from abhi was actually unexpected but as we had discussed here before, the Bisons sneaked in on the F-16s and JF-17s by flying lo-lo and in between the mountains. This was achieved only because of the sheer number of hours our pilots put while practicing.

Also, the "Rambhas" were already on a CAP when the PAF tried to enter indian airspace. The MiG-21s from Abhi's squadron was the only sqdn to be scrambled, as these bisons are effectively our first line of defense/interception. The Rambhas were actually armed to teeth, had the conflict escalated, they would been given the "free to fire" orders or in the worst case scenario, if one of the PAF bombs hit its intended target of one our military bases which is a provocation to war, IAF would have retaliated by doing something which I cannot discuss here.

Some issues were the absence/lack of enough AWACs in the air due to some internal confusion and couple of aircrafts were unserviceable. Further, IAF did not want to risk losing any of its high value assets like the awacs, since they knew PAF would run away at the first sight of the full might of IAF. This was covered by the Sukhois already flying as they are all interlinked. In this scenario, the rambhas played the role of AWACs and a CAP asset. Provoking and running away or disowning their own soldiers has always been PAF/PA/PN's strategy, hence makes no sense to go on a chicken chase behind these guys.

There are some open questions which only the top brass within the Raksha mantralay know, why the Baaz's from Ambala were kept on standby and were never scrambled. All for a bigger picture. :)

Moral of the story: IAF was armed to teeth and were waiting for PAF to do something stupid. We have a strict "No first start" policy and our forces stick to it very religiously.


No information on the exact model or numbers is available in the open internet, rightly so I would say. But, this was purchased using the 400 million emergency fund sanctioned by the Fin. Ministry/Def. Ministry/PMO to all three services to go on a shopping tour.

Can you explain more on this please? Fried by Su30 means?

I guess he meant the electronic counter measures to jam the homing radar of the AMRAAMs.

That is correct. In fighter jock parlance, its called frying the brains

What are Rambhas? Is it a squadron nickname or the nickname of an aircraft?

The Sukhoi-30 MKIs are cheekily known as "Rambha" as their aerial maneuvering capability is nothing short of a divinely dance by apsaras Rambha. Check for Pugachev's cobra to get an idea of how these birds can dance in the sky. There is one maneuver done by IAF pilots in airshows known as "reverse tail slide" also known as ballet swing. Hence, the name "Rambha". :)

Thanks. I have read a lot about the Su-30MKI's abilities and seen plenty of videos of them at airshows, where their aerobatic ability is on full display. Never knew they are called Rambhas though.

But i do agree, that in WVR combat, the PAF would have been toast due to the agility of the Rambhas and their beautiful high off boresight R-73 missiles.

Lot of IAF aircraft got Indian names over the years. I think it started with Dassault Ouragan which was named Toofani in IAF service

Indian names of different IAF aircraft that come to my mind are:

Dassault Ouragan - Toofani
HAL Gnat Mk.2 - Ajeet
Mikoyan-Gurevich/HAL Type 77 MiG-21FL Fishbed-E : Trishul
Mikoyan-Gurevich/HAL Type 88/96 MiG-21M/MF Fishbed-J : Baadal
Mikoyan-Gurevich/HAL Type 75 MiG-21bis Fishbed-L: Vikram
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MF Flogger-C : Rakshak
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23BN Flogger-H : Vijay
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25R Foxbat-B : Garuda
Mikoyan-Gurevich/HAL MiG-27M Flogger -J : Bahadur
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29B Fulcrum-A : Baaz
SEPECAT/HAL Jaguar IS/IM/IT : Shamsher
Dassault Mirage 2000H/TH : Vajra
Mil Mi-8 - Rana
Mil Mi-17 - Pratap
Mil Mi-25/35 Hind - Akbar
Aerospatiale Alouette III- Chetak
Ilyushin IL-76MD Candid - Gajraj
Antonov An-32 Cline - Sutlej
The first HAL built Avro HS.748 was called Subroto (after Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee - the first Indian chief of the IAF), but the Avro never got an official Indian name.

The HAL/NAL/DRDO designed & built aircraft obviously got Indian names
HAOP-27 Krishak
HAL Pushpak
HF-24 Marut
LCA Tejas
HJT-36 Sitara
ALH Dhruv
ALH Mk.IV WSI Rudra
HPT-32 Deepak
HJT-16 Kiran
NAL Saras

Please feel free to add, if anyone knows Indian names for IAF aircraft that I may have missed.

it seems this tradition has been laid to rest because the 6 latest inductions do not have Indian names:

SU30 MKI (and no, "Rambha" is not the official name, its a tag given to it on the Bharat Rakshak forum :D )
C130J
C17 Globemaster
Chinook
Apache
Rafale (Again on bharat rakshak, this is lovingly called "Katrina")

THe Indian built machines are christened at birth itself hence the weaponized ALH will be the Rudra (love that name!), however the LCH is still to have its Naamkaran

Not just Bharatrakshak. Even inside IAF and the pilots who fly it (my ex. Commandant being one himself and that is how I got to know the bird as "Rambha" even long before I knew Bharatrakshak forum existed :) ). I accept, it is not an officially christened name though.

Wasn't there a "Cheetah" too?

The DO-228s and the Canaberras had a name too but I could not recollect it.

As far as IAF and the services in general goes, they name not just the birds but also all the weapons systems are named. For example, Agni, Aakash, Trishul, Nag, Arjun, Bhishma, Ajeya etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3e4I8ldldw


Watch this to see a fantastic interview by the COAS Air Chief Marshal B.S.Dhanoa. At the end he explains about how the future of Air power and our Air force is planned to be. Key outtake:

Rambling alert - Every other day and on most nights I get to see the Kirans on what I assume are training sorties along with a lot of helicopters. Where I live is along a line beyond which no structures are permitted; there's a lush field and a lake beyond which lies an IAF base. If the wind blows our way, we get to see them take-off or land right over us. A silver/yellow color combination adorns these birds. They sure make a lot of noise and even interrupted a Skype interview of mine with a prospective employer once! We have a love-hate relationship, we do.

Did you then ever considered applying for the Airforce? stupid:

Be happy that we don't have any supersonic trainers/squadron near our houses. I lived for 3 years near the sulur base and experienced the tejas sorties. A treat for the eyes and torture to the ears when they go supersonic.

Back to kirans, I belong to a locality in chennai where I can see them performing their aerobatics/tactical maneuver practices. I love it even now after so many years of having seen them overhead, can't stop looking at them, flying so low and performing those daredevil sorties. Brings back lots of memories and lots of unfinished dreams.

P.S @locusjag: We both are neighbours! Small world!