IAF wants 50 more Sukhois

SwordFish_13

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With both China and Pakistan bolstering their air combat fleets, IAF is now seeking another 50 Sukhoi-30MKI multi-role "air dominance"
fighters to

cater for any contingency on both the eastern and western fronts. These 50 new Sukhois will in addition to the 230 of these twin-seater fighters already contracted from Russia in three deals worth upwards of $8.5 billion.

Having inducted 105 of the 230 Sukhois till now, IAF has already begun to base these jets in the North-East in a clear move to counter China's rapid modernisation of its armed forces. Incidentally, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd has been directed to complete the manufacture of 140 of the 230 Sukhois under transfer of technology by 2015 at all costs.

India's "dissuasive deterrence" military posture against China, after all, revolves around the Sukhois as well as the 3,500km nuclear-capable Agni-III missile, which will be ready for operational deployment by 2011, and the 5,000km range Agni-V missile in the pipeline.

IAF chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik confirmed to TOI on Thursday that his force was indeed "interested" in acquiring more Sukhois, which will be the mainstay of India's fighter fleet for the forseeable future, to further enhance its combat potential.

Bombarded by a spate of questions on the military equation vis-a-vis China on day the People's Liberation Army showcased its staggering military might to mark 60 years of communism, ACM Naik said IAF's acquisition of combat capabilities was not "country or adversary-specific". While exuding "confidence" that a repeat of the 1962 conflict was simply "not possible", the IAF chief said, "We need to develop certain capabilities which are required or will be required in the future in tune with India's aspirations."

IAF, after all, needs to project power as well as have "strategic reach" from Hormuz Strait near Persian Gulf right down to Malacca Strait, which India visualises as its primary area of geopolitical interest. In its quest to emerge as a "strategic aerospace force", IAF has embarked on a major modernisation drive, which ranges from Israeli AWACS and aerostat radars to American C-130J 'Super Hercules' aircraft.


Peace
-=SF_13=-
 
Course, Them dayum communist red sickle bearin' ballerina dancin' Sukhoi's are the bast fighter plane in most of Asia. Better than them f**king JF-17's Pakistan and China is flying. How long is their lifespan, 2-3 months?
 
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Out of interest, what happened to that competition thing India was going to have so it would know which fighter it would purchase? I remember the MiG-35, SAAB Gripen and some other planes were in. What happened to that?

India probably has a 8:1 advantage over the poor excuses of mixed metal and plastic Pakistan and China are flying [JF-17]
 
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Out of interest, what happened to that competition thing India was going to have so it would know which fighter it would purchase? I remember the MiG-35, SAAB Gripen and some other planes were in. What happened to that?

India probably has a 8:1 advantage over the poor excuses of mixed metal and plastic India and China are flying [JF-17]

I guess you are taking about the MRCA tender for which the field trials are going on .. We are talking about two different class of Aircraft here ... And their Roles are different . the tender was for a Multi-Role Combat Aircraft , and these 50 are needed in Air Dominance Roles .

Status as on Today is Boeing's F/A-18 and Lockheed F-16E/F (flown in from UAE) have completed the field trials , Dassault is still on ( Though Reports are that Dassault is out ) ... MiG has flight tested the new Mig 29 OVT ( Also Called MiG 35 ) and the are next in line for the field trials .

the tender for 128 MRCA is on ..... With F-16 and F/A-18 have been extensively flown over the Deserts and High Altitude .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_MRCA_competition

Peace
 
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Would that be because its Russian, or because it will probably be superior to the western counterparts?

Possibly, they'll take the MiG35, because it is of russian/soviet origin which makes perfect sense since the IAF has such a large percentage of gear sourced from these nations already..........

Likewise, the cost factor is likely to be advantageous to India, since the Russians are always cash-strapped.......... Superior?? I'd say the aircraft might be at or near parity, especially in the hands of a class pilot, but better than?? Probably not....
 
It is probably something around 30-40 million dollars.

Russian aircraft arent exactly as cheap as they used to be, you know.
 
Here's is my opinion abt which plane India would pick

First of all, F 16 is out bcoz Pakis have it. Maybe A/B is a little less sophisticated than the S but all over the world, planes are always modernized. So there is a biiiiig chance India will loose the edge over Pakis by picking this plane. NOT COOL. Lockheed, please send India what u did not to Paki already.
F 18E/F is excellent. I heard it is first pick by the indian navy. But Indian policy makers do not trust americans as yet. They are always worried about things going wrong with the west. Some debate that 'US is still financially supporting Paki, isn't that a sore point to us'. Amidst the rumors that the pokhran test not reaching its desired kT, India might pull the trigger again. This might strain the relations between US and India though the Indo US nuke deal clearly said the testing will not affect this deal. But then again, the Indian politics is volatile. If a not so pro-US party comes to power and starts fingering around, that might affect the support as well. Plans usually last for multiple decades. So a faltered support is not good. I also read this article which alleged that US requested India to build bases near the sensitive areas (closer to china) This was seriously turned down by the govt due to massive internal resistance. Cold war loyalties come into picture big time with older generation which forms a big part in Indian politics.
Rafale: This is second in my list. French have a good reputation with supplying defense toys to India. Also, Mirage proved to be very effective in Kargil war. It is a well known fact that Mirage is similar to Rafale. Picking this deal will also help us with other technologies - SSBNs, more advanced diesel subs (beyond Scorpene). Russia helped us with Arihant but, post cold war India faced the dire need of diversifying it defense toys so this is maybe one string of achieving that. France also comes with no strings attached - alteast mostly. But then comes the main problem, if Russia wusses out on India because we picked this, it will become a big headache for us. If India can maintain its position even if Russia stops supporting us, which is 1000% not possible, I would pick this plane.
Mig 35: Big brother's offering. The entire world knows what erstwhile soviet meant to India. Russia hasn't been that good with supplying defense spares/items post cold war but, hey, Russia itself was shattered and how the heck can they pay attention to other's needs. Their outlook on the world also changed since 91. I read some articles which said how Russia was trying to repair relationships with India. At least in the light of asian 'encroachments' by US. Currently, 70% of India's equip is Russian which means we have to depend on Russia for myriad of reasons - maintenance, upgrades etc etc. In the times of war, that dependence probably grows ten folds. BY not picking 35, we will be hurting our relationship with Russia. Don't remember which article but in that a Russian top fellow quoted 'Our future relationship with India is pending MMRCA deal finalization'. If Russia falters in their support to us, the result will be almost imminent Chinese aggression - NOT GOOD. India did mention its interests in diversifying its toys but MRCA deal is definitely not a step to be taken with that aim. We will be in bad shape. Will also hurt our ongoing and future procurements - especially the FGFA. With the knowledge I have, I guess 35 is the best option for us, even though it is not ‘the best’ plane. India should find ways of reducing the spares problems with Russia. But then, a Russian official quoted 35s will not be delivered before 2012/13. This might be another sore grape in the bunch.Dont know how India is going to pan out stuff.

Other euro planes, not sure if I will go with them. Lesser geo-political incentive, lesser collateral advantages, haven't seen much of a combat etc etc. I guess I don't mind saying I am partial and I don't like them.
 
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According to latest news only the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault remain in the competition for the MRCA . One of them would likely be chosen by end of this year. Apparantly, we are quite impressed by their performance in Libya. There are also rumours that Lockheed Martin is trying to re- enter the competition by offering the f-35 after the f-16 and f-18 were knocked off a couple of months back..
 
India's best option is the rafale. It offers commonality with their mirage 2000s weapon inventory and they'll get the most generous tech transfer deals with dassault. Plus dassault has allowed them to integrate russian and israeli munitions on their mirage 2000s so they will likely be able to do the same with the rafale which will only widen the scope of usable weapons in their inventory so they won't have to buy as many new ones. Besides it would be nice to see the rafale get a contract for once.
 
Re: IAF wants 50 more

India probably has a 8:1 advantage over the poor excuses of mixed metal and plastic Pakistan and China are flying [JF-17]
The actual expected ratio in regional air combat between the IAF and PAF is 3:1!! That was the ratio between the IAF met the USAF's F-15Cs in COPE INDIA 2004.

Would that be because its Russian, or because it will probably be superior to the western counterparts?

A quite capable fighter on the cheap.
They are NOT! The Russian designed fighters are still behind the west in avionics! The gap between the Russian and western avionics is closing but... the Russians are still behind the west.
I have not heard any mention of the number of hours on the engine or frame before being replaced or modified, for the MiG-35. An example of this is a F/A-18 has a frame life of 8,500 hours and it cost a little more twice the amount of a MiG-29 (≈2,500 hours).... so you get what you pay for. The Soviets believed that fighters would have a high attrition rate in major combat. So where as the Soviet designed fighters appear to be cheaper on a twenty year life span the F/A-18 is cheaper that the MiG-29!

The Russian designed fighters for WVR and 'post merge' combat. This is where WVR-IR missiles with HMDS and, guns are most effective. The NATO philosophy is to kill as many enemy aircraft in BVR combat. Then deal with the WVR environment.
In the WVR arena, the 'high off bore-sight' missile (HOB) along with the HDMS missiles are deadly but, there are limits in using them. The parameters in which the launch fighter is in and, the target fighter also has limits in which it has to be in for a successful missile kill!
When all is said and done (personally), I feel the Rafale would fit best in the IAF: that is "IF" the financing is what the IAF wants.
 
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