Pics from Aero India 2005

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Xion

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'Aero India' is India's biennial international Airshow, held at Yelahanka Air Force Station (AFS), near the city of Bangalore

Some pictures...



^ One of the newer additions was the unqiue IFR combination of an Il-78MKI Tankerand Mirage-2000H fighters. These were the only two Mirages that took to the air during the entire show




^ Here, the pilot prepares for the falling-leaf manoeuver in which he makes a 360° turn without banking.




^ The Il-78 from the No.78 'Battle cry' Mid-Air Refueling Squadron bears the label 'MKI' because it has, once again, been customized with Indian, Israeli and French equipment. MTOW has also been increased to 210 tons. Like all transport aircraft in IAF service, the Il-78MKI also uses HAL's
X-band weather radar.





^ Views of the HAL Tejas LCA.





^ The lightest, cheapest 4th+ generation multirole aircraft in the world, it is half the cost of the Gripen, while more manoverable and advanced, The LCA






^ Such a large fighter floating like a butterfly in the air, performing high alpha maneuvers, loops and turns with no effort or acceleration, makes for a truly exceptional sight. The Su-30K is also impressive, once doing a 360° backward flip that one would have assumed that only the -MKI variant was capable of.






^ Even without using TVC, the Su-30MKI has a shorter T/O distance when compared to other aircraft. The handling of this aircraft appears to be flawless, offering the pilot a unprecedented amount of freedom which makes the Su-30MKI look somewhat like a hovering UFO at slow speed






^ An upgrade is almost underway for the Elta EL/M-2032 radar and Rafael Derby BVRAAMs. HAL will also undertake considerable upgrades along the line of the DARIN-II Jaguar upgrades. The aircraft did very well against the French Naval Rafale-Ms during the joint exercise Varuna 2004.






^ When the Navy had announced the participation of the Tu-142M MRASW, one would have been truly ecstatic.A static display of the aircraft turned out too good to be true, and the aircraft from INAS 312, merely performed a single flyby. If it were on static display, the type would have occupied a large amount of space, being the largest aircraft in the country.







^ A stunning photo of the IAF Suryakiran team, flying HAL Kiran Mk.2s.




^ India's Akash SAM under development






^ A C-130J Hercules, a P-3C Orion and a KC-135 Stratotanker, constituted the largest aircraft on exhibit






^The aircraft , India's LCA, displays it's excellent agility through some of the most impressive aerobatics seen at the show, including a 'vertical charlie' at the start. The high speed maneuverability, handling and quick response, made it more impressive than others





^An American delegation from the 90th SF, 3rd Wing, arrives for a tour of the Su-30MKI while the other moves off for another display run.





^ The MiG-29 M2 took to the air a couple times and performed awesome manoveres that one would think a MiG-29 isn't capable of





^ Russia's MiG-29M2, the latest version of the MiG-29, which is Russia's submission for India's MRCA tender





^ A Su-30 MKI rolls off





^Almost immediately after getting his tyres off the ground, the pilot makes a sharp turn towards the left and flies around the base to make an entry from the other side. Aerobatics will be carried out at slow speed but within a very small volume of space that only the Su-30MKI could make use of.




I Got a lot more pics from this airshow, will post when time permits
 
I like how india's airforce is a hodge podge of all these types of jets from all over the world. Versatility seems to be a virtue in india.
 
I'm curious about something: Given the option (but only allowed to pick one option) would India buy Eurofighters, JSF's or SU-47 Berkuts?

I'm also curious, was the 100% India made aircraft in that show? (I can't remember the name of it.)
 
I think it all depends upon by when the PAK-FA is completed, PAK-FA is a further development of the Su-47 Berkut without the forward facing wings, jointly worked upon by India and Russia
It also will depend upon how much the NSSP(Next steps in strategic partnership) between india and US progresses, india is definitely looking towards the US as a future high-technology weapons supplier

Yeah the LCA - Tejas was there in the show, here's a pic of the KH-2001 model

12cd0pf.jpg





And here's what the JSF would like in IAF colours

:p

stallmodels043ds.jpg
 
WarMachine said:
I like how india's airforce is a hodge podge of all these types of jets from all over the world. Versatility seems to be a virtue in india.
Click to expand...
What's unique about the IAF is that, since India has very good relations with the rest of the world, India can pick and choose aircraft types from both East and West. The use of weapons from all over the world integrated into a seamless force makes for some uniquely Indian tactics, which the Americans in COPE India noted with some surprise.

Nowadays, that is in the last 5 years, with India's unprecidented rise in economy and technological prowess, we've seen the IAF choose not only aircraft types from around the world, but aircraft components. A prime example is the Su-30MKI: it is based on a Russian airframe and engine, but the avionics, computer and software is Indian, the cockpit is French, the ECM/EW system is Israeli (the one found on the F-16I Sufa), etc.: it is an Indian aircraft which leverages the comparative tech advantages of potentially every country in the globe -- which makes it a damn awesome multirole aircraft, perhaps among the best currently in active service, at a dirt cheap $23 a piece, manufactured at HAL.

This 'tricking out' of aircraft by upgrading across the board with components from a variety of sources is now being applied to every a/c in IAF serivce. The problem is, there are too many aircraft types. The development of the 'Tejas' Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) was the move to aid in aircraft consolidation. The retiring of old MiGs and the -23s and -27s by the end fo the decade, to be replaced by the Multi Role Combat Aircarft tender (most likely will be M2k-10 or MiG-29SMT) and the LCA, will further reduce a/c types.

Right now the fleet's the most diverse it's ever been, but by 2015, the IAF fleet will be reduced to PAK-FA, Su-30MKI, MRCA, last of the upgraded M2K-H, MiG-29 and Jaguar types, and the LCA. The IN will retire the T-16s, Sea Harriers, and a variety of speciality ASW, EW types and induct MiG-29K for the INS Vikramaditya (ex-Gorshkov), Orion, and Tu-22M.


godofthunder9010,
Most likely, none of the above. India's already committed to joint devlopment of the 5th generation PAK-FA aircraft with Russia, which is supposedly based on a Sukhoi design (not necessarily S-47) but with RSK MiG inputs. It's been claimed by Putin that a prototype would fly by 2007 and production by 2009. Induction in the IAF would replace the MKI as the primary air superiority fighter, and would free up the MKI for its more strategic long-range strike/escort role.

India was offered the JSF but America required that India sign a strick technology license agreement that would have prevented use of JSF tech on other aircraft in IAF inventory, which given the IAF's love of mixing and matching tech, plus IAF requirement for complete manufacture of the aircraft, didn't go through. The EF-2000 is an expensive aircraft, some three times more expensive than the MKI but with only marginally better capabilities. Plus, I doubt the Euros would part with a production line.

Cheers,
Raj
 
Thanks, amazing pics. Love the ones of the IL-78, never seen decent ones of it before, love the way the mirages look so small compared to it.
what AEW system does india use?
 
Right now, the IAF doesn't have an AEW/AWACS inducted. It purchased three IAI Phalcon AWACS, billed as the worlds most advanced AWACS system, to be integrated with an IL-76 platform with a randome at the top, similar configuration to a 'Mainstay.' These will be inducted c. 2007.

shmel.jpg


In addition, an indigenous, complementary "mini-AWACS" system is under development, which will feature an Indian active phased array radar, mounted on most likely a Embraer-145 aircraft. These are planned to be inducted around 2009. Needless to say, the induction of these aircraft will give a considerable force-multiplying power to the IAF, which along with other technologies, aircraft and training, will continue its wholescale dominance over other air forces in the region.

emb_145_3.jpg


The Indian Navy has already inducted a number of Kamov Ka-31 AEW systems, operating off of IN ships and bases integrated with their own radars, giving them considerably more detection power. Here's one from the Aero India:
kamovflight16qb.jpg



The IN is also seriously considering the E-2C Hawkeye for use off India's ADS carrier. There is also a study going on of whether the Hawkeye can operate off the INS Vikramaditya (ex-Gorskhov), but I doubt it can effectively:
4.jpg




And for no reason, some more pics of the MKI:
10jc.jpg


27sm.jpg


35vp.jpg



And IAF fighter jocks showing their USAF counterparts the a/c:
10gz.jpg



F-15E/MKI do an unofficial flyby after the show ended :lol: :
6.jpg
 
Nice info raj
The Su-30 MKI is the most beautiful looking combat aircraft out there, isn't it ?
and its custom made ,culminating all the goodies out there into one awesome aircraft ( kind of a blonde with brains :lol: )
You missed the word "million" when you said "at a dirt cheap $23 a piece,"
:p


su30a16ln.jpg
 
Thanks for the info. Had read bout the possibility of IAF getting the Phalcon system, but wasnt sure whether this was actually happening. Nice i didnt know the russians had developed an AEW system for a helicopter.

Which of the indian planes are able to lauch the brahmos?
 
some more pictures...

mkiok108ql.jpg

^ SB-035 (C/N 10MK2209?) prepares to taxi out. No.30 squadron has a surprising number of younger pilots despite the Su-30MKI being on the highest end of the IAF spectrum.


hawkfly16pg.jpg

^The Hawk puts on an impressive show of loops and rolls, carried out
at relatively good speed. This one has always been one of the crowd's favorites. The Indian Navy may also acquire a small number of Hawks.


ka31fly38xm.jpg

^ IN-565 climbs to high altitude and flies off. The helicopter will return later with it's Vega E-801M 'Oko' radar deployed. Existing radars on the Ka-25s and Ka-28s may eventually be replaced by the LRDE SV-2000, for which, HAL is proposing an upgrade.


ka31deploy21bu.jpg

^The Ka-31 displays it's vertically polarized antenna array in the deployed position. The capabilities and detection range of this radar have deeply impressed the Navy.


mkirefuel40wr.jpg

^SB-040 and SB-035 refuel in preparation for the next round of sorties. One may have noted the removal of the RWR and IFF aerials from the tailfin. The Tarang RWR's forward looking antennae are now housed in the leading edge while the aft facing antennae are in the ledge corners of the tail sting. The aircraft carries both internal and external Sellf-Protection-Jammers (SPJs), of the Elta EL/L-8222 type.


k2689over127yj.jpg

^Another An-32, K-2689, makes a swift climb towards the heavens. The smokiness of the powerful Ivchenykyov AI-20D engines is easily notable.


mkiside53gc.jpg

^At least one Su-30MKI and one Su-30K participated in joint exercise 'SINDEX' with the RSAF at Gwalior. Having noted the one-sided result of Cope India, the Singaporeans did their homework and came fully prepared. The result was a more balanced outcome, although one Russian magazine had noted that the F-16 was totally outclassed by the Flanker.
 
the 100% indian plane "TEJAS"
INDIA is also working on projects like MCA & F-22 equivalent PAK-FA (jointly with russia),thes projects are pacing fast.(may join IAF by 2012)
tejas21.jpg
 
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