India's Light Combat Aircraft - Tejas At Iron Fist 2013

India should go for Russian T-50 stealth aircraft instead of the Rafale.

Indo-Russian Fifth generation fighter crosses milestone

India and Russia have crossed the first milestone towards the development of the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA), completing the preliminary design of the plane.

“The preliminary design contract (PDC) for the Russian-Indian fifth generation aircraft has been executed,” Russia’s Sukhoi aircraft company announced on Wednesday. 

The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) signed the $295-million PDC contract in December 2010 with the Sukhoi company, which is responsible in Russia for developing the PAK-FA (perspective aviation complex-frontline aircraft), as the FGFA is called in Russia.

“The aircraft design has been fully developed,” Sukhoi said in a press release. “Both parties have agreed upon on the amount and division of work during the research and development (R&D) stage. A contract for the R&D is being prepared. It is to be signed this year.”Under the PDC contract Sukhoi has also trained Indian engineers and provided HAL with the data and software needed to create a single working environment. A team of HAL engineers and IAF experts has been working at Sukhoi’s design bureau in Moscow, while Russian engineers have been assigned to HAL.

Four T-50 aircraft, the Russian prototype of the fifth generation fighter, have already performed more than 200 test flights since January 2010. 

 

The customised FGFA version will have “some differences” from the Russian prototype to meet “specific requirements of the Indian Air Force,” the Sukhoi announcement said. 

Russian experts said the FGFA will differ in “mission hardware and software,” as well as weapons. India has dropped its initial plan to redesign the single-seat T-50 into a twin-seat version.

Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne told reporters at Aero India-2013 that India is to receive from Russia the first prototype of the fifth-generation fighter in 2014, followed by two more in 2017 and 2018. The FGFA is expected to go into series production by 2022.This is India’s biggest-ever defence project and its largest defence deal with Russia. It is expected to cost India more than $30 billion. However, last year India scaled down its original plan to acquire 214 planes by one-third, to 144 aircraft, citing time and cost factors. Russia plans to induct 60 planes at an estimated price tag of $100 million per aircraft.

Indian Air Force Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) testing

IAF Receives First Lot Of Pilatus PC-7 Trainers

The  Indian Air Force has received the first lot of the new basic trainer aircraft 'PC-7 Mk-II' produced by the Pilatus aircraft company of Switzerland, which arrived today at the Air Force Academy, Dundigal near Hyderabad.  The first lot of aircraft were flown in by the Swiss pilots and received at Air Force Academy by Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command, Air Marshal Rajinder Singh PVSM AVSM VM and Commandant AFA, Air Marshal RG Burli VM.  The aircraft 'PC-7 Mk-II' is a modern trainer aircraft, equipped with the latest navigation system and training aids, and is being used by many Air Forces around the world.  The IAF is to get 75 such aircrafts in the coming months.  With the induction of the 'PC-7 Mk-II' aircraft, the IAF will be able to meet the long standing need of having a basic trainer aircraft post grounding of HPT-32 in July 2009.

India’s stealth fighter : Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft concept

First Indian Air Force C-17A gets airbourne

Russian air force puts secret X-38 air-to-surface missile into service

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The Russian Air Force has put the advanced X-38 air-to-surface missile into service. Although the short-range missile was developed for the T-50 fifth generation fighter jet, the existing bombers and fighter jets, including Su-34 and MiG-29 CMT will be equipped with these missiles.

The missile was tested in great secrecy in 2012, and was commissioned in late December. The delivery of missiles will be started shortly. The new missile will be equipped with independently guided warheads. This solves various tasks and increases the striking power of T-50 multipurpose fighter jets. The missiles will be placed inside the jet that is being developed using stealth technology, says editor-in-chief of the “Nezavisimoe Voennoe Obozrenie” magazine Victor Litovkin.

“A fighter jet may have special characteristics, including non-visibility to radar and other detecting equipment, but it is just an aircraft. But when it is equipped with high-precision guided missiles, this is a high-precision aviation complex. That can be considered a fifth generation fighter jet. The fact, that the missile on board the jet increases its low visibility,” Victor Litovkin said.

The missile will not reflect on the radar screen. It has another advanced feature. It can orient itself during the flight using the GLONASS space navigation system. The recent armed conflicts, including in Afghanistan and the Middle East have shown that it is difficult to discover targets from air even with the guidance from the ground because advanced camouflaging systems have been developed. These missiles will be guided to the target by a GLONASS satellite, says Victor Litovkin.

“The missile’s accuracy increases owing to the GLONASS satellite that sees the target and missile and combines these two points. When taking into account the fact that this is a supersonic missile, a complicated task is solved, a missile that is flying at a high speed is guided to a target. In short, this is a great achievement of Russian missile designers,” Victor Litovkin added.

The X-38 missile is capable of hitting manoeuvering armoured vehicles and hideouts at a distance from 3 to 40 kilometers. These missiles will upgrade the combat capacity of the Russian Air Force.

India may buy up to 189 French Rafale combat jets in $18 billion dollar deal

India could buy up to 189 of the Rafale fighter jets currently being used by France to bomb Islamist militants in Mali, sources close to negotiations on the multi-billion dollar deal have told AFP.

The possibility of an additional 63 jets being added to an expected order for 126 was raised during a visit by India's Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid to Paris last week, they said.
"There is an option for procurement of an additional 63 aircrafts subsequently for which a separate contract would need to be signed," a source said.

"Presently the contract under negotiation is for 126 aircraft but we are talking about the follow-up."

A 50 percent increase in the number of planes ordered would take it to around $18 billion, in a huge boost for the struggling French defence industry, although much of the economic benefit will be shared with India.
New Delhi selected France's Dassault Aviation as its preferred candidate to equip its air force with new fighter jets in January 2012.

Under the deal on the table, the first 18 Rafales will be built in France but the next 108 will be assembled in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd in the southern city of Bangalore.
"The first aircraft will be delivered three years after signature of the contract," the source added.
An industry expert said the time lag reflected India's request for two-seater jets rather than the one-seater model that Dassault currently produces.

India has insisted that the deal involves significant technology transfer and that Indian suppliers secure work equivalent to around half of the value of the contract.
"The negotiations for off-sets are progressing well," the source added.
The conclusion of the deal has been repeatedly delayed, with India having initially set a target of the end of last year, which slipped to March 31, 2013, the end of the current fiscal year.

India selects Airbus Military MRTT for six-aircraft deal

Indian Airforce SU30MKI aircraft over the Indian Ocean

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Indian Air Force : Dassault Mirage 2000s

Indian Air Force's First Upgraded MiG-29s start arriving

JSC Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG (part of the United Aircraft Corporation) began to supply upgraded MiG-29 fighters to the Indian Air Force. The first three aircraft are delivered to India by An-124 transport aircraft. Modernization significantly extends the range of tasks performed by MiG-29. The upgraded aircraft, along with increased capability to fight air targets, acquire the ability to strike ground (surface) moving and stationary targets with precision weapons by day and night and in any weather conditions.

The maiden flight of the upgraded MiG-29UPG took place on February 4, 2011 at the airdrome of the Flight Research Institute named after M.M. Gromov. The contract provides repair and modification of aircraft for the purpose of extending the life up to 3,500 flight hours and service life - up to 40 years. Developments of the RAC MiG can significantly extend the life cycle of MiG-29, which was proven by the experience of modernization in a number of countries.

 

Fourth Prototype Of The T-50 PAK-FA Aircraft [T-50-4] Makes Its Maiden Flight

MOSCOW, December 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's fourth prototype Sukhoi T-50 stealth fighter jet took to the skies for the first time on Wednesday in a 40 minute flight at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur factory in Siberia, Sukhoi said.

"The fourth prototype PAK-FA made its first flight today from the Gagarin factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur," Sukhoi said, referring to the aircraft by its project name, an acronym for future fifth-generation tactical fighter.

"The flight tested the aircraft's overall integrity and its main engines. The aircraft is making a good impression in all phases of the flying program," Sukhoi said.

The T-50, which will be the core of Russia's future fighter fleet, is a fifth-generation multirole fighter aircraft featuring low-observable technology (stealth), super-maneuverability, supercruise capability (supersonic flight without use of afterburner), and an advanced avionics suite including an X-band active phased-array radar.

The first prototype first flew on January 29, 2010.

The Russian Defense Ministry plans to purchase a first batch of 10 evaluation aircraft and then 60 production-standard aircraft after 2015.

Meanwhile, the Novosibirsk aircraft factory (NAPO) plans to deliver ten more Sukoi Su-34 strike aircraft to the Russian Air Force in the near future, the Air Force's Col. Andrei Bobrun said.

"The Novosibirsk factory will send another ten aircraft to the Voronezh air base in the near future," he said.

The air force set up its first Su-34 squadron at the end of 2011. A two-seat strike-dedicated derivative of the Su-27 fighter, the Su-34 can carry a payload of up to eight tons of guided weapons over 4,000 kilometers.

First Indian Air Force C-17A CB-8001 Globemaster

The first Indian Air Force C-17A (F-253/IAF-1) CB-8001 is bathed in the bright white light of the flight ramp flood lites on December 7, 2012 just hours after emerging from the production hanger at Long Beach Airport (LGB/KLGB)

Indian Air Force IAF face off with Chineese Air Force PLAAF over Himalayas

On October 30, the defence brass of the two countries had some anxious moments after nuclear-armed Chinese fighter aircraft were dispatched to scramble Indian jets flying in the Tawang region of Arunachal Pradesh.

Around 3pm on that day, some IAF jets were on a routine sortie mission in Arunachal Pradesh, when they were picked up on their Lhasa-based radar by the Chinese, senior officials privy to the deliberations following the incident said.

Alarmed by the Indian jets, the brass of the PLAAF, the Chinese Air Force, set off a chain reaction. This resulted in two Chinese Sukhoi-27 jets taking off from the Gonggar air base in Tibet within minutes.

After taking off around 3:04 pm, the Chinese aircraft flew southeast towards the direction of the Indian aircraft. There were some anxious moments on the Indian side when the Chinese aircraft were picked up on the radar at 3:29 pm near Cuona.

Officials say the drama lasted for around 50 minutes and just 30 km short of the international boundary- which is few seconds for a supersonic aircraft- the Chinese fighters, realising the IAF jets had no intention of an offensive move, turned back.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/china-dispatches-jets-to-scramble-indian-aircrafts-in-arunachal-border-india-today/1/235138.html

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/china-dispatches-jets-to-scramble-indian-aircrafts-in-arunachal-border-india-today/1/235138.html

China has been ramping up its strategic assets in Tibet for quick reaction in a war situation.

It already has five operational airfields at Gonggar, Pangta, Linchi, Hoping and Gar Gunsa.

The extension of the Qinghai Tibet Railway line to Xigaze and another line from Kashgar to Hotan in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region is also in progress.

Strategically, the Tibet Autonomous Region is pivotal for China's security as it comprises approximately one-fourth of China's land mass, and it continues to have aggressive deployments in the region.

While the new Chinese leadership led by Xi Jinping may not risk a war with India, the chances of a local commander triggering off a conflict cannot be ruled out given the growing intensity of the provocative incidents on the Line of Actual Control.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/china-dispatches-jets-to-scramble-indian-aircrafts-in-arunachal-border-india-today/1/235138.html