Sukhois, radar network to secure skies over Delhi

[nrj]

Delhi is poised to get five Sukhoi aircraft and half-a-dozen surface-to-air missile launchers backed by a network of interception radars to guard itself from hijacked or rogue aircraft being used for suicide attacks.

Defence ministry officials said that the ministry will soon approach the Cabinet Committee on Security for approval for an initial Rs 5,000 crore to "weaponise and strengthen the Joint Command & Analysis Centre at Delhi".The annual operational expense has been pegged at Rs 540 crore, they said.

The officials said that the JCAC weaponisation programme had been cleared by a committee of secretaries last November with a direction to the defence ministry to work out the details in consultation with the home ministry.

The defence ministry's proposal comes nine years after it was mooted in March 2003 following the 9/11 attacks. A JCAC comprising IAF and civil aviation officials had been established, but the quick-response air defence system is yet to be set up.

Officials said the Sukhois would be based at Hindon just outside the capital in order to cut down on response time. Scrambling fighters from Ambala, Chandigarh or Bareilly would take too long.

The defence ministry proposal also suggests similar JCACs near the airports at Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Guwahati.


Sukhois, radar network to secure skies over Delhi - Indian Express

 

[sandeepdg]

Finally some much needed muscle for the JCAC. It will be better if this strategy is adopted for all the cities mentioned.

 

[Yusuf]

Why do we need to scramble Sukhois for a potential hijack? A MiG 21 can do that. Do they think its not worth to risk a MiG21 as it might crash before taking out the hijacked plane?

 

[plugwater]

Why do we need to scramble Sukhois for a potential hijack? A MiG 21 can do that. Do they think its not worth to risk a MiG21 as it might crash before taking out the hijacked plane?

You dont want Mig-21 to crash into parliament, do you ?

If they use Mig-21, they need someother aircraft to shoot it down.

 

[p2prada]

The aircraft should be able to loiter around for long periods of time before and after an aircraft is shot down. The Mig-21 cannot handle that.

 

[Yusuf]

The aircraft should be able to loiter around for long periods of time before and after an aircraft is shot down. The Mig-21 cannot handle that.

I think the Mig 21s can loiter around for some time. It was the mig 21 which tracked followed and then brought down the atlantique

 

[ace009]

Ohh - I thought Mig-21s were interceptors with very low loiter time - like 30 mins or so.

 

[utubekhiladi]

Why do we need to scramble Sukhois for a potential hijack? A MiG 21 can do that. Do they think its not worth to risk a MiG21 as it might crash before taking out the hijacked plane?

hahahahaha yusuf,

why do u hate 21's so much .

its our 21 which draw the last blood for the legendary mig 21 and mig family. Remember atlantique incident?

 

[Yusuf]

hahahahaha yusuf,

why do u hate 21's so much .

its our 21 which draw the last blood for the legendary mig 21 and mig family. Remember atlantique incident?

Saar I don't hate the 21s. Served us well.

 

[Yusuf]

Ohh - I thought Mig-21s were interceptors with very low loiter time - like 30 mins or so.

If there has been a hijack and the order for scrambling the jets is given in order to shoot down a plane, then a 30 minute loiter will not be required.

 

[utubekhiladi]

loiter time can be increased with external fuel tanks you silly.

 

[agentperry]

so much security as if delhi and only delhi is india.

there is a big 4000 km indo-tiebt border without a good forward base and even a radar at first place.

and we have a su-30 mki fleet to defend few of the most hated people on earth.

this step clearly states that there is no guarantee of interception at borders. these planes should be at borders not around capital.

 

[ace009]

I would hate to see the Mig-21s "loitering" around anywhere - every additional minute they stay up, the pilots life is at risk ...
They should have a parachute for the plane too.

Nothing against the Mig-21 - it was the best fighter of the later half of last century (even ahead of F-16s). But it is not a good bet anymore - it should be primarily used as an interceptor.

Delhi needs some protection - but Mig-21 interceptors should be fine.

 

[p2prada]

The loiter time of the Mig-21 is 30 minutes as compared to 4.5 hours on the MKI with mid air refueling capability. No new Mig-21s will be made anyway and nobody in India will accept a second hand Mig-21 from the air force.

The Atlantique incident was an interception of an enemy which was easily identified as compared to a hijacked airliner. Considering the amount of air traffic over Delhi the Mig-21 will need help from AWACS in order to identify the right aircraft. MKI does not need such assistance due to it's larger radar.

Mig-21 can only carry 2-4 missiles.

 

[utubekhiladi]

well, how about 2000s and 29's?

why in the hell it always has to be mki? even tejas can do the job in future

i need mki to do a bigger job rather than babysitting some city.

 

[nrj]

Mid-air refueling mainly, enabling MKIs to chase suspected aircraft even for another thousand kms. Also MKIs have much better data feed. They can work in great rhythm with AWACS compared to any other fighters.

Bisons are history. Fighter/radar cover over metros will remain there forever this point on, making MKIs a natural choice viz a viz training, operational transition of duties & future compatibility of hardwares.

 

[p2prada]

well, how about 2000s and 29's?

why in the hell it always has to be mki? even tejas can do the job in future

i need mki to do a bigger job rather than babysitting some city.

2000s and 29s have the more important role of being our primary aircraft against PAF.

We have plenty of MKIs for all such jobs. The F-15 does the same for the US.