USAF has more in storage. Will have to wait and see if they can sell 5-6 more. 16 C-17's would be ideal for IAF. A-400 is no match even for IL-76 let alone C-17.
USAF storage is meant as a reserve for their own air force to replace crashed C-17.
I hope we can pull through with just 11 C-17 for the next ~15 years. When are the Il-76 due to retire? In the next 7 years, we might have our own ~250 ton military transport aircraft in the works. In fact, they should start working in that direction right now. Take design assistance if they have to. But before that, we need more experience designing smaller commercial and military transports. They need to start designing a An-32 replacement right now. And we need to expedite Saras and its other planned versions like RTA.
Why is it that the IAF is the only service branch that is in a deep mess on every front?
- Transport fleet
- An-32 need replacement. They are not certified to ferry humans anymore.
- HS 748 needs replacement. Not sure when CASA C-295 is going to come.
- Il-76 about to retire, C-17 replacement only partial. This is a decrease in strategic airlift capacity while we should be think of capability accretion.
- Thank god we have some C-130J as a new capability.
- Fighter fleet
- No clarity on Single engine tender or its need.
- No idea about when Su-57 will be delivered, or if it will be at all?
- No staunch support for Tejas program.
- AMCA nowhere near completion, not to mention the complexity and the steep learning curve involved.
- Ageing fleet needs upgrades.
- Su-30MKI needs upgrades.
- Rafael order cut down to 36, lets see if more will be ordered as
- No consensus on what the future fighter fleet should look like.
- Air Defence
- No idea when the S-400 will come.
- Akash SAM not deployed because of stupid reasons.
- Thank god we have SPYDER. Still not enough. Hope they don't try to kill QRSAM and XRSAM projects.
- Thank god we have IACCS.
- Thank god we have indigenous radars in development, trials and induction.
- Drones
- No armed drones whatsoever.
- No indigenous drone in production.
- Happy with old Israeli drones.
- Making case for more foreign drones, even if unarmed.
- Helicopters
- At loggerheads with Indian Army over control of attack helos and CAS role.
- Thank god for the Dhruv, Rudra and Mi-17v5.
- Thank god LUH is on the horizon.
- Trainer aircraft
- Thank god HTT-40 survived IAF's attemp to assassinate it.
- Aerial refueling tanker
- MRTT tender cancelled...................
- AEW&CS
- Pakistan has more than us. Need I say anymore?
The Air Force is suffering today to maintain levels because it did not deem it necessary to invest in a domestic aircraft industry. Meanwhile, the Navy is looking at both multiplying the number of platforms it has, while also replacing old ones, and is doing so in-house. The result of investing in domestic industry has paid of for the Navy, and for some extent, even the Army. I agree that aircraft industry is difficult to establish, but the fact that IAF is not single-mindedly aiming for a domestic industry is the major reason why we lag behind in this critical area of national importance. I just hope that the IAF learns its lessons and starts planning and investing heavily in building an indigenous aircraft industry, since it is a major stakeholder.
Well many of you might agree that Kawasaki C-2 is a very capable platform if we can get our hands on it and to my mind its more capable than c-17. Having two types of planes posses huge problem to any air force but i guess Indian air force already excel in this field with all kinds of Migs, Sukhoi, Mirages, Jaguars etc so i assume they can manage C-17, C 130, and C2
C-2 is a 150-ton class. C-17 is a 250 ton class. How are they even comparable? How is it more capable than the C-17?
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