DRDO, PSU and Private Defence Sector News

[Aditya Ballal]

Likely they bought the whole manufacturing plant and set it up in here like they did with their artillery plant.
However 95% seems like exaggeration

As per Snehesh Alex Phillip, even the engine is being manufactured in India by Cummins. So I guess only the Allison Transmission is the only major imported item.

 

[mist_consecutive]

6 LUH ordered vs requirement for 200++
10 LCH vs requirement for >65
83 LCA MK1A despite depleting squadron strength and them fantasising over their MRFA dream

LCA MK.2 commitment cut in half from 12 to 6 squadrons

but sure, other than that IAF are doing a top notch job

See, there are always mistakes and shortcomings to be pointed out. If you always lament about what is not happening and never celebrate what is happening, you become a copium addict, and copium addicts are always looking for anything depressing for the excuse of taking another sniff.

6 LUH ordered vs requirement for 200++

Yes, and this is likely to be followed up by more orders. This is just the LSP series. Also, good thing is private transport industry has shown interest in acquiring LUH.

10 LCH vs requirement for >65

I am very hopeful about LCH, and both Airforce and Army have shown strong commitment towards it. HAL has aggressively set up factories to produce LCH and it will likely to see larger orders in future.

83 LCA MK1A despite depleting squadron strength and them fantasising over their MRFA dream

HAL is yet to start production of 83 Mk1A, they even delayed in Mk1 numbers. Give some time to HAL for their supply chain to mature. Also, IAF has made it clear they are looking forward to LCA Mk2 as its backbone. It is pretty possible we will see follow-up orders of Mk1A in the coming years if IAF is satisfied with its performance.

 

[omaebakabaka]

See, there are always mistakes and shortcomings to be pointed out. If you always lament about what is not happening and never celebrate what is happening, you become a copium addict, and copium addicts are always looking for anything depressing for the excuse of taking another sniff.



Yes, and this is likely to be followed up by more orders. This is just the LSP series. Also, good thing is private transport industry has shown interest in acquiring LUH.



I am very hopeful about LCH, and both Airforce and Army have shown strong commitment towards it. HAL has aggressively set up factories to produce LCH and it will likely to see larger orders in future.



HAL is yet to start production of 83 Mk1A, they even delayed in Mk1 numbers. Give some time to HAL for their supply chain to mature. Also, IAF has made it clear they are looking forward to LCA Mk2 as its backbone. It is pretty possible we will see follow-up orders of Mk1A in the coming years if IAF is satisfied with its performance.

True, IAF and GOI fucked up totally and there is no doubt about it in the depletion of squadrons while our opponents are growing it. Just sitting in limbo is the worst when it comes to defense, its worse than getting caught with your pants down. In this case, IAF may need time to set up logistics and get confidence in post sales maintenance and updates and training and so on. With established players, some of these things may be arguably well established but since our MIC is up and coming, it may have to be slow pace.

 

[mist_consecutive]

True, IAF and GOI fucked up totally and there is no doubt about it in the depletion of squadrons while our opponents are growing it. Just sitting in limbo is the worst when it comes to defense, its worse than getting with your pants down. In this case, IAF may need time to set up logistics and get confidence in post sales maintenance and updates and training and so on. With established players, some of these things may be arguably well established but since our MIC is up and coming, it may have to be slow pace.

I will be blaming GoI more than IAF, both BJP, and Congress for lacking a clear vision for IAF. IAF made it clear by 2008 that they need 10-12 squadrons worth of the latest jets to maintain an edge, GoI has never taken the concern on a serious note.

We ought to have ordered 120 MMRCA by 2014, not necessarily Rafale/EF2000 if budget was the issue. Gripen or even F-16 would have secured us comfortably (yeah yeah I know US redtape bla bla), even re-ordering Mirage-2000s would have worked.

The problem is GoI is betting everything on Tejas (Mk1 & Mk2), but it is facing intermittent delays constantly. I see only by 2030 we will be in a comfortable position again. However this risky bet that we won't be fighting any large war in the next 8 years is likely to cost us dearly.

 

[omaebakabaka]

I will be blaming GoI more than IAF, both BJP, and Congress for lacking a clear vision for IAF. IAF made it clear by 2008 that they need 10-12 squadrons worth of the latest jets to maintain an edge, GoI has never taken the concern on a serious note.

We ought to have ordered 120 MMRCA by 2014, not necessarily Rafale/EF2000 if budget was the issue. Gripen or even F-16 would have secured us comfortably (yeah yeah I know US redtape bla bla), even re-ordering Mirage-2000s would have worked.

The problem is GoI is betting everything on Tejas (Mk1 & Mk2), but it is facing intermittent delays constantly. I see only by 2030 we will be in a comfortable position again. However this risky bet that we won't be fighting any large war in the next 8 years is likely to fail.

I agree but no one assumes that being chief of AF is easy, we rarely see chiefs with backbone and same with DM and hasn't in a long time like Sundarji/Shaw and one more I can't remember. They need to know how to strong arm even PM if necessary. More important job than 5 year transient politicians. We lack a strong deep state with good intentions

 

[Fatalis]

Does anyone know why IAF went with Su-30 MKI? Was this our first Heavy MRCA?

There was also an article long ago about how we did not move forward with the manufacturing of 150 Mirage 2K and instead went with new Mig-29.

I feel the whole aquisition process of IAF from late 80s till now has not shown very good results. Something lacking in planning or vision not sure.

 

[Corvus Splendens]

As per Snehesh Alex Phillip, even the engine is being manufactured in India by Cummins. So I guess only the Allison Transmission is the only major imported item.

Transmission is assembled in Allison's shop in Chennai

 

[omaebakabaka]

Does anyone know why IAF went with Su-30 MKI? Was this our first Heavy MRCA?

There was also an article long ago about how we did not move forward with the manufacturing of 150 Mirage 2K and instead went with new Mig-29.

I feel the whole aquisition process of IAF from late 80s till now has not shown very good results. Something lacking in planning or vision not sure.

MKI is a good plane and India needed a heavy one and only other alternative is f-15 but US is not our ally or enemy in that sense at the time. It was a mistake not to get more mirage 2ks and same mistake is being repeated with Rafale purchase. It is meaningless to have just 2 squads....waste of logistical investment

 

[mist_consecutive]

Does anyone know why IAF went with Su-30 MKI? Was this our first Heavy MRCA?

There was also an article long ago about how we did not move forward with the manufacturing of 150 Mirage 2K and instead went with new Mig-29.

I feel the whole aquisition process of IAF from late 80s till now has not shown very good results. Something lacking in planning or vision not sure.

After our nuclear test, we were heavily sanctioned by the west, and that included sanctions on spare parts for western aircraft and helicopters. Meanwhile, Russian equipment during that time was pretty decent (cold-war era).

Su-30 series was undoubtedly the most potent multirole fighter during that time, along with F-15s. Even till the early last decade (2010-14), Su-30 MKI was unmatched in South-East Asia. But with evolving technology, you need to continuously upgrade your fleet. IAF failed that, partly due to Russian leverage and inflexibility to allow us to upgrade the MKI fleet.

In fact, it is still a pretty decent platform, a solid 4th gen fighter. Paired with long-range BVRs, a powerful radar, and an Israeli-EW system, it can comfortably take on any 4th gen. western jet, barring 4.5 gen. jets or above (Rafale, Typhoon, etc.).

 

[Johny_Baba]

Does anyone know why IAF went with Su-30 MKI? Was this our first Heavy MRCA?

There was also an article long ago about how we did not move forward with the manufacturing of 150 Mirage 2K and instead went with new Mig-29.

I feel the whole aquisition process of IAF from late 80s till now has not shown very good results. Something lacking in planning or vision not sure.

Some people on teligram were suggesting we were even offered license plus ToT (or screwdrivergiri chhap assembly, make whatever you want of it) for these two here in late 80s,
> Mirage-4000

>Mig-29
nothing as extraordinary as Mirage-4000 but a full fledged assembly line of Mig-29 could've been useful in replacing dem Mig-21s here as a mainstream interceptor-fighter sort of jet

 

[mist_consecutive]

I think ultimately this whole MRCA saga will end with China bitchslapping us again in Ladakh, causing Modi to open his batua and hurriedly ordering 36 more Rafale F4 and calling it a day, and we wait for Tejas Mk1A and Mk2.

Not a bad option, in fact the most practical one currently.

 

[omaebakabaka]

Some people on teligram were suggesting we were even offered license plus ToT (or screwdrivergiri chhap assembly, make whatever you want of it) for these two here in late 80s,
> Mirage-4000
View attachment 178931
View attachment 178929
View attachment 178928
View attachment 178930
View attachment 178927

>Mig-29
nothing as extraordinary as Mirage-4000 but a full fledged assembly line of Mig-29 could've been useful in replacing dem Mig-21s here as a mainstream interceptor-fighter sort of jet

How would having a license produced plane be helpful, we still pay the money and simply IAF never had a clear minded plan about mig 21s replacement....its evident with Tejas now. If there is a sense of urgency then we would put everyone's ass on fire....it simply comes down to having a western and russian lobby gangs that bribe our gawar politicians. As long as they get a deal both sides are happy and Indians will have adhoc airforce with no sense of consolidation at any level.

I can't remember how many TOT's we had over time in so many different areas and we stil import shit in those categories to this day.

 

[asaffronladoftherisingsun]

 

[Knowitall]

I think ultimately this whole MRCA saga will end with China bitchslapping us again in Ladakh, causing Modi to open his batua and hurriedly ordering 36 more Rafale F4 and calling it a day, and we wait for Tejas Mk1A and Mk2.

Not a bad option, in fact the most practical one currently.

This option makes sense only if there are some minor concessions that the govt can brush under the carpet like the current buffer zone nonsense where they can deny stuff saying we were never there anyways. In such case things would stay pretty much the same as of now.

For modi to open his batua there would have to been a decent loss that we would have to face. In that case even 200 rafales would not be worth it as our policy makers would shut down the door of challenging china for the next 200 years or so which is not worth it.

 

[Fatalis]

Sir ji, the variety of aircrafts which IAF has in its inventory is second only to USAF. Even after that we are struggling with meeting the minimum requirements. As a matter of fact both the air forces are struggling to meet their minimum required numbers. 42 for IAF and 60 for USAF. No proper planning and unclear vision have caused this for us. Hopefully, we might streamline our fleet down the road in future but until that is achieved we have to struggle.

I always think, we only win any war because of the sheer will of our soldiers who put everything on the line. Even without proper equipment they show exceptional bravery and always come out on the top. Hope, we can provide them with proper equipment in the near future.

 

[asaffronladoftherisingsun]

 

[Swesh]

That means they are moving to next gen of navic satellites

 

[SUPERPOWER]

That means they are moving to next gen of navic satellites

We have only 7 thats too the last launched before 2 years i believe...which new sattelites is thw talking about?

 

[Swesh]

We have only 7 thats too the last launched before 2 years i believe...which new sattelites is thw talking about?

Right now only 4 out of 7 are working next gen 12 satellites constalltion is proposed to MEO that means they are about to launch 8 new satellites on L5 based gns transmission extending current range of 1500 KM IOR to 3000 KM

 

[Fatalis]

I remember seeing an image where it was mentioned that our upcoming AD-1 will be better than Aster-30. But aren't we already having MRSAM in similar role except the Pif-Paf. MRSAM is even lighter than Aster-30 and has similar range and performance.

What kind of improvements can we expect from AD-1 over the MRSAM?