I dont buy that number at all. The russian hardwares are notorius for cheap price but expensive repaires. Not to mention non existent after sale services.
Even without the repaires the price will be more than 10000 every flight hour...
This used to be the case.
Anyway the $10000 was an IAF released information.
The after sales service is pretty good for the MKI. IN has not complained as well for the Mig-29K. As a matter of fact PAF has good things to say about the RD-93 on JF-17. The AL-31FN on the J-10 has also been well received even though it's service life and MTBO numbers are half that of the MKI's AL-31FP.
The life of the MKI airframe is also 6000 hours. It is a very good figure. At the same time the Mig-29K's life has been increased to 4000 hours from 2500 hours. The service life and MTBO times of the RD-33 Series III is twice that of the RD-93.
While I am not saying there is a hard and fast rule that will keep the figure at $10000 permanently, it is nevertheless an excellent figure. If the west claims the life cycle costs are 1/3rd of the basic SH, then what's there to complain.
So what you are saying a 30 year old F15 can be upgraded enough to take on a plane built 30 years later.
Sure it can. They are from the same technology base.
For some reason, possibly security concerns raised by the Indians, the F-15Cs operated without an AWACS. That one factor probably leveled the playing field for the Americans
There were no AWACS on both sides. IAF got their first ever AWACS only in 2009.
Forced to rely on Indian ground radars and / or their own airborne radars the F-15Cs must have felt crippled.
Ground radars were not used either. No AWACS on both sides. As a matter of fact a transport aircraft called An-32 only simulated AWACS presence for the IAF. It did nothing beyond just flying around.
Their misery was probably compounded by the fact that the attack force enjoyed overwhelming numerical superiority. The F-15C pilots would have been easily overwhelmed by multiple targets detected minutes before they came into visual range.
It is usual for the defensive force. Even during real war scenarios. Also, the dog fights was not based on elimination like Red Flag. It was based on points. The F-15s after being shot down were still in contention to get more points. So, various different tactics can continuously be formulated during the time. That's why the victory conditions gave IAF 90% of the points. Or else it would have just been a win or lose scenario where the winner takes all.
Yet another factor against them must have been the fact that the cream of the Indian Air Force mans Mirage, MiG-29 and Su-30 squadrons. These squadrons constitute our most valuable and limited assets. On the other hand the F-15C is the workhorse aircraft in the USAF.
The F-15s came from Japan. The USAF had a healthy mix of experience and moderately experienced pilots. Experienced and inexperienced is not an excuse either. The training levels of the USAF pilots are better.
I am inclined to believe that the playing field at Gawalior was tilted against the USAF pilots.
Talk to USAF pilots, especially ones from Aggressor squadrons and they will tell you the numbers and rules are almost always tilted in the opponents favour. It wasn't much anyway.
If the US pilots did end up with adverse kill ratios it should surprise no one, least of all the USAF generals. However, it would present them with a wonderful opportunity to scare the US Congress into releasing additional funds for the F/A-22 Raptor.
People are not fools. Congressmen are anything but gullible. Such false tactics cannot be sold to them so easily. The Congressmen also have White House advisors who are experienced aviators and analysts who can remove the veil of deceit.
This tactic obviously did not work.
Robert Gates did not cancel the F-22 program on a whim.
USAF pilots do not usually train to fight enemy pilots. Instead, they train to shoot them down much before the enemy aircraft can come in close enough to fight with them. Given the right circumstances USAF pilots do their jobs very well! So the question whether Indian fighter pilots are better than USAF fighter pilots is moot. They probably are if they get to fight them!. Like they did at Gawalior. But that was an exercise. In actual combat, however, they will probably be taken out long before they get to engage the USAF pilots.
Sure. But it goes on to show that when facing a decent adversary, it won't go like how Israel or the US had overwhelming victories against lesser capable enemies.
IAF is nowhere as capable as the USAF. It will probably take us 15 years or even 20 years to match numbers alone. Technology, depends on our funding and political will.
