Indian Air Force: News & Discussions

[Armand2REP]

with a new Zhuk -AME Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar

MiG-35 is the only MiG with an AESA.

RD 33 turbofan engine

Let's hope it's a good buy.

With a 62% defect rate it is not likely. Those engines are the bane of IN aviation's existence. Quality control for all components of MiGs are suspect.

 

[Assassin 2.0]

MiG-35 is the only MiG with an AESA.


With a 62% defect rate it is not likely. Those engines are the bane of IN aviation's existence. Quality control for all components of MiGs are suspect.

sir mig - 29 UPG Force. . The standard includes the new Zhuk-M radar, uses new avionics, a IFR probe as well as new enhanced RD-33 series 3 turbofan engines. (Yup It doesn't have asea radar for now )
After engine upgrades maintance issues are not there Naval mig-29K have that problem but UPG is no longer gass guzzler.

 

[Lancer]

KAMCHOR salle nale nithale. Free ka kahya piya sogye. Kick these junks out. Yeh hi salle cancer h desh k liye.

Government should fire these jokers and hand over projects too private companies. And also involve young talented minds.

Excellent excuse to kick some PSU ass...

 

[Flying Dagger]

India Reportedly Looks To Buy Unfinished Soviet-Era MiG-29s To Stave Off Fighter Shortage
The potential deal with Russia would see these aircraft completed after three decades in storage and brought up to the last standard.
By Tyler Rogoway


MiG
Facing a steady decline in available fighter jets, the Indian Air Force is now reportedly in talks to buy 21 unfinished Soviet-era MiG-29 Fulcrums from Russia and have them completed in a modernized configuration. The proposed deal comes as India continues to struggle with a host of other fighter jet procurement efforts, most notably a more than decade long effort to purchase of more than a hundred new fighter jets, which is now effectively in its third incarnation.
The Times of India was first to report on the possible acquisition of the MiG-29 hulks, which date to the late 1980s and have apparently been in storage since at least around the fall of the Soviet Union. India received around 70 early model MiG-29s from Russia between 1986 and 1990, of which around 62 remain in service.

Since the early 2010s, Indian aerospace contractor Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), in cooperation with MiG in Russia, has upgraded about half of these two the MiG-29UPG standard, with Russian assistance. The UPG variant is similar to the Russian modernized MiG-29SMT, featuring the Zhuk-ME electronically scanned slotted planar array radar, as well as engine improvements and an expanded capability to conduct air-to-ground missions.

Where the UPG reportedly differs most from the SMT is in its non-Russian avionics upgrades. The Indian Navy also flies MiG-29Ks that have many updated features in common with the SMT and UPG variants. The new potential deal with Russia would see the incomplete MiG-29s finished in a configuration similar to either the SMT or UPG versions, according to The Times.


MiG

An Indian MiG-29 upgraded by MiG in Russia to the UPG standard.

“These fighters were built in the 1980s but never assembled and flown,” an unnamed Indian Air Force officer reportedly told the Indian daily. “Our team visited Russia last month and found the MiG-29 skeletons to be in good condition.”

The individual offered no further details on the state of the aircraft parts, which have been in storage now for at least around 30 years. Beyond the officer saying India had been offered “a good price,” there is no word on how much the Russians want for the unassembled planes or to finish building them to a modern standard.

But it is hard to see how the proposal would provide India, at least in the near term, with the additional fighter jet capacity it desperately needs right now. The jets not only need to be assembled, but have to be brought up to a significantly different standard. The SMT and UPG variants both feature an enlarged “hump” behind the cockpit, for example, which holds extra fuel.


Alex Beltyukov via Wikimedia

Making the changes necessary to internal wiring and other changes necessary to accommodate the new radar and other electronics could be particularly labor intensive. To underscore the potential complexities of the updates, the Indian Air Force’s entire MiG-29 fleet was originally supposed to be in the UPG configuration by 2013.

The amount of effort it might take to get just 20 additional aircraft into service seems excessive when the Indian Air Force has had a firm requirement for more than 100 additional aircraft since 2001. The Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft competition, or MMCRA, which has been officially ongoing since 2007, is still supposed to provide the bulk of the capacity, but still seems years after from leading to the acquisition of actual aircraft.

The fact that India has dropped its participation in Russia's fledgling Su-57 program that was supposed to result in an Indian-specific variant called the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) only adds more uncertainty to the country's future fighter force structure.

The under-produced Tejas fighter jet was also supposed to help replace dozens more Cold War-era jets. So far, the Indian Air Force has around a dozen Tejas Mk 1s and 40 more still on order, as well as plans to acquire more than 80 substantially improved Mk 1A variants.


Venkat Mangudi via Wikimedia

However, the Mk 1A isn’t even supposed to make its first flight until 2020. The Indian Air Force’s plans to acquire a further upgraded Mk 2 variant, as well as a domestically designed stealth fighter, known as the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), are still very much in the conceptual phase.

In the interim, India had inked a deal to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets from French manufacturer Dassault. The first of these aircraft are in flight testing in France with the expectation that they’ll get delivered later this year. However, years of allegations of corruption with regards to that contract have let to a bitter political and legal battle that threatens to upend the purchase entirely.





With all this in mind, the Indian Air Force may feel it has no choice but to resort to less optimal avenues to acquire any additional fighter jets. The Indian government says that the service needs at least 42 squadrons of fighter jets to meet its operational requirements, most importantly the need to continue presenting a realistic challenge to ever-growing Chinese and Pakistani airpower.

At present, it has just 31 squadrons. Even more worrisome, many of these are equipped with increasingly geriatric Soviet-era MiG-21 and MiG-27 and European Jaguar and Mirage 2000 tactical jets. Though these planes have all received upgrades over the years, the basic life expectancy of the airframes is increasingly in question.

It was just announced that India is looking to acquire another 18 Sukhoi Su-30MKI kits to assemble in-country as an additional measure to help further shore up the country's rickety fighter force. Nearly 300 Su-30 aircraft, in the form of kits or otherwise, will have been delivered to India once the deal runs its course.


Ramji Vyas/Hindustan Times/Sipa via AP

Indian firefighters hose down the remains of a MiG-27 after a crash in 2016.

Just so far in February 2019, the Indian Air Force has lost one MiG-27 and one Mirage 2000 in accidents. The pilot on board the MiG was able to eject, but the two aviators in the Mirage died. In the past, Indian media has referred to the MiG-21s and -27s specifically as “flying coffins” and “widow makers” on account of regular and often fatal crashes.

The Indian Air Force definitely needs more fighter jets to fill these growing gaps, which will only continue to expand as time goes on. But it’s not clear if pulling unfinished MiG-29s out of storage and bringing them up to a modern standard is a realistic path toward helping alleviate those issues. It's also possible that India could just use the old airframes for parts, but doing so would only have a chance of increasing the readiness of the existing MiG-29 fleet, not growing its size as a whole.

Contact the author: [email protected]

Don't forget to sign upYour Email Address



https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...iet-era-mig-29s-to-stave-off-fighter-shortage

Algeria returned 12 RSK MiG-29SMT

Algeria claimed internals of the jet are old and forced Russia to take them back and Russians thought to include them in there airforce but that never happened so they are just lying useless. So most probably we are getting 12 frames which are in good condition.

the MiG-29 fleet of the IAF was put through a comprehensive upgrade by Russia at a cost of $865 Million. Besides new avionics kits, the upgrade involves the replacement of its outdated N019 Topaz air-intercept radar with a new Zhuk -AME Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar with a range of 160km.

Besides this, the upgraded version (called MiG-29 UPG) has enhanced BVR capabilities, an air-to–air refuelling capability for higher endurance, higher fuel capacity extending the ferry range of the aircraft by 40 per cent from 2,100 to 3,000 km, a new generation weapon control system with a capability to launch Precision Guided Munitions (PGMs), capability to launch subsonic anti-ship missiles, a higher capability RD 33 turbofan engine, improved cockpit ergonomics featuring an enhanced Hands on Throttle and Stick (HOTAS) design. HOTAS refers to a capability in which a pilot can fly the aircraft without having to remove their hands from the controls.

MiG-29 UPG is a capable jet.

Let's hope it's a good buy.

Total 34 were made for algeria now offered to us.

 

[Armand2REP]

After engine upgrades maintance issues are not there Naval mig-29K have that problem but UPG is no longer gass guzzler.

They are the same engines used in the MiG-29K. As per former Chief of Indian Naval Staff Admiral Prakash interview in 2016...

"The engine-design defects should be rectified with the utmost urgency at the Russians' cost," Prakash said. "Any respectable company, conscious of its reputation, would attend to this. But the oligarchs who control the Russian military-industrial complex are too brazen, for two reasons: (a) they know that India has no choice and (b) they are confident that Indian politicians will never turn the screw on them."

 

[Assassin 2.0]

They are the same engines used in the MiG-29K. As per former Chief of Indian Naval Staff Admiral Prakash interview in 2016...

"The engine-design defects should be rectified with the utmost urgency at the Russians' cost," Prakash said. "Any respectable company, conscious of its reputation, would attend to this. But the oligarchs who control the Russian military-industrial complex are too brazen, for two reasons: (a) they know that India has no choice and (b) they are confident that Indian politicians will never turn the screw on them."

Mig - 29K uses RD-33MK and naval mig-29K is most of the time at it's 90% of strength when she takes of and lands this cause jet to go into more problems. This not the case with IAF version i agree that naval mig-29K don't perform well and they did not had any choice too.
Mig-29 UPG uses RD-33 series 3
MIG-29 UPG have frame life of 40 years.

IAF is impressed by it's maneuverability and alpha capabilities.

These 21 mig-29UPG updated one's will cost 40 million each.

 

[Armand2REP]

These 21 mig-29UPG updated one's will cost 40 million each.

That is cannablising Tejas orders. It is no more advanced than the current Mk1 which costs the same and vastly inferior to Mk1A. The airframes were made during the Cold War, this will not last 40 years.

 

[Akula]

That is cannablising Tejas orders. It is no more advanced than the current Mk1 which costs the same and vastly inferior to Mk1A. The airframes were made during the Cold War, this will not last 40 years.

Maybe for filling our current inventory which is loosing aircrafts every year.
HAL employees salary drama will affect MK1A delivery and AF can't wait till than.

 

[Armand2REP]

Maybe for filling our current inventory which is loosing aircrafts every year.
HAL employees salary drama will affect MK1A delivery and AF can't wait till than.

Just think for a minute about the actual state of these airframes. They have been stored in Siberia without any environmental controls. They endure extreme cold and thawing thousands of times expanding and contracting the welds and warping metal season after season, year after year. Russia promised a fantastic price on Gorshkov and look at what happened. These airframes are trash and not worth saving which is why no one bought them in the last 35 years. Order 21 more Mk1s and go indigenous, don't buy from Russian junkyards.

The biggest problem at HAL is they don't get enough firm orders. Put an end to the cycle and add to the order book.

 

[Flying Dagger]

That is cannablising Tejas orders. It is no more advanced than the current Mk1 which costs the same and vastly inferior to Mk1A. The airframes were made during the Cold War, this will not last 40 years.

We have a huge shortage of jets It will not cannibalize anything. 11 squadrons are up for retirement in between 2020 - 2025 . That's when we are already short of the required squadron level.

Mig 29 UPG aren't inferior to Tejas either. These 21 - 34 UPG will form 1.5 - 2 squadrons and will be delivered by 2022.

IAF regards them high and that's the only immediate solution to transfer mig 21 pilots directly to this beast.

 

[Armand2REP]

We have a huge shortage of jets It will not cannibalize anything. 11 squadrons are up for retirement in between 2020 - 2025 . That's when we are already short of the required squadron level.

Mig 29 UPG aren't inferior to Tejas either. These 21 - 34 UPG will form 1.5 - 2 squadrons and will be delivered by 2022.

The plan was to always order hundreds of Tejas, not buying Cold War relics to keep up squadron numbers. IAF needs to get out of the junkyard mentality and start buying new indigenous systems.

 

[cobra commando]

DRDO must make indigenous fifth generation fighter project happen: IAF Chief

 

[Assassin 2.0]

CONSPIRACY AGAINST INDIGENOUS DEVELOPMENT.

Congressi dalllals loosing business.

 

[cobra commando]

______________________________

 

[Filtercoffee]

Everybody focus on the LCA/MWF manufacturing...its a waste talking about any other fighter.

 

[Assassin 2.0]

IAF 47 Squadron Black Archers and 223 Squadron Tridents, both based at Adampur in Punjab`s Jalandhar, have sent their MiG-29UPG jets.

Indian Air Force (IAF) Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29UPG fighters is locking horns with Royal Air Force Oman (RAFO) combat jets including F-16 and Eurofighter Typhoon jets during the bilateral Exercise Eastern Bridge-V. The joint air exercise is being held from October 17-26, 2019, at RAFO Base Masirah.


It is the first time that IAF has sent its MiG-29UPG fighters for an international wargame outside the country. Apart from the MiG-29UPG jets, the IAF C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft is also taking part in the exercise.

 

[Aaj ka hero]

The plan was to always order hundreds of Tejas, not buying Cold War relics to keep up squadron numbers. IAF needs to get out of the junkyard mentality and start buying new indigenous systems.

Oooo ji hello jiiii NO RAFALE IS COMING RIGHT NOW TO REPLACE those 21 mig-29s and if YOU ARE SOOOO MUCH CONCERNED ABOUT OUR SQUADRON STRENGTH then please help us BY GIVING SOME GOOD AND CHEAP OFFERS ON YOUR RAFALE or help us IN ENGINE MAKING.
You are doing neither of them right now(GTRE SAYS "WE DON'T NEED CORE" YOU GIVE CORE EVERYBODY HAS INTEREST IN CORE) and don't worry, rafale or mig-29 will be restricted because TEJAS IS COMING(DALALS ARE CRYING) nor because it is anywhere equal to rafale in EW CAPABILITY or to mig-29 in maneuverability but BECAUSE IT IS MADE IN INDIA(important if INDIA WANT TO BECOME GREAT WHICH I THINK NO majority WESTERN NATIONS WANT)
And guys all here please anybody has information on what the heck is going on? in DOKLAM because I really think something is going on.

 

[captscooby81]

IAF OPERATIONALISES AIR-LAUNCHED BRAHMOS CRUISE MISSILE IN MAJOR CAPABILITY MILESTONE
With longer reach and greater destructive potential than any anti-surface air weapon wielded by India, the 450-km range missile increases India's options for stand-off, cross-border targetting

October 17, 2019 By Vishal Thapar Photo(s): By SP Guide Pubns

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has inducted and operationalised the air-launched, extended range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.

With a kill range of 450 km, this is the IAF's most potent air-launched anti-surface weapon, and its induction is a significant capability milestone.

The missile has been mated with select Sukhoi-30MKI fighters. An estimated 42 Su-30MKIs will be modified to wield the airborne BrahMos. The modified Sukhois will have the capability to carry only one BrahMos at a time as part of a weapons configuration which also includes four RVV AE (R-77) air-to-air medium range missiles, two R-73 air-to-air short range missiles and six 250 kg bombs.

The modified Sukhois will have the capability to carry only one BrahMos at a time as part of a weapons configuration which also includes four RVV AE (R-77) air-to-air medium range missiles, two R-73 air-to-air short range missiles and six 250 kg bombs

"A few BrahMos-armed aircraft will be provided to all IAF Su-30MKI squadrons to wield this capability," an informed observer disclosed. Some will also be kept in reserve.

Analysts term the IAF BrahMos capability "phenomenal". This has a longer range and more destructive potential than any other air-to-surface weapon wielded by the IAF so far.

A shot of the weapons configuration of the BrahMos-armed Sukhoi fighter
"The air-launched BrahMos has a strategic role. It is to destroy targets in depth which have strategic value and compromise the war waging capability of an adversary," remarked Air Marshal BK Pandey (Retired), a former Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the IAF's Training Command. The strategic targets in depth could be major military bases, ammunition dumps and vital installations. "With its range, the IAF can launch this weapon from its own airspace," Air Marshal Pandey said, pointing out the enhanced stand-off attack capability against a persistent adversary.

"The air-launched BrahMos has a strategic role. It is to destroy targets in depth which have strategic value and compromise the war waging capability of an adversary," remarked Air Marshal BK Pandey (Retired), a former Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the IAF's Training Command

The availability of this weapon increases India military options for launching surprise precision cross-border attacks from a stand-off range.

This will also beef up India's anti-ship capability in a maritime role, and enable quick reaction against an enemy warship up to 1,400 km from India's coastline.

Its 2.8 Mach supersonic speed and terrain-hugging flight mode also makes it improbable to intercept. "In recently-concluded user trials, this missile has shown itself to be very spectacular, very accurate," a senior IAF officer told SP's Aviation.

India's co-option as a full member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) has enabled the increase in the range of the BrahMos from 290 km to 450 km.

http://www.sps-aviation.com/news/?i...-cruise-missile-in-major-capability-milestone

 

[Bhurki]

Wow, at this point, MKI is performing the job of 2 planes in the same sortie..
1x Brahmos ( Long range strike)
4x R77 100 km ( DCA Patrol)
2x R73 30 km ( Chasing Intruders)
6x FAB250 bombs ( Bomb Trucking)

 

[Shadow]

......................................