Indian Air Force: News & Discussions

[skunk works]

Ya'll Nibbiars The Group Captain Sachin Tendulkar Reporting for the Duty.

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Only beaten by his attendance record in parliament.

 

[omaebakabaka]

Only beaten by his attendance record in parliament.

Compared to current crop, he handled fame decently.

 

[Tejbrahmastra]

 

[Tejbrahmastra]

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to revive the process of procuring six mid-air refuellers after failing to make any headway during two earlier attempts over the last two decades.

Highly placed Defence officials told The Indian Express that the request for proposal to procure six mid-air refuelling aircraft, also known as tankers, should be floated within six months to invite bids from interested Defence majors.

This is the IAF’s third attempt since 2007 to buy the tankers. Two of its earlier tenders were scrapped due to pricing disputes.

Officials said the IAF is looking to procure six “pre-owned” aircraft — these can be modified into tankers — to meet its requirement of refuellers so that they can serve for 25 to 30 years.

“Several global companies will let go of their older aircraft models in the next three to four years as they make the transition to advanced aircraft with new engines. There will be an adequate number of pre-owned aircraft available in the market which can be modified into tankers,” a Defence official said.

The IAF is looking for an Indian maintenance partner for the tankers.

Once inducted, the refuellers will fill a critical capability gap in the IAF’s inventory and will prove to be a vital strategic asset and force multiplier as they will allow fighter aircraft to stay airborne longer.

The six aircraft will be procured in addition to another tanker which the IAF would take on lease from interested global vendors to meet its training needs, the process for which has already been initiated. The IAF also provides limited refuelling efforts to the Navy’s MiG-29K fighter aircraft.

“It might take two to three years to start the deliveries of the tankers. Meanwhile, the one tanker to be leased will be used for immediate training requirements of the force,” the official said, adding that it cannot, however, be used in operations.

Currently, the IAF operates a fleet of six Russian IIyushin-78 tankers procured in 2003-04, but at any given time only three to four are serviceable. Their maintenance and serviceability issues were also brought out in an August 2017 report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that studied their operations from 2010 to 2016. The tankers were bought in 2003-2004 at Rs 132 crore per aircraft.

Why don't we convert our IL76 in refuellers? And replace them with A400! Win win for the airforce!!

 

[Fatalis]

Why don't we convert our IL76 in refuellers? And replace them with A400! Win win for the airforce!!

Our Il-76 are not flying frequently. They are having issues of spare parts.

 

[Neeraj Mathur]

Why don't we convert our IL76 in refuellers? And replace them with A400! Win win for the airforce!!

This article sums up our IL 76.
https://www.flightglobal.com/indian-report-slams-il-76-availability-rate/124998.article

 

[Tejbrahmastra]

This article sums up our IL 76.
https://www.flightglobal.com/indian-report-slams-il-76-availability-rate/124998.article

I am aware of these serviceability issues. But we can upgrade the 14 Ilyushin Il-76MD heavy transports and six Il-78 tankers with the newer Aviadvigatel PS-90A-76 engines. This will definitely increase the average serviceability as well as increase in absolute numbers(~20).

 

[Neeraj Mathur]

I am aware of these serviceability issues. But we can upgrade the 14 Ilyushin Il-76MD heavy transports and six Il-78 tankers with the newer Aviadvigatel PS-90A-76 engines. This will definitely increase the average serviceability as well as increase in absolute numbers(~20).

It all depends upon the cost to usage. Russians are notorious when it comes to upgrades and with the Russia-Ukraine war going on I see slim to none chance of russia focusing on our need.

 

[mist_consecutive]

Decide fast on midair refuellers: Indian Air Force tells Centre | India News - Times of India

India News: A frustrated IAF has asked the defence ministry to make a decision, one way or the other, on its long-pending case for the almost $2-billion acquisiti

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

 

[vishnugupt]

Tejas along with its all variant more than enough to whole Pakistan. Rest IAF inventory can focus on china. Actually there is a solution for decreasing the IAF squadron In fact this solution was there for the last 20 years..... This is called Tejas.

Visionary UN Generals took 2 decades to understand this simple fact.

This show how much they were involved in Tejas program, how much they are visionary, how much they understand Indias defence need.

IAF Procurement of 100 LCA-Tejas Mk1A Fighter Jets to reinforce Western Sector – Indian Defence Research Wing

idrw.org

 

[Tejbrahmastra]

 

[omaebakabaka]

Sounds like lot of import content in it

 

[Freedom Thru Firepower]

 

[MirageBlue]

Why don't we convert our IL76 in refuellers? And replace them with A400! Win win for the airforce!!

Poor availability of the type is a big issue. They are somewhat obsolescent when it comes to their avionics which dates back to the mid to late 1980s and 1990s. Comparing their cockpit avionics and the rest of their avionics with what is available on a converted 767 MRTT one will see how big a difference it makes to pilot workload as well as the workload for the loadmaster.

Civil based freighter or tanker conversions will have decent availability because they are derived from civil airliners that are designed for very high uptimes. Even if they are somewhat older, their availability will be far better than what a Russian military airlifter like the Il-76 will have. Things are only going to get worse in the future with the spares situation thanks to the Ukrainian conflict.

 

[MirageBlue]

MiG-29UPGs in Egypt for Exercise Bright Star '23

 

[NutCracker]

MiG-29UPGs in Egypt for Exercise Bright Star '23

No Tejas in Egypt ??

 

[MirageBlue]

No Tejas in Egypt ??

They weren't sent. This is only the second international outing for the MiG-29UPGs, after the first one to Oman.

 

[Automatic Kalashnikov]

Is it true that the exercise which was to take place in the northern sector has been postponed because the rafales had to gaurd Delhi's airspace for the G20?

 

[Corvus Splendens]

IAF MiG-29 UPG from No. 28 Squadron in Ex Bright Star 2023

 

[Corvus Splendens]