Indian Air Force: News & Discussions

BangaliBabu

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1. To be maintained and operated by IAF.

2. B777-300ER to be capable of mid-air refuelling (don't know how valid this capability will be) giving it infinite range.

3. Countermeasures at par with Air Force One.

4. Capable of being a mobile office for PM and President under emergency situations.

5. New pictures ;)

6. Air India One callsign to be retired (wide speculation).
 

Tanmay

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Its also called Dharasu ALG.

We had already landed C130s back in 2013 itself.
Since then we have added aircraft hangars/ some sort of shelters to the landing strip. And probably relaid the strip.


Shows the Aviation infra in Uttarakhand. Better than the singular Ngari airport which is shown as cause of consern to India.

01.PNG
 

assassin162

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How is that IAF Mig-21 numbers reduced by half and number of SEPECAT Jaguar numbers increased from 91 to 106 in wiki page.

View attachment 49294
I am not 100% sure but the numbers of Jaguars increased on wiki aircraft column as earlier some jaguar trainers were kept in the trainers column and now have merged in the fighter's column.
And regarding Mig 21, somebody already explained that a few squadrons have retired lately.
 

assassin162

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Guys one question -
There are only 12 squadrons of Sukhoi with us. While if we take the actual number of fighters we include in a squadron it is 18 and 272 fighters should ideally mean 15 squadrons? So why do we have 12 squadrons only?

SmartSelect_20200611-183503_Chrome.jpg
 

WolfPack86

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Russia starts deliveries of upgraded Air-to-Air missile to India

Modi government in its efforts to increase stockpiles of Air-to-Air missiles of Indian Air Force (IAF) had placed orders under emergency purchase deals last year and according to information provided to idrw.org, Russia has started shipment of the latest and upgraded inventory of three different types of Air-to-Air missiles to India to be equipped on Russian developed Sukhoi-30MKI and Mig-29UPG fleet, which make up 50% of the IAF’s fighter jet fleet.

IAF has decided to go with two different Beyond visual range Missiles (BVRAAM) from Russia after Pakistani Air Force F-16s fired AIM-120C5 AMRAAM missile to target Indian Su-30 MKIs on 27 February, a day after the IAF strikes on Balakot unsuccessfully. idrw.org has been informed that the missiles purchased were upgraded ones from the current stocks and now come with additional capabilities and longer range than current inventory.

Two BVRAAMs procured from Russia are upgraded RVV-AE/R-77 called RVV-SD which as per information of Rosoboronexport has a range of up to 110 km. Older RVV-AE stock with IAF had a range of 80km. The Second BVRAAM procured by IAF is R-27ET1 and R-27ER1 which have a range of 80 km and 100 km. both variant have different configuration of seekers to make them more deadly even though considered as an older Generation Air-to-Air missile it is still valued as more reliable by IAF.

Third AAM is Within visual Range Air-to-Air missile (WVRAAM) ordered by India is RVV-MD which has a range of 40 km which is 10km more than the previous R77E which was used by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to shoot down PAF’s F-16 over Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) on 27 February.

idrw.org was told that 300 RVV-MD, 400 RVV-SD, and 300 mix of R-27ET1 and R-27ER1 had been ordered and some of the consignment has started arriving from Russia in special aircraft after India requested early deliveries. India is also looking to arm locally developed Astra Mk1 BVRAAM and Israeli Derby-ER BVRAAMs on its Sukhoi-30MKI fleet and LCA-Tejas MK1A fleet next.
 

Akula

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Its also called Dharasu ALG.

We had already landed C130s back in 2013 itself.
Since then we have added aircraft hangars/ some sort of shelters to the landing strip. And probably relaid the strip.


Shows the Aviation infra in Uttarakhand. Better than the singular Ngari airport which is shown as cause of consern to India.

View attachment 49802
If i am correct Dharasu and Pithoragarh ALG'S can be extended. Jolly Grant Airport can be converted into an airbase just like INS Hansha with both civilian and military aircrafts.
 

patriots

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Does. Indian mirage carry ..exocet missile............
 

WolfPack86

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India planning to buy more Spice-2000 bombs
Seeking to further strengthen its capability to hit ground targets, India is planning to acquire a lethal and more capable version of the Spice-2000 bombs.

The bombs, which were used effectively to destroy the Pakistani terrorist camp in Balakot town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province last year, are planned to be acquired by the Air Force as part of the emergency financial powers granted to the services in the middle of a row with China.

"The Indian Air Force already has the Spice-2000 bombs. It is now planning to acquire more stand-off weapons like the Spice-2000 bombs under the emergency procurement powers granted to the services," government sources told ANI.


The Spice-2000 bombs can hit targets upto 70 kms and the new variant inducted in the force can also destroy bunkers and hardened shelters, they said.

The version used in the Balakot airstrikes could penetrate into hardened shelters and buildings and cause destruction inside.
Under the emergency powers, the Narendra Modi government has granted financial power to the defence forces under which they can buy any weapon system under Rs 500 crore.

This emergency power was given close on the heels of recent clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley of eastern Ladakh in which 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives.

The armed forces were granted similar financial power after the Uri terror attack and the Balakot airstrike against Pakistan.
As part of the process, the Army is planning to place orders for the Excalibur precision-guided missiles from the US under Foreign Military sales procedure while the Navy is also looking to buy equipment under the procedure this time.
 

Assassin 2.0

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21 New MiG-29UPG jets to be manufactured by HAL in India: CEO, MiG Corporation

Published July 1, 2020 | By admin SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG Ilya Tarasenko, CEO, MiG Corporation has confirmed that talks to sell 21 unused airframes to India is underway and has been fast-tracked under request from India recently, as both sides work to conclude a contract for the sale of currently under storage airframes of the Mig-29s and UPG Upgrade Kits to make them same as the current upgraded fleet of MiG-29UPG in Indian Air Force. Airframes manufactured for a certain export customer were put on cold storage at various facilities of the MiG Corporation after the deal collapsed nearly 20 years ago. Complete fuselage along with wings and other airframes have been inspected by IAF Team last year and was reported back that indeed airframes have been unused and can be used to integrate into a new fighter jet back home. HAL which was in charge of upgrading Mig-29A into Mig-29UPG Standards for the entire fleet of 60 odd jets with IAF, which included new engines and radars along with Multi-Role capabilities for the jets. Tarasenko has confirmed that airframes will be shipped to India and UPG upgrade kit will be used to integrate them in to brand new aircraft with Zero airframe hours which can serve with IAF for the next 30 years
.
 

WolfPack86

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Israeli smart bombs, French stealth cruise missiles to boost IAF strike prowess

As the standoff with China at the Ladakh border continues, the Indian government is making emergency purchases of weapon systems for the three armed services.

On Tuesday, news agency ANI reported that the Indian Air Force was planning to acquire "more Spice-2000 bombs" from Israel for the purposes of destroying bunkers and buildings.

The SPICE-2000 made headlines last February when it was revealed that Indian Air Force Mirage 2000 fighters had used these weapons to bomb the terror camp in Balakot.


In the strictest sense, the SPICE-2000 is not a bomb in itself. The SPICE-2000 is from a family of munitions. SPICE, which stands for Smart, Precise Impact and Cost-Effective, is a guidance and manoeuvring kit manufactured by Israel's Rafael.

The SPICE kit adds a sophisticated guidance system—consisting of inertial navigation, satellite guidance and electro-optical sensors for pinpoint accuracy—and control fins to a conventional unguided bomb. The SPICE turns a conventional 'gravity' bomb into a sophisticated, long-range guided weapon.

The SPICE-1000 kit, which is available for 500kg bombs, has a glide range of nearly 100km, while the SPICE-2000 (meant for 1,000kg bombs) has a glide range of around 60km. While laser-guided bombs are less expensive than the SPICE and are as accurate, cloud cover and adverse weather tend to degrade their performance; furthermore, laser-guided bombs typically have a range of around 15km.

Their long range makes the SPICE family of smart bombs suited for hitting targets in protected air space. China operates a variety of potent air defence systems, including the Russian S-300 and the newer S-400 as well as indigenous platforms.

Soon after the Balakot attack last year, PTI reported that the Indian Air Force was "in the process of equipping the Su-30MKI with Israeli SPICE-2000 bombs, to make the fighter jets more potent". The Su-30MKI is numerically and technologically the most important fighter in Indian Air Force service, with around 250 aircraft in operation. With a maximum takeoff weight of over 35 tonnes, twice that of the Mirage-2000, a single Su-30MKI could carry at least three SPICE-2000 bombs, giving it massive operational flexibility.


Scalp power

More SPICE munitions are not the only weapons that will strengthen the Indian Air Force's ground-attack capability. Earlier this week, The Print had reported that France had shipped to India Meteor air-to-air missiles and Scalp cruise missiles, both of which will arm the Rafale fighter jets destined for the Indian Air Force.

The Scalp is an air-launched cruise missile manufactured by European defence consortium MBDA. The Scalp, which is designed in France, weighs around 1,300kg. According to MBDA, the Scalp has a stated range of 250km, though media reports claim the weapon can go twice that distance.

Like the SPICE-2000, the Scalp uses a range of guidance options—GPS, inertial navigation, infra-red seeker and terrain reference. The Scalp also has a design that emphasises 'low observability' (stealth) by reducing exposure of its air intakes and flies at very low level to avoid radar detection. The Scalp has been advertised as being capable of destroying "high-value" fixed targets such as air defence command-and-control centres and bunkers.

The Scalp missile and its British derivative, the Storm Shadow, have been used in multiple conflicts in the past two decades, including the invasion of Iraq and air strikes over Libya and Syria. In addition to the air forces of France and the UK, the Scalp missile and Storm Shadow have been exported to Greece, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, among others.

The Rafale can carry two Scalp missiles, along with three large fuel tanks, in a long-range attack configuration. Along with the air-launched Brahmos missile, the Scalp will be the first 'deep strike' missile of the Indian Air Force. However, in its current configuration, the Brahmos is too heavy and a single Su-30 MKI can only carry one missile.

The addition of more SPICE munitions and arrival of the Scalp cruise missiles is crucial for the Indian Air Force, given the relentless growth of China's fighter fleet and also its development of air-launched cruise missiles. China's fleet of H-6 bombers are being equipped with missiles like the CJ-20, which is estimated to have a range of over 1,000km.

 

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