Indian Air Force: News & Discussions

Aniruddha Mulay

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Medium Lift Aircraft:
  1. Lockheed Martin C-130 -> 12
  2. Antonov An-32 -> 104
  3. Hawker Siddeley HS 748 ->57
Heavy Lift Aircraft:
  1. Boeing C-17 Globemaster III -> 11
  2. Ilyushin Il-76 -> 17
With the future induction of 25ton light tanks into the Indian Army, do you think IAF will look to acquire more medium lift transport aircraft?
If yes, then what are some of the good options available?
 

Poseidon

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With the future induction of 25ton light tanks into the Indian Army, do you think IAF will look to acquire more medium lift transport aircraft?
If yes, then what are some of the good options available?
An-132 ya 178 lena chahiye.
 

Dark Sorrow

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With the future induction of 25ton light tanks into the Indian Army, do you think IAF will look to acquire more medium lift transport aircraft?
If yes, then what are some of the good options available?
The 25-ton light tank needs to be deployed in forward bases all round the year. Maintenance facilities also need to be deployed in these forward bases. Locating them in Pune, Ahmednagar or any other base located deep in hinterland and using transport aircraft to lift them to front line will be counter-productive.

I may be wrong but prima facie it appears that both Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules nor EADS CASA C-295 don't have the capacity to carry fully assembled light tank and would require heavy lift aircraft but nothing concrete can be said till a final decision has been made about 25-ton light tanks.

Though Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules has much higher payload weight and has demonstrated landing capabilities on our ALG but as per media report IAF is preferring EADS CASA C-295 which will also posses capabilities to land on our ALG.

I personally would prefer more Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules due to their better performance and to keep logistic simpler.
 

Dark Sorrow

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An-132 ya 178 lena chahiye.
AN-132 is cancelled project. AN-178 doesn't have any major commitments also it has a turbofan engine which may cause problem while operating on ALG as they may not have concrete runway.
 

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