Indian Air Force (IAF): News

The Russians/Soviets incorporated remote control systems to their retired fighters so they could be used as targets... the expendible nature of the drones and the fact that there is no fragile man on board mean performance of the drones could be increased to beyond what the manned version could handle...

Wouldn't it be interesting to remove the ejection seat from a MiG-27 and replace it with a 500kg bomb (the ejection seats on those planes were about 250kgs each, plus 100kgs for the pilot so this bomb wouldn't add too much to the weight of the aircraft... all the cockpit instruments could be removed too... and drop tanks attached to all external weapon pylons and dropped in flight when empty on a one way strike mission into enemy territory to attack a target suicide style...

Or you could just use them as target drones...

GarryB wrote:The Russians/Soviets incorporated remote control systems to their retired fighters so they could be used as targets...

Two questions:

Which remote control systems are these ?

If these remote control systems are effective then why did the Soviets retire those fighters ?

Update: https://www.janes.com/article/93797/indian-air-force-commissions-first-squadron-of-su-30mki-fighters-armed-with-the-brahmos-a-missile

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanjavur_Air_Force_Station

Two questions:

Which remote control systems are these ?

If these remote control systems are effective then why did the Soviets retire those fighters ?

As already mentioned they are basic remote control systems... I think they used the built in auto pilot so commands can be sent to get the aircraft to perform various manouvers and speed and altitude and direction changes... mostly they were used to represent targets for SAMs or AAMs.

They were effective but not all aircraft were airworthy and it does not make sense to spend money to upgrade a fighter to get it flying just to shoot it down... they also have a range of SAM missile based drone targets and dedicated UAV drone target models as well to simulate a range of potential targets... from AT-1/-3 missiles through to OSA missiles and most other missiles... especially the early ones that tended to be produced in enormous numbers...

https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/did-india-just-cancel-the-biggest-fighter-jet-tender-of-the-decade-delhi-looks-to-tejas-platform-to-replace-mmrca-competitors

IMO, that would be the right move.

Tsavo Lion wrote:https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/did-india-just-cancel-the-biggest-fighter-jet-tender-of-the-decade-delhi-looks-to-tejas-platform-to-replace-mmrca-competitors

IMO, that would be the right move.

Tejas is way worse than the chinese upgrade of the mig21 that they sold to Pakistan (the Jf17), so it is ok just for fill the numbers and maybe to replace some of the oldest jets in their inventory, but not to fight against modern fighters.

Furthermore I remember reading that it was not ready yet and also not cheap at all (for its characteristics)

The problem with light fighters is mission growth... they end up expecting them to perform like a medium fighter but still stay cheap.

The only really successful light fighters are the MiG-21 and F-5.

Some might argue the F-16 qualifies, but the recent ones sold are the same price as Flankers so not really cheap or actually very light any more.

Russia for its part has sold multiple batches of fighters to India just since MMRCA was announced, and even if the agreement had stalled it was expected to continue to sign new contracts for advanced multirole fighters jets under separate deals. Alongside ongoing orders for MiG-29 and Su-30MKI fighters, India has shown considerable interest in a range of new Russian designs including the Yak-130 fighter-trainer and the MiG-35 ‘4++ generation’ medium fighter.
Although the Tejas its not was capable as most jets in the MMRCA, its capabilities are comparable to the lightweight Gripen E fighter and it uses a very similar F414 engine. Being lighter, the Tejas has a lower operational cost than the F-16, F-21 or the twin engine competitors, and the design is expected to see continued improvements to its capabilities including the integration of a wider range of new weapons systems.
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/did-india-just-cancel-the-biggest-fighter-jet-tender-of-the-decade-delhi-looks-to-tejas-platform-to-replace-mmrca-competitors

So, the Tejas would just eliminate F-16/21 fighters only.
In the meantime, India has enough MiG-29s to back it up.

Tsavo Lion wrote:Russia for its part has sold multiple batches of fighters to India just since MMRCA was announced, and even if the agreement had stalled it was expected to continue to sign new contracts for advanced multirole fighters jets under separate deals. Alongside ongoing orders for MiG-29 and Su-30MKI fighters, India has shown considerable interest in a range of new Russian designs including the Yak-130 fighter-trainer and the MiG-35 ‘4++ generation’ medium fighter.
Although the Tejas its not was capable as most jets in the MMRCA, its capabilities are comparable to the lightweight Gripen E fighter and it uses a very similar F414 engine. Being lighter, the Tejas has a lower operational cost than the F-16, F-21 or the twin engine competitors, and the design is expected to see continued improvements to its capabilities including the integration of a wider range of new weapons systems.
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/did-india-just-cancel-the-biggest-fighter-jet-tender-of-the-decade-delhi-looks-to-tejas-platform-to-replace-mmrca-competitors

So, the Tejas would just eliminate F-16/21 fighters only.
In the meantime, India has enough MiG-29s to back it up.

Tejas has an american (GE) engine...so it is not it is fully homegrown...

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/indian-air-force-formally-inducts-first-five-rafale-fighter-aircraft

India test fired the 160kms range Rudram-1 NG-ARM. The sensor package comprised a wide-band passive seeker, with a W-band millimetric-wave active seeker.

https://eurasiantimes.com/russia-shows-how-indian-air-force-can-use-its-transport-aircraft-il-76-for-carpet-bombing-watch/

Any manpad or AD or long range air to air missile will easily destroy this plane.

they have flares for that & can be escorted.

They should have bought the production line of the tu-22 back in the time and improved it over the years. 

Only earlier Tu-22 Blinders were sold abroad, & they weren't liked by Soviet pilots. India had/s many other planes & tankers for tactical strikes.

They had ASW Tu-142s that could be modified & used as strategic bombers for le$$, but didn't bother to do it. Setting up Tu-22 production would cost as much as dozens of new Su-30 fighter-bombers; besides, those Tu-22s would need to be escorted & mid-air refueled.
Their IL-76/C-130J/17s can stay out of enemy AD & launch dozens of LR CMs.

Any manpad or AD or long range air to air missile will easily destroy this plane.

They should have bought the production line of the tu-22 back in the time and improved it over the years. They would have had right now a bomber similar to tu-22M3 of Russian air force.

USSR was selling it like little breads. They wouldn't have opposed the sell.

And it would have been a perfect carrier for Brahmos.

In terms of shooting down there is not a huge gap between an Il-76 and a Tu-22... the first problem would be they likely don't have any Tu-22s to sell, and regarding Tu-22M3s they probably want to keep those and upgrade them for themselves too.

The Virtue of the Il-76 is its capacity for bombs and lowish operating costs and availability.

With the Candid they can use it for transport or fire fighting or inflight refuelling or a bomber within a couple of hours.

Their IL-76/C-130J/17s can stay out of enemy AD & launch dozens of LR CMs.

With regard to engaging enemy positions, they are available and cheap.

India already operates the Kh-58. Now, India is making itself its very own Kh-58 with a much longer range. Primary target is Pakistani radars but Rudra - M3 can actually snipe Chinese HQ-9, S-400 class Early Warning and Fire Control radars from a distance.

Sujoy wrote:India already operates the Kh-58. Now, India is making itself its very own Kh-58 with a much longer range. Primary target is Pakistani radars but  Rudra - M3 can actually snipe Chinese HQ-9, S-400 class Early Warning and Fire Control radars from a distance.

P-500 Bazalt designed from the early 1960's had a active-radar head with home-on-jam ability, and it's range was 550km. It's deepest modernization, P-1000 Vulkan had a range of 700km, and was further modified to hit at 1000km.

America's broken immigration system in plain sight

Migrants who are of the opinion that air to ground missiles and ship launched cruise missiles are exactly the same thing.

magnumcromagnon wrote: P-500 Bazalt designed from the early 1960's had a active-radar head with home-on-jam ability, and it's range was 550km. It's deepest modernization, P-1000 Vulkan had a range of 700km, and was further modified to hit at 1000km.

RTN wrote:America's broken immigration system in plain sight

Migrants who are of the opinion that air to ground missiles and ship launched cruise missiles are exactly the same thing.

magnumcromagnon wrote: P-500 Bazalt designed from the early 1960's had a active-radar head with home-on-jam ability, and it's range was 550km. It's deepest modernization, P-1000 Vulkan had a range of 700km, and was further modified to hit at 1000km.

It was in reference to anti-radiation capability Mr. Extra Chromosone. BTW your a Prima Faci example why America desperately needs to import scientists and engineers from India and China, Russia doesn't btw lol!

magnumcromagnon wrote: It was in reference to anti-radiation capability Mr. Extra Chromosone.

Yeah right! Since air launched anti radiation do not exist so reference point is cruise missile.

magnumcromagnon wrote:BTW your a Prima Faci example why America desperately needs to import scientists and engineers from India and China, Russia doesn't btw lol!

They come here uninvited in any case. We don't need to import them. Do share your findings with the 2 million strong Russian population here...seems they didn't get the memo.