Letter by 150 veterans saying they're being used for political gains was allegedly sent to the President. Now, some deny signing it. President’s office says haven't received any letter.
The veterans expressed their outrage in a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, saying it is "unusual and unacceptable" that political leaders take credit for military operations.
Pakistan took 43 days to organise a tour of reporters & diplomats to Balakot, the site of India's February airstrikes. Forty-three days is a long time to hide an inconvenient truth.
Pentagon told the US Congress that India is concerned about the threats it faces in space, and therefore feels it needs to have a capability to defend itself.
The jets were similar to what India is buying. IAF wants to know what kind of training Pakistani pilots or engineers on secondment to Qatar received. French ambassador says fake news.
Israel's response to Iran's retaliatory attack was relatively small and also downplayed by Tehran. But there are factors that could jeopardise this perceived reprieve.
The 125 APAs include 86 Unilateral APAs (UAPAs) and 39 Bilateral APAs (BAPAs). The total number of APAs since the start of the APA programme has risen to 641, with 506 UAPAs and 135 BAPAs.
AFAIK Qatar added the 12 optional Rafales, so the order is of 36.
India needs much more than 36 Rafales.
China has more than 2,000 fighter jets, Pakistan more than 500 and has just started do produce JF-17 block 3 (Mach 2/AESA version) while being in talks for 30-40 Shenyang J-31
India needs 42-45 squadrons…
There will soon be 14-15 Su-30MKI squadrons, that’s OK, but… Mirage-2000 and MiG-29 are already 30+ years old while MiG-27, Bison, Jaguar (and I’ve heard about a few MiG-23 still being used as trainers) are simply geriatric… Moreover, a 20+ years old MiG-29 costs so much in maintenance that if you use it for 10 years, having a brand new Rafale and using it costs you $18.5M less!
So, what is needed is 14-15 squadrons of 18 Rafale (and some additional for attrition) and as much squadrons of the ‘rafalised’ Tejas Mk1(?). INAF would also need 57 Rafale-M. Remember that Dassault CEO said full transfer of technology if 200 orders (and the offset pays for the factories, so…)
Why do I say ‘rafalised’ Tejas???
Well,
– DRDO already flight-validated a modified Thales RBE2/AESA for Tejas. This is way more powerful than Elta EL/M 2052.
– DRDO already validated (flight-tests soon to happen) the “Kaveri K9+” which is the 98kN version of Rafale’s M88.
M88 being much smaller than the GE F404 or the Tejas Mk2-planned GE F414 while having the same thrust as F414, then Mk1 won’t need to be stretched to stuff as much internal fuel as Mirage-2000 so there is no need for a Mk2 and no need to test a prototype with a different flight envelope, all you need is to validate the mods. Note that ‘Make in India’ Rafales would be fit with domestically built M88/K9+! Yup, India will make engines, not just have HAL assembling Russian kits! Payload is likely to increase to 12t, max speed too (likely Mach 2+ sustained, peak at Mach 2.2-2.3)
– Dassault already provided revised blue-prints with the additional internal tanks, the revised air intakes and even structural reinforcements allowing 9G+, these were already delivered in 2017. According to leaks (from a well known accurate source), Tejas would end weighing 500kg less…
So you end with the same thrust as the mighty Emirati Mirage-2000-9 (6,800kg payload) while weighing 1,800kg less. Hardpoints allowing to carry heavier payload surely must be considered, conformal tanks too and double/triple/quadruple/hexa ejector racks too (!)
– A BRS recovery parachute has been added, so, in case of engine or critical failure, no crash, Tejas will land softly (!)
– Thales and DRDO prepared an active stealth system isolated from the SPECTRA suite (Tejas is too small to fit all this in)
=> I’d highly recommand to fit Thales OSF-IT on Tejas : it’s the sole 2nd gen. QWIP (quantum EO/IRST) enabling to “see” stealth aircraft from very very far.
Now, AFAIK, it seems there is reluctance at having Tejas fit this way since the price would be about $40M… But… The new old stock MiG-29 (forgotten at Mikoyan’s since 1991) soon to come from Russia will cost $40M too and won’t carry as much payload, won’t have RBE2/AESA (which is 100% Meteor compatible) and won’t allow 10-11 missions per 24h for a full week in intensive combat use, not even the 5-6 missions in normal use.
If Rafale-M will be required for future CATOBAR INS Vishal, with the upgrade, Tejas-M would easily replace the shameful MiG-29K which is seen as a woe in INAF.
In the end, the rafalised Tejas would do the job of two F-16 for the half of the price, except that…
Rafale being closer to F-22 than anything else, Tejas will be to outmatch F-35, thanks to active stealth.
Pakis don’t need endless talks to decide on weapons programs, Koran just tell them : “Kill the “infidels”, especially the polytheists and the Jews.
Quite interesting story ,if it’s possible than it’s best way forward for IAF.
Egyptian ex radical with connections to NDTV & Burpa Butt?
AFAIK Qatar added the 12 optional Rafales, so the order is of 36.
India needs much more than 36 Rafales.
China has more than 2,000 fighter jets, Pakistan more than 500 and has just started do produce JF-17 block 3 (Mach 2/AESA version) while being in talks for 30-40 Shenyang J-31
India needs 42-45 squadrons…
There will soon be 14-15 Su-30MKI squadrons, that’s OK, but… Mirage-2000 and MiG-29 are already 30+ years old while MiG-27, Bison, Jaguar (and I’ve heard about a few MiG-23 still being used as trainers) are simply geriatric… Moreover, a 20+ years old MiG-29 costs so much in maintenance that if you use it for 10 years, having a brand new Rafale and using it costs you $18.5M less!
So, what is needed is 14-15 squadrons of 18 Rafale (and some additional for attrition) and as much squadrons of the ‘rafalised’ Tejas Mk1(?). INAF would also need 57 Rafale-M. Remember that Dassault CEO said full transfer of technology if 200 orders (and the offset pays for the factories, so…)
Why do I say ‘rafalised’ Tejas???
Well,
– DRDO already flight-validated a modified Thales RBE2/AESA for Tejas. This is way more powerful than Elta EL/M 2052.
– DRDO already validated (flight-tests soon to happen) the “Kaveri K9+” which is the 98kN version of Rafale’s M88.
M88 being much smaller than the GE F404 or the Tejas Mk2-planned GE F414 while having the same thrust as F414, then Mk1 won’t need to be stretched to stuff as much internal fuel as Mirage-2000 so there is no need for a Mk2 and no need to test a prototype with a different flight envelope, all you need is to validate the mods. Note that ‘Make in India’ Rafales would be fit with domestically built M88/K9+! Yup, India will make engines, not just have HAL assembling Russian kits! Payload is likely to increase to 12t, max speed too (likely Mach 2+ sustained, peak at Mach 2.2-2.3)
– Dassault already provided revised blue-prints with the additional internal tanks, the revised air intakes and even structural reinforcements allowing 9G+, these were already delivered in 2017. According to leaks (from a well known accurate source), Tejas would end weighing 500kg less…
So you end with the same thrust as the mighty Emirati Mirage-2000-9 (6,800kg payload) while weighing 1,800kg less. Hardpoints allowing to carry heavier payload surely must be considered, conformal tanks too and double/triple/quadruple/hexa ejector racks too (!)
– A BRS recovery parachute has been added, so, in case of engine or critical failure, no crash, Tejas will land softly (!)
– Thales and DRDO prepared an active stealth system isolated from the SPECTRA suite (Tejas is too small to fit all this in)
=> I’d highly recommand to fit Thales OSF-IT on Tejas : it’s the sole 2nd gen. QWIP (quantum EO/IRST) enabling to “see” stealth aircraft from very very far.
Now, AFAIK, it seems there is reluctance at having Tejas fit this way since the price would be about $40M… But… The new old stock MiG-29 (forgotten at Mikoyan’s since 1991) soon to come from Russia will cost $40M too and won’t carry as much payload, won’t have RBE2/AESA (which is 100% Meteor compatible) and won’t allow 10-11 missions per 24h for a full week in intensive combat use, not even the 5-6 missions in normal use.
If Rafale-M will be required for future CATOBAR INS Vishal, with the upgrade, Tejas-M would easily replace the shameful MiG-29K which is seen as a woe in INAF.
In the end, the rafalised Tejas would do the job of two F-16 for the half of the price, except that…
Rafale being closer to F-22 than anything else, Tejas will be to outmatch F-35, thanks to active stealth.
Pakis don’t need endless talks to decide on weapons programs, Koran just tell them : “Kill the “infidels”, especially the polytheists and the Jews.