ghostrider883

Thee were reports that the LCA underperformed during flight tests by the IAF last year...something about LCA being underpowered. The IAF has placed an order for 20 LCAs. After all the MRCA competition came into being only because the LCA programme was delayed. Looks like it may eventually die a slow and painful death like what's happening with the Arjun MBT programme.

India's experience while dealing with France(and Russia) has however been different. India went to war in the 1965 & 1971 wars with French warplanes(Ouragan & Mystere IVA), so did Pakistan(Mirage IIIEP/RP). However no sanctions were imposed on either of the countries after the war. Pakistan later went on to become the largest Mirage operator outside France. In the 1999 Kargil War, the Indian Mirage 2000s led the assault on the heights around Kargil. Were sanctions imposed on India after that? Besides, its an open secret that the Mirage 2000s have been assigned retaliatory nuclear strike role in the IAF.Are there any restrictive usage clauses on French & Russian machines, unlike the US ones? Due to US sanctions on India after the 1998 nuclear tests, most of the Navy's Sea King fleet was grounded due to some issue with the its gearbox, and IIRC so was the Sea Harrier fleet. The LCA's Flight COntrol system s/w was withheld by the US, which at that time was being tested in teh US on a F-16 VISTA.

Though Gripen's catchline is "Independent Choice", it is really dependent on other factors. Its engines are American as are its other major systems, which are sanctionable if India goes to war with Puki land t'rrow. Remember the Jalashwa fracas? not to be used againt Paki land ? I don't think Saab can guarantee a 100% sanction free JAS-39C/D nor can Boeing(F-18) or LM(F-16) . The only truly independent choices India has are the Dassault Rafale & MiG-35.

New Delhi: The Indian Space Research Organisation on Monday launched a polar satellite launch vehicle carrying a 690-kg Cartosat-2a remote sensing satellite and eight nano satellites from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. Carrying a record ten satellites as payload, PSLV-C9, the 13th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), blasted off from the SHAR Range at 0923 hrs, today. Scientists cheered as the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its 13th flight, soared into the clear sky in a perfect lift off at 0923 hrs (IST) from the second launch pad. An elated ISRO Chief, G Madhvan Nair confirmed the success of the mission. "We couldn't detect slightest deviation from designated trajectory. It shows the mission was perfect and spacecraft delivered on the dot." Apart from the Indian Mini Satellite and eight foreign nano satellites, the PSLV will also will put into orbit a latest remote sensing satellite. It's for the first time that the Indian space agency is attempting the liftoff. Russia had placed 16 satellites simultaneously in space in April last year. But as against the 824 kg payload being carried by the PSLV, the Russian mission carried only a 300 kg payload. NLS-4 developed by University of Toronto, Canada, consists of six nanosatellites developed by various Universities. Two of them, CUTE 1.7 and SEEDS were built in Japan, while the other four - CAN-X2, AAUSAT-II, COMPASS-1 AND DELPHI-C3 - were built in Canada, Denmark, Germany and Netherlands respectively. The eight nano satellites were built to develop nano-technologies for use in satellites as well as for the development of technologies for satellite applications. This would be the 13th flight of PSLV, the workhorse launch vehicle of the ISRO, and third flight with 'core-alone' configuration. The sources said that about 885 sec after lift off and after separation from the fourth stage, PSLV-C9 would inject the main payload Cartosat-2A in the Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit at a height of 635 km with an inclination of 97.94 degree with respect to the equator. It would be followed by the separation and injection of IMS-1 about 930 secs after the launch. After this, eight nano satellites would get separated and placed in the intended orbit in sequence.

well, with the paint, not Navy markings

May be the Pakistanis were the first t ouse C-130s as bombers. In the 1965 Indo-Pak war, the Pakistanis dropped bombs using C-130s(from the cargo bay). Indian An-12s were used as bombers in the same way.

India's first IL-76 AWACS at Beriev's Taganrog site prior to delivery to IAI for fitting out The engines seem to be bigger than the ones on an IL-76MD. One can see IAF finfash in the first pic Press release from Beriev: Probably means that the aircraft will be designated as A-50EI.

IAF clears proposals to purchase three more AWACS New Delhi, April 13: As India prepares to receive the first of its Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AWACS) Phalcon, Indian Air Force has cleared proposals to acquire three more such platforms. The proposals have been forwarded to the Defence Ministry to enable placing of follow-on order estimated to be worth USD 2 billion for Phalcon IL-76TD, a top IAF official said. With this, IAF now proposes to field six such platforms with delivery expected to be completed between 2009-2012. These AWACS will bolster India's air-surveillance capability multi-fold giving it an eye-in-the-air to detect enemy planes and missiles while in flight far away. India will get the delivery of first of its three Phalcons AWACS in September this year and the follow-on platforms in April 2009 and August 2010. The first of the Phalcon AWACS powered by 4PS-90A-76 engines is currently being fitted out with mission sensors and management suites and will be ready for roll out by end of next month for flight certification, a top Israeli Aircraft Industry (IAI) official said. "Air platforms have already undergone maiden flight tests in November last year and again in January and February this year in Russia," he said. India was to receive deliveries of the first of these aircrafts in December 2007, but the transfer was delayed due to time over-runs in customising the airframes by Uzbekistan’s Tashkent Aircraft Production Organisation (TAPO). India had inked the USD 1.5 billion contract in November 2003 with Russia's Rosoboronexport Corporation and Israel's IAI for purchase of three AWACS

Thanks for your work on this terrain Gepard. I have to test this in SF as I don't have WoE. Thanks again for your hard work.

Happy Birthday guys!

WOw!!! That's nice. A few months ago there were reports about Indian MiG-27Ms being re-engined with AL-31s. Can anyone translate the text from Russian to English? I tried Babelfish, but it didn't work. It would certainly be great if our upgraded MiG-27s get re-engined with AL-31s. The AL-31 should give the MiG-27 more range and lesser maintainence problems. The Indian tri-colour marking that this MiG-27 carries is almost the same as the first MiG-27 that was upgraded by HAL.

Happy Birthday Dave . Have a great day!!!

Lockheed Martin India recently opened an office in New Delhi.

Eventhough the Bison can carry guided weapons that the SU-30 carries, the Bisons will most proably be involved in CAP and defensive strike missions. In an event of war, they most certianly won't be given the role of going in and bombing Pakistani airbases and other installations. The offensive strike role will be taken care of by upgraded MiG-27s and Jaguars and Su-30MKIs. The Bison upgrade was done to make the MiG-21bis survive in today's hostile EW environment, besides there was no way to repalce so many Bis airframes in a short period of time. There were upto 8-10 MiG-21bis sqdns in the IAF at one time. I agree with your "true Eastern Starfighter" comment ...as the "real" Starfighters found out in December 1971 over Western India .

The fighters flown by Pakistani pilots fo the Arab countries did not have any special markings. the pilots were designated to Arab countries as part of some sort of "Islamic brotherhood" programme. In the Indo-Pak 71 war, some RJAF F-104As were flown to Pakistan to take part in the war...some RJAF F-104s were shot down in the war. ON a side note, Saiful Azam flew with four different air forces - Pakistan(1965 Indo-Pak War), Iraq/Jordan 1967(Six day War), Bangladesh( from 1971 onwards). He shot Indian fighters in the 1965 war as well.

US to deliver 6 C-130J-30s by December 2011 to India Boeing set to bag order for 8 P-8I MPA for the Indian Navy A worthy replacment for the Bear Foxtrots....

Happy Birthday!!!

Nice work ordway!!! Looking forward to it BTW, Israel wasn'the only country whose Ouragans saw action in a war. Indian "Toofanis" saw action in the 1965 Indo-Pak War as well as some counter-insurgency air strikes inet h60s in North Eastern part of India. Does anyone have my No. 29 Sqdn "Scorpions" skin that I did for Pasko's Ouragan? I have lost the file and its not here at CA. I don't remember whether I uploaded the skin at CA. If anyone has that skin, could you please send it to me?

Boopidoo, If you plan to add a periscope to the model, can it be removed later by doing some some ini changes? I ask this because, our Su-7BMKs ,during thier service with with the IAF, did not have a periscope installed. Thank you for your willingness to add details and improve the pit .

I have a few boks on the 71 war. Let me see what I can find. IIRC, among the major European countries, France was the only one that supported India's stance. Soviet Union was supportive of India's moves and had a Soviet Navy task force shadowing the USS Enterprise task group that was supposed to enter the Bay of Bengal. PRC, as usual, was anti-India in the UN , but then when have they been pro-India? .

MiG-21FL MiG-21bis & 21-93 Bison MiG-27M/L Tu-142M Bear-F IL-76/78 Breguet Alize Mi-35 Mi-28N Ka-28

The IL-76 PHALCON AWACS that was supposed to be delivered to China by Israel looked similar to the Indian ones(until US opposed it & the deal was cancelled)

I re-downloaded it and it worked. Buying WoI is the first thing I would do when I get my new credit card in a few days time

I know. I have installed other MF a/c by chosing English language in the first prompt before. But here the trouble is that I am not getting any language screen prompt. As soon as I click WOI-F-4E_Kurnass-Pack-V1.0.exe, i get this: