Pakistan Defence

in VLO or such category drones, we need to first wait for Kaveri Chatak variant performance to understand it's ability to be MALE/HALE variant and payload capability..

About LSA as I said it's about MIC which I m interested. Vstol says decision will be known after Rafale deal so max by September.. so I am awaiting to see what happens then and if decision is given a go ahead then what config he finally says and how our MIC will respond to it

@zebra7 bro, I am with you that the MoD/GoI/IAF/IN should shift their focus to the AMCA as soon as possible, THAT plane is going to be the future of India's (military) aerospace industry and is the natural successor of the LCA.

I have no information outside of some forum comments about the LSA wheras the AMCA is being developed by the sole entity in India with a proven track record and at least they have CAD images and wind test models to show.

@PARIKRAMA I cannot implore the ADA/GoI/MoD to tie up with France in some way to develop the AMCA. The Rafale and its tech is the obvious candidate to base the AMCA on.

If Parrikar is as smart as he is trying to have us believe; all this haggling with the French and the inclusion of the strategic partnership chapter into the DPP-2016 is surely aimed at such a notion (collaboration in such strategic feilds).

As you have said @PARIKRAMA , Russia is likely to be given the cold shoulder somewhat and the French are the PERFECT substitutes for them (for the love of god forbid the Americans) across the board (land, sea and air). In fact, in pretty much every area France is substantially ahead of the Russians these days.

There is a strange buzz now.. Look at events - LCA not there, MKI service issues, CAG report on Mig 29K ... You connect the dots.. Light category nothing much, heavy category nothing much.. Naval air wing nothing much.. so we are having finally a situation where we can justify a purchase

still the purchase has to have added benefits which of course we have said in the rafale sticky. N angle as well. and the new Kaveri Engine help. That help itself helps us in AMCA and LCA MK1A in a very big way

But this window is limited as indian people forget things quickly. SO DM MP has a short time period before he has to get things done and claim victory of able to negotiate and getting the best deal

Maybe I'm obsessed with this one issue but, it seems to me, all things are pointing in one direction...RAFALE. What did we hear a few weeks back? Dassualt offering to use their offset obligations to fully mature the Kaveri.

The CAG (I'm not sure how this fits though as it is an autonomous body) has now called out the Russian OEMs for their shoddy after sales support to the MKI AND now MiG-29K fleet. So which fighter with high availability that will soon be made in India could possibly step in and serve on BOTH the IN's STOBAR and CATOBAR carriers?

I believe soon Rafale M may also be checked in real STOBAR conditions and may be a certification.. perhaps we may see them in STBF Goa soon if IN folks get serious and ask them to prove they can work from vicky

I'm sure the French would be more than a little eager (and not just for India's benefit) to send over an operational Rafale-M to valdiate its STOBAR credentials. Have you heard anything new about Dassualt's talks with the IN bro?

not much ... IN has put forward a note saying Rafale M is their preferred candidate. The decision to procure them is already there but whether from Merignac or from Indian Line is the challenge. What i do see is 18 may be bought quickly bcz of the STOBAR immediate needs if IN becomes serious. Then its Merignac line only which can support such a thing.

But i think DM MP will arm twist Russian side now for Mig 29K spares and localisation to boost availability %. I don think he will let them be shore based and thus rafale M may have to wait unless we get more reports of Mig29K debacles. May be Rafale M in IAC1. Thats a better chance if Mig problems continue.

I think the MiG-29Ks for the Viky are here to stay, they are only about 5 years old, no way is the IN/GoI going to throw them away with another 30+ years of life in them- this isn't how India operates- no matter how poorly they perform.

When I am talking about the Rafale for the IN's STOBAR carriers I mean ONLY from the IAC-1 onwards, the Viky is lumped with the MiG-29K for its entire life that much is certain.

I do find it interesting though (and had commented on this not long ago) that 45 MiG-29K/KUB are not enough to support both the Viky, IAC-1, shore based training AND war reserves. Each carrier alone requires 2 SQNs (of 14-15 a/c) so the IN requires at least 5-6 fighter SQN (+ war reserves) of fighters by 2020 whilst it currently only has 3.

Now if the IN were interested in more MiG-29K/KUB they could quite easily have placed orders for more units some time ago but it doesn't even seem as though there are any plans for more (not a whisper of that from what I can see). With every day they delay the cost of the MiG-29K/KUB is only going to increase so the IN is surely waiting for something