30 Years wait for a new fighter ended for Indian Navy

[selvan33]

How MiG-29K fighter planes will enhance Indian Navy’s striking power

Defence Minister A K Antony commissioned warfare aircraft MiG-29K Black Panther squadron into the Indian Navy.We take a look at some amazing facts about Indian Navy’s latest acquisition:

The MIG-29K (K stands for ‘Korabelny’ meaning “Carrier Borne” in Russian) is a potent carrier borne fighter.The aircraft is armed with its arsenal of weapons including advanced anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, precision bombs and sophisticated system to support weapon delivery.The MiG-29Ks, with a range of 1,300km and a service ceiling of 58,000-feet, are capable of STOBAR (short takeoff but arrested recovery) operations.

They are armed with R-73 and RVV-AE guided air-to-air missiles, Kh-35E anti-ship missiles, KAB 500KR/OD TV guided bombs and S-8KOM rockets.The MiG-29Ks – the first 16 of the 45 fighters ordered from Russia for over $2 billion – began arriving in India a couple of years ago.These are India’s first-ever squadron of naval supersonic fighters, which will eventually operate from the decks of aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya ( Admiral Gorshkov) as well as the indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC).

Naval officials said that MiG-29 K is a potent carrier borne fighter, which, once integrated with INS Vikramaditya will bolster the Navy’s punch with its multi-role capability.Aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya is likely to be commissioned later this year.The aircraft tagged as new era fighter were inducted into the Indian Navy in February 2010 following which it underwent trials before the actual commissioning.

The commissioning was held at INS Hansa which would be the base for Black Panther squadron along with other fighter aircraft squadrons of Indian Navy.The squadron initially comprising 16 aircraft would be known as IANS 303.The aircraft will not only be able to dominate the air in all spectrum of conflict but simultaneously project power to meet the nation’s military objectives.This lethal fighter aircraft will enhance Indian Navy’s capability to exercise air superiority in its area of influence. It will also decisively enhance the core of Navy’s striking power.
How MiG-29K fighter planes will enhance Indian Navy’s striking power | idrw.org

 

[senkakudefender]

The reason they chose Russian Navy chose Mig 29k because of the following reasons:-

Now in a war scenario, Mig 29K will prove more effective because navy will be using it in striking mission which is it's specialty. Su33 is not a attack fighter and failed even to impress Russia to use it in present day war scenario. It has older avionics and 8g(J 15 has 9g) maneuverability compared to 12g of Mig 29K.
Thrust to weight ratio:
j15 - 0.83(0.87 speculated with newer engine but have no confirmation)
Mig 29K - 0.97

Range

j15 have combat radius of 1000 km compared to 700 km of Mig 29K but in war fighters don't go more than 300km - 400km radius away from it's carrier. And again China will not use Su 33 to attack on Indian soil.

Payload

j15 can carry 9 ton payload as against 6 ton of newer Mig 29K for Indian navy. Odds in favour of j15 in this case.

RCS

j15 has a very large RCS of more than 5m2 as against 1m2 of Mig 29K which Indian Navy is currently using(Note:- RCS of Mig 29 used by IAF is 2.5m2 not to be confused.) Thus, any IN ships can detect j15 from distance above 200km away as opposed of Mig 29K which can only be detected when it is 50km-70km away. But BVR missiles can target a ship from more than at least 110 km away.
(Note: 290 km range Brahmos cann't be fitted with Mig 29K,thus cann't be considered.)

J15 is a heavy class fighter,
thats the reason it cant be turned around immediately and sent back in battle
as it needs heavy maintenance as compared to the lighter MiG-29k

this was figured out by US navy first, hence they opted for a lighter fighter
replacing the F-14 with F-18

2nd was the IN with more than 4 decades of experience of operating CSF
IN choose to go for MiG-29k, China on the other hand is a new comer
and is certainly not aware of this fact in practical terms.

Russia too realized the same in discussions with IN and choose to go for a lighter MiG-29k
in comparison to Su-33 as a result Su-33 assembly line was shut down and dismantled.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

I disagree , Why do you require AC to operate a Naval fighter ? or vice versa ? Chinese operated 500 plus fighters without a single AC in this period , Navy should have inducted some land based fighters during this period

Indian Defence doctrine is different. Any land-based fighters for Maritime Defence are always in the control of the IAF. Only sea-based fighters are given into the control of the IN. That is why the Jaguar IMs and Sukhoi MKIs assigned for Maritime Defence are still with the IAF. That policy is not likely to change.

 

[abhinav.mehrotra]

Woaah 200 fighters!!! If all goes according to plan maybe at the end of this decade we will have Rafale-M's leading a pack of MiG-29 K's and N-LCA's

yea if we can save sumthing from this money eating politician ....

 

[koushik]

The good thing about the MiG-29k deal is that the deal also features the twin seat MiG-29KUB trainer aircraft which first of all greatly helps in pilot training and familiarisation and secondly the KUB is identical to the MiG-29k in terms of characteristics therefore the MiG-29KUB can also function just like the MiG-29k in terms of attacking and other aerial ops..