Amid Stalled Fighter Projects, Upgraded Mirage Cheers IAF

[Gabriel92]

@Abingdonboy @sancho @levina etc. etc.

With these pictures of the photographer and "spotter" Vincent Massé, we learn that the first upgraded Mirage 2000H of the Indian Air Force took off from BA 106 of Bordeaux, a sign that the update is complete.

Meanwhile hypothetical 126 Rafale, the Indian fighter can still count on its Mirage 2000! 51 aircraft, 46 Mirage EH (cars) and 13 TH (two-seater), dating from the 80s and whose modernization is engaged. Dassault Aviation, Thales and MBDA, indeed having won this contract by almost 3 billion euros in 2011 (2.72 exactly 1 Thales to Dassault 400 million euros and 959 million to MBDA missile) after 10 years of negotiations.

These Mirage are being currently provide a new avionics, electronic warfare equipment and a more powerful radar. The upgrade also provides armament and local infrastructure.

If 50 are yet to go through the workshops of Bordeaux / Merignac, one, nicknamed it the "KF107" as its number, has something to dream of a second youth ...

Pax Aquitania: Le premier Mirage 2000 indien modernisé décolle de Bordeaux

More pics :

 

[Armstrong]

@Gabriel92 - How could you collude with our enemies ? I thought we were brothers !



Fine....do what you have to do but I'm sure that my nieces and nephews (all 4 of them) will never forgive you for doing this to their Uncle Armstrong !

Okay jokes aside; do you have some more information about this modernization package ?

What sort of radar, avionics and electronic warfare equipment are we talking about ? Is it an AESA radar or an upgraded pulse-doppler one ?

And were would these modernized Mirages stand compared to their contemporaries ? Which is to say what Block of the F-16s would they be roughly be equivalent to (for a lay man) in terms of capabilities ?

 

[flamer84]

@Gabriel92 - How could you collude with our enemies ? I thought we were brothers !



Fine....do what you have to do but I'm sure that my nieces and nephews (all 4 of them) will never forgive you for doing this to their Uncle Armstrong !

Okay jokes aside; do you have some more information about this modernization package ?

What sort of radar, avionics and electronic warfare equipment are we talking about ? Is it an AESA radar or an upgraded pulse-doppler one ?

And were would these modernized Mirages stand compared to their contemporaries ? Which is to say what Block of the F-16s would they be roughly be equivalent to (for a lay man) in terms of capabilities ?

Not an AESA radar but an upgraded doppler.

I think the blk52 of the F16 it's their equivalent.

 

[Gabriel92]

@Gabriel92 - How could you collude with our enemies ? I thought we were brothers !



Fine....do what you have to do but I'm sure that my nieces and nephews (all 4 of them) will never forgive you for doing this to their Uncle Armstrong !

Okay jokes aside; do you have some more information about this modernization package ?

What sort of radar, avionics and electronic warfare equipment are we talking about ? Is it an AESA radar or an upgraded pulse-doppler one ?

And were would these modernized Mirages stand compared to their contemporaries ? Which is to say what Block of the F-16s would they be roughly be equivalent to (for a lay man) in terms of capabilities ?

Business is business.

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The upgrade will bring India’s Mirages to the full Mirage 2000v5 Mk 2 standard

, including a new RDY-3 radar with greater air-air and air-ground capability, a new night vision compatible all-digital cockpit, and improved electronic warfare systems. These will be tied into a joint tactical information data link system (JTIDS, usually Link 16 compatible but not always), plus helmet-mounted sights for wide-angle heat-seeking missiles. As part of the upgrade, the aircraft will also be equipped with MBDA’s Mica family of medium range missiles.

Mirage 2000-5 Mk2 |

Thomson has claimed that the original RDY outperformed the AN/APG-66/68 of the F-16 and the AN/APG-65 of the F/A-18 Hornet.

http://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1990/1990 - 1471.PDF

More about it here :

RDY-3 - airborne fire control radar | Thales Group

(If the Indians,could add something..)

 

[Georgeclark]

Business is business.

--------------------

Mirage 2000-5 Mk2 |

Thomson has claimed that the original RDY outperformed the AN/APG-66/68 of the F-16 and the AN/APG-65 of the F/A-18 Hornet.

http://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1990/1990 - 1471.PDF

More about it here :

RDY-3 - airborne fire control radar | Thales Group

(If the Indians,could add something..)

Apart from Business India and France have and had a growing relationship from beginning, many FOC, LCH engines FOC, Mirage many things France has always been a good friend of India.

 

[Ind4Ever]

Nice upgrade
Firing 6 mica at the same time will be Awsome to watch . If you are not the target

Any structural changes made ? And will it have more capable than F16s block 52 / cD

 

[Georgeclark]

@Gabriel92 also to add not just India, France its been a trusted friend of US always too, I see it one of the most trust worthy countries in world today. You take Japan - France US -France India - France all ties are just amazing.

 

[anant_s]

Finally some good news coming from France in Indian military aviation.
Hope the second eagerly awaited news follows soon

 

[Skull and Bones]

She's beautiful.

 

[Georgeclark]

Finally some good news coming from France in Indian military aviation.
Hope the second eagerly awaited news follows soon

True Rafales

 

[Skull and Bones]

I'm still hopeful about IAF acquiring used Mirage 2000s from other nations and upgrade them locally.

 

[N3oN]

The upgrade will bring India’s Mirages to the full Mirage 2000v5 Mk 2 standard , including a new RDY-3 radar with greater air-air and air-ground capability, a new night vision compatible all-digital cockpit, and improved electronic warfare systems. These will be tied into a joint tactical information data link system (JTIDS, usually Link 16 compatible but not always), plus helmet-mounted sights for wide-angle heat-seeking missiles. As part of the upgrade, the aircraft will also be equipped with MBDA’s Mica family of medium range missiles.

MBDA was probably unamused by India Defence’s December 2006 description of its wares as “an advanced medium-range missile that is the French counterpart to the more capable American AMRAAM missile [link added]”. MICA would actually replace both the radar-guided Super 350 MRAAM and Magic-II short-range infrared missiles on Indian Mirages, offering better performance and range. While the MICA-RF does have mediocre range compared to the AIM-120C AMRAAM, or even the Russian R-77 used by the IAF’s SU-30MKIs, it’s unique in offering a MICA-IR heat-seeking IR version for a potent medium range ‘no warning’ targeting option. French pilots who used the MICA-IR over Libya report that its sensor alone is a useful input to their systems, and its passive seeker with lock-on after launch means that it can be fired from beyond visual range at enemy aircraft, without creating any warning from the opposing fighter’s radar warning receivers. India will join France, Egypt, Greece, Taiwan and the UAE as operators of the Mirage 2000/MICA combo.

Work on the upgrades will be performed by a French-Indian consortium including Dassault (aircraft manufacturer), Thales (weapons systems integrator), MBDA (missiles) and India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

India’s Fighter Upgrades: Mirage 2000s Grounded Parts, Waiting Upgrades

 

[IND151]

True Rafales

Indian government is using pressurising tactics as of now. It will work, though Dassault may not agree to all things we want.

 

[Georgeclark]

Indian government is using pressurising tactics as of now. It will work, though Dassault may not agree to all things we want.

I feel deal will be signed by April or May for sure...

 

[IND151]

I feel deal will be signed by April or May for sure...

Modi is visting France in may, right?