First Indo-Russian FGFA aka PAK-fa to be unveiled in India by 2014

[Abingdonboy]

From all the information till date now the prototypes will be coming in 2014,2017 and 2019 for FGFA which was supposed to be a twin seater. If IAF opt for single seater version why in the world we developed single seater FGFA from single seater PAK-FA ??? We should just MKIsed it which will reduce the time.
Correct me if I am wrong

Well from all reports now it seems the IAF has,thankfully, abandoned the twin-seat requirmeent so the FGFA will be a MKIsed version of the PAK-FA. FGFA is purely the designtation for the proposed MKIsed PAK-FA for India.

 

[Sergi]

Well from all reports now it seems the IAF has,thankfully, abandoned the twin-seat requirmeent so the FGFA will be a MKIsed version of the PAK-FA. FGFA is purely the designtation for the proposed MKIsed PAK-FA for India.

Exactly that's what I am saying. As of now Russian say PAK-FA will be in production line in 2016 and requirement of RUAF is very low so Russian production lines will be open for India from 2017/18

 

[zambino]

ab itna intezar nahi hota.. I want to see it now.. Vikramaditya ne bhi bahut intezar karwaya tha ek jhalak dikhane k liye.. Ab ye fgfa v..

 

[Abingdonboy]

Exactly that's what I am saying. As of now Russian say PAK-FA will be in production line in 2016 and requirement of RUAF is very low so Russian production lines will be open for India from 2017/18

I think it is unlikely the IAF will get the PAK-FA in the same form as the RuAF. The IAF will only get the FGFA in the same way it got the MKI and not the standard Russian SU-30.

 

[danger007]

The initial version of a fighter plane, being jointly developed by India and Russia and tipped to be one of the most-advanced in the world, will be unveiled in India in 2014.

The Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) with stealth features is slated to be inducted in the Indian Air Force by 2022.
The two sides are close to signing a key contract expected to be worth over USD 11 billion for research and development phase of the project in the near future.
“The first prototype of the FGFA is scheduled to arrive in India by 2014 after which it will undergo extensive trials at the Ojhar air base (Maharashtra)…We are hopeful that the aircraft would be ready for induction by 2022,” IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne told a news agency.

The IAF Chief was in Russia in the second week of August where he reviewed the progress made in the programme and the prototypes of the aircraft developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau at Zhukovsky there.

The second prototype will arrive in India in 2017 and the third prototype will arrive in 2019. Based on the experience of test-flights of the each prototype, the final version of the FGFA would be developed for operational service, Browne said.

India plans to acquire 214 of these fighter planes by the end of 2030 at an estimated cost of over USD 30 billion.

Russia has already developed three prototypes of the aircraft which are being used for carrying out test-flights. The aircraft will have stealth features and its size would be smaller than that of the frontline Su-30 MKI.

The design of the aircraft is expected to be finalised by the two sides later this year. The two sides had signed an agreement for the design of the plane last year.

Besides the FGFA, India is also in the process of procuring 126 Medium-Multirole Combat Aircraft (M-MRCA) and around 140 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) to replenish the Air Force whose squadron strength is dwindling.

The IAF is in the process of phasing-out Russian-origin MiG series fighters which are almost forty years old in operational service.

The FGFA along with the Russian-origin Su-30 MKIs and the 126 would be the mainstay of the Air Force in the next more than four decades.

First Indo-Russian FGFA aka PAK-fa to be unveiled in India by 2014 | idrw.org

jhalak dikhla ja
ek bar aaja aaja aaja aaja aa ja....

 

[Tshering22]

good to see some development on FGFA front
i m happy that the news is not about PAKFA but FGFA

Now it is one and the same. Earlier IAF wanted a 2 seater version but now they are satisfied with the same variant as the Russians to reduce time-gap and speed up production.

Technically, VVS and IAF will be having the same fighter jet (maybe avionics in different languages) mostly.

 

[Sergi]

I think it is unlikely the IAF will get the PAK-FA in the same form as the RuAF. The IAF will only get the FGFA in the same way it got the MKI and not the standard Russian SU-30.

If I am not wrong we get SU-30s in knock down kits till HAL was able to build it from scratch.
The Indian version will vary in cockpit customisation and Avianoics only so basic hardware will be the same. First few say 30/50 will definatly come in knock down kits which will be assembled by HAL. And Russian production lines have to make these kit which they can after the initial order of 60 odd planes from RuAF( and I think it will take only 1 or 1.5 years for Russian production line to make 60 planes )

 

[Tshering22]

ab itna intezar nahi hota.. I want to see it now.. Vikramaditya ne bhi bahut intezar karwaya tha ek jhalak dikhane k liye.. Ab ye fgfa v..

लगता है तुम भूल रहे हो... हम जर्मनी, फ्राँस, अम्रीका या जापान के नहीं भारत "गणराज्य" के नागरिक हैं ।

यहाँ हर चीज़ सरकारी गति से चलती है ।

 

[joekrish]

Its nice to hear that the IAF is abandoning the twin seater, we will get to see this birds much earlier. One small doubt though it could be a little off topic------- Why this obsession for twin seater, I have not seen very many countries go with this thought, is it an old school thinking when planes were hard to fly or am I missing something here?

 

[arp2041]

Its nice to hear that the IAF is abandoning the twin seater, we will get to see this birds much earlier. One small doubt though it could be a little off topic------- Why this obsession for twin seater, I have not seen very many countries go with this thought, is it an old school thinking when planes were hard to fly or am I missing something here?

It's IAF doctrine for better situational awareness (every AF has different doctrines), an extra pilot increases the view of the combat area & relieve the main pilot of some duties.

IMO this is a thing which makes IAF better force than other AF's, the plan to abort twin seater variants of fgfa is (i think) b'coz of the desperation to induct the 5th gen fighter asap as Chinese AF is already on it's way to induct 5th gen planes around 2020 or so.

 

[Agnostic_Indian]

Its nice to hear that the IAF is abandoning the twin seater, we will get to see this birds much earlier. One small doubt though it could be a little off topic------- Why this obsession for twin seater, I have not seen very many countries go with this thought, is it an old school thinking when planes were hard to fly or am I missing something here?

older generation fighters required lot manual work from pilot..now most of the work load is taken over by computers and other sensors.


I guess since IAF trained and mastered two pilot system they don't want to abandon it, pilots may take time to adjust with new style.besides two pilots is useful in handling long flying hours , it's better to have two pair of hands instead of one , though modern systems minimized or eliminated the need of another hand. fighters as big as mki which has longer range and acts as a mini awac require two pilots.

 

[joekrish]

It's IAF doctrine for better situational awareness (every AF has different doctrines), an extra pilot increases the view of the combat area & relieve the main pilot of some duties.

Agreed, but with today tech the job of the pilot is made so much more easier, so are'nt we wasting our resources not that I doubt the IAF's doctrine, just trying to understand it better.

 

[Abingdonboy]

It's IAF doctrine for better situational awareness (every AF has different doctrines), an extra pilot increases the view of the combat area & relieve the main pilot of some duties.

IMO this is a thing which makes IAF better force than other AF's, the plan to abort twin seater variants of fgfa is (i think) b'coz of the desperation to induct the 5th gen fighter asap as Chinese AF is already on it's way to induct 5th gen planes around 2020 or so.

It is doubtful at best to say the PLAF will have a 5th gen fighter in service before say 2023, many observers have already commented the J-20 looks more than a Tech demonstrator than an actual prototype of a future fighter. And anyway the IAF is not the PAF in the sense it is always taking retalitory actions against moves by its neighbour. We have seen time and again the Indian forces only accept a weapons system when it fully matches its exacting standards and is fully devloped as such it is not a time saving exercise by IAF in not pushing for a twin-seat FGFA merely a realisation that they don't need such a fighter nor need to take the penalty in performance terms in devloping such a platform.

Its nice to hear that the IAF is abandoning the twin seater, we will get to see this birds much earlier. One small doubt though it could be a little off topic------- Why this obsession for twin seater, I have not seen very many countries go with this thought, is it an old school thinking when planes were hard to fly or am I missing something here?

I wouldn't call it an "obsession" of the IAF more of a doctrinal issue for their 4-4.5+ fighters. The the "twin-cockpit" demand was outdated thinking (JMO) and with the technology today the computers act as the "second pilot" making a WSO and the like unnecessary. And as stated it comprimises key aspects not to mention adds cost. In the past it was not exactly a nessecsity but it was a valubale tool to have a WSO or whatever in a two seat fighter- the IN follows the same logic- 1/4 or so of the MIG-29Ks are KUB two seaters which will not only be used for training but for operations. In a future IN strike package the majority of the flight will be Ks but there will be 1-2 KUBs acting as C&C or target designators or somthing else, simarly the USN has a similar ratio of Es anf two seat Fs for its Super Hornet fleet and uses them in a similar way to the IN. Also when the USAF wanted the F-15 turned into a long-range strike fighter, the resultant varient (Strike Eagle) was a two seater. For 4th-4.5++ fighters having a twin-seat fighter is incredibly useful and excellant for strike missions, it has already been speculated the IAF may go for a greater than intially envisioned number of twin-seat varients of the Rafale to boost the deep strike capabilty of the MMRCA SQDs.

 

[Contrarian]

4 reasons why IAF is cancelling 2 seater version:

1. It is going to be expensive. Russia is not going to fund the 2 seater version, it will have to be us bearing the entire cost of R&D and per plane cost shoots considerably. 1 seater means commonality in the structure with the RuAF and thus shared costs.
2. It decreases stealth characteristics of the plane on account of size and shape.
3. It reduces space for other equipment like fuel, more of which can be stored if its a 1 seater.
4. Increased automation means one pilot can now handle more work than those in earlier generation planes like the MKI.

 

[OrionHunter]

I am talking about prototype buddy. I didn't expect any prototype before 2017. Leave alone any final product.

By the way hw old are you that you will die in next 13 years...?

Aw shucks! You guys have taken it literally!

That was just a figure of speech! It seems it's a failed attempt at humor! Sheeesh!