Frightening fighter jet gap for India

[Two banks of the River]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1576237300769751040

Though the Air Force is pursuing a two-pronged approach to address this shortfall, neither is likely to bear fruit in time to arrest the drop in fighter numbers. The faster option – to buy and build around 100 foreign Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) – has seen essentially no meaningful progress since it kicked off in 2018.

Frightening fighter jet gap in Indian Airforce - IADN

Between its 70th and 90th anniversaries, the Indian Air Force has seen considerable capability accretion...

iadnews.in

 

[Abid123]

PLAAF will play with the IAF.

 

[Maula Jatt]

I am not seeing a war happening in the region anytime soon unless GOI is the aggressor

I don't think even China wants a war or anything, they were just arm twisting India

But they're not looking for a war, their focus is pacific ocean and Americans

 

[Two banks of the River]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1576237300769751040

Though the Air Force is pursuing a two-pronged approach to address this shortfall, neither is likely to bear fruit in time to arrest the drop in fighter numbers. The faster option – to buy and build around 100 foreign Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) – has seen essentially no meaningful progress since it kicked off in 2018.

Frightening fighter jet gap in Indian Airforce - IADN

Between its 70th and 90th anniversaries, the Indian Air Force has seen considerable capability accretion...

iadnews.in

The Mig29UPG fleet will start retiring from 2027. So if you see it till 2030, the situation will be much worse.

 

[KaiserX]

Pakistan is expecting a total of 100+ new J-10s and Jf-17s by 2025. Good chance of seeing newer F-16Vs and 5th generations Azms by 2030.

At the same time India will induct more LCAs by 2025. In the short term i dont believe India will be able to place order and receive any additional foreign jets since it takes atleast a frw years for initial production batch to be delivered.

By 2030 India will likely get additional LCAs/Rafales/ and possibly their own indiginous MCA?

 

[renhai]

India still only makes 6 tejas per year?

 

[TNT]

Even those are enough. Pakistan military will never fight india and india will never fight china.

 

[Maula Jatt]

Even those are enough. Pakistan military will never fight india and india will never fight china.

Only China in this equation can break th balance

 

[vishwambhar]

Thanks God we have Akash for defence and brahmos for offence.....

But I agree we need to do something about air force we are lagging speedily in this area with all wintage fighters on the verge of retirement and both Pakistan and China adding latest jets on faster basis with world top class BVR weapons..... we are at the risk of high casualties in Arial war with both China and Pakistan.....

India still only makes 6 tejas per year?

Maybe more as now expertise has gone up with years of experience....

 

[Two banks of the River]

Pakistan is expecting a total of 100+ new J-10s and Jf-17s by 2025. Good chance of seeing newer F-16Vs and 5th generations Azms by 2030.

At the same time India will induct more LCAs by 2025. In the short term i dont believe India will be able to place order and receive any additional foreign jets since it takes atleast a frw years for initial production batch to be delivered.

By 2030 India will likely get additional LCAs/Rafales/ and possibly their own indiginous MCA?

The best possible solution was to get 2 additional squadrons of Rafale, an order by 2024 still will mean deliveries between 2027-2030.

Making 114 jets is cost prohibitive in my opinion.

83 Tejas MK1A (4 squadrons) are on order to be delivered between 2024-2029.

From 2022-2030 IAF is set to loose

4 Mig21 UPG squadrons
3 Jaguar DARIN 2 squadrons
1 Mig29UPG squadron

Against that 8, the best case scenario is 4 Tejas MK1A. A couple of Rafale squadrons could have made scene manageble.

From 2032 to 2039 we loose

2 Mig29 UPG
3 Jaguar DARIN 3
3 Mirage 2000 squadrons.

Grim situation.

India still only makes 6 tejas per year?

Original production line has capability of 8 airframes, converted Kiran Hanger can build 3 airframes, the new production line has capability of 8, which can in situation of export can build upto 16.

So current capacity is 19 airframes, Expandable upto 27.

32 Tejas MK1 have been produced.

Work has started on 18 Tejas twin seaters. These 18 should come in 2 years.

So current rate is 9 airframes.

When Mk1A goes into production then we expect it will rise to 16.

 

[Abdul Rehman Majeed]

India still only makes 6 tejas per year?

Assemble only 6 fighetrs not make 6 fighters per year.

 

[Two banks of the River]

Thanks God we have Akash for defence and brahmos for offence.....

But I agree we need to do something about air force we are lagging speedily in this area with all wintage fighters on the verge of retirement and both Pakistan and China adding latest jets on faster basis with world top class BVR weapons..... we are at the risk of high casualties in Arial war with both China and Pakistan.....


Maybe more as now expertise has gone up with years of experience....

How many Brahmos do we have ? Take a guess. The Army at best has 400 units, another 100 at Navy and 50 or so with IAF.

Pakistan alone is having around 300 Baburs , and between 100-150 addition of variety of systems along the coast.

Forget about China.

On SAM system, the combined orders for Akash, MR SAM and S400 today is 1/3rd the numbers of S300, S200, S125, Kub and S75 we used to operate 2 decades ago.

 

[Abdul Rehman Majeed]

4 Mig21 UPG squadrons

Only 3 more MIG21 squadrons.

Indian Airforce retired one squadron earlier today.

Poor Abhinandan does not a fighter to fly any longer.

IAF retires MiG-21 ‘Swordarm’ Squadron​

The Indian Air Force After a long and meritorious tenure in the Kashmir valley, the ‘Swordarms’ pass on the baton of being ‘Guardian of the Valley’.

Published: 01st October 2022 08:43 AM | Last Updated: 01st October 2022 08:43 AM | A+A A-

File photo of a MiG-21 fighter jet. (Photo | Indian Air Force)
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Indian Air Force has decommissioned one of the four remaining squadrons of the MiG 21 fighters on Friday. 51 Squadron, known as ‘Swordarms’, was raised at Chandigarh on February 1, 1985 under the command of Wg Cdr VK Chawla. The Squadron moved to its present location at Srinagar on May 1, 1986.


The Indian Air Force After a long and meritorious tenure in the Kashmir valley, the ‘Swordarms’ pass on the baton of being ‘Guardian of the Valley’. The Squadron has stopped operations from 30 Jun this year. The IAF has three more MiG squadrons remaining now.

It is the Squadron which not only thwarted Pakistan’s air strike on India on February 27, 2019 but the aircraft flown by Wing Commander (now Group Captain) Abhinandan Varthaman had shot down a Pakistan Air Force’s F-16.

It is part of the process as per which the IAF is “Number Plating” (decommissioning) the remaining MiG fighter’s fleet. Number Plating a Squadron means it is placed in reserve, post phasing out of existing aircraft, until it is re-operationalised with new aircraft in future. Such squadrons can be raised afresh with modern aircraft and equipment in future.

The 17-squadron “Golden Arrows” is one which was resurrected in September 2019 with the induction of Rafale Fighter jets at Ambala Air Base.

IAF retires MiG-21 ‘Swordarm’ Squadron

The Indian Air Force After a long and meritorious tenure in the Kashmir valley, the ‘Swordarms’ pass on the baton of being ‘Guardian of the Valley’.

www.newindianexpress.com

 

[vishwambhar]

How many Brahmos do we have ? Take a guess. The Army at best has 400 units, another 100 at Navy and 50 or so with IAF.

Pakistan alone is having around 300 Baburs , and between 100-150 addition of variety of systems along the coast.

Forget about China.

On SAM system, the combined orders for Akash, MR SAM and S400 today is 1/3rd the numbers of S300, S200, S125, Kub and S75 we used to operate 2 decades ago.

Seems you are not updated on Brahmos inventory.... Army , Air force and Navy combined today possess more than 5000 plus units...... Not to mention production rate can be doubled in case of war like crisis....

And there is nothing to forget about China... We are certainly not that weak as it is made to look like in front of China.... I respect you but sometimes it seems you unnecessarily try to please enemies like that Praveen sawane.... Maybe you fear about your ban.....

 

[Baba_Yaga]

Chiiwala is taking this indigenous push to far and compromising the armed forces. 150+ 4.5 gen aircraft need to be bought asap, possibly even negotiations started to somehow join the F-35 program, even though that might be daydreaming. Only bhakts of the highest order have any hope from Teja aircraft, by the time Teja mk2 arrives in sufficient numbers it will already be obsolete and i seriously doubt India's ability to build a 5th gen aircraft with such a tiny budget. All budget for Teja should be directed towards AMCA if there is to be any hope for timely induction, although even that will most likely not be enough. A potent 5th gen aircraft can only be built by the private sector and needs the type of ecosystem India simply doesn't have. All countries trying to produce a 5th gen aircraft using state enterprises/white elephants like HAL will fail miserably.

Either have a proper airforce or simply retire it and spend all the money on tactical nukes. With 28 squadrons, even Pakistan will be hard to defend against, let alone China. Even this magic number of 42 squadrons was simply a number that some guy pulled out of his *** like 20 years ago and is no longer valid today. No less than 60 squadrons is needed to put up a fight in a 2 front war.