Indian Air Force News & Discussions

[DMLA]

From PTI

New Delhi, Feb 24 (PTI) The Indian Air Force has initiated the process to procure 181 basic trainer jets for training its rookie pilots, the Government said today.

"Request for Proposals have been floated for procuring 75 basic trainer aircraft on multi-vendor basis and 106 aircraft will be built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)," Defence Minister A K Antony said in written reply to Rajya Sabha.

The IAF is procuring these aircraft for replacing the fleet of HPT-32, which were grounded after a fatal air crash on July 31 last year.

"IAF decided to ground its fleet of HPT-32s till certain modifications were carried out by HAL to ensure safety and airworthiness of the aircraft," the Minister added.

HPT-32s, also known as Deepak, were being used for induction-level flying training for young pilots at the Air Force Academy in Dindigul, Andhra Pradesh.

fullstory

 

[marcos98]

India, France to sign Mirage upgrade deal

India is set to sign a $2.2-billion deal with France to upgrade its fleet of Mirage 2000 fighters ahead of an expected visit by President Nicolas Sarkozy later this year.

The upgrade deal, which had been hanging fire for the past two years due to differences over the price, is likely to be concluded shortly after final negotiations, top Defence Ministry sources said.

The upgrade, which will give the aircraft new radar systems, a new weapon suite, missiles, electronic warfare system and modern electronic warfare, is crucial for the India Air Force as it would also give its most potent fighter an extension in service life. The deal will upgrade 51of the fighters in the IAF’s inventory which proved their mettle during the Kargil war by delivering precision-guided bombs.

Air Chief Marshal P V Naik has said that a team will shortly be arriving from Paris to carry out the commercial negotiations. However, top Defence ministry sources said that the deal will finally be inked to coincide with Sarkozy’s visit, dates for which are still to be finalised.

 

[DMLA]

The request for proposal (RFP) or tender, for the avionics upgrade of the Indian Air Force (IAF)'s Russian medium-lift twin-engine utility Mi-17 helicopters, has been issued to American Honeywell, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and the Russian State Export Agency. The 100 million dollar upgrade would primarily be a cockpit upgrade in the almost two-decade old choppers, where state of the art LCD screen, touch screen and other features would be installed in the cockpit, so as to reduce attention of the pilot from the cockpit.

Around 100 Mi-17 helicopters will be fitted with the new generation avionics. Since the engines would not be changed or upgraded, therefore life of the helicopter is not expected to increase, said a source.

The choppers are primarily used for troop insertion/extraction, casualty evacuation, logistic supply, search and rescue, reconnaissance and observation, in high altitude areas like Siachen Glacier and have also been part of UN missions abroad,

source: Chindits

 

[gowthamraj]

guys now watch dd national. it about iaf modernization

 

[RPK]

PIB Press Release

Acquisition of c-17 Globe Master – III Aircraft

Government proposes to get 10 C-17 Globe master – III giant strategic aircraft from US and sent a letter of request to the US Government. The proposal to procure C-17 Globemaster II aircraft from the US Government to meet the strategic airlift requirement of Indian Air Force was approved by the Defence Acquisition Council on October 19, 2009. The Letter of Request was issued to the United States Government on January 01, 2010.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in written reply to Shri A Elavarasan in Rajya Sabha today.

 

[RPK]

Code Name ?World Record?

Code Name “World Record”

The Indian Air Force’s Eastern Air Command recently claimed to have created a world record by hosting an Adventure Festival where the highest number of people participated.
A total of 10,547 people participated in the 11 adventure disciplines, ranging from parajumps, parasailing, paragliding, hot air balloon, boating, rappelling, cycle expedition, organised simultaneously in separate places across the region over a period of 10 days.
Around 4,700 air warriors, personnel from Army, BSF, CRPF, Meghalaya police, civil administration, school children, NCC cadets and general public participated in the events.

 

[RPK]

President honours air force combat units

President honours air force combat units

President Pratibha Patil Tuesday honoured two premier combat units of the Indian Air Force at a ceremony at the Jodhpur airbase.

She conferred the presidential standards to the 49 squadron and 107 helicopter unit.


'These two units have put in tremendous effort ... in pursuit of excellence and set an example for others,' Patil said. A fly past by MiG-21, Jaguar, SU-30 jets enthralled the audience at the ceremony

 

[RPK]

PIB Press Release

Upgradation of existing fleet of fighter aircraft

RAJYA SABHA

The Government has signed a contract for upgrade of the MiG-29 aircraft with M/s Russian Aircraft Corporation (RAC MiG) on March 07, 2008. The total cost of the contract is USD 964,082,937.46. The MiG-29 aircraft upgrade is planned in two phases namely Design & Development phase in Russia followed by series upgrade in India.

The Government has signed a contract for ugpradation of AN-32 aircraft with M/s Spets Techno Export, Ukraine on June 15, 2009.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in written reply to Shri Gireesh Kumar Sanghi in Rajya Sabha today.

PK / RAJ

 

[sudhir007]

Acquisition of c-17 Globe Master ? III Aircraft idrw.org

Government proposes to get 10 C-17 Globe master – III giant strategic aircraft from US and sent a letter of request to the US Government. The proposal to procure C-17 Globemaster II aircraft from the US Government to meet the strategic airlift requirement of Indian Air Force was approved by the Defence Acquisition Council on October 19, 2009. The Letter of Request was issued to the United States Government on January 01, 2010.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in written reply to Shri A Elavarasan in Rajya Sabha today.

 

[sudhir007]

I dnt understand why IAF want C-17 it is very expansive plane why not IAF want to go AN-124-150 it is better plane more range, more payload capacity (An-124-150? Maximum payload. 120 tonnes. 150 tonnes. Flight range (with maximum payload). 4600 kilometers. 5200 kilometers. Flying service life. 24 years) 1/2 price tag around $70-100M weather C-17 come at around $220M.

As per wiki
An-124

Crew: 6
Capacity: 88 passengers
Payload: 150,000 kg (330,000 lb)
Length: 68.96 m (226 ft 3 in)
Wingspan: 73.3 m (240 ft 5 in)
Height: 20.78 m (68 ft 2 in)
Wing area: 628 m² (6,760 sq ft)
Empty weight: 175,000 kg (385,000 lb)
Loaded weight: 405,000 kg (893,000 lb)
Useful load: 230,000 kg (508,000 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 405,000 kg (893,000 lb)
Powerplant: 4× Ivchenko Progress D-18T turbofans, 229.5 kN (51,600 lbf) each
Performance

Maximum speed: 865 km/h (467 kn (537 mph))
Cruise speed: 800-850 km/h (430 kn (490 mph))
Range: 5,400 km (2,900 nm, 3,360 mi (5,410 km))
Service ceiling: 12,000 m (35,000 ft)
Wing loading: 365 kg/m² (74.7 lb/sq ft)
Thrust/weight: 0.41


Аn-124-100М-150
92 tons of cargo = 7,500 km (4,050 nmi)
113 tons of cargo = 5,925 km (3,199 nmi)
120 tons of cargo = 5,400 km (2,916 nmi)
122 tons of cargo = 5,250 km (2,835 nmi)

C-17 Globemaster

Crew: 3: 2 pilots, 1 loadmaster
Capacity:

102 troops with standard centerline seats or
134 troops with palletized seats or
36 litter and 54 ambulatory patients or
Cargo, such as an M1 Abrams tank
Payload: 170,900 lb (77,519 kg) of cargo distributed at max over 18 463L master pallets or a mix of palletized cargo and vehicles
Length: 174 ft (53 m)
Wingspan: 169.8 ft (51.75 m)
Height: 55.1 ft (16.8 m)
Wing area: 3,800 ft² (353 m&#178
Empty weight: 282,500 lb (128,100 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 585,000 lb (265,350 kg)
Powerplant: 4× Pratt & Whitney F117-PW-100 turbofans, 40,440 lbf (180 kN) each
Fuel capacity: 35,546 US gal (134,556 L)
Performance

Cruise speed: Mach 0.76 (450 knots, 515 mph, 830 km/h)
Range: 2,420 nmi[98] (2,785 mi, 4,482 km)
Service ceiling: 45,000 ft (13,716 m)
Max wing loading: 150 lb/ft² (750 kg/m&#178
Minimum thrust/weight: 0.277
Runway requirement: 3,500 ft (1,064 m) long by 90 ft (27.4 m) wide

 

[sudhir007]

An-124

 

[sudhir007]

 

[sudhir007]

Minister Confirms India's Request To Buy U.S. C-17s - Defense News

NEW DELHI - It is official now that India will buy American-made C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft on a government-to-government basis. The Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony told the Indian parliament on March 10 that a letter of request has been issued to Washington.

"The proposal to procure C-17 Globemaster III aircraft from the U.S. government to meet the strategic airlift requirement of the Indian Air Force was approved by the Defence Acquisition Council on Oct. 19, 2009," he said. "The letter of request was issued to the United States government on Jan. 1."

The $1.7 billion C-17 deal, likely to be finalized this year, would be the second largest deal for Boeing in India. Early last year, New Delhi signed a $2.1 billion agreement to buy eight P-8 maritime patrol aircraft from Boeing.

Boeing said in a statement Jan. 8 that the U.S. government had received from India a letter of request about a potential purchase of 10 C-17 military transport aircraft, Defense News reported.

Currently, the Indian military has to rely mainly on Russian-made An-32s, which form the bulk of its transport fleet, for lifting of troops and other logistic assignments. The Indian Air Force also has Russian-made Il-76 transport aircraft. The service has ordered six U.S. C-130J Hercules aircraft, and more acquisitions are planned in the near future.

In mid-2009, India signed a $400 million contract with Ukrainian military export agency Ukrspetsexport to upgrade 100 Soviet-built cargo An-32 cargo aircraft.

Of 118 An-32 transport aircraft acquired in the early 1980s, only 100 remain. The others were lost in accidents.

The Indian military needs to augment its capacity for quickly airlifting troops to strengthen its force on the Pakistani border, to fight terrorism and low-intensity warfare, and to face the perception of a growing threat at the Sino-Indian border, a senior Indian Defence Ministry official said.

 

[sancho]

I dnt understand why IAF want C-17 it is very expansive plane why not IAF want to go AN-124-150 it is better plane more range, more payload capacity (An-124-150? Maximum payload. 120 tonnes. 150 tonnes. Flight range (with maximum payload). 4600 kilometers. 5200 kilometers. Flying service life. 24 years) 1/2 price tag around $70-100M weather C-17 come at around $220M.

Hi sudhir007, I also say that from the cost/performance point of view the C17 is not the best choice for us and the fact that even the US lease the AN 124 from time to time, speakes for itself. Also I see the new IL 476 (modernised and streched version of the IL 76) as the main competitior for C17, because it is pretty much in the same class (~60t payload, to 77t and similar range), but it is not deniable that the addition of C17 will give some advantages to IAF.

First of all, the C17 needs only a crew of 3, whereas the Russian aircrafts needs at least double as much. Also it can take off and land from rough airstrips, that are only 1000m long. The IL76 MD90 that we have now needs 1300m and the An 124 needs even 2300 to 2800m for older versions.

Also the C17 is the only available aircraft at the moment, the IL 476 is expected to be availabe from 2012 on and the new production of An124 will only start by 2011 and don't forget that Antonov is an Ukrainian company, so there are some problems between them and the Russians about the An 124 too.
The most important advantage imo although is, that with the addition of C17, IAF transport fleet will not rely on Russia only. As we see in the past it is not always that easy to get spares and if problems come up, the whole fleet will be grounded. If we split the fleet in Russian and western, we will be on the safer side.

 

[sancho]

P.S.:

Size comparison IL 76 and IL 476:

Military transport aircraft of Russia and the US:

Note: IL 106 is cancelled AFAIK and IL 214 is the Russian name of MRTA.


Models of the new Russian transport fleet shown at MAKS 2009
(from left to right, IL476, IL 112 and IL 214/MRTA):