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Saturday, June 22, 2013

A Must-Read Masterpiece

131 comments:

Subir said...

Sir,

1.From where can i get hold of this book ?

2.How authoritative is Eating Grass: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb ?

3.Werent contracts were signed for 34 EL/M-2084 ?

4.If Rohini radars are having sub-optimal performance how cum IAF is inducting them in huge nos in NE and in NW airbases?

5.If LRDE is having various sorts of problems with rRohini hw will it design and dvelope a long range X-band precision target tracking and abm early warning radar all by itself without any technical inputs from foreign OEM?

6.Regarding the various vehicles for the Army and RR,

A.The 4000 8X8 APC , will they replace all previous obsolete APC in IA like BTR-60,70 ?

B. When will the 1t apc enter operational service ?

C.For the multi role LSV which OEMs have submitted their proposals ?

D.Will the 1600 tracked IFV need to be C-130 transportable ? C-130 transportable ones tend to have inferior protection levels .

E.Will these IFV replace the BMP-2 or will complement them?

F.Is IA interested in CV90 for IFV ? Its the best IFV there in the market followed by BMP-3?

7.License assembled fighter jets cost more ona per unit absis than imported off the shelfs from OEM ? With a dire financial crisis in hand, cant RM understand this and increase the no of off the shelfs above just 18?

8.http://idrw.org/?p=23507#more-23507 Is MoD mandating that these ASW protection systems have to be supplied by Indian vendors? ?

9.Mp5 has beome obsolete. All previous users of mp5 are now standardising on Mp7. Why cant IA,RR,NSG,Marcos, SF do the same?

10.If HAL is sitting on 27k crores of guranteed revenue then why is the disinvestment being done to gather money for infrastructure developement ?

11.What is the basic impediments and hurdles to introducing 2 shits in Mod owned shipywards like the private sector shipyards?

Ranjit Rai said...

I offer comments on ship building in PSUs as the questioner asks why not two shifts. Two shifts are running and the second shift is called OVERTIME when more work gets accomplished. There is lack of manpower and UNIONS object to retired Navy doing contract work.

PSU shipyards know how to build hulls collect 60% of the payment and profit and then imported equipment gets fitted and Navy;s WPS and WATT teams help and soon the ship's company joins. There is no incentive even in Fixed Price Contract as left hand blames right hand with escalation. Only FDI of 49% and private orders and Joint Ventures can help. The REVIEW of KOITHARA's Book on Nuclear Forces is on www.iduanalysis.com

Bhaswar said...

Prasun Sir,

I was not referring to air transit but rather land an rail transit in case of BD. Which they have always shied away from. Thus my question regarding the Kaladan project.

Wasn't Bangladesh looking at one of our sonar/sub-surface systems?

How effective is the USHUS system and the Panchendriya complex? I believe that the CAG had criticized the USHUS project?

Vikram Guha said...

Prasun Da ,

Interesting Read . How the US NSA is using a nuclear submarine to tap undersea fibre optic cable .
http://cryptome.org/nsa-fibertap.htm

Regards,
Vikram

Defense and Aerospace said...

Prasun ,

In reply to a question on India developing a Combat Management System like AEGIS you have said that it has already been developed for the P-15A DDGs & will also be on the P-15B DDGs & P-17A FFGs .

Can you please state

what is it called &

is it at par with the AEGIS ?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SUBIR: At any prominent bookstore in India, I guess. 2) It is a vain attempt to the existence of a non-existent plutonium-reprocessing programme within Pakistan. 4) Firstly, the Rohini was never a DRDO-developed product (read this: http://www.livefistdefence.com/2008/08/truth-about-rohini-radar-from-prasun-k.html). At that time there were several who doubted my assertions & had anyone bothered to take this issue to a court of law, I could have easily proven my assertions with documentary evidence which I still possess & which was supplied to me by the involved Polish OEMs. And earlier this year at a pre-Aero India 2013 symposium, the IAF itself revealed all the performance shortcomings of Rohini. 5) Who has ever said that LRDE will develop X-band LRTRs? 6) BTRs were decommissioned decades ago. Tracked ICVs cannot be transported by C-130. The 1,600 ICVs are FICVs to be indigenously developed by Indian OEMs. CV-90 is not the best ICV for sure. 9) MP-5s & their clones continue to be series-produced worldwide & are still very much effective. 10) Because with divestment a more accountable board of management will emerge, hopefully. 11) Already answered above.

To BHASWAR: It is not Bangladesh, but India that had previously shied away from activating such transit routes. All NPOL-developed sonars work perfectly in laboratory conditions, but when integrated with the combat management system, the performance becomes sub-optimal & below specifications.

To VIKRAM GUHA: This has been going on since the 1970s both over land as well as underwater. That’s why the US Navy has a whole fleet of deep-submersible vehicles of various types.

To DEFENSE & AEROSPACE: The CMS is codenamed EMDINA Mk2 (originally developed under the DRDO’s Project MEDINA). It cannot yet be on par with AEGIS since AEGIS employs the cooperative engagement capability (CEC) using sensor-fusion techniques that enable the AEGIS to receive synthesised 3-D battlespace situational awareness inputs in real-time from a wide variety of terrestrial, airborne & space-borne sensors. In addition, the AEGIS can be supplied with 3-D geo-spatial data reqd for targetting inputs for long-range T-LAMs from the global geo-spatial database maintained by the US Navy.

Subir said...

Sir, VMT VMT.
1. So its not worth reading eating grass ?

2.Cant LRDE develope a substitute for Rohini ?

3. What decision has been taken wrt to OSA-AKM rounds.

4. All of IAF's AD is fucked up barring the Pechoras. With the sub optimal performance of Rohini, Akash sam system wont be able to engage low RCS targets.

5.Isnt DRDO developeing L-band and X-band long range radars for BMD pahse 2?

6.Were any GS-200 radars ordered ?

7. Is it true that INS Vikramaditya were delayed by 3 months due to inadequate luxury fitments in officers's cabins ?

8. Wont any IFV be bought from a foreign OEM ? Which IFV tracked does IA have in its sights?

9.CV-90 offers some of the best levels of protections. BMP-3 has the greates firepower of them all.

10. Mp5 9mm is seriously lacking in firepower.It cant penetrate kevlar jackets. 5.56*30mm will be the suitable round.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SUBIR: 1) Not according to me. 4) Akash was never developed for intercepting low-RCS targets in any case. 5) Nope. 6) Nope. 7) Nope. 8) Nope. 10) Which terrorist or criminal or insurgent in India ever wears a bullet-proof vest???

Subir said...

Sir, VMT.

1.Who will develope radars for phase 2 then if not DRDO.

2.U said no other countries were willing to provide technical expertise in this regard.

3.Mp7 as a concealable weapon for spec ops,para commandoes and as PDW for tank and other army crews.

4.Why isnt IAF deploying C-17 for its Op Rahat ?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SUBIR: 1 & 2) There’s no plan for developing any radars for Phase-2. Even for Phase-1 no one from the DRDO developed any radars & both radar-types were imported strictly for R & D purposes only & never for any operational deployment. I challenge anyone to prove otherwise. 4) How many runways are there in & around Uttarakhand that can accommodate the landing & takeoff length of the C-17?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

This is an excellent & long-overdue documentary series on OPs Blue Star & Wood Rose (see: http://www.dayandnightnews.com/operation-blue-star-the-untold-story/) that describes the prelude, actual operations & the aftermath.

The 9-part series can be viewed at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu3UYjolyuM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhO5BRsTfl8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjyA9yYMQ-k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxitMTQK-GE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erg-Nhya3cQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FAMGBihBgo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s08pT458UOw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNq0-JvphZ8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmQFd1VhbAQ

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

And here's what led to the man-made humanitarian disasters now unfolding in Uttarakhand:

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?286323

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?286326

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?286327

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?286329

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?286331

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?286332

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?286333

Tololing said...

VMT,sir.2 queries.

1]a]There are reports that PAF modernization programme has been suspended and its in a crisis with aircraft crashing in large numbers due to inability to maintain previous sortie rates.
A pakistani report says jf-17 procurement has been slashed from 275 to 150,and these along with 63 f-16s will be all that future PAF has due to fund crunch,its numbers are to go down by almost half.It can no longer replace older fighters 1 for 1 with thunder.

b]Also that no progress has been made on j-10 deal as j-10b isn't ready due to engine problems and russia won't give permission to use al-31 for PAF.

c]It also says PAF has so far been unsuccesful in acquiring long range sams and so FT-2000 sale was hogwash.
Sir what do u think about these reports,are they credible?Is PAF facing major collapse in numbers in coming years due to fund crunch?

2]Sir what really happened in red flag 2008?Did sukhois really lose to f-15s in WVR combat?When will IAF go next to red flag that this yr's meet was cancelled.

3]Is the quality of chinese pilots good?I hear they went to a exercise with turkey and were embarassed.

Tololing said...

One more question sir,i was having a discussion with a pakistani member and he said their air force doesn't need AESA radars on combat aircraft as their AWACS and ground radars are data linked via central grid to the aircraft.This is what he said-
'' PAF is focusing on data-linking every asset through a central grid connected with AWACS and Ground Radars, thus negating the need of individual AESA radars''

Is this true sir?IF it is then why are airforces wasting mamoth sums making new combat aircraft AESA radars?And why would it be necessay for us to upgrade all sukhois to zhuk aesa?


Subir said...

Sir, VMT for answering.

I am bit confused.

1. You said no country will impart to us the tech required to develope X and L band ballistic missile warning radar, nor will any country export us such radars for operational use and so India has to indigenously develope such radars.

2.then why isnt DRDO not develpoing any radars for phase 2 ?

3. Phase 2 wont be a tech demonstrator as phase 1. U said both IA and IAF have interests in it for neutralising stauration attacks with NLOS-BSM,TBMs.

4.AD-1.2 and PDV can also be use against ICM or IRBM threats.

5.If IAF is having issues with Rohini why cant it get them replaced with radars from foreign OEM or ask LRDE to join hands with IAI Elta and rectify the various glitches in this Polish origin radar.

6.DRDO DG and others have been saying that the radars of phase 2 which it is developing now willk be entirly new and will be offering much better performance and range than the phase 1 radars.What do you say about that ?

7.In the recent released pics of PAK-FA numbered 054 taken after it was painted and had undergone factory acceptance tests there were no irst behind the cockpit. Where did it go ?

8.Has IAF finalised upon the radar + IRST package and internal rf jammer,external excort pod,maws,rwr for Tejas mk2? The entire vender selection process for mission sensors and avionics was to have been completed by this October.

9.Which moron designs mrsam only keeping in mind aircrafts and helicopters and high RCS targets in today's worlds?

10. What platform is providing air traffic control to the various military and civilian acs now deployed in Uttarkhand ?

11.Has anyone in MoD mandated DRDO,HAL and other private SME from developing multi ejector racks for aam and pgms for Tejas, Su-30mki ?

12. Super Hornet uses dual ejector racks for carriage of AIM-120. It almost doubles its missile carriage capabilties over Hornet.

13.isnt the Mi-26 proving its worth now? It can carry heavy constuction machinery, trucks , other equipment in one go. Chinook cant.

14.What is the FLIR turret in C-130J ? AAQ-30?

15.Why all ofa sudden was c130j used for rceon and imagery gathering purposes when other platforms with imint payloads were their.

rad said...

Hi Prasun
Is there any proposal by the army to have a dedicated radar equipped alh or uav to accompany a tank regiment into battle datalinking
by net centric bms the real time battle field picture which will be a great force multiplier and enable the tank commander to be silent rather than use an IFF to identify hostile tanks.
A selex radar should be fine.
Is there any space left on the alh to mount a radar . I would prefer an ALH rather than a UAV as it could be shot down , the heli can be armed and can pop up and go down after a quick scan.

Anonymous said...

Hi Prasun da

Did u see the vityaz air defence recently showcased by russia..12 missiles in one TEL..Whats its prospects reg. the recent IA QRSAM tender....VMT

AK said...

Hi Prasun, AD-1,2 combo;PDV are still some years away. IA,IAF has an immediate requirement for ABM, anti bsm sam system. Antey V-2500 is a good option. But in terms of engagement range and altitude its inferior to our home grown PAD and AAD. AAD can serve as a very good ABM SAM system keeping in mind the immediate threat perceptions.

The latest AAD tested this year had a 20+ km TBM and NLOS-BSM interception altitude hai.It has the same Agat semi-active radar seeker as Gladiator rounds.It can intercept solid-fuelled TBM. The latest Prthvi target missile was modified to ahve a higher mid and terminal velocity. AAD has already proved its worth. Six can be packed per TEL like Prahaar. Although not hit to kill its a good system.

Regarding radars IAI Elta Green pine wont be required for interception of NLOS-BSM,TBM and even IRBM. France hasnt restricted DRDO or MOD from operatinaolly deploying Ground master 400 MFCR. This can be use as both a surveil and fire control raadr. The very same radar is being used for SAMP/T or Aster block-2 ABM missile system. And with GSAT-7 deployed accuarte early warning can be provided by its multi spectral suite. What IAF needs to do is just order some AAD batteries for its North Eastern imp bases like Tezpur,Chabua, Jorhat and Northern and NW airbases housing imp assets.

Wont prithvi-3 benefit form a radar correlator terminal seeker. Even Pershing-2 meant for carrying sub megaton warheads had one even when it wasnt necessary to ahve one.

Anonymous said...

I presume the Chinooks would have made a major difference at Uttaranchal..............as usual the MOD/Politicians to blame !!!

Hope they order them now (and the 6 additional C-130's).....

Tololing said...

1]When might we expect to see first super sukhoi's inducted?Will it be similar to silent eagle?

2]How much decrease in RCS will be there over current MKI?

3]With the fall in rupee,how badly will our defense procurement be hurt?

Thanks sir.

rad said...


HI Prasun

Please detail the abhayas expendable target , can it be made into a alcmd missile

Anonymous said...

this is why russia and india are worried:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23004244

Littlemaster said...

Sir,Whats the most probable reason behind today's MiG-29 crash? Now the no of 29s to be upgraded has fallen to 59. Will IAF go for attrition replacements from ex Ukrainian or Russian stocks ?
Recently we have been losing many fighter acs. If it was a Mig-21m or even bison it wouldnt have been a matter of concern but its a MiG-29.
Will any defense deals including the much waited 145 M777 deal materialise during John Kerry's visit despite the desperate condition of rupee? What will be a better option for high altitude logistics , Mi-26 or Chinook ?

Mr. Ra 13 said...

The stand of Karzai on Doha office and talks is correct. Furthermore Karzai should be diplomatic enough to make amends with Dr Abdullah Abdullah and other remnants of the Northern Alliance. This broad people's front shall be supported now by the India, Russia and others from CIS. This combination shall be able to crush the macabre designs of the Taliban, AQ and their pakistani friends in the manners unequivocally.

Subir said...

Sir, VMT VMT.

I adore u very much sir. U are the best among all the defense blogs. i just dont know how to thank you. From the very beginning you were on the mark. Every sayings of yours regarding military procuremesnts are coming true. You were right about Arudhra radar, about Rafale selection..... your prdeictions have come true repeteadly and consistently and more once again it will come true. VMT sir for this wonderful blog sir. i am truely grateful to you.

buddha said...

your blog and patient answers are
very much praise worthy...
Thanks for your time and effort to feed our questions

Vikram Guha said...

Prasun Da ,

Does India or any other country in Asia ( including Russia) have an equivalent of NATO's Link 16 ?

Thanks,
Vikram

Anonymous said...

Subir, Prasun will not come to your rescue when the question papers are in front of you. Yes, Prasun is very good in defense related topic. But it is you, young boy, need to answer your questions.

Your ego is bigger than Himayala.. One day it will just wash off. We, readers of this blog, have no problems with you. But to tell you the truth, we are bored. I just skip your Qs and Prasun's As to your questions.

Your maturity is evident from the 1st question in this thread "From where can i get hold of this book?" My 7 yr old kid knows how to find/search a book- either from library, book shop, or internet.

So be mature.

Gessler said...

Prasun, why are not replying to these poor people here?

Have you been washed away in the floods?

Subir said...

To anon sir at 11:38 pm. I ask those questions for which i havent got any answers even after combing the net. Wikipedia's figures change every 2 or 3 months, each defense forum says whateevr they like, some even saying Arihant was fully devepoed by DRDO, INS Chakra can be used in war, radar of Tejas mk1 is a hybrid one.

Srry if i am being egositic.As u say it will be washed away.

And when i asked Prasun sir from whwere i will eb able to get that book the book wasnt available in Flipkart and when i visisted the various bookstores including Oxford and Crossword and starmark they tol me the book hasnt come to the market yet. So tehy cant take any oredxr.I can contact them a fter a few days to know if it was avialable.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To ABHISHEK DHAR: 1) 150 JF-17s & 63 F-16s are more than enough for airspace defence. The majority of funds earmarked for Pakistan’s MoD this year are meant for the Army, which will be reqd to mount offensive operations inside North Waziristan later this year. The PAF’s Mirage -3/5 fleet too will be decommissioned from service by 2016. The FC-20 with China-developed WS-10B or even a WS-13 turbofan will eventually be exported to Pakistan. In terms of dissimilar air combat skills, the PLAAF & PAF are laggards since they possess neither instrumented nor rangeless ACMI training systems as yet. Anyone claiming that the PAF does not require AESA-MMRs is a certified moron. Why? Because such a moron can’t figure out the fact that AESA-MMRs are multi-mode systems capable of undertaking interleaved operations—something that increases aircrew efficiency & mission effectiveness by a factor of 2.5. On the other hand, the KLJ-6/7 MMRs of the J-10 & JF-17 can’t undertake such interleaved operations. For instance, such radars can only only activate one mode of operation at any given time, meaning if they’re on track-while-scan mode, then they can’t do ground-mapping or maritime strike target search. With AESA-MMRs on the other hand, both air combat, airspace surveillance & ground attack can be done at the same time by a two-man aircrew, with the pilot focusing on flying the aircraft & handling BVR engagements, while the weapon systems operator handles both air-to-ground precision strikes as well as monitors the functioning of the integrated EW suite. The truth of the matter is that the PAF, having acquired the Grifo-7 & Grifo-F radars from FIAR of Italy in the early 1990s for its F-7PGs & Mirage-3/5 ROSE-1/2 upgraded combat aircraft, passed on the technical data-packages of these two radars to China & there these two radars morphed into one that is now on the C-602 ASCM, & the KLJ-6/7 MMRs. FIAR (now Galileo Avionics & part of SELEX Airborne Sensors) has therefore dumped the PAF for good & is now focused entirely on the Indian market & on the Tejas Mk2 in particular.

To RAD: The TRS-17/Rohini 3-D CAR is NOT BAD, but has been POORLY-ENGINEERED by the LRDE for the IAF. In fact, it is highly surprising that such shortcomings have been discovered by the IAF after its service-induction, meaning that the field-trials during user-evaluation stages were not thorough, which itself is rather shocking, since a version of the Rohini mounted on a T-72 hull is planned for the Army’s version of the Akash, for which the Battery Surveillance Radar developed by LRDE with Polish assistance is facing problems & that’s why it has not been showcased by either LRDE or BEL over the past four years. Data-linking of PAF F-16s with Saab 2000 AEW & CS is through ground stations, & not real-time in air-to-air mode. Data on Abhyas PTA was posted In January 2013 itself under the ‘DRDO Exhibits at ISC Fair’ thread.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SUBIR: 1) Developing such LRTR requires enormous funds & skilled human resources—both of which are not available with the DRDO. 3) All phases of BMD programme will be for technology demonstration only. That’s why no one from India’s armed forces has to date made any official statement about the need for any kind of BMD network. NLOS-BSMs & TBMs can be intercepted by Barak-8 & the AD-1/2 interceptors & there’s no need for PDV or AAD at all. If India starts deploying PDVs with only L-band LRTRs, then China will just increase the number of IRBMs & MRBMs to saturate India’s BMD defences—something which India’s armed forces know only too well & therefore they are against deploying any kind of BMD network. 6) Let’s wait & see what happens, since several of his predecessors too made similar tall claims since the mid-1990s & nothing came of them. 11) No. 13) No such equipment was ferried by Mi-26T this time. Only fuel-tanks were & mobile fuel pumps were transported.

To AK: All phases of BMD programme will be for technology demonstration only. That’s why no one from India’s armed forces has to date made any official statement about the need for any kind of BMD network. NLOS-BSMs & TBMs can be intercepted by Barak-8 & the AD-1/2 interceptors & there’s no need for PDV or AAD at all. If India starts deploying PDVs with only L-band LRTRs, then China will just increase the number of IRBMs & MRBMs to saturate India’s BMD defences—something which India’s armed forces know only too well & therefore they are against deploying any kind of BMD network.

To LITTLEMASTER: Reason for the MiG-29B-12 air-crash was faulty fuel-pumps, while the Mi-17V-5 crashed due to overworked/over-stressed aircrew operating over unfamiliar terrain, all of which easily causes disorientation. With the benefit of hindsight now, one can safely state that it was a WRONG decision to upgrade the MiG-29s & Mirage 2000s. Instead, the money saved from these two contracts could easily have been allocated for procuring up to 60 Rafales off-the-shelf directly from Dassault Aviation, & also procuring up to 80 Tejas Mk1 LIFT aircraft that could have been dual-tasked for both flying training as well as precision tactical strike. Had this been done by 2007, matters would have been much better for the IAF. Even former French President Nicolas Sarkozy during his last visit to India had advised India against wasting money on upgrading the Mirage 2000s & instead had suggested that this money instead be used for procuring the Rafale. But, as usual, India’s MoD in its all-knowing wisdom inevitably & predictably made the wrong decisions.
Procurement contracts under the US FMS system are always inked between the MoD & US Defense Dept, & never by any other official from other ministries or Depts.

To BUDDHA: VMT.

To VIKRAM GUHA: Of course India & Russia do. That’s precisely why all IAF & IN aiercraft have indigenously developed IFF transports & voice/data secrecy encryption hardware on-board.

Anonymous said...

Prasun Da,
I would like to know that whether getting back POK+ Gilgit/Baltistan through a barter deal is possible or not.
What if we manage to occupy Sialkot-Gujranwala-Lahore axis in a war (and assuming that Pakistan wont be able to use nuclear weapon here even it wants to because this is a densely populated area with major Pakistani cities) and stay away from desert area. Can a barter deal is possible here or not? Please explain.

Tololing said...

VMT sir,so how many mig-29s we have left now that will be upgraded?Btw mig-29 upgrade deal was somewhat cheap at under 1 billion so don't u think that was right decision unlike overpriced mirage 2000 upgrade.

Also was mirages lost to crashes replaced for upgrade?

Super sukhoi-Will this use zhuk AESA or upgraded BARS series AESA.How much rcs reductions will be there over current MKI?

Subir said...

To Abhishek sir, Su-30mki will have MIRES aesa. It is a spin-off of PAK-FA/FGFA AESA radar. It utilises the backend compenents of Bras and Irbis and the the frontend aesa antenna of PAK-FA. There will be considerable RCS reductions. A new low RCS paintjob will be given. The frontal RCS will be reduced with RAM coatings in the air intakes .

Anonymous said...

Re: Abhishek:

Mig 29: if I have got my facts correct: 63 Mig 29 a/c were to be upgraded for $963 Million..........3 have crashed so far+ 1 lost on ground (fire ??).......so that leaves 59......3 have been upgraded so far and have returned to India + 3 more will return by year-end; the balance are to be upgraded in India.

Mirage 2000: a total of 51 were to be upgraded; 2 crashed last year....there was some talk of replacing with 2 ex-French AF a/c, but nothing happened. So, we are left with 49 Mirage a/c to be upgraded; 2 are in France at the moment being upgraded.

Subir said...

Sir, VMT for answers.

1.AD-1,2 are offsprings of BMD phase 2,isnt it ?

2.IRBM,ICBM costs more than a PDV or similar interceptor .It will be cost prohibitive for both India and China to engage in such a race but it will bleed PLA more.

3.Once PLA starts slvo launching their TBM,IRBM stocks against critical infrastucture and milityary assets we can launch Prthvi-3,Prahaar,Brahmos blck-3 , Nirbhay ALCM to decimate their launch pads,POL stocks,TELs. Both a dependable BMD field and a strong offense capabilty in terms of TBM,NLOS-BSM,IRBM and LACm are needed.They will supplement and complement each other.

4.Till AD-1,2 is available AAD can do its job.Its optimised for intercepting TBM.

5.What options IAF is having wrt to the poorly engineered Rohini radars?

6.Besides the over stress of the pilots the Mi-17v5 crashed due to poor or zero visibility. Not a SOS was transmitted from this nhelicopter before or after it crashed. It was probably CFT.

7. If these helicopters had chin mounted optronic turrets with 3rd gen flir,low light CCD camera there would have been good situational awarness and the pilots could have full view of the terrain in front.

8.What happened to all those plans of equipping a third of the v5 fleet with fklir turrets? Nly C-130J should be allowed to fly under bad waether conditions.

9.V5 also has a Telephonics weather radar. U posted in pics in AeroIndia thread. Among the standard weather modes,it also had a terrain avoidance mode,ground mapping mode for some kilometres to aid in nav. Didnt the crew use this input ?

10.When MiG-29 will get the new RD-33 ser3 engines wont the entire fuel pump assemblies be changed > Then will the fuel pump problems be mitigated ?

11.Doesnt IAF ground crew and ngineers take extra care in maintaing these RD-33 turbofans when they know it had this defect?Will Russians provide us with spare Mig-29 as attrion replacements?

12. Whats the logic besides deploying just 23 Mi-17 and 11 Dhruv by IAF when IAF has at its disposal lots of Mi-17 and Dhruv. The stranded are now beginning to lose all hope.

13.Why was helicopters from Barrackpur / Palta airforce station called to the rescue? Those pilots may not have been very familiar with flying over hill terrain .

MPatel said...

Mig-29/Mirage2000 have a very very good record in IAF. It was a matter of time before they started crashing through wear and tear. Also one other important factor, before Mig21 were used relentlessly (DACT/new tactics) now its the turn of the these two. So you will start to get lot more crashes...this is just the start! IAF loses around 12+ aircrafts a year. Flying to fight is a dangerous hobby.

rad said...


HI Prasun
I have a feeling that we were forced to upgrade the mirages to avoid pak from getting the mica missiles and radar .At that time we did not finalize the rafale , and ordering the rafale would have jeopardized the fly of between fighters.
DO you think italy will not sell any hardware to pak even if the tech has been sold to china?. I doubt so as the falcon uav deal seems to be going on and china will again benefit enormously from the avionics especially the pico SAR radar.It could be that China finances some of the weapon systems for pak in return for the handing over of the tech that it does not have. Like the oerlikon 35 mm guns etc.
I wont be surprised if russia blame us for the faulty fuel pump of the mig-29 and say that it was bad fuel .
Can you dwell on the awacs and fighter datalink? ie indian


Sujoy Majumdar said...

Hi PrasunDa ,

Earlier this month there was a report in TOI that the Indian Navy needs some unmanned sea planes :

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-16/india/40005979_1_indian-navy-unmanned-aircraft-vehicle

Any idea PrasunDa if

(a) any RFP will be issued to foreign or domestic vendors any time soon .

(b) does the IN intend to purchase other unmanned vehicles for anti submarine operations and mine clearance ?

Many thanks,
Sujoy

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To Anon@10.51AM: Recovering Gilgit-Baltistan by use of force today is almost impossible, since it is the lifeline between China & Pakistan & both countries have invested heavily in improving the land & rail transportation that passes through or will pass through this region & connect both countries. This can of course be negated ONLY BY a popular uprising among the local Shia residents of Gilgit-Baltistan against Pakistan, which could then be exploited by India by asking for once the international community to implement the UN resolutions on J & K, since the resolutions all very clearly mention that for the resolutions to be enacted, Pakistan will have to take the first step forward by unilaterally withdrawing from both Azad Kashmir & Gilgit-Baltistan (POK) & only after a 6-month period following such a withdrawal will a plebiscite be organised. Now, going by the prevailing mood within Gilgit-Baltistan, it appears highly likely that its original inhabitants are totally fed-up with decades of direct rule from Islamabad, which has only caused impoverishment & sectarian strife thanks to the proxy wars being fought between Iran & Saudi Arabia & their Pakistan-based non-state actors since the early 1980s. Significantly, in the latest incident, a group of professional proxies successfully trekked 20km all the way to the base camp of K-2/Nanga Parbat & killed Chinese & Russian mountaineers in cold-blood & successfully exfiltrated as well. In all Pakistani TV channels over the past 48 hours there has been intense speculation over the sheer audacity & meticulous planning that preceded this terrorist incident & all predictably all Pakistani fingers are now pointing towards the external intelligence agencies of Afghanistan & India as being the alleged joint perpetrators. The popular conspiracy theories are even alleging that the US is quietly supporting such incidents in order to discourage China from making economic investments within both Baluchistan and Gilgit-Baltistan & that such incidents will occur again in future since the US will have nine military bases manned by 15,000 US soldiers to itself post-2014 (this strategic cooperation agreement has already been inked between the two countries). Such a US presence can & will achieve 2 objectives: Firstly, it will run counter to the Afghan Taliban’s main demand of removing all foreign military forces from Afghanistan & thereby continue to deny the Taliban any kind of political foothold there; & secondly, the US will continue to extend covert support to the Uighur separatists who in turn will keep Xinjiang boiling along with like-minded Uzbek & Chechan mercenaries. This is the 21st century ‘Great Game’ now being played out in Central Asia & that’s why with each passing day Afghanistan’s voice is getting shriller in terms of not recognising the sanctity of the now-defunct Durand Line. The time is therefore ripe now for countries like India, the UK, France & the US to join hands in promoting the cause of ‘Balwaristan’ (comprising the areas of J & K & POK) & exposing the anti-Shia genocide now underway in Gilgit-Baltistan through various international fora (just like what the US & UK are now doing even at the UN regarding Baluchistan), which will conclusively drive home my earlier point about creating favourable conditions for India (with support from Afghanistan, the US, UK & Russia) for decisive humanitarian intervention backed by military means, with the aim of reunifying J & K/Balwaristan. This ought to be the main theatre of future military operations, & not the Sialkot-Gujranwala-Lahore axis or any other sector. Te nheed of the hour is to thing out-of-the-box, thing big, think creatively & be audacious.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To ABHISHEK DHAR: Had the M-MRCA competition gotten underway in 2004 & ended by 2006 as the IAF had desired, then there would have been absolutely no need for upgrading the MiG-29s & Mirage 2000s. Instead, the MoD needlessly dithered. To keep Russia happy, the MoD could easily have gone for the MiG-27UPG deep-upgrade-cum-re-engining programme, which would have drastically reduced the IAF’s logistics/product-support demands & at the same time would have ensured substantial sub-system-level commonality between the MiG-27UPG & Su-30MKI fleets. Furthermore, 60 Rafales could easily have been imported off-the-shelf, with the balance of the reqd 189 nos being licence-built. No crashed MiG-29s or Mirage 2000s will be replaced. ZHUK-AE was NEVER certified for use by any member of the Su-27/Su-30 family. Only the ‘Bars’, ‘Irbis-E’ & ‘MIRES’ can be used by Su-27/Su-30.

To SUBIR: 1) Not exactly, since the IAF wants to use AD-1/AD-2 interceptors with EL/M-2084 Arudhra MMRs & not any LRTRs. 2) IRBMs & MRBMs don’t require the gigantic early warning & command-and-control infrastructure that a layered BMD network has & therefore deploying higher nos of IRBMs & IRBMs costs much less than deploying BMD networks. 4) No one from India’s armed forces has expressed any formal or informal interest in the AAD because without precision X-band LRTRs none of the missile interceptors will work, be it PDV or AAD. 5) The Rohinis can always be re-engineered, particularly their environment control systems (ECS). 8) Those Mi-17V-5s are for CSAR but they were not deployed this time. 9) Those modes ONLY WORK when the helicopter is flying ABOVE the terrain, not when the helicopter is navigating between the valleys & foothills, as was the case. 10) With RD-33-3s one doesn’t require such fuel-pumps, since the turbofans have direct fuel-injection through FADEC. 11) No matter what, suc fuel-pumps will always face mechanical malfunctions. All IAF MiG-29s should have been grounded the moment the MiG-29UPG upgrade contract was inked. Why should Russia provide MiG-29 attrition replacements??? After all the crashed aircraft belonged to the IAF & was operating inside India & why should Russia be held responsible for the air-crash? 12) That’s because of air-traffic management (ATM) limitations & other command-and-control deficiencies. Clearly, the IAF has not learnt lessons from similar such disasters that took place in China & about which I had written about & analysed in great detail in the recent past. During such incidents, the FOREMOST task is to create a combined services tactical HQ headed by an IAF official for the sake of ensuring seamless ATM. Next, an air-mobile air-traffic control centre should be established & I had as far back as mid-2004 written about the dire need for such hardware. Yet till this day all such reqmts remain unfulfilled. In comparison, two months ago when an earthquake hit Sichuan province, one of the first PLAAF aircraft to be deployed was a KJ-200 AEW & CS platform for providing seamless ATM services 24/7 during the search-and-rescue effort. 13) Because that was the ONLY IAF helicopter unit that had fully converted to the Mi-17V-5.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To MPATEL: Last year only 5 fixed-wing aircraft of the IAF crashed.

To RAD: The PocoSAR radar has not been supplied for the PAF’s Falco UAVs. Faulty fuel-pumps of RD-33s are now the IAF’s responsibility, not Russia’s since usage & storage of such fuel-pumps is done by Indians on Indian soil & therefore product liability is entirely the IAF’s responsibility. Regarding data-links, it is called ODL or operational data-link that enables voice, imagery & data transmission to be shared in real-time between various airborne platforms in highly secure, encrypted modes. ODLs are also for receiving data in ground-stations from airborne EL/M-2060P SAR pods & airborne RecceLITE pods.

To SUJOY MAJUMDAR: As I had earlier stated sometime back, the best way forward regarding NRUAV is to co-develop an armed MALE-UAV variant of the HAL-designed LUH with the help of Israel Aerospace Industries/MALAT Division. Now is the best time to do it since the LUH is now under prototype development & therefore HAL’s helicopter designers are practically free to take up a new design assignment.

Mr. Ra 13 said...

What type of fuel pumps are in Mig-29. This so because perhaps many Mig-21 have fallen due to faulty design/maintenance of fuel pumps that included some pin hole. Is this correct, please clarify and elaborate.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To Mr.RA 13: The fuel-pumps are all of the mechanical/hydraulic-types, the same as those used by the MiG-21’s R-25-300 & MiG-27M’s R-29B-300 turbofans, since both these turbofans never had FADEC-controlled direct fuel-injection. Even the MiG-29’s RD-33Bs don’t have FADEC-controlled fuel injection. Only the AL-31FPs, RD-33-3s, RD-33MKs, F404s, F414s, M88s, F125s & M52-P2s have FADEC-controlled fuel injection, as do the Ardiden-1H/Shakti engines. On top of that, MiG-21s, MiG-27Ms & MiG-29s & their R-25-300s, R-29B-300s & RD-33Bs were never tropicalised, which in turn have led to severe problems with the airframes, on-board electro-mechanical instrumentation & accessories & engines. Western-origin aircraft, on the other hand, like the Jaguar & Mirage 2000, were completely tropicalised & have therefore suffered lesser number of crashes in both India & elsewhere. With the Jaguar DARIN-3 upgrade under which F125 turbofans & EL/M-2032 MMRs with weather-mapping & terrain avoidance modes of operation, the upgrade Jaguars will become as fail-safe as the Su-30MKIs, Mirage 2000UPGs, MiG-29UPGs & Rafale. The Rafale, however, will still beat out all other IAF-owned combat aircraft in terms of having the lowest direct operating costs as well as highest serviceability & reliability levels because the Rafale’s design philosophy calls for the aircraft to stay put in its home air-base for its entire technical service-life, with even heavy MRO & re-engining being accomplished at the squadron-level itself. Only for service-life extension will the Rafale have to visit an industrial final-assembly line. The Tejas family of MRCAs too have the same MRO philosophy & therefore in the years to come the Rafale & Tejas MRCA families will display the highest percentages of serviceability, reliability & availability within the IAF.

Subir said...

Sir, VMT.

1.Doesnt IAF intend to deploy AD-1,2 with EL/M-2258, the mobile land based variant of MFSTAR?

2.Is IA also interested in AD-1,2 ?

3.GSAT-7 's spectral imager can provide IR imagery of the missile from its lift off all the way to end mid-course.

4.Is the entire 157 unit from BKP AFS deployed in Uttarkhasi ?

5.Whats the logic behind non-tropicalising MiG-21,27 and MiG-29 ?

6.Under UPG program will all MiG-29 be tropicalised ?

7.Did IAF lost a MiG-29 to ground fire recently besides the 3 aircrashes ? These acs could be replaced with ex Ukrainina stocks.

8.Will darin 3 Jags be getting smart standoff PGM like Spice 250,1000,2000,AASM,Sudarshan and standoff alcm like Taurus KEPD 350 and Nirbhay ?

9.Why hasnt MoD asked IN to deploy its Ka-31 AEW aircraft in Uttarkhand for Operation Rahat.

Tololing said...

Will the follow on order for 3 talwar class be signed?
Wouldn't it be better to get 3 admiral gorshkov class instead which are far better platforms?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SUBIR: 1) No. EL/M-2258 will be Barak-8-specific. There are two more variants of EL/M-2084 MMR in addition to the Arudhra. 2) No. IA only caters for tactical air-defence, not strategic air-defence. 4) Yes. 5) In those days India could not demand such customisation from the USSR. Soviet Union’s policy then was take it as it is, or leave it. 6) Yes. 7) There are no spare stocks of used-MiG-29s anywhere. 8) Only Sudarshan LGB kits & conventionally armed Nirbhay. 9) Why deploy Ka-31s with limited endurance? Instead, the A50I PHALCON or EMB-145I could have been deployed.

To ABHISHEK DHAR: Yes, but not this year. Acquiring a new class of warships will only increase the procurement bill & cause fleet-support complications. The very idea behind procuring the third batch of Project 1135.6 FFGs is to ensure fleet commonality.

Subir said...

To anon at June 27, 2013 at 11:37 AM.


Sir This news is totally fake . It is of the same category as Israel exporting arms and other defense tech to Pakistan. Presntly Sukhoi corp is having a case of IPR violation against Shenyang. They have also revoked all product support of existing Su-27SK,Su-30MKK and MK2. The PLAAF fleet is readily reaching the end of their TTSL and PLAAF can do nothiong but jyst watch.

Anonymous said...

To Mr Subir

Sir China is DEFINITELY Buying the
SU 35

The Question FOR INDIA remains How Many ?

24 was not a threat

48 Still Manageable

But 100 is a threat Because they will deploy 50 Against India

Russia's Only concern was the Copycat Chinese Reverse Engineering their goodies

So Not only The Russians have imposed severe conditions this time to protect their IPR but also EXTRACTED extra money as compensation for the Chinese SINS
of the Past

Subir said...

Sir, VMT sir.

1.M from BKP sir. For quite a few days i couldnt find any Mi-17 flying over Bkp sir. Thats why i asked. Just sometime ago they took to the skies every evening.

2.Confused with Barak-8 and LR-SAM. Which is hving 120 km range ?Sometimes MoD refers to 120 km ranges Barak as barak-8,sometimes LR-SAM.

3.In ur Arudhra thread u said IAF had purchased 3 variants of EL/M-2084.??

4.So there will be fleet commonality with the longer ranging EL/M-2084.

5.Why not opt for Spice-250,1000,2000 kits? They are much much better and AASM .

6.Sir will the Sudarshan kit have swept glide wings for 50km range when launched from alt or just the laser gimballed seeker and the tail assembly.

7.All IAF Mi-17v5 are hardwired for FLR turrets. Just like IAF did in 1999 Kargil war when it contacted the IAI and customised a Mirage 2000 and integrated Litening-2 with it for LGB delivery, in the same manner why cant IAF procure Compass flirs and Elbit JedEye HMD.

8.The remaining Mi-17v1 whose cockpit was upgraded by honeywell they can be equipped with gen 3 = QuadEye. then both Mi-17v5 and Mi-17v1 can fly night and day. Mi-17v5 i guess is already flying day and night. isnt it having Halbit Colour Anvis NVG.


9. Phalcon could have been deployed. But EMB-145I is still undergoing developemnt.

10.Was any MiG-29 destroyed by ground fire? IAF can purchase Russian in service MiG-29.RuAf doesnt have the n=money to keep all of them in active service.

11.is there any news on NVG and rifle mounted nvg for IA . Last heard Tata SED was there in the race as was BEL

MPatel said...

the fighters especially the su35/30 can be located anywhere in china. They will move to where there is need for them. They have a huge internal fuel so can travel a fair distance.

As per Sukhoi, they are a 1/2 a gen ahead of SU30mki's. MKI need to be upgraded and this needs to start now.

Otherwise, in a conflict situation 4 sqdrns of su35s providing CAP in their own airspace over the TP will negate IAF su30s. What else does IAF have that can harm the PLA?

MPatel said...

When you get Balwaristan, what will stop for example Khalistan, Tamil Nadu, marathistan becoming independent? Because if you have studied history you should know this is what happens. Then you will end up in a same situation as south asia was before the mughals, 20+ states. Just look at the electrol map of India now. It is completely driven by caste/ethnicity. Even in our great cities it is the same and if the population continues increasing this problem will multiply.

Sangos said...

The world's nuclear forces are being polarized between US/NATO and Russia/China over Syria/Iran. The west wants regime changes to keep the Dollar as the exchange world currency to maintain status quo of its military industry bank complex hegemony. IMO if nuke WW3 breaks out India will be unable to defend itself!

Anonymous said...

Indian rupee fell 10% in the last 7 weeks against the dollar...any chances of Rafael are gone!!! The good newz is that the IAF have just started focusing more on the LCA. They will be fly these instead of Rafael. Also Mr Holland is not as keen as Mr Sarkozy to please india. Mr Holland would rather please china. China is on his mind!

Anonymous said...

To MPatel,
Indians have inbuilt survival technique (thanks to the 'third world' we are born to). So any mainland states with jingoistic state leader can go as far as the state election. that is because each and every country men knows only too well what it will look like to have small nations in Indian land mass since we have already tasted it earlier. So long as India as a whole does reasonably (or atleast as it does today, how ever bad it may be) there will be no takers for an independent nationhood. No caste or ethnicity in India can out match the survival instinct of Indians. Though there could be sectarian clashes especially due to massive migration (due to the apathy of a few highly populous states in India towards their own people) it is unlikely that we see a Pakistanization of mainland India save for the border states. The more someone plays divisive in India the more the nation stays united, as Prasun da's own statement...'welcome to Incredible India'.

Sayan said...

Sir, AK Antony sets December deadline for final delivery of LCA Tejas

The IOC-2 has been again postponed to November from September. Altough theres nothing as IOC but what the technocrats had planned on achieving by September had been postponed.
In the very first plc the indigenous radome of Tejas was found to be deficient on many parameters. Then why again are the ADA technocrats proclaim, " Officials said the process of getting the radome, which houses the Israeli radar, from an indigenous source can itself take at least a year’s time. "
Again they are going to make the same mistake of gathering tyhe raome from an indigenous source ?

RM has asked HAL to ramp up production to 16 units. With the huge capitals HAL is sitting on it can swifly come up with adequate infrastucture dont you reckon? Previously HAL was stuggling to even cope up with LSIP ac production.

In Uttarkhand are the helicopters also undertaking sorties during night time ?

RMAF 29 are nly 18 years old. Even then they are not upgrading their acs and extending the service life. Why ?
As long as spare parts are avialble for an ac can it be kept in service as in the cas of B-52?

What NVG does AN-32RE,mi-17v1 and v5 uses ?


Tololing said...

Sir i was on discussion on a forum,and some members argued that the klub sizzler with with subsonic sea skimming approach and supersonic sprint is more dangerous than brahmos,because brahmos despite its speed can be detected early while klub with sea skimming approach can't be until its too close and that in final approach both have same velocity.They said only advantage of brahmos is slightly more range.

2]Sir can i ask why OUR SHIVALIK class can't have 16 klub/brahmos at 6200 tonnes whne russian admiral gorshkov has that number for 4500 tonnes?Its same missile,so why this difference?What was IN thinking?

3]Also is IN showing obsolete mentality persisting with Rocket grenade launchers like rbu-6000/RPK-8 with meagre range of 5-8 km for ASW.When modern submarine torpedos have range of 50 km and aship missiles,they will never get this close to a sub.Seems total waste.
USN uses ASROC system wth 60 km range,Russia uses RPK-9 medvedka and specialized anti submarine missiles like ssn-15 stallion.Why IN using these obsolete WW2 hedgehog type systems?

4]IN kamorta class at 2200 class doesn't have any surface armament when all enemy even smaller ships even azmat class 500 ton boat has such missiles,one argument given is that its ASW platform doesn't need ASCM.But then what is all that extra tonnage for?They could have used Anti submarine version of the KLUB missile instead of anti ship version of the missile for this specialized ASW ship.But again they rely on RBU grenade launcher.It seems to me In ships are undergunned for their tonnage.

4] Should IN consider PAKET NG anti torpedo torpedo package for dedicated ASW platforms which is adverstised as increasing ships survivability against enemy subs by factor of 3.

5]How many of our modernized kilo can use the KLUB-S system sir?

VMT.

Akhil Suri said...

Hi Prasun ,

Is it fair to say that Russia and Israel are allies of India .

Thanks

Tololing said...

Also do we have shkval supercavitating torpedo in service?

Littlemaster said...

Sir, I agrre with Abhishek. Why cant Shivalik have 16 Brahmos or Sizzler. Russians are ofeering a choice of either Oniks or Klub. Why is Shivalik and the latest batch 3 Talwar stick to the same decade old 32 km range Shtil-1 when 9M85E , E2 are avialable.
Gorshkov class will be havinga total of 112 S-4000/Redut sam in clusters of four spread out over 28 VLS shells. They have a range between 75 and 125 km for the older and latest variant.The 1st ship of Gorshkov class was laid down in the same time as batch 2 of talwar class frigate. But notice the vast difference in their armaments.
instead of batch 3 IN can ordr these new 4500 ton frigates.

For once compare the armamanet of 6500t destroyer with a 4500 ton frigate. 9M86 E2 is a very capable anti tbm,ashm missile. Inspite of cayying 112 such missiles,Gorshov class is still having two Palsh CIWS.Whereas Kolkkata class just carries 48 Barak-2 with no CIWS. Nt good indeed.

Unknown said...

@ Abhishek Dar

Admiral Gorshkov Class Frigate does not have 16X ASCM... they have 8 only, wikipedia is not a definite source... this info i got is from nava technology. Please verify.

Also the RBU is NOT WW2 weapons system, it is using the same principle. Saying U or I dont know any Naval warfare Tactics do we??... Who to say that eh RBU is only used against Subs? ... it can also be used against incoming torpedoes yes??

@LittleMaster

Please verify the weapon system for the Gorshkov Class frigate ...

For All new Class of Indian Naval ships,All CIWS on these ships seem to include Barak1/2 VLS missile system + AK-630m ... The same is true for the Kolkata Class
http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/kolkata-class-guided-missile-destroyers/

BUT since the Kolkata class hasn't been commissioned yet and there is no definite source (other than websites) of sensors and weapons system ... we can only speculate! Agree?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SUBIR: 2) Barak-2 is 70km-range LR-SAM for IN, while the IAF refers to it as MR-SAM. LR-SAM for IAF will be the 110km-range version of Barak-2, which is known as Barak-8. 6) Only a rocket booster, no glide-wings reqd, just as AASM too does not have glide-wings. 7) Because the IAF wants to allocate financial resources for other priorities. 8) Flying night & day is not achieved by just equipping helicopters with FLIR sensors or NVGs. Without availability of air-traffic management, no night-flying is possible & that’s why Mi-17V-5s could not fly at nighttime in Uttarakhand since there was no IFR-compatible ATC/ATM support. 9) All the more reason to deploy the EMB-145I to find out exactly how it works. 10) No. Russian MiG-29s are all grounded due to airframe corrosion.

To MPATEL: Please do some credible homework before making such discredited rants. A two-man cockpit crew complement can always achieve much more than a single-man aircrew through interleaved operations, something which you don’t seem to understand. If the Su-35 was that good as a multi-role platform, the Ruskies would never have developed the Su-34. And where exactly within TAR is there any available infrastructure for hosting four MRCA squadrons? Right now, not even a single complete PLAAF squadron is based anywhere within that section of TAR facing India & all deployments of Su-27s, Su-30s & J-10s are only periodic & don’t last for more than 3 weeks at any time at best.
And please don’t compare apples with oranges. Gilgit-Baltistan’s indigenous residents have been stateless since 1949 & are therefore not even treated as citizens of any state. Electoral map of India is based on demographic realities created through the creation of states on a linguistic basis, & not on caste or religious lines.

To SANGOS: Why should India or China or France or the UK get involved in any nuclear war involving the US & Russia? India too is diplomatically on the same page with China, Russia, Iraq & Iran regarding Syria.

To Anon@10.45PM: VMT. As a reward for your explanations, do view this splendid video on the Rafale at: http://vimeo.com/68696584

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SAYAN: What IOC & FOC? Since when has the DRDO been dictating to the IAF what IOC, FOC & service induction ought to stand for? IOC & FOC are terms used ONLY BY THE IAF. The key operative word here is ‘operational’, meaning until a fully developed MRCA becomes the full-fledged property of the IAF, it cannot be declared as being IOC-capable or FOC-capable. No product can ever become ‘operational’ unless & until it becomes the property of its operator. And since not even a single Tejas Mk1 has been handed over to the IAF for permanent keeps, how on earth can the process of IOC even begin?
Flying night & day is not achieved by just equipping helicopters with FLIR sensors or NVGs. Without availability of air-traffic management (i.e. activation of demarcated air corridors & their constant monitoring by radar), no night-flying is possible & that’s why Mi-17V-5s could not fly at nighttime in Uttarakhand since there was no IFR-compatible ATC/ATM support.
RMAF does not get to decide what it wants to fly or not. It is the Govt of Malaysia which decides what the RMAF ought to have & consequently the political decision has been to junk the MiG-29s in favour of the Gripen NG.
An-32Res don’t use any NVGs. Mi-17V-5s use Elbit Systems-made Anvis NVGs.

To ABHISHEK DHAR: I don’t know what Sizzler & Sprint are, since I’, not a Tom Clancy buff & therefore don’t make use of such designations. The supersonic 3M54E too can be detected early during its mid-flight phase since it is at that time not sea-skimming. But warning time is very less for those warships that don’t have AEW support. 2) 16 ASCMs are carried by only those warships whose ASCMs are subsonic & need to be launched in salvoes of two at a time, like the C-802A. In all other warships equipped with non-Chinese ASCMs, only eight rounds are carried. 3) I had already explained way before that RBU ASW mortars are not meant to destroy submarines, but for disrupting the target lock-on mechanisms (like active terminal seeker or wire-guidance). 4) Project 28 ASW corvette is not meant to be patrolling the deep seas. Instead, it will be used only for harbor patrols within territorial waters for the most part. However, it will have extended endurance & will be able to stay on station due to its large fuel reserves as well as weapons reloads. 4) The Sea Hake heavyweight torpedo is more than good enough for the IN’s SSKs & warships, since Varunastra continues to be a dud. 5) All upgraded Type 877EKM SSKs can fire both 3M54E ASCM & 3M-14E LACM. IN does not have supercavitating torpedoes.

To AKHIL SURI: Yes.

To LITTLEMASTER: Barak-2 is the anti-ASCM CIWS as well as LR-SAM for the IN. It is a dual-tasked weapon-system as I had explained last year itself. If you want to compare warships in terms of modernity & design vintage, it would be better to compare the Gorshkov-class vessel with the Project 17A FFG.

To UNKNOWN: There’s no need to speculate at all about the P-15A DDG’s armaments fit, since its definitive scale-models were showcased by MDL during both DEFEXPO 2012 & Aero India 2013.

Littlemaster said...

Sir, Wasnt the lrsam for IAF was to have 120 km range as earlier written about and oublicised.

Kolkata class DDG have 16 Brahmos ASCM.

Barak-8 is both a ciws and a mrsam but so is S-400/Redut 9M86E with 75 km range and 9M86E2 with 125 km range.This PM86E missiles are evn better than Barak.

Shivalik class has the same shitty 32 km range Shtil1 9M83 sam.It carries just 24 of them. Gorshkov class carries 112 sams besides ciws.
Shivalik class could have had palash CIWS instead of the 50 yr old AK630M.

How better the sam may be ciws will be always required. It nt nly fuctions as a last effort anti air weapon but can also be employed as a surface to surface weapon. The Americans thought in a similar way during Vietnam war. They thought with advent of Sidewinder and Sparrow guns wont be required and aerial digfights had become a thing of the past.

Isnt Barak-2 will be having dual terminal guidance both rf and infrared.
And those reports are all fake. Sukhoi JSC isnt selling a single Su-35 to PLA and PLAN.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

Interesting naval RFIs & RFPs:

http://tenders.gov.in/viewtenddoc.asp?tid=del579018&wno=1&td=TD

http://tenders.gov.in/viewtenddoc.asp?tid=and576177&wno=1&td=TD

http://tenders.gov.in/viewtenddoc.asp?tid=del583251&wno=1&td=TD

http://tenders.gov.in/viewtenddoc.asp?tid=del582318&wno=1&td=TD

Vikram Guha said...

Prasun Da,

Rafale video was awesome . And staying with Rafale from this recent video uploaded from France it shows that the Rafale defeated the F 22 in a dogfight during air combat exercise over Dubai in 2009 .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=B4rNPouCggk

Sangos said...

I meant India will get drawn into a possible escalated nuclear conflict over the middle east. China will support Russia against NATO.

If NATO attacks Syria/Iran - includes France, UK automatically. Putin said it will result in a thermonuclear war. Worryingly Israel can light the fuse sooner.

MPatel said...

Prasun,

I said Su35 providing CAP! I even mentioned in their own space. They will be there to check-mate SU30 on strike missions. 2 crew means 2 die. PLAAF have far more AEW support than IAF.

SU35 are for air dominance not strike! why are you comparing apples with Oranges? Or do we have to keep mentioning the superority of 2-man crew over 1.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To VIKRAM GUHA: Yip, the Rafale did take on the F/A-22 Raptor & prevailed, meaning at the hands of an accomplished & skills-proficient pilot, the Rafale can indeed produce surprises.

To SANGOS: Even at the height of the Cold War in the early 1950s when the USAF & Soviet Air Force clashed directly over the MiG alley in northern Korea, the two superpowers did not escalate matters toward nuclear Armageddon. Therefore, neither the US nor Russia will needlessly escalate matters over Syria or Iran to a level that necessitates the usage of WMDs. Syria ain’t worth the risk & neither is Iran & NATO will therefore not directly intervene in either of these two countries. At best, therefore, Syria can only be balkanised to ensure the interests of that country’s Sunni & Shia factions, since the US too has learnt the hard way about such a reality from its Iraqi experience in the previous decade.

To MPATEL: And what makes you think it will be the Su-30MKIs that will undertake strike missions inside TAR? Haven’t you heard of the term ‘air dominance fighter’ being used by the IAF to describe the Su-30MKI? And how many of the PLAAF’s AEW & CS platforms have ever deployed to TAR over the past 3 years? Two-man aircrew complement translates into increased survivability when the Su-30MKI is pitted against the Su-35. Ask the IAF & the air forces of Vietnam, Venezuela & Indonesia for more proof on this subject matter.

Anonymous said...

Sir, Isnt the news of China procuring 100 Su-35BM fake, just like Israel exporting weapons to Pakistan ? Pls tell what deals have been signed regarding this ?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

Its all fake. No truth in them.

Sathyameva said...

Someone recently said if we could please start using some name instead of the Anonymous handle. Having to constantly look up which Anonymous is like saying "girl in the yellow underwear!" You gotta constantly look upskirt to check which girl has 'em on!

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

Interesting news-report on how the so-called champions of Hindutva have totally screwed up Uttarakhand:

http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/402474/uttarakhand-did-green-norm-violations-lead-to-massive-destruction.html

And here's why the Rafale M-MRCA deal is now unlikely to be inked this year:

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/india-has-to-repay-172-billion-debt-by-march-2014/article4860979.ece?homepage=true

Subir said...

Sir, VMT for the answers.

1.Wont Barak-2 MRSAM for IAF have 120 km range as said in hardened aircover with mrsam ?

2.Why cant Sudarsan have glide wings? Swept wings will increase the standoff range wont it ?? Otherwsie it is going to have similar range deficiencies as AASM.

3.Whats the probs with Jag IS Darin3 having Spice 1000,2000 kits ?

4.Any particular reason of Mig-21 bison crash ?

5.What is the status of production contract signing of aesa radar for su30 deep upgrade?

6.How is the sea trials of the very first kamorta class asw going ?Wont it also get inducted in August besides INS Kolkata ?

7.VMT for the Rafale video link. Btw the Rfale was stuggling very much to stay in F-22's trail.

8.If the Rafale deal isnt signed this year itself then IAF's operational capabilties and numerical strentgh will be in grave danger. MiG-27M of Hasimara and Kalaikunda are scheduled to be phased out this July. There isnt yet much hope of mk1 enetring service before 2016. Mk2 is still some years away. God knows what probs it will be afcing once the first prototype rolls out. Then there are attritional losses.

9.IAF had planned to procure 2 MirageTH for pilot conversion. What happened to them?

10.Why doesnt any IN warships have ASW missiles with 60 km range like their Russian and USN counterparts .

11.If the deal is signed next year it will take another 3 years for 1st delivery unless some miracle takes place. Why not acquire more Su-30mki with the latest avionics ,powerplants,mission sensors. HAL already has the infrastucture to produce them.it just needs to ramp up its production rate.

12.Unless and until things improve do you reckon MiG-27M will be phased out frm next month ?

Sangos said...

I do pray and hope you are right. I am more inclined to believe Putin was not kidding about thermonuclear war breaking out. My real worry is America's ulterior desperate motive to prop up the petrodollar and change regimes in Iran/Syria, who are using Chinese gold standard to challenge the almighty dollar. During the cold war US had a real enemy to fight - communism. Today its the reality of losing to China and desperation from insatiable greed. All not very good headlines for propaganda so US uses catch phrases like "War on Terror" "Fight for Democracy" to justify wars. Obviously US owns the world media so thought it can get away with all the BS. Except when alternative media screws up the game and so billions of dollars in big brother surveillance. Bottom line Obama might hit the nuke button first.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/obama-prepares-to-wage-offensive-first-strike-strategic-nuclear-warfare-against-russia-china-iran-north-korea-and-syria/5340299?print=1

Vikram Guha said...

Prasun Da,

Thanks for the link on the external debt crisis facing India .

I fail to understand why India does not sign a currency swap deal with countries like China , Russia and Brazil among others . This is what China is doing as well. It has signed currency swap deals with Australia , Brazil and Russia .

Too much dependence on the US dollar is causing tremendous problem for India .

Regards,
Vikram

rad said...

hi Prasun
Is it t a good idea to get the malaysian mig-29s?

Tololing said...

Sir why is there such a chronic lack of standardization of equipment throughout our armed forces?
Is anything being done to rectify this?

Will arty tenders EVER be signed?Who are left after blacklisting?

Defense and Aerospace said...

Prasun ,

Russian media is reporting that the Russian AF will receive the T 50 by the end of this year .

Some other notable comments made were :

(a) Indian version to be ready in 2018

(b) The T-50’s effective reflective area will amount to 0.5 square metres

(c) two long-range missiles could be suspended externally, to allow the fighter to engage targets located as far as 400 km away

(d) initial results suggest the Russian fighter turned out to be on a par with and even better in certain areas than its main American rival, the F-22 Raptor.

Will you please inform your readers why the Indian version will be ready only by 2018 ? Does India want it's version of T 50 to be more stealthy than the Russian version ?

Tejas said...

Sir, ALL RCS figures of PAK-FA are speculatory but is is sure to have TCS in the class of 0.0_ . Even rafale has sub 1 to 1 metre RCS.

Why cant India do the defense trade in a currency other than $?
Regarding the new radome from where it is being sourced ?Is it at all feasible to flight certify this radoem and operationalise the basic air to air and air to ground modes by November of this year ?

Regarding 16 ac delivery rate can this target be met in 2015?
Spice 250 is the best choice for Tejas mk1.When mk1 cant carry heavier weapons spice 250,aasm, spear aee good for it.Spice 250 will quadruple the payload capacity in one go.

Do Indian private sector comapnies and DRDO labs have enough R&D base to develope a mature anti torpedo countermeasure suite when NPOL is stuggling with HUMSA and indigenous heavy weight torpedo is a dud.
There were earlier plans of aquiring two more MiRage 200TH for pilot cionversion.Any updates on this ?

VMT in advance.

F said...

Prasun,

In your opinion is the Zubr intended to be used against Taiwan or the Spratleys?

What do we know abour PLANs Xia class SSBN? Does it conduct deterrent patrols like SSBNs of Russia, the U.S., the U.K and France?

Are you aware that Japan recently said that it wanted to be part of the FPDA?

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a-strategic-alliance-for-japan-and-india-by-shinzo-abe

What was the real purpose of the deployment a few month's ago of PLAs 4 ships just 80km off the Malaysian coast?



Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SUBIR: 1) No. 110km-range. 2) 50km range for any rocket-powered LGB is the maximum since no LDP can illuminate the target beyond that. 3) PGMs with man-in-the-loop guidance systems require a separate pod housing the flight guidance system & the Jaguar does not have the available underbelly or underwing pylon space required for such a pod. 4) R-25-300 turbofan failure. 5) Nothing’s moving. 6) What sea-trials? The RENK gearboxes are only now being installed. 7) A TVC-equipped MRCA will always have an edge over a MRCA not having TVC. 8) MiG-27Ms will stay in service till 2019. 9) There are no such plans. 10) What’s the use? Any ASCM capable of going up to 290km can also engage targets at 60km. 11) It’s not that easy to ramp up production rates of combat aircraft.

To SANGOS: There’s no dearth of conspiracy theories. Do you foresee anyone who has already won the Nobel Peace Prize unleashing decapitating nuclear first-strikes???

To VIKRAM GUHA: Currency swap deals are already in place among the BRICS member-states. But that’s not the problem. The problem is India’s economy itself Z& the failure to carry out the kind of structural reforms that should have been adopted in the early 1980s itself.

To RAD: Nope. The need of the hour is fleet standardisation by cutting down the number of aircraft-types. A huge mistake was therefore made by not re-engining the MiG-27Ms with AL-31F turbofans & by deciding to upgrade the MiG-29s & Mirage 2000s when the obvious choice would have been to straightaway import 60 Rafales.

To ABHISHEK DHAR: That’s because there has never been long-term integrated perspective planning not only between the three armed services, but also within each armed service. Thus one now has a situation, for instance, in which both the IA’s AAC & IAF have their own base repair workshops for the Dhruv ALH, instead of having only one such workshop. There are several cases of this type where needless duplication of effort can be avoided.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To DEFENSE & AEROSPACE: Given the prolific external rivetting visible all along the T-50 PAK-FA’s airframe, I very much doubt the RCS figures being reported for this MRCA, especially when compared to that of the F/A-22 Raptor. VLRAAMs will be of very limited utility against any airborne target unless they’re hypersonic, but then again, much cheaper expendable active decoys will easily be able to neutralise such threats. The IAF-specific FGFA will have a totally different type of cockpit/mission avionics suite & integrated EW suite & therefore systems integration effort within India will take a longer period to reach fruition. Therefore, what will come fully developed from Russia will only be the FGFA’s prototype airframes & their fully validated digital flight control system.

To TEJAS: The radome has to come from the very same OEM that has supplied the EL/M-2032 MMR. Because only the MMR’s OEM is aware of the design peculiarities/performance parameters a radome that’s been optimised for the MMR. Flight validation of the new radome won’t be completed until mid-2014 at best since it will involve a single prototype flying over different types of terrain & climatic conditions. There are no shortcuts to this approach. At best, 12 Tejas Mk1 SP-series will be ready by mid-2015. All PGMs requiring man-in-the-loop flight guidance will require a two-man aircrew complement for optimum results, especially when operating inside hostile airspace. Only when operating within friendly airspace can such PGMs be guided by a single-seat MRCA. For the Tejas Mk1, lightweight LGBs will be the best PGM option since, without aerial refuelling, the Tejas Mk1 can at best be employed for only close air-support. The DRDO-developed Maareech expendable ‘soft-kill’ torpedo countermeasures system is already in series-production by Mahindra Defence. What is required next are: torpedo detection systems that are towed by a warship, & ‘hard-kill’ anti-torpedo torpedoes. These two weapons are best mounted on autonomous unmanned surface vessels & the IN is still studying such concepts.

To FARIS: ZUBRs will be used in conjunction with the Type 022 Hobei-class ASCM-armed catamarans in rapid-action amphibious expeditionary strikes against islets, shoals & reefs presently occupied by the likes of Vietnam & The Philippines in both the Spratlys & Paracels. None of the Type 092 or Type 094 SSBNs of PLAN have ever stepped out of China’s territorial waters. The PLAN’s concept of SSBN operations is totally different from those of the US, UK or France & is closer to that of Russia, i.e. launching SLBMs from highly protected sites like either from under the polar icecaps (in case of Russia) or from man-made hardened undersea caverns constructed within islands like the ones in the Bohai Bay & Hainan Island. PLAN naval task force deployment off East Malaysia’s coastline was a demonstrable show of force, since it deliberately entered Malaysia’s EEZ unannounced, which in itself is a blatant show of hostile intent. Presently, China’s top five current military threats come from the East China Sea, where China is engaged in a dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu or Senkaku islands; the South China Sea, whose waters and islands are disputed by several countries; and recently newly emerging financial, cyberspace and “outer space” threats. Do read this:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/china-ready-to-break-new-ground-on-border-settlement/article4859696.ece?homepage=true

Defense and Aerospace said...

Prasun, appreciate your insight.

Will you plz explain how the mission avionics suite & integrated EW suite of the Indian PAKFA will be different from the Russian one & what necessitated this change .

F said...

But why do a show of force against Malaysia, when Malaysia - unlike Vietnam and the Philippines - has not done anything to ''annoy'' China? I don't get it.

Please read this - http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/why-malaysia-isnt-afraid-of-china-for-now/

If China's deterrent concept calls for SSBNs to not venture out of China's territorial waters, then why bother with SSBNs at all? Wouldn't rail mounted ICBMs - cheaper than SSBNs - hidden in tunnels and cave complex's do the job?

In 2002, is it true that the T-84 was the main contender [the Armor Directorate's favourite] and that the PT-91M was a last minute thing?







Subir said...

Sir, VMT for the answers.

1.Spice 1000,2000 and 250 are fire and forget standoff PGMs. They dont have onbaord propulsion and just glides to its target.They doesnt actually fit the term man in loop.Man in lopp would be turbofan powered or turojet powered agm.

2.In the official video of Spice 1000/2000 there wasnt any extra pod being carried by the F-16 besides the Spice and Reccelite.

3.In a previous yera thread u said MiG-27M would be decommisioned by 2014 and MiG-27UPG by 2019. ?? Mig-27 squadrons based at Hasimara and kalaikunda were to convert to this year itself.

4.What needs to be done to increse the range to 120 km. During the start of the project it was decided that LRSAM will be having 120 km range.

5.On which Litening pod is Reccelite based ?

6.Is there any Litening3 in service ?

7.Spice 250 are excellant weapons for close air support. and ideal for mk1 Tejas.

8.Maybe the current PAK-FA are prototype vehicles and so they may be exteranl large scale rivetting.

9.PAK-FA 4th prototype is having a better finish and build qualtiy than the previoius ones.

10.Why isnt there the rearward facing IRST in 4th prototype?

11.Whats the reasons behind the stagnation of almost all major deals? As currency swaping is there in BRICS there wont be any financial probs wrt to production contract signing.

12.Dont you think the Sukhoi upgarde program wont start even in 2014 without the main element Mires aesa.

13.Were any civil nuclear deals signed during Kerry's visit ?

14.If Communists come to power after Mamata's term, do you think construction of Rosatom 10000 MW nuclear plant will start in Haripur,Midnapore ?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To DEFENSE & AEROSPACE: Barring the twin IRST sensors, MIRES AESA-MMR & expendable active-RF decoys, all other avionics LRUs on the FGFA will be of either India-origin or non-Russia origin. The OBOGS & jet-fuel starter too will be of India-origin. All this was decided in 2005 itself & is nothing new.

To FARIS: All those ASEAN member-states that have unilaterally occupied islets, shoals or reefs within the South China Sea’s Spratlys & Paracels are seen by China as being ‘expansionist’. China’s concept of territorial claim is defined as being any piece of island or mainland that contains China-origin artifacts. Tunnels & caves on any hinterland is still vulnerable to hostile targetting, provided persistent ISTAR assets are in place. This cannot be done for submerged vessels since no one will know for sure exactly how many SSBNs are located at any given time at any of the PLAN’s three SSBN bases. In 2002 too, the PT-91M was the principal contender for the Malaysian Army. The T-84 faired very badly against the T-90S during the mobility trials conducted in the year 2000 inside Malaysia, especially over riverine & marshy terrain.

To SUBIR: 1) The Spice 250 video very clearly states that man-in-the-loop guidance is there for the PGM, meaning it is not an autonomous or fire-and-forget PGM. No PGM that is guided using optronic sensors & uses visual means of target acquisition & terminal guidance can be of the fire-and-forget type. 2) All PGMs using man-in-the-loop flight-guidance systems use target acquisition/fire-control pods. The Popeye, Kh-31P, AGM-88A, ALARM, Kh-58ME, etc all have such pods. 3) Decision to decommission MiG-27Ms in 2019 was taken last March. 5) Litening-2. 7) Spice 250-type PGMs are very expensive & are therefore never used for CAS. 11) Because no structural economic reforms have been undertaken since 2007. 13) No US Secretary of State ever signs such deals. The US Energy Secretary does so. 14) Nope.

Subir said...

Sir, VMT for the answers.

1.Does acs carrying Spice 1000,2000 have to carry any other pods? No such pods was there in the marketing video besides Litening or Reccelite.

2.Jaguar IS DARIN 3 can carry such a pod .It will just result in a slight weapons paylaod reduction.

3.Jaguars hve an extremely high combat radius range.It will be an ideal platform for Spice 250 ,1000 for deep stikes and for hunting on moble targets.

4..Dont you think the Sukhoi upgarde program wont start even in 2014 without the main element Mires aesa.

5.Whats the max laser designating range of Litening 2 ?

6.Has HAL and Dassault solved their differences regarding accountability of the acs produced by HAL? Just like other deals is it also in deep hibernation ?

7.What actually does MoD and HAL intend to do regarding 108 Rafales ? Produce them from the ground up , fabricate the various subcompnents using raw material stage and then fibnal assemble them; OR license assembly the acs from sub parts hipped from dassault facilties in France?

8.is the Rafale's direct opearting costs,per hour flight costs,maintai so low that they were used for convoy protection,deterrence in Mali when Mirage 2000 was there.

9.Whats the use having so many acs and not much PGM with good range ??

10.PLAAF is indeed miles ahead of IAF in this standoff PGM bombing techniques dont you think ? During the Zuhai airshow lots and lots of various AGM witha variety of seeker options,various classes of bombs with glide wings, smart kits were displayed.

11.Has PLAAF totally done away with their iron bombs and the drop bomb on target by coming very close to the target and releasing only 5-10 km away from the target?

12.DRDO was developinga hardkill torpedo decoy system based on Mareech. What happened to it ? Is the project still on.

13.What will be the max all out range of Sudarshan LGB ?

14.Why isnt ADE developing a iir or mmw seeker versions of Sudarshan coupled with inertial nav and IRNSS? Why nly stick to LGB ?

Sangos said...

Am mo fan of conspiracy theories, but with all these audible ultimatums flying around and nuke posturing I am shaking in the knees. No big fan of the Nobel Peace prize either. I mean we are talking about the leader of a nation that has killed 120,000,000 non combatants globally since WW2 and can still pretend to be 'benevolent'.

Defense and Aerospace said...

Prasun ,

The UK has decided to impose a cash bond of 3000 pounds on people from India who apply for a UK Visa and the US has raised the visa fee to $10k for Indian IT companies who bring in employees from India .

Do you think this will dampen India's relations with UK & US and that some of the defense contracts that UK & US won in India will be cancelled ?

Bhaswar said...

Prasun Sir,

Is the following picture depicting the sensors accurately?

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/5154/fgfaradaravionicspackag.png

It mentions a rear-ward looking IRST right behind the cockpit. Or an electro optical jammer. 101ks-v/o?

I believe that the 4th prototype saw this be replaced by some antennae in the same location behind the cockpit and on the spine of the fuselage? What does that signify?

I believe that the 4th prototype also had two sensors (101 ks-u MAWS) on either side of the fuselage, is that true?

I believe the 3rd prototype had the same MAWS but these were fitted underneath the nose and on the tail boom?

These frequent differences in the prototypes is becoming confusing. What will be the final configuration for us? 4 101KS-U for omni-directional MAWS? IF so then is that not contradictory to what is shown in the picture I have attached the link for in the beginning? Could you please clear that up?

Furthermore,

Q-Also I read somewhere that the production technique for the PAK-FA was to be changed- robotic surface coating treatment or appliqué laminate technology for ensuring the smooth Raptor like surface? Any truth in this?

Q-Isn't the rounded OLS design contrary to what is required for LO? Will that change?

Q-What is the function of an electro optical jammer? Won't the aircraft still need conventional EW systems ECM for protection?

Thank you for your valuable time.

Subir said...

@ Unknown sir, The electro-optic jammer just aft of the cockpit will eventually give way to an IRST. Beacuse no heat seeking missiles ever approach the ac from an upward direction. PAK-FA will be the very 1st fighter ac to incorporate a DIRCM or even an IR jammer

3rd proptype numbered 063 and 4th numbered 064 are exactly identical wrt to electro-optic suite barring the electro optic jammer.Electro optic jammer is basically a DIRCM intended for jamming and decoying missile seekers of IR hoiming missiles.

The 3rd and 4th prototypes are not production models.Wait for the production models oLSIP of PAK-FA to roll out.They will have such VLO apertures of IRST and a further efined VLO shaping. The present protoypes are nly meant for validating and optimising the flight control characteristics,to investiaget extreme manuverability, to validate and flight test the various radar and EO modes and function,etc

@ Defense and aerospace sir, Indian FGFA will have 5th gen turbofans that is now under developement.It will have greatly reduced IR and RF visisbilty, an all new nozzle and a 176 kN full thrust. It is scheduled to undergo flight testing between 2014 and 2018.Its another reason of the delay in FGFA induction. Ruskies are content with the interim Item 117 engines.

Heberian said...

Hello Prasun,
As usual, I have been reading all your posts loyally and enjoying them.

What do you think of the fact that ANantakrishnan of The Hindu is an almost compromised journalist getting the tender affections of the MSS in Beijing... and that N. Ram's daughter was a long term China resident and admirer.. and that N. Ram himself was feted by the Chinese government and taken on several "enlightening" tours of China including Tibet ? I am not saying that the Hindu is controlled by the MSS... but I get the feeling that The Hindu is more pro China than even the CPI/ CPI-M at times...

And this is coming from a long time fan of The Hindu and The Telegraph... even now I read both on the net..

Heberian said...

Hello Faris:

Hope you are well. I have left KL and am in now in much colder climes. And I swear I am have a severe case of "missing KL" and the brilliant food. Oh for some roti telur and rendang..

Anyway, coming to the PLAN exercise .. dont you find it interesting that it came after Xi & Co came to power and just a month before the intrusion into India in Ladakh in April? Like a message to all its neighbours that the new bully in town has arrived with a knuckleduster in hand?

Also, about Najibs silence on the matter... do you think it was to avoid offending any local constituencies.. ethnic or commericial?

Defense and Aerospace said...

@ Subir ,

The 5th gen engine, 117 for India's PAKFA is being developed in Russia & not India . 117 is only around 25% better than AL 31FP .The plan was always for Ufa & Saturn to manufacture an engine with 17.5 tonnes of thrust .In fact, the main problem of the jet engine 117 is in its lack of traction without power agumentation. Its exact value is unknown, but it is clearly less than 10 tons.

Ergo, to answer your question , Ruskies cannot be content with an engine that is inferior to the F 22 as the PAKFA was conceived from the onset to be more manoeuvrable than the F 22 at the cost of being less stealthy than the F 22 .

Prasun ,

Am not sure if India is doing the right thing in accepting a PAKFA which is less stealthy than the F 22 . Russia does not have the problem of invading a country that has a dense , overlapping Air defense network in place . But India will face this problem as Chinese Integrated Air Defense is both dense and overlapping .

Subir said...

@Defense aerospace I never said we are developing 5th gen engines when we cant even develope a 3rd gen low bypass turbofan for Tejas.

Sayan said...

Sir,

Prithvi missiles to be replaced by more-capable Prahar: DRDO
Dr Chander has confirmed that the existing Prithvi -1 regiments will now be shifting to the 150 km range Prahaar. So after all Prahaar NLOS-BSM is getting inducted into Army.

Sometime ago you said Prahhar missiles were being compacted to fit the cannisters.How much progress has been made on that?

Why didnt Dr Chander utter a word about 600 km range Prithvi-3?As of now Prthvi-3 wont be replacing the 1 but will be forming some new missile regiments.

The same Data patterns seeker presnt on Prahaar can also be customised for Prthvi-3.Is there any definite date when Prthvi-3 will be launched fr the 1st time?

http://indianarmy.nic.in/writereaddata/RFI/332/DGARTY250613.pdf

A mounted gun system with automayic charge loading and shell ramming and a high degree of automation fr ensuring 3 rounds in 15 secs as FH77B is most probably being preferred by the Army. Will this RFI be follwed by another round of exhaustive trials?

Is it possible for two Chinooks to simultaneously sling a 20 ton payload and carry it?

Are there any hardenned underground NLOS-BSM,TBM,IRBM,MRBM storage depots and TEL launcher garrisons in TAR above Sikkim,Ap and Uttar Pradesh.

Heberian said...

Hello again Prasun

Is it mere coincidence that the name of the venue where Shivshanker Menon met YangJiechi is the Diaoyutai?

Surely Zhongnanhai has several wonderful guesthouses with other names at its disposal?

Just wondering :)

F said...

Prasun,

Came across a picture of you interviewing Defence Minister Syed Albar with Major Sachi in 1996! You were seen taking notes. Out of curiosity, did you write in longhand and why didn't you use a recorder?

Given the PLANs lack of modern MCM assets, the smartest thing that the Philippines can do is invest in modern bottom laid acoustic mines and forward deploy them to Palawan. The RMN has Italian MR-90 mines bu I'm not sure if they have anything else. As far as I know, there are no plans to lay mines from the Scorpenes.

Spearfish is reportedly one of the best performing heaveweight torps that money can buy. Would it be troublesome integrating it to SUBTICs?

Why are there no Western wake homing torpedoes in service?

Anonymous said...

Hi prasun

Russia recently unvield the Vityaz sam..What are the prospects of in india wrt to the IA QRSAM tender.vmt

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SUBIR: 1) Only the weapon-specific targetting pods are reqd, since the data-links & data-processors cannot be installed inside any existing aircraft. The Spice 250 video very clearly shows the Su-30MK equipped with a belly-mounted installation for providing real-time target position updates to the Spice 250’s maritime-strike version, for instance. Interestingly, the video shows a Su-30MK targetting a China-made Jiangwei-3 FFG. 2 & 3) Jaguar IS/DARIN-3 will become the IAF’s future close air support aircraft to replace the MiG-27Ms & MiG-27UPGs. The Rafale will become the principal interdictor/strike aircraft of the IAF. 4) No it won’t. 5) 40km. 6) There were no differences & these were just excuses created for the Union MoF to delay contract signature due to unavailable funding. 7) They will be built with progressive local content, just like the Su-30MKI—a sheer waste of money just to keep the MoD-owned DPSUs alive. 8) Yes. 9) The Taurus KEPD-350s will come with the Rafales. 10) Nope. The PLAAF has till this date been unable to field decent day/night LDPs & all their LGBs are still guided by manportable laser target designators. 12) No such project exists to develop ‘hard-kill’ anti-torpedo systems. 13) Sudarshan is not the name of any LGB. Only the kit reqd for converting an existing gravity bomb into an LFB is called Sudarshan. Max range will be 50km. 14) MMW seekers are good for fire-and-forget missiles like Brimstone, which are much lighter than LGBs.

To SANGOS: Don’t worry, since the ‘aliens’ will swoop down & disable the launch-control systems of those WMDs before the shit hits the fan. It has been done before a number of times to both the US & the former USSR since the 1960s.

To DEFENSE & AEROSPACE: I don’t think that is how matters will eventually turn out to be. After all, most of the time it is the South Asians who violate their tourist visas by throwing away their passports & staying on as illegals for the sake of seeking jobs/employment & most of the time alleging human rights violations in their respective countries. Throughout the 1970s & 1980s, several Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis & Sri Lankans adopted this method for seeking political asylum in countries like the UK, Germany, Canada & Australia & this racket still goes on.
China’s hierarchical air-defence networks are dense in only selected areas, i.e. the coastal belt from north to south, the Beijing area & Sichuan province. In all other areas like central China & TAR, there’s hardly any such networks operational. Nor does China have the resources available for replicating such dense & hierarchical/in-depth air-defence networks within TAR if it can be avoided in the first place. Let us therefore wait & see what kind of ‘big’ moves Beijing now makes after the 16th round boundary negotiations & whether or not te long-awaited breakthrough emerges.

To BHASWAR: Not at all. There are only two so-called EOTS (actually IRST sensors) to the front & back of the cockpit. The L-band AESA T/R modules are on the wing-root sections & not on the air-intakes. And all those sensors marked as EOTS are actually apertures for MAWS. The locations of airframe-mounted sensor-fit on the FGFA will be totally different from what’s been seen so far on the T-50 PAK-FA, rest assured. The FGFA will also sport machined airframe structures, something which even the SP-series of Tejas Mk1 will sport. There are no EO jammers on either the T-50 PAK-FA or FGFA.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To HEBERIAN: Personally, I don’t think that’s the case with THE HINDU & I find their news despatches originating from Beijing to be balanced & nuanced, since they contain quoted on-the-record statements (instead of opinions & views of any news-reporter) & it is up to the reader then to make the necessary judgements & conclusions. And if you’re referring to the following two news-reports, then all I can say is that they’re quite balanced & are reporting exactly what has been uttered by Chinese officials:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/china-ready-to-break-new-ground-on-border-settlement/article4859696.ece?homepage=true

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/china-details-indian-ocean-strategy-and-interests/article4795550.ece?ref=relatedNews

And was it mere coincidence that the name of the venue where Shivshanker Menon met Yang Jiechi is the Diaoyutai? No way.

To SAYAN: It doesn’t matter at all what any DRDO honcho states or claims. What matters at the end of the day is what the armed forces of India have decided to induct into service as part of their respective long-term integrated perspective plans. After all, it will be the armed forces—and not the DRDO—that will store, operate & maintain such weapon systems & therefore the decisions of the armed forces of India will dictate which weapon system is to be inducted into service. And that is why I & any other discerning individual tend to regard every statement made by the DRDO & the RM regarding the Tejas Mk1’s IOC & FOC schedules to be pure ‘dhakosla’ & ‘nautanki’ that tend to insult an average person’s intelligence. And so far, there’s not a word from the MoD’s DGAQA about Prahaar or even PDV or AAD. Only the Prithvi-3 has been showcased & mentioned in official literature released by the DGAQA. Data Patterns-developed X-band SAR seeker originally being developed for Prahaar has bow been earmarked for use by BrahMos-1 Block-3s so that the existing Granit JSC-built SGH seekers can be replaced. Prithvi-3 does not require such seekers since this NLOS-BSM was never meant to achieve pinpoint accuracy. Therefore, a CEP of 10 metres while using RLG-INS coupled to GPS receiver is good enough.
Regarding the MGS RFI, the most critical point is No21, because that one query alone will tilt the balance in favour of the Caesar, which in any case is the only such MGS to be in series-production right now & consequently the Nexter Systrems/Larsen & Toubro combine will easily emerge as L-1 (lowest bidder). Presently, there are no hardened underground NLOS-BSM/TBM/MRBM storage sites in TAR directly facing Sikkim, UP or AP. However, there is one overground storage site in Bayi/Nyingchi opposite AP & further away there are storage tunnels near Mainyang in Sichuan province opposite AP.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To FARIS: During interviews, it is always safe & better to carry a recorder. And it was always a pleasure to interview Dato’ Seri Syed Hamid Albar since he liked to give exhaustive interviews & always maintained good & cordial terms with journalists, & many a time even organised ‘durian festivals’ at his residence in Damansara at least twice a year. The durians of course were donated for such causes by some of his patrons like Syed Hussain, owner of ADJ & Perajurit.
The PLAN is increasing its fleet of MCMVs as well as domestically-developed LCACs, rest assured. Investing in moored bottom mines won’t deter the PLAN’s Marine brigades, since the Zubrs & locally-made LCACs in conjunction with heliborne assault units launched from the Type 071 LPDs (& in future the Type 081 LHDs that were shown at LIMA 2013) will easily overcome such obstacles. For expeditionary amphibious warfare nowadays, vertical envelopment is always the first preferred choice, followed by landings by LCACs. Any torpedo can be integrated with an SSK’s existing fire-control system. In terms of reliability, heavyweight torpedoes that are wire-guided are always the preferred choice since there are unjammable & are invulnerable to decoys, given the fact that present-day Western flank-array sonars & cylindrical/spherical bow-mounted sonars are highly efficient in terms of surface/submerged target detection-cum-tracking.

To Anon@1.04AM: It must be good, if not better than the IRIS-T SLM.

F said...

Prasun,

Are wire guided torps really invulnerable to decoys? There are a number of decoys on the market that are claimed to be very effective.

Would you agree that unless Vietnam or the Philippines does something really drastic, that China will not resort to force?

Will the use of military means against the Philippines automatically bring the U.S. in, under the Mutual Defence Treaty?

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To FARIS: ‘Soft-kill’ decoys are only meant for confusing the on-board seekers of torpedoes. Wire-guided torpedoes have no such seekers & therefore require ‘hard-kill’ systems for physical destruction. ASW mortars are thus used for physically breaking the guidance wires of such wire-guided torpedoes & anti-torpedo torpedoes are now slowly emerging as well. Neither Vietnam or The Philippines have ever done anything drastic against China. In fact, it has been the other way around & it is China that has unilaterally passed crazy guidelines to all foreign naval warships transiting through China’s EEZ, such as these warships should not turn on any of their on-board sensors (except the marine navigation radar) like air-surface search radars & sonars & optronic fire-control systems whenever such warships are passing through China’s EEZ. Such guidelines are a flagrant violation of all UNCLOS regulations & no self-respecting navy will accept such ridiculous & outrageous terms & conditions.

Heberian said...

Thank you, Prasun.

Being a Mandarin speaker and well versed in Chinese symbolism, I wonder what Menon thought when he knew he was to meet Yang for border talks at the Diaoyutai..... guest house.

Are we saying indirectly we wont support Senkaku in a quid pro quo for our border settlement?

Will it again be a case of us accepting Tibet as Chinese with nothing given in return by the Chinese?

Please share your thoughts about this.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To HEBERIAN: Whether one likes it or not, the Diaoyutai/Senkaku issue is a bilateral affair between China & Japan & India can’t play any meaningful role in any manner, especially since India has no formal bilateral defence treaty or alliance with Japan. All that India can do is make her stand clear with regard to freedom of navigation in international waters as mandated by UNCLOS. Nor does Japan require India’s assistance or support since the US-Japan Defense Alliance is more than capable of neutralising any military threat that China could possibly pose to Japan. In any grand bargaining concerning the Sino-Indian border dispute, there will always inevitably be quid pro quos but in a manner that is face-saving for both parties, i.e. nothing will be imposed by coercion or surrendered meekly, that is a given. The most probable agreement will involve China surrendering its claim on Arunachal Pradesh & the Tawang Tract in return for India renouncing its claim over that part of Aksai Chin which China already covets, with an internationally demarcated border being adopted there as per the international norm, i.e. watershed principle. In this way, India will actually gain more land than she currently does in Aksai Chin, but with the proviso that the entire Aksai Chin area be totally demilitarised by BOTH countries. Only after this is done will it be possible for India to meaningfully (with China’s assistance) negotiate a settlement of the J & K issue with Pakistan, provided Pakistan is politically capable of delivering.

Mr. Ra 13 said...

N. Ram was a SFI leader, so anything can be expected. :)

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To Mr.RA 13: Before the age of 30, most if not all are idealists that tend to embrace utopian concepts. After 30, folks start becoming pragmatic & realists, according to George Bernard Shaw. But there are always some who, though they tend to grow older, however, never tend to mature.
By the way, you may be interested to know that the late Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh in the late 1960s was a die-hard leftist, a real ultra leftist & he was arrested in late 1970 in a statewide crackdown by the Maharashtra Police on Leftist students that had openly owed allegiance to Chairman Mao. He was released from detention after about 6 months & the first thing he did after that was to realise that there was nothing much to be gained from becoming a leader of the have-nots. Thus, a born-again Rajneesh fled the country & after acquiring the expertise & illumination to become a Godman of the rich & infamous, resurfaced in the West as a 'born-again' Bhagwan leading a highly successful business model (i.e. thriving at the expense of other peoples' money), thereby becoming probably the most famous spiritual hustler of the 20th century!

Heberian said...

Thank you, Prasun.

Very well said as always!! Both on the China doubt I had , and on the before and after 30 turn of ideals.

Have a good week!

Subir said...

Sir, VMT for the answers.

1.In the very beginning of the Spice 250 promotional video, F-16 are seen carrying 16 of them with 2 AAM.They are not carrying any other pods. Spice 250 may be a man in loop standoff PGM but its also a fire and forget weapon.

2.Once in alti and 100 kms away the pilot selects the preloaded mission with its specific target.Once released the weapon is entirely fire and forget and glides to its target.In martime strike role it is man in loop guidance.
.As such Spice 250 is suitable for mk1.

4.After darin 3 Jag IS will more than a close support ac.If F-16 can go interdicting with spice-250 so can Jag. Spice 250 is most suitable for the Su with 2 man crew.

5.Spice 1000,2000 dont require targetting pods.They can be easily carried by Jags.

6.Granit SGH ARS is more sophisticated and better performing than any being developed indigenous seekers. So why is it being replaced with Data Patterns on e for blk3?

7.Wire guided torp have an active and passive seeker. But it is difficult to seduce due to wire guidance from mother sub. DRDO can easily develope a hard-kill variant of the soft-kill Mareech .

8.Lots of exotic day/night targetting pods.LDP with 3rd gen FLIR was marketted and displayed during the Zuhai airshow. Thw WMD-7 day /night targetting pod,FILAT pod and even with other systems PLAAF cant accurately target ground targets at night and still needs to rely on hand held laser designators ??

9.I asked this a couple of times sir. Pls reply. What is the specific reason behind the absence of IRST or previous EO jammers behind the cockpit in the 4th prototype of PAK-FA ?

10.Russian aerospace mag Takeoff says the eo aperture behind the cockpit was a ir jammer.If u look closely it looked a lot like DIRCM,like BAE Boldstroke but the prob is no IR missiles will approach from above the ac.

11.The Taurus KEPD 350 that will b e acquired as part of Rafale deal will they adhere to MTCR trety and have a max range of just 300 kms ?

12.Are u dead serious about aliens swooping down and disabling the fire controla CC3 facilties before launch ? Are there any documented cases of them doing so with both USSR and US since 60s?

13.Last time i asked you about our quick reaction heli brigade for vertical envelopement missions you said the proposal was being actively considered by Army HQ and MoD. Where does this propsal now satnd?

14.What is the flight time for IRBM,MRBM launched from siloes,storage dpots oppsite AP and the one in Sichuan province ?How much warning time can be provided by IN GSAT-7 fleet comm sats?

15.If such a launch is detected and tracked and it is found to target any NE airbase cant the assets there serving scramble duties quickly takeoff and land in some other bases deep hinterland or in other areas to prvent being destroyed?majority of aam-R-27,77,73E,60 AGM Kh-31,59 can be stored and maintained partly in mobile 6x6 or 8x8 high mobility self independent trucks with their own genrators so that in the evnt ofa preemptive strike or any attacks against NE airbasesit can proceed to a dispersal area and nt get destroyed thus conserving some ordance.

16.Sir, @10:14 AM, there isnt any such deal going on either openly or in secretly. All such news of PLAAF acquiring Su-35bm are false.Cant say the same about 4 Amur 1650 SSK though. Putin himself had said that Sukhoi corp, Knaapo wasnt selling any Su-35BM to China. Putin previously also claimed that none of the ordered S-300 batteries for Suria has been delivered and his govt has now blocked the sale of S-300 to Iran and is now asking Iranina mod to opt for M2 Tor instead. So Mr Putin's words need to be heeded.

Millard Keyes said...

May be Rajneesh realised not just wealth but a bevy of beauties offering free love as well could turn the leftist myopia into a real utopia! This did happen for him and allowed many of his followers to experience the paradise (according to some) here on earth!LoL

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To PIERRE ZORIN: One of my close relatives then serving with the Maharashtra Police (he was recruited into the force during the British era in the mid-1940s) was the one who planned & executed the midnight state-wide swoop on these leftists & he was subsequently awarded the President’s Medal for successfully conceiving, planning & executing this operation. Even the leftist trade union leaders of that time like S A Dange had then remarked that this police officer knew more about communist ideology & its weaknesses than anyone else in India. It is was from this relatives that I learnt how one evolves & advances intelligence flow-charts of underground subversive organisations. A very methodical & elaborate exercise, to say the very least.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To HEBERIAN: VMT & the very same to you as well.

To Anon@10.14AM: Kindly get rid of the ‘Anonymous’ handle & acquire a decent handle, as advocated long ago by the likes of Pierre Zorin. In most cases I delete the comments posted by ‘Anonymous’, not immediately, but a few hours after they’ve been posted. Nothing personal.

To SUBIR: 1 & 2) If it is a fire-and-forget PGM then how come just before hitting its target the PGM sends back an image of the approaching target for strike damage assessments? And how? Where & how is the aircraft positioned to receive such imagery? One thing I can say for sure is that such imagery isn’t transmitted or sent via MMS! 4) Spice 250 isn’t meant to be used for CAS as it is far too expensive for that. Such PGMs are used for striking static installations like POL farms, ground logistics nodes & SAM sites. 5) They always require data-link pods & the pod is the same as that used for the Popeye. I’ve got photos of such pods. 6) SGH seeker is far more bulkier than that being developed by Data Patterns. Therefore, the latter has obvious applications for the air-launched BrahMos-1A. 7) You really think so? Let’s see. Only time will tell. 8) Yes. Showing inert dummy mock-ups is one thing & deploying hardware during live-firing exercises is another. For the latter, the WMD-7 (a reverse-engineered ATLIS-2) has not yet been introduced in service. 9) Different prototypes use different configurations for flight-tests. That’s why there’s always more than 1 prototype used for flight-tests & sub-system validations. 10) The previous CAS of IAF ACM P V Naik clearly stated otherwise during his Aero India 2011 press-conference on this very issue. I’d rather believe what the IAF’s CAS says instead of what any magazine says. 11) Yes, only 300km. 12) See this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jUU4Z8QdHI
Didn’t you know about all this? Where were you all this while??? 13) Still being debated upon. 14) About 3 minutes. 15) No, that’s impossible. Once such missiles are launched, there’s no time to disperse anything.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SUBIR: Do you know how much time it takes to scramble, be it a human being or a piece of hardware? I'd say within the 3 minutes available a person has just about enough time to fold his/her legs, put his/her head in between those legs & kiss his/her arse goodbye.

rad said...

Hi Prasun
Data patterns is making the sar for the brahmos and other missiles . the sar is a hi tech radar , i wonder how they are managing to build a contemporary radar having no previous experience in radar building ie the software and the hard ware. obviously we dont have all the components needed to build on especially microwave components. so how are we doing this , is there outside help, would the russians help us to make it locally , it is known that any thing may be bought in the arms market its just the price!.
In the same line i think they should be encouraged to develop various radars by generously funding them.
the news that rajneesh was a commi, is really surprising for a man who devoted his life to freedom of all sorts including sex!
but you have to give it to him for dissecting and exposing religious bullshit that goes on in the name of god
your explanation of scrambling is hilarious!
There is news that the prithvi is going to be retired inlieu of the prahaar! i do remember u favouring the prithvi!
The wheeled gun rfop is out what is your favourite and why?

Defense and Aerospace said...

Thanks Prasun .

Does this mean that the Indian PAKFA will be only as stealthy as the Russian PAKFA and not more ?

Secondly , India should have adopted an MMRCA style competition for acquiring the 5th gen aircraft instead of going to just Russia .

Subir said...

Sir, VMT for the ans and the informative link.

1.Spice 250 cab be used both as a fire and forget and man in loop.The pilot can choose not to receive the iamgery of strike damage assesment. using the pre stored target coordinates the pilot can launch this weapon,using the MMR he can target the weapon and then get out or he can guide it all thw ay to the target using man in loop.

2.Yes they dont send them through MMS but through 2 way datalimks. Popeye,Popeye Lite,Kh-59 series, Delliah ,H-4 use such datalink pods.

3.I have never said Spice 250 is to be used for CAS.It can be used for interdiction though.Spice 250 is chaper comared to MBDA Spear which is even more advanced,sports a micro jet engine and a trimode seeker.

4.What about Spice 1000/2000? Why dont Jag IS,Mirage 2000,Su-30mki use them?They dont sent any imagery and are pretty much fire and forget.Once released the ac can retreat from the area.

5.Isnt Spice 1000/2000 kits cheaper than Sudarshan LGB kits? FLIR costs as much as a gimballed laser emissions seeker.Spice saves on rocket motors cost as it is unpowered.

6.Data patterns seekers are allright for Brahmos ALCM and mini Brahmos but Brahmios blk3 is surface launched.If its a couple of kgs heavier wont adversly affect its performance.

7.Spice 250 can be a great weapon for maritime strikes using real time targetting and man in the loop guidance.It wil;l be very effective against FAC,missile boats,corvettes, frigates. It needs to be integrated with MiG-29K.

8.What about the Chinese Blue Sky navigation attack pod and FILAT? Whats their operational status ?

9.If the Chinese havent even come up with a descent day night targetting pod what are they doing with such a variety of glide bombs equipped with avrious seekers.A lot of various glide bmobs-LS-2,6 of various weight classes and seeker option were diplay at Zhuhai airshow.

10.Does the IAF still has the same nos of Popeye and Popeye lites,Kh-59- 80 to 100 ?

11.Each Taurus weighs 1400 kg. How come Rafale carry 7 such Taurus when it has a weapons payload of 9,5 t and 7 adds up to 9.8 t.

12.Why isnt ADE develope a GPS/INS kit with glide wings for dumd bombs of IAF like AASM?AASM was rocket powered.THis could have glid wings.

13.In the past 4 years many fighter ac contracts were signed specially realting to 30. Keeping in pace with the demand for amm,arm,agm of these new acs were any supplementary contracts signed for R77,27E/TR73E,Kh-31PD,Kh-59? The only weapons contract i recall was the deal for 1000 R-27ETI from a Uktainian company.

14.VMT for the great link. RAF Benchwaters must have been closed due to the UFO threat i guess.

15.Doesnt scramble at frontline airbases take just 5 minutes from eraly detection to takeoff.

manoj joshi said...

Diaoyutai is the principal guest house in Beijing and that's where all ministers and high dignitaries are put up. There is a similar facility in Shanghai. They are actually huge gardens with villas for VIPs and their officials. Have been there once or twice back in the early 2000s.

sntata said...

Dear Prasun,
What is the present status of China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System?

Sayan said...

Sir, 140 hours till LCA achieves IOC-2

Just a couple of days ago RM asked all stakeholders of Tejas to achieve IOC-2 or whatever it is something crucial and important as theres no IOC by November.
How come again DRDO changed its plan of actions and strive towards achiving it by September 2 months ahead of schedule.

What did the journalist meant by Starting October this year, the Tejas platforms will be put through a literally endless routine of weather and weapons trials across the country.

Has HAL started producing SPs 1 year ahead of schedule as originally envisaged? How many SP acs does HAL intend to deliver next year ?

How many more test launches are required to make Prithvi-3 operational ?Doesnt MoD doesnt even have the money to clear the 145 BAE LW-155 Uulh deal?

Is there any good news regarding Scorpene construction?Once INS Trikand reach India will MoD begin talks with Russia for a 3rd batch of Talwar class?

Anonymous said...

after your so many clarifications regarding the so called Tejas IOC sequels and what exactly is the IOC and FOC. people still here using that term :)
plz folks use "SO CALLED" before typing IOC 1/2/3 while asking about the Tejas status

Anonymous said...

but aliens disabling nukes is a new news to me . is that really true or just a CIA propaganda

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To RAD: Of course DATA Patterns has neither the R & D infrastructure nor the manpower to develop such seekers in-house. The obvious solution therefore is to approach foreign OEMs willing to share some high-tech know-how in return for healthy royalty fees….nothing wrong with that at all according to me. Consequently, SELEX Airborne Sensors was roped in to develop such X-band SAR seekers. And this type of business model can well be implemented in future for developing, for instance, the ASHWIN AESA multi-mode volume search/fire-control radar for the SR-SAM.
What will be retired from service will be the existing SS-150 Prithvi-1 150km-range liquid-fuelled NLOS-BSMs. Contrary to ill-informed speculation, none of these missiles were nuclear-armed & their employment was controlled & directed solely by Army HQ. The Prithvi SS-250 was NEVER inducted by the IAF & that’s why to date none of them have been test-fired from the ITR in Balasore. Even the Dhanush version of SS-250 was never inducted into service by the Indian Navy & all SS-250s built by BDL were test-fired from the ITR only by the DRDO. And if everyone recalls, for the past two years, the former DRDO Chief Dr V K Saraswat had been wrongly claiming that the Prithvi-2 was ready for service-induction! Now we are being told that the Prithvi-1s will be replaced by Prahaar, which is another lie, since the MoD’s Directorate-General (Air) Quality Assurance is not at all involved with Prahaar’s R & D/service induction process, as revealed by the DGAQA’s information posters shown during Aero India 2013. Instead, the solid-fuel Prithvi-3 was showcased for the very first time at the expo. So, as you can see, it wasn’t me that was/is favouring the Prithvi-3, but the MoD’s own DGAQA.
I had already explained yesterday why the Caesar offered by the Nexter Systems/Larsen & Toubro combine will become the frontrunner in the MGS competition.

To DEFENSE & AEROSPACE: Yes. But nothing has officially been revealed about the FGFA’s or T-50 PAK-FA’s specific passive/active stealth features. Whatever has come out thus far is pure speculation & heresay. Even if a competitive bidding system was conceived for the IAF’s FGFA reqmt, you can rest assured that Russia would have been the sole bidder, since the US will not part with what it already has & Europe is nowhere close to developing a 5th generation MRCA.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To SUBIR: 4) Spice 2000 employs the same type of man-in-the-loop guidance as Spice 250 or Popeye. 5) All members of the Spice PGM family are more expensive than Sudarshan LGB kits. 6) Weight-saving wherever & howsoever achieved always has a very positive effect on the land-mobility characteristics of BrahMos-1. 8) None of those pods have entered operational service as yet. 11) That’s easy. Just take in less internal fuel to offset the increases in offensive weapons-loads. 15) No. Even aircraft on QRA takes about 15 minutes because of the time taken to confirm the vectors of inbound hostiles. Then the RLG-INS takes time to warm up & give a true north alignment.

To MANOJ JOSHI: You’re spot on! VMT for the heads-up.

To SAYAN: What IOC & what FOC? How can this process even begin when No45 ‘Winged Daggers’ Sqn is still located at Jamnagar & is flying & crashing MiG-21 Bisons??? Where is the long-overdue Tejas Mk1 flight simulator at Sulur AFS without which No45 Sqn pilots cannot even begin converting to Tejas Mk1? Where are the flight manuals of this aircraft, since unless TACDE has access to this aircraft, such manuals cannot be drafted by TACDE? Therefore, what’s happening is that the scientists & technocrats from the DRDO are mis-informing & mis-leading the MoD & the Defence Minister in turn is mis-informing & mis-leading India by making patently erroneous statements on the floor of Parliament. And the end-result of all this is that the country’s is being turned into a laughing stock. Any NLOS-BSM requires at least 10 successive test-firings before being inducted into service.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

To DASHU: My point, precisely. I guess the audience has been conditioned through false propaganda in the same way the present-day Defence Minister has been fooled by the bureaucrats & technocrats of the MoD & DRDO. Then of course there’s the perennial problem of common-sense no longer being a commonly-available virtue! Put all this together & one has a ‘khichdi’ about which one cannot make any sense at all. This pretty much is how the country is being run, i.e. on autopilot by robotic decision-makers devoid of character & high moral-standing who can remorselessly state with a puppy-dog look on their faces that it is impossible to reign in the truant & corrupt Union Cabinet ministers “due to the compulsions of coalition dharma”.
Aliens disabling the ready-to-fire nukes is not any propaganda, as the YouTube weblink clearly demonstrates. That’s why there’s a rise in sightings of such luminous objects & flying-discs around all those WMD-related R & D installations in India for the past two years.

Lastly, while all those Delhi-based morons & pseudo-intellectuals have all along been wrongly focussed on the so-called Chinese ‘string of pearls’, just look at what has eventually transpired (see: http://www.dhivehisitee.com/executive/us-military-base-maldives/). Looks like the US has indeed checkmated both China & India within the IOR. I had for long expected this, though, for it is inconceivable that the world’s sole superpower will be aloof to India’s ambitions for deploying a triad of strategic nuclear deterrent arsenals. Consequently, in the coming months by all means expect highly increased US undersea surveillance activities aimed at monitoring the Arihant’s sea-trials.

Prasun K. Sengupta said...

A most excellent proposal:

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-train-journey-worth-making/article4870304.ece

And which is precisely why such a project will never be implemented by the spineless & robotic decision-makers sitting in Delhi.

Tololing said...

Sir is the speculation on ineffectiveness of RVV-AE true?

Is SPECTRA EW and its active cancellation all that its made out to be?Its said it was lone nato fighter to be immune to s-300 during simulated exercise mace xiii in slovakian s-300 based test due to EW.

Anonymous said...

Govt sanctioned mountain crops , i like know is it 40k or 50 k .

Shubham said...

This belief that India maintains all of its nuclear forces in a
disassembled, and certainly de-/mated, state across various civilian agencies persists
today.Do you agree with it prasoon.Read most articles and found them quite clearer that within upcoming 10-201 years one war is awaiting.Can we hope it before 2020 though I think it is unlikely.One more thing, If you want to use wordpress platform(seo wise best) please inform me....