How did Indian pilots become so excellent?

[Chino]

I've been reading all these reports about how everyone - including Singapore - are doing mock air combat with the Indians and getting trounced.

Are these reports justified?

If so, how did Indian pilots become so good?

What was their air combat record against the Pakistanis like? I read some time ago that the Pakistanis gave a good account of themselves in air combat against the Indians during their wars.

 

[LancerMc]

Chino

Becareful in which section of the forums you post on. Your discussion topic should go in the aerospace section. Though don't worry about, it happens from time to time.

 

[gf0012-aust]

Thread moved to corerect location. Please take care in future where you post Chino.

 

[Rich]

Heres a good websight you'll enjoy. http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/cat_index_18.shtml

No war historian is complete without reading about the conflicts on the sub continent.

 

[rjmaz1]

Are these reports justified?

No they are not. The indians are only better than expected.

Training usually takes the specs of aircraft into account rather than tactics. So a superior aircraft may win in a training scenario, but in actual war the other aircraft could win easily.

As none of the aircraft can fire real missiles they are instead simulated. You can easily say "Su-30 can fire its missile at 60 miles, ur AMRAAM must be fired at 50 miles"

These rules or restrictions will see the Indians win all the time, and guess what these are the restrictions that were applied In real combat India would have got their ass's kicked.

Then you have the hidden agenda. If the USAF F-15 eagles won every single battle with the SU-30 then the F-22 could not be justified and would get its numbers cut back. The SU-30 represents the standard enemy aircraft they would have to face in 10 years time.

The Mig-29 was meant to be a supreme fighter yet F-15 eagles have shot down nearly 10 Mig-29's operated by two different countries in two different wars. The Mig-29's didn't even know what hit them!!

Yet in training similar spec Mig-29's operated by germany can give F-16's a run for their money.

If the USAF and USN navy attacked India the skies would be cleared in a matter of days.

 

[vivtho]

Indian pilots are quite well trained compared to other air forces in the region. However, this is not the only reason.

It should be kept in mind that these are only simulated engagements. They do not simulate every aspect of an air war. These simulations have many limitations. For example, one simulation might specify 'guns only' - this would benefit highly maneuverable aircraft like MiG-29s rather than a heavier all-round aircraft like the F-15. Also, since neither country participating in the exercise wants to reveal the true maximum range and Pk of their missiles, they use the figures that are publicly available, which are almost always much better than they actually are in the real world. Also, the IAF has yet to fly any simulated missions against a full-fledged opponent (i.e. an opponent who has brought AEW, tanker, EW assets to the exercise).

In the end, what should be kept in mind is that these exercises are not conducted for the purposes of racking up scores for the few pilots who take part in them, no matter how much of a boost to the ego it might be. The main reason why these exercises are conducted is to give both the air forces a look at the capabilities of other aircraft and how other forces operate them.

 

[Seaforth]

The Indians seem to be a patriotic bunch who revel in their technical and other achievements.

I wish we were more like them! They have such wonderful energy and enthusiasm!

 

[harimon]

yes i think indians are the best

 

[gf0012-aust]

Sorry fellas. This ones closed. It breaches this sites policy on having "best of" topics.