Indian Air Force To Buy 126 Multi-Role Planes

mysterious

New Member
I'd wait and see if more credible media outlets report this news because (no disrespect) Time of India just might be pulling a clever one off just to ease of the tension that the report of F-16s for Pakistan wud've created. They may also be trying to convey the msg, "oh, so you got Falcons, look at what we got". Anywayz, not much to say here either. Will wait and see how much truth is there in this news piece.
 

avj

New Member
F-16s will restore conventional balance: PakFriday, 25 March , 2005, 23:53Islamabad: Jubilant over the US decision to permit the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft, Pakistan on Friday claimed that the Bush Administration had offered unlimited number of planes to it.



"We can buy as many as we want. We are very happy about this. This will enable us to restore conventional balance with India," Pakistan’s Information Minister Sheikh Rashid told Geo TV reacting to reports from Washington that US had approved sale of the planes to Islamabad.

Rashid said India should not worry about the sale as these aircraft would only help Pakistan replace its old aircraft. "Acquisition of these aircraft does not mean that we are going to war. They will only ensure conventional balance", he said. The Minister said India had acquired a number sophisticated weapons, including Sukhoi from Russia and Falcon radars from Israel. Asked when the US would begin delivering the aircraft, he said US had promised to get the approval of US Congress at the earliest after which the sale would be formalised.
 

AK_PAK

New Member
These are what India is considering: Mirage 2000-5 (France), Grippen (Sweden), F-16s and F-18s (USA), and also MiGs from Russia. It will be interesting to see which planes they actually acquire.
 

gf0012-aust

Grumpy Old Man
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
PJ-10 BrahMos said:
Well i think im right in asuming the F-16 has one of the best safty and maintenance records, correct me if im wrong

and regarding the twin engined ac, the next IAF trainers will be twin engined !!??!!:coffee
The F-16 has the highest safety record in the world for a single engined fixed wing combat aircraft.
 

gf0012-aust

Grumpy Old Man
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Ameer Kiani said:
These are what India is considering: Mirage 2000-5 (France), Grippen (Sweden), F-16s and F-18s (USA), and also MiGs from Russia. It will be interesting to see which planes they actually acquire.
The official announcements out of India in the last 48 hrs don't show F-18's at all. They have persistently said that the only US aircraft being considered is the F-16.
 

gf0012-aust

Grumpy Old Man
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
Swaroop said:
I feel that F-16 Should NOT be allowed a place in the IAF!!!

First of all, we have had enough accidents flying single engine aircraft such as the MiG 21, 23, 27. and recently even Mirage2000s crashed :(

so, India must buy a two engined aircraft, such as the F-15E strike eagle, or, the Rafale or the best option , MiG-29MRC!!!!!!!!!!!!
Indias problems with the Mig21's have little to do with single engine management. In the case of high loss ratios of Mig21's it appears to be due to lifetime and degradation issues of Kapton. Thats why Kapton is illegal now in aircraft construction. The Soviets/Russians were very very heavy users of Kapton in their Mig21, 23, 27, IL-38 and Tu-95, 142 series of aircraft.

The normal attrition rate of aircraft can be 10-20% of the lifetime of the force life of the platform - the fact that other Mirages are not falling out of the sky in a disproportionate pattern from other Mirage users shows that its not a platform fault. and other users hours are just as high as the IAF. (Israeli aggressors, US aggressor squadrons still have F21's (Israeli Kfirs) active. They were used at the recent Nellis exercises against F-16's/15/s/18's Tornadoes etc...

You'll note that very few of the reharnessed Bisons are crashing. Russian aircraft have typically had lousy maintenance and support issues, you'll note that India has been vocal a number of times about reliability issues. Other Mig29 and Su27 users have voiced similar opinions. The Germans had less problems but they were highly maintained as they had very high hours of usage (aggressor training against other NATO forces). Now that the Polish Air Force has adopted them (for the grand price of 1 euro!), it will be interesting to see whether there are new attirtion issues.
 
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kilo_4que

New Member
not taking sides here but pakistan also has JANG that makes claims with such farse and I used to find it humourous but this is beyond the realms of JANG. I as a british national find it embarrasing for India with its desperate attempts to unsettle the Pakistanis however i see very little concern on the minds of the Pakistanis. The jang made claims such as PAF buying Gripens, Rafales, F16s, packages from Ukrain and China which had some significance of truth but never had they gone to such rediculous lengths.

With so much to boast already and with equipment 10 times more than Pakistans they are still trying desperate attempts to not allow them to purchase anything.

If it boils down to hearts and courage, I take my hat off to the pakistanis.
 

kilo_4que

New Member
All these claims of F16 and F18s to india is absolute nonesense. We shall confirm such news once a credible source releases something. How realistic is it coming from sources such as Time of India, Indian Telegraph and god knows what other indian papers.

I think it is beginning to look rediculous now. Why doesnt this news pop up so dramatically like the sale to pakistan did. The F16 to pakistan was such a big thing within its first day so im sure a deal more worth while than a bunch of F16s would surely hit the headlines everywhere.
 

A Khan

New Member
Is there anytime frame regarding the procurement of these 126 AC for the IAF? Because of the Mig-21 issue, the deal should be made in the near future. 126 is a big number and given the TOT, that will take some time before all of these are on Indian airfields.
 

SABRE

Super Moderator
Verified Defense Pro
kilo_4que said:
All these claims of F16 and F18s to india is absolute nonesense. We shall confirm such news once a credible source releases something. How realistic is it coming from sources such as Time of India, Indian Telegraph and god knows what other indian papers.

I think it is beginning to look rediculous now. Why doesnt this news pop up so dramatically like the sale to pakistan did. The F16 to pakistan was such a big thing within its first day so im sure a deal more worth while than a bunch of F16s would surely hit the headlines everywhere.
I have not herd the news of F-16 or F-18 sale to India by the state department so far. US spokesmen only mentioned sale to Pakistan. I believe that when state department says so.

I have only seen this news on Indians sources & one few western sources which seem to be quoting Indian media sources PS the same western source is criticizing the sale of F-16s to Pakistan. So to me these western & Indians sources are not credible.

Remember when news broke out, it only mentioned F-16 sale to PAF, nothing about India & with in 30 mins F-18 to India thing developed. In the start when Bush informed India, media only said F-16s to Pakistan, they dint even say that Bush while talking to Indian PM offered them F-18s.

& more to this is that the Indian foregin spokesmen has not said any thing about this aswell. They only mentioned F-16 sale to PAF.

No m not being anti-indian or pro Pakistani...we just require valid source & official govt statement to believe this.
 

gf0012-aust

Grumpy Old Man
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Verified Defense Pro
P.A.F said:
Any one heard of a F-16 Block 70 that a web site claims lockheed are making for india:confused: http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopic-t-2385.html
Just a gentle hint - forget what you read in the media about F-16's in the Media until you see an official announcement fromn either the US State Dept or the Indian Govt.

To be blunt, some fan site will have no idea what is being offered - and to be extra blunt I can think of numerous reasons as to why it wouldn't happen. There are too many idiots (especially in the public media) casting speculation on this process when it is nowhere near being discussed at that kind of level.
 

aaaditya

New Member
well guys the news is confirmed,mike kelly senior executive of lockheed martin has stated that if iaf's requirements are completely beyond any fighter then lm will offer india the f-18 block70 superior to any aircraft from the f-16 stables,completely to indian specifications(on the lines of f-16 b60 developed for uae)with the entire range of latest weapons available with usaf,with full transfer of technology(boeing has made an official offer for f-18 with full tot,:coffee though dont know which variant),yesterday in an interview to headlines today the defence minister mr.pranab mukherjee had claimed that the air force was keen to acquire the f-16's.a fighter competition between mirage2000-5,mig29m,boeing f-18,f-16 and gripen will be carried out and the most advanced fighter would be acquire for iaf,headlines today even carried a comparison between f-16 and f-18 yesterday(they favoured f-18 today they are excited about f-16,further details are expected today night).
www.bharat-rakshak.com and headlines today,ndtv.com are the various sources for this news.:coffee
 

aaaditya

New Member
according to the so called experts on headlines today f-18 is safer and cheaper to operate and has superior capability to the f-16s:coffee,a spokesman of indian external affairs ministry has stated that ,india was offered the f-16 and that iaf is realy keen about it(channel is star news),though he didnt say which version.anyone has any idea which version has been offered to pakistan.
 

gf0012-aust

Grumpy Old Man
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
aaaditya said:
well guys the news is confirmed,mike kelly senior executive of lockheed martin has stated that if iaf's requirements are completely beyond any fighter then lm will offer india the f-18 block70 superior to any aircraft from the f-16 stables,completely to indian specifications(on the lines of f-16 b60 developed for uae)with the entire range of latest weapons available with usaf,with full transfer of technology(boeing has made an official offer for f-18 with full tot,:coffee though dont know which variant)
Have you got any links from Lockmart or Boeing re this yet?
 

SABRE

Super Moderator
Verified Defense Pro
one question aaaditya....what does lockheed-martin has to do with F-18s & its sales to India. 2ndly u r again quoting bharat rakshak which is, as gf says, an indian airforce fan club.
I'll believe it when state department says any thing abt it. I wont even take it from Indian FO spokesmen.

Abt PAF versions...PAF knows its requirements & knows about F-16s more than any one in the region. They knw which version is to be aquired. Block 70 meaning planning a new one & than going into its production. This will take years. I mean if IAF is willing to wait til 6 to 7 years than its ok. LH-M says it takes almost 2 years to build up block 60 batch of UAE. I dnt think IAF will buy F-16s even if they do they wont go for block 70. LH-M has promissed the most advanced version to PAF, some one even went out saying more advance than F-16Block 60 of UAEAF. & if IAF triess to get the better PAF will make sure they get the best.

ONE simple Question. Russia threated India that it will open doors of its defence sale to Pakistan if India went into US defence Market. As a sign that they are not joking Russia sold Pakistan Mi-17 helicopters. Now if IAF chooses F-18s or F-16s over Su-27/30 of Russia wont Russia than feel obliged to sell such AirCrafts to Pakistan?? Is India willing to take such a risk??
 

SABRE

Super Moderator
Verified Defense Pro
gf0012-aust said:
Have you got any links from Lockmart or Boeing re this yet?
There is no link GF & aaaditya seems to be charmed by bharat rakshak an IAF fan club.
The Indian defence minister only said that he resents the US decision to sell F-16s to Pakistan but welcomes US invitation to India to buy its advance weapons & arms. He certainly did not say any thing about F-16 or F-18 sale to India.
I was watching tv the whole day yesterday & no such quatation from Indian defence ministry cameup.

As I said & as u said, dont believe it unless US State department says so. Dnt even trust the Indian FO Spokesman.
 
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