New Su-30MKIs fighter bases in East, West, South

As the Indian Air Force (IAF) is gearing up to phase out its old warhorses the Soviet-vintage MiG-21s the agile and lethal Sukhoi Su-30MKIs are going to be its back bone – with a total of 17 squadrons to be deployed along side India’s border with Pakistan and China and also in the South to cover up the country’s southern flank up to Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

On the west the efforts to deploy these air dominance fighter jets at these bases are aimed at countering the US’ F-16s and Chinese JF-17 ‘Thunder’ jets Pakistan is procuring, and in the east the objective is to balance the massive development carried out by China in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

“Plans are in the offing to base these war birds at Bhuj (Gujarat), Sirsa (Haryana), Kalaikunda (West Bengal), Hashimara (in West Bengal) and Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu,” officials said. The strategic importance of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has compelled the IAF to bolster its capability in the region. Plans are in the offing to have a fighter jets in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, from where the Sukhois have operated in the past.

The new Sukhoi bases in Bhuj and Sirsa will be on the Western border and will be conducting strategic surveillance and reconnaissance in the region. On this side of the border the Sukhois are already based at Bhatinda and Halwara in Punjab and Jodhpur air base in Rajasthan.  On the Eastern side in Kalaikunda and Hashimara, the fighter jets will complement the Tejpur and Chabua fighter bases. Armed with Israeli reconnaissance pods, these fighter jets have the capability to look into the Chinese territory for good 300 kms.

At present the IAF has Su-30MKIs frontline fighter jets – that can be altered to drop a nuclear bomb – are based at Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh), in Tezpur (Assam), Halwara (Punjab), Pune (Lohegaon) and Jodhpur. The Sukhois were inducted into the IAF at Lohegaon air base in 2002 thereafter they were inducted at Bareilly followed by inductions at Tejpur, Chabua, Jodhpur, Bhatinda and Halwara.

“The Sukhoi fighter squadron at Bhuj and Sirsa shall be inducted by the end of this year. Kalaikunda and Hashimara will be ready by mid next year. Thanjavur is aimed to be operational by 2015,” officials added.

The IAF has contracted for 230 Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jets from Russia. Out of these 140 will be manufactured under license at the public sector major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in India. With the IAF needing to maintain minimum squadron strength in the face of the phasing out of MiG-21s and MiG-27s, the HAL has been asked to complete its present order by 2013-14.

Presently the last of the pilots’ batch is getting trained on MiG-21s Type 77 – the oldest of the MiG-21s that were the force’s mainstay in 1971 Indo-Pak War. They are scheduled to finish its syllabus by January 2014 paving the way for their retirement. Whereas the two squadrons of Type-96 MiG-21s will revert back to operational role from training and will continue to serve the force till 2015. The four squadrons of MiG-27s will be retired in a phased manner by 2016-17.

CCS clears Rs. 8,000 crore purchases of BrahMos, tank ammunition

In a bid to address the “critical hollowness” faced by the Indian Army especially in the form of depleting tank ammunition, the Cabinet Committee on Security on Thursday cleared purchase of 10,000 Invar missiles from Russia worth Rs. 2,000 crore along with the acquisition of BrahMos missiles for the Indian Air Force (IAF), valuing around Rs. 6,000 crore. 

A file photo of the Sukhoi fighter jet with BrahMos air version at display at DefExpo-2012

The shortage of tank ammunition was brought to the light in a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by the former Indian Army Chief General VK Singh. The former Army Chief had written that the force was left with only 3-4 days of ammunition in case of an emergency. On Thursday the CCS headed by the Prime Minister cleared the purchase of 10,000 Invar missiles for the Russian-built T-90 tanks at an estimate cost of around Rs. 2,000 crore. 

Under the proposal, the 10,000 Invars will be brought off the shelf from the Russian manufacturers whereas 10,000 more will be licensed-produced by Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) under Transfer of Technology. Invar is fired from the gun barrel of T-90 tanks that are going to be mainstay of the Indian Army’s armoured corps in the years to come.

The CCS also gave its nod for the procurement of the air-version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile that has the capability of hitting within a range of 290 km. The BrahMos acquisition for the IAF also includes funds for retrofitting of the missiles with the Russian-built Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jets. The integration of missile – co-developed by India and Russia – will be done by the Indian aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).

Presently two Su-30MKI fighter jets are being equipped with the air version of BraMos and the test are scheduled to be conducted by December end.

On 80th anniversary IAF gears up for inventory sans MiG-21s

As the Indian Air Force (IAF) turns 80 on October 8, it is gearing up for an inventory without Soviet-vintage MiG-21s often dubbed “Flying Coffins” for their dubious flight safety record – first it will stop training its young pilots on the fighter jet and thereafter retire it by 2015-16.

The present acquisition spree and the phase out of the obsolete platform will ensure that the air force gets younger even as it crosses 80^th anniversary mark.

The IAF had taken the decision to stop training its pilots on MiG-21s in 2011, when IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal announced after a spate of crashes that the last batch of pilots was being trained on the fighter jets.

Confirming this, the Air Chief Marshal Browne said: “Last batch of pilots is being trained. Now these three squadrons’ batches will be the last batch and all the training will shift on Hawk (Advanced Jet Trainer) aircraft.”

After their first two levels of training, half the pilots used to go to British-built AJTs and the rest to MiG Operational Flight Training Units (MOFTU). However, the present batch of MiG-21s Type 77 – the oldest of the MiG-21s that were the force’s mainstay in 1971 Indo-Pak War – will finish its syllabus by January 2014 paving the way for their retirement. Whereas the two squadrons of Type-96 MiG-21s will revert back to operational role from training and will continue to serve the force.

“We need to keep force levels going. By 2015 they will continue to serve,” the IAF Chief added. In fact four squadrons of MiG-27s will be retired in a phased manner by 2016-17. “MiG-29s will be the last of the MiG series aircraft remaining,” Air Chief Marshal Browne said. MiG-29s are presently undergoing an upgrade and the programme will conclude in 2020.   

According to data, the IAF had purchased a total of 872 MiG aircraft of various types between1966-1980. The MiG series aircraft were inducted starting from MiG-21 in 1960s/1970s to MiG-29 in 1980s. Nearly half of the procured MiG aircraft - 482 - met accidents between financial year 1971-72 to 2012-13. A total of 171 pilots, 39 civilians, 8 service personnel and 1 aircrew lost their lives in these accidents. The causes of accidents were both human error and technical defects.

The fourth largest air force in the world is now entering its biggest modernization cusp as it has already signed contracts worth Rs.1.50 lakh crore in the past five years. The force has planned to raise four more squadrons of frontline fighter jets Sukhoi Su-30MKI – two each for western and eastern border. The 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) – French Rafale – shall be inducted in the services by 2017 giving a major firepower to the force.

Besides the fighter jets, the IAF is also modernizing its transport and helicopter fleet as it plans to acquire state-of-the art heavy lift transport C-17 Globemaster and one more squadron of  special operations transporter C-130 Js and 300 different types of helicopters- ranging from attack and medium lift helicopters. 

IAF Chief to review 5th Generation Fighter Jet progress in Moscow

Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne will embark on three day visit to Russia next week where he will review strategic joint ventures with age old patron in defence field including Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) and Multi-Role Transport Aircraft (MTA).

The visit, beginning August 8, will be first for Air Chief Marshal Browne after assuming the charge.

According to sources, the IAF Chief will be visiting Sukhoi Design Bureau and some other Russian Air Force establishments. India and Russia have been working on crucial FGFA and MTA under a fifty-fifty partnership.

The co-developed advanced stealth aircraft FGFA is expected to compete with the US F-22 Raptor, presently the world's only fifth generation fighter, and the under-development F-35 Lightning-II, at an estimated cost of $35 billion.

The Preliminary Design contract for the project was signed in 2010 and the two sides are in “hectic consultations” to freeze the design of this highly advance fighter.

As per US classifications, aircrafts in service from 1980 to 2010, or based on the designs of the 70s are categorised as 4th generation aircrafts. However, 5th generation aircrafts are more advanced with better stealth capabilities and higher speed potential in comparison to the former. The FGFA is being developed under Sukhoi's PAK FA project. The Indian aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) is its Indian partner.

The 30 tonne fighter jet will have very advanced avionics, stealth to increase survivability and enhanced lethality. The aircraft is expected to enter service in the 13th plan (2017-2022) period around 2019. So far, the Indian side has put aside $250 million for the Preliminary Design Contract phase. India will be responsible for developing software for on-board computer systems, aircraft self-defence systems, and a host of other important components.

While India is developing its own two seater version of the FGFA, Russia's version is single seater jet. The IAF alone plans to acquire 214 of the combat jets and the option to acquire more has been kept open. The IAF is looking for 166 single seater and 48 twin-seater versions of the aircraft. IAF Chief in the review meeting would apprise Russians about his requirements in the designs of FGFA, sources said.

The HAL has also signed a tripartite general contract with Russia for the MTA project. HAL and UAC-TA have proposed to design, develop and produce the multi-role transport aircraft in the 15-20 tonne class, jointly by the Indian and Russian agencies to meet the requirements of 100 aircraft for the Russian Air Force, 45 aircraft for the IAF and 60 for other countries. The total requirement for the present is 205.

Besides FGFA and MTA, the IAF Chief will also be raising the issue of malfunctioning ‘fly-by-wire’ system of the Sukhoi Su-30 MKIs resulting in crashes.