Muloghonto Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 This is the one major take-away we should have from this conflict. That our Air Force is a much diminished power and it URGENTLY needs an upgrade. Let me be the first to say, this is no knock on IAF's logistical, tactical or strategic capabilities, nor is it a knock on WC Abhinandan's ability as a pilot. But this is 2019. A wannabe future world power SHOULD NOT BE FLYING MiG-21s in 2019. I don't care how upgraded they are. They first flew in 1956. Any plane that flew a decade before the first moon landing, has no place in a serious Air Force 50+ years after the moon landing ! Currently our inventory stands at: MiG-21 : 112 MiG-27: 44 MiG-29: 66 Tejas: 12 Mirage-2000: 41 Su-30: 242 Sepecat Jaguar: 91 Of these, Mig-21 and Mig-27 are practically useless against anyone better than Nepal or Bangladesh in air power, with the Jaguars having only very limited role of 'open field bombing of large tank formations and stuff' while being escorted by air superiority fighters. In Montane surgical strikes/air dominance combat scenarios, our Air Force is effectively the Mig-29s, Tejas, Mirages and Sukhois - leading to 361 aircrafts. Now i know we are getting 36 Rafales and in the next 4-5 years will get 40 Tejas. But this is not enough and especially with the delayed production of Tejas ( where HAL can only pump out like 10 per year or so) , our air force needs more teeth. We need more planes of the Mirage/F-16/Griffen class that are not super-heavyweight fighters like Su-30s that don't always make sense to deploy in every scenario. Cricketics and Jimmy Cliff 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Our Air Force is by far the weakest branch of our armed forces. The fact that we still have MIG's in our arsenal is disappointing to say the least. Yesterday's events should be a reality check and i hope our Government focuses on improving our arsenal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee_rules Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 In case of war, India can always lease planes from other countries, dont have to rely on current inventory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haarkarjeetgaye Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Both sides Air Forces have been exposed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordPrabhzy Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Congress made sure that they weaken our capabilities by not buying one single plane. Jab ghoos khani hai aur janta ka paisa lootna hai to kyun defence pe spend karen Switchblade 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gs Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 We do appear under-cooked in terms of capabilities. Testosterone can only take you so far when flying vintage machines like Mig 21. How I wish we had some 5th gen fighters now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laaloo Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 18 minutes ago, LordPrabhzy said: Congress made sure that they weaken our capabilities by not buying one single plane. Jab ghoos khani hai aur janta ka paisa lootna hai to kyun defence pe spend karen And we have chutiyas like Rahul Gandhi trying to stop the rafaele deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muloghonto Posted February 27, 2019 Author Share Posted February 27, 2019 When this is all over, will India go along with business as usual mentality or will we urgently ramp up our acquisition of air force hardware ? We need about 200-400 medium range jets to complement our heavyweight Sukhois for the immediate future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeyboardWarrior Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 somehow, this junk fighter shot down the indian jets ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haarkarjeetgaye Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 On a lighter note both Air Chief Marshalls can meet and say - teri bhi lag gayee, meri bhi lag gayee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muloghonto Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 15 minutes ago, KeyboardWarrior said: somehow, this junk fighter shot down the indian jets ... Dude, give me quarter million dollars and i will be able to make a plane with my limited electronics & programming knowhow to shoot down a 1st gen jet that flew 10 years before the moon landing. I mean whats next ? You guys are gonna sink a WWII aircraft carrier of Thailand one day and claim how awesome your navy is for it ?!? Clarke, Real McCoy, Switchblade and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dil Dil India Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 37 minutes ago, Muloghonto said: When this is all over, will India go along with business as usual mentality or will we urgently ramp up our acquisition of air force hardware ? We need about 200-400 medium range jets to complement our heavyweight Sukhois for the immediate future. Petty corruption and politics is why we don't yet have better equipment. As for the specific incident, Pak are just lucky that he happened to fall on the other side of the LOC. We just need to release some evidence of the strike in Balkot and these Pak jokers will shut up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muloghonto Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 16 minutes ago, Dil Dil India said: Petty corruption and politics is why we don't yet have better equipment. As for the specific incident, Pak are just lucky that he happened to fall on the other side of the LOC. We just need to release some evidence of the strike in Balkot and these Pak jokers will shut up. Look, my POV is simple. That WC Abhinandan shot down a plane that is 2-3 generations YOUNGER than his, itself proves his superior piloting skills and training. This is the equivalent of playing with a wooden racket in tennis and making it to the tie-break with someone playing with modern racket. But why the fook are we flying around in a plane that debuted in 1956 ? In war ? Sure, i mean use it for training, give it to the newbie squad or keep it just in case Bangladesh or Nepal wants our help to bomb rebels. But MiG-21 should NOT be seeing any combat in this situation and we HAVE to rectify that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surajmal Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 OP has multiple personalities: Stop indulging him. He needs medical help. Laaloo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muloghonto Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 1 minute ago, surajmal said: OP has multiple personalities: Stop indulging him. He needs medical help. Saying our law and order situation is of higher priority than our military does NOT change the fact that our Air force is overexposed, either. Need more fighter jets than a new Aircraft Carrier. because hey, we are using our A/C right now, eh ? Idiot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dil Dil India Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 14 minutes ago, Muloghonto said: Look, my POV is simple. That WC Abhinandan shot down a plane that is 2-3 generations YOUNGER than his, itself proves his superior piloting skills and training. This is the equivalent of playing with a wooden racket in tennis and making it to the tie-break with someone playing with modern racket. But why the fook are we flying around in a plane that debuted in 1956 ? In war ? Sure, i mean use it for training, give it to the newbie squad or keep it just in case Bangladesh or Nepal wants our help to bomb rebels. But MiG-21 should NOT be seeing any combat in this situation and we HAVE to rectify that. I agree. For now, we need to get evidence on the strikes out though. I want to see the smirks wiped off the disgusting Pak faces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muloghonto Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 Just now, Dil Dil India said: I agree. For now, we need to get evidence on the strikes out though. I want to see the smirks wiped off the disgusting Pak faces. The only reason we dont release the OP details or any footage, is to give Pakistan plausible deniability. We do not want a total confict at this stage for multiple reasons. As such, having a limited conflict scenario requires us giving them the opportunity to save face. Our objective is destruction of terrorist camps and making Pakistan realize that their nuclear bluff will be called. Now if they want to pretend to be Sher-e-Islam because we suck and bombed trees and they bombed an army weapons depot in return- let them. The smirk on their faces is what helps us keep this conflict contained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dil Dil India Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 2 minutes ago, Muloghonto said: The only reason we dont release the OP details or any footage, is to give Pakistan plausible deniability. We do not want a total confict at this stage for multiple reasons. As such, having a limited conflict scenario requires us giving them the opportunity to save face. Our objective is destruction of terrorist camps and making Pakistan realize that their nuclear bluff will be called. Now if they want to pretend to be Sher-e-Islam because we suck and bombed trees and they bombed an army weapons depot in return- let them. The smirk on their faces is what helps us keep this conflict contained. Not really; thus far, the narrative is considerably pro-Pak from what I can gauge. Many sections of our own populace are siding with the Pak narrative. If Pakistan want to escalate they will escalate anyhow, with or without proof. We need them to have egg on their faces. Our credibility on the world stage is at stake. At the very least, we need to show some of the western countries in strict confidence and have them back our view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turning_track Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 1 hour ago, Muloghonto said: When this is all over, will India go along with business as usual mentality or will we urgently ramp up our acquisition of air force hardware ? We need about 200-400 medium range jets to complement our heavyweight Sukhois for the immediate future. Correct. In the next 2 years, our squadron size will shrink to 26. Even though a start has been made by this govt, we need to speed up the process for acquisition. 44 is the number required by IAF in a two-front scenario. Withdrawl of MMRCA deal in 2015 for 36 Rafales has further delayed the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muloghonto Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 Just now, Turning_track said: Correct. In the next 2 years, our squadron size will shrink to 26. Even though a start has been made by this govt, we need to speed up the process for acquisition. 44 is the number required by IAF in a two-front scenario. Withdrawl of MMRCA deal in 2015 for 36 Rafales has further delayed the process. Yes. And while LCA is a great step forward and it is much required, we cannot wait on HAL and its timeline of 8-10 jets per year. That is way too slow to become the new backbone of the IAF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts