IndianRenegade Posted July 13 Posted July 13 2 hours ago, singhvivek141 said: 7th engine delivered, 6th is also rectified as per the below report. Seems the target is to deliver 12 engines by 2026 (though HAL said 20). Bugging question is, where is HAL with these 7 engines ? Are the jets ready ? Or that ceremony of showing 18 Tejas mk1a was just a hoax. engine is no longer the issue. IAF isn't accepting deliveries because of s/w & missile integration issues is what I read last. G_B_ 1
G_B_ Posted July 14 Posted July 14 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/defence/news/beyond-saturation-fire-pinakas-precision-leap-reshapes-indias-deterrence/articleshow/132359919.cms Pinaka is slowly getting the credit it derserves. singhvivek141 and ravishingravi 2
singhvivek141 Posted July 14 Posted July 14 3 minutes ago, G_B_ said: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/defence/news/beyond-saturation-fire-pinakas-precision-leap-reshapes-indias-deterrence/articleshow/132359919.cms Pinaka is slowly getting the credit it derserves. If I would be the Def M. I will definately push all the babus to target the island nations and South East Asian nations in the South China Sea to sell Pinaka & Brahmos. Secondly, just to counter the presence of China in the IOR region, I would offer small missile boats/Corvettes to these nations with Brahmos missile to ensure that China stay focussed on South China sea for long. More export opportunities will give our shipyards as well more work so that we dont lose the skill.
singhvivek141 Posted July 14 Posted July 14 Sulur Airbase is a key for our IOR operations and with Naval maritime coordinations. Moving Tejas mk1a to Coimbatore hints that Tejas mk1a variant will be supporting Indian Navy actively in deployment of assets, maritime surveillance and coordinated search and rescue.
singhvivek141 Posted July 16 Posted July 16 I am worried about our Rafale & P75I deals. Both are stuck in limbo.. P75I got some movement in first quarter of 2026, Def Minister visited the Germany and it seemed like contract was about to get signed. But now total silence. Same goes for Rafale, while the Marine variants have done touchdown on IAC and probably will start cominh from 2028 onwards...no news on the MRFA order of 114 jets. Total silence. On top of it, I am hearing news of KF21.
rangeelaraja Posted July 18 Author Posted July 18 I will still take the all round quality of Chinese fighter aircraft’s with great deal of skepticism. I am much more worried about their numbers than the quality of their planes. Their best air defense systems have failed in all theaters - be it Pak or Iran and elsewhere. Fighter aircraft’s are a much more complex technology - especially the engines. The only viable option for us is to get into a manufacturing partnership with Russia - who has the scale and capacity to meet Indias needs also mass produce in India like we did with su30. To put China in its place India needs a frightening missile inventory count. We neither have the budget nor the manufacturing capacity to currently match Chinas numbers. The least India can do is learn from Ukraine and Iran - neither of whom have any credible Air Force and yet have stretched a 10x bigger adversary. Indias airforce is still rated higher than Chinese by WDMMA a highly credible research body. https://www.wdmma.org/ranking.php
singhvivek141 Posted July 18 Posted July 18 12 minutes ago, rangeelaraja said: I will still take the all round quality of Chinese fighter aircraft’s with great deal of skepticism. I am much more worried about their numbers than the quality of their planes. Their best air defense systems have failed in all theaters - be it Pak or Iran and elsewhere. Fighter aircraft’s are a much more complex technology - especially the engines. The only viable option for us is to get into a manufacturing partnership with Russia - who has the scale and capacity to meet Indias needs also mass produce in India like we did with su30. To put China in its place India needs a frightening missile inventory count. We neither have the budget nor the manufacturing capacity to currently match Chinas numbers. The least India can do is learn from Ukraine and Iran - neither of whom have any credible Air Force and yet have stretched a 10x bigger adversary. Indias airforce is still rated higher than Chinese by WDMMA a highly credible research body. https://www.wdmma.org/ranking.php I am worried that IAF is looking utterly confused. I dont see unfortunately any method in their planning. There are manufacturing limitations, but still Navy & Army are moving with a plan. IAF is just latching on what is available instead of what they need for. If we dont agree on Rafale, fine, ditch it. Focus the money on Ghatak & AMCA. Tejas mk2 & mk1a will come in at their own pace. Speedup dry Kaveri program and order 300 units of Ghatak mk1 effectively immediately. Ghatak will solve our problem our stealth fighter to some extent as its RCS is extremely low. I am getting the news that IAF is also exploring SAAB Gripen or KF21 or some other fighter jet. Its a completely confused approach. Dont diversify just for the sake of it. Maintenanxe of these varied aircrafts will be a massive headache. Already AMCA will be a maintenance nightmare due to its coating. We wont be able to use it in rugged way like we have used Su30MKI or Mig29UPG. rangeelaraja 1
rangeelaraja Posted July 19 Author Posted July 19 13 hours ago, singhvivek141 said: I am worried that IAF is looking utterly confused. I dont see unfortunately any method in their planning. There are manufacturing limitations, but still Navy & Army are moving with a plan. IAF is just latching on what is available instead of what they need for. If we dont agree on Rafale, fine, ditch it. Focus the money on Ghatak & AMCA. Tejas mk2 & mk1a will come in at their own pace. Speedup dry Kaveri program and order 300 units of Ghatak mk1 effectively immediately. Ghatak will solve our problem our stealth fighter to some extent as its RCS is extremely low. I am getting the news that IAF is also exploring SAAB Gripen or KF21 or some other fighter jet. Its a completely confused approach. Dont diversify just for the sake of it. Maintenanxe of these varied aircrafts will be a massive headache. Already AMCA will be a maintenance nightmare due to its coating. We wont be able to use it in rugged way like we have used Su30MKI or Mig29UPG. Sab Gripen had offered full ToT and moving the manufacturing to India. Swedish tech is always top notch - it would have been a high volume option for India - but it was rejected as well because they too gave engine dependencies with GE. Building a Jet engine is truely a massive technology leap. Just 3 countries perhaps have full mastery over it. Below is an interesting watch briefly explaining the challenge of building a jet engine.
singhvivek141 Posted July 19 Posted July 19 57 minutes ago, rangeelaraja said: Sab Gripen had offered full ToT and moving the manufacturing to India. Swedish tech is always top notch - it would have been a high volume option for India - but it was rejected as well because they too gave engine dependencies with GE. Building a Jet engine is truely a massive technology leap. Just 3 countries perhaps have full mastery over it. Below is an interesting watch briefly explaining the challenge of building a jet engine. Engine dependencies was one part. SAAB Gripen also failed in the required payload and even its performance in the Himayalan sector was subpar. Indian geographical conditions are extrwmely diverse and from the dry heat of Rajasthan to extreme cold of Himalayas to humid, moisture of Coastal regions, we needed a fighter which can fit everywhere. Rafale passed those tests with a much higher payload capability.
singhvivek141 Posted July 20 Posted July 20 Not sure if this can be counted as a whitepill..but HAL has atleast prepared 20 airframes of Tejas mk1a So if engines comes in...then we have theoretically 1 squadrons which can be handed over to IAF. Radar & Astra integration along with EW suite is pending though. But they can be fixed, engine is a must. https://defence.in/threads/first-20-tejas-mk1a-jets-complete-preliminary-flight-testing-awaiting-ge-f404-engines-for-final-iaf-induction-confirms-hal-chief.18320/
singhvivek141 Posted July 20 Posted July 20 And extending the capabilities of our AWCS..one of our Netra mk1 has been upgraded to mk1a by using GaN radar as against GaAs radar. GaN radar has high thermal capability and hence it was detect at longer ranges without throttling. Extended range is quoted to be around 400-450 km instead of previous 250-300 km range. https://defence.in/threads/first-netra-mk1-achieves-foc-with-gan-aesa-radar-paving-way-for-fleet-wide-upgrades-and-merging-mk1a-capabilities.18321/
singhvivek141 Posted July 21 Posted July 21 Tejas has gained attention since HAL showed the airframe readiness of 20 aircrafts. Its good that we are now picking up the speed of delivery. Radar & Astra integration remains a challenge though (apart from engine), with the current config, Tejas mk1a is more of an interceptor which can proceed towards enemy, engage them and then come back to airbase. For long range patrolling it requires drop tanks which will eat up the hard points needed to carry combat weapons.
Lone Wolf Posted July 22 Posted July 22 Dhanoa was such a disaster Meanwhile Aroor and Vishnu should have been asking these questions back then and now they are concerned with this unsurmountable disparity
singhvivek141 Posted July 22 Posted July 22 10 hours ago, Lone Wolf said: Dhanoa was such a disaster Meanwhile Aroor and Vishnu should have been asking these questions back then and now they are concerned with this unsurmountable disparity China have a massive edge in their funding of these programs. Even though they're not technically best, but they believe is principle of quantity vs quality. Plus with the one party rule, they can literally decide how the funds can be used and there is no one to question them. In India, opposition will cause protests across the country. Anyway our manufacturing system is non existent. Tejas has now started to take baby steps after so much push back over the social media, but there too we are limited by Radar & Engine. Rafale is a good plane for the Pakistan centric warfare. China centric warfare will only start once AMCA starts to come in.
singhvivek141 Posted July 23 Posted July 23 Alpha Defense says it's M2 interceptor. So means Kusha is ready with M1 and M2 interceptor.
singhvivek141 Posted July 23 Posted July 23 And here comes the sad news of the day. TEDBF is still struggling for the CCS approval. I think it's commissioning is tied with the approval of IAC-2. Lone Wolf 1
IndianRenegade Posted July 24 Posted July 24 7 hours ago, singhvivek141 said: And here comes the sad news of the day. TEDBF is still struggling for the CCS approval. I think it's commissioning is tied with the approval of IAC-2. it won't happen.
IndianRenegade Posted July 24 Posted July 24 7 hours ago, singhvivek141 said: Alpha Defense says it's M2 interceptor. So means Kusha is ready with M1 and M2 interceptor. he now says its M1 singhvivek141 1
singhvivek141 Posted July 26 Posted July 26 On 7/24/2026 at 6:08 AM, IndianRenegade said: he now says its M1 Yeah, Atkeast M1 is also a progress. But the way booster was used everyone confused if its M2.
singhvivek141 Posted July 26 Posted July 26 @G_B_, @Lone Wolf Def Matrix calls it Rudram 4, range 1000+ km. Lone Wolf 1
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