The self-proclaimed "Global South" voice and leader looks like it's not going to get Intellectual Property Rights to the jet engine from their new western American master as they had delusionaly assumed.
Indian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.
- Thread starter bd popeye
- Start date
The price of Modi's hug with Putin becomes ever more clear.
So now we know why Modi went to hug zElensky. Gotta earn back those deducted brownie points.
Why didn't they just stick a Russian engine from the start?
India wants to move on from Russian engines. they have very bad experience with RD-33 in Mig-29K.
AL-31F can't fit in Tejas and AMCA..
Meanwhile, number of operational JF-17s on RDs is leisurely closing to 200, all while India is still begging for a (yes, better?) 30-year old engine.
Gotta be careful when "your" fighter production is tied to a hug. Next time it may be wrong election result, breath, or conflict. All while Pakistani fighters actually fly.
It's a price of delusional choice of supplier. If you want to own something - don't buy american.
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The elites (corrupt) Indians have always been and will always be enamored with the west. Russia is just a convenient alternative.
It isn't elites(in Indian case, at least), quite the opposite.
It's engineers - it's simply easier to get required specs with f404/f414, it's going to be easier later to work with it (reliability, etc).
"no one was ever fired for buying IBM". f404/414 work, they're installed on thousands of aircraft around the world, etc etc.
Eurojet can run in circles about how advanced they are, but GE is probably the best technical deal in the world.
RD33 is a well known trouble to work with, though new mods are much better; it is just a way less advanced engine (early fighter turbofan, conservative design even for its time, and on top of that - one optimized not just for performance, but for rough field ops).
But it is available to India without questions, it is in Indian fighter fleet for decades, and you can buy full spec for it (WS-13) and develop it further, unlike the endless dream of kaveri. But yes, as an engineer you'll have to step on your selfish side.
Which is hard to do on a plane so full of western (sanctionable) components, why you should be risking your head when others don't?
Others managed to go for less toxic suppliers, though.
Airforce officials and below(pilots, former and current) are another big group.
For them it's straighforward prestige - same kind of prestige that is gained by driving expensive western car.
This played at least some part in Rafale choice, for example - Rafale is a prestigious "car" to drive; remember our Indian friend here, who was seriously proud of nation's premier fighers price (frigate pricetag per jet which isn't NGAD, yes) and source. Western engine is smaller, but it is still a similar logic.
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The Indians will not fight a war with overwhelming opponent, so you have to exclude the Chinese, it's so obvious having the Himalaya as barrier, who is stupid enough to fight a war on that terrain. What the Indians intent to do with its latest Western weapon acquisition is to scare off her neighbors and bully them as most of them are former British subject, having historically experience the humiliation of being defeated by a small number of troops equip with modern weapons of their time it leaves a lasting impression.