Russia receives a royalty for every Su-30MKI produced in India. While India continues to enhance the aircraft by replacing Russian systems with indigenous and Western components, the core design remains copyrighted by Sukhoi.
Indian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.
- Thread starter bd popeye
- Start date
Any reason why India does not simply produce its own heavy fighter that doesn't require royalties to Russia, considering that India (according to you) has developed replacements for many critical subsystems domestically, or can source them from elsewhere?
Tejas MK2 is meant to replace Jaguar, Mig-29 and Mirage-2000, AMCA will replace Su30MKI
UTTAM is a GaAs-based AESA radar with only 912 TR modules and a detection range of about 160 km for a target with a radar cross-section (RCS) of 1 square meter. So, why Virupaksha radar, which uses 2,500 GaN TR modules, can't have a range of at least 600 km?
Please name me one international respected media that „praises the Indian military“? The point is, if something is indeed worth to be praised and this is reported in the international media, I trust it, but why is there always such a gigantic discrepancy between what India praises itself versus how the international media reports on the Indian military and even more - exactly towards your posts - why is there always such a discrepancy betten what the Indian media outlets (esp. IDRW and similar ones) claim and what in the end comes out ???
Therefore not a kind request but an open demand: NEVER EVER AGAIN part something that is not yet done as a fact in present tense! You can add „will“, „is planned to have“ or whatever future tense but NOT in present tense!
Just look:
Must be
… and then add, in what way it SHOULD or is planned to be „similar to how China’s J-16“!
The point is, so far not a single Super-30 is flying, none of its future items are in hardware status and even if like the new radar‘s demonstrators or prototypes they are far from these physics-defying performance data since they are impossible! Even more, such claims „our Super-30 will be“ are being spread as boasted propaganda since years in exactly the same way Tejas Mk.1 and especially Mk.2 is hypes as whatever, while in the end even based on what is published so far it will be NOT „similar to how China’s J-16 is a Chinese-built fighter jet developed from the Su-30’s design“ since it still relies on Russian parts - especially the engines - that is still far away from being an Indian MKI in the way the J-16 is a Sino-Flanker. Even more so, it maybe will reach not even a comparable level of being indigenous much too late … if ever!
To be fair, it's up to debate how much it should.
J-16 is a rather independent thing, which in flanker terms is more of mix of UB（J-11B) and Su-30 (Su-30mkk) features.
Super-MKI...like, let's take Virupaksha for example; it has a very unusual, rare configuration:
it rotates, aka does horizontal scan mechanically. Only one other fighter radar does similar thing. It just happens to be Bars, and it was done because NIIP back then couldn't get electronic scan right, and had to compromise.
It's totally reasonable that IAF adore this extended scan capability (which with proper electronic scan can reach up to ~270 degrees); extended sector of modern Ru flankers is indeed a major advantage. But it's still exact same configuration, which will most probably introduce exact same reliability issues.
That‘s your dream, I would almost say wet-dream! Russia won‘t grant you any licence to export thin and again … how long do you want to „continue to enhance the aircraft by replacing Russian systems with indigenous and Western components“? It‘s too late … India should have done this since decades when it received its dieser MKI and the right to partially manufacture them! Instead even today India is not capable of building a MKI 100% on its own and comparable to what China managed with the J-16 also since decades!
And while India still trying to make a true Make-in-India „Super-30“ in maybe the early 2030s, China is then already fielding the J-36 & J-XDS! So much on India is ahead to China in terms of modernisation!
It‘s a pure embarrassment and simply pathetic!
To be fair, it's up to debate how much it should.
J-16 is a rather independent thing, which in flanker terms is more of mix of UB（J-11B) and Su-30 (Su-30mkk) features.
Super-MKI...like, let's take Virupaksha for example; it has a very unusual, rare configuration:
it rotates, aka does horizontal scan mechanically. Only one other fighter radar does similar thing. It just happens to be Bars, and it was done because NIIP back then couldn't get electronic scan right, and had to compromise.
It's totally reasonable that IAF adore this extended scan capability (which with proper electronic scan can reach up to ~270 degrees); extended sector of modern Ru flankers is indeed a major advantage. But it's still exact same configuration, which will most probably introduce exact same reliability issues.
Ok, but is that radar ready? … NO
When will it be? … still not sure!
Will it be unique? … yes, but is this in the end the sign of being better?
So will it be better than the J-16‘s radar? … likely, but hey, the J-16‘s radar was tested first in 2014 and has been updated several times by now, so an Indian radar ready and operational almost 15 years later shouldn‘t be a question.
Therefore again it is discussing about something that may be eventually be installed 10-15 years after China already achieved something comparable for a time when China is not only fielding 5th generation fighter in numbers, but even close to fielding the next generation.
And finally again: will this all happen? If you look at the Tejas‘ and what is promised since years versus what still isn’t a fact I won‘t hold my breath.
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