You're the Indian army.
More seriously though, would it not be normal for there to be SAMs fired during an exercise? How the heck did they achieve firing off 3 'accidently'.
Indian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.
- Thread starter bd popeye
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More seriously though, would it not be normal for there to be SAMs fired during an exercise? How the heck did they achieve firing off 3 'accidently'.
Again a proof that aircraft listings doesn't mean a thing when most of your fleet cannot fly. Whatever your aircrafts are rotted, hangar queens or just waiting for spares, they are not part of your available forces.
That would be the worst decision ever and kill LCA MKII before it even gets a chance.
i'm curious where is the source of this ? IF it's coming from twitter rumor mill.. i would treat this carefully.
Lethe
Captain
There are "Indian analysts" available to support any conceivable acquisition, most of them bought and paid for the by corporate interests that would benefit from said acquisition.
Gripen in 2023 makes sense if and only if LCA Mk. II is terminally ill. Absent this, any delays can be more sensibly backstopped simply by ordering more Mk. 1As.
More interesting is if we were to wind the clock back fifteen years to the MMRCA RFP circa 2008. The basic calculus is the same: Gripen is a compelling aircraft pairing good technology with low acquisition and operating cost. Gripen could potentially backstop any schedule or performance issues with LCA, but at the risk of undermining that latter program entirely. Would it have been a good idea? In retrospect, probably yes.
The political calculus remains similar. Sweden has impressive technology-industrial credentials for a nation of its size, but these credentials are nonetheless limited in breadth compared to larger nations such as USA, Russia, France. Gripen is a Swedish aircraft but relies upon technologies from the US and UK that Sweden cannot control. The argument is that if India is going to expose itself to the western sanctions regime, why not buy from the USA directly and reap the broader diplomatic and industrial benefits of doing so?
This is not a hypothetical argument. Most folks are aware that the US and UK (and Germany and others) imposed sanctions on India after the Pokhran II nuclear tests that affected various Indian development programs. Perhaps fewer are aware that India once expressed considerable interest in Gripen's predecessor, the JAS-37 Viggen, for its 1970s Deep Penetrating Strike Aircraft program. Washington vetoed the acquisition as they were less fond of India in those days and controlled the engine, just as they do with Gripen. India ended up acquiring the Anglo-French Jaguar instead.
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