Indian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Franklin said:

The ship is still not far from the mouth of the Strait of Gibraltar. So she is still along the Spanish coastline and will actually never come close to the French coast. She will continue to sail east along the North African coastline. And sail south of the Balearic Islands (Spain), Sardinia (Italy), Sicily (Italy) and Malta. She will continue to sail east and should reach the Suez Canal in 4 or 5 days time around Christmas.

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Frankin, you like to be a little nit-picky don't you?

The fact is, I never said she was "close to France," or was sailing along the French coast. I simply said she was, "in the Mediterranean south of France"...and she is:


I know she will not turn north to the southern French coast (which is different than being located "South of France"), and know she will follow the north Africa coast, well out to sea and pass between there and Sadinia, Sicily, etc.

So, let's give a rest to the back and forth about the absolute exact location and just follow her as she transits. That link is an excellent resource in that regard.

Franklin said:

I hope to see some great pictures of the Vikramaditya and her escort fleet as they pass the Suez Canal.

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I agree 100% and hope to see the same. I expect as she transits the canal, many people, includoing the news services are going to get some GREAT pictures and I look forward to them as well.

Very nice video of the Indian HAL Tejas LCA:

I think livefist (a premier Indian military blog as far as I know) explained pretty clearly here what's going on in the LCA program.



below is what he said needs to be accomplished to achieve FOC.

1. Expand flight envelope to -3.5 to 8G (Currently -2 to 6G).
2. 24° angle of attack (Currently 22°).
3. In-flight refuelling capability (Integration of Cobham probe complete).
4. Demonstration of Rafael ADS Derby BVR air-to-air missile.
5. Demonstration of Rafael ADS Python-5 IIR close combat missile (Related post here).
6. Completion of integration & demonstration of KBP Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23 23mm cannon.
7. New design drop tanks for supersonic flight.
8. New radome to improve radar and electromagnetic performance.
9. Validate more efficient cooling system for aircraft braking assembly.
10. Additional weapons testing, including PGMs.

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That seems a lot of changes that needs to be done in one year. Not sure if it's achievable based on how fast this program has proceeded. The first 2 points seem to be the most troubling to me. If they've only been able to expand flight envelope to -2 to 6G so far and get to 22 degree AoA after this many years. How do they get to the final clearance level in one year.

The INS Hansa training center in Goa India for Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery training. And the INS Vikramaditya is now nearing Malta south of Sicily. She is halve way through the Mediterranean and should reach the Suez canal around the 26th of december.

Franklin said:

The INS Hansa training center in Goa India for Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery training.

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Great photos.

The Indians, like the Chinese, have had their own Naval Aviation Trainging facility.

They began building as they began getting the Mig-29Ks 2-3 years ago, and then using it for the Mig-29Ks to simulate STOBAR operations.

I wonder if any Tejas aircraft have been tested there?

AFAIK, Harriers were not working on them. It is meant for training pilots of MiG-29K/KUB for STOBAR ops. Also the shore based facility have two arresting wires instead of the three on carriers if the model displayed by the Russian company is to taken.

LCA Tejas navy variant, which is based on Tejas MK2 (or more appropriately, MK2 is based on Naval Tejas) is still not ready for STOBAR trials and it will be some time before we can see them operating from here. Probably around 2020 as Tejas is a priority for the IAF rather than the Navy at this moment.

Highest commander level meeting between Pakistan and Indian commanders in 10 years

[video=youtube;4FizaHGGm7s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FizaHGGm7s[/video]

Bose said:

AFAIK, Harriers were not working on them. It is meant for training pilots of MiG-29K/KUB for STOBAR ops. Also the shore based facility have two arresting wires instead of the three on carriers if the model displayed by the Russian company is to taken.

LCA Tejas navy variant, which is based on Tejas MK2 (or more appropriately, MK2 is based on Naval Tejas) is still not ready for STOBAR trials and it will be some time before we can see them operating from here. Probably around 2020 as Tejas is a priority for the IAF rather than the Navy at this moment.

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Thanks for that info and the link.

Great info. I thought it was older than that and am glad to know the actual dates it was constructed.

Excellent post.