India test-fires air launched version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile

In a display of its growing combat prowess, the Indian Air Force on Friday successfully test-fired an air launched version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from a Sukhoi fighter aircraft in the Bay of Bengal, official sources said.

The missile hit a sinking ship with deadly accuracy and the test-firing produced desired results, they said.The aircraft, belonging to the Thanjavur-based Tigersharks squadron, took off from a frontline airbase in Punjab, and it was refuelled mid-air before the missile was released, they said.

The test firing of the missile came in the midst of India’s bitter border stand-off with China in eastern Ladakh.

The missile was fired after the Su-30 MKI aircraft travelled for over three hours covering a “significantly long distance”, the officials said.

In May last year, the Indian Air Force for the first time had successfully test fired the aerial version of the BrahMos missile from a Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft.

The BrahMos missile provides the IAF a much desired capability to strike from large stand-off ranges on any target at sea or on land with pinpoint accuracy by day or night and in all weather conditions.

The IAF is also integrating the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile on over 40 Sukhoi fighter jets which is aimed at bolstering overall combat capability of the force.

In the last two months, India has test fired a number of missiles including a new version of the surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile BrahMos and an anti-radiation missile named Rudram-1.

The Rudram-1 is planned to be inducted into service by 2022.

On October 18, a naval version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully test fired from an indigenously-built stealth destroyer of the Indian Navy in the Arabian sea.

The missile was fired from INS Chennai, a stealth destroyer, and it hit the target with pin-point accuracy after performing “extremely complex” manoeuvres.

BrahMos Aerospace, an India-Russian joint venture, produces the supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or from land platforms.

India also carried out successful test firing of a laser guided anti-tank guided missile and nuclear capable hypersonic missile ‘Shaurya’

The successful test firing of Rudram-1 was seen as a major milestone as it is India’s first indigenously developed anti-radiatiguion weapon.

On September 30, India successfully test-fired a new version of the surface-to-surface version of the BrahMos.

The range of the new land attack version of the missile has been extended to 400 km from the original 290 km.

India has already deployed a sizable number of the original BrahMos missiles and other key assets in several strategic locations along the de-facto border with China in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.

Thehindu 

Indian Air Force to get a big Rafale boost, 16 fighters to land by April

Five Rafale jets flew to the Ambala airbase via Abu Dhabi on July 29. Three more are landing in Ambala air base on November 5, three will arrive in January, another three in March and seven in April, taking the total number of fighters handed over to the IAF to 21 single-seat fighters and seven twin-seat trainer fighters.

The Indian Air Force’s strike capability is set for a boost with 16 omni-role Rafale jet fighters to be inducted into the Golden Arrows squadron by April 2021 and with France’s biggest jet engine maker Safran ready to make fighter engines and ancillaries in India, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Five Rafale jets flew to the Ambala airbase via Abu Dhabi on July 29 and have already been inducted into the IAF’s Squadron 17. The next batch of three Rafales will arrive in Ambala on November 5 directly from the Bordeaux-Merignac facility (there will be no stop as they will be fuelled mid-air), according to senior government officials. Seven Rafale fighters are already being used for IAF fighter pilot training in France.

Three more Rafales will arrive in January, another three in March and seven in April, taking the total number of fighters handed over to the IAF to 21 single-seat fighters and seven twin-seat trainer fighters. This means that by April next year, the Golden Arrows squadron will be complete with 18 fighters and the remaining three can be sent to the Hashimara airbase in north Bengal’s Alipurduar to counter the threat posed by China on the eastern front. All the fighters are equipped with Mica and Meteor air-to-air missiles along with Scalp air-to-ground cruise missiles. India has now requested Safran for the air-to-ground modular weapon known as Hammer with a 250kg warhead.

While France is willing to offer more Rafale fighters to India, Safran’s offer of making the Snecma M88 engines in India, four years from the day the contract is signed, is a welcome proposal, said the officials cited above.

Not only will the M-88 engines be used by Rafale fighters but these can also be deployed to power Light Combat Aircraft Mark II and twin-engine advanced multi-role combat aircraft developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The IAF plans to buy 83 LCA Mark I A jets, taking the total number of Tejas variants ordered to 123. Safran is said to be willing to offer engines with no third-country spare parts so that no additional approvals are needed, and with 100% indigenisation. The French offer may come up for discussion during foreign secretary Harsh Shringla’s visit to France, the UK and Germany, starting from Paris this Thursday. While DRDO can continue developing its own fighter engine, the Safran engine will fill the gap between development and manufacture.

Only the US, Russia and France have the capacity to produce fighter jet engines, with China still using the Russian RD-93 and RD-33 engines to power its jet fighters such as the J-31 and the JF-17.

Hindustan times 

Indian Air Force Team In France Prepares To Bring Next Batch Of Rafale Jets

IAF Rafale Jets: The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 of these aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.

As it prepares to induct a second batch of Rafale jets, the Indian Air Force has sent a team of officials to France to oversee the logistical issues and review the training of a hand-picked group of pilots at the Saint-Dizier air base there, officials said today.

The second batch of four Rafale jets is expected to arrive in India in the next four weeks.

The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 of these aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.

Several teams from the Indian Air Force have visited France since January to oversee the progress of the Rafale project including integration of India-specific enhancements and weapons systems, the officials said.

The IAF's Rafale project management team has an office in Paris headed by a Group Captain-rank officer. The team is tasked with overseeing the production timelines as well as coordinating training of the crew.

A team of experts headed by Assistant Chief of Air Staff (projects) reached France earlier this week to coordinate logistical issues as well as training of pilots and technicians, said the officials.

The first batch of Rafale jets was finally inducted into the IAF on September 10.

Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on October 5 said the induction of all 36 Rafale jets will be completed by 2023.

Known for their air-superiority and precision strikes, the Rafale jets are India's first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 year after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia.

The newly inducted fleet has been carrying out sorties in eastern Ladakh where Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a bitter border row for over five months.

A group of IAF pilots is currently undergoing training on Rafale jets at the Saint-Dizier airbase in eastern France.

Ndtv

India test-fires Rudram 1, its first anti-radiation missile to kill enemy radars

 India on Friday successfully test-fired Rudram 1, the tactical anti-radiation missile that the Indian Air Force can launch from its Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets to take down enemy radars and surveillance systems. The missile has a launch speech of up to 2 Mach, twice the speed of sound, people familiar with the matter said.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation developed the new generation weapon. It was tested at the interim test range Balasore, off the coast of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal, at about 10.30 am.

“This is a huge step forward,” a senior government official said about the DRDO’s successful test firing. “The IAF will now have the capability to perform SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defence) operations deep into enemy territory to destroy enemy air defence setup,” the official said.

This would allow the IAF’s strike aircraft to carry out their mission unhindered effectively. “This test demonstrates the capability of an Anti-Radiation Missile with large stand-off ranges,” a second official said.

The New Generation Anti-Radiation Missile, or NGARM, is integrated on Su-30MKI fighter aircraft. Its range depends on the height at which the fighter jet is flying. It can be launched from a height ranging from 500 metres to 15 km and can hit radiation emitting targets within a range of 250 km.

All radars and Electro Optical Tracking System tracked the launch and point of impact, a senior government official told Hindustan Times.

The tactical, air-to-surface anti-radiation missile is equipped with a passive homing head that tracks sources of radiation of a wide range of frequencies. It can lock into a target not only before launch but also after it has been launched.

The missile is comparable to the tactical air-to-surface missile AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile that was inducted by the US Navy only in 2017 and can engage relocatable Integrated Air Defence targets and other targets equipped with shutdown capability. This means that if the enemy shuts down the radar after the missile is launched, it will still hit the target.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted his congratulations to the DRDO team that developed the supersonic-capable missile that can be launched at speeds ranging from 0.6 Mach to 2 Mach.

“The New Generation Anti-Radiation Missile (Rudram-1) which is India’s first indigenous anti-radiation missile developed by DRDO for Indian Air Force was tested successfully today at ITR, Balasore. Congratulations to DRDO & other stakeholders for this remarkable achievement,” Rajnath Singh said on Twitter.

Hindustan times 

PLA Confirms Chinese Fighter Jet Crashed In Paddy Fields After A Bird-Hit: Chinese Media

As China flexes its muscle up in the Himalayas and in the South China Sea, Chinese state-run media published a report of a PLAAF fighter jet crashing down without sharing the exact location of the crash.

On Oct. 5, the People’s Liberation Army Daily reported that pilot Wang Jiandong communicated encountering a bird strike shortly after takeoff. The engine’s in-flight shutdown warning instantly began flashing, and the display screen went black, TaiwanNews quoted the Chines media.

After five seconds, emergency backup power kicked in and the cockpit display screen was restored. Wang then tried to push the throttle forward to increase thrust, but there was no response, as the engine had come to a complete stop.

As he was only 272.7 meters above the ground, Wang recognised there was no time to return to the base and that his aircraft is crashing. According to the Chinese media report, Wang directed the plane away from populated areas “three times” within 37 seconds and aimed it at a rice paddy fields before ejecting a mere 75.9 meters above the ground and safely landing in a nearby orchard.

After an investigation by the PLA, it was authenticated that the crash was caused by a bird-hit on the engine of the jet during takeoff, causing it to stall; however, the report did not specify the time and location of the incident. The report did confirm that the pilot is a member of the PLA’s Southern Theater Command.

It is not revealed what type of a jet was involved in the incident, however, the only hint that the report shared was the stock image used in the article included a Chengdu J-10 taxiing on a runway.

Euroasiantimes 

IAF Likely To Place Orders For Over 110 Fighter Jets By The End Of This Year To Shore Up Dwindling Numbers

 

To shore up the declining number of fighters in its fleet, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to place orders for 116 fighter jets by the end of this year.

The IAF will place an order for 21 MiG-29 fighters from Russia by December this year, a report in ThePrint says. These aircraft will be made for the IAF using the airframes which were built in the 1980s but never used.

While the airframes will be old, the fighters will be as capable as the upgraded version of the MiG-29s in service with the IAF currently.

The IAF will also place an order for 12 Su-30 MKIs. These aircraft will be built in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited at its facility in Nashik.

Over 250 Su-30 MKI fighters are in service with the IAF. The new aircraft will replace those lost in accidents over the years.

A deal for 83 Tejas Mark 1As is also likely to be inked by the end of the year.

Addressing the annual press conference yesterday (5 October), IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria said the induction of indigenously designed and developed Tejas fighters into the air force is a priority for him.

These orders will come at a time when the number of fighters in the IAF fleet is declining. While the IAF should have around 40 squadrons of fighters to deal with the threats India faces, it currently has only 30.

Many of these 30 squadrons operate obsolete MiG-21 fighters.

With no progress towards disengagement and de-escalation between India and China in eastern Ladakh, the IAF has moved a large number of fighters to its bases along the border with China in the eastern and western sector.

MiG-29s, Su-30 MKIs, Rafales and Mirage-2000s have been seen flying in Ladakh.

Swarajya Staff