Indian Air Force News & Discussions

[angeldemon_007]

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FGFA with LCA

[marcos98]

[LiberalAtheist]

there are a lot of Sikhs in IA but not in IAF or IN that should be changed

[Vibs]

there are a lot of Sikhs in IA but not in IAF or IN that should be changed

Religion has nothing to do with selection into the armed forces. Selection criteria are different for all 3 forces.IAF has one of the most strictest criteria for entrance.If a person does not meet the requirement he will not make it through irrespective of his religion

Besides, I know loads of Sikhs who are in the IN.

[LiberalAtheist]

Religion has nothing to do with selection into the armed forces. Selection criteria are different for all 3 forces.IAF has one of the most strictest criteria for entrance.If a person does not meet the requirement he will not make it through irrespective of his religion

Besides, I know loads of Sikhs who are in the IN.

i guess but you have to admit the Gurkhas and the Sikhs are over represented in the armed forces (not saying that as a bad thing) but i have never seen Gurkha, Sikh, Kumaoni, etc pilots in the IAF but just a bunch of skinny tall dudes maybe because Sikhs cannot go in the cockpit due to the Turban and beard issues and i think Gurkhas like to fight on the ground better than in the air

[Black Widow]

there are a lot of Sikhs in IA but not in IAF or IN that should be changed

What is it??? Is it a joke??? Please refrain from posting such nonsense..

i guess but you have to admit the Gurkhas and the Sikhs are over represented in the armed forces (not saying that as a bad thing) but i have never seen Gurkha, Sikh, Kumaoni, etc pilots in the IAF but just a bunch of skinny tall dudes maybe because Sikhs cannot go in the cockpit due to the Turban and beard issues and i think Gurkhas like to fight on the ground better than in the air

Wrong Observation, Sikhs can wear small turban (same like bhajji wear). So turban is not an issue. It may happen that Sikhs enroll lass in IAF/IN, Like muslim enrollment is lesser(lesser than 1%) in armed forces..

[Vibs]

i guess but you have to admit the Gurkhas and the Sikhs are over represented in the armed forces (not saying that as a bad thing) but i have never seen Gurkha, Sikh, Kumaoni, etc pilots in the IAF but just a bunch of skinny tall dudes maybe because Sikhs cannot go in the cockpit due to the Turban and beard issues and i think Gurkhas like to fight on the ground better than in the air

I believe it's more to do with culture. Punjab has been exposed to land wars and the army a lot and kids get influenced by that. South India generally has less exposure to the Army so kids tend to be influenced by the Air force.

[aanshu001]

i guess but you have to admit the Gurkhas and the Sikhs are over represented in the armed forces (not saying that as a bad thing) but i have never seen Gurkha, Sikh, Kumaoni, etc pilots in the IAF but just a bunch of skinny tall dudes maybe because Sikhs cannot go in the cockpit due to the Turban and beard issues and i think Gurkhas like to fight on the ground better than in the air

Mainly with height & weight issues u Sikh and not in fighter planes but with other flying machines they don't had any probs.

---------- Post added at 01:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:13 PM ----------

I think it is, Standing 64"-77" sitting34"-40"

[Abingdonboy]

there are a lot of Sikhs in IA but not in IAF or IN that should be changed

i guess but you have to admit the Gurkhas and the Sikhs are over represented in the armed forces (not saying that as a bad thing) but i have never seen Gurkha, Sikh, Kumaoni, etc pilots in the IAF but just a bunch of skinny tall dudes maybe because Sikhs cannot go in the cockpit due to the Turban and beard issues and i think Gurkhas like to fight on the ground better than in the air

Your either blind or just stupid but here you go the YT vid should be extra interesting for you:

Tarmak007 -- A bold blog on Indian defence: Sing is King! Baldy crowned HAL’s marketing boss



The fixed wing clan of HAL is sure to miss the soft-spoken Sqn Ldr (Retd) Baldev Singh (Baldy) in flying overalls, after he was formally crowned as the Company’s new marketing head. Baldy too will miss his undying tryst with the throttle. An HAL release says that he took over as the new Director Corporate Planning & Marketing on August 16 – to be seated at its HQ on Bangalore’s famous Cubbon Road – now defaced by the metro rail work. Baldy was Executive Director Flight Operations and the Chief Test Pilot (Fixed Wing), prior to the new assignment.
While the IJT-related incidents might have dented the spirit of Baldy and his team, insiders say that he has often kept himself out of the race from director-level opportunities in the past. “He was very much involved with the flying activities be it the IJT or Hawk. And, there could be other reasons, only he would know as to why he chose to stay away from holding top posts. Now, with him being appointed as the Director, he is sure to miss flying,” sources said. Baldy’s first task would be to chart a new flight-path for HAL’s marketing and corporate planning wings. With HAL sitting on a pile of projects, corporate planning becomes a vital cog in the wheel. He will also have to deal with an extremely mediocre head in Nayak, whose term will finally end on October 31 this year – a keenly awaited day by many in the Company. With defence minister Antony making a statement in the floor of the Parliament that the IAF is not trying to take control of HAL, it is now certain that a civilian is sure to take charge, try and save the sinking fortunes of the Company. By the time, hopefully Baldy would have got a grip on his men and machines!
THE MAN: Sqn Ldr Baldev Singh did early schooling in Bangalore at St. Joseph European High School and later joined St. Joseph College. He joined the National Defence Academy in 1970 and graduated from the academy in December 1972 and was commissioned into the Indian Air Force in June 1973 as a fighter pilot. After doing operational flying on Hunter, Mig-21 and Mig-23 aircraft, he qualified as a Flight Instructor in July 1983, and was posted to Air Force Academy at Hyderabad for Instructional Flying Duties on the Kiran Aircraft. In 1984 he did his experimental test pilots course and was deputed to HAL in 1986. He retired from the Indian Air Force in 1989 and joined HAL. He was involved with the LCA Programme from 1990 onwards and was deputed to the Aeronautical Development Agency for this purpose. On the LCA programme he worked extensively on the development and flight testing of the flight control laws of the Light Combat aircraft. He carried out the flight evaluation of these flight control laws at the Real Time simulator at BAE Wharton in UK followed by the flight evaluation of these control laws on the F-16, Lear Jet and NT-33 aircraft in USA. He holds a diploma in Aviation Flight Safety from the Naval Post Graduate College, Monterey Bay, California, USA. He has extensive test flying experience on five prototype programmes and carried out the first flights of the HANSA aircraft and the Intermediate Jet Trainer. He has a Total Flight Test Experience of over 6000 hrs on over 55 different types of aircraft. He is a Qualified Flying Instructor and holds a diploma in Aviation Flight Safety from the Naval Post Graduate College, Monterey Bay, California, USA.

Yes, this pioneer is sort of a celebrity in his own right:

Watch from 4.30-




I was going to post more pics of this legend but they were from the site that must not be named (BR)!!! and was threatened with a permanent ban, if you want to find the pics you will simply have to rely on your initiative I'm afraid.

P.s the vid YOU posted even had Sikh pilots and then you claim "YOUVE NEVER SEEN A SIKH PILOT?!!!

[sancho]

okay but why have 2 basic trainers? seems like waste of money but other AF's do use 2 basic trainers but which will be the ab initio trainer and the stage 1 trainer? and another thing is why did we order the PC-7MK2 when we could have ordered the more modern PC-9?

Hansa is tandem seat i believe we could just send pilots to be trained at air clubs or abroad for basic training countries like Israel until the PC-7MK2 come in

Don't know why they choose the PC 7, but we need 2 trainers because the indigenous is nowhere near to be ready for induction, so we need the proven foreign aircrafts as stopgap solutions. As I said, similar to Fennec/Ka 226 and HAL LUH, or Rafale/EF and HAL LCA.
No the the Hansa trainer has a side by side config:




HALs HTT 40 and the Pilatus PC-7MK2 with tandem seat config:

[Lord Of Gondor]

Don't know why they choose the PC 7, but we need 2 trainers because the indigenous is nowhere near to be ready for induction, so we need the proven foreign aircrafts as stopgap solutions. As I said, similar to Fennec/Ka 226 and HAL LUH, or Rafale/EF and HAL LCA.
No the the Hansa trainer has a side by side config:




HALs HTT 40 and the Pilatus PC-7MK2 with tandem seat config:

BTW,the Grob 120 trainer also had the "side-by side" seating configuration but IAF considered it for trials at least!But when it comes to NAL Hansa,they don't even conduct field trials for it!



Doesn't it feel like they(IAF Top brass) are biased?!

[Lord Of Gondor]

Dunno if it has been posted before but Damn this looks hawt

Photo of Gripen with Indian Air Force roundels

[sancho]

BTW,the Grob 120 trainer also had the "side-by side" seating configuration but IAF considered it for trials at least!But when it comes to NAL Hansa,they don't even conduct field trials for it!

I agree with that to some extend, because if tandem seat was prefered, they simply shouldn't accepted the Grob 120 for the competition, but it seems that our forces/MoD prefers to have the more options in the competitions as possible. Once maybe to have different choices, but also to have more room for negotiation with the vendors. The mid air refueller competition for example was done with A330 and IL 78, but if the P8Is and C17s needs tankers with a boom refuelling system, the Russian tanker is not fitting the requiremtens at all. The only use of accepting it for the competition, or the trials is, to have a better chance of reducing the A330s price. No that the price seems to be not low enough, they try to get Boeing in the competition as well, because they have an aircraft with the correct system and that is cheaper as well. Even if the A330s wins again, it must lower the price to be more comparable to the US competitor.

Similar can be said about the naval MMRCA competition, where IN purposly did not send the RFI to Saab, because they have no carrier fighter, nor experience in developing it and even if, the Sea Gripen will not be very capable as a carrier fighter. However, when Saab asked to respond as well, they accepted it, again because they have better chances to negotiate with other competitors.

In some competition I can understand it, but in competitions like this for trainers with several competitors that would fulfill the requirments anyway, we should have made a shortlist before the trials, to not unnecessarily delay the decisions. Especially when your current trainer is grounded and your pilots can't be properly trained!

[Abingdonboy]

I agree with that to some extend, because if tandem seat was prefered, they simply shouldn't accepted the Grob 120 for the competition, but it seems that our forces/MoD prefers to have the more options in the competitions as possible. Once maybe to have different choices, but also to have more room for negotiation with the vendors. The mid air refueller competition for example was done with A330 and IL 78, but if the P8Is and C17s needs tankers with a boom refuelling system, the Russian tanker is not fitting the requiremtens at all. The only use of accepting it for the competition, or the trials is, to have a better chance of reducing the A330s price. No that the price seems to be not low enough, they try to get Boeing in the competition as well, because they have an aircraft with the correct system and that is cheaper as well. Even if the A330s wins again, it must lower the price to be more comparable to the US competitor.

Similar can be said about the naval MMRCA competition, where IN purposly did not send the RFI to Saab, because they have no carrier fighter, nor experience in developing it and even if, the Sea Gripen will not be very capable as a carrier fighter. However, when Saab asked to respond as well, they accepted it, again because they have better chances to negotiate with other competitors.

In some competition I can understand it, but in competitions like this for trainers with several competitors that would fulfill the requirments anyway, we should have made a shortlist before the trials, to not unnecessarily delay the decisions. Especially when your current trainer is grounded and your pilots can't be properly trained!

Do you really think the future Indian tanker will have boom refuelling capability? I mean it's just too logica (lol)l for the GoI/MoD. I believe that the FrAF has tankers that have both capabilities (boom/drouge) and USAF is/has started converting their tankers to similar capability for more integration with NATO and own forces (USMC/USN). The IAF/IN is going to be operating a large number of US planes with Boom refueling only (P-8I/C-17( and it would make sense for the IAF to cater for all planes and would be a bog boost to their capabilities. At least IAF had the foresight to have IAF SOAR C-130s fitted with probe and drouge to be compatible with current IL-78.

[Lord Of Gondor]

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@Sancho-I second your views
We should have atleast 20 A2A refueling aircraft as 70% of them would be available for most parts.
I have a doubt about the MMRCA...........Which A/C would these replace MiG21/27/23's or will they form a new segment?
IAF had said that they will go with the High-med-low combo but now it seems that they will end up being Top heavy(Su family)!
522 >20T A/C(272MKI and 250FGFA)...126>10T(MMRCA competition winner)......40+95 Tejas(?)!!!!!