UK Defence Forum

In addition to subs (lots of them, as per this update) India just spent the rest of spare change on $3bn of finest military (US)hardware -yes, Trump appears on the vid, too
- hope that statement was more accurate than him praising India for the harmonious coexistence of religions when in Delhi alone there were 20 dead and 180 injured during the time his visit lasted

The punch line is that the 3rd carrier will have to wait. Russia's offer (drawings only; they admit they can't build the 100 k ton ship) is featured, with twin towers, of course

The Mig-35 would be a good fit to replace the remaining Mig-21s still in service with the Indian Air Force, and be far cheaper than other options.

Navantia Pitching S80 Plus Submarine for India’s P-75I during UDS 2020

Navantia has participated in the "Underwater Defence & Security 2020" Conference, organized by Defence Leaders, that took place in Southampton, in London from 3-5 March.
...
The S-80 Plus submarine is a last generation highly technological product, whose versatility allows the export. Currently Navantia is offering a design derived from this submarine to the Indian Navy, for the P75(I) program, for design and construction of 6 units.

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/20 ... -uds-2020/

Spearfish?

How on earth would they integrate that? Its not for sale, the RN wouldn't let them near it.

Seems more a list of current western heavy weight torpedoes rather than an actual to do list.

The RN is not the only navy racing to get critical systems operational in time for carrier deployments:

India is fast-tracking negotiations to acquire 10 Russian-made Kamov Ka-31 'Helix' airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) helicopters in time for the expected commissioning in 2021 of Vikrant, the Indian Navy's indigenously designed aircraft carrier. The Indian Navy wants to finalize the Ka-31 import, which was approved by the Ministry of Defense in May 2019 for an estimated $478.8 million, given that up to four of the AEW&C platforms are expected to be embarked [at any given time]
- from DID of today

IF they are willing to pay I am sure the Russian Navy would sell a couple from their inventory or lease them to fill the gap.

First batch of Rafale are on their way to India - 5 aircraft (3 x single seat - Rafale EH, 2 x twin seat - Rafale DH)

https://www.defensenews.com/global/euro ... om-france/

PARIS – The first five of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft bought by India from France's Dassault Aviation are being flown from the manufacturing plant by Indian Air Force pilots to India between July 27-29.

The three single-seater and two twin-seater aircraft are slated to make the trip in two stages, with air-to-air refueling during the first leg provided by a French Air Force A330 Phenix MRTT tanker.

Also accompanying the Rafales is a second MRTT carrying 70 respirators, 100,000 test kits and 10 military health professionals to help India with its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The pilots took off from the Dassault Aviation Mérignac facility near Bordeaux in western France and will land at Ambala Air Force Station in northern India, some 125 miles north of Delhi, on July 29, according to the Indian Air Force official Twitter account.

The first leg is to the Al Dhafra airbase in the United Arab Emirates where the aircraft landed on Monday afternoon.

Ambala Air Force Station is ~300km from Kashmir and ~260km from the Pakistani border for reference. Currently home to 5 Squadron and 14 Squadron both equipped with Jaguar

Good on them, Seems like years since they bought them !!!

Would of been nice to see ( if they could of used them ) on their STOBAR carriers

serge750 wrote:Good on them, Seems like years since they bought them !!!

Would of been nice to see ( if they could of used them ) on their STOBAR carriers

This for me is where India went wrong they should have gone for F-18 E/F allowing a mixed order for both Navy and Airforce

Tempest414 wrote: This for me is where India went wrong they should have gone for F-18 E/F allowing a mixed order for both Navy and Airforce

Nobody knows how effective an F/A-18E/F may or may not be launching from a ski-ramp alone. It almost certainly would not be capable of carrying the payload we usually see on a Super Hornet (at least not very far).

Alternatively, MiG-29K was a proven platform which was ready to rock and roll to beef up a growing carrier force and was the preferred option of the Russian Navy in their own inventory. Personally I think they made the right call for a STOBAR carrier - they know what it meant regarding serviceability when you buy Russian.

If they want something beefier then they need to put catapults on-board, especially if they are looking at China.

You may well be right my thinking is that had the Airforce gone for F-18 this would have given the Navy more options

Will be interesting to see what plane they will choose for their IAC2 as she will be a 65k tonne CATOBAR carrier, not sure if it will have EMALS or steam cats, maybe the F35C would be the preferred choice?

I was just thinking they might want a bit of commonality with the airforce as they are getting the Rafaels now, but the Indians have so many types of airframes I am not sure it matters to them...

Not sure if their home grown LCA is going for a CAT version later on ? for IAC2

India/China face off :-

https://thewire.in/security/india-china ... -front-war

Indian cruise missile Nirbhay suffers engine failure within 8 minutes of launch during flight test

https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia ... est-fails/

this year India sent its own carrier battle group, from today's DID

"The four-nation Malabar 2020 naval exercise, involving the US Navy's Nimitz Strike Group, concluded successfully Friday, the Navy's 7th Fleet announced. The exercise began on November 3rd in India's Bay of Bengal and involved Japanese, Indian, Australian and US maritime forces. It included night operations, air defense exercises, helicopter cross-deck evolutions, carrier landing approaches, underway replenishment approaches, gunnery exercises and antisubmarine warfare exercises to improve interoperability between allies. The strike group led by the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz joined the Vikramaditya Carrier Battle Group of the Indian Navy on Nov.6 for the second phase of the event."
- the Japanese have only missed the occasion in the year of their tsunami

India's border from Ladakh all the way to Assam (that is 3500 km of it) hotting up, and nudging the Hindu nationalist leader from unilateral challenger (not implying which side is the challenger) towards multilateral alliances.

The Geopolitical Monitor gives some background to why this issue is not going to go away (and separately Thailand has warned Laos - smaller nation is easier to bend to a big neighbour's will - against buying electricity from the Mekong dams mentioned in the below:

"Former premier Wen Jiabao, said that “the very survival of the Chinese nation is threatened by lack of a water supply.” Already, China is seeking a solution by tapping the flow of four major rivers that supply nine bordering countries: the Mekong, the Brahmaputra, the Indus, and the Ganges. Eleven dams have been constructed on the Mekong. Seventy million people in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam rely upon the river. China controls the headwaters and shows little interest in its policy impacts downstream. By the time the river reaches Vietnam, it is scarcely more than a trickle.
Next on the agenda is the Brahmaputra. In August, Jiacha Dam, the second hydroelectric facility, was completed. Future dams are expected to begin directing water through alternate channels to replenish the Yellow River.
With only 3% of the Indian population dependent upon the river, its real value is political. India is developing the river in Arunachal Pradesh along the Tibetan frontier. The 90,000 km2 territory is claimed by China as a part of southern Tibet, and Beijing objects to any project that indicates that Delhi intends to remain.
Delhi has accused China of supporting a fifth column in the form of a local separatist movement, the United Liberation Front of Assam."

ArmChairCivvy wrote:India's border from Ladakh all the way to Assam (that is 3500 km of it) hotting up, and nudging the Hindu nationalist leader from unilateral challenger (not implying which side is the challenger) towards multilateral alliances.

The Geopolitical Monitor gives some background to why this issue is not going to go away (and separately Thailand has warned Laos - smaller nation is easier to bend to a big neighbour's will - against buying electricity from the Mekong dams mentioned in the below:

"Former premier Wen Jiabao, said that “the very survival of the Chinese nation is threatened by lack of a water supply.” Already, China is seeking a solution by tapping the flow of four major rivers that supply nine bordering countries: the Mekong, the Brahmaputra, the Indus, and the Ganges. Eleven dams have been constructed on the Mekong. Seventy million people in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam rely upon the river. China controls the headwaters and shows little interest in its policy impacts downstream. By the time the river reaches Vietnam, it is scarcely more than a trickle.
Next on the agenda is the Brahmaputra. In August, Jiacha Dam, the second hydroelectric facility, was completed. Future dams are expected to begin directing water through alternate channels to replenish the Yellow River.
With only 3% of the Indian population dependent upon the river, its real value is political. India is developing the river in Arunachal Pradesh along the Tibetan frontier. The 90,000 km2 territory is claimed by China as a part of southern Tibet, and Beijing objects to any project that indicates that Delhi intends to remain.
Delhi has accused China of supporting a fifth column in the form of a local separatist movement, the United Liberation Front of Assam."

I suspect that any response to that post would require an entire, well researched, book. European political mechanics seem rather simple, compared to "Asian" politics.

Caribbean wrote:any response to that post would require

I'll try:
Ahh, to the known (frequently occurring) flash points of Ladakh and Doklan (the key to the vulnerable area known as the Chicken's Neck on the map of India) Assam seems to have been added (= the latest development, and the root cause for this happening is the 'water aspect' which the quote expands - just a tad - on).

Boeing Demonstrates F/A-18 Compatibility With India’s Aircraft Carriers

Boeing and the U.S. Navy proved recently that the F/A-18 Super Hornet can operate from a "ski jump" ramp, demonstrating the aircraft's suitability for India's aircraft carriers.

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/20 ... -carriers/

xav wrote: F/A-18 Super Hornet can operate from a "ski jump" ramp, demonstrating the aircraft's suitability for India's aircraft carriers.

They would need a real carrier plane as the current jets frame is so slight that just about every arrested landing they need resetting the instruments
"According to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, in 2016, serviceability of the MiG-29K was unsatisfactory (37.63%) until 2015. However, recent efforts..." of course have miraculously rectified what derives from a non-carrier plane being used differently

We've got a ramp ,can we get a few also for qe class,no attested landing chest mind you lol

Arrested landing gear even, sorry done on my phone predicted text lol

Interesting barrel on this one: 53 calibres

The K9 VAJRA-T SPH is an enhanced version of HTW’s K9 Thunder, customised and co-developed by L&T and HTW to suit the specific requirements of the Indian army, including desert operations. Among the requirements, special attention is paid to performance in desert conditions.

In January 2020, it was reported that Larsen&Toubro delivered the 51st V9 Vajra-T tracked self-propelled howitzer to the Indian Army.