In the first edition of a new weekly video series, StratPost editor Saurabh Joshi examines whether India could acquire its first-ever U.S.-built fighter aircraft, with the navy considering the F/A-18 Super Hornet for its next carrier fighter.
A quiet, hybrid process is underway to buy a reduced number of new fighters for the Indian Navy’s aircraft carriers. But remarkably, some of the fighters being considered can’t operate from aircraft carriers.
Angad Singh explains why the Indian Navy faces difficulties as it begins its search for new carrier fighters.
The Indian Navy has issued a Request For Information (RFI) for 57 Multi-Role Carrier Borne Fighters (MRCBF) with the ability to operate from both STOBAR and CATOBAR aircraft carriers.
The Indian Navy is set to take a decision on the future of the naval LCA and will be considering alternatives for fighters to operate from what will be a CATOBAR Indigenous Aircraft Carrier-2 (IAC-2).
The Trikand is the 2nd-last foreign surface ship acquisition by the Indian Navy. The induction of the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (nee Admiral Gorshkov) will be the last surface ship acquired by the Indian Navy from abroad.
In hindsight, some officials are relieved that the boiler problems with the Gorshkov came up at this time, and not at a stage after the Indian Navy took charge of it.
While privately, Indian Navy officials admit that the December-handover now seems unlikely, they also clarify that the required repairs should not ordinarily take more than a month or so.
Interestingly, the fighters involved will include a Russian MiG-29K and a MiG-35 prototype, which was part of the Indian Air Force tender for 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA).
Minister of State for Defense, Mallipudi Mangapati Pallam Raju, accompanied by the deputy chief of the Indian Navy, Vice Admiral Satish Soni, asked the Bell Boeing V-22 Tiltrotor Team for a briefing on the aircraft.
Antony expressed India’s concern at the tardy progress made in the design and development of the Multi-Role Transport Aircraft (MTA). Both countries will now meet again later this month to speed up work on the project.
Defense Minister Arackaparambil Kurian Antony will be on a three-day visit to Russia next week, but will not get a chance to witness the ambitious Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) flight demonstration due to scheduling problems.
The first sea trials of the INS Vikramaditya, the erstwhile Russian carrier, Admiral Gorshkov, have been postponed by five months. Russian website RUSNAVY.com reports that the sortie, which was earlier scheduled for the end of this year, is now being planned for May 2012.
The Indian Navy came in for a hard rap from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Thursday for buying Russian MiG-29K combat planes without their weapons systems, rendering them toothless.
Russia’s MiG aircraft corporation has launched production of a new batch of carrier fighters for the Indian Navy, a MiG spokesman said.
