Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar says global aircraft makers will have to get approval from their own governments to transfer technology and build jets in India.
With the IAF having rejected variants of 4 of the contending aircraft -- the Super Hornet, F-16, Gripen C/D and MiG-35 -- in flight trials carried out between 2009-2011 in the MMRCA tender, are the current contenders improved enough to pass flight trials conducted to the same standards?
The unstated aim of a well-publicised airlift operation of this kind is to demonstrate India's ability to rapidly move troops and equipment over long distances.
In the light of India's increasingly 'darkening' threat environment and the convergence of strategic interests between China and Pakistan, the IAF's declining combat capabilities are a cause for concern, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'IAF is expanding at a rapid pace'
The IAF has just 33 squadrons, 9 short of the 42 squadrons needed to tackle China and Pakistan together, says Ajai Shukla.
India has about 15 CH-47 Chinook helicopters.
Air India One aircraft is exclusively for the President, Vice President and prime minister. The first of the two VVIP aircraft Air India One arrived in India earlier this month.
Captain Sathe was a former Indian Air Force Test pilot. He was commissioned into service in 1981 and served in the force for 22 years.
'It's like your own private Boeing 747 which you can fly yourself. This concept brings the aeroplane closer to passengers and opens the cockpit to everyone.'
The company wants to make F 16-Block 70 "for India, from India and export to the world".
India on Thursday approved proposals for purchasing 26 Naval variant of Rafale jets from France and procuring three French-designed Scorpene class submarines, a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's wide-ranging talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
The Rafale maritime fighter aircraft on Monday demonstrated its operational capability at a naval facility in Goa as the Navy plans to acquire a fleet of combat jets for its indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) Vikrant, people familiar with the development said.
For the defence ministry, Aero India 2021 is an opportunity to show its commitment to the prime minister's 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiative.
The five-day event will include aerial displays by aircraft and helicopters along with a large exhibition and trade fair of aerospace and defence companies.
Boeing had received an indirect response from the Indian Air Force for at least 12 Chinook choppers, valued at around $600 million.
The plane was scheduled to arrive in India during the first half of this week, the officials noted. Senior officials of the national carrier reached the US earlier this month to receive the plane from aircraft manufacturer Boeing, the officials said.
Boeing has pitched its FA-18 aircraft, while Dassault is building case for its Rafale jet.
Indian Air Force is planning to arm its Jaguar deep penetration strike aircraft with long range anti-ship missiles to boost its maritime warfare capability.
Notably, Pakistan had previously denied the permission of President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Modi to use Pakistan's airspace thrice to travel to foreign countries in 2019 after India abrogated Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.
'Anyone who should be worried about or critical about this new capability of the Indian Air Force, it should be those who want to threaten our territorial integrity'
Indian Air Force's latest acquisition, the C-17 Globemaster-III made its maiden flight to the Andaman & Nicobar Islands on June 30.
The marine version of the French-made Rafale fighter jet has been successfully flight-tested at a shore-based facility in Goa where conditions similar to that on the indigenously-developed aircraft carrier INS Vikrant were simulated, a top diplomat said.
Aviation turbine fuel accounts for 35-40 per cent of the total operating cost of an Indian airline.
The C-17 Globemaster, the biggest military aircraft in the Air Force, will carry a large consignment of medical supplies to China and bring back more Indians from Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic, the sources said.
'We were against politicisation of the defence acquisition process. It was a question of capability of the air force'
The PM flew to Moscow on one aircraft, then to Kabul and Lahore on another.
The aircraft flew out from the airbase in the French port city of Bordeaux and will cover a distance of nearly 7,000 km with air-to-air refuelling and a single stop in the United Arab Emirates before arriving at Ambala airbase on Wednesday, officials said.
The fleet landed at Al Dhafra airbase on Monday in the United Arab Emirates after flying for over seven hours from the Merignac airbase. It was the only stopover by the jets while flying from France to India.
Top HAL sources say the AMCA, which is being developed as the IAF's next-generation stealth fighter, is slated to be assembled at HAL Nashik.
With no payments coming in, HAL for the first time ever taken a bank loan of Rs 7.81 billion.
India had released the tenders -- Request for Proposals in defence parlance -- in May this year for 22 combat helicopters to augment its fleet of around 30 Mi-25 and Mi-35 attack helicopters. Of the six global players asked to submit their bids within three months, India received proposals from the Russian Kamov and Mil, Italian-British AgustaWestland and French Eurocopter.
The powerful AESA radar lends an edge to the F-18 by increasing its air-to-air detection and tracking range, apart from enhancing its air to ground targeting capabilities. The cutting-edge AESA radar technology has been allowed by the US to be transferred only to Australia till now.
In rebranding the F-16 into the F-21, Lockheed Martin appears to have accepted what many have warned it for years: That the IAF would never buy a fighter whose very name is associated across India with the Pakistan Air Force which has operated the F-16 since the 1980s.
India has placed orders for 10 C-17s Globemaster III airlifters, of which five would be delivered this year and rest five in 2014. The flight test programme would be carried out at the Edwards Air Force Base in Valifornia.
The CH-47F version of the Chinook that India is buying from the United States is a high-tech marvel.
'What kind of insensitivity does it take to get taxpayers to cough up for an aircraft costing a few billion for your personal use, at a time when the country you head is in so much trouble?' asks Sherna Gandhy.
This weekend, two Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters will land in Bengaluru for flight trials by the Indian Air Force, an eight-month-long selection process, involving six different aircrafts, to zero in on a multi-role medium fighter for the IAF.
'It would be a travesty if the Malaysian air force likes the Tejas, but decides against it because it sees the IAF reluctance to back the fighter.'
India's desire to upgrade its Air Force will take a step forward in the next couple of months when trials for 126 medium-range, multi-role combat aircraft begin.
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