IAF Wants B-21, Russia Offers Submarine Refit, Checkmate Export Talks, Chances of F-15 Ex For IAF

Slim Chances For F-15 EX For Indian Airforce ?

A major hurdle for the F-15 EX is a doctrinal one. While Indian Airforce has been operating heavyweight Sukhoi-30MKI as the backbone of its aircraft fleet, its experience with the enormous fighter jet has not been extremely satisfactory.

While there have been technical and other issues with the MKIs, the Indian Air Force has traditionally used smaller aircraft, which are easier to maintain and operate from challenging airbases.

This may count against the F-15s, besides the IAF already operates hundreds of heavyweight Sukhoi 30 MKIs which are similar to F-15 EX.

Another massive hurdle in India’s acquisition of fighter jets is the government’s demand for technology transfer. This has been one of the biggest blockades and most likely the fundamental cause of the failure of the MMRCA tender.

Here, too, attractive offerings, such as Lockheed Martin’s pact with Tata group or Dassault’s tempting offer to India or Russia’s newest single engine stealth fighter jet Sukhoi-75 Checkmate could sideline the powerful F 15 EX jets.

Even SAAB, which develops the multi role Gripen jets, has offered India a lucrative offer, which reportedly includes setting up an advanced industrial body in India.

Why Russia is offering India old submarines ?

Decades of indecision and the lack of a clear indigenous build programme have left the Indian Navy critically short of submarines, both conventional and nuclear powered.

It has projected a requirement of 18 SSKs Conventional Submarines and six SSNs Nuclear Submarines but has only 14 SSKs and no SSNs. It will acquire only three more SSKs this decade and will retire at least four older SSKs.

On July 20 this year, India’s defence ministry floated a Request for Proposals to build six SSKs in India under the Project-75I conventional submarine project.

It takes six years to build a conventional submarine, and the process leading up to the contract can take as long. Even the most optimistic assessment does not see the first unit being delivered by the end of this decade.

Aware of the delays in the P-75I project, the Navy over the last few years, decided to extend the service lives of its existing submarines. It has sent three Kilo class submarines for a second deep refit (most submarines get only one in their service life), which will extend their service lives by 15 years. A fourth submarine is awaiting a decision on a refit.

Older Submarine Fleet will not need to create new infrastructure, revise crew training or acquire new missiles and torpedoes. This is perhaps why the Russian offer could be seen as attractive, it is the fastest way to rapidly augment declining force levels.

Should India fancy operating stealth bombers?

Indian Navy went on to acquire American P-8I Maritime Patrol aircraft to replace its aging Soviet era Tu-142 Maritime Patrol aircraft that features a powerful sensor suite and continue to pose a threat to Chinese naval assets in a region but it doesn’t bring in massive offensive deep strike capability that Tu-22M could have brought in the region.

$108 million per unit cost spend on the procurement of each Dassault Rafale till now is India’s single most expensive piece of aviation asset that has been procured by the country and outright purchase of B-21 Raider stealth bomber even with its price tag of $639 million unit cost will mean at best it will be able to afford to procure a handful of them.

Indigenous alternative bombers might come in unmanned combat vehicle programs like Ghatak but this won’t bolster Indian nuclear deterrent in the region nor can come as a booster to India’s capability to patrol and deep strike targets far away from its coastline in the vast Indian ocean that has been constantly challenged by China.

India eventually will require either a low observable stealth Heavy Combat Aircraft in Sukhoi-30 Class for its Indian Ocean operations or a dedicated stealth bomber aircraft that will be in a similar class of low observable stealth bombers that are been developed.

Willing to talk to India on the export of ‘The Checkmate’: Rostec

Rostec’s director Kladov said that Checkmate is a project with high export potential. The combination of high combat payload, modern equipment, and low cost per flight hour makes the aircraft extremely cost effective considering its combat capabilities.

The flexible use of various configurations allows us to accurately customize it to meet the needs of almost any potential customer.

United Aerospace Company, an umbrella corporation that includes the MiG and Sukhoi design bureau had unveiled Russia’s second Single engined fifth generation fighter jet at recently concluded Maks Air show in Moscow that has a weight of less than 20 tons.

Russian Air Force is not a big fan of operating single engine fighter jets from the ’80s and it’s unlikely ‘The Checkmate’ will find service with them and India was one of the target export customers that was pretty evident in the promo video that has realized at the time of unveiling.