Grounded For 50 Days, Air Power Becomes A Mirage

The IAF Mirage 2000 fleet has begun interim flying operations since this piece by Headlines Today deputy editor Gaurav C. Sawant and I in INDIA TODAY magazine went to press. Defence Minister A.K. Antony also told Parliament this week that the two Mirage crashes in February and March this year were because of technical defects.

Copyright / India Today

4 thoughts on “Grounded For 50 Days, Air Power Becomes A Mirage”

  1. I would like to know more about these technical defects, software bugs, design weaknesses or manuafacturing defects

  2. the trainer situation is really sad…

    but shiv,

    can u pls. re-confirm that 3 squadrons of Mig-27s are really grounded?…damn… for how long?…when will they fly again?

    these migs are still good for ground attack…sad situation..hope its not true?

    thxs

    -vishal

  3. It is sad that HAL cannot undertake anything of its own.It is an organisation which does only screwdriver technology.It is pathetic they could not design a basic trainer.The IJT project is going at snail's pace with an engine AL 55 which is totally dependent on Russia's mercy. They should change the engine to Honeywell. They better put up a decent IJT and stop blaming IAF for it. The mirage upgrade is costing 41 million $ a piece which is exorbitant and it a cost of a new LCA and for which HAL and ADA are to be blamed.These mirages would not fly after next few years and it a wasteful investment.I feel HAL is still living on the Mark II and Mark IV psyche where they change the grill and little bit of appearance and call that next model. If the LCA would have come on time we do not need MMRCA and how come the 10 billion bill now becomes 20 plus billion, someone is making huge money and instead of putting blame I feel IAF should take the responsibility as to what they want. I feel it would be good choice to have F=35 in same money and develop Tejas to its full potential with Mark 2 fully ready with IN 20 engine and replace it with F414 IN5S6 engine as when it comes so that everything is in place and fully computerized assembly line is ready so that mass production can begin. Rafale is extremely expensive and did not perform well in Libyan missions and french are known to exploit the situation and demand exorbitant money for everything.Scorpene deal signed with no mention of engine and then charging exorbitantly for it. Who would sell and sign a contract of submarine without engine. Enough is enough it is sheer waste to spend 41 million $ per plane for a upgrade that has a questionable engine that may not fly for evan a year.

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