Mail Today: PAKFA Takes Off This November

Regret the incorrect headline (out of my hands, unfortunately!), but here’s my piece in today’s edition of Mail Today. There’s also a paragraph that has somehow been edited out, which contained a detailed list of all the technical differences between the Russian single-seater T-50 and the Indian twin-seat FGFA, differences probably being brought out for the first time. Either way, that paragraph will appear in a follow-on piece that should appear in the paper in a few days. Plus details of the draft work-share proposal between KNAAPO, Irkutsk and HAL-Nashik. All of those edited-out details in the next instalment.

30 thoughts on “Mail Today: PAKFA Takes Off This November”

  1. good article shiv. please tell us the differences between the indian and russian variants as also the workshare. we are not patient enough to wait for your next newspaper article!!!

  2. so what happens to MCA then??I hope it is not scrapped..glad to hear pak fa finally taking off..any news on mca would be helpful..nice article..

  3. So we see this baby fly in November…Well i can wait till then for some pictures of this aircraft.

    I sure hope it looks like the artistic impressions of it that I have seen in your blog

  4. Hi Shiv,

    On a totally different issue: Heard the following thru the grapevine…………
    (a) Hawk programme in trouble; Spares for existing British built 24 Hawks not available on time, grounding some of them, expected to run into major problem by next year. Also, HAL produced Hawks delayed again….10 were to be delivered in Mar 09/ delayed to Sept 09/ and now delayed once again………

    (b) Mig 29 Upgrade programme delayed/ non avaiblity of Zhuk radar/Advance funds paid by India used elsewhere…delay may be beyond 6 months….total programme may take 2 years longer !!

    (c) Despite Israel really pushing the Gripen(??), F-18 more or less has been decided upon as the winner/US really pushing it very hard, including 'green technology' (???), unless something drastic happens. Teja's Mk 2 will get the F414 engine. Honeywell will get the Jaguar upgrade engine. It's US all the way.

    Any comments………..specially the Hawks issue…….since that woiuld definitely effect the Jaguar engine (Adour)upgrade and, maybe also the Eurofighter.

  5. MCA need to be there to provide the numbers or else we will be still looking at importing the stealth MRCA after say 15 years from now. If the IAF is keen on indigenousisation like the Indian Navy, then MCA is the one that must continue with all the vigour and support from the IAF.

  6. Mig 29 Upgrade programme delayed/ non avaiblity of Zhuk radar/Advance funds paid by India used elsewhere…delay may be beyond 6 months….total programme may take 2 years longer !!
    ——————————–
    from where you got this stupid info

    mig29 program delayed by india itself by 8 months cuz india till today not decided which avionics/EW going to be incorporated in mig

  7. @Vincent
    Keep making planes with people who have never made it so advanced before.

    Its like learning medical surgery from the Subway guy. You go, gurl.

    even US before 1985 did not have any exp in making advanced fighters such as F-22, so does that mean that US should have stopped with their program for advanced fighter?? no it did not.

    Shiv,
    Stopping MCA program, is this some ploy to bring back India to a stage where india was at the start of LCA program???

  8. to anon at 5:31 PM

    As it's Indo-Russian collaboration, will it mean T-50 won't reach Chinese??
    ——————————–
    chinese spent 500 million on s400 SAM development but it doesn't mean if india wnats to buy this system it won't reach in indian hands

  9. All,

    India should buy the F-18 so that Vincent gets his millions in commission from the yank defence firms.

    Kiss my brown a%4 Vincent. But wash your lips first.

    Vincent knows nothing about this stuff but writes crap in every Shiv upload – Shiv should ban his posts.

  10. I think some insurgents have kidnapped Vincent's friends..and unless he positively sells the F-18 to India within the next 6 months the insurgents will….need I say more.

    Keep trying Vincent. Your friends depend upon you. Keep trying.

  11. to vincent

    moron, all the A-A and A-G capabilities of ALL THREE PLANES COMBINED can be easily performed by the super hornet.
    ——————————
    u r wrong about your assessment

    jagaur able to carry 3 LGB

    mirage able to carry upto 4-6 LGB

    and after upgrade even mig29 willl carry upto 4 kab500 or kh29 or kh31

    so combining these A TO G capability of three fighters ine needs 2 f18

  12. >>from where you got this stupid info

    andrew you stupid idiot phaza is bankrupt read russian news

    andrew is foolish fanboy

  13. You guys are just degrading yourself by responding to Vincent in such abusive manner. You are not doing yourself any good. Just ignore him and only respond if you have something positive to say. Besides he might be a 10 year old kid on the computer.

  14. Guys ignore the troll Vincent. Poor Anglo Saxon got lost and ended up here.

    Anyway, if Pak-fa is this close to reality, why not consider it for MRCA?!

  15. Vicent 10 years old?…nah..i doubt if he's more than 5….but he has the brain of a sparrow…not even that of a 5 year old.

  16. Putting on my controversy creator hat…evil grin….

    What if, just what if, Shiv is writing with the alias Vincent to create comment traffic…

    Evil Shiv exposed…mwuhhahaha

  17. very very good news but at the same time feels scared as it should not get delay again like lca, india should go ahead with its mca projectsand lca mark 2 as our country needs to boost its air power, hope to see lch getting ready soon to join the IAF fleet, india should also plan to buy F-22 or F-35 and MIG-35k fighter jets, as threats seen from china and pakistan.

  18. The FGFA will provide the Indian Air Force a Gen 5 air superiority fighter for the 2010s and beyond.

    It may reach IOC by ~2015-16 and only two, maybe three squadrons of FGFAs (aka Su-50MKIs) may be procured, given the inherently expensive price tag of a Gen 5 fighter.

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