Article

2005-10-07 Afghanistan/South Asia

India says no US pressure to buy its fighter jets

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Posted by Steve White 2005-10-07 00:03|| || Front Page|| [11130 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 The MIG-29 with an updated Radar suite and the F-16/18 are excellent choices. The Mirage 2000 is an older plane with a fair track record and I have no idea what the Gripen could do, although I have seen some good press about it. Depends on the electronics suite I guess.

Posted by mmurray821 2005-10-07 00:10|| 2005-10-07 00:10|| Front Page Top

#2 The SAAB Gripen can hold it's own with any of the current lot of Fighters.

Posted by Sock Puppet OÂ´ Doom 2005-10-07 00:21|| 2005-10-07 00:21|| Front Page Top

#3 ...The Gripen is a superbly maneuverable little ship - a worthy successor to the Draken and the Viggen. However, its cost is a problem - the Swedes, as is their tradition, developed every ounce of that ship on their own - and since it has had a (natch) longer than expected development period, it's gonna cost some serious money - no matter what, more expensive than the F-35 by some distance.
And one thing I'm surprised nobody in the IAF considered was yanking out the Soviet electronics in the MiG-29, and rewiring it with up-to-date US systems and installing Slammer and Sidewinder. A bird with those capabilities would give the best fighter drivers in the world fits, not to mention the exploding heads it would cause in Pakistan and Beijing.

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2005-10-07 08:39|| 2005-10-07 08:39|| Front Page Top

#4 This stuff sells itself.

Posted by mojo">mojo 2005-10-07 10:10|| 2005-10-07 10:10|| Front Page Top

#5 The Mig29 with American avionics would result in a plane who is still shorter legged than its most of its (western designed) opponents and, who like usual in Soviet jets is much more maintenance intensive than western planes and thus can make less sorties a day. Scenario go like this: Mig 29s and F15s/F16s fight, each side returns to base for refuelling, F15S/F16s return and catch the Mig29s still on the ground.

West Germany got some of them after unification. The pilots loved them but they were still phased out: Mig 29 is great for air combat but not so great for war (ie making sorties day after day).

Posted by JFM">JFM 2005-10-07 12:07|| 2005-10-07 12:07|| Front Page Top

#6 C'mon! Buy two and we'll throw in a pony!

Posted by Dar">Dar 2005-10-07 12:16|| 2005-10-07 12:16|| Front Page Top

#7 And one thing I'm surprised nobody in the IAF considered
How'd you know it wasn't considered?

Posted by gromgoru 2005-10-07 14:45|| 2005-10-07 14:45|| Front Page Top

#8 I could be wrong on this, but I thought the MiG-29 was an interceptor (like the -25) and built for the PVO, not an all-round air superiority fighter for the VVS, like the -27 and -31?

Posted by Jackal">Jackal 2005-10-07 17:00|| home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html]">[home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html] 2005-10-07 17:00|| Front Page Top

#9 The MIG-29 is a intercepter/dogfighter. It has short little legs and is designed to defend local airspace/airbases. The SU-27 is the air support for long range strikes (long range for the soviets, considered short to medium range for NATO). The 29 had the first targeting tied to the pilot's helmet so he could lock on to a target by looking at it. With US radar, targeting and missiles the MIG-29 is a very dangerous, manuverable fighter. With Russian gear, it is above average since it does not have a powerful radar for radar guided weapons and relies heavily on heat guided missiles.

Posted by mmurray821 2005-10-07 18:08|| 2005-10-07 18:08|| Front Page Top

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