Top 3 deadliest aircraft of Indian Air Force which Pakistani Fears

Indian Air Force is one of the most powerful airforces in the world, with the giant fleet of 1720+ aircrafts. Indian Air Force or IAF is growing fast, the growth of IAF is necessary for the safety of the nation because India have 2 war fronts. On the East side of the border, India is facing the mighty Chinese Armed Forces and on the west there is Pakistan, which is not so powerful yet capable to inflict heavy damage to India.

Indian Air Force has participated in 3 wars and defended the national interest even by going out of their cards, they had faced more powerful and advance enemy in history but now the scene has changed a little, Indian Air Force is not the same as it was in the previous wars.

The IAF SU 30 displaying at Aero India 2009 at Air Force Station, Yelahanka, in Bengaluru on February 09, 2009. P.C. – Indian Defence Analysis
Indian Air Force is a defensive force but there is a little change in the tactic, now they believe in the concept of offence is the best defence because heaven reside under the shade of sword. So here is the list of the swords of IAF in the event of war.

Su-30 MKi

Su-30Mki is India’s ace of spade when it comes to air power demonstration, Su-30Mki is one of the most advance flanker in the world, when India bought it was nothing special but India upgraded the flanker and made it world class.

Su-30 MKI is fitted with NIIP NO11M Bars (Panther) which is a powerful integrated PESA Radar. The N011M can function in air-to-air and air-to-land/sea mode simultaneously while being tied into a high-precision laser-inertial or GPS navigation system. It is equipped with a modern digital weapons control system as well as anti-jamming features. N011M has a 400 km search range and a maximum 200 km tracking range, and 60 km in the rear hemisphere. The radar can track 15 air targets and engage 4 simultaneously including cruise missiles and motionless helicopters. The Su-30MKI can function as a mini-AWACS as a director or command post for other aircraft. The target co-ordinates can be transferred automatically to at least four other aircraft. The radar can detect ground targets such as tanks at 40–50 km.

Su-30MKI has electronic counter-measure systems. The RWR system is of Indian design, developed by India’s DRDO, called Tarang, (Wave in English). It has direction finding capability and is known to have a programmable threat library. Elta EL/M-8222 a self-protection jammer developed by Israel Aircraft Industries is the MKI’s standard EW pod

Su-30Mki has 12 hard points on which it can carry various type of ammunition weigh up to 8 tons including precision guided bombs, Air to Air missiles, Air to Surface missiles and even supersonic cruise missiles. Su-30MKi is one of the finest fighter in the world and can be consider as backbone of the Indian Air Force.

Mig-29

You can’t imagine Indian Air Force without Mig’s, Indian Air Force is operating Mig’s since very long time. Indian Air Force also have Mig-29’s, Mig-29 UPG is currently one of the advance fighters in the world and the best among all the Mig-29’s. IAF has recently upgraded their Mig-29’s in the Mig-29 UPG. Indian Air Force Mig-29 UPG is very similar to the SMT variant but Indian version is unique it has foreign-made avionics suites.

The upgraded Mig’s have Zhuk-M AESA radar, a IFR probe for advancement in dog fights and enhanced RD-33 series 3 turbofan engines.

The Mikoyan MiG-29 is a twin-engine jet fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG-29, along with the larger Sukhoi Su-27, was developed to counter new American fighters such as the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. The MiG-29 entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1982.

Today, the IAF fleet of MiG-29s is going through a customized upgrade, drawing on both the SMT upgrade package of MiG-MAPO plus unique India specific items such as a special DRDO developed Electronic Warfare suite. These will make the fighter a truly capable multi-role platform, and remove many of the earlier weaknesses of the aircraft – primarily centered around how its avionics/weapons systems were not user friendly.

Mig-29 Upgrade

With modern avionics, it can take on & defeat current generation aircraft, including the Block 50 F-16, when properly flown.

Its primary “deficits” were in terms of its older avionics and limited fuel capacity.The IAF upgrade, which is to SMT level and beyond, addresses these issues.
Mig-29 UPG is currently one of the most advance Mig-29s in the world. The mig-29 upgrade includes ZHUK-ME AESA radar, RD-33 series 3 turbofan engine, IFR probe, an advanced weapon control system and avionics.

With UPG upgrades , it has new databus 1553B standard to incorporate newer avionics , new mission computers, navigation system (RLG-INS w/GPS + possible Glonass module – Sagem’s Sigma95N), Stores Management System, new VRS (Video Recording System) plus DMG (Display Map Generator).

UPG have better Jamming Capabilities with Virgilius Family Jammers This very same suite is now on board on Eurofighter EF-2000. In fact, Virgilius was originally developed for the EF-2000’s IADS suite. Apart from the SPECTRA, this the only AESA-based airborne internal directional jamming system available for export.

Further there are plans to integrate Indian BVR ‘Astra’ , Bhramos missiles and Phazotron Zuke-AE (AESA) Radar , OLS and Laser guided Pods which will even make then more lethal .After transformation of MIG29 into MIG29UPG , they have transformed from Air-superiority fighter to Multi-role fighters .

Remember , our possible threats are Pakistan and China and not US .So our fighter is very good and far ahead than our neighbors in the Medium Class .

Mirage-2000

India bought 49 Mirage aircrafts, in which 42 were single-seaters and 7 were two-seaters in 1980’s. They were one of the most sophisticated aircraft of that time and Indian Air Force had never tried their hands of Delta-Wing designed aircrafts. When Mirage’s came into service, they changed the perspective of Indian Air Force in the field of multi-role fighters.

Mirage-2000 serving in the Indian Air Force since decades and now they are getting up upgrades from Mirage 2000 to Mirage 2000I in which are fitted with the Thales RDY 2 radar, a helmet-mounted display, new avionics, and the ability to fire new weapons including the MICA missile.The new jets were re-designated Mirage 2000I for the single-seat version and Mirage 2000TI for the twin-seat version.

Mirage 2000 is considered to be the best of the ground attack aircraft under the IAF. What exactly sets it apart is it’s the ‘high drag and low wing’ loading clubbed with high percentage of thrust. The Mirage has a Delta wing design which is very helpful in greater Maneuverability. This factor can be a deciding factor in a dog fight.

Indian Air Force has total number of 59 Mirage 2000 in service since 1985.In 1999 During Kargil war with Pakistan ,The Mirage 2000 has a vital role in Guarding the Himalayas.The Aircraft has a limited air interdiction capability  and it was heavily modified to drop laser guided as well as conventional unguided bombs during war.It is one of the most efficient fighters of the IAF due to its impressive performance and easy maintenance.

Indian Air Force is now evolving in a very advance Air Force and will believe in complete air superiority with new aircrafts like Dassault Rafael, India made Tejas.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:- Defence Lover