DefenceTalkThe Indian Air Force’s frontline fighter jet, Sukhoi-30, has been cleared for flying after being grounded for nearly a month. The Sukhoi-30 fleet will be back in the air “within a week’s time,” Chief of Air Staff Arup Raha said on Friday. The entire fleet of about 200 Su-30s had been grounded following a Sukhoi […]https://www.defencetalk.com/indian-su-30s-cleared-to-resume-flight-61006/

DefenceTalkIndia has grounded its entire Sukhoi 30 fleet after a recent crash because it doesn’t want to put its pilots in harm’s way. The fighters have not flown for a week after a Su-30 MKI of the Indian Air Force crashed near Pune, raising questions about the safety record of the fighter. With the IAF […]https://www.defencetalk.com/india-plays-safe-grounds-entire-su-30-fleet-60820/

DefenceTalkIndian top-gun pilots are slowly but surely running out of combat-worthy fighters to fly. Faced with the twin-threat from China and Pakistan, the IAF has once again sounded the red-alert over the huge delays dogging all its three fighter induction projects. Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha on Saturday said the delays in the MMRCA (medium […]https://www.defencetalk.com/indian-airforce-chief-concerned-by-fighter-delays-60669/

DefenceTalkAir chief marshal Arup Raha has said that it is critical to keep the $25 billion (Rs 1,50,000 crore) French Rafale fighter deal on schedule as the IAF cannot afford any more delays. Raha’s comments are significant as the Eurofighter consortium, backed by four European countries, is trying to re-enter the race to sell its […]https://www.defencetalk.com/india-cant-afford-delay-in-rafale-deal-says-air-chief-60496/

DefenceTalkFrustrated by long delays in replacing their growing stockpile of obsolescent equipment, India’s three armed service chiefs have been warning the government that procurement delays are compromising the country’s war preparedness, military sources have told The Hindu. The government, the sources said, was told the Air Force’s combat jet fleet would soon begin shrinking dangerously, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/indias-ageing-war-machine-could-grind-to-a-halt-govt-warned-58891/

DefenceTalkThe Indian Air Force’s backlog of orders for Russia’s Su-30MKI fighters makes up 272. The fighters are assembled by India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) that has received a license from Russia’s Sukhoi aircraft maker. “Since India received 50 assembled planes from Russia, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited had assembled another 134 fighters in India,” a source close […]https://www.defencetalk.com/india-hopes-to-put-272-su-30mki-fighters-into-service-by-2018-58872/

DefenceTalkIndia’s own fighter, the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), is playing a growing role in protecting Indian airspace. On December 20, when the Tejas was cleared for operational service in the Indian Air Force (IAF), Defence Minister A K Antony declared 200 Tejas fighters would eventually enter combat service. Today, that figure quietly swelled to […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iaf-will-buy-14-tejas-squadrons-lowering-costs-50688/

DefenceTalkThe indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas has undertaken 2,400 sorties to meet the requirements of the IAF, which is set to induct the aircraft on December 20. “The LCA has clocked over 2400 flights till now with highest ever number of sorties achieved in the current year. The programme has achieved highest ever […]https://www.defencetalk.com/indias-light-combat-aircraft-tejas-completes-2400-sorties-49909/

DefenceTalkThe deafening roar of the Mikoyan-Gurevich Mig-21 FL afterburner, an iconic delta-wing fighter aircraft that heralded the ‘supersonic era’ in Indian Air Force (IAF) will no longer be heard after December 11, 2013, the day it is set to fly into the annals of military aviation history. Four Mig-21 FL aircraft flown by pilots from […]https://www.defencetalk.com/india-to-retire-last-mig-21fl-fighter-aircraft-49877/

DefenceTalkThe third Boeing C-17 Globemaster III airlifter for the Indian Air Force (IAF) departed for India Aug. 20 from the company’s Long Beach facility. It joins the first and second India C-17 airlifters, which arrived in June and July, respectively. Boeing is on track to deliver two more C-17s to the IAF this year and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/boeing-delivers-indian-air-forces-3rd-c-17-globemaster-iii-48851/