I thought an analysis of the Indian military aircraft was in order, particularly with all of their new purchases.
I have the following aircraft listed for the Indian Naval Air Arm, the Indian Air Force, and the Indian Army Aviation respectfully:
INDIAN NAVAL AIR ARM:
TOTAL INDIAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT:
Current: 2,099 aircraft
Planned: 2,798 aircraft
Now, for a couple of observations and comments.
First and foremost, now and in the future, based on the numbers I have, the Indian Military is extremely deficient in AWACS/AEW aircraft, and in Refueling. I would say for a force their size that they are severely deficient. They should have 16-24 decent AWACS aircraft for their nation, and something more capable for their Navy than the Kh-31s. They should have 24-30 or more large refueling aircraft as well.
Second, for a nation their size, with the kind of coastline they have, I would say they are also very deficient in Maritime Patrol and Recon aircraftr, as well as recon aircraft for their Air Force. They should have a force fo 36-48 MPAs, and they should have 48-60 recon aircraft for their Air Force IMHO.
Third, the Indian military, for a nation as large as theirs, needs to spend the next ten years making very serious progress towards developing their own indegenous military aircraft industry. Other than the languishing Tejas, a few trainers, and some light helciopters, they basically do not have a military aircraft industry and they desparately need one. Both from a cost and a strategic reliance standpoint.
Now, the Indian Military is modernizing and they are getting some very decent aircraft and capability. The SU-30MKIs are extremely good aircraft for their air superiority and their attack/strike capabilities, and the Indians will have more of them than any other nation on earth, including Russia.
The Mig-29K is an excellent choice for their naval air arm, and they will also have more of them than any other nation...including Russia.
They are buying more and more Western technology and particularly US technology. This is increaing their overall capability, and hopefully they will be able to get some decent infusion of technology into their own future programs.
From the US they are getting all of the following types of aircraft:
The P-8I Neptunes Maritime Patrol/ASW Aircraft (12 planned)
The C-17 Globemaster Transports (10 planned)
The C-130J Super Herculese Transports (12 planned)
The AH-64D Apache Attack Helicopters (61 planned)
The Ch-47 Chinook Transport Helicopters (15 planned)
Now, those are relatively modest numbers for a military their size...but it is a good start. Having over 60 AH-64Ds will be a critical capability for them in the future.
And...if they can somehow find the funds to add 48 or so F-35As to their Air Force and 24 F-35Bs to their Navy...all the better for them. Those would be very critical future assets, even as they dirve for developing their own military aircraft industry.
I have the following aircraft listed for the Indian Naval Air Arm, the Indian Air Force, and the Indian Army Aviation respectfully:
INDIAN NAVAL AIR ARM:
Fixed Wing Aircraft:
Combat:
45 x Mig-29K Carrier Strike fighters (up to 40 more planned)
12 x Sea Harrier Carrier STOVL Fighters
05 x P81 Neptune (+3 on order, +4 on future order) MPA
08 x Tu-142M Bear MPA
05 x IL-38 May MPA
Trainers:
08 x BAE HAwk 132 Trainers (8 more planned for Navy)
08 x HAL HJT-16 Trainers
Total: 91 Fixed Wing Aircraft (To be 144 aircraft)
Helicopters:
Combat:
09 x Ka-31 Helix-B AEW helos
27 x Westland Sea King ASW/SAR helos
06 x Sirkosky UH-3H Seak King ASW helos
07 x Ka-25 Hormone ASW helos
13 x Ka-28 Helix-A ASW helos
Utility:
55 x Hal Chetak utility helos
18 x Hal Dhruv utility helos (+16 on order)
Total: 125 helicpopters (To be 141)
Total: 214 Naval Aircraft (To be 285)
INDIAN AIR FORCE:Combat:
45 x Mig-29K Carrier Strike fighters (up to 40 more planned)
12 x Sea Harrier Carrier STOVL Fighters
05 x P81 Neptune (+3 on order, +4 on future order) MPA
08 x Tu-142M Bear MPA
05 x IL-38 May MPA
Trainers:
08 x BAE HAwk 132 Trainers (8 more planned for Navy)
08 x HAL HJT-16 Trainers
Total: 91 Fixed Wing Aircraft (To be 144 aircraft)
Combat:
09 x Ka-31 Helix-B AEW helos
27 x Westland Sea King ASW/SAR helos
06 x Sirkosky UH-3H Seak King ASW helos
07 x Ka-25 Hormone ASW helos
13 x Ka-28 Helix-A ASW helos
Utility:
55 x Hal Chetak utility helos
18 x Hal Dhruv utility helos (+16 on order)
Total: 125 helicpopters (To be 141)
Fixed Wing:
Combat:
216 x SU-30MKI multirole aircraft (56 more on order)
062 x Mig-29 UPG (all being upgraded to UPG standard)
049 x Mirage 2000-5 Mk2 (all being upgraded the Mk 5 standard)
148 x Jaguar SPECAT MS (service life upgrade planned for early 2020s)
079 x Mig-27ML (to be retired in early 2020s)
254 x Mig-21 M/MF & BIson (to be retired by 2022
008 x HAL Tejas multio role (40 more on order, 246 more planned)
Total: 716 Combat aircraft (To be 827)
Transport:
006 x C-17 Globemaster transport (4 more on order)
017 x Il-76 MD Candid transport
006 x C-130J Super Herculese transport (6 more on order)
062 x Hawker HS 748 transport
105 x AN-32 cline transport
040 x Do-228 Utility transport
004 x 737 VIP tranport
002 x Astra 1125 VIP transport
Total: 252 Transport Aircraft (To be 262)
Early Warning and Recon:
003 x A-50 Phalcon AEW (2 more on order)
003 x EMB-145 AEWC
007 x IV Sra4 Gulfstem 4 recon
002 x Bombadier 5000 recon
Total: 15 Early warning and recon aircraft (To be 17)
Refueling:
007 x Il-78MKI refueling
Total: 7 Refueling aircraft
Training:
078 x Hawk 132 trainers (28 more on order)
081 x Hal HJT-16 trainers (to be retired in 2017)
035 x Pilatuis PC-7 trainers (40 more ordered, 137 on additional orders)
070 x Hal HPT-32 trainers (to be replaced by PC-7)
Total: 264 Trainer Aircraft (To be 372)
Total: 1,254 Fixed Wing Aircraft (To be 1,485)
Helicopters:
Attack:
004 x HAL Rudra ALH-WSI attack helos (12 more on order)
002 x HAL LCH attack helos (63 more on order)
020 x Mil-35 Hind E Attack helos (to be replaced by Apaches)
002 x AH-64D Apache attack helos (20 more on order)
Transport/Utility:
002 x CH-47 Chinook Transport helos (13 more on order)
187 x Mi-8 Utility helos
019 x Mi-17V5 Utility helos (40 more on order)
003 x Mi-26 Halo Utility Helos
047 x HAL Dhruc Utility helos (65 more on order)
034 x HAL Chetah utility heolos
073 x HAL Chetak utility helos
Total: 403 Helicopters (To be 597)
Total: 1,675 Air Force Aircraft (To be 2,082)
INDIAN ARMY AVIATION:Combat:
216 x SU-30MKI multirole aircraft (56 more on order)
062 x Mig-29 UPG (all being upgraded to UPG standard)
049 x Mirage 2000-5 Mk2 (all being upgraded the Mk 5 standard)
148 x Jaguar SPECAT MS (service life upgrade planned for early 2020s)
079 x Mig-27ML (to be retired in early 2020s)
254 x Mig-21 M/MF & BIson (to be retired by 2022
008 x HAL Tejas multio role (40 more on order, 246 more planned)
Total: 716 Combat aircraft (To be 827)
Transport:
006 x C-17 Globemaster transport (4 more on order)
017 x Il-76 MD Candid transport
006 x C-130J Super Herculese transport (6 more on order)
062 x Hawker HS 748 transport
105 x AN-32 cline transport
040 x Do-228 Utility transport
004 x 737 VIP tranport
002 x Astra 1125 VIP transport
Total: 252 Transport Aircraft (To be 262)
Early Warning and Recon:
003 x A-50 Phalcon AEW (2 more on order)
003 x EMB-145 AEWC
007 x IV Sra4 Gulfstem 4 recon
002 x Bombadier 5000 recon
Total: 15 Early warning and recon aircraft (To be 17)
Refueling:
007 x Il-78MKI refueling
Total: 7 Refueling aircraft
Training:
078 x Hawk 132 trainers (28 more on order)
081 x Hal HJT-16 trainers (to be retired in 2017)
035 x Pilatuis PC-7 trainers (40 more ordered, 137 on additional orders)
070 x Hal HPT-32 trainers (to be replaced by PC-7)
Total: 264 Trainer Aircraft (To be 372)
Helicopters:
Attack:
004 x HAL Rudra ALH-WSI attack helos (12 more on order)
002 x HAL LCH attack helos (63 more on order)
020 x Mil-35 Hind E Attack helos (to be replaced by Apaches)
002 x AH-64D Apache attack helos (20 more on order)
Transport/Utility:
002 x CH-47 Chinook Transport helos (13 more on order)
187 x Mi-8 Utility helos
019 x Mi-17V5 Utility helos (40 more on order)
003 x Mi-26 Halo Utility Helos
047 x HAL Dhruc Utility helos (65 more on order)
034 x HAL Chetah utility heolos
073 x HAL Chetak utility helos
Total: 403 Helicopters (To be 597)
Helicopters:
Attack:
020 x HAL Rhudra ACH-WSIattack helos (40 more on order)
002 x AH-64E attack helicopters (37 more on order)
002 x HAL LCH Attack helos (112 more on order)
012 x HAL LAncer attack helos
Total: 36 Attack Helicopters (To be 223)
Utility{/u]:
064 x HAL Druv Utility helos (96 more on order)
060 x HAL Chetak AS 316B utility helos (to be replaced by 2020)
022 x HAL Cheetah Utility heols (to be relaced by HAL CheetahI)
026 x HAL CheetahI Utility helos
Total: 192 utility Helicopters (To be 208)
Total: 228 Army Aviation helicopters (To be 431)020 x HAL Rhudra ACH-WSIattack helos (40 more on order)
002 x AH-64E attack helicopters (37 more on order)
002 x HAL LCH Attack helos (112 more on order)
012 x HAL LAncer attack helos
Total: 36 Attack Helicopters (To be 223)
Utility{/u]:
064 x HAL Druv Utility helos (96 more on order)
060 x HAL Chetak AS 316B utility helos (to be replaced by 2020)
022 x HAL Cheetah Utility heols (to be relaced by HAL CheetahI)
026 x HAL CheetahI Utility helos
Total: 192 utility Helicopters (To be 208)
TOTAL INDIAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT:
Current: 2,099 aircraft
Planned: 2,798 aircraft
Now, for a couple of observations and comments.
First and foremost, now and in the future, based on the numbers I have, the Indian Military is extremely deficient in AWACS/AEW aircraft, and in Refueling. I would say for a force their size that they are severely deficient. They should have 16-24 decent AWACS aircraft for their nation, and something more capable for their Navy than the Kh-31s. They should have 24-30 or more large refueling aircraft as well.
Second, for a nation their size, with the kind of coastline they have, I would say they are also very deficient in Maritime Patrol and Recon aircraftr, as well as recon aircraft for their Air Force. They should have a force fo 36-48 MPAs, and they should have 48-60 recon aircraft for their Air Force IMHO.
Third, the Indian military, for a nation as large as theirs, needs to spend the next ten years making very serious progress towards developing their own indegenous military aircraft industry. Other than the languishing Tejas, a few trainers, and some light helciopters, they basically do not have a military aircraft industry and they desparately need one. Both from a cost and a strategic reliance standpoint.
Now, the Indian Military is modernizing and they are getting some very decent aircraft and capability. The SU-30MKIs are extremely good aircraft for their air superiority and their attack/strike capabilities, and the Indians will have more of them than any other nation on earth, including Russia.
The Mig-29K is an excellent choice for their naval air arm, and they will also have more of them than any other nation...including Russia.
They are buying more and more Western technology and particularly US technology. This is increaing their overall capability, and hopefully they will be able to get some decent infusion of technology into their own future programs.
From the US they are getting all of the following types of aircraft:
The P-8I Neptunes Maritime Patrol/ASW Aircraft (12 planned)
The C-17 Globemaster Transports (10 planned)
The C-130J Super Herculese Transports (12 planned)
The AH-64D Apache Attack Helicopters (61 planned)
The Ch-47 Chinook Transport Helicopters (15 planned)
Now, those are relatively modest numbers for a military their size...but it is a good start. Having over 60 AH-64Ds will be a critical capability for them in the future.
And...if they can somehow find the funds to add 48 or so F-35As to their Air Force and 24 F-35Bs to their Navy...all the better for them. Those would be very critical future assets, even as they dirve for developing their own military aircraft industry.
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