India retires MiG-21 MiG-27ML Fleet

The Indian Air Force on Friday bid adieu to two of its old Russian-origin MiG fighter aircraft, one of which was flown by the Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa in its swansong flight.
At the Nal airbase in Rajasthan, Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa flew the last sortie of the Hawkeyes, 108 Squadron, bringing a glorious end to the reign of the MiG-21 T-96 aircraft, flown by the squadron.
This comes days after former IAF chief Fali Homi Major flew the last sortie of the Mi-8 helicopter in Bengaluru before the choppers stopped flying.
"It is in the IAF tradition to have the senior-most pilot fly the oldest machine while bidding adieu," said an IAF official.
The 108 Squadron is being 'number-plated', which means it would remain dormant for the time being and would be re-formed to produce new aircraft.
In Hashimara in West Bengal, the last MiG-27 ML roared for the last time in its farewell flight.
Named Bahadur, the swing-wing MiG-27 ML has the single most powerful engine in the world with a variable geometry wing that allows a pilot to change the wing sweep angle while flying as per the mission requirements.
The aircraft, which was flown by the 22 Squadron, is also being number-plated.
Though the MLs have retired, they are not the last swing-wing aircraft in service. Some of the MiG-27s were upgraded to MiG-27 UPG, which will continue to fly.
The MiG-27 UPGs are based in Jodhpur.
deccanherald

India Ends MMRCA Deal and Will Only Buy 36 Rafales To France

India's defence minister has said Delhi will not buy more than the 36 Dassault Rafales to which it committed in April.
The announcement confirms the end of the MMRCA tender and the government's commitment to the Tejas LCA programme
India will neither licence-build additional Dassault Rafale fighters nor acquire more than the 36 it recently agreed to buy in flyaway condition.
The money India had saved by acquiring 90 fewer Rafales would be diverted to buying 200-odd indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).
The LCA will replace 10 to 12 MiG-21 and MiG-27 squadrons to be retired from 2022.
India had been in negotiations with Dassault since 2012 to acquire 126 Rafales.
Of these, 18 were to have been bought off the shelf and 108 licence-built by Hindustan Aeronautics.
janes

Kazakhstan to acquire Su-30SM fighters

Kazakhstan is to acquire the Sukhoi Su-30SM 'Flanker' as it looks to recapitalise its Soviet-era fighter force.
The disclosure was made by the Commander in Chief of the Kazakhstan Air Defence Forces , during a visit to the Irkutsk Aviation Plant where the Su-30SM is built.
The government announcement did not disclose aircraft numbers or delivery timelines.
The Su-30SM has been developed from the Indian Su-30MKI and is intended by the Russian Air Force as a stop-gap until the Su-35 and Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA enter service later in the decade. The two-seat Su-30SM features an improved radar, communications, and ejector-seat system. In addition, the aircraft's weaponry configuration has been adjusted to Russian specifications.
Kazakhstan currently fields MiG-27, Su-25, MiG-31, Su-27, and MiG-29, all inherited from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
Kazakhstan has recently been procuring Western aircraft for the first time in the guise of the Airbus C295 transport aircraft, as well as EC145 and Bell UH-1 Huey II helicopters (and has been touted as a potential customer of the Airbus A400M transport aircraft).
janes

French airforce contingent arrives in India for 'Garuda-5' exercise

Four French Rafale fighter aircraft and a contingent of about 70 French airforce personnel on Saturday landed at Jodhpur airbase to participate in the 10-day long joint air exercise "Garuda-5".
The air exercise, will kick start at the Jodhpur airbase on June 2.
The two air forces would be engaged in various missions ranging from close combat engagement of large forces, slow mover protection, and protecting and engaging high-value aerial assets in the exercise at the strategic airbase near Indo-Pak border.
The air exercise will include four Rafale multirole fighter aircraft and one air refueler that will participate with IAF's multirole Su-30MKI, four MiG-27 and four MiG-21 aircraft. The chiefs of both air forces will be flying the Rafale and Su-30 MKI.
The objective of the exercise is to acquaint the fighter pilots of the two countries with the fighter tactics of each other, air to air refuelling, cross-servicing of a common type between ground crews and understanding basic concepts of each countries fighter operations.
zeenews

Indian Air Force conducts Iron Fist 2013 military exercise

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has conducted its first day-night exercise, code-named Iron Fist 2013, in an effort to display its operational and precision fire power capabilities at the Pokhran test range facility in Rajasthan, India.
Involving participation from around 230 aircraft, the exercise was used to demonstrate day, dusk and night employability of aerial weapons by the IAF's front-line fighter aircraft, in addition to highlighting their ability to conduct seamless network-centric operations with the army and navy.
The exercise featured displays of various fire power aspects, such as air defence operations, counter surface force operations, urban warfare, combat search rescue operations, assault approach and landing, combat offloading and a short take off by a C-130J Hercules transport aircraft.
Participating fighter aircraft included Su-30 MKI, Mirage-2000, Jaguar, MiG-21, MiG-27, MiG-29 and Hawk trainers, whereas the C130J, AN-32, Embraer Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) and IL-76 Candid constitute the transport aircraft elements.

airforce-technology

First Combat Drill With Tejas In 3 Months

India's indigenous Light Combat Aircraft Tejas will be put to play in its first ever combat exercise in February 2013. The IAF's Iron Fist exercise over Rajasthan's Pokhran range will see a pair of Tejas limited series production fighters fly, drop bombs and perhaps fire weapons alongside IAF Su-30s, Mirage-2000s and MiG-21s. The type is scheduled to achieve the second phase of its troubled initial operational clearance (IOC-2) by September 2013.

In separate information made available today by the IAF chief, the air force's four MiG-27 squadrons will be retired by 2016-17, while two MiG-21 Type 96 squadrons currently committed to fast jet training will revert to full operational duties next year as the BAE Hawk fleet fully integrates with the IAF lead-in training syllabus. By 2020, the upgraded MiG-29 Fulcrum will be the only MiG series aircraft left in IAF service (the Indian Navy will operate its MiG-29Ks well beyond 2020).

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MiG-27 de India permanecen paralizados/MiG-27 fighters to remain grounded for further checks

Mas de 100 MiG-27 de la Fuerza Aérea India están paralizados tras el accidente sufrido por uno de ellos el 16 de Febrero.Las versiones del MiG-27 de entrenamiento si están volando, debido a que tienen diferente motor. En el resto de la flota se están revisando los motores en profundidad. El núcleo de la Fuerza Aérea India está formado por aviones MiG entrados en años, y el inadecuado mantenimiento y escaso entrenamiento de los pilotos, son la causa del alto índice de accidentes.
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Over 100 MiG-27s are yet to take to the skies after being grounded following the crash of one of these `swing-wing' strike fighters in West Bengal on February 16."The MiG-27 trainer variants are flying since they have a different engine. As far as the other engines are concerned, we are going in for more details before we decide if any more checks are required,'' said IAF chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik on Tuesday. As earlier reported by TOI, the entire MiG-27 fleet had been grounded after preliminary reports indicated that the `failure of low-pressure turbine blades', which is not in the realm of day-to-day servicing and maintenance, had led to the mishap on February 16. Incidentally, the over 100 MiG-27MLs in the IAF fleet were hardly flown in 2005-2006 after it was found that their R-29 engines were causing a large number of accidents.
Ageing MiG variants, which constitute the bulk of India's combat fleet, coupled with shoddy maintenance and inadequate training to rookie pilots, have all contributed to the high crash rate in IAF.