Suddenly it seems like all three armed forces of India want to have their own dedicated air fleet and don’t want to depend on air force for all their requirements. When BSF wanted to have their own dedicated fleet for moving its logistics , Indian air force stopped protesting any more now and have help guide BSF in laying down its requirements with aircraft manufactures , IAF seems to have taken this in a positive manner , it also recently oked Army having bulk of HAL built LCH attack helicopter which still in testing phase but usually attack helicopters have been operated by IAF in past ,and Army has per source will also be acquiring MTA aircraft’s which Russia and India will be building jointly to help move it logistics all over the country .
Strategic Forces Commands not to be left behind has put its own demand for two plus Squadrons of its own Fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear payload; it has already mentioned that it wants already tested and available aircraft for this job , Jaguars and Mirage-2000k have been backbone of India’s aerial nuclear weapon carrier for a while , but Jaguars have been dropped for not having enough ground space to carry a nuke under its belly and Mirage 2000 along with Sukhoi Su30MKI have been sole Nuke capable fighter aircrafts.
Recent purchase of 40 Sukhoi Su 30MKI might head to this Elite Nuclear Squadron? Or will new aircraft will be purchased for this role is still unclear , since Cabinet approval for such request needs to be cleared first Front runner will always be Sukhoi 30 aircrafts optimized for Nuclear attack mode , but if IAF doesn’t want to give its fleet of Sukhoi 30 from its squadrons ,then defense expert Rakesh Sharma suggests that Sukhoi Su 34 which is a Bomber Fighter aircraft which Russia has been developing to replace its older Sukhoi Su 24 fleet along with its Tu-22 Medium range bombers could be ideal choice for SCF , Sukhoi Co have already reported that the it has begun full-rate production of this aircraft and Russian air force will acquire 200 aircraft by 2020.
What makes this aircraft front runner is it has shares many of the spares and components with IAF’s Sukhoi su 30MKI platform and will not require separate logistics to maintain them; Aircraft has been designed for precision weapons carrying capability that includes Nuclear weapons, and cockpit layout for pilot has been optimized for bombing roles and features side-by-side seating for a crew of two.
Su34 has long range of Su 30 along with Canards to maintain static instability (higher maneuverability) and to reduce trim drag , in addition it Su-34 features a rearward facing radar capable of detecting, tracking, and directing R-73 or R-77 AAMs at pursuing enemy aircraft.
Hi Michael : Thank you so much for detailed information. Have a great day ahead.
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