A Brief History of Asian Stealth So Far - Part 3: India

"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit) 06/21/2014 at 09:14 • Filed to: Planeopnik, India Aerospace, Stealth Fighters

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Imagine what the Cold War would be like if instead of Canada and Mexico the U.S. had the Soviet Union to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south. That is the geopolitical reality of the Indian subcontinent. Sharing India's Western border is Pakistan - plenty of bad blood flows between the two nations after a tumultuous separation of the two in 1947 and a number of wars since, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! If Pakistan is India's Soviet Union, then there's no question who would be their China - quite simply and literally, it's China. Sharing India's Eastern border, the PRC is a major strategic competitor to India by geographical default and control of the Indian Ocean and the South-East Pacific by one nation puts the other in a submissive bind (as well as many other nations, including Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan). This has made Pakistan and China natural allies-of-convenience, and whatever chunk of Pakistan's war machine that isn't directly supplied by the U.S. is directly supplied by the PRC - constituting a very, very large chunk. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , it's a foregone conclusion that India would attempt development of stealth fighters of their own. But they can't wait for the years if not decades of development needed to counter their adversaries' efforts, not with China's examples already airborne and just waiting for full production. The Indians are going for a three-tier approach: acquire/co-develop what they can get from the West, acquire/co-develop what they can get from Russia, and in the meantime their own aerospace engineers can keep busy on a true and fully-indigenous Indian stealth fighter.

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Above image credit "Johnxxx9" via Wikipedia, used through Creative Commons

Indian Stealth Pre-History

During WWII, the air forces defending India were officially a part of the Royal Air Force, and continued to be so until full independence in 1947. As such the Indian Air Force initially fielded the British aircraft types immediately available, and continued ordering and operating British aircraft up to the present day. For good measure, a few other nations helped source aircraft for the IAF, but the inventory was predominantly British in the formulative years.

The Folland company of Britain developed an aircraft called the "Gnat" based on the idea of a super-lightweight, cheap fighter. The RAF never bought on the idea, but adopted the Gnat as its standard high-performance trainer and the mount of the Red Arrows aerobatic team. The Indians, however, did utilize it as a front-line fighter (produced by Hindustan Aircraft LTD as the Ajeet) and scored a number of aerial victories in the type against the Pakistani Air Force. Image from !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

By the 60s, the Indians were already engaged in armed conflict with both China and Pakistan. Furthermore, the Indians started to develop closer diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, although ties with the West weren't exactly chilled. The Indian Air Force was in the unique position of operating both Western and Soviet types simultaneously, against the Western and Soviet-derived designs fielded by Pakistan and China. At the same time, the Indians invited Kurt Tank, who had developed many designs for the Nazi war machine during WWII (including the highly successful Fw-190 "Butcher-Bird"), to develop high-performance and supersonic designs for Indian production. This resulted in the unfortunately underpowered !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! that made little tactical contribution but nonetheless was an extremely important component in Indian aerospace development.

An HF-24 Marut at the Deutsches Museum Flugwerft Schliessheim. Image credit "Softeis" via Wikipedia, used through Creative Commons

This Time, India Outsources from the West (and East)

With access to high-performance tactical aircraft from both the West and Soviet bloc, the Indian Air Force remained very well-equipped throughout the Cold War and beyond. Local aerospace industry became highly adept at mixing and matching the best, especially when it came to electronics, and pumped out highly upgraded versions of classic designs such as the MiG-21 "Bison" (said to have an electronics suite so advanced it can give serious trouble to 4+ Generation fighters). Today, the Indian Air Force resembles the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for being a showcase of the hottest hardware global aerospace firms offer, including top-model Sukhoi Flankers and MiG Fulcrums, Dassault Rafales, and a diverse fleet of helicopters including t !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! alongside the more familiar Chinook and Mi-35s operating with AH-64 Apaches.

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Image credit "g4sp" via Wikipedia, used under Creative Commons

The Su-30MKI (for what roughly translates to "Modernized [K]ommercial for India") is one of the most advanced variants of the "Flanker" and consequently one of the most advanced 4+ Gen fighters on the planet. It actually has more in common with the Su-35 advanced development of the Flanker than the original Su-27 model. Although it doesn't look like it, it more than likely at least has some sort of radar cross-section reduction technology applied to it such as strategically-applied radar-absorbent coating and it's probably a reasonable estimate that its RCS is similar to the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! as a worst case scenario. The Su-30MKI also more than likely has powerful jammers to further stymie enemy detection efforts, and these planes will soon be upgraded with !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! that itself can also act as a jammer.

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Image credit Joey Quain via Flickr, used under Creative Commons

To replace parts of its more antiquated force structure, including the MiG-21s, the Indians launched a program called "Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft" and in turn selected the French-made Rafale to fulfill that role (from a competition that included the Eurofighter, F-16, F/A-18E Super Hornet and Su-35 Super Flanker). Although not a total stealth aircraft, the Rafale nonetheless incorporates a slew of radar cross-section reduction technology and when paired with stealth weapons can evade enemy detection. The examples to be fielded by the IAF and manufactured by Hindustan Aircraft Ltd will likely incorporate additional enhancements such as locally-made jammers and true AESA radar.

Image credit "Nockson" via Wikipedia, used under Creative Commons

Neither of these is a true 5th Gen stealth fighter, so that's where the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! program comes in. A joint program with Russia, the ultimate goal for India is towards a locally-optimized variant of the production version of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . However, there has been a buzz or reports stating that !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , including differences in ideas of technology and work/production sharing.

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A possible configuration of a production version of the T-50 derived FGFA for India. Image from !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

The Rising Indian Aerospace Industry

Fortunately for the Indians, they have a few backup options. Namely, they've been working on a few truly indigenous programs with, as far as airframe production is concerned, total independence from other nations.

An early pre-production model of the HAL Tejas, image credit Aeroprints via Wikipedia. Used under Creative Commons

The !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is a very lightweight, very small 4th Gen class fighter currently being fielded by the IAF and is the first truly indigenous fighter design since the Marut. Like contemporary designs, it will likely incorporate stealth/radar cross-section reduction techniques - but if nothing else, it will return a smaller radar echo simply by being smaller in the first place. Tiny even in comparison to the F-16, the Tejas is perhaps the smallest frontline supersonic tactical aircraft currently in production and echoes the design ethic of the original Folland Gnat/HAL Ajeet that India had success with. It will come in single-seat fighter, two-seat trainer/fighter and even carrier-launched versions, to equip !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! that will be the centerpiece of the Indian Navy.

A model of a possible configuration of a production AMCA-derived fighter. Compare to the aerodynamic test article depicted in the topshot. Image credit !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

For a true 5th Gen stealth fighter, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! will produce a truly indigenous platform that will likely, at least, be in the same stealth class as the F-35 or T-50 and likely be in the same size class as the Super Hornet (given the most common twin-engine configurations seen). Little information is available on this project at the moment, as little information has been developed for it, period. A prototype is at least a few years away still, and it's possible this isn't even the "frozen" design configuration yet. It's also possible the Indians may decide which of the T-50/FGFA and AMCA baskets to throw their eggs into - the T-50-based option would at least seem the most immediately tempting, as several flying prototypes have already been demonstrated and thus provides a more proven and immediate solution provided a model can be tailored to the IAF's satisfaction.

In either case, stealth fighters serving with the IAF seems as inevitable as it does for the Russian air force, the People's Liberation Army-Air Force and the USAF. India is surrounded by potential adversaries, and with growing domestic industry and a population capable of rivaling China's, it almost seems a foregone conclusion that a military showdown is inevitable. Hopefully it will be a relatively peaceful showdown just as it was for the U.S. and the Soviet Union - but if defense really is the best policy towards peace, then stealth fighters will certainly help the IAF achieve that objective.

toecutter (so grey, I gotta wear shades) > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/21/2014 at 11:29

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I give the Indian pilots a lot of credit, because just getting on their helmets must be a bitch.

stacierfurry > toecutter (so grey, I gotta wear shades) 06/21/2014 at 11:46

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Ilike_cougars > toecutter (so grey, I gotta wear shades) 06/21/2014 at 11:47

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Dude not all Indians wear turbans!

munter_vish > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/21/2014 at 11:49

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During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, he was serving with the No. 18 Squadron, "The Flying Bullets" of IAF, flying the Folland Gnat fighter aircraft based at Srinagar. On 14 December 1971, Srinagar airfield was attacked by six Pakistan Air Force F-86 jets of 26 Sqn from PAF base Peshawar. Flying Officer Sekhon was on readiness duty at that time. As soon as the first aircraft attacked, Flg Off Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon of No 18 Squadron rolled for take-off as No 2 in a two-Gnat formation, with Flt Lt Ghumman in lead, just as the first bombs were falling on the runway.

The Gnat Leader, Flt Lt Ghuman lost visual with his wingman just after take-off, remained out of the fight leaving Sekhon to handle the muddle all by himself.

In the ensuing air battle, Sekhon scored a direct hit on one Sabre and set another ablaze.though it has been denied by all the sources of PAF. The latter was seen heading away towards Rajauri, trailing smoke.

A detailed story of his valiant effort has been mentioned in fairly detailed account by Air Cdre Kaiser Tufail.His skill was later also praised in an article by Salim Baig Mirza, the pilot who shot him down. The bravery, flying skill and determination displayed by Flying Officer Sekhon, against an odd of 1:6, earned him India's highest wartime medal for gallantry, the Param Vir Chakra

toecutter (so grey, I gotta wear shades) > Ilike_cougars 06/21/2014 at 11:54

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And not all Americans wear cowboy hats.

So, just enjoy a laugh and try not to be Mr. Encyclopedia.

beerdrinker > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/21/2014 at 11:55

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Why is this on Jalopnik? I don't give 2 shits about this.

mazdaspeeder > beerdrinker 06/21/2014 at 12:22

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The same could be said for your comment. Thanks for contributing to the discussion.

This is really an interesting thing to watch because we are, in essence, watching the Indian aerospace industry be born...or at least, become independent. It seems like playing both sides of the field (Europe and Russia) gives them access to more than almost any other nation, and it will be interesting to see the results and their final procurements. Plus, watching HAL try to develop fighters will be a fascinating thing.

bobrayner > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/21/2014 at 12:31

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It's a good overview of the technical side, but we can't give accurate coverage of Indian military capabilities without mentioning the procurement & production side. A blueprint of an n th generation stealth fighter, or a politician's speech, will never be a useful asset to a country's armed forces; it's only useful once the design is agreed and the airplane is paid for, built, and transitioned into service complete with some trained personnel.

" They've been working on a few truly indigenous programs with, as far as airframe production is concerned, total independence from other nations. "

Not quite. If your indigenous programs can't deliver (give or take a decade) then you are still dependent on other suppliers who can.

Clutchman83 > beerdrinker 06/21/2014 at 12:52

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Because people who like mechanical stuff enjoy stuff like this. Fuck off.

Scrape > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/21/2014 at 12:56

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They are not "Indians." That word is offensive. They are now 'native Asian subcontinentians.'

M54B30 > beerdrinker 06/21/2014 at 13:02

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oh well, hey, if you don't like it then let's get the problem resolved ASAP. Why'd you click on the article? You're an idiot

vc-10 > beerdrinker 06/21/2014 at 13:08

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Well aren't you a lovely person today. Fuck off outside then and enjoy your weekend. Don't click on the link about a subject you're not interested in.

Clevis Pinn > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/21/2014 at 13:08

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Boy, plate tectonics are really something.

"Imagine what the Cold War would be like if instead of Canada and Mexico the U.S. had the Soviet Union to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south. That is the geopolitical reality of the Indian subcontinent."

Last time I checked, the PRC was north of India,the Indian Ocean was to the south, and the USSR was dead.

DipodomysDeserti > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/21/2014 at 13:16

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Asian stealth

feedback > beerdrinker 06/21/2014 at 13:37

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Because Gawker media occasionally cross-posts their various blogs. When will people get over this? If you don't like then don't click.

ZweiDeutschesAutos > beerdrinker 06/21/2014 at 13:56

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Jeez! Then don't click on it. There are lots of things on Jalopnik not directly related to cars. It's mechanical and interesting and someone took the time to write about it. No need to say something shitty about it just because it doesn't float your boat.

Drives a Toyota > beerdrinker 06/21/2014 at 14:30

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move along then.

Great article guys and very informative as well.

JNP65Cobra > beerdrinker 06/21/2014 at 15:15

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I love this shit... But maybe it's time to start an aviation specific blog

Hifrequency > beerdrinker 06/21/2014 at 15:35

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You're not becoming cynical are you?

Hifrequency > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/21/2014 at 15:36

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Great read, thanks for putting this up here.

Elaine W. Trull > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/21/2014 at 15:37

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DoYouEvenShift > beerdrinker 06/21/2014 at 16:56

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I personally love this stuff. Theres content for everybody here. Me, I get tired of hearing miata this, wagon that. But, some people like it, so whatever.

exquisite > beerdrinker 06/21/2014 at 17:11

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You are new here... This was posted in a sub-blog and shared. Lots of people like this kind of stuff. If you do not like this, do not read it.

ThePenguin > beerdrinker 06/21/2014 at 18:08

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Maybe you don't, but others do.

And if you don't care about it, why did you click, possibly read, and comment on it.

ThePenguin > JNP65Cobra 06/21/2014 at 18:11

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There is one, it's called Foxtrot Alpha. You can find it by clicking the dropdown menu over by the J and stuff.

toyotasupraman > JNP65Cobra 06/21/2014 at 19:55

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You mean like http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/

or

http://flightclub.jalopnik.com/ maybe is more suited to that?

Racing Archivist > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/21/2014 at 20:22

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Good article. It is always interesting to see what all is being developed for other air powers

SomeGuy1891 > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/21/2014 at 22:45

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India has always been peace loving and it never invaded another nation in its history ....it was always invaded upon....if only all of India's neighbors were like its thousands of years old neighbors Bhutan ,Nepal and Tibet ......India would not have been spending so much on defense budget !!

Makoyouidiot > beerdrinker 06/22/2014 at 00:03

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Jalopponauts like planes. People are making stealth planes. We have lots of free time. Do the math.

seanomatopoeia > beerdrinker 06/22/2014 at 00:22

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Kinja obviously sucks, but we need to have the ability to flag or insta-delete dumbfucks like this.

Stromend > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/22/2014 at 08:29

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last pay check was $9500 working 12 hours a week online. My neighbour's sister has been averaging 15k for months now and she works about 20 hours a week. I can't believe how easy it was once I tried it out.

This is what I do,,,,,,,,,,

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MaxM > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/22/2014 at 09:22

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Taiwan is NOT a NATION!!!

Roberto G. > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/22/2014 at 12:01

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Indian stealth plane? ...nah, they've no time for that... too busy hanging saris to mango trees.

Baber K. Khan > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/22/2014 at 14:31

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I just can't imagine how you do your research for such articles. I know how commenters can go on nitpicking on easily ignorable mistakes.Much appreciated.

Brosenkranz > beerdrinker 06/22/2014 at 17:23

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Because if Jalopnik didn't post cool shit that isn't necessarily about cars but is still badass it would just be Autoblog.

Poofypuppy > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/22/2014 at 23:31

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India's AMCA bears more than a passing resemblance to the (USA's) YF-23 (which has beautiful lines)...

pphloyd > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/23/2014 at 04:08

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I wonder if it would be pertinent to mention that India was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Align…
I am uncertain, however, what impact this stance may have had on India's ability to procure state-of-the-art military hardware from either side of the Cold War.

Party-vi > SomeGuy1891 06/23/2014 at 09:09

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lol ok.

Shiyal > beerdrinker 06/23/2014 at 09:12

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it isn't. it's on Oppo. stop drinking beer this early Monday.

Ultrakill > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/23/2014 at 11:33

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I had no idea the Indian Air Force was so advanced. Although I did believe that the US had stronger ties to India. They seem like our strongest partner in that corner of the world. I didn't know Russia and India were close partners as well.

thisisamazonman > beerdrinker 06/23/2014 at 11:44

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It's on Oppo, not Jalopnik, and Ballaban just reposted it. You don't have to click on everything they post, ok?

porchswingheroswingsagain > Makoyouidiot 06/23/2014 at 17:04

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regretably...

AF recently has been heavy on the fightes r the kewl articles.

Makoyouidiot > porchswingheroswingsagain 06/23/2014 at 18:15

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Well...fighters are indeed kewl, imho.

boilerdam3 > Roberto G. 06/23/2014 at 20:30

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And chasing cows down the street :)

boilerdam3 > Ultrakill 06/23/2014 at 20:39

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Indians have a long standing relationship with the Russians, although it's mostly military hardware than political. I must say I'm not too aware of the political ties and how deep they run. As for military power, the IAF has used MiG 15 & 21s for a long time and they were the mainstay in the 2 wars with Pakistan & China along with the French/British Jaguars. IAF & the Indian Army uses MiL helicopters primarily. The Navy uses derviates of the MiGs, Tupolev aircraft for patrolling and Kamov helicopters . More recently, MiG 27 & MiG 29 have joined IAF along with the above mentioned Su-30. I remember standing at an air show as a kid with the first ever Su30 delivered to the IAF painted in the Tricolor. The inverted flyby showing off the colors was absolutely amazing!

I must add that the Navy uses Russian ships & submarines as well.

Bit Crusher > JNP65Cobra 06/24/2014 at 01:03

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It's called Foxtrot Alpha you swine and because it's part of Jalopnik Proper you're bound to see lots of avgeeks in Oppo. What kind of soulless douchecanoe goes around saying he likes cars and then has the rocks to say he doesn't like planes?

The_Dirtbag > Roberto G. 06/24/2014 at 14:03

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Don't forget we'd smell'em coming miles away. Must be the curry.......

ravichandran > Scrape 06/26/2014 at 21:01

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Uuh ? Since when ?

The Clownbaby > Party-vi 06/27/2014 at 20:41

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Amazing

tipoo > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 05/12/2015 at 14:53

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I’d be pretty interested in an article about the Tejas by itself, it’s really interesting.