Indian Air Force may buy 126 Mirage 2000-5's

Plagued by Mig-21 crashes that have claimed the lives of 100 pilots over the past five years, the IAF is going in for the latest and most expensive aircraft in the Mirage range, reports Kajal Basu

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is in the running for 126 Mirage 2000-5 fighter aircraft, Dassault-Breguet's latest and most sophisticated model, to outfit seven topflight squadrons. The British defence weekly, Dassault Aviation, reported on Tuesday, March 26, that the seven squadrons would "comprise the backbone of India's proposed strategic nuclear command".

Jane's Defence Weekly confirmed the report: "Official sources in New Delhi said the IAF plans to acquire 126 Mirage 2000-5s to equip seven squadrons that will comprise the backbone of India's proposed strategic nuclear command," it said. "The IAF wants 36 Mirage 2000-5s to be delivered in completed form and the remainder to be assembled by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bangalore."

The Mirage is not new to the IAF, which already has about 60 Mirage 2000 H and TH. But the Mirage 2000-5 is an upgraded unit to the order of a couple of generations, and is considered entirely fit for the enhanced nuclear attack role envisaged by the IAF as its frontline role in the coming decade.

When the Mirage 2000 was mobilised, it was a fresh-faced, sleek, delta-winged aircraft with highly advanced interceptor system and controls. Its secondary role is that of ground-attack, for which it carries laser-guided missiles, rockets and bombs. The two-seat version of the aircraft, the 2000N (Penetration), has a nuclear standoff capability.

The Mirage 2000-5 that India is plugging for is a multirole single-seater (or tandem-seater) fighter. Its avionics are considered superb in a world where avionics are reinvented every couple of years. According to a descriptive report, "…its new multiple target air-to-ground and air-to-air firing procedures [are] linked to the use of RDY radar and its new visualisation-and-control system". Usable in air-to-air mission role, the Mirage 2000-5 has technology in which glitches were ironed out from the previous Mirage 2000 versions (Mirage 2000 DA, Mirage 2000 E, Mirage 2000 D).

The Mirage 2000 S has the same architecture and performance data as the Mirage 2000 D, which is itself derived from the Mirage 2000 N stocked by the French Air Force, a two-seater air-to-ground attack aircraft. It is also built for high-speed map-of-the-earth flying. Its armament includes laser-guided weapons, low-drag coefficient bombs, and capability to lug cruise missiles.

The Mach 2.2 Mirage 2000-5's competitors are few and far between - its own cousin, the Mirage III/5, the superb Israeli Kfir, China's SU-27, and the Nordic Viggen. With its minimum 800 nautical miles (1,475 km) and maximum 1,800 nm (3,335 km) range (with drop tanks), the aircraft has strike capabilities that exceed any other aircraft in the possession of the IAF or its neighbouring nation compatriots.

It has been the aircraft of choice in the French Air Force since mid-1983; today, the FAF has 140 Mirage 2000s in seven squadrons. The other nations, apart from India and France, using the Mirage (sundry versions) are Egypt, France, Greece, Peru, Qatar, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Orders for 110 Mirage 2000-5s have been placed by the air forces of France (37, with 20 delivered), Taiwan (60), Qatar (12) and Greece. Greece is scheduled to be supplied 15 Mirage 2000-5 Mk 2 and upgrade 10 Mirage 2000s. The UAE has ordered 30 Mirage 2000-9, a customised version of the 2000-5. India has 18 Mirage 2000Ds.

The Mirage 2000-5 is state-of-the-art and is expected to remain in its current form for at least half a decade. Among its technologies are hands-on throttle and stick (HOTAS) control. It also incorporates the Thales VEH 3020 head-up display and five multifunction pilot-systems interface (APSI) displays. The combined head-up/head-level display provides data relating to flight control, navigation, target engagement and weapon firing. Sensor and system management data (SMD) is shown on two coloured lateral displays.

The Taiwanese Air Force (Republic of China Air Force), however, has reported serial crashes of the Mirage 2000-5, of which it has 60, since March 1998. The RCAF has, however, reported that the accidents are statistically normal and nothing to worry about.

The IAF is no stranger to lethal accidents: its mainstay, the MiG-21, doddering and haunted by a paucity of spares, has claimed the lives of 100 pilots over the past five years. It is to replace these flying coffins that the IAF is buying the vastly more expensive Mirage 2000-5.

I saw this article the other day.

Source

Scrap entire MiG-21 fleet, India told

Parliament committee's advice will probably go unheeded as upgrading of the fighters has already begun

By Nirmal Ghosh
INDIA CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI - Controversy over the role of India's MiG-21 fighter jets - the backbone of the Indian Air Force (IAF) - has deepened with a powerful parliamentary committee recommending that they should be phased out.

The MiG-21 fighters which have been used since the mid-60's have been recommanded to be phased out.

With 100 pilots killed in crashes between 1991 and 2000, India could ill afford to carry on with this ageing fleet any longer, the public accounts committee said.

Of the 221 IAF aircraft lost in accidents during the period, 100 were MiG-21 fighters, which have been in service since the mid-60s.

In recent years, the percentage of MiG-21 crashes has gone up.

The IAF was saddled with a sad compromise between what the nation could afford and what it should discard, the committee's report said.

It also recommended that the government scrap the fleet, regardless of the cost, accelerate its light combat aircraft (LCA) programme and induct a modern advanced jet trainer.

But India is stuck in a Catch-22 situation. It has a large upgrading programme for the MiG-21 in place, using Russian help with French and Israeli avionics.

Given that the LCA programme has failed to take off, there appears to be little alternative to persevering with the MiG-21.

Defence analyst General Ashok Mehta told The Straits Times: 'We are already through with the MiG-21 BIS upgrade for five squadrons - that's over 100 aircraft. It is not an unfair recommendation to scrap the fleet, but it's a Catch-22 situation.

'We have to continue to upgrade the MiG-21s in a patchwork arrangement because it will give time for the LCA to materialise.'

Defence Minister George Fernandes, who has admitted that India experienced problems in the past with the quality of Russian hardware, said some months ago that with the upgrading programme, the MiG-21s would be good for use for up to 15 or 20 years.

But in the interim, he is also keen to restart the stalled LCA project, this time with US collaboration now that Washington has lifted sanctions against India.

MiG-21: 160 still in use

BESIDES 160 MiG-21s, India currently has:

Multi-role fighters: 40 Mirage 2000s, 75 MiG- 29s, 55 MiG-23s and 200 MiG-21BIs
Strike aircraft: 18 Sukhoi 30s, 190 MiG-27s, 70 MiG-23s and 115 Jaguars, with a further 30 Sukhois on order.

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