Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

Chengdu J-20 fighter ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Alexandr Chechin) Source- National Interest Author- Kyle Mizokami As tensions between China and Japan have increased, there have been more encounters between Chinese and Japanese military aircraft. People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Su-27s have been spotted near Japanese aircraft in the East China Sea, prompting Japanese F-15s based in Okinawa to scramble. These encounters appear to be the new normal, and may continue for the foreseeable future—indeed, into a time when China’s J-20 “Soaring Dragon” fighter becomes operational. China’s first fifth generation fighter, the J-20 is expected to enter service by the end of the decade. At the same time, Japan is still flying the F-15J Eagle fighter. Although an excellent fighter, Japan’s Ministry of Defense had expected to replace it with the F-22 Raptor by now. Unfortunately for Japan, the now-infamous Obey Amendment passed by the U.S. Congress prohibited

Russian Sukhoi T-50 ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Alex Beltyukov) Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar Russia and China have recently moved closer together as they collaborate to limit U.S. influence around the globe. However, relations between the two great powers have not always been so cozy. Indeed, the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union even fought a brief undeclared border war in 1969, shattering the illusion of a monolithic Communist bloc. While China and post-Soviet Russia have recently been drawn together, there is always the possibility that in the future their interests may diverge. In the event of conflict, air power would play a key role. So how might Russia’s Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA fare against the Chinese Chengdu J-20? That would depend on the type of conflict. Indeed, as I have noted before, while the PAK-FA is definitely an air superiority fighter, it’s not clear that the J-20 is a fighter at all. If there was wa

Image credits- Lockheed Martin Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar This year marks a decade since the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor was declared operational with the U.S. Air Force. Billed by many as the most capable air superiority fighter ever built, the Raptor only recently proved its mettle in combat over Syria and Iraq about a year ago. But the jet wasn’t used to annihilate a Soviet air armada over the Fulda Gap or rip apart an advanced enemy integrated air defense system as its designers had envisioned. Instead, the Raptor has most been relegated to the role of a flying sensor platform. Nonetheless, the day is coming when the F-22 could face a foe that might have a chance of going toe-to-toe with it and winning—albeit a small one. Russia and China are hard at work developing the Chengdu J-20 and the Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA. Of these two machines, the PAK-FA is probably the more serious challenger. Despite the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has

Sukhoi PAK-FA ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- Dmitry Zherdin) Source- The National Interest Author- Harry J. Kazianis Reports in the Russian media, if accurate, have made a bold claim: Moscow’s PAK-FA T-50 fighter could be much closer to joining Russia’s air force than many expected. However, economic pressures and technological challenges could be a big bottleneck to the program going forward. In an article by Russia Today, it was reported that “in 2016 the Russian Air Force will get ready to put the first production models of the stealth fighter jet into service.” RT added: “All weapons and technical innovation in design for the PAK-FA are promised to be ready by 2020, which, among others, will include 12 types of missiles alone, six of which are to be ready by 2017. Some of the PAK-FA missiles will be hypersonic, with most designed specially to fit into fighter’s inner bays so as not to interfere with its stealth characteristics.” Many in Weste

Source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits-  United States Navy Source- The National Interest Author- Andrew Davies Last week there was a real flurry in the press and the blogosphere about the performance of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Or, more accurately, about the lack of maneuver performance in a trial against an F-16—a design that dates back to the 1970s. War is Boring has been running hard on the issue, with writer David Axe—a frequent critic of the F-35—leading the charge. The story was picked up by the mainstream press, including an ‘exclusive’ in The Australian today. The story is based on a leaked test pilot’s report (PDF) of an air-to-air exercise in January this year. (Note: the report is marked Export Controlled Information FOUO. For ASPI Strategist readers inside government, this is one to access at home.) The crux of the story is that the F-35 was beaten because it couldn’t outturn the F-16, and suffered from “energy disadvantage for every engagement.” To th

Sukhoi T-50 ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Alex Beltyukov) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz Stefan-Gady This week, the head of Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) announced that a full R&D collaboration contract would be signed in 2015 with New Delhi for joint work on the derivative Indian version of the PAK FA T-50 fifth-generation fighter jet, the Perspective Multi-role Fighter (PMF). The contract could be signed as early as July, as a follow-up to Indian Prime Minister’s Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia. Defense News reports that according to an unnamed source within the Indian Ministry of Defense (MOD), India is compromising on various points of conflict over the joint R&D program. Most interestingly, the draft agreement will include a fixed order of 154 PMFs, and include a compromise on work share, a firm commitment to the number of single- versus double-seat PMF (aka Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft) jets, and steps that specifically

Sukhoi PAK-FA ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Alex Beltukov) Source- The National Interest Author- Zachary Keck Russia’s new fifth-generation fighter jet will be superior to its American counterparts in every way, a senior Russian military official has said. According to Russian state media outlets, Viktor Bondarev, Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief, said that the PAK FA will be able to outduel America’s F-22 and F-35 fifth generation fighter jets. Speaking of the PAK FA to reporters last week, Bondarev said that “It will be in no way worse than similar American planes such as F-22 and F-35. Rather, it will outperform them in almost all parameters.” He went on to explain that "the features given to it by its designers allow it to outperform all similar planes that already exist or will soon appear abroad." This includes its ability to fly at speeds surpassing Mach 2, however, Bondarev emphasized that other features will ultimatel

Sukhoi T-50 ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Dmitry Pichugin) Source- Russia &India Report / ITAR TASS Russia’s fifth-generation fighter jets known as PAK FA aircraft will enter service in 2016 and their serial supplies will start from 2017, Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief Viktor Bondarev said on Thursday. "The fifth-generation fighter jets will enter service from next year," Bondarev said. "We’re completing the aircraft tests and from 2017 they will be serially supplied," the Air Force chief said. Russia’s new fighter jet "will not be in any way inferior to US F-22 and F-35 fighters and will surpass them by all practical parameters," Bondarev said. The PAK FA will be a multifunctional plane designated to "deliver strikes against ground, air and sea targets," the Russian Air Force chief said. Russia’s new-generation plane has a speed of over Mach 2 but today "invisibility, armament and maneuv

F-22 in production ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- United States Air Force by John Rossino) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz Stefan-Gady Is the old dichotomy between fighter jets and bombers becoming obsolete in air forces across the world? Yes, according to a new study, which argues small and highly maneuverable air-to-air combat planes may indeed be on their slow way out to be replaced by a new multi-role, stealthy, long-range aircraft the size of a bomber. Yesterday, Breaking Defense reported on a new provocative paper, “Trends in Air-to-Air Combat – Implications for Future Air Superiority,” which analyzed “over 1,450 air-to-air victories” in the last 50 years across the globe. The report concluded that new technology “has fundamentally transformed the nature of air combat.” “Aircraft performance attributes essential for success in air-to-air combat during the gun and early missile eras such as high speed, good acceleration, and maneuverability ar

Sukhoi T-50 ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Dmitry Pichugin) Source- The National Interest Author- Akhilesh Pillalamarri The Russian military is scaling back requirements for the fifth generation T-50 (PAK FA) fighters to twelve planes, after initially planning for fifty-two. Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said that this was due to economic considerations. However, Borisov noted that the Defense Ministry reserves the right to determine the number of fifth generation fighters for purchase, so the initial plans may be corrected. “It would be better for us to have a reserve of PAK-FA and the possibility to move ahead in the future to using the 4+ fighters’ [Su-30 and Su-35] capabilities to the maximum,” Borisov said. In other words, Russia would make the most of its existing Sukhoi Su-35 capabilities, which are highly rated by experts. The United States is currently the only country with an Air Force that includes a fully operational fifth generati

F-35 in wind tunnel tests ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz-Stefan Gady The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will not receive the software package required to operate the Pentagon’s top close-air support bomb until 2022, according to military.com. The article also stated that the JSF office already had discovered earlier that the precision-guided air-dropped Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) does not fit onto Joint Strike Fighter Marine Corps variant without modifications to the aircraft’s weapons bay. Yet the Department of Defense will wait until the F-35 B (the Marine Corps variant of the F-35) reaches initial operability before modifying the F-35’s armament bay, since the weapon will be useless without the right software package. The various systems of the plane require more than 10 billion individual lines of code, all of which are broken down by the developers into individual blocks numbered 1 to 4, then further subdivided into

SU T-50 ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Author- Alex Beltukov) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz-Stefan Gady India and Russia agreed in early 2007 to jointly develop a fifth generation fighter program. Ever since then, the Sukhol/HAL Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) or as it is called in India, the Perspective Multi-role Fighter (PMF) project, has been plagued by delays, costs overrun, and unsteady technology  In 2014, a prototype of the plane even caught fire during a demonstration flight for technical evaluation, causing heated arguments between India and Russia. “What added to the controversy … was Russia’s refusal to share any details of this failure, to the extent that a technical evaluation team of the Indian Air Force that reportedly was present at the site was refused access to inspect the damaged platform,” Monika Chansoria, senior fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies think tank in New Delhi, was quoted as saying in a Defense News articl