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

Sukhoi PAK-FA ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Dmitry Pichugin) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz Stefan-Gady During the annual India-Russia summit, which took place in late December 2015 in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi failed to resolve an ongoing disagreement between the two countries over the future of a joint fifth generation fighter program. India and Russia in early 2007 signed an intergovernmental agreement to co-develop a fifth generation fighter–the Sukhol/HAL Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) or as it known in India, the Perspective Multi-role Fighter (PMF). The aircraft will be a multi-role, single seat, twin-engine air superiority/deep air support fighter with stealth capabilities and is based on the Sukhoi PAK FA (Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation) T-50 prototype, currently undergoing flight tests in Russia. Ever since 2007, however, the  weapons program has experienced v

Sukhoi Su-35S engine ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Julian Herzog) Source- The Diplomat Authors- Jesse Sloman & Lauren Dickey Last April, Chinese airplane manufacturer Shenyang Aircraft Corporation surprised military observers by test flying its new J-11D fighter jet, an upgraded version of the J-11, China’s indigenous copy of the Russian Su-27. The D-model J-11 is believed to include such advanced features as an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, a relocated infrared search and track (IRST) system, and the expanded use of composite materials to reduce the plane’s weight and radar signature. This first flight indicates that the J-11D is further along in its development cycle than many experts predicted and is poised to provide a new and deadly addition to the growing fighter fleet of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). Despite the evident maturity of the J-11D program, the Chinese military nevertheless appears to also be goi

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

Pic courtesy- Wikimedia and www.airlines.net The  Indian Air Force’s salvo  at the Russian-Indian PAK-FA stealth fighter programme has surprised defence industry watchers. But the spat is hardly unique and in fact mirrors the difficulties the United States and its close allies are experiencing over the troubled F-35 Joint Strike Fighter............. http://indrus.in/blogs/2014/01/24/gunning_for_the_pak-fa_what_the_iaf_really_wants_32535.html

Royal Australian Air force (Pic Courtesy Wikimedia) (This article had to be shared with my readers. This article was first published in the Indian Military Page in Facebook. The copy right is owned by the unknown author)  Distance and the lack of long-range aircraft in the Southeast Asian air forces have for decades offered a sense of security to the Australians. But today that security is being eroded by the arrival of super-maneuverable aircraft like the Sukhoi 27 Flanker and Sukhoi 30 Flanker C. These combat jets have been inducted in large numbers in the air forces of China, Indonesi a, Malaysia and Vietnam. The arrival of the Sukhois has evened the odds in the Asia Pacific theatre. Australian pilots, who considered themselves top guns flying their F-18 Hornet and F-111 Aardvark fighter bombers, now are having to faceoff with the Flankers that are superior in almost every aspect. According to Air Power Australia, “The acquisition of Russian designed Sukhoi Su-27SK and