[SmartCat]

IAF marks 60 years of its Canberra bombers
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/60324753.cms

The Indian Air Force on September 1 commemorated 60 years of induction of the English Electric Canberra plane, the first generation jet bombers that participated in the Goa liberation, two wars with Pakistan, and the Kargil conflict on reconnaissance missions.

[Sutripta]

What does the IAF use for reconnaissance work?
Any Vampires on display in India?

Regards
Sutripta

[vikasshu]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

What does the IAF use for reconnaissance work?
Any Vampires on display in India?

Regards
Sutripta

Hi Sutripta, there is one de Havilland Vampire displayed in Air Force museum close to Palam technical area in New Delhi. This one is from No. 37 squadron (Fearless Forever) of Indian Air Force which now operates MiG 27. Here is a pic for you.



I think IAF does not operates a dedicated reconnaissance plane post retirement of MiG 25 and Canberras. They do have specialized photography pods used either on MiG 27s or Jaguars.

It is quite possible ARC under cabinet secretariat may be operating some classified planes for this purpose.

I assume a lot of these operations should have also moved to satellites now as they are safe. RISAT 2 are really good for this purpose.

Regards.. Vikas

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

What does the IAF use for reconnaissance work?

On a strategic level, IAF uses satellites for reconnaissance work. You can read about it here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RISAT

On a battlefield tactical level, any multirole fighter aircraft can be used for reconnaissance. All you need is a recon pod that looks like this -



We also have drones/UAVs for battlefield reconnaissance:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAI_Heron
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAI_Searcher

[Sutripta]

The problem with satellites is their fixed orbit/ schedule.

I thought the drones were under RAW. Maybe the army (not IAF) also has its own.

Regards
Sutripta

[neel385]

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/india...sance-pod.3607

This should answer some of the questions mentioned above. Do read the whole blog and not just the main post.

[SmartCat]

I guess these airborne early warning systems too can be classified as reconnaissance aircraft.

Ilyushin Il-76
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beriev_A-50



Embraer ERJ-145
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRDO_AEW%26CS

Originally Posted by neel385

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/india...sance-pod.3607
This should answer some of the questions mentioned above. Do read the whole blog and not just the main post.

Link doesn't seem to be working. Anyway, defence.pk is one of the best forums for gathering defence, geopolitical and strategic affairs news.

[vikasshu]

Hi Smartcat, Defence.pk is a Pakistani website and it'll give you their version of things. Try visiting a much better Indian website for valuable information named - http://www.bharat-rakshak.com . Like t-bhp, they have very active discussion forum and amazing information being shared.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by vikasshu

Hi Sutripta, there is one de Havilland Vampire displayed in Air Force museum close to Palam technical area in New Delhi. This one is from No. 37 squadron (Fearless Forever) of Indian Air Force which now operates MiG 27.

No. 37 Squadron are known as the "Black Panthers". "Forever Fearless" is their Sqdn motto. They fly the MiG-21M, not the MiG-27M.

Sqdn Nos 17(Golden Arrows), 35(Rapiers), 37(Black Panthers) & 108 (Hawkeyes) are the last IAF MiG-21M/MF squadrons. The other MiG-21M sqdn -No.101 Sqdn(Falcons), was numberplated in 2012.

[Patriot_Vishwas]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

What does the IAF use for reconnaissance work?

The VayuSena uses the Elta EL/M 2060P pod for ground mapping

and also operates the Litening G2/3(and soon the G4) for recon.

Purely from memory:
Almost all the new/upgraded IAF fighters (Baaz UPG,Vajra-5Mk2, Shamsher DARIN III, MKI, Tejas) have highly competent SAR/Ground Mapping modes on their Radars.
The Zhuk M2E on the Baaz also can record Radar signatures and store it in it's database for future use.

In addition to what SmartCat has posted the VayuSena also operate highly specialized INT aircraft

Caption reads:

Originally destined for a Maltese customer, this Global 5000 has now been converted into a SIGINT aircraft for the Indian External Intelligence Agency (R&AW) ARC (Aviation Research Centre) division. Once delivered this will be the first of two Globals together with C/N 9424 to replace India's aging Gulfstream jets

And they have released an RFI for more:
http://thestrategictimes.com/iaf-loo...comjam-planes/

And IIRC, even some of our Mi8/17 have equipment to collect COMINT/SIGINT.

[vikasshu]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

No. 37 Squadron are known as the "Black Panthers". "Forever Fearless" is their Sqdn motto. They fly the MiG-21M, not the MiG-27M.

Sqdn Nos 17(Golden Arrows), 35(Rapiers), 37(Black Panthers) & 108 (Hawkeyes) are the last IAF MiG-21M/MF squadrons. The other MiG-21M sqdn -No.101 Sqdn(Falcons), was numberplated in 2012.

Hi skanchan95, There are few sources that quote MiG 27 M for No. 37. The links are give below.

http://www.scramble.nl/orbats/india

http://www.oja.link/htmlfiles/mil/in...orbat.htm#VIJO

Though this blog lists No. 37 with MiG 27 UPG - http://trishul-trident.blogspot.in/2...al-combat.html

And there are claims for MiG 21 as well from other websites, prominent one being bharat-rakshak.

Thanks...Vikas

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by vikasshu

Though this blog lists No. 37 with MiG 27 UPG - http://trishul-trident.blogspot.in/2...al-combat.html

Thanks...Vikas

There are awful blunders in that link.

It states 45 Sqdn is flying the MiG-21 Bison. Truth is that the sqdn was numberplated when they were flying the MiG-21bis and the sqdn was re-raised on the Tejas Mk.1 last year.

It also states 17 Sqdn is flying the Su-30MKI. The new air chief recently flew MiG-21M of that sqdn in honour of Sqdn Ldr Ajay Ahuja. So how can that sqdn be flying Su-30MKI?

It also states 101 Sqdn is flying MiG-21M. That sqdn is not even active anymore and was numberplated in 2012!

It also states 26 Sqdn is flying MiG-21 Bison. Truth is that the 26 Sqdn is the last sqdn still operational on the MiG-21bis. A recent television documentary proved this.

Coming to 37 Sqdn, my copy of the book - "Squadrons, Patches, Heraldry and Artwork of the Indian Air Force 1932-2016" by Phil Camp clearly states the 37 Sqdn is operational on the MiG-21M and the patches of that sqdn in that book prove it.

[vikasshu]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

There are awful blunders in that link.

Coming to 37 Sqdn, my copy of the book - "Squadrons, Patches, Heraldry and Artwork of the Indian Air Force 1932-2016" by Phil Camp clearly states the 37 Sqdn is operational on the MiG-21M and the patches of that sqdn in that book prove it.
Attachment 1674972

You are right about the mistakes in the link. Unfortunately this source is being referred by many on the internet. That book by Phil Camps is not available any more on Amazon. May need to check some other sources as well.

Regards..Vikas

[PraNeel]

The official LCA Tejas channel has published the interview of Air Cmde Rohit Varma. Under his tenure the hot and cold weather trials of Tejas were carried out. Also the Initial Operational Clearance IOC-1 was achieved under his tenure.
He is also a Kargil war hero. There is a trailer for part 2 of the interview at end where he talks about his experience during Kargil war.
What makes me extremely sad is that he also decided to quit, when we was not given the due post he deserved. Link Why bureaucracy precedes over talent in our country?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRPk5ToFKp0

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by PraNeel

I agree. As a country we have lots of talent, hardworking and motivated people, but we lack when we have to think about the bigger picture. Group Captain Suneet moved to corporate world as he was denied the captain’s seat (pilot-in-command) in the 'Eye-in-the-sky', the Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft. Reason as he took voluntary retirement from IAF and hence was a civilian test pilot.

Originally Posted by PraNeel

The official LCA Tejas channel has published the interview of Air Cmde Rohit Varma. What makes me extremely sad is that he also decided to quit, when we was not given the due post he deserved. Why bureaucracy precedes over talent in our country?

Dear PraNeel, thank you for being the Tejas LCA man on our forum. It is a pleasure to view these video links you post. I for one am all for inducting a squadron of Tejas machines and give the LCA a chance and then keep maturing the design. That's what all advanced Air forces do with home grown aircraft. And the Chinese are the best at it.

Dear Readers, Allow me to comment on the points made regarding promotions. First a small background. My father and his two brothers were in the armed forces and to day I employ over 100 pilots some ex-armed forces. In the IAF some pilots get streamed onto the specialization side ie doing bigger and bigger individual contributor jobs. Others gradually get streamed into jobs requiring executive leadership and command skills rather than just outstanding flying skills as an individual contributor. We must respect our test pilots for what they do but that does not automatically make them great leaders of men and war management situations just like the best professor teacher at an IIT or IIM is not necessarily the best administrator or Director. If these two test pilots were not selected for the next promotion does not mean the system sucks. Many many years ago my father lost the race for the top job in the armed force he served in and was understandably bitter. My advice to my father was that you trusted the service to promote you 8 times over the first 39 years and felt it was being very fair so you can't say the Service sucks just because you lost the last promotion. My request is that we not assume the IAF is unfair without knowing what the promotion board discussed on these other wise very fine officers. I am sure there are some cases of unfair rejection as would happen in any system including the private sector but we may want to temper our perspective.

Sorry for the long post. Just sharing my perspective. Apologies if I have tread on anyone's toes.