[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by dragracer567

In what is possibly one of the most daring rescue missions conducted by the Indian Air Force in the 21st century...

The pilots kept the engine on the entire time (perhaps someone more knowledgeable can explain why) while 8 Garuda commandos of the IAF ensured the safety of the aircraft & the passengers.

My two paisa worth:

In an emergency the pilot does not want to risk the APU failing {1:10,000 chance} when needed most to restart the engines. As the halt is only for a very short period better to keep all 4 main engines turning so any risk of re-starting, in such a life and death situation, is eliminated. Others with flying experience can offer more elaborate inputs. Similarly at advanced forward strips in Arunachal or Ladakh, with no ground support, the engines are kept going. At Daulet Beg Oldie they are not switched off because the altitude of the airstrip is higher than maximum operating ceiling of the APU! We have rather unique conditions in places.

[dragracer567]

Some images released by the Air Force from the mission described above.

[BoneCollector]

The first C295 of Indian Airforce has completed its maiden flight.

Link

Twitter Link has the video.

[satyaanveshi]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

My two paisa worth:

In an emergency the pilot does not want to risk the APU failing {1:10,000 chance} when needed most to restart the engines. As the halt is only for a very short period better to keep all 4 main engines turning so any risk of re-starting, in such a life and death situation, is eliminated. Others with flying experience can offer more elaborate inputs. Similarly at advanced forward strips in Arunachal or Ladakh, with no ground support, the engines are kept going. At Daulet Beg Oldie they are not switched off because the altitude of the airstrip is higher than maximum operating ceiling of the APU! We have rather unique conditions in places.

Very interesting. I do often feel that our fleet of transport aircraft, particularly C130s and C17s, is rather overworked and too small for our needs.

[ads11]

Originally Posted by satyaanveshi

Very interesting. I do often feel that our fleet of transport aircraft, particularly C130s and C17s, is rather overworked and too small for our needs.

You feel correctly. I don't think any user is ever satisfied with the number of air lift platforms they have at their disposal. When you think about how much work they do in terms of mundane logistics, let alone war time or disaster relief, they're probably the most used fixed wing assets in any air force I reckon.

As far as the C17 is concerned, every user wishes they had more. It's a beloved platform that's now a collectors item. At least with the C130 there's plenty available new and even used. Doubt any operator of the C17 would wilfully retire or sell any of their fleet. Take the penny pinching RAF, they didn't dare make any cuts to their C17 fleet, there'd be total outrage if they did.

[V.Narayan]

C-130J to be built in India??

There is a buzz that Tata & Lockheed might get into a collaboration to assemble (maybe eventually build) the C-130J in India to fill the dire need for a versatile proven medium military transport!!! Could this be on the anvil at the modi-Biden summit in a week's time? Watch this space.

File photo of an IAF C-130J

[ads11]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

C-130J to be built in India??

There is a buzz that Tata & Lockheed might get into a collaboration to assemble (maybe eventually build) the C-130J in India to fill the dire need for a versatile proven medium military transport!!! Could this be on the anvil at the modi-Biden summit in a week's time? Watch this space.

File photo of an IAF C-130J

Interesting. This would be a lot more worthwhile in the long run. Does Tata have a division that already produces some kind of components for LockMart or is that for Boeing?

Wonder if this will be the solution to that medium lift tender.

Meanwhile, RAF has officially stood down it's C-130Js. They'll be going on sale next month. Still worth throwing a bid in. They'd be available almost immediately. Even if the aforementioned Tata deal does go ahead, it'll take them a while to spin up.

https://youtu.be/FbSiRUwxElo

A lot of rumours that need to be verified in the aftermath of the summit. Does certainly seem a lot noisier than normal. You've got Super Hornets, UAVs and now Hercules in the picture. Wonder if any other potential deals come out the woodwork.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by ads11

Does Tata have a division that already produces some kind of components for LockMart or is that for Boeing?

Yes Tata do make some parts for the C-130J supplied to Lockheed. I don't know what parts - probably airframe parts.

Wonder if this will be the solution to that medium lift tender.

Between the C-130J and Brazilian C90 it is a close run race.The C90 is faster, carries 26 tonnes vs 20 tonnes for the C-130J. The C-130J probably has better STOL capabilities (maybe) and of course is utterly utterly proven and bug free.

Meanwhile, RAF has officially stood down it's C-130Js. They'll be going on sale next month. Still worth throwing a bid in. They'd be available almost immediately. Even if the aforementioned Tata deal does go ahead, it'll take them a while to spin up.

Good thought. Worth a look. I used to have a business arrangement for hiring wide body hangars for civil airliners from Marshalls of Cambridge. Several of these C-130s used to come in for MRO work at Marshalls. Those days they were on continuous flying sorties to Afghanistan supporting the British troops there. These machines always looked very beat up & worn down often with bullet holes or some AA fire related damage. It was very common. I guess they are very well used machines. But still worth a check to plug a gap temporarily till the deal starts delivering.

[ads11]

Just thought I'd share an image of a soon to be IAF C295 undergoing testing. Note the IAF colour scheme and lettering, though lack of roundels and other flash signs.



More images can be found here

Good to see this tender quietly chugging along. I know there's confusion with the whole medium lift tender coming into the picture but having more of the C295 can only be a useful thing.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by ads11

Meanwhile, RAF has officially stood down it's C-130Js. They'll be going on sale next month. Still worth throwing a bid in. They'd be available almost immediately.

With lethargic babus at the helm of such acquisitions, even if the IAF interested in them, those C-130s will be gobbled up some other country even before an expression of interest in those aircraft is issued by those notoriously lazy fellows !

Last time the UK offered 3-4 of their in-service C-130Js for sale in the mid-2010s, Bangladesh was very quick to acquire them and those C-130Js now serve alongside older model C-130s that the Bangladesh Air Force had acquired from the US much earlier. Wouldn't be surprised if they actively pursue acquiring those RAF C-130Js this time as well.

ex-RAF C-130J ZH887 which became 99-5485/S3-AGJ in BAF service


as ZH887 in RAF service:

[dragracer567]

Originally Posted by ads11

Just thought I'd share an image of a soon to be IAF C295 undergoing testing. Note the IAF colour scheme and lettering, though lack of roundels and other flash signs.

Interesting that it carries a Spanish flag (or is it something else?). Some sort of temporary registration for testing?

[ads11]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

With lethargic babus at the helm of such acquisitions, even if the IAF interested in them, those C-130s will be gobbled up some other country even before an expression of interest in those aircraft is issued by those notoriously lazy fellows !

Last time the UK offered 3-4 of their in-service C-130Js for sale in the mid-2010s, Bangladesh was very quick to acquire them and those C-130Js now serve alongside older model C-130s that the Bangladesh Air Force had acquired from the US much earlier. Wouldn't be surprised if they actively pursue acquiring those RAF C-130Js this time as well.

I guess having a relatively smaller defence bureaucracy means Bangladesh are able to be more agile reacting to sudden deals landing on the market. The sheer size of India's defence establishment (as with any large defence bureaucracy) means that much as we'd like to see nimble thinking, it just won't happen in reality. I'm glad you brought up the Bangladesh eg, I was thinking if there's anyone in the subcontinental neighbourhood that scoops up those ex RAF Hercules, it's likely to be them, if they don't get nabbed by other NATO operators (the Germans or the French for eg).

Originally Posted by dragracer567

Interesting that it carries a Spanish flag (or is it something else?). Some sort of temporary registration for testing?

I had the same thought. I think it has to be registration related. Formally these must belong to Spain for the time being until the formal handover paperwork is completed.

[dragracer567]

Originally Posted by ads11

I guess having a relatively smaller defence bureaucracy means Bangladesh are able to be more agile reacting to sudden deals landing on the market. The sheer size of India's defence establishment (as with any large defence bureaucracy) means that much as we'd like to see nimble thinking, it just won't happen in reality. I'm glad you brought up the Bangladesh eg, I was thinking if there's anyone in the subcontinental neighbourhood that scoops up those ex RAF Hercules, it's likely to be them, if they don't get nabbed by other NATO operators (the Germans or the French for eg).

Perhaps the following explains why the Indian Air Force weren't really interested in the RAF Super Hercules - too beat up to be worth it. We don't know what happens behind closed doors, given the demand, the asking price might've been too high! Either that or they probably don't want this second-hand purchase to interfere with the plan to assemble C90s/C130s in India.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Those days they were on continuous flying sorties to Afghanistan supporting the British troops there. These machines always looked very beat up & worn down often with bullet holes or some AA fire related damage. It was very common. I guess they are very well used machines. But still worth a check to plug a gap temporarily till the deal starts delivering.

[ads11]

Seems Indian journalists have been invited over to Seville to have a look at what must be the imminent transfer of the first IAF C-295

https://youtu.be/l2HmLvBbkXU

Found the comments towards the end interesting about the intention to fulfil a number of capabilities off the C-295 airframe. A regional airliner based on the C-295 is an interesting proposition - I suppose this is a market that's been dominated by Dash 8 type aircraft?
While the BSF and Coast Guard use makes sense, adapting the C-295 for AWACs would be interesting - I wonder if the Netra kit with it's balance beam type array could be bolted on, or maybe you have conformal panels along the fuselage.

Though speaking of AWACs, guess the penny finally dropped:
https://www.livefistdefence.com/a330...o-narrow-body/

I'm not sure why it took this long for someone to realise that it was a bit pointless trying to do a home brew A330 based AWACs when the A321 airframes were purchased already for the same thing. I mean at this point it feels like someone is just out to spite the Airbus MRTT team by coming up with convoluted workarounds to avoid awarding the tanker the contract it's won twice over and is patently suited to fulfil the requirement of the IAF. At least now that the ambitious and completely superfluous A330 AWAC project is shelved, hopefully there's momentum on the A321 'Netra' derivative so to speak.

Strange seeing an A321 (the testbed aircraft) in the grey IAF livery, it's a profile I'm so used to seeing in civil airliner colours normally. It's only the Luftwaffe A321s that immediately come to mind when I think of that platform in military colours.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by ads11

Seems Indian journalists have been invited over to Seville to have a look at what must be the imminent transfer of the first IAF C-295

The IAF C-295's tail number got revealed in that video - CA7101



Till now, it was flying and undergoing trials without the IAF finflash and the tail number.