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Originally Posted by skanchan95

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

Attachment 2478939

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

Good spot! This one is numbered 205, which is different from the 209 numbered unit that appeared in the tweets from a week ago where we were discussing how it lacked any IAF markings except for the Devnagiri and English script.

You know more than me about the tail numbering - don't suppose there's much that can be gleaned at this stage from just a number right?

[BoneCollector]

The first C-295 was handed over to the Indian Air Force today at Seville, Spain. It was handed over in presence of Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari.





Link

[skanchan95]

CA7101 it is! The first IAF C-295MW.

The markings are more or less complete. I suppose behind that white patch on the rear fuselage is the IAF roundel.

Official release from Airbus:

Airbus handed over the 1st 295 for India in fly-away condition. It comes in transport configuration, equipped with an Indian Electronic Warfare Suite, & will replace the Indian Air Force's ageing Avros-748 fleet. In the next few days, a joint Indian Air Force- Airbus crew will fly the aircraft from Seville.

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Originally Posted by skanchan95

Official release from Airbus:

Can I ask what the likely domestic electronic warfare suite is? What it includes? Do the other transport aircraft in the IAF fleet have the same EW suite? Or do they use the OEM provided ones?

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by ads11

Can I ask what the likely domestic electronic warfare suite is? What it includes? Do the other transport aircraft in the IAF fleet have the same EW suite? Or do they use the OEM provided ones?

I suppose they are referring to( and I am just guessing) Indian made RWR(Tarang), CMDS and MAWS from BEL.

[BoneCollector]

Originally Posted by ads11

Can I ask what the likely domestic electronic warfare suite is? What it includes? Do the other transport aircraft in the IAF fleet have the same EW suite? Or do they use the OEM provided ones?

Not sure about exact details but as far as I know, the supplier provides the aircraft, all other stuff like radars in some case and electronic warfare suites are as per the purchaser and they're integrated into the aircraft.

[BoneCollector]

The C-295 has landed in India today via Cairo and Bahrain from Seville, Spain.

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Came across this video of the first C295 being delivered:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHtd96NDAIg

[skanchan95]

CA-7101, The IAF's first C-295MW landed in Vadodara today.

The aircraft would be handed over to the IAF in a formal ceremony on 25 Sep 23 at AF Stn Hindan.



Oddly, it is missing the IAF roundels on top of the wings.

[sandeepmdas]

Airbus handed over the 1st 295 for India in fly-away condition. It comes in transport configuration, equipped with an Indian Electronic Warfare Suite, & will replace the Indian Air Force's ageing Avros-748 fleet.


The replacement is here, yet found the HAL HS-748 still literally basking in the setting sun. Photos taken by me from a static display organised by the Southern Air Command in Trivandrum last month.

Note the interesting tie-down procedure, by using two concrete blocks.

[itwasntme]

Rare sight this side of the country. Sounded completely different and hence caught my attention!

[dragracer567]

The Indian Air Force has finally decided to do what they should’ve done 5 years ago - purchase 6 more Netra AWACs in their current form.

India currently operates 3 Netras mounted on Embraer business jet airframes and 3 Phalcons mounted to Ilyushin IL-76 airframes. After other proposals which included buying A330 MRTTs (supposed to be next gen Netras) and converting them to AWACs or converting used Air India A320s (which I assume is still happening?) didn’t pan out, India will purchase 6 more Embraer 145 airframes from the used market to be converted into Netras as these airframes aren’t in production anymore - which seems to happen quite often with the IAF (Mirage-2000, C17s etc.) I wonder why we can’t use a newer Embraer model that’s in production as a base!

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Originally Posted by dragracer567

The Indian Air Force has finally decided to do what they should’ve done 5 years ago - purchase 6 more Netra AWACs in their current form.[/ATTACH]

Oh well, they got there eventually. After a whole song and dance, belatedly they arrive at the logical solution that was always there from day one.

India will purchase 6 more Embraer 145 airframes from the used market to be converted into Netras as these airframes aren’t in production anymore - which seems to happen quite often with the IAF (Mirage-2000, C17s etc.) I wonder why we can’t use a newer Embraer model that’s in production as a base!

Perhaps they want to keep spares and maintenance simplified by going with the older platform? Netra is a domestic system that's fitted to the Embraer 145 airframe right? Maybe DRDO can't promise to retrofit it to newer airframes or IAF doesn't want to wait any longer for DRDO to test it on a newer platform.

What's the current equivalent of the Embraer 145? And how different is it to the latter?

One thing that confuses me about the C-295 order is that given the fact licence production is allowed, why isn't it being pursued as the parent platform for a multitude of variants? Surely the fixed array balance beam radar could be mounted on the C-295 - or even conformal radar panels along the fuselage? Sure it won't have the mobility of a turbo fan based Embraer or Il-76 based AWACs but having more of them available for the same cost would allow more flexibility to task them across key theatres. Maybe Airbus/Tata Defence needs to prod the Defence Ministry to get DRDO to think about using the C-295 for a future Netra.

[dragracer567]

Originally Posted by ads11

What's the current equivalent of the Embraer 145? And how different is it to the latter?

I guess it would be either the E175 or the E190 (photo below), the engine placement itself is quite different. Another similar aircraft would be the Airbus A220. Anyway, the whole point is to speed up the delivery since else we’d have gotten the used A320s with the same radar.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by dragracer567

I wonder why we can’t use a newer Embraer model that’s in production as a base!

My brother in law used to work at Raytheon. He was the chief engineer and design authority on the Raytheon Sentinel.

In order to accommodate the various electronics, antenna and so on, a number of modifications to the airframe and airframe system are necessary. That is always expensive as it also requires re-certification.

I guess it just makes more sense to buy older airframes, that can be modified similar as earlier ones, rather than go through the hassle of modifying a new airframe from scratch.

Jeroen