A saying that was allegedly unpopular with fighter pilots is that there are only two types of pilots, those that drop bombs and those who support them. While fighter flying has attained a type of romantic image of the rakish cur with goggles and a devil-may-care attitude, the bomber has created a more sinister imageContinue reading “Does India Need a Long-Range Bomber?”
Category Archives: Aircraft
The MiG 29 ‘Baaz’ Story By A Young Defence Enthusiast
It was in the 1970s-80s that the Indian Air Force was turning a new page and a lot of major acquisition programs were initiated during the period to replace the older fleet making the air force practically brand new. These were done in the aftermath of one of the most influential aircraft deals by theContinue reading “The MiG 29 ‘Baaz’ Story By A Young Defence Enthusiast”
Indian Defence Budget 2021-22 – Is it Enough?
The total defence budget for 2021-22 saw only a marginal hike of around 1.4 percent. But the good news was that the Capital budget for modernisation jumped by nearly a 19 percent raise. Interestingly the figures released showed that an unbudgeted Rs 20,776 crore was additionally spent to buy military hardware to immediately beef upContinue reading “Indian Defence Budget 2021-22 – Is it Enough?”
Analysis of Peacetime Attrition of Historical IAF Aircraft
As a long term, non military observer of the Indian Air Force for over 50 years I believe I have a unique outsider’s perspective of the Air Force. In this era of social media the number of military aviation enthusiasts and followers can be seen to be enormous, but up to the early 1990s observersContinue reading “Analysis of Peacetime Attrition of Historical IAF Aircraft”
USI Strategic Dialogue Series – “Pakistan China Aerospace Nexus”
United Service Institution of India (USI) a 150 year old institution, has recently started Strategic Dialogue Series of Interviews. The first among these was with the Founder of Air Power Asia Air Marshal Anil Chopra. The subject was the “Pakistan China Aerospace Nexus”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrbOd8VgFDc&feature=emb_logo
Evolving Aircraft Cockpit Technologies
A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls that enable the pilot to fly the aircraft. In most airliners, a door separates the cockpit from the aircraft cabin. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, all major airlines fortified theirContinue reading “Evolving Aircraft Cockpit Technologies”
5G Risks and Challenges for Aviation
5G in telecommunications, is the fifth generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks, which cellular phone companies began deploying worldwide in 2019, and is the successor to the current 4G networks. 5G networks are predicted to have more than 1.7 billion subscribers worldwide by 2025. Like its predecessors, 5G networks are cellular networks, in whichContinue reading “5G Risks and Challenges for Aviation”
Wing in Ground Effect – Flight in an Ekranoplan
In 1998/99 I had the unique opportunity to take two flights in Volga-2 ekranoplan produced by Volga Shipyard in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia. The small ekranoplan for non-military use like the eight seat Volga-2 were developed as small water taxis. They were part of the ground-effect vehicle (GEV), also called a wing-in-ground-effect (WIGE), ground-effect craft, wingship,Continue reading “Wing in Ground Effect – Flight in an Ekranoplan”
My Flight in MiG 31 Foxhound – Life Time Experience
The Mikoyan MiG-31 ( NATO reporting name: Foxhound) is a supersonic interceptor aircraft that was developed for use by the Soviet Air Forces. The aircraft was designed by the Mikoyan design bureau as a replacement for the earlier MiG-25 “Foxbat”; the MiG-31 is based on and shares design elements with the MiG-25. The MiG-31 has the distinction of being among the fastest combat jets in theContinue reading “My Flight in MiG 31 Foxhound – Life Time Experience”
General Atomics – The Power House of Unmanned Systems
General Atomics is an American energy and defence corporation with interests in diversified technologies. It was founded on July 18, 1955 as a Division of General Dynamics, in San Diego, California, by Frederic de Hoffmann with assistance from notable physicists Edward Teller and Freeman Dyson “for harnessing the power of nuclear technologies for the benefitContinue reading “General Atomics – The Power House of Unmanned Systems”
Air Power Asia 