posted on May, 17 2005 @ 05:15 AM
Indian Army
1. Arjun
Lovely piece of Indian indigenious tech....my A$$!
As of mid-1997 the list of faults after 20 years of development was not encouraging. In addition to numerous technical modifications to its fire and
gun control systems, the fire control system in particular has been found unable to perform in temperatures above 42 degrees Celsius (108F). The DRDO
has been considering scrapping the current Arjun fire control system in favor of whatever is accepted for the T-72M1 upgrade program. Defects noticed
during the user trials of the Arjun Mk.1 MBT, including over-heating of the engine in Rajasthan desert areas, while other complaints were being
addressed.
The Arjun is based on the Leopard 2, with help from the designer of the Leopard 2. Many of the fire control and optics are from Russia, Israel, France
and other countries. Now, the Indian army is already giving up on the Arjun, buying more T-90 tanks and investing on the T-72 Rhino upgrade
program.
2. Russian Tanks
T-90S MBT,T-72M1 MBT, Project Rhino and T-55 MBT are all completely Russian bought designs. Really smart since the money invested will probably be
worth more than investing on the Arjun. Only the T-90S and T-72 M1 MBTs will be used for frontline units. There again, nothing but Russian stuff, all
while China is designing the Type-98 and introducing the Type-88 to mass production.
3. APCs and IFVs
The only APCs/IFVs worth mentioning in the Indian army is the BMP-1 and BMP-2. Both are Russian designs (Indians can't make anything, only can buy
from Russians), and both have been notorious for nauseous rides and thin armor, making them vunerable to even RPG-7s. The Indians also make use of the
BRDM-2 (Russian again) for reconaissance, but it has even thinner armor than the BMPs.
Indian AF
1. Su-30MKI
Many people believe this to be Indian....WRONG!
The first few planes will be delievered by Russia, with plans for India to manufacture it locally by HAL (see, RUSSIAN STUFF! Can't make anything on
their own). Many of the avonics come from France and Israel, with only a tiny bit coming from India herself.
2. Aircraft from other countries
India operates many aircraft from other countries, these including the Mirage 2000, MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-25, MiG-27, MiG-29, Jaguar and Canberra.
However, most of these are either rusting Russian MiG-21s and 23s. Even with all the modern avonics, most of these are either of Israeli or French
origin, nothing indigenious at all.
3. LCA.
Great piece of junk you got there, eh?
The LCA, which was intended to replace the MiG-21, is supposed to be introduced in 2007. It is powered by P&W Ge-404s (AMERICAN STUFF!), with a lot of
American engineers providing help. The Kaveri engine, which was probably the most important Indian part recently failed a test in Russia. LCA is for
the most part using Israeli avonics. By the way, what weapons have been cleared for LCA? NONE!
Compare it to the JF-17/FC-1. The JF-17's Griffo S-7 is based on the Griffo 2000,which is in turn a copy of the APG-68. The APG-68 has been proved in
combat in the F-15s, while the MMR in the LCA will be a decade old without any experience at all. Also,the EW suite for JF-17 is being developed by
the same company that provides EW suite for Rafale. Both of them have MFDs and datalinks, so nothing different. The SD-10 in BVR is very good, 70km+
Range, and it's "best shot" would be around 50km, while all of India's BVR Missiles require less range to get the "best shot".
More on Indian Navy,provided I can spare the time and this topic does not get locked.