INDIA IS THE LARGEST FIGHTER JET BUYER IN WORLD

The United States and Russia are by far the largest suppliers of combat aircraft accounting for two-thirds of all combat aircraft delivered in the period 2005-2009 while India is the largest buyers, according to a report released Wednesday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

"India, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel are by far the largest recipients of combat aircraft. Together, these three countries accounted for almost one-third of all imports of combat aircraft between 2005 and 2009," the report said.

India purchased 115, the largest buyer in the world during the period.

Between 2005 and 2009, the United States sold 341 fighter jets, up from 286 planes sold during the previous five-year period, while Russia sold 219 planes, down from 331, according to the report.

During the five years, a total of 50 countries bought 995 warplanes.

"While combat aircraft are often presented as one of the most important weapons needed for defense, these same aircraft give countries possessing them the potential to easily and with little warning strike deep into neighboring countries," said Siemon Wezeman, Senior Fellow with the SIPRI Arms Transfers Program and author of the study in a statement issued by SIPRI.

Wezeman pointed out that acquisitions of combat aircraft thus clearly can have a major destabilizing effect on regions.

Another dimension to be aware of is that seven of the eight states with nuclear weapons include combat aircraft among the systems for delivering these weapons, something not often discussed when exporting countries present sales of combat aircraft as major business opportunities, Wezeman noted in the statement.

The report pointed out that combat aircraft are expensive weapons which cost dozens of million dollars. Thus it leads to production of these weapons for substantial income and employment. However, the acquisition and use of these weapons place a heavy burden on military budgets and the decision to acquire them will shape the direction of defense policy for years.

SIPRI is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. It provides data, analysis and recommendations, based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public.

CHINA DEVELOPING IT'S INFRASTRUCTURE IN A FASTTRACK MANNER

According to newspapers' reports: "India asserted that it keeps a 'constant watch' on all developments having a bearing on its security. The government is giving careful and special attention to development of infrastructure in the border areas opposite China in order to meet our strategic and security requirements and also to facilitate the economic development of these areas. This includes Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.”

S M Krishna also told the Lok Sabha that his government was aware of China building projects in developing countries, including Sri Lanka’s Colombo South Container Terminal.

THREATS




All this is good, but is it enough to just watch? In the early 1960's, India was also watching.

I am posting below an article published by Xinhua on the developments in Wetsern Tibet (Ngari region) north of Himachal and Uttarakhand.

INDIA'S NEW STELTH FIGHTER IS EXPECTED TO BE READY ON 2017

With aerodynamic design optimisation near complete, the AMCA's broad specifications are final. The aicraft will have a weight of 16-18 tons [16-18 tons with 2-tons of internal weapons and 4-tons of internal fuel with a combat ceiling of 15-km, max speed of 1.8-Mach at 11-km.

As part of the multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) currently on for the AMCA -- a wind tunnel model of which was first publicly displayed at AeroIndia 2009 -- that design-based stealth features will include further optimized airframe shaping, edge matching, body conforming antennae and a low IR signature through nozzle design, engine bay cooling and work on reduced exhaust temperature. RAMs, RAPs, special coatings for polycarbonate canopy and precision manufacturing will all be part of the effort to make the AMCA India's first stealth airplane.

The official CAD images above, from the Advanced Projects & Technologies (AP&T) directorate of India's Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) provide further perspective on the low-observable design elements that are known to be going into India's Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), known for a while now to be a stealth aircraft concept. Serpentine air intakes (with minimum flow distortion and robust pressure recovery) and internal weapons bays, depicted in the images above, are some of the most critical nose-on low observability design elements going into the programme.


The Stealth In India's Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA)







The AMCA will be powered by 2 x 90KN engines with vectored nozzles. For the record, the official ADA document that will finally be processed this year by the government towards formal project launch describes the AMCA as a "multirole combat aircraft for air superiority, point air defence, deep penetration/strike, special missions".

INDIAN AIR FIELD NEAR CHINA

India is responding to China's disconcerting build-up of roads and railways to the India-Tibet border by stepping up its own ability to project military power. A top Indian Air Force commander has revealed plans for a brand new airbase at Nyoma, in Ladakh, from which IAF fighters could fly missions to the nearby border, where Indian jawans were overwhelmed in 1962 without any fighter support.

This follows New Delhi's decision in 2008 to station frontline Sukhoi-30MKI fighters at four IAF bases in northeast India - Tezpur, Bagdogra, Chhabua and Hashimara - close by the Sino-Indian border. A slew of ongoing equipment purchases - e.g the C-130J Super Hercules and C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft; the P8I Poseidon Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft; ultralight howitzers and light tanks for hilly terrain - also beef up India's abilities against China. A new corps, of some 50,000 troops, the Indian Army's first manpower increase in decades, will be stationed on the border. And several disused border airfields have been refurbished to allow operations by the IAF's AN-32 transporters.

But Nyoma will be much more than that. According to Air Marshall N A K Browne, the chief of the IAF's Western Air Command (WAC), "We shall be able to operate each and every aircraft of the IAF from Nyoma. Our modern fighters, particularly the Sukhoi-30MKI, are designed to operate from such high altitude airfields. We have forwarded our plan to the MoD and... if we get the go-ahead today, (building Nyoma air base) would take 3-4 years."

The air marshall confirmed that an ongoing Rs 1,000-crore scheme to transform 30 IAF air bases into world-class fighter facilities - termed the Modernisation of Airfield Infrastructure (MAFI) plan - would also be extended to Nyoma.

Such is the importance of Nyoma, that Defence Minister A K Antony was flown there for a personal inspection on June 22. That was after the 2,700 metre Nyoma airfield was prepared in just 90 days by an army engineer regiment, using a special compacting compound.

Defence experts are unanimous that fighter aircraft support can make the difference between victory and defeat in high altitude battlefields, but not everyone believes fighters should be placed so close to the border, vulnerable to enemy attack. Air Commodore Jasjit Singh who heads the Centre for Air Power Studies, the IAF's think tank, says, "While there is no denying the utility of aerial resupply and close air support, fighter aircraft should be based a safe distance away from the border. India has mid-air refuelling aircraft, which can extend the fighters' operating ranges."

While Nyoma was initially activated, in mid-2009, as a transport airfield to which troops and equipment could be quickly airlifted in a border crisis, the August floods in Leh, which submerged the airfield, led the IAF to conclude that an alternative to Leh was essential. Says Air Marshal Browne, "We need more options in that area if Leh is shut down because of landslides and floods… Besides, the (northern Ladakh) airfields of Leh and Thoise often get shut down because of (bad weather caused by) western disturbances. The weather pattern is far easier for us around Nyoma."

Before settling on Nyoma, the IAF has evaluated several other potential air bases in Ladakh. But Daulat Beg Oldi was too high (16,200 feet); Chushul was too close to the border; and Fukche could not have its runway extended because of water bodies at both ends.

Meanwhile, the IAF is watching China's developing capabilities in Tibet, just across the Line of Actual Control from Nyoma. According to Air Marshal Browne, "We are looking at the new threat...and all of that is factored into our planning...whether in terms of new (Chinese) bases, sensors, missiles, radars and new weapons. We evaluate how these could affect us."

Even as Nyoma is built up as Ladakh's second major airbase after Leh, the runway at Leh is being resurfaced after the recent floods. The IAF says only part of the resurfacing can be completed this year, before winter stops work. The rest of the runway will be resurfaced next year.