Posted on 10/13/2006 7:14:36 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Indian Navy declines to buy British Harriers
Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, October 13, 2006
The Indian Navy has declined to buy eight British Sea Harrier FA.2 fighter jets that were phased out of the Royal Navy in March 2006.
According to a report in the October issue of the defence magazine India Strategic, the eight Harriers, which were also the last to serve the Royal Navy, were on offer but without some vital components like missiles and the Blue Vixen fire control radar. The prime consideration was to use them to train pilots and to fill in the gaps caused by the loss of six Harriers in the Indian Navy due to accidents spread over more than 20 years.
Indian Navy pilots and defence ministry representatives inspected and assessed the aircraft for technical and financial evaluation but it was decided not to go in for them as the jets needed considerable expense in upgrading their avionics and arming them.
Published reports indicate that India has 22 Sea Harriers, 16 of them being the FRS.51 fighter version. They are to be gradually replaced by MiG-29K aircraft, some 40 to 50 of which are likely to be acquired from Russia.
India has already contracted to buy 16 MiG-29Ks as part of the deal with Russia to acquire the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, renamed INS Vikramaditya, but more such aircraft would be needed as the Indian Navy grows to its required size and capability.
As for the Royal Navy Harriers, the Indian Navy was initially enthusiastic, but then felt that "devoid of their offensive systems, they wouldn't be of much use". For training "the navy is already considering either the BAe Hawks or Boeing/BAe Goshawks", a source said.
Indian Navy pilots are now being given advanced carrier takeoff and landing training at the US Navy's Pensacola facility to prepare them for the arrival of Gorshkov and MiG-29Ks.
This had become necessary as ironically, the Russians were unable to offer matching training facilities although they sold both the aircraft carrier and the MiG-29K jets.
Harrier jets played a decisive and proven role in the Falklands crisis of 1982. The last naval variant, the FA.2, was armed with US AIM 20 AMRAAM (advanced medium range air-to-air missile) and the Ferranti ARI.50019 Blue Vixen radar that enabled it to engage four targets simultaneously.
India had decided to buy the Harriers in the mid-1970s as part of its efforts to build a blue water navy, while their actual deliveries began in 1983.
The Indian Navy's 16 Sea Harrier FRS.51 fighter versions are now under a midlife upgrade with new air-to-air missiles as well as helmet-mounted target acquisition sights.
The Indian Navy Harriers originally were equipped with the Ferranti Blue Fox radar that had poor "look-down" capability compared to the Blue Vixen of the British Navy.
The Indian Navy plans to use the Sea Harriers till around 2020.
Engines for Indian Sea Harriers were supplied by Rolls Royce while the aircraft have been maintained and upgraded - as prime contractor - by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
true story... one of the first Americans to fly backseat in a Harrier off of the ski jump ramp was told by the pilot that..."The flight will be uneventful, however... if there is any problems on take off there will be NO time for communications and you will immediately see me eject.
That will be your cue that all is no longer well."
You just gotta love an attack aircraft which can land in and take off from someones backyard.
If it's good enough for the Marines...
L
Marine version is MUCH superior to the Brit version... with a 30 to 40 percent bigger solid wing let alone the electrics/avionics.
The US AV-8B is the only true multi-role harrier.The Brits divided their load with the Sea Harrier for airdefence & Gr-5/Gr-7 variants for ground attack.The Sea Harrier FA-2 is considered the best fighter variant.
of just the Brits or the US too...??? if so it's prolly cause it lighter, no?
It will give our PHIBRONS a much better strike capablity, particually when the future AEW and ASW variants of the V-22 are deployed (my own conjecture). The WASPS and the future LHX vessels will then truly be able to operate in the Sea Control role and their normal Ampbibious assault role with a LOT more autonomy...freeing the super carriers up to operate more freely too.
Our allies VTOL carriers will be much more capable at that time too.
I know these developments are costly...and not without their technical problems. but that's what happens when you push the envelope. And we are doing it in this regard and I believe we will prevaile and be successful.
Just my opinion.
Thanks...great story that!
All Harrier variants incl. American ones.The FA-2 got a better radar,the SeaVixen,in addition to carrying AMRAAMS all the time.Flipside is that it has little real ground attack capabilitiy
Granted, it does not have the full capabilities of an F-22. But it is not intended to. That is not its role. It is to the F-22 what the F-16 is to the F-15.
The "popular wisdom" that insists on dissing the F-35 is woefully uneducated about the aircraft. Its critics are a flock of parrots brainlessly repeating what they heard some other parrot squawk.
Pssst. The Indian Navy Harrier are the UK built version. They are extremely happy with them. The UK refused to sell them with the radar or missile package. The missile technology is the AMRAAM (US).
I think there was no problem with selling the Sea-Vixen radar package given that the RN now has practically no use of them.Infact it was offered to the IN a few years ago when it first sought to upgrade the Sea Harrier.The AMRAAMs would have been different given that they are American.I think that the problem was the IN would have tied itself in knots if it had 2 different Harrier fleets-one operating the Israeli ELM-2032 & the new ones the Sea Vixen.The IN's relatively low budget would have made upgrading the newer Harriers with the Elta radars unviable.
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