Why India has so many weapons. Geopolitics (see at the end of the page).

India, along with the DPRK and Israel, is among the second three countries in the world in terms of military potential (the first three are Russia, the United States and China). The personnel of the armed forces (Armed Forces) of India have a high level of combat and moral and psychological training, although they are recruited. In India, as well as in Pakistan, due to the huge population and the complex ethno-confessional situation, the recruitment of the Armed Forces by conscription is not possible.

The country is the most important importer of arms from Russia and maintains close military-technical cooperation with France, Great Britain, Israel and the United States.However, cooperation with the United States in the military-technical sphere is sagging due to the unwillingness of the Americans to share their technologies with India and the impossibility of exporting some interesting military products to India. Therefore, for a long time, Delhi gave preference to military-technical cooperation with Moscow (more on this at the end of the page).

At the same time, India has a huge military-industrial complex of its own, which is theoretically capable of producing weapons and equipment of all classes, including nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles. However, the samples of weapons developed in India itself (the Arjun tank, the Tejas fighter, the Dhruv helicopter, etc.), as a rule, have very low technical and tactical characteristics, and their development has been going on for decades. The quality of assembly of equipment under foreign licenses is often low, which is why the Indian Air Force has the highest accident rate in the world. Nowhere in the world does military equipment represent such a "hodgepodge" of different types, different production, adjacent modern designs and frankly outdated models, as in India. Nevertheless, India has every reason to claim the title of one of the world's superpowers in the 21st century.

Behold cretas of the composition of the Armed Forces of India

WITH the field troops of India include the Training Command (headquarters in Shimla) and six territorial commands - Central, North, West, South-West, South, East. At the same time, the 50th Airborne Brigade, 2 regiments of the Agni MRBM, 1 regiment of the Prithvi-1 OTR, and 4 regiments of the Brahmos cruise missiles are directly subordinate to the headquarters of the ground forces.

  • Central Command includes one army corps (AK). It includes infantry, mountain, armored, artillery divisions, artillery, air defense, engineering brigades. Currently, the AK is temporarily transferred to the Southwest Command.
  • Northern Command includes three army corps - 14th, 15th, 16th. They include 5 infantry and 2 mountain divisions, an artillery brigade.
  • Western Command includes three AK - 2nd, 9th, 11th. They include 1 armored, 1 SBR, 6 infantry divisions, 4 armored, 1 mechanized, 1 engineer, 1 air defense brigade.
  • Southwest Command includes an artillery division, the 1st AK, temporarily transferred from the Central Command, the 10th AK, which includes an infantry and 2 SBR divisions, an air defense brigade, an armored brigade, and an engineering brigade.
  • Southern Command includes an artillery division and two AKs - the 12th and 21st. They include 1 armored, 1 SBR, 3 infantry divisions, armored, mechanized, artillery, air defense, engineering brigades.
  • Eastern Command includes an infantry division and three AK - 3rd, 4th, 33rd, three mountain divisions each.


Ground Forces owns most of India's nuclear missile potential. In two regiments there are 8 launchers of MRBM "Agni". In total, there are supposedly 80-100 Agni-1 missiles (flight range 1500 km), and 20-25 Agni-2 missiles (2-4 thousand km). The only regiment of OTR "Prithvi-1" (range 150 km) has 12 launchers (PU) of this missile. All these ballistic missiles are developed in India itself and can carry both nuclear and conventional warheads. Each of the 4 regiments of cruise missiles "Brahmos" (joint development of Russia and India) has 4-6 batteries, each with 3-4 launchers. The total number of the Brahmos missile launchers is 72. The Brahmos is perhaps the most versatile missile in the world, it is also in service with the Air Force (carried by the Su-30 fighter-bomber) and the Indian Navy (many submarines and surface ships ).

The tank fleet of India is very powerful and modern. It includes 248 tanks of our own design "Arjun", 1,654 newest Russian T-90s, of which 750 were manufactured under a Russian license in recent years, and 2,414 Soviet T-72Ms that were modernized in India. In addition, 715 old Soviet T-55s and up to 1100 no less old Vijayant tanks of their own production (English Vickers Mk1) are in storage.

Other armored vehicles India's ground forces, unlike tanks, are largely outdated. There are 255 Soviet BRDM-2, 100 British Ferret armored vehicles, 700 Soviet BMP-1 and 1100 BMP-2 (another 500 will be manufactured in India itself), 700 Czechoslovakian armored personnel carriers OT-62 and OT-64, 165 South African armored vehicles Kasspir ", 80 British armored personnel carriers FV432. Of all the equipment listed, only the BMP-2 can be considered new, and very conditionally. In addition, 200 very old Soviet BTR-50 and 817 BTR-60 are in storage.

Indian artillery is also obsolete for the most part. There are 100 self-propelled self-propelled guns "Catapult" of its own design (130-mm howitzer M-46 on the chassis of the tank "Vijayanta"; 80 more such self-propelled guns in storage), 80 British "Abbot" (105 mm), 110 Soviet 2S1 (122 mm). Towed guns - more than 4.3 thousand in the army, more than 3 thousand in storage. Mortars - about 7 thousand. But there are no modern samples among them. MLRS - 150 Soviet BM-21 (122 mm), 80 own Pinaka (214 mm), 62 Russian Smerch (300 mm). Of all Indian artillery systems, only the Pinaka and Smerch MLRS can be considered modern.It is armed with 250 Russian ATGM "Kornet", 13 self-propelled ATGM "Namika" (ATGM "Nag" of its own design on the chassis of the BMP-2). In addition, there are several thousand French ATGM "Milan", Soviet and Russian "Baby", "Konkurs", "Fagot", "Shturm".

The military air defense includes 45 batteries (180 launchers) of the Soviet Kvadrat air defense system, 80 Soviet Osa air defense systems, 400 Strela-1, 250 Strela-10, 18 Israeli Spyders, and 25 British Tigerkat. Also in service are 620 Soviet MANPADS "Strela-2" and 2000 "Igla-1", 92 Russian air defense missile systems "Tunguska", 100 Soviet ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", 2,720 anti-aircraft guns (800 Soviet ZU-23, 1920 Swedish L40 / 70). Of all the air defense equipment, only the Spider and Tunguska air defense systems are modern; the Osa and Strela-10 air defense systems and the Igla-1 MANPADS can be considered relatively new.

Ground-based air defense includes 25 squadrons (at least 100 launchers) of the Soviet S-125 air defense system, at least 24 Osa air defense systems, 8 squadrons of its own Akash air defense system (64 launchers).

Army aviation armed with about 300 helicopters, almost all of them are of local production.The Indian Air Force includes Commands: Western, Central, Southwest, Eastern, Southern Training, MTO. VThe Air Force has 3 squadrons of OTR "Prithvi-2" (18 launchers in each) with a firing range of 250 km, can carry conventional and nuclear charges.

Attack aviation includes 107 Soviet MiG-27 bombers and 157 British Jaguar attack aircraft (114 IS, 11 IM, 32 combat training IT). All of these aircraft, licensed in India, are obsolete.

Fighter aircraft is based on the latest Russian Su-30MKI, built under license in India. There are already 272 such aircraft in service. As mentioned above, they can carry the Brahmos cruise missile. 74 Russian MiG-29s are also quite modern (including 9 combat training UB; 1 more in storage), 9 own Tejas and 48 French Mirage-2000 (38 N, 10 combat training TN) ... Remains in service with 230 MiG-21 fighters (146 bis, 47 MF, 37 combat training U and UM), also built in India under a Soviet license. Instead of the MiG-21, it was planned to purchase 126 French Rafale fighters, in addition, 144 5th generation FGFA fighters will be built in India.

The Air Force has 5 AWACS aircraft (3 Russian A-50s, 2 Swedish ERJ-145s), 3 American Gulfstream-4 electronic reconnaissance aircraft, 6 Russian Il-78 tankers, about 300 transport aircraft (including 17 Russian Il-76, 5 newest American C-17 (there will be 5 to 13 more) and 5 C-130J), about 250 training aircraft.The Air Force is armed with 30 combat helicopters (24 Russian Mi-35s, 4 own Rudras and 2 LCHs), 360 multipurpose and transport helicopters.

The Indian Navy includes three Commands - Western (Bombay), Southern (Cochin), Eastern (Vishakhapatnam).

There is 1 SSBN "Arihant" of its own construction with 12 SLBMs K-15 (range - 700 km), it is planned to build another 3. However, due to the short range of missiles, these boats cannot be considered full-fledged SSBNs. The submarine "Chakra" is on lease (Russian submarine "Nerpa" project 971).There are 9 more Russian submarines of Project 877 in service (another such submarine burned down and sank in its own base) and 4 German Project 209/1500. There are 9 newest French submarines of the Scorpen class.The Indian Navy has 2 aircraft carriers: Viraat (formerly British Hermes) and Vikramaditya (former Soviet Admiral Gorshkov). Two of their own aircraft carriers of the Vikrant class are under construction.There are 9 destroyers: 5 of the Rajput type (Soviet project 61), 3 of our own Delhi type and 1 of the Kolkata type (2-3 more Kolkata-type destroyers will be built).In service are 6 newest Russian-built frigates of the Talvar class (project 11356) and 3 even more modern self-built frigates of the Shivalik class. Remain in service with 3 frigates of the Brahmaputra and Godavari types, built in India according to British projects.The Navy has the newest Kamorta corvette (there will be from 4 to 12), 4 Kora-type corvettes, 4 Khukri-type corvettes, and 4 Abhay-type corvettes (Soviet project 1241P).In service there are 12 Veer-type missile boats (Soviet project 1241R).All destroyers, frigates and corvettes (except "Abhay") are armed with modern Russian and Russian-Indian SLCMs and anti-ship missiles "Bramos", "Caliber", X-35.

Up to 150 patrol ships and patrol boats are in the ranks of the Navy and the Coast Guard. Among them are 6 Sakanya-class ships that can carry the Prithvi-3 ballistic missile (range 350 km). These are the only surface combat ships in the world with ballistic missiles.The Indian Navy has an extremely insignificant mine-sweeping force. They include only 7 Soviet minesweepers of the 266M project.

The airborne forces include the Dzhalashva DCD (American type Austin), 5 old Polish TDKs of the project 773 (3 more in storage), and 5 own Magar-class TDKs. At the same time, India has no marines, there is only a group of naval special forces.

In service with naval aviation there are 63 carrier-based fighters - 45 MiG-29K (including 8 combat training MiG-29KUB), 18 "Harrier" (14 FRS, 4 T). The MiG-29K are intended for the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier and those under construction of the Vikrant type, the Harriers for the Virata.Anti-submarine aircraft - 5 old Soviet Il-38 and 7 Tu-142M (1 more in storage), 3 newest American P-8I (there will be 12).There are 52 German Do-228 patrol aircraft, 37 transport aircraft, 12 HJT-16 training aircraft.Also in the naval aviation there are 12 Russian Ka-31 AWACS helicopters, 41 anti-submarine helicopters (18 Soviet Ka-28 and 5 Ka-25, 18 British Sea King Mk42V), about 100 multi-purpose and transport helicopters.

In general, the Indian Armed Forces have a huge combat potential and significantly exceed the potential of their traditional adversary Pakistan. However, now the main adversary of India is China, whose allies are the same Pakistan, as well as Myanmar and Bangladesh bordering India in the east. This makes India's geopolitical position very difficult, and its military potential, paradoxically, insufficient.

Cooperation with Russia

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2000-2014 Russia provided up to 75% of India's armaments. As of 2019, Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation is still exclusive. The point is not even that India has been one of the largest buyers of Russian weapons for several years now. For many years Moscow and Delhi have been jointly developing weapons, and unique ones such as the Brahmos missile or the FGFA fighter jet. The leasing of nuclear submarines has no analogues in world practice (only the USSR and India had a similar experience in the late 1980s). There are more T-90 tanks, Su-30 fighters, X-35 anti-ship missiles in the Indian Armed Forces than in all other countries of the world combined, including Russia itself.

At the same time, alas, not everything is cloudless in relations between Russia and India. In the near future, Moscow's share in the Indian arms market may decline from 51.8% to 33.9% due to Delhi's desire to diversify its suppliers. As opportunities and ambitions grow, so do Indian demands. Hence the scandals in the field of military-technical cooperation, for most of which Russia is to blame. The epic with the sale of the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier stands out especially against this background.However, we must admit that such scandals in Delhi arise not only with Moscow. In particular, in the course of the implementation of both major Indian-French contracts (for the submarine Scorpen and for the Rafale fighters), the same happens as with the Vikramaditya - a multiple increase in the price of products and a significant delay by the French in terms of their production. In the case of Rafals, this led to the termination of the contract.


Why does India need so many weapons? Geopolitics

India is Russia's ideal ally. There are no contradictions, on the contrary, there are great traditions of cooperation in the past and today. Our main opponents are common - Islamic terrorism and the dictatorship of the Anglo-Saxon world.

But India has two more enemies - China and Pakistan. And all this, through the efforts of England, which, leaving the colonies, always left "coals in the fire." Russia is trying to build good relations with all states, forgetting about conflicts in the past. This has been characteristic of the Russian state for centuries. India, on the other hand, does not at all want to forgive the grievances of the past, let alone forget them. At the same time, it is interesting that Beijing remains Delhi's largest trading partner with a turnover of almost$ 90 billion in 2017-2018, which is more than the United States and China.

India's main adversary is Pakistan, with which there have been contradictions since the formation of the two states in 1947. The second adversary is China. And the worst-case scenario for India is an alliance of Pakistan and China in military-political cooperation. So, after the February events in Kashmir between India and Pakistan in 2019, the Pakistani army received one hundred SD-10A air-to-air missiles from China. NSone-heavenly maintains close economic ties with Pakistan, implementing a number of joint economic projects. Some of them directly affect the interests of India. For example, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which connects the PRC with the Pakistani port of Gwadar, passes through Gilgit-Baltistan, the disputed territory of India and Pakistan in Kashmir. Delhi has no leverage over CPEC.

Moreover, in 2017, Pakistan leased out a 152-hectare plot in the commercial port of Gwadar to China Overseas Port Holding. For China, this is an opportunity to establish a naval base in the Arabian Sea, which shatters the Indian dream of becoming the dominant maritime power in the Indian Ocean.

If we add to this the contradictions with China in matters of security in Afghanistan, mutual missile build-up, disputes over India's nuclear status and long-standing territorial contradictions (Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh), it becomes clear why some of the Pancha principles no longer work between countries. shila ”(peaceful coexistence).

India is confident that China is gradually surrounding the country with a chain of military bases or military infrastructure facilities, including the aforementioned port in Pakistan and another port in Sri Lanka, military facilities in the Himalayas, and railways in pro-Chinese Nepal. The active penetration of the Chinese into neighboring Bangladesh and Myanmar also makes India feel like a blockade.

In the summer of 2017, tensions between the countries reached their limit. In June, China dispatched military engineers to build a highway to the Doklam Plateau, a crossroads of Sino-Sino-Bhutanese territorial claims. The plateau is of strategic importance to India as it provides access to the Siliguri corridor, which connects the main part of the country with the seven northeastern states. Delhi even sent troops into the territory of Bhutan, and as a result, the "strange war" ended with the return of the status quo.

Against this background, the BRICS looks like a strange entity in which Moscow is trying to reconcile the world's two largest powers in terms of population and economic potential. Delhi does not need an alliance with Beijing. After all, China is not only the main geopolitical adversary, but also an economic competitor. India needs an alliance against Beijing. It is in this format that she would be happy to be friends with Moscow, but Russia does not agree to cool down relations with China, for the sake of India, and this is reasonable.

On the state of the Indian Air Force

The events of recent days have riveted attention to the state of the Indian Air Force. The domestic public is somewhat surprised by the course of the next exacerbation of the protracted conflict between India and Pakistan. It would seem that the Indian Air Force, equipped with hundreds of modern aircraft, objectively lost the first round of confrontation with a long-standing enemy. Moreover, instead of using modern combat vehicles, such as the Su-30 supplied from Russia, in the first days of exacerbation, the outdated MiG-21 and Mirage-2000 went into battle. On February 27, in the state of Kashmir, bordering Pakistan, an Mi-17 helicopter was lost, possibly falling for reasons unrelated to the actions of the enemy, in addition, the MiG-21-90 fighter was shot down by Pakistani F-16s. Such a result looks somewhat strange against the background of India's technical superiority over its neighbor's aircraft. However, it is worth understanding the state of the country's Air Force in more detail.

Indeed, India's aircraft fleet is perhaps the most modern in the region. The local air force is armed with at least 220 Su-30MKI fighters, produced under license in the country. Another 50 aircraft of this type were delivered from Russia in assembled form.

Su-30MKI Indian Air Force

In addition, the Indian aviation has over 60 MiG-29 fighters supplied from the USSR. At the beginning of 2019, it became known that the Indian leadership was negotiating with the Russian Federation on the supply of an additional batch of MiG-29 fighters.

Along with Russian aviation equipment, India is trying to buy modern aircraft from Western countries. In particular, a batch of 36 Rafale fighters was to be purchased in France. However, to this day, aircraft of this type have not entered service with the Indian Air Force as a result of numerous scandals related to corruption schemes.

In addition to purchasing aviation equipment abroad, India is trying to establish production of its own aircraft. In particular, fighters are planned to be adopted by the local air force. Tejas, which in the future should replace the outdated MiG-21. The Tejas fighter is 13.2 m long, has a wingspan of 8.2 m, and a height of 4.4 m.An empty aircraft weighs 5.5 tons, its maximum take-off weight is 15.5 tons.The aircraft is armed with a 23-mm double-barreled cannon GS -23 and has 8 points of attachment for bombs, missiles and auxiliary equipment. However, the production of aircraft of this type is proceeding at a rather slow pace.

Fighter Tejas

The strike component of the Indian Air Force is represented by aviation equipment of the 70s-80s. In particular, there are over 200 MiG-21 fighters, in addition, the Indian Air Force has over 60 MiG-27 fighter-bombers. French aircraft were widely used in the country. Thus, the Air Force includes over 100 French Jaguar fighter-bombers, some of which were produced in India under license, as well as about 50 Mirage-2000 multipurpose fighters. It was the Mirages that struck the terrorist camps in Kashmir on February 26 this year. The presence of a huge fleet of obsolete fighter-bombers leads to a high accident rate in the Indian Air Force, but this will be discussed separately.

India possesses AWACS and radio-electronic reconnaissance aircraft. This significantly increases the potential of the country's Air Force. In particular, the Indian army is armed with 3 Russian A-50 aircraft, which were involved in operations against militants in Kashmir on February 26, as well as 5 Brazilian-made DRDO AEW & CS vehicles and 3 Gulfstream electronic reconnaissance vehicles and 3 Bombardier 5000 received from Israel.

The Indian military transport aviation park looks quite powerful. India possesses 6 Il-78 refueling aircraft, which were used to refuel Mirages-2000 during strikes in Kashmir, 27 Il-76 aircraft, about 100 An-32 transport aircraft that have undergone modernization, as well as 10 American C- transport aircraft. 17 and 5 machines C-130 "Hercules". In the conditions of mountainous terrain, the country's military transport aviation is able to provide the transfer of reinforcements to the conflict area by air in a short time.

The Indian Air Force has a significant number of training aircraft. In particular, the Indian aviation includes over 80 BAE Hawk Mk. 132, 75 Pilatus PC-7, over 150 HAL Kiran, as well as 80 HAL HPT-32 Deepak. It is noteworthy that the last two types of cars are of local development. In the event of a large-scale war, these aircraft can be used as light attack aircraft.

BAE Hawk Mk. 132 in parade

India does not have many attack helicopters. Thus, there are about 20 Mi-35 helicopters that are fully adequate for combat operations in mountainous terrain. However, the Indian army includes over 220 Mi-17 aircraft, which can easily carry unguided weapons. In particular, during the hostilities against Pakistan in 1999, vehicles of this type were used in Kashmir as shock vehicles. The Mi-17 performed well in high altitude conditions. By the way, on February 27, for unknown reasons, a helicopter of this type was lost in Kashmir, most likely used to supply the border group. In addition, the Indian army is armed with 40 light helicopters Aérospatiale SA 316B (HAL SA316B), the production license of which was bought from France, and about 120 light HAL SA315B and HAL Dhruv helicopters of Indian design. However, the use of light multipurpose helicopters in high altitude conditions is questionable. Along with the vehicles in service, India signed an agreement for the supply of over 20 AN-64 Apache helicopters from the United States.

Along with the Indian Air Force, its navy also possesses combat aviation. So, in Russia, a total of 45 MiG-29K fighters were ordered, capable of solving combat missions of various profiles.

It would seem that the potential of the Indian Air Force, which possesses hundreds of modern combat aircraft, and is also capable of both assembling aircraft under license, and producing its own combat aircraft, leaves Pakistan no chance of success. However, along with modern aviation technology, the local air force has hundreds of aircraft that were outdated in the 1980s. Ironically, it was these machines, which are deployed in Kashmir and collided with Pakistani F-16 fighters on February 27. The MiG-21 was an advanced aircraft of its time, and even now is capable of striking ground targets, but in confrontation with the next generation fighters it has virtually no chance of success.

In addition to the presence of obsolete technology in Indian aviation, there are serious problems with the human factor. Thus, the high accident rate has become a real scourge of the local air force. During 2018, at least 13 aircraft were lost in accidents. 5 more planes have crashed since the beginning of 2019. And the very leadership of the country's Air Force reacted rather frivolously to the potential of the Pakistani Air Force. Placing outdated MiG-21s in the conflict zone and sending them into battle against Pakistan's F-16 fighters is obviously caused by a banal underestimation of the enemy, which led to the loss of aviation equipment.

Dmitry Valyuzhenich for ANNA-News

Image caption The last crash of the Indian MiG-21 occurred during the landing approach - the most difficult maneuver

The Delhi High Court is considering a lawsuit by a pilot of the country's Air Force demanding to recognize the most widespread MiG-21 fighter in the world as an object that violates the human right to life.

And we are not talking about the lives of those against whom this aircraft can be used - a lawsuit was filed by the Indian Air Force pilot, the commander of the air wing Sanjit Singh Kaila, who claims that the aircraft not only violates his right to life, but also does not provide the right to safe conditions labor, which is guaranteed by the constitution of the country.

He filed a lawsuit in court on July 17, 48 hours after the MiG-21 disaster near the Nal airbase in Rajistan, in which a young Indian pilot was killed.

The court accepted the application and postponed the meeting until October 10 to examine the list of accidents involving these aircraft.

Open data leaked to the press say that of the more than 900 MiG-21s received by the Indian Air Force, more than 400 have crashed. In this case, more than 130 pilots were killed.

Over the past three years, the Indian Air Force has had 29 accidents. 12 of them - with the participation of the MiG-21. In India, this aircraft, which for decades was the mainstay of the fighter fleet, was nicknamed the "flying coffin".

True, the MiG's enemy in the Indo-Pakistani war, the American F-104 fighter, received exactly the same nickname among its pilots.

"Balalaika"

The second-generation MiG-21 supersonic jet fighter was created at the Mikoyan and Gurevich Design Bureau in the mid-1950s.

In all respects, the new MiG turned out to be an order of magnitude more complex and technologically advanced machine than its predecessor, the MiG-19. In the Soviet Air Force, it was immediately nicknamed "balalaika" for the characteristic shape of its triangular wings.

This number takes into account fighters produced in India, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, but does not include Chinese copies - J7 fighters (that is, in fact, even more of them were produced).

India decided to acquire the MiG-21 in 1961. Deliveries began in 1963, and a few years later, the MiG, along with another heavy Su-7 fighter, took part in the war with Pakistan.

This aircraft changed the situation in the Indian Air Force and raised them to a qualitatively new level.

"Wonderful lady"

During the Indo-Pakistani conflict, he played an important role in air battles, and in many respects it was then that a special attitude towards him arose among Indian pilots.

Among them, many, if not most, do not at all share the opinion of Sanjit Singh Kyle, who has filed a lawsuit.

"It was the best fighter of its time. How long has it been flying with us, 40 years? And still in service. It's just a wonderful plane," retired Indian Air Force Colonel General Yogi Rai told the BBC Russian Service.

Another Indian Air Force general, Anil Tipnis, published an article on the Indian military-analytical website Bharat Rakshak entitled "My Fair Lady - Oda MiG-21".

"For four decades, the MiG-21 has become the basis of India's air defense both in peacetime and in wartime. It vigilantly defended the country day and night," the general wrote in his note.

MiG does not forgive mistakes

Image caption The MiG-21 became the world record holder for the number of units produced. Many allies of the USSR were armed with it.

However, the number of accidents and disasters is an indisputable fact. The number of MiG-21s destroyed as a result of accidents, the number of pilots who died in these accidents, is more than the number of pilots killed by the enemy.

Colonel-General of the Indian Air Force, retired Yogi Rai, explained this simply: "The number of MiG-21s in the Indian Air Force is large, they are actively used, respectively, the number of accidents is also great." However, there are other versions as well.

First of all, as a graduate of the Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation School Vladimir V., who himself learned to fly the MiG-21, told the BBC, this aircraft, due to its flight characteristics, is difficult to control - it did not forgive mistakes for an inexperienced pilot.

With a very small wing area, it was designed for high flight speeds, but it took a lot of skill to land the plane.

"They joked about the 21st:" Why does he need wings? “So that the cadets are not afraid to fly."

At the same time, due to the same design feature, the plane could not plan - if it began to fall, then it was only possible to eject.

True, other fighters of this generation also suffered from the same disease - in the USSR, the Su-7 was considered the most emergency, the Western Air Forces had legends about the catastrophes of the MiG-21 enemy - the American F-104 fighter, whose accident rate corresponded to the Indian MiG-21 levels.

The latter, being conceptually close to the MiG-21, also suffered from the fact that it was being prepared for high-speed flights, and not for a comfortable landing.

Spare parts

Over the past 10-15 years, as far as I know, after the Soviet Union became Russia, the incoming spare parts need to ... check Udai Baskar
Indian military expert

A MiG-21, which crashed near the Nal airbase in Rajistan, crashed during its landing approach. There are no official reports on the reasons for its fall, but it is known that it was piloted by an inexperienced pilot.

In India, as many experts note, there is a problem of mastering high-speed aircraft by cadets - they do not have time to gain experience when transferring from training aircraft to high-speed aircraft.

Another problem is spare parts. As one of the leading Indian military experts Udai Baskar told the BBC, the military has many complaints about the quality of aircraft parts against Russian enterprises.

"Over the past 10-15 years, as far as I know, after the Soviet Union became Russia, the incoming spare parts must be ... checked," he said, stressing that this is not the official position of the Indian Air Force, but his personal opinion.

The problem of spare parts for MiGs does exist. Perhaps for reasons that the Indian analyst cautiously noted, and perhaps for other reasons, India purchases spare parts for fighters not only in Russia, but also in other countries.

In May 2012, the Russian ambassador to India, Alexander Kadakin, said that Indian Migs were being broken because of counterfeit spare parts, advising them to buy them only in Russia.

Diversification of supplies

Now, about a hundred MiG-21 fighters remain in service with the Indian Air Force. They will be finally decommissioned as new aircraft become available - a tender was recently completed in India for the supply of 126 fighters worth more than $ 10 billion.

The Russian MiG-35 fighter also took part in the tender, which as a result lost to the French Rafale.

In addition, Russia also lost in tenders for the supply of military transport and attack helicopters to India.

In each specific case, experts point out that the loss can be explained by the inconsistency of Russian devices with technical conditions.

However, there is also a general trend - India, which for decades depended on the supply of weapons from the USSR, now wants to try Western weapons as well.

And it means that the MiG-21, which guarded the Indian sky for four decades, will soon remain only in the memory of the Indians - as a reliable defender and not a very reliable aircraft.


Vladimir SHCHERBAKOV

Modern India is a rapidly developing state on a global scale. Its importance is constantly growing as a powerful aerospace power. For example, the country has its own modern spaceport SHAR on the island of Shriharikata, has a well-equipped space flight control center, a developed national rocket and space industry, whose forces are developing and serially building launch vehicles capable of launching a payload into space (including geostationary orbits). The country has already entered the international space services market and has experience in launching foreign satellites into space. There are also cosmonauts, and the first of them - Air Force Major Rokesh Sharma - visited space on the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft back in April 1984.

The Air Force (Air Force) of the Republic of India is the youngest branch of the national armed forces. Officially, the date of their formation is October 8, 1932, when in Rusal Pur (now located in Pakistan), the British colonial administration began to form the first aviation squadron of the Royal Air Force of Great Britain from representatives of the local population. The Indian Air Force High Command was formed only after the country's independence in 1947.

Currently, the Indian air force is the most numerous and combat-ready among all the states of South Asia and even ranks in the top ten of the largest and most powerful air forces in the world. In addition, they have a real and fairly rich experience in the conduct of hostilities.

Organizationally, the Air Force of the Republic of India consists of a headquarters (located in Delhi), a training command, a logistics command (MTO) and five operational (regional) aviation commands (AK):

Western AK with headquarters in Pala-ma (Delhi region): its task is to provide air defense for a large territory, from Kashmir to Rajasthan, including the capital of the state. At the same time, given the complexity of the situation in the area of ​​Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, a separate task force has been formed there;

Southwest AK (headquarters in Gandhi-nagar): Rajasthan, Gujarat and Saurashtra are defined as its area of ​​responsibility;

Central AK with headquarters in Allahabad (another name is Ilahabad): the area of ​​responsibility includes almost the entire Indo-Gangetic plain;

Eastern AK (headquarters in Shillong): implementation of air defense of the eastern regions of India, Tibet, as well as territories on the borders with Bangladesh and Myan-my;

Southern AK (headquarters in Trivandrum): formed in 1984, responsible for the security of the airspace in the southern part of the country.

Various warehouses, repair shops (enterprises) and aircraft storage parks are subordinated to the MTO command, whose headquarters is located in Nagpur.

The training command is headquartered in Bangalore and is responsible for the combat training of air force personnel. It has a developed network of educational institutions of various ranks, most of which are located in the south of India. Basic flight training of future pilots is carried out at the Air Force Academy (Dundgal), and further training for pilots takes place in special schools in Bidar and Hakimpet on TS training aircraft. 11 Iskra and Kiran. In the near future, the Indian Air Force will also receive Hawk MI 32 jet trainers. In addition, the training command also has specialized training centers such as the College of Air Warfare.

There is also an interspecific united Far Eastern command of the armed forces (the name Andamano-Nicobars command is also used) with headquarters in Port Blair, to which the air force units and subunits deployed in that area are operatively subordinate.

This branch of the Indian Armed Forces is headed by the Commander of the Air Force (the local name is the Chief of Staff of the Air Force), usually in the rank of Air Chief Marshal. The main air force bases (VVB): Allahabad, Bam Rauli, Bangalore, Dandigal (the Indian Air Force Academy is located here), Hakimpet, Hyderabad, Jam Nagar, Jojpur, Nagpur, Delhi and Shil Long. There are also more than 60 other main and reserve IWBs and aerodromes in different regions of India.

According to official figures, the total number of the Indian Air Force reaches 110 thousand people. This type of national armed forces of the republic is armed with more than 2,000 aircraft and helicopters of combat and auxiliary aviation, including:

Fighter Bomber

Air defense fighters and fighters

About 460;

Reconnaissance aircraft - 6;

Transport aircraft - over 230;

Training and combat training aircraft - more than 400;

Fire support helicopters - about 60;

Multipurpose, transport and communications helicopters - about 600.

In addition, several dozen air defense divisions are subordinated to the Air Force command, which are armed with more than 150 anti-aircraft missile systems of various types, mainly of Soviet and Russian production (the newest are 45 Tunguska M-1 air defense missile systems).


In the parade formation of the Mikoyan Design Bureau aircraft, which are in service with the Indian Air Force



Fighter-bomber "Jaguar" and fighter MiG-29 of the Indian Air Force



Fighter-bomber MiG-27ML "Bahadur"


The special forces of the Indian Air Force, whose units are called Garud, are also in a special position. Its task is to defend the most important objects of the Air Force, to conduct anti-terrorist and anti-sabotage operations.

However, it should be emphasized that due to the rather high accident rate in the Indian Air Force, it is not possible to accurately indicate the quantitative composition of their fleet at the moment. For example, according to the authoritative in the region magazine Aircraft &; Aerospace Asia-Pacific, 1993-1997 only the Indian Air Force lost a total of 94 aircraft and helicopters of various types. The losses, of course, are partially made up for through licensed production of aircraft at Indian aircraft factories or additional purchases, but, firstly, partially, and secondly, this is not happening quickly enough.

The main tactical unit of the Indian Air Force is traditionally the Aviation Squadron (AE), which has an average of 18 aircraft. According to the provisions of the current reform of the armed forces, by 2015 there should be 41 military aviation units (including helicopters with attack helicopters). Moreover, at least a third of their total number should be squadrons equipped with multipurpose aircraft - mostly Su-ZOMKI. As of the beginning of 2007, the national air force had more than 70 nuclear power plants, including:

Fighter air defense - 15;

Fighter-assault - 21;

Naval Aviation - 1;

Intelligence - 2;

Transport - 9;

Refueling tankers - 1;

Helicopter drums - 3;

Helicopter transport, communications and surveillance - over 20,

Despite the impressive aircraft and helicopter fleet, the Indian Air Force is experiencing quite serious difficulties at the present stage with maintaining all aircraft in normal technical condition. According to many analysts, a significant part of Soviet-made aircraft and helicopters is technically and morally obsolete and is in a state of incapacity. The Indian Air Force, as noted earlier, is also high in accident rates, which is also most likely a consequence of the low technical readiness of older aircraft and helicopters. Thus, according to the Indian Ministry of Defense, from 1970 to June 4, 2003, 449 aircraft were lost: 31 Jaguars, 4 Mirages and 414 MiGs of various types. Recently, this figure has slightly improved - up to 18 aircraft in 2002 (ie 2.81 aircraft for every 1000 flight hours) and even fewer in subsequent years - but it is still quite noticeably "thinning out" the ranks of the Indian aviation.

This state of affairs cannot but cause concern among the command of the national air force and the armed forces in general. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the Air Force budget for FY2004-2005 is significantly increased and amounted to about $ 1.9 billion.At the same time, the financing of the procurement of aviation equipment, ammunition and equipment is carried out under separate items from the general budget of the armed forces, which for this period amounted to $ 15 billion (an increase of 9.45% for compared with the previous financial year is about 2.12% of GDP) plus another 5.7 billion dollars - expenditures on research and development and purchases of weapons and military equipment during 2004-2007.

There are two ways to solve problems with the aircraft fleet. This is the modernization of the old and the purchase of new aviation equipment and weapons.The first, of course, includes the ongoing modernization program for 125 MiG-21bis fighters (MiG-21 in various modifications was supplied by the Soviet Union and was produced in India under license, and the first group of KB employees arrived in the country to organize the production of these aircraft at the site back in 1965). The new modification received the designation MiG-21-93 and is equipped with a modern radar "Kopye" (OJSC "Corporation" Fazotron-NIIR "), the latest avionics, etc. The modernization program was completed in the first quarter of 2005.



L and her to the MiG-29 fighters




Other countries did not stand aside either. For example, the Ukrainian company "Ukrspetsexport" in 2002 signed an agreement with an approximate cost of about 15 million dollars on the overhaul of six MiG-23UB combat training aircraft from the 220th squadron. As part of the work carried out by the Chuguev Aircraft Repair Plant of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the repair of the R-27F2M-300 engines (the direct executor here was the Lugansk Aircraft Repair Plant), airframes, etc. The aircraft were transferred to the Indian Air Force in pairs in June, July and August 2004.

The purchase of new equipment is also in progress. The main program here, no doubt, is the purchase of 32 multifunctional Su-ZOMKI fighters and the licensed production of another 140 aircraft of this type already on the territory of India itself (Russia has transferred a "deep license" without the right to re-export these aircraft). The cost of these two contracts is estimated at almost 4.8 billion dollars. The peculiarity of the Su-ZOMKI program is that the aircraft has a wide range of Indian, French, British and Israeli avionics, which were successfully integrated by Russian specialists into the fighter's onboard complex.

The first Su-30s (in the "K" modification) were included in the 24th fighter-assault AE "Hunting Falcons", subordinate to the South-Western Aviation Command. The latter is responsible for the most strategically important areas adjacent to Pakistan and rich in oil, natural gas, etc., including on the sea shelf. By the way, practically all MiG-29 fighters are at the disposal of the same command. This testifies to the high assessment that the Indian military and politicians give to Russian aircraft.

The Su-ZOMKI supplied by the Irkut corporation were officially adopted by the Indian Air Force and included in the combat strength of the 20th fighter-assault AE, based at the Lokhegaon VVB near the city of Pune. The ceremony was attended by former Defense Minister George Fernandez.

However, back on June 11, 1997, during the official ceremony for the inclusion of the first eight Su-ZOKs in the Air Force, held at the Lokhegaon Air Force Base, the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Satish Kumar Sari, said that “Su-ZOK is the most perfect fighter, completely meeting the current and future needs of the Air Force. " Representatives of the command of the Air Force of neighboring Pakistan have repeatedly expressed and continue to express "deep concern" about the arrival of such modern aircraft into service with the Indian aviation. Thus, according to them, “forty Su-30 aircraft have the same destructive power as 240 aircraft of the old types, which are armed with the Indian Air Force, and have a greater range than Prithvi missiles. (Bill Sweetman. Looking to a fighter future. Jane's International Defense Review. February 2002, pp. 62-65)

In India, these aircraft are manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), which has invested about $ 160 million to install a new assembly line. The transfer of the first Su-30MKI assembled in India took place on November 28, 2004.The last licensed fighter should be transferred to the troops no later than 2014 (previously it was planned to complete the program by 2017).

It should be especially noted that Indian sources have repeatedly expressed the opinion that the latest Russian aircraft will be able to replenish the list of delivery vehicles for India's nuclear weapons. Especially if negotiations on the purchase of Tu-22MZ bombers with a flight range of about 2200 km and a maximum combat load of 24 tons will end in nothing. And, as you know, the military-political leadership of India attaches great importance to increasing the combat capabilities of the command of strategic nuclear forces created on January 4, 2003, which was headed in the past by fighter pilot, and now Air Marshal T. Astkhan (former commander of the Southern Aviation Command of the Indian Air Force ).



Upgraded fighter MiG-21-93



Transport helicopter Mi-8T




As for the nuclear weapons themselves, according to available data in 1998, during the nuclear tests carried out in the Rajasthan desert at the Pohran nuclear test site, Indian specialists also used aerial bombs with a yield of less than one kiloton. They are planning to hang them under the "drying". Considering the presence of tankers in the Indian Air Force, the Su-30MKI, as a carrier of low-yield nuclear weapons, can really turn into a strategic weapon.

In 2004, one of the most pressing problems of the Indian Air Force was finally solved - providing them with modern training aircraft. As a result of a $ 1.3 billion contract signed with the British company VAB Systems, Indian pilots will receive 66 Hawk Mk132 jet training aircraft.

The Government Committee for the Procurement of Weapons and Military Equipment approved this agreement back in September 2003, but the final decision was traditionally timed to coincide with an important event such as the Defexpo lndia-2004 exhibition held in February 2004 in the capital of the country. Of the 66 aircraft ordered, 42 will be assembled directly in India at the facilities of the national company HAL, and the first batch of 24 aircraft will be assembled at BAE Systems' factories in Brow (East Yorkshire) and Wharton (Lancashire). The Indian version of the Hawk will be in many ways similar to the Hawk Mk115 modification, which is used as part of the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) Pilot Training Program.

The changes will affect some cockpit equipment, and all American-made systems will be removed. Instead of him and a part of the British equipment, a similar purpose will be installed, but developed and produced in India. In the so-called "glass" cockpit, it is planned to install multifunctional displays on the dashboard (Head Down Multi-Function Display), a display on the windshield (Head Up Display) and a control system with devices located at the throttle (Hands-On-Throttie-And-Stick , or NOT AS).

In addition, the Indian aerospace industry's program for the creation of an intermediate training aircraft HJT-36 (Indian sources is called Intermediate Jet Trainer, or IJT), designed to replace the outdated HJT-16 Kiran aircraft, is also progressing well. The first prototype of the HJT-36 aircraft, the development and construction of which has been carried out by HAL since July 1999, completed a successful test flight on March 7, 2003.

Another undoubted success of the Indian defense industry can be considered the Dhruv helicopter designed by its own forces, designed to gradually replace the large fleet of Chita and Chitak helicopters. The official acceptance of the new helicopter into service with the Indian Armed Forces took place in March 2002.Since then, several dozen machines have been delivered to the troops (both in the Air Force and in the Land Forces), which are undergoing intensive testing. It is assumed that over the next years at least 120 Dhruv helicopters will enter the armed forces of the republic. Moreover, the latter also has a civilian modification, which the Indians are promoting to the international market. There are already real and potential customers for these rotary-wing machines.



Fighter "Mirage" 2000N



An-32 transport aircraft


Realizing that in modern conditions the presence of AWACS aircraft in the Air Force has already become a vital necessity, the Indian command signed a contract with the Israeli company IAI on March 5, 2004 for the supply of three sets of Phalcon AWACS systems, which will be installed on Il -76. The AWACS complex includes a radar with a phased antenna array E 1 / M-2075 by Elta, communication and data exchange systems, as well as electronic reconnaissance and electronic countermeasures equipment. Almost all information on the Phalcon system is classified, but some Israeli and Indian sources claim that in terms of its characteristics it surpasses a similar complex of the Russian AWACS A-50 aircraft, also developed on the basis of the Il-76 transport aircraft (as for Indian specialists, they can do similar statements, since in the summer of 2000 we had the opportunity to get acquainted with the Russian "Awax" during the air force exercises, in which two A-50s specially took part. (Ranjit B. Rai. Airpower in India - a review of the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy, Asian Military Review, Volume 11, Issue 1, February 2003, p. 44) Contract value of $ 1.1 billion, of which $ 350 million India has pledged to pay in advance within 45 days The first aircraft will be delivered to the Indian Air Force in November 2007, the second in August 2008 and the last in February 2009.

It should be noted that the Indians tried to solve this issue on their own and developed a project for converting several HS.748 transport aircraft, produced in India under a British license, into an AWACS aircraft (the program was called ASP). The mushroom-shaped radome, located on the fuselage closer to the tail, has a diameter of 4.8 m and was supplied by the German concern DASA. The refurbishment work was entrusted to the HAL office in Kanpur. The prototype aircraft made its first flight at the end of 1990, but then the program was suspended.

The implementation of the new military doctrine of the Indian Armed Forces, adopted at the turn of the century, required the aviation command to create a fleet of tanker aircraft. The presence of such aircraft will allow the Indian Air Force to meet its missions at a completely different level. According to the contract concluded in 2002, India received six Il-78MKI tankers, the construction of which was entrusted to the Tashkent Aviation Plant. Each IL can take on board 110 tons of fuel and refuel seven aircraft in one flight (Mirages and Su-30K / MKI have been identified as the first candidates to work with tankers). The cost of one aircraft is about $ 28 million. Interestingly, the Israeli aviation industry has "tore off a piece" here too, having signed a contract to equip the Ilovs themselves with an air-to-air refueling system.

The Indian company HAL continues the program to develop a national light combat aircraft LCA, which began in 1983. The terms of reference for the aircraft were formulated by the Indian Air Force in 1985, three years later under a contract worth 10 million dollars French company Avions Marcel Dassault-Breguet Aviation completed the design of the aircraft, and in 1991 the construction of an experimental LCA began. Initially, the arrival of the new aircraft was planned for 2002, but the program began to slip and was constantly postponed. The main reason is the lack of financial resources and technical difficulties faced by Indian specialists.

In the medium term, we should expect the entry into service of a new Russian-Indian transport aircraft, which has so far received the designation Il-214. The corresponding agreement was signed during a visit to Delhi on February 5-8, 2002 by a Russian delegation consisting of representatives of several ministries and departments, headed by the then Minister of Industry, Science and Technology of Russia Ilya Klebanov. At the same time, the second meeting of the Russian-Indian Intergovernmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation was held. The main developer of the aircraft is Russia, and its production will be carried out at the factories of the Russian corporation "Irkut" and the Indian company HAL.

However, in the opinion of the Indian military, the main focus in the short term should be on the purchase of the latest ammunition, mainly high-precision air-to-surface weapons, which are practically non-existent in the Indian Air Force. According to Indian sources, the overwhelming majority of modern aircraft weapons of Indian aviation are conventional bombs and obsolete missiles of various classes. In the current conditions of high-tech warfare, guided aerial bombs, "smart" medium and long-range missiles, as well as other state-of-the-art weapons are required.



Joint aerobatics of MiG-29 and F-15 during one of the American-Indian exercises




In November 2004, the Indian Air Force command tentatively approved a work plan of action, which provides for a wider use of budgetary funds allocated to this type of armed forces for the purchase of aircraft weapons. It is assumed that about $ 250 million will be allocated annually to the Air Force commander for these purposes.

It should be especially noted that it is planned to equip the unmanned aircraft of the Sercher, Mark-2 and Heroes types at the disposal of the Air Force with small-caliber guided munitions with GPS receivers and modern reconnaissance and surveillance systems for their effective use in mountainous areas (mainly on the border with Pakistan). As a priority measure to strengthen the air defense of the air groupings, the Air Force command suggested that the leadership of the Ministry of Defense supply at least 10 battalions of the Shord short-range air defense system to the troops.

The Indian military-political leadership strives for the all-round development of military-technical cooperation with various foreign states, not wishing to become dependent on any one partner. The longest history includes military-technical ties with Great Britain (which is quite natural, given the country's long colonial past) and with Russia. However, Delhi is gradually acquiring new partners.

In 1982, a memorandum of understanding (in the rank of a long-term intergovernmental agreement) was signed between India and France on military-technical cooperation, including the supply of weapons and military equipment, licensed production of a number of weapons and military equipment. There is also the possibility of a so-called technology transfer. For the most effective implementation of the agreement, an intergovernmental advisory group was established.

Then came Israel, with which India has established fairly strong relations in various fields, and the United States has become the most "fresh" partner. The latter in September 2002 in the new National Security Strategy for the first time gave India the status of a "strategically important partner."

A mutual decision to establish a strategic partnership between the two countries was made back in November 2001 during a summit meeting between US President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayi. On September 21, 2004, talks were held in Washington between the US President and the new Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh. The meeting, during which a wide range of issues was considered in such important areas as bilateral cooperation, regional security and the development of economic ties, took place literally a few days after the signing of an important document on September 17 by India and the United States on lifting American restrictions on the export of equipment for Indian facilities. nuclear energy. It also simplified the licensing of the export activities of US companies in the field of commercial space programs, and the Indian Space Research Organization (fSRO) disappeared from the US Department of Commerce blacklist.

These activities are carried out as part of the first stage of a long-term strategic cooperation program, announced in January 2004 and aimed at removing all barriers to bilateral cooperation in the field of high technologies, commercial use of outer space and strengthening the policy of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). In American circles, it is often referred to as "Next Steps in Strategic Partnership" (NSSP),

At the second stage of the NSSP, the main focus is on continuing to remove barriers that impede closer cooperation in the field of high technologies, and on joint steps to strengthen the WMD and missile technology nonproliferation regime.

If we talk about Russia, then for her close cooperation with India, including in the military-technical sphere, is vital. India is not only a "priority" buyer of our weapons, but also a strategic ally, actually covering our borders from the South Asian direction. Not to mention that India is the dominant power in the South Asian region today. In conclusion, it is worth mentioning that only with India Russia has a long-term "Program of military-technical cooperation", designed initially for the period up to 2000, but now extended until 2010. And our military-political leadership should in no case be missed initiative in this matter.