LCA AF Mk2 (Medium Weight Fighter) - News and discussions

As per the data available, Jf 17 with assumed 1 Sq meter RCS and Uttam 1's ability to detect the target of 1 Sq meter from 150 K.M., Uttam MK2 with 980 TR modules can detect a JF 17 like target from 170 K.M. and J10 C like 2 Sq meter target at a distance of 200 K.M. Which is double the range from where Jf17 and J10 can detect MWF. MWF will have a great advantage of first Shoot capability. It will have an atleast 70 to 80 K.M. advantage of first shoot. JF 17 and J10 are absolutely no match to Rafale, Tejas Mk1 A and MWF in BVR combat. However, it they are able to come close to less than 80 k.m., the engagement can happen. India has Meteor advantage right now. Astra MK II and Astra MK III is going to supplement that. Infact, except J 20, none of the Chinese fighter is good enough to engage Rafale, Tajas MK1 A and MWF in BVR combat. This is very much evident from Exercise



 
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This is an old article but it gives a lots of insight in possible BVR combat with Chinese Jets (Except J22) with Indian fighters.

Saab Gripen ‘Rips Apart’ Chinese J-11 Fighters In War Games; Experts Call Them ‘Sitting Ducks’ For Rafales​

By
Apoorva Jain
-
August 9, 2021


A “dogfight” between Saab Gripen and the Chinese J-11 fighter jets game provides lessons to militaries around the world on how to get the better of Chinese warplanes.

Details of Exercise Falcon Strike 2015, the first-ever joint exercise between the Chinese and Thai air forces, which was held at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base for two weeks in mid-November 2015, were revealed in 2019.

While the Chinese PLA Air Force (PLAAF) brought J-11 to the wargame, the Thai Air Force deployed Swedish Saab JAS-39C/D Gripens, though it also operates the American F-16s.


What astounded the military experts is that a 25-year-old fighter overpowered the relatively younger Chinese J-11 aircraft especially during the beyond-visual-range (BVR) engagements.



This humiliating defeat by the Gripens exposed the reality of China’s air-warfare capabilities, with experts commenting on J-11s not having a chance against the muc advanced Rafales that the Indian Air Force is operating.

Gripen Vs J-11

The Saab JAS 39 Gripen is a Swedish fourth-generation single-engine multirole fighter jet that took its first flight in 1988 and entered service in 1996. With a speed of Mach 2, the Gripens have been sold to six nations across Central Europe, South Africa, and Southeast Asia.

The Thailand Air Force operates a NATO-compatible C/D model with extended capabilities in terms of armament, electronics, etc., and it can also be refueled in flight.


On the other hand, China’s J-11 fighter is based on the Soviet-designed Sukhoi Su-27. The J-11 is a twin-engine jet that took its first flight in 1998.


Thai-Gripen
A Thai Royal Air Force Saab Gripen. (via Gripen News)
With its multiple variants and upgrades like the missile approach warning system (MAWS), the improved cockpit displays, and fire control systems for R-77 or PL-10 missiles, the J-11s have become a significant part of the Chinese Air Force with more than 400 in service while the Navy operates around 70 of the fighters.

The EurAsian Times earlier reported how China is continuing research and development of the J-11 fighter, which might affect the future of its J-10 aircraft.

SAAB Gripens Destroy Chinese J-11s

Across the seven days of the exercise, the Chinese jets performed subparly, leading many analysts to cast doubts over China’s aerial capabilities.



During the first two days of the war game, the powerful J-11s shot down 16 Gripens in a visual-range battle with no loss.

Reports suggest that the Thai Gripen was armed with AIM-9 infrared-guided missiles and an internal cannon for close-range combat, while the J-11s were armed with infrared-guided short-range missiles — the PL-8s.

However, in the following days, as the game shifted to beyond-visual-range engagements, the Gripen armed with AIM-120 medium-range missiles proved to be a far better fighter than the J-11 with its own medium-range missiles, possibly PL-12s.
The Gripens shot down a total of 41 Chinese J-11s at a loss of six fighters. The final tally after the completion of seven days stood in favor of the Swedish fighters as it shot down 42 J-11s at a loss of 34 only.

Interestingly, military analysts observed that Gripens outperformed the J-11s in terms of the range, given how 88% of the Thai kills occurred at a range of at least 19 miles, while the Chinese scored just 14% of their kills at the same range.

The Gripens also scored 10 kills at a distance of more than 31 miles, while the J-11s scored no kills. The Aviation website Alert 5 noted that the Chinese pilots had poor situational awareness.

“Too much focus was on the front of the aircraft rather than all around. In phases of the war game where J-11s escorted other planes, there was a lack of coordination,” the website said.

India Rafales

The struggle of Chinese jets against the fourth-generation Gripen has thrilled Indian military analysts, given that the Indian Air Force now hosts two squadrons of the 4.5-generation French-made Rafales.India’s Rafale fighter jets.

Amid the ongoing standoff between India and China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, experts have started speculating how Indian Rafales will fare against the Chinese aircraft, especially with their fifth-generation J-20.


The Rafales are combat-proven multirole aircraft that have been used by the French Air Force for its missions in the Middle East, while the J-20 has not been deployed in any conflict zones as yet. With a capacity to carry six AASM missiles, the Rafales outflank the J-20 in terms of weapons, fuel, and combat experience.

The EurAsian Times earlier published a report in which Former IAF pilot Vijainder K Thakur compared the stealthy J-20 to Indian Rafales in case of potential aerial combat.


“The stealth advantage of the J-20 would give it a ‘first see, first shoot’ advantage in BVR combat over all Indian fighters except for the Rafale,” he said.
However, he added that against the Rafale, which is equipped with low RCS, Spectra self-protection suite with RF cloaking, and Meteor 150-km BVR missile, the J-20 will find it extremely hard to defeat the fighter.

 
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This is an old article but it gives a lots of insight in possible BVR combat with Chinese Jets (Except J22) with Indian fighters.

Saab Gripen ‘Rips Apart’ Chinese J-11 Fighters In War Games; Experts Call Them ‘Sitting Ducks’ For Rafales​

By
Apoorva Jain
-
August 9, 2021


A “dogfight” between Saab Gripen and the Chinese J-11 fighter jets game provides lessons to militaries around the world on how to get the better of Chinese warplanes.


Details of Exercise Falcon Strike 2015, the first-ever joint exercise between the Chinese and Thai air forces, which was held at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base for two weeks in mid-November 2015, were revealed in 2019.

While the Chinese PLA Air Force (PLAAF) brought J-11 to the wargame, the Thai Air Force deployed Swedish Saab JAS-39C/D Gripens, though it also operates the American F-16s.


What astounded the military experts is that a 25-year-old fighter overpowered the relatively younger Chinese J-11 aircraft especially during the beyond-visual-range (BVR) engagements.



This humiliating defeat by the Gripens exposed the reality of China’s air-warfare capabilities, with experts commenting on J-11s not having a chance against the muc advanced Rafales that the Indian Air Force is operating.

Gripen Vs J-11

The Saab JAS 39 Gripen is a Swedish fourth-generation single-engine multirole fighter jet that took its first flight in 1988 and entered service in 1996. With a speed of Mach 2, the Gripens have been sold to six nations across Central Europe, South Africa, and Southeast Asia.

The Thailand Air Force operates a NATO-compatible C/D model with extended capabilities in terms of armament, electronics, etc., and it can also be refueled in flight.


On the other hand, China’s J-11 fighter is based on the Soviet-designed Sukhoi Su-27. The J-11 is a twin-engine jet that took its first flight in 1998.


Thai-Gripen
A Thai Royal Air Force Saab Gripen. (via Gripen News)
With its multiple variants and upgrades like the missile approach warning system (MAWS), the improved cockpit displays, and fire control systems for R-77 or PL-10 missiles, the J-11s have become a significant part of the Chinese Air Force with more than 400 in service while the Navy operates around 70 of the fighters.

The EurAsian Times earlier reported how China is continuing research and development of the J-11 fighter, which might affect the future of its J-10 aircraft.

SAAB Gripens Destroy Chinese J-11s

Across the seven days of the exercise, the Chinese jets performed subparly, leading many analysts to cast doubts over China’s aerial capabilities.



During the first two days of the war game, the powerful J-11s shot down 16 Gripens in a visual-range battle with no loss.


Reports suggest that the Thai Gripen was armed with AIM-9 infrared-guided missiles and an internal cannon for close-range combat, while the J-11s were armed with infrared-guided short-range missiles — the PL-8s.

However, in the following days, as the game shifted to beyond-visual-range engagements, the Gripen armed with AIM-120 medium-range missiles proved to be a far better fighter than the J-11 with its own medium-range missiles, possibly PL-12s.
The Gripens shot down a total of 41 Chinese J-11s at a loss of six fighters. The final tally after the completion of seven days stood in favor of the Swedish fighters as it shot down 42 J-11s at a loss of 34 only.

Interestingly, military analysts observed that Gripens outperformed the J-11s in terms of the range, given how 88% of the Thai kills occurred at a range of at least 19 miles, while the Chinese scored just 14% of their kills at the same range.

The Gripens also scored 10 kills at a distance of more than 31 miles, while the J-11s scored no kills. The Aviation website Alert 5 noted that the Chinese pilots had poor situational awareness.

“Too much focus was on the front of the aircraft rather than all around. In phases of the war game where J-11s escorted other planes, there was a lack of coordination,” the website said.

India Rafales

The struggle of Chinese jets against the fourth-generation Gripen has thrilled Indian military analysts, given that the Indian Air Force now hosts two squadrons of the 4.5-generation French-made Rafales.India’s Rafale fighter jets.

Amid the ongoing standoff between India and China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, experts have started speculating how Indian Rafales will fare against the Chinese aircraft, especially with their fifth-generation J-20.



The Rafales are combat-proven multirole aircraft that have been used by the French Air Force for its missions in the Middle East, while the J-20 has not been deployed in any conflict zones as yet. With a capacity to carry six AASM missiles, the Rafales outflank the J-20 in terms of weapons, fuel, and combat experience.

The EurAsian Times earlier published a report in which Former IAF pilot Vijainder K Thakur compared the stealthy J-20 to Indian Rafales in case of potential aerial combat.


“The stealth advantage of the J-20 would give it a ‘first see, first shoot’ advantage in BVR combat over all Indian fighters except for the Rafale,” he said.
However, he added that against the Rafale, which is equipped with low RCS, Spectra self-protection suite with RF cloaking, and Meteor 150-km BVR missile, the J-20 will find it extremely hard to defeat the fighter.

Don't get too excited reading this report. PLAAF went with J-10C next and destroyed Thai Gripens. All their current 4+ gen fighters like J-10C, J-16 etc. have very low RCS due to RAM paints. J-20/J-35/J-36/J-50 etc. are VLO.

And you would be surprised that IAF believes that the fighter with biggest RCS in our fleet aka MKI, post MLU shall thwart PAF J-35 with Virupaksha + Gandiva combo. Low-RCS is good but it isn't be all end all of air-combat.
 
rafale has least thrust to weight ratio,
only 49kN thrust engine compared to 60kN for euro fighter.
forget about wet thrust.

2 engines put together generates 100KN and 150 KN wet. Lesser than EF but a decent figure. That is why Rafale maneuvers very nicely and Max payload is even more than MKI.
 
Don't get too excited reading this report. PLAAF went with J-10C next and destroyed Thai Gripens. All their current 4+ gen fighters like J-10C, J-16 etc. have very low RCS due to RAM paints. J-20/J-35/J-36/J-50 etc. are VLO.

And you would be surprised that IAF believes that the fighter with biggest RCS in our fleet aka MKI, post MLU shall thwart PAF J-35 with Virupaksha + Gandiva combo. Low-RCS is good but it isn't be all end all of air-combat.

True that. Afterall what is RCS? it is tendency to get exposed to Radar which is a function of Radar's ability to detect. What is undetectable for one Radar from a particular distance, it may be detectable for another Radar from same distance. As Radar power grows, stealth advantage diminishes. With GAN AESA, same can be detected from a much longer distance. Afterall, J20 is not much stealth. Only mediocre stealth from front. There were old news that MKI flying over Tejpur had detected J20 flying over Lhasa. Assuming it flying without RAM costing, it is easily detectable with RAM paints by SU30 MKI old radar, The figure with VIrupaksh with 2400 GAN modules, it is detectable from atlases double distance.
 
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True that. Afterall what is RCS? it is tendency to get exposed to Radar which is a function of Radar's ability to detect. What is undetectable for one Radar from a particular distance, it may be detectable for another Radar from same distance. As Radar power grows, stealth advantage diminishes. With GAN AESA, same can be detected from a much longer distance. Afterall, J20 is not much stealth. Only mediocre stealth from front. There were old news that MKI flying over Tejpur had detected J20 flying over Lhasa. Assuming it flying without RAM costing, it is easily detectable with RAM paints by SU30 MKI old radar, The figure with VIrupaksh with 2400 GAN modules, it is detectable from atlases double distance.
Even with the virupaksha upgrade the j-20 will still have first shooter advantage. Even the j-16 is problematic.
 
Even with the virupaksha upgrade the j-20 will still have first shooter advantage. Even the j-16 is problematic.

What will be the benefit of first seeing the enemy plane if you do not have that much long range BVR. They say that PL-15 has 200 k.m. range but when Pakistan bought it, they said that its range was 150 k.m.
 
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Even with the virupaksha upgrade the j-20 will still have first shooter advantage. Even the j-16 is problematic.
As per IAF, J-20/35 don't have the same level of stealth like their American counterparts(F-22/35). MKI UPG. backed by our VHF radars, PCLRs and airborne AWACS/AEW&C aircrafts will get rough location of infiltrating J-20/J-35. After that using Virupaksha Narrow Field of View, MKI UPG. will get weapons grade track of J-20/J-35 even under heavy ECM. And thanks to Gandiva, it will have a weapon to engage J-20/35 from 200kms away. J-20/35 won't have the first shot advantage against MKI UPG or MK2 under our territory.

However, the scenario changes when you bring J-36/XDS into the fray as being tailless, even our VHF radars will have a hard time detecting them. So we need different strategy to counter them.

But PAF, despite all the hype and hoopla of acquiring KAAN or J-35 is gonna get screwed badly once MKI UPG. & MK2 are available in sufficient numbers.

It is no longer fighter vs fighter but one system vs other now. And our system is way bettter and advance than PAF's now, in future, even moreso.
 
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What will be the benefit of first seeing the enemy plane if you do not have that much long range BVR. They say that PL-15 has 200 k.m. range but when Pakistan bought it, they said that its range was 150 k.m.
The Chinese version of pl-15 have a claimed range of 200-300km. The pl-17 which is the vlraam has a range of 400km and there are two more Chinese missile programs in the works. First is the pl-21 which is their gandiva equivalent with ramjet and will have a range of 300-400km. The claimed range is said to be similar to the pl-15. There is another vlraam missile in the works with 600km range( now this might sino propaganda or the program could be real) but they have already pushed the dimensions with the pl-17. Now if we compare the stats of our bvr missile to the Chinese. This is where we actually stand right now vis-a-vis plaaf

Astra mk1- 110km pl-12ae-120km
Astra mk2-160km. Pl-15- 200+km
Astra mk3-350km. pl-17- 400km

Funniest part is that only the astra mk1- is in service with us while the Chinese have all three missiles in service.
So the Chinese do hold a range advantage against us still. Not only that their modern Flankers like the
j-16, j-11b/bg/bsh and su-35 have lower RCS than our Flankers since they use more composites in there airframe than the su-30mki. Even the j-10 can use pl-15, so does the j-20.
We need the r-37m as well we need a vlraam missile with 450+km range on lines of either the ks-172 novator or the pl-17 itself.
And without the al-41 upgrade we won't be able to use virupakshas entire capability.
We also need to upgrade the astra mk1- with mk1b and mk1c with increased range, hoj and ir seeker to make it as capable as the aim 120c7
Same for the astra mk2 with a 2a and 2b upgrade to make it as capable as the amraam d-3
 
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What will be the benefit of first seeing the enemy plane if you do not have that much long range BVR. They say that PL-15 has 200 k.m. range but when Pakistan bought it, they said that its range was 150 k.m.
The paxi use pl-15e export variants which have a range of 145km. And that is different from the Chinese versions. Realistically the Chinese version of pl-15 should have a range of 160-180km in real world situations. The 200-300km is marketing bs since actual Chinese missile tech is a joke. But still let's not underestimate the batmunchers at the end of the day.