Mirage 2000H, MiG-29UPG, Jaguar DARIN III - Medium Multirole Aircraft of IAF

Very interesting find. It does seem like the body of the targeting pod is borrowed from the LITENING pod.

View attachment 19379

They have replaced the forward sensor section. Again from appearance it does look like Crystal Maze's IIR seeker.
View attachment 19378

This is most likely IAF's own creation. But the question is why ? LITENING pod has IIR/day camera sensors. Is the Crystal Maze's IIR seeker superior for some reason ? May be it is superior in with in a specific frequency range (say VNIR). Still quite strange, what are they trying to achieve here ?

Where did you get it ? official source ?
I have a bad habit of trying to find "attention to detail" in every video or picture of fighter aircrafts, specially the ones released by IAF or the prominent photographers. This one is from one of the old videos of Aviation Wall (Abishek Singh) on Youtube. This one is the video from where I grabbed a snap:
 
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An article that gives an illustration of the use of Mirage 2000 by France:

206 bombes tirées (au moins) à Barkhane (actualisé)
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

206 bombs fired (at least) in Barkhane (updated)


206 bombs were fired in 2020 (at least) by the air force fighter, a figure that does not include the volume provided by MQ-9 Reaper UAVs, the staff replied. The volume fired by the 33rd ESRA's UAVs is, as this blog has explained several times, just as significant. It is therefore, for the muds alone, almost three times more than in 2019 (83). And at the rate of four bombs per week. The number of strikes is not given.

Without real surprise, this volume of ammunition, only for the 3rd EC, is in very clear increase, reflecting the renewed activity and attrition in the Sahel, for which 3D is responsible for 80%. The muds ensured four daily sorties on average, for seven aircraft assigned to Barkhane.
It should also be noted that the three Reapers flew more hours (7552) than the seven Mirage 2000Ds (5387).

Intelligence activity, including drones, totalled 13,966 flight hours, with between "5 and 6 daily flights", carried out by light ISR and ALSR aircraft on the one hand, and drones and the Gabriel on the other.

Despite an almost identical number of Rafale sorties (840 against 832 in 2019), the volumes of ammunition dropped for Chammal are much lower, reflecting the sharp decline in the threat represented by Daech. Which has nevertheless not disappeared: just to persuade the French (as the minarm does every time it brings up the subject), it would therefore have been good to give this figure, like the other indicators, even if it may seem less to the advantage of the air weapon (whose purpose is not to shoot for the sake of shooting, especially at Chammal).

More regular firing has taken place since the beginning of 2021, including the first Talios firing (carried out by the 4th EC). And as the aircraft carrier gets closer to the theatre, other shots should take place, if only through the two slots that will be dedicated to Daech, from the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.

As this blog had explained, in 2019, 84 bombs had been fired in Chammal and 83 in Barkhane by the AAE.


What is interesting to note is that with four daily sorties they have done 1460 sorties in the year and with 5387 hours in the year each sortie was 3.7 hour on average. And with 7 mirage only they each flew 770 hours in the year.
 
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Makes one wonder why didn't IAF think of this before. Besides there was the Japanese engine too that's supposed to provide a good alternative to the Honeywell engine. Wonder if the IAF explored the possibility. @vstol Jockey
Actually I had made that suggestion about the Japanese engine. That engine was never officially offered to IAF. It was the XF-5 engine developed for the ATD-X aircraft. It is a drop fit for Jags. Vd 35KN dry thrust and 49.1KN wet thrust, this engine can turn Jags into beasts.
 
Actually I had made that suggestion about the Japanese engine. That engine was never officially offered to IAF. It was the XF-5 engine developed for the ATD-X aircraft. It is a drop fit for Jags. Vd 35KN dry thrust and 49.1KN wet thrust, this engine can turn Jags into beasts.

The Japanese don't seem to be comfortable with high end military exports yet. Dual use systems with no weapons like US-2 seems to be their limit right now.

India falls in the 3rd principle. Getting them to change their laws will be a tall order.

Our best hope that can be achieved within a reasonable price and more importantly a reasonable timeframe remains an Adour upgrade.
 
The Japanese don't seem to be comfortable with high end military exports yet. Dual use systems with no weapons like US-2 seems to be their limit right now.

India falls in the 3rd principle. Getting them to change their laws will be a tall order.

Our best hope that can be achieved within a reasonable price and more importantly a reasonable timeframe remains an Adour upgrade.
MoD was twidling it's thumbs when F125N was available at a good price.
 
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The Japanese don't seem to be comfortable with high end military exports yet. Dual use systems with no weapons like US-2 seems to be their limit right now.

India falls in the 3rd principle. Getting them to change their laws will be a tall order.

Our best hope that can be achieved within a reasonable price and more importantly a reasonable timeframe remains an Adour upgrade.
I agree with you. But it will need a deep modernisation of the engine and that will cost a lot. Moreover, the fuel efficiency will be lost if the bypass ratio is readjusted. We will need higher core tempratures to achieve higher thrust with same airflow which is restricted due to the intake size.
I like the philosophy of Americans, they buit SH F-18 intakes with 85kg/sec capability and the 116KN F414 engine needs that and can be fitted with zero modification.
 
I agree with you. But it will need a deep modernisation of the engine and that will cost a lot. Moreover, the fuel efficiency will be lost if the bypass ratio is readjusted. We will need higher core tempratures to achieve higher thrust with same airflow which is restricted due to the intake size.
I like the philosophy of Americans, they buit SH F-18 intakes with 85kg/sec capability and the 116KN F414 engine needs that and can be fitted with zero modification.
Well in that case MoD & IAF need be prepared for RR to drop a bombshell. Looks like their offer would be equal to the Honeywell offer.

Eventually, it looks like the IAF would have to content itself with the uprated version of the HAL developed HTFE - 25.
 
Whole world has retired it.
Time to move on with LCA mk1A or Mk2 if it becomes available.
We know our speed of acquisition.
After all negotiations and by the time engine arrives 6-7 years would have crossed.
Either HTFE ( to spend on indigenous industry with time available to fit in last batches of Jaguars) or retirement.