It's just a different plastic cover. It doesn't mean anything in itself, it can just be used to approximately date when the antenna was produced.
Mig-29K out of Indian Navy’s multi-role combat fighter jets tender? – Indian Defence Research Wing
Mig-29K out of Indian Navy’s multi-role combat fighter jets tender?
Published August 22, 2018 | By admin
SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / ****
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Officials of Mig Corporation while speaking to India media who were attending Army-2018 Int’l Military Technical Forum held in Moscow region of Russia, have confirmed that they have not received Request for Information (RFI) for 57 Carrier Based Fighter Aircraft issued in early 2017 by Indian Navy.
This is Strange since media reports in India have been Quoting Indian Naval officials which at one point had confirmed that four vendors reportedly Rafale (Dassault, France), F-18 Super Hornet (Boeing, US), MIG-29K (Russia) and Gripen (Saab, Sweden) have responded to the RFI which usually is sent to almost vendors even if they don’t have any carrier capable fighters.
Navy operates 45 MIG-29K jets, which from time-to-time face serviceability issues and if this information is true then only three vendors Saab, Dassault and Boeing will receive the request for proposal (RFP) which will be issued later this year, making it a three-way contest to serve onboard India’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC I) which will be ready by 2020-21.
Sea Gripen is yet to move out of drawing boards to become a reality, which further makes this tender, a two-way race between Rafale-M and F-18 E/F which are only carrier-based fighter aircraft which are in service with their country of origin.
Now Dassault will have an upper hand in the tender due to Navy’s incline to buy fighter aircraft which are already in service with the Indian air force and India is set to receive 36 Dassault Rafale from 2019 onwards which were ordered in 2015 for its air force.
Boeing’s F-18 E/F is also participating in IAF’s tender for 110 fighter aircraft and if selected will likely mean Navy to will incline towards F-18 E/F over Dassault Rafale.
****/mig-29k-out-of-indian-navys-multi-role-combat-fighter-jets-tender/#more-178859
RsFI donot reflect platforms in reckoning. Information obtained is used to make QRs and obtain approval. Mig 29 K is already flying with Navy, it does not need RFI. Once QRs are frozen the staff will ask RFP from perspective vendors. Contention yet too far !
— Shekhar Sinha (@shekhar19541) August 21, 2018
If India didn't ask a proposal from russian side for a next batch of Mig29K, the overhaul of the actual ones will be difficult to organize....Indian Navy chief to seek urgent help from Russia for MiG-29Ks, the only fighter jets on INS Vikramaditya
Increasing the serviceability of the 45 MiG-29K aircraft, the only fighters on the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, as well as other pending projects of the Indian Navy are topping the agenda of the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba four day visit to Russia starting today. Senior Naval officers confirmed to FE that, “The serviceability of the MiG-29 from the present 60 % to upto 80 % or more and there is an urgent requirement to meet with the agencies in an effort to expedite the process. There are issues related to the landing of the aircraft on the carrier and due to the heavy landing regular maintenance is required to address the wear and tear issues.” The Navy chief will be meeting with the Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG and discuss maintenance related issues with them which includes problems in the airframes, engines as well as other systems onboard.
State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) is the nodal body which is expected to overhaul the engines as well as carry out any other urgent structural changes of these MiG-29k aircraft.As has been reported by FE earlier, the Indian Navy is urgently trying to acquire 57 multi-role fighters for its aircraft carrier to replace the existing fleet for the MiG-29K. “Since the procurement process is long, we need to ensure that the existing fleet of MiG-29K is in operational readiness,” a naval officer explained.
Global aerospace giants including Boeing Company with its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet; the French Dassault Aviation’s Rafale M, Swedish Saab with Gripen Maritime and Russia‘s MiG-29K, have already expressed their interest in response to request for information issued by the MoD. Presently, India is the second biggest operator with almost 110 MiG-29s flying with both the Indian Navy as well as the Indian Air Force (IAF)—as the air defence fighter.
The fleet of the IAF is already going through upgrades which are India specific at the HAL facility and Electronic Warfare suite which has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
In the recent weeks, the government has cleared several major deals with Russia including the latest frigates. The deal for the Grigorovich-class ‘Project 1135.6’ frigates, between Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) and the Russia’s state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport has been inked last week in New Delhi, as has been reported by FE earlier. The deal is worth $ one billion for two frigates which will be built at Russian Yantar shipyard at Kaliningrad.
Besides meeting with top military officials including General VV Gerasimov, Chief of General Staff and First Deputy Defence Minister of Russia, the Navy chief will also be meeting with representatives of Rosboronexports as well as other agencies who are participating in various projects related to the Indian Navy. With the aim of further deepening military engagements with Russia, the Navy chief will hold wide-ranging talks with his Russian counterpart, Admiral Vladimir Korolev.
The most critical issue that will beon the table for discussion includes the rupee-rouble payment route, as the Trump administration has put several Russian firms under sanctions under Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
As has been reported earlier, “During the annual India-Russia summit which concluded in October, both sides had discussed the possibility of reviving the rupee-rouble route of payments,” sources had told FE.
“Besides visiting the Nakhimov Naval School and Admiralty Shipyard, the chief will also visit the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and deliver a talk on “Indian Navy’s Perspective on Maritime Security”, the official spokesperson of the Indian Navy Capt DK Sharma has been quoted.
To meet Deck Based Fighter requirements, a RFI for MRCBF (Multi Role Carrier Borne Fighter) has been hosted on the MoD website. The case is being progressed in accordance with DPP-16. Further,a case for MiG-29K midlife upgrade is being progressed.Delivery of four additional P-8Is will commence from April 2020 onwards. The Government has also accorded AON for 6 additional P-8Is.
If Russians are retiring Admiral Kuznetsov then 24 Mig-29K with 100th Independent Shipborne Fighter Aviation Regiment might get offered for sale.
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