Very expensive prospect. Assuming we are talking about restarting the production in the US. Restarting a production line will cost billions, which would be fine if we were to order say 50-60 planes at once. But we don't do that. We will negotiate for months and order 2 planes, negotiate again and order 3 more and so on.
With this piece meal approach we wont be able to convince Boeing to re-open production.
Dornier you mean ? Unlikely that will happen. US companies don't like doing licensing. What can happen is that Boeing will set up the production line in India. That would be a cheaper option. The original line in the US has been converted to produce something else. Re-converting that is problematic idea.
Yes we do. They still have some life left in them though. If we were smarter we would've ordered before hand to stock up the numbers and de-commission them in time. But we are hardly smart, so we will wait for the Il-76 to nearly come to the end of its service life and then call in a tender. The tender will be delayed, then a competition will happen, one will be chosen, cost negotiations will begin and end then we will buy some measly amount of aircrafts and call it a day.
All of this will take a decade at least. All the while the IAF will continue flying the old and now deadly Il-76. There will be numerous crashes/accidents, people will die, we will sing obituaries and shed a tear or two for the fallen. Meanwhile the patriotic HAL will announce they will make a transport aircraft, they will lobby to be given a chance. Which will further delay acquisition, more people will die. Finally MoD will decide to buy something from abroad in small numbers and buy the HAL plane in larger numbers. There you go, problem solved. The IAF's inventory is already a zoo, what's the big deal in adding a few more rare exquisite species ? Diversity is a buzz word I hear. I am sure the liberals will love the IAF for it.
Did I miss anything ?
No, you didn't miss anything. Its sad that an aircraft which capable of lifting a T90 to ladakh was not purchased in numbers. A 30-40 number would have been an ideal choice for IAF.
Now only left out option for a live strategic air lifter is upgraded il76.
Or we could make a deal with Antonov or Embraer to do a JV and hold the ip of the transport aircraft. And produce it in India. KC390 or a Antonov design transport aircraft. The Japanese will never make a deal with us..
Well the production is closed it would be better to use the design knowledge and produce a bigger aircraft by investing in a heavy transport aircraft. Embraer has decent experience regarding dev of heavy lifters..
I think Antonov can come in handy, no one in the world have Antonov's experience in the field of heavy lifters. If we managed to make a heavy lifter like c17, that platform can be used for our future awacs ( after the initial 330 based awacs), refueller, transporter, ew air craft etc.
I think we are the largest c17 operator after USA. USA wont sell it from its inventory and others have sufficient numbers for us to seek.
Antonov is the right company to go for. We could very well use an American engine now for powering it. At the same time work for an in-house engine development. Hal-antonov JV with small sub-contractors could be a good competitor.
We have a better chance getting hands on second hand c130 than c17. C 17 are only among tier 1 U.S allies and some arab states.
This should be done on a war-footing. Half the war is won through logistics and support. Until we don't have a good logistics platform made in India we can't fight a war for long. This will be easier as transport platforms aren't as technical sophisticated or expensive. And developing a plane with Antonov will be considerably cheaper than boeing or Embraer. The engine dev can be done on the side. Same should be done for a c130-a400 class aircraft. Also for helos we need to make an mi26 helo which is cheaper to maintain. A replacement for mi17 should also be in the works for now. Aerospace is a huge potential sector for us much bigger than shipbuilding. We are a land force than a naval force...
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And there is no aircraft available in the market to replace il76 after 15 yeras, if we didn't act now. 15 years is a pretty good time frame to design &develop a new lifter.
Yep. The IAF is gonna upgrade the IL-76. A contract is pending. It will bring the aircraft up to IL-76MD-90A standards and increase service life to 20 more years. It includes new engines, so it will see a significant payload upgrade.
It's not such a big problem for that time. There will be alternatives available.
The US will also begin work on a new strategic lifter in a few years. As will Russia.
This right here is what I was saying. Why not make some tie ups now ? Lets say with Embraer or Dassault ? Both of them have the capability yet none have any product in this space now.
As time goes by our need for airlift fleet will grow. How can you not see that ? This short sightedness makes me angry.
What after that ? Even if the 76 continue their numbers wont increase. Either way we will have to buy something completely new. Why not try to make something ? We will try only when the need is imminent, but not otherwise.
Its always like this. Look at the China border crisis. A flurry of deals signed: emergency purchase of light tanks from Russia, DRDO-L&T light tanks plan and what not. Where was this energy and vigor before the crisis began ?