"Military And Military Sub-Plane" author: Lu Zhi
India is going to buy planes again, this time not air force aircraft but carrier-based aircraft. India recently launched a carrier-based aircraft procurement plan, and the French, who have always looked at the Central Indian market and are close to India, immediately made a move to let its main carrier-based aircraft "Rafale" M participate in the competition. So what does India's carrier-based aircraft procurement plan mean?
India's current carrier-based aircraft is a MiG 29K from Russia
Regarding the choice of Indian carrier-based aircraft, in fact, it must start from Russia's upgrade of the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya to India. In 1999, Russia and India negotiated to send the decommissioned Gorshkov to India, but India had to pay the corresponding modification costs. Russia did this not to give the Indians any advantage, but to gain the ability to build large warships as well as aircraft carriers by modifying the aircraft carrier. So in the process, Russia kept procrastinating, and India spent more and more money. Indians are of course unhappy about this, but since India has chosen this road, it must go all the way to black, otherwise the money in front of it will be spent in vain, and after the modification, India can indeed have a tonnage aircraft carrier, and it is the only aircraft carrier, which is also a last resort. Russia's wishful thinking is exactly like this, Russia's aircraft carrier was modified by the Russians and handed over to India, then the next carrier-based aircraft can only choose Russian products.
▲ The improved aircraft carrier Vikramaditya is a laughing stock from today's point of view
Previously, Russia's carrier-based aircraft was the Su-33, but this carrier-based aircraft was very old, so Russia also developed a new MiG-29K carrier-based aircraft through the hands of India. The MiG 29K is not very good in the world, but it is also a qualified carrier-based aircraft, and it can take off and land on the ski jump deck. At that time, India could choose almost no carrier-based aircraft, the United States carrier-based aircraft was difficult to enter India's service, the self-developed LCA carrier-based version was far behind, and India and France had not yet signed a contract to purchase Rafale, so India could only choose Russian carrier-based aircraft and other helicopters and various equipment, then Russia's money from it would certainly not be less. Moreover, if India continues to plan to continue to cooperate with Russia in the future or build its own aircraft carriers, then the choice of Russian carrier-based aircraft is a natural and fast and effective approach.
▲ The actual performance of the MiG-29K is still OK, and it is also the main carrier-based aircraft of the Russian Navy
At present, India already has an aircraft carrier from Russia, and has Russian equipment and carrier-based aircraft, so the next domestic aircraft carriers or other types of aircraft carriers should continue to choose Russian equipment to reduce the cost of maintenance and maintenance as much as possible. Moreover, the Indian Air Force has a large number of Russian fighters, including the MiG-29 fighter that is homologous with the MiG-29K. The reason why India has made a new choice among carrier-based aircraft, then there is only one possibility, that is, Russia's equipment is not so good, and India also wants to get better equipment.
▲ In terms of performance alone, the Rafale M is much better than the MiG 29K
No matter how much the MiG 29K is improved, after all, it is a 4th generation machine, and the real 4th generation half-gust M is not comparable. If you push forward, India's Legal weapons are not many, and only the Mirage 2000 series can be obtained, but now India has a Rafale fighter, and France has repeatedly emphasized its willingness to cooperate with India to produce F4 versions of the Rafale fighter and advanced engines, which have a positive impact on India's self-developed AMCA stealth fighter. In addition, many projects of cooperation between Russia and India are suspected of bullying India, and India can cooperate militarily with many countries. Therefore, for India, since the Rafale fighter has been selected as the main aircraft of the Air Force, it is also a natural thing to choose a Rafale M carrier aircraft similar to the Rafale.
▲ If the Rafale M can really serve in India, then the combat effectiveness of the Indian aircraft carrier should not be underestimated
But there are two very serious problems in front of indians. Although the Rafale M is better than the MiG 29K, after choosing the Rafale M, it has to force a set of carrier-based aircraft equipment from another country for the Navy. It is equivalent to saying that India only has two aircraft carriers, but has two completely different sets of carrier-based equipment, which is undoubtedly a very stupid choice. Secondly, Russia is currently striving to gain a firm foothold in the world arms market and achieve new breakthroughs, many of India's weapons are from Russia or even Russia to provide license manufacturing, from the Soviet 30MKI to the T72 tank, which has really enhanced India's strength, and it is very unwise to offend Russia for a carrier-based aircraft.
▲Rafale M is good, but the cost is too high
France and the United States and other countries want to enter the Indian arms sales market, but it has to be said that from the current scale and depth of cooperation, Russia is still second to none. If Russia is abandoned and France is chosen, it means that india's current military industrial base will change significantly. Besides, when other countries enter the Indian market, who will help?
Many of India's self-developed weapons projects are deeply linked to Russia, and it is easy to talk about throwing away Russia
France and India are closer, there will be a sense of support for India, which is also the policy of the United States toward India, hoping that India will be stronger to deal with the threat of other countries, to some extent to interfere with opponents, and in the Indian arms sales market to drive Russia out of the interest of the United States. In general, if India is pragmatic enough, I believe that continuing to choose the MiG-29K is the best approach, and India also has the same LCA series carrier-based aircraft program, since it is interested in supporting its own aviation industry, then choosing the MiG-29K and Russia to continue to cooperate and strengthen its LCA fighter may have a painful period, but it is a good choice in the long run.