"Military Sub-Plane" by Ivan the Great
Yesterday, we briefly introduced India's latest aircraft carrier "Vikrant", and Ivan mentioned that it is not excluded that India will buy the F/A-18E/F IN carrier-based aircraft of the American Boeing Company as its next-generation capital carrier-based aircraft.
F/A-18E/F IN tested in the state of Goa, India
Later, some readers questioned this, believing that "India is unlikely to buy F/A-18E/F", for the following reasons: First, technically speaking, the Indian Air Force and Navy have hardly been equipped with US-made fighter jets before, either Russian goods or European goods, and the use of American-made models means that India has to have another set of support systems, which is very expensive and troublesome; Second, from the perspective of international relations, India does not want to be too deeply bound to the United States, after all, it still has some wild hopes, and I don't want face as a "big country with sound and color", not to mention that the United States often attaches a series of conditions to foreign arms sales. So in general, the Indian Navy's next generation of carrier-based aircraft, the United States out of the F/A-18E/F IN has little chance of winning.
F/A-18E/F IN tested in the Indian state of Goa
That being said, Ivan the Great thinks that maybe politically, in international relations, there are ten thousand reasons why you don't choose American goods, but technically, sometimes you just don't have a choice. Let's take a look at the options available in India one by one:
Russian goods, basically sent, MiG-29K carrier-based aircraft is completely a pit, whether it is manufacturing quality, or reliability in practical application, is very poor. This was mainly due to the fact that the MiG Company could not get enough funds after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but wanted to get a sum of money from India to use the MiG-29KR for the Russian Navy's own use. The result is that both India and Russia are not doing well, and the Russian Navy has basically abandoned a new generation of carrier-based aircraft, even if there is a carrier-based aircraft, the next step must be based on Sukhoi's Su-57 fighter jet, not to mention the MiG Company. Even the meter pattern has been withdrawn at present, even the technical inheritance is gone, the Indian Navy wants to count on Russian goods, the future is afraid that even aircraft maintenance will become a problem, not to mention the development of the next generation of carrier-based aircraft.
MiG-29K
European goods, the performance of the "Rafale" is good, the Indian Air Force said good, and the French Naval Aviation itself is also using the "Rafale", but the "Rafale-F3M" has a chronic disease for the "Vikrant", its wings are not foldable. This is not a big problem on the "Charles de Gaulle", but on the "Vikrant" is going to be killed, the lift of the "Vikrant" is designed to improve the MiG-29K, no one expected that when it was really in service, the MiG-29K Indian Navy has lost its eyes, and the result is that the "Rafale" on the rear wing of the "Vikrant" lift is poked out directly from both sides of the elevator, and the blind can see that it can not be used at all.
The Rafale wings cannot be folded
Unless the airfoil of the "Rafale" is redesigned and changed to folding wings, but the Indian Navy cannot buy much for this equipment of carrier-based aircraft, it is conceivable how uneconomical the cost is for the small single design of twenty or thirty aircraft. So Dassault proposed a short and fast plan to the Indian Navy, saying that you can remove the wings in the hangar, lift them to the deck and then install them, you can imagine how unreliable this plan is, the Indian Navy has not finally decided, but the probability will not buy Dassault's account in the end.
Hanseatic Naval Air Station "Rafale" ski jump take-off test in Goa, India
As for the Indian Navy's own carrier-based aircraft ... Or save it, an LCA MK1A will be 2026, expect it to engage in carrier-based aircraft, it is estimated that the "Vikrant" is about to be retired may be able to make it out, there is no shadow of the thing I advise you not to think about it.
India's domestically produced "Tejas" carrier-based aircraft
Therefore, after ruling out all possibilities, there is only one option left for the Indian Navy: yes, the American F/A-18E/F IN, the lifting function of the "Vikrant", the performance of three and a half generations of fighters, and the rich experience of operating on the US aircraft carrier, can be described as the best choice for India's next generation of carrier-based aircraft, but this "no two" more or less contains the helplessness of the Indian Navy.