Ad Astra: India’s Indigenous Air-to-Air Missile

Pakistan’s November 2006 purchase of 500 AIM-120C AMRAAM missiles created counter-pressure on the subcontinent, and reportedly had India looking for 120km BVRAAMs (Beyond Visual Range Air-Air Missiles). Missiles with this notional head-on range would far outstrip the 60km of the AIM-120C, and even the 60-90km (36-54 miles) reported for the Russian AA-12/R-77 ‘AMRAAMski’ that India already deploys. Indeed, this figure would be closer to the ramjet-powered Meteor under development via MBDA.

“There are moves also to start indigenous development of such long-range missiles by DRDO with possible foreign collaboration,” a DRDO source reportedly said.

As it happens, India has elected to pursue a wholly indigenous, and less ambitious project, called ‘Astra’…

USAF Wants To Buy A-29 And AT-6 Aircraft | Turkey And Russia Agreed On Syrian Border Deal | RAF Retired Short Tucano

Americas

The US Air Force has decided to buy two to three A-29 and AT-6 light attack aircraft. The final request for proposal was published on October 24. The A-29 will be deployed at Hurlburt Field, Florida, by Air Force Special Operations Command to develop an instructor pilot program for the Combat Aviation Advisory mission. The contract award is expected to be end of the year. The AT-6 will be going to Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, for continued testing and development of operational tactics and standards for exportable, tactical networks by Air Combat Command. The propeller-driven planes will be part of the Light Air Support program of the Air Force, which seeks a light counter-insurgency, ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft. The Air Force and US Navy have flown both planes since 2017 to assess their capabilities.

The USS Gerald R. Ford completed a five-day pierside exercise, the US Navy announced, although it may not be ready for service until 2024. The “fast cruise,” a final exercise in the ship’s 15-month Post Shakedown Availability series of tests, put Navy personnel into scenarios that tested their ability to respond to challenging situations while still at the Huntington Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding site in Virginia. Upcoming tests include the Full Ship Shock Trial, in which explosives are detonated near a new Navy vessel to simulate near-misses in a battlefield environment to test the validity of the ship’s construction.

Middle East & Africa

Turkish president Erdogan and Russian president Putin agreed on a 10-point plan under which Kurdish fighters from the People’s Protection Units (YPG) will be removed from most of the Syrian border east of the Euphrates river. From Tuesday on, Russian and Turkish forces will start to patrol a narrower, 10 kilometer strip of land in northeast Syria. Ankara views the YPG as a terrorist organization linked to Kurdish insurgents in southeast Turkey. Its Syrian offensive, launched after President Donald Trump pulled out 1,000 US troops from the area, drew criticism from Turkey’s NATO allies. Russia has already warned the YPG that it will face the full force of Turkey’s army, the second biggest in NATO, if it fails to withdraw its fighters and weapons from the designated area in northeast Syria within the agreed deadline.

Europe

The Royal Air Force has retired its Short Tucano at RAF Linton-on-Ouse after 30 years of service. They were trainer planes for pilots wanting to progress onto fast jets. As 72 Squadron will move from North Yorkshire to Wales, the Tucano’s replacement aircraft, the Texan, will enter service. The plane was first built in Belfast and conducted its maiden flight in Brazil in 1986. “The Tucano represents a different generation of aircraft, where the cockpits have instruments that look like clocks,” explained Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston.

The Czech Republic became the sixth country to join the European Union/NATO Multinational Multi Role Tanker Transport Fleet (MMF). NATO announced on October 24 that the country had joined Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Norway in operating eight Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft in an attempt to offset some of Europe’s reliance on the United States for aerial-refueling services. This initiative was launched by the Netherlands and Luxembourg in 2016 and aims to boost the ability of European allies to refuel aircraft in mid-air. The initiative has been supported by NATO and the European Union. The aircraft are owned by NATO and procured by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency through the Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation.

Asia-Pacific

The Indian Air Force testifired two BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles on October 21 and October 22. The Diplomat reports that the aim of the test launches was to validate the IAF’s ability to hit targets at a distance of up to 300 kilometers with pinpoint accuracy. The missiles were fired in operational configuration to assess mission readiness and swift deployment of the tactical missile over long distance. The BrahMos is a derivative of the Russian-made P-800 Oniks over-the-horizon supersonic anti-ship cruise missile with a range estimated at between 300 to 400 kilometers. It is thought to be capable of reaching top speeds of up to Mach 3.

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LAS in, LAS out: Counter-Insurgency Planes for the USA and its Allies

The USA needs a plane that can provide effective precision close air support and JTAC training, and costs about $1,000 per flight hour to operate – instead of the $15,000+ they’re paying now to use advanced jet fighters at 10% of their capabilities. Countries on the front lines of the war’s battles needed a plane that small or new air forces can field within a reasonable time, and use effectively. If these 2 needs are filled by the same aircraft, everything becomes easier for US allies and commanders. One would think that this would have been obvious around October 2001, but it took until 2008 for this understanding to even gain momentum within the Pentagon. A series of intra-service, political, and legal fights have ensured that these capabilities won’t arrive before 2015 at the earliest, and won’t arrive for the USAF at all.

The USA has now issued 2 contracts related to this need. The first was killed by a lawsuit that the USAF didn’t think they could defend successfully. Since February 2013 they have a contract that they hope will stick. The 3 big questions are simple. Will the past be prologue for the new award? Will there be an Afghan government to begin taking delivery of their 20 planes much beyond 2014? And will another allied government soon need to use this umbrella contract for its own war?