Chapter 728 The Ambitions of the South Asian Powers

After a long time, Admiral Klimpa spoke again:

"If we agree with Colonel Prajan's suggestion, then...what channels may be able to obtain a reliable early warning and command aircraft in a short time?"

"After all, I think that after the ASP plan, Stan Airlines should not be counted on anyway."

Faced with this somewhat sudden question, a group of generals looked at each other for a few times. This time, including Lieutenant General Badoria, no one spoke immediately.

After all, when it comes to equipment procurement, it is often not a simple technical issue.

At this time, rashly making opinions may cause oneself to be inexplicably "taken sides".

If the plan is successful, it will be fine. If something goes wrong in the middle, it will be easy to be thrown out as a scapegoat.

This kind of thing has happened in the past.

Klimpa looked around and realized that the current occasion was not appropriate, so he waved to the meeting recorder sitting next to him:

"The formal stage of the meeting is over. Next, let's talk about something between our people."

This meaning is already very clear.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and closed the notebooks in front of them.

And the recorder got up and left the meeting room directly.

In this way, the following part can be regarded as informal chat.

Those who can sit in this occasion today are all high-ranking air force officials, and naturally they all hope to add more good things to their own troops, so as to improve their voice.

Therefore, after no longer worrying about leaving archived records, the atmosphere instantly became much more relaxed.

Someone soon suggested:

"Can you consider renting two A50Us from the Russian Air Force to deal with it temporarily?"

Obviously, it is easy to form path dependence in the aspect of buying rather than renting.

However, today's Indians still have dreams after all.

To become a powerful country, it is definitely not enough to just rent aircraft.

Therefore, Klimpa immediately waved his hand:

"Although we suffered a little loss a few days ago, the combat effectiveness of the opposing army is really not good. Overall, it is a tie. It is estimated that they will be relatively stable in the next few years, so there is no need to worry too much about the present. You can consider a slightly longer-term plan."

"Besides, the cost-effectiveness of renting equipment is too low. The price the Russians paid for the Tu-126 was almost half of the cost of the aircraft. If there is damage or failure during the rental period, there will be high compensation... In short, it is not as cost-effective as buying aircraft in peacetime."

"Then just buy two A-126s currently in service in the Russian army. 50U? "

The man just now was not a member of this interest chain. He proposed to rent the aircraft simply out of habit. Therefore, when he saw the leader's opposition, he immediately changed his tone:

"After the disintegration, they don't need and can't maintain those dozens of early warning aircraft. We can pick some of them in good condition and refurbish them slightly. The price will be lower than that of new aircraft, and the delivery speed will be fast. According to our past experience, this kind of military sales drawn from active equipment can be completed in about half a year at the fastest. "

In theory, this should be the most practical solution for the Indian army.

After all, early warning aircraft is still a sensitive thing. If you want to buy the active E2 or E3, others may not sell it.

However, as expected, when the idea of ​​renting is suppressed, the Indians' ostentatious side immediately prevailed.

In particular, Lieutenant General Badoria, who initially expressed support for the purchase of early warning aircraft, was greatly encouraged: "Chief of Staff, although the A50U will be available soon, it is an old model from more than ten years ago. It still uses traditional mechanical scanning antennas and can only handle 200-300 targets at the same time. For an air force of our country's size, it may be difficult to cope with the future wars in the 21st century." "Moreover, according to the Russians' habits, even if they are second-hand aircraft drawn from active troops, their quotes may not be much lower than new aircraft..." His words used to guide the conversation were very good. Admiral Klimpa was almost about to agree to the plan to purchase the A50U, but after hearing this, he immediately became hesitant. If the early warning aircraft bought at a high price soon fell behind, then as the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, it would be difficult for him to escape accountability. But the officer who first proposed it did not give in at all, and immediately retorted: "But even the American E3, the technical status is basically about ten years ago, and it also uses mechanical scanning radar..." However, such arguments could not refute the eloquent Badoria. As the commander of the theater air force, he has been tracking the most advanced aviation technology in Europe and the United States for a long time, so he quickly found the opponent's loopholes:

"Because of this, the US military has launched a new early warning aircraft research and development project last year, planning to use the Boeing 7C2A early warning aircraft to replace the E3 and E8 models. The Russians lost their research and development capabilities in this area after the disintegration, so they did not follow up."

"This..."

The other party was obviously not clear about the details of the MC2A project, and was speechless for a while, so he had to change the subject:

"So, if you think the A50U cannot meet our needs, who else can provide a more advanced model? MC2A should still be just a plan at present, and even if the plan is completed, the Americans may not sell it to us."

Seeing that the atmosphere in the conference room already smelled like gunpowder, another lieutenant general quickly raised his head and pressed down, and then tried to smooth things over:

"From a purely technical perspective, I remember that the Swedish Saab company delivered the first Saab 2000 platform early warning aircraft last year. It was equipped with an active phased array radar developed by Erieye, which should be in line with General Bhadauliya's requirements. requirements, and although it is not off-the-shelf, it is a mature model that is already in service. With its small size, the delivery cycle should be very fast..."

As a result, after finishing his sentence, the other two people who were about to quarrel looked at him almost at the same time and shouted in unison:

"no!"

On this matter, the two people's attitudes were very consistent.

"The size of the Saab 2000 is almost the same as that of the HS748 platform early warning aircraft we just discontinued, and the take-off weight is only just over 20 tons."

Bhadauliya clenched his hands into fists and said emotionally:

"I think HS748 has proved that an early warning aircraft of this size cannot carry a large enough high-performance radar, and the range of regional airliners may be enough for countries like Sweden, but it is difficult for us to provide it. Enough mission time.”

Obviously, he is not willing to purchase only a small-sized light early warning aircraft.

"General Badauria, I wonder what you have to say?"

The lieutenant general, who had just been scolded back by the two men, had no choice but to ask:

"If you think none of the plans we proposed meet the requirements, you should have your own ideas, right?"

"Of course."

Bhadauliya was waiting for this moment and immediately sat up straight:

"Since you have decided to purchase from outside, you should try your best to get it right in one step and choose a model that will not fall behind in the next 10-15 years."

"There are currently only two countries in the world that can provide active phased array radar early warning aircraft in stock. But as I just said, the Swedish plan is too small and not suitable for a big country like us. In this way, it will Only the Philcon system of the Kingdom of David is left.”

"But if Falcon uses the Boeing 707 as a platform, there is a high probability that the Americans will not agree to sell it to us, right?"

The question this time was from Klingpa, who had not made his position clear just now.

Although it sounds like a question, this question has gone directly to the implementation level, indicating that the admiral is obviously also interested in the Falcon system.

Having seen through this, Bhadauliya decided to strike while the iron was hot:

"We don't need to use the Boeing 707 platform. After all, the original Falcon has a blind spot of about 60° at the tail."

Having said this, he paused for a moment, then changed the subject:

"A few years ago, China and the Great Patriotic Republic jointly launched an early warning aircraft research and development project called the 'Ring Project', which used the Falcon system to adapt to the IL-76 transport aircraft platform. It looks similar to an A50U, but its functions are different. It is much stronger, and because it is a traditional disk antenna, it can achieve 360° detection without blind spots.”

"Recently, due to some external reasons, the progress of this project has not been smooth. It is said that China has lodged multiple protests because of this matter, but it obviously has no effect."

"The early warning aircraft project should be in a state of stagnation now. The British side is unwilling to continue to push forward, but if it violates the contract directly, then at least the advance payment will have to be refunded. In this way, the sunk cost invested in the early stage will be wasted... …So I think they should have a strong desire to find a home for this project.”

When Bhadauliya said this, he did not continue, but looked at several colleagues next to him with a look that "everyone understands".

"Do you want to intercept this Chinese project?"

There seemed to be a hint of excitement in Klingpa's tone.

After the humiliating defeat in 1962, India has always regarded the northern power as its main competitor, or imaginary enemy (although the other party does not think so).

Therefore, if we can give China an eye-opener while advancing the early warning aircraft project, it can undoubtedly be regarded as a symbolic victory.

In addition to boosting morale, more importantly, such a plan is easier to pass in New Delhi.

"That's right,"

Badauria nodded:

"According to previous reports, the price negotiated by Huaxia and David Country was US$350 million per aircraft. Of course, this was the situation in the early 1990s, but if we take advantage of David Country's eagerness to withdraw funds, there would be a lot of potential. There is a high probability that the original price will be maintained.”

"You know, even if we buy a second-hand A50U now, the price will not be lower than this figure... Moreover, this project has been completed to a high degree, and we should not have to wait too long to get the aircraft."