Adux

India was mesmerized by JFK and his wife, We would have been on the US side, if not for the CENTO and SENTO for Pakistan, and their consequent military use of material provided against India.

Zinja

But surely that must be quite a good while ago, things have greatly changed since then. Besides, there is a great lot to be envied in the American toys against which there is hardly any comparison eslewhere. Im sure if price and tech were the issues, India would afford some kind of assortment. Would one be fair to think somewhere deep down the Indians dont like the Americans. They are more allied to Russia than American? Just a thought

Officer of Engineers

Infrastructures are already in place. It would be way too expensive to junk all they have and rebuild just for American products. Supposed they decide to junk the SU-27/3x series. Well, not only do they have to get the planes and the maintenance contracts but they will have to tear down and rebuild their runways to American standards.

The earliest the Indians could be weened off Russian equipment is the next procurement cycle (ie, when the SU-27s need replacing).

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Chimo

Tronic

And by then, I think the ones replacing those will most likely be Indian or Indo-Russian aircraft. Indian-Russian relationship was inevitable at one point but now that historical relationship wont dissolve as easily, we can see it evolving to a new level from a buyer-seller relationship to a joint-development partner relationship.

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Nabha Sparasham Deeptam
-Touch The Sky With Glory

sundeepmegas

Oh yeah!!!!! India finally hit the spot I wanted to...finally a Super Power in the Indian Subcontinent...<tears in my eyes>...

sundeepmegas

Never underestimate Russian aircraft..sure they got a few problems here and there...they'll get fixed...and after that...you'll be looking planes that only a F-22 can handle...the F-16s, F-15s and F-18s only held superiority those days...

GGTharos

You'll find that the Russian planes have only now started to catch up with modernized F-15's, F-16's and F-18's ... you don't need F-22's to handle them. You only need F-22's to ensure the fight is never fair, and that they go down and your guys don't. Things would be more even vs. the 'old guard'

Jimmy

^^^I would say there arent many "modernized" F-15s at all, honestly.

Eventually, sure. But those Russian aircraft (that only an F-22 can handle) havent even been DESIGNED yet. Even the MKI is at most slightly outclassing the F-15. But once the Golden Eagle upgrades are done, that balance will change again.

GGTharos

I don't think the MKI can really outclass an F-15C in A2A ... it's much heavier, and geared towards multi-role. It'll give an F-15 a lot of trouble thanks to the newer avionics and equipment ...

Jimmy

Its close enough to be a serious concern. In the hands of a high-end pilot against a relatively new Eagle driver, and if its running with a good weapons loadout...that's not the situation I'd like to see.

Tronic

The Russians build some of the finest aerodynamic designs, it is the electronics where they lag behind in. Even the top Sukhois, like the MKI or the MKM, have a great deal of Israeli, French and Indian avionics replacing the Russian avionics. Though Russian defense industry is fast improving.