Bangalore Aviation News, Reviews, Analysis and opinions of Indian Aviation
Last weekend, I managed to capture a very rare catch for Bangalore. It was the very first prototype of the upgraded MiG-27ML “Bahadur” (Valiant) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) tail number TU640 (originally TS640). Image 漏 Devesh Agarwal. All rights reserved. The MiG-27 is a dedicated ground attack aircraft. Developed in the 1970s the MiG-27 shares the basic airframe …
Read More »Tag Archives: Indian Air Force
Indian Air Force to celebrate its 78th anniversary with massive air display
The Indian Air Force will celebrate its 78th anniversary tomorrow at Air Force Station Hindon just east of the Yamuna river from the national capital New Delhi. An air display by various aircraft will form part of the Air Force Day Parade cum Investiture Ceremony. The air display will commence with microlites followed by flag bearing sky divers of the …
Read More »Images: Indian Air Force Lockheed Martin C130J makes first flight
KC-3801, the first of six stretched fuselage Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force, made its first flight, at Marietta, Georgia, USA on October 4th. Along with these pictures, Lockheed Martin released a simple statement The first of six C-130J Super Hercules for India took to the skies for its maiden flight yesterday. The aircraft …
Read More »Eurofighter Typoons arrive in Bangalore for Indian Air Force MMRCA flight testing
Two Eurofighter Typhoons 30-24 and 30-42 accompanied by their Airbus A310-304 MRTT arrived at Bangalore’s HAL airport Thursday, February 18th afternoon at 15:40 (10:10Z). The three planes flew in over the airport in formation, and then peeled right. Great formation flying by all three. One Typhoon did a low pass over runway 09 to inspect and familiarise, after which the …
Read More »Indian Air Force Antonov AN-32 transport successfully lands at 13,300ft high Nyoma field
An Indian Air Force (IAF) AN-32 transport aircraft landed at Nyoma Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) in Ladakh at the northern tip of India at 06:25 (00:55Z) today. View Nyoma Advanced Landing Ground, Ladakh in a larger map Group Captain SC Chafekar touched down on the Nyoma airstrip located at an altitude of 13,300 feet with Air Marshal NAK Browne, Air …
Read More »Video: Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Bell 430 helicopter crash site
One of the most intense searches in Indian aviation history came to a sad end this morning. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, his special secretary P Subramaniam, chief security officer A S C Wesley, pilots Group Capt S K Bhatia and Capt M S Reddy were found dead in the mangled and charred remains of his Bell …
Read More »Images: Boeing F/A-18s Super Hornets arrive in Bangalore for MMRCA test flights
On the eve of India’s Independence Day, the Indian Air Force’s multi-billion dollar medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) procurement moved up a stage this evening. A pair of the first of the contenders — the Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet arrived at Bangalore’s HAL Airport for the technical evaluations, along with their mother ship the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 Omega Tanker. The …
Read More »Is India relying to heavily on the Indian Air Force Sukhoi Su-30MKI to counter China?
Defence minister A.K. Antony informed the Rajya Sabha that the Indian Air Force (IAF) is extremely happy with its front line air superiority fight, the Sukhoi Su-30MKI, and will increase its fleet to 230 aircraft by 2015, notwithstanding the recent crash of one. China has been increasing it’s belligerence over the north eastern state of Arunachal Pradhesh and has a …
Read More »Official report of Presidential helicopter near miss at Mumbai in February
The Joint Investigation team constituted on February 19, 2009 to investigate the serious incident of a near miss between the Presidential Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter and a Air India flight IC-866 on February 9, 2009 at Mumbai airport has submitted it report to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. To translate the official findings (shown below), the Presidential formation called …
Read More »Indian Air Force Antonov AN-32 transport crashes in North East
An Indian Air Force (IAF) Antonov 32 (AN-32) has crashed in the north eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh which borders China. A total of 12 people – two pilots, a navigator, three air crew and six army personnel, were on board the twin engined cargo aircraft. The AN-32 plane had flown from Jorhat in Assam to Mechuka advanced landing ground …
Read More »Indian Air Force suffers first crash of Sukhoi Su-30MKI
The Indian Air Force (IAF) suffered the first crash its prestigious Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter earlier today when it crashed early this morning while on a routine training exercise. The pilot Wing Commander S.V. Munje ejected safely, but navigator Wing Commander P.S. Narah was unfortunately killed. The crash occurred at 1030 (0500 GMT), about 70 km south-east of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan …
Read More »Boeing AH-64D Apache benefits as India cancels $550 million helicopter tender
Follow Bangalore Aviation on Twitter For quite some time the rumour mill had it that the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) was going to scrap the $550 million tender for 22 attack helicopters. Earlier today this rumour was confirmed. According to a spokesman the tender had to be cancelled since ‘the remaining three companies still participating in the tender were …
Read More »Tejas Light Combat Aircraft undergoing advanced weapon testing
India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is carrying out a two-week second phase weapon testing trials of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas at an Air Force base in the north-western sector. As per DRDO officials “The focus of the current phase of testing is safe separation and accuracy of weapon delivery. The results from the tests would validate …
Read More »The Indian Air Farce – an update on the Mumbai Presidential helicopter near miss incident
On February 9th, there was a near miss incident at Mumbai airport which involved the President of India. The Indian Air Force is at the receiving end of an article by 737 instructor pilot Captain A. Ranganathan, who complains that poor navigation, lack of communication with the control tower and non-conformation with procedures on the part of the navy pilots …
Read More »Air India flight in near miss incident at Mumbai airport with presidential helicopter – Update 4
Read the official investigation report here. February 9, 2009, 10:00 IST (04:30 GMT) TV channels are reporting that an Air India Airbus A321 performing flight IC866 was involved in a rejected take-off/near miss at Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport earlier this morning. The flight had commenced its take-off run, when a helicopter which was given permission to land, strayed across …
Read More »Indian Air Force deploys MiG 29 fighters to Hindon near New Delhi
After a gap of 12 years, the Indian Air Force has deployed Mig 29 fighters to Hindon air base near New Delhi. This is the first time since 1996 that the base has reactivated for fighter aircraft operations after it was closed due to increasing bird activity near the base. At that time, MiG 27 were stationed there. In 2006, …
Read More »Indian Air Force clears second runway at Bengaluru International Airport
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major confirmed that the Indian Air Force (IAF) has cleared the construction of the second runway at Bengaluru International Airport (BIA). As per the BIAL master plan, the second runway (27L-09R), will come up to the south of the airport. The promoters of the airport, BIAL, have been pushing for …
Read More »Indian Air Force objecting to BIAL’s second runway proposal
After reading the below story in The Mint, I can only shake my head and say …”oh no not again!!!”. Both Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL) and Air Force Station (AFS) Yelahanka are vital to Bangalore. AFS Yelahanka is the premier training facility for the Indian Air Force (IAF) transport wing, and home to the internationally renowned AeroIndia show, which brings …
Read More »