America's F-16 vs India's Su-30 MKI

The US has okayed the sale of eight F-16 fighters to Pakistan. Here's how it stacks up against India's meanest fighter jet, the Sukhoi 30MKI...

US F-16: Armament ::
- M-61A1 20mm multibarrel cannon with 500 rounds
- Up to six air-to-air missiles
- Conventional air-to-air and air-to-surface munitions
- Electronic countermeasure pods
India's Sukhoi 30MKI Armament ::
- Built-in single barrel 30-mm
- GSh-301 gun (150 rounds)
- Up to 6 air-to-air missiles
- Up to 6 guided air-tosurface missiles
- Up to 6 laser guided bombs
- Up to 8,500-kg cluster bombs
- Up to 80 unguided rockets
- Payloads up to 8,000 kg
Primary function ::
F-16 - Multirole combat fighter aircraft
Su-30MKI - Multirole combat fighter aircraft
Wing Area ::
Su-30MKI - 15m
F-16 - 10m
Manufacturers ::
F-16 - Lockheed Martin (US)
Su-30MKI - Irkut Corp (Russia), HAL (under licence, India)
Introduction ::
F-16 - Aug 1978
Su-30MKI - Sept 2002
Top Speed ::
F-16 - 2414 kmph (Mach 2, twice the speed of sound)
Su-30MKI - 2120 kmph (Mach 1.7)
Maximum take-off weight ::
F-16 - 21,772 kg
Su-30MKI - 38,800 kg
Max Cruise Altitude ::
F-16 - 50,000 ft
Su-30MKI - 56,800 ft
Range ::
F-16 - 3,222 km
Su-30MKI - 3,000 km
A BRUSH WITH THE ENEMY ::
During Kargil War, IAF MiG-29s of 47 (Black Archers) Squadron tracked two PAF F-16s close to Indian air space.
The MiG-29s with long-range BVRs (beyond visual range) were able to lock on to the Pakistani F-16s which lacked BVR capability. The planes weren't brought down because they were still flying on their side of the border.
The Pakistani F-16s eventually backed down and returned to their base and did not dare confront IAF's Mig-29s.

Even After Death Pathankot Terrorists Still Troubling Authorities

New Delhi: The four attackers of the Pathankot Air Force base continue to trouble authorities even months after being gunned down by security forces in the fierce encounter.

The authorities of the Civil Hospital in Pathankot have requested the state government to shift the bodies of the terrorists from there. The authorities have said that the bodies have crowded up the morgue and need to be shifted to some other place.

With no one to claim them, the hospital authorities have left with no other option to shift them to some place.

Seven security personnel were killed and several others were injured when militants, suspected to owe allegiance to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad , stormed the Pathankot air base.

Security forces had claimed to have gunned down six terrorists in the hours-long gunbattle. However, only four bodies were recovered from the encounter site.

16 Accidents Involving Dhruv Helicopters Since 2002

New Delhi: There have been 16 accidents involving the indigenously built Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) ever since the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited began producing them in 2002, the government informed Parliament on Tuesday.

Of the accidents, two of them are civilian variants. Eleven accidents occurred in India and five abroad.

“Out of 16 accidents, 12 occurred due to human error and environmental factors and the remaining four occurred due to technical reasons,” Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

Dhruv has been indigenously designed and developed by the HAL and is powered by a Shakti engine jointly developed by the HAL and Turbomeca of France.

Ecuador had procured seven ALH Dhruvs from India, five in 2009 and two in 2011 in a deal worth $ 45.2 million, of which four had crashed following which the remaining had been grounded. Late last year, the Government of Ecuador had unilaterally terminated the contract with HAL.

On this, the government said that as per the notice issued by the Ecuador government, ‘non-compliance of the seller of some of the obligations contracted by virtue of the present contract’ and ‘value of the fines exceeding the amount of guarantee of faithful compliance of the contract’ had been cited as the reasons.

While two of the crashes have been attributed to pilot error, one was due to a mechanical failure while that of the fourth is still being debated.

On this, Mr. Singh said: “After the enquiry, based on the specific nature of the recommendations, the required improvements/corrective measures are implemented by the operator, HAL and other Original Equipment Manufacturers [OEM] as applicable.”

In addition to Ecuador, two ALHs had been exported to the Maldives and one each to Nepal and Mauritius. The series of crashes have come as an embarrassment in the backdrop of the government’s ambitious plan to turn India into a major exporter of military hardware.

The Hindu