Pakistan and India square off over Mirage 2000-5s

Red aRRow

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Here is IAF's most wanted aircraft

NEW DELHI: Guess what the Indian Air Force's new object of desire is. It's a batch of Mirage-2000-5s, a multi-role combat aircraft.

The aircraft that Qatar wants to sell off have sparked off a race between New Delhi and Islamabad. The IAF has strongly recommended its purchase to the government beef up its capability.

The Qatari 10 nuclear-capable Mirage-2000-5s were discussed recently by the Defence Acquisition Council, the apex body for purchase of weapon systems in the Defence Ministry.

According to South Block sources, New Delhi is also trying to deny Islamabad the state-of-the-art aircraft, considered much superior to the present Mirage-2000 fleet that India maintains.

Meanwhile, India is also getting ready to receive its batch of an additional 10 Mirage-2000s from Dassault Aviation, the original manufacturers in France. While the delivery is expected to be made by December this year, it is the superior 2000-5 that has Air Headquarters interested.

Qatar bought the aircraft in 1998 but decided to sell them off as the country did not have any use or maintenance facilities.

Pakistan, which now operates the Mirage-III/5, lacks a credible nuclear delivery platform and is overtly dependent on the F-16 Falcons it acquired from the USA in the mid-'80s.

If Pakistan acquires the 10 Mirage-2000-5s, the equation could change. So, New Delhi has been making aggressive moves. It is learnt that Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani briefly discussed the issue with Qatari officials in January, en route to France. The IAF also sent a team to Qatar to evaluate the Mirages and, based on their reports, recommended that India pick up the aircraft. The team found the 2000-5s ''nearly brand-new'' and ready for picking.

However, with the controversy over the CVC report, officials are apprehensive. ''With the muck over defence deals flying around, it will be difficult for the government to take a decision,'' said a Defence Ministry official.

Air Headquarters has pitched for these top-of-the-line fighters with the Defence Ministry. With the acquisition council apparently in favour of purchasing these fighters, the ball will now be in the Finance Ministry's court.

However, the security establishment in India as well as Pakistan seem to have similar worries. Sources say that the argument against acquiring the Mirage-2000-5 is the long-term financial burden.

While the IAF already has the maintenance back-up for its Mirages, it will need additional features for the 2000-5. For Pakistan, it is a bigger problem as the number of Qatari aircraft for sale don't justify the cost of a Mirage maintenance plant.

MIRAGE-2000-5 o Type: Multi-role fighter

o Avionics: Equipped with a multi-mode RDI pulse Doppler radar which allows multi-target selections at all altitudes with look-down/shoot-down operation.

o Engine: One Snecma M53-P20 turbofan rated at 21,384 lbs. of maximum thrust

o Maximum Speed: Mach 2.3

o Service Ceiling: 16,460 meters

o Maximum Range: With internal fuel - 1,852 km

With 3000L drop tanks - 3,333 km

o Armament: Two internally-mounted 30mm guns with 125 rounds of ammunition. Nine external hard points can carry the Super 530D and Magic-II air-to-air missiles and the AS-30L and Matra ARMAT air-to-surface missiles, plus a variety of other guided & un-guided ordnance.

The aircraft is also capable of carrying a tactical nuclear payload

o Self-defence: An automated ICMS Mk.2 with receiver/processor in the nose to detect missile command links; an extra pair of antennae near top of the fin and additional DF antennae scabbed to the existing wingtip pods.

LINK HERE
 

Oqaab

New Member
No need of going for used planes. We had enough mirage crached in the past. No more. If we try to upgrade those mirages then thats different thing.

BTW why the hell is Pakistan going for mirage 2000-5 from Qater if we are getting those from France .....
 

Red aRRow

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I think main reason is that these planes are almost brand new and therefore would be definitely cheaper than buying brand new ones directly from France.
 

Red aRRow

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Black Mamba said:
and once again, r arab 'friends' have betrayed us
Naaaaaah, Pakistan has already stated that it would be useless to acquire these planes. Since just acquiring a plane isn't half of the story... with a plane comes support infrastructure, training, armament etc. etc. So to set up such a support system for just 10 planes would be insanity.
 

Oqaab

New Member
shamayel said:
Naaaaaah, Pakistan has already stated that it would be useless to acquire these planes. Since just acquiring a plane isn't half of the story... with a plane comes support infrastructure, training, armament etc. etc. So to set up such a support system for just 10 planes would be insanity.
There is something else behind it. These qatari fighters became useless to Pakistan when Qatar agreed to sell these fighters to india.
 
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