Aerospace Diary

Credit- MoD Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne, Chief of the Air Staff with Wing Commander Anurag  Sharma, Commanding Officer, SU-30 MKI Squadron before the sortie at Pune Airbase on 21 Dec 2011.   Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne, Chief of the Air Staff flew a one hour sortie in a SU-30 MKI at Pune airbase today. “I wanted to be here to not only fly the SU-30 MKI but also to meet all of you and assure you that our SU-30 fleet is in good and capable hands. Our boys have been doing an excellent job and the momentum of building up the new SU-30 Squadrons needs to be maintained. Our people should remain our highest priority because it is then, that a cohesive team translates itself in to a success story.”  The Air Chief was on a working visit to this base, which he had previously commanded as the Air Officer Commanding (AOC), from 2001 to 2003. During his visit he interacted with the Squadron pilots, engineers and all the station personnel and met the key appointments of the st...

May 5, 2010 PROGRAMS NEW DELHI — Ongoing flight trials of new Colored Multifunctional Displays (CMFDs) for Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters are expected to be over by mid-May. The CMFDs were produced by Samtel HAL Display Systems. They were cleared for flight testing by the Regional Center for Military Airworthiness in 2008 and flights began in April of this year. Ground testing and 10 sorties — during the day and night — have been carried out. LDP (laser designated pod) and gunfire testing is complete. This is the first time Indian-made MFDs are being integrated on Su-30 MKI aircraft in India. “Integration of these indigenously developed MFDs on Su-30MKI aircraft is in line with the thrust by the [Indian defense ministry] on manufacturing indigenous products for defense requirements,” says Puneet Kaura, executive director of Samtel Display Systems. The MFDs will be integrated on Block III, Block IV and the upcoming Block V aircraft. Integration with 53 Block III aircraft will end by n...