this is a strange report. several possibilities arise:
1. the prowess of the american armed forces is mostly a fiction created and nurtured by hollywood and films including top gun
2. the americans have such an inflated opinion of themselves and such a poor opinion of india that the fact the indians actually had a pulse surprised the heck out of them
3. the indian pilots are well trained and smart(er)
4. the sukhoi planes are better than the american ones
5. this is a propaganda leak intended to lull indians into a false sense of security. after all, indians are just waiting for some crumbs from whites. this is what 'damning with faint praise' means
i have no idea which of these possibilities is correct, although i am generally sceptical and suspicious.
good to see, though, that the bharat-rakshak folks are getting some airplay.
On 11/30/05, Ram wrote:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1128/p01s04-wosc.html
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
from the November 28, 2005 edition
"Since the cold war, there has been the general assumption that India is a third-world country with Soviet technology, and wherever the Soviet-supported equipment went, it didn't perform well," says Jasjit Singh, a retired air commodore and now director of the Center for Air Power Studies in New Delhi. "That myth has been blown out by the results" of these air exercises.
4 comments:
Rajeev, here is my educated take, as well as that shared by many folks at Bharat-Rakshak and elsewhere.
Right now the Indian Air Force has the best fighter aircraft in the world, the Sukhoi Su-30 MKI. The Su-30 MKI can have the existing top fighters of the USAF such as F-15, F-16 for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That being said, the USAF is just introducing their latest 5th generation stealth fighter, the F-22 Raptor for which there is no match in the world yet. But India is fast catching up with this F-22 with a joint venture with Russia to develop a similar 5th Generation fighter.
Also, the IAF pilots undergo a lot more hours of training than their USAF counterparts.
The USAF has been winning all the wars due to superior technology, right from World War II days. Their pilots were mostly newbies flying better aircraft against their more experienced Japanese adversaries in WWII.
The USAF has always been the first to introduce a new generation fighter aircraft at regular intervals over the past 70 years. It always sets the benchmark in military aviation. The Russians do catch up and come up with better aircraft, but by that time the US is already introducing newer aircraft.
Varsha Bhosle's quote:-
"India's greatest tragedy is, every battle won by the soldier turned into a war ceded by the politician -- there is no denying that. Just as there is no refuting that India's Finest creamed the Pakis in each and every war..."
This isn't the first time I've seen reports that the IAF beat the USAF in training. About a year back I'd heard that the IAF had beaten the USAF in 9 out of 10 dog fights, which took place somewhere in India. I think the Indians really are pretty good.
America's millitary strength owes a lot more to private sector Norththrop Grumman and General Motors than it does to any man actually serving in the millitary. It's all about technology and engineering talent.
Many of the grunts serving in the American armed forces are very stupid. And a lot of the leadership at the highest levels is genuinly inept. Why do you think the Iraq War is going so badly? The grunts keep spraying civillians with bullets, those civillians relatives then become enraged and join the resistance. The people at the top have no clue where the Zarqawi's are.
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