India moves for used Mirage jets

Following the announcement of Pakistan's proposed purchase of F-16's, India has set a deal to purchase 12 used Mirage 2000 jets from Qatar. It is also been indicated that the US has offered both the F-16, as well as the F-18 (not sure if its the E/F model)

India's defence ministry has been authorised by the cabinet to buy 12 used French-built Mirage 2000 jet fighters from Qatar.

It is part of a massive defence purchase package worth more than $700m.

The move comes days after the US announced it was going ahead with sales of its F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, despite opposition from India.
Mirage 2000

The Mirages are 2000-5 models...
The US has offered the superhornets E/F..
I don't know why the Indian government would buy only 12 jets.. and that too 2nd hand from Qatar..
The requirement is for 120..

correction: the are old Mirage 2000s and the purchse has nothing to do with the
ongoing 120 aircraft deal..
These are just to replace the ageing mirage fleet WWR (war/wastage/reserve) .
esp since 4 mirages were lost all in one year (last year)

[edit on 30-3-2005 by Daedalus3]

The Def Min had said that these aircraft have been underutilized and have nearly 90% life left. These are just a move for a small augment of sqn size and attrition replacement. This deal was first reported over a year ago and has nothing to do with the Pakistan sale.

Quatar, UAE, Oman, etc. are among India's best friends in the middle east. They have a huge expatriate population, and there is major economic activity between the two countries, and including military ties.

F-18s wouldn't be in the same class as these a/c., and I doubt they'd even be seriously considered by India anyway.

I wouldn't call any of them 'best friends' especially when you see who lent Pakistan the spanking new Star Fighters during the last major war.

Originally posted by RedBaron
I wouldn't call any of them 'best friends' especially when you see who lent Pakistan the spanking new Star Fighters during the last major war.

I thought the starfighters came directly from the US..Am i mistaken??
AS far I i knwo th eIndian pull in the middle east followed in the lines of the Russian influence in the region..
This is fomr the 60s onwards..
Only now has India taken to forimng ties with Israel..

I am quoting from memory. I believe Pakistan recieved planes from Jordan, UAE and possibly Iran and Saudi Arabia.

I don't believe that India wants another jet from another country. Right now they have to support fighters from Russia, India, and France. Alot of different spare parts from different sources to deal with.

Times have changed since then. If anyone would send them aircraft in the event of another war, it would most likely be Saudia or Jordan. Whether America would let them is another question.

Doesn't the U.S. and Pakistan deal remind you of the 70's deal when we gave Iran some of our F-14's and the next day they have a revolution, and were left scratching our heads about what to do. The U.S. better not shoot itself in the foot again.

Like every policy move America has done to artificially boost Pakistan's power versus its superior neighbors (SEATO arms aid, Taliban-proxy policy through Pakistan, weapons and economic aid throughout the 90s, etc.), its going to bite America in our a$s yet again.

And with each subsequent blunder, the blowback has been harder and more painful.

America is shooting itself in the foot. I hope the policymakers are prepared for the uncontroled explosion of violence and terror that a re-armed Pakistan will mean for global security...






[edit on 1-4-2005 by rajkhalsa2004]

Originally posted by jetsetter
I don't believe that India wants another jet from another country. Right now they have to support fighters from Russia, India, and France. Alot of different spare parts from different sources to deal with.

I don't know about that. For one thing they may chose to get rid of one type. The other issue is that of industrial offset. The cost of running a mixed fleet may be the work that is shunted to india to produce the planes. Its a very common practice and the negotiations over fighters are often made or broken with this issue and not inital upfront price.