[Update: 2012.03.17] Added a video of the aircraft in the game sporting the new skins
Multi-platform video game series Ace Combat, Assault Horizon version, has received a new update. It includes new decals that can be applied as skins on the numerous aircrafts, newer aircraft types, among others. These skins have been provided for applying over the T-50 PAK-FA, Fight Generation Fighter Aircraft [FGFA] in the game.
![French Dassault Fighter Aircraft visualised in Indian Air Force [IAF] paint scheme](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-sVpzXpEV5aM/TzAIWgl6y7I/AAAAAAAAD2Y/D97aj4ma1pU/s1600-h/Rafale-Fighter-Aircraft-Indian-Air-F%25255B14%25255D.jpg "French Dassault Fighter Aircraft visualised in Indian Air Force [IAF] paint scheme") |
Two years back, this is what I had jotted down here about the choice of aircraft that must be selected in India's long-running soap opera, also known as the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft [MMRCA] acquisition program,
Some new photos have 'emerged' showing India's latest Aircraft Carrier, the INS Vikramaditya, being rebuilt from the Soviet-era Aircraft Carrying Cruiser ship, the Admiral Gorshkov. Looks quite dramatic, seen against the pristine white snow-clad background with steam billowing from the sides.
Do check the remaining pictures at the photographer's blog, who visited the Sevmash Shipyard in Russia recently, where the Carrier is being re-built. India is expected to receive custody of the Carrier by the end of this year [December 2012]. Fingers crossed, twiddling thumbs.
Godspeed
Earlier: India's Aircraft Carrier INS Vikramaditya (Admiral Gorshkov) [Weekend viewing]
Here is a quickie tip that I often have to use. Many a websites place their articles behind a paywall, or require users to login, before he or she can read the article. Expensive & cumbersome, respectively. As it turns out, on many a occasion, Google comes to the rescue.
These hi-res pictures, from some time back, show the Indian Navy's twin-seater variant of its newly inducted MiG-29K fighter aircraft, the MiG-29KUB, taking off for flight testing from aboard Russia's operational Aircraft Carrier, the Kuznetsov. Had earlier seen much smaller & watermarked versions of these on Strizhi. These are hi-res & clean. Turned them into my wallpaper. Sharing my exhilaration!
"It is, however, to be noted that CSIR reserves the right to decide on the use of these systems for whatever purpose deemed fit by the organization to serve the interests of the nation."
Making this fact amply clear, plans have been set in motion to develop a new Supercomputer which would have a speed upwards of 10 petaFLOPS1 for use in India. The current2 fastest Supercomputer in the world, Japan's K Computer clocks speeds of 10.5 petaFLOPS, while the fastest Indian Supercomputer today tops out at 0.1328 petaFLOPS or 0.220 petaFLOPS5, if purely theoretical peak, unbenchmarked speeds are considered. On completion, it may even become amongst the fastest Supercomputer in India at that time.
![Air Marshal [then, Group Captain] P.M. Ramachandran, Indian Air Force [IAF], first Indian to Fly Soviet MiG-25 fighter aircraft](http://lh4.ggpht.com/-3mZFlc7tk50/Tyb2ZxQa2VI/AAAAAAAADy4/gvDilIxuDsw/s1600-h/Indian-Air-Force-PM-Ramachandran-MiG-25-02.jpg "Air Marshal [then, Group Captain] P.M. Ramachandran, Indian Air Force [IAF], first Indian to Fly Soviet MiG-25 fighter aircraft") |
A sense of mystique & aura surrounds the Soviet-era MiG-25 fighter aircraft, much like the American SR-71 Blackbird, that saw service with the Indian Air Force [IAF], till 2006. Much of this feeling, I believe, arises knowing that these birds, especially the variants India acquired, were put in to service to carry out reconnaissance activities deep into territories of countries that don't necessarily wave the Indian flag with any sense of deference. The fact that these combat aircrafts were required to fly into enemy territories for reconnaissance even during what constituted as peace time, if needed, at speeds of Mach 3+, at the uppermost reaches of the earth's atmosphere, meant that affairs of these IAF jets were wrapped up in even greater secrecy than a normal highly-guarded IAF asset. Such secretiveness only served to heighten its mystical status.
In various issues of Take-Off magazine, it has published a number of illustrations, depicting weapon loadout of some Russian Fighter aircrafts & showing locations of important systems in the aircraft. A handy reference.
Click on the picture to view a larger-sized image
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We celebrate Republic Day each year, in honour of India's Constitution, one of the largest & most comprehensive in the world. Provisions in the Constitution enshrine equality & non-discrimination to opportunities of progress & empowerment, irrespective of ones caste, creed, religion or other such classification. Yet, very often, in India we see political parties seeking to further their political fortunes by gaming the Constitution, even attempting to subvert it, in their bid to pander to specific sections of the society, to bolster their standing among their captive vote-bank, practicing ghetto politics. Such retrograde practices goes against the very grain of our country's Constitution.
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Had seen these photographs [below], earlier, on the Airliners website. But, as with all photographs there, they had been watermarked with their name. Not intrusive - tastefully done, unlike the hideousness some folks inflict upon pictures in their "possession"1. Nevertheless, the joy of seeing these beauties in their full glory, unblemished by any watermark, is a different treat altogether.
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As far as military conspiracies go, one could easily rank this right up there, amongst the most incogitable. In fact, a plot like this could very well have been taken right out of a Tom Clancy edge-of-the-seat mil-tech novel saga. But I'd doubt, even he would have risked coming up with a scenario this outlandish, least it gave his publishers a heart-attack, laughing. Then again, quoting the oft-repeated cliché, "Truth is Stranger than Fiction".
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The induction of the Russian-origin MiG-29K fighter aircrafts [MiG-29KUB, the twin-seater trainer variant] into the Indian Navy's air wing provides it with a quantum leap in capabilities. With higher operating speed [supersonic, as opposed to the subsonic Sea Harrier, it currently operates], greater range, much greater weapon load & a much more powerful on-board radar, the MiG-29Ks, taking off from one of the Indian Navy's future Aircraft Carriers would be capable of causing some serious damage to the belligerents, provided the civilian leadership of the country can muster the required political will to respond in anger.
This graphic, below, shows the various Russian-origin missiles that the Fulcrums acquired by India would be able to carry with it during combat, to perform different missions.
The sole Indian to have travelled to the outer Space, Cosmonaut Wing Commander [retd] Rakesh Sharma of the Indian Air Force, celebrated his 63rd birthday this 13th of January. A real shame that no newspaper that day bothered to mention it, even as a footnote. This apathy, towards a person who is the sole individual to accomplish a feat achieved by no other Indian, from among the 1.1 Billion who are its citizens.
Truth be told, it slipped even my attention that day. But then, I don't earn my bread & butter [preceded by coffee & gum] by being in the business of generating awareness. The media folks are. They should have written a few words about him that day. They did not. It was only yesterday, when I came across this 3D-photograph of him, did I remember.
The Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir has been a perennial cause of confrontation & consternation for the country's government of the day since the time of India's independence. Complete annexation & integration of an Indian state into its fold has, since its inception, defined the national identity of a neighbor. In the ensuing din of claims & counter-claims, allegations & counter-allegations, one is faced with the persistent threat of being swayed by biases & disinformation that vested interest groups attempt to inject into the prevailing narrative to strengthen their own positions.
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Such efforts towards obfuscation & willful manipulation become that much more easier to accomplish when one enjoys an unbridled flow of Wahhabi Petro-dollars & the active support & connivance of the security establishment of the aforementioned neighboring country, whose entire setup is singularly geared towards dealing grief to India [the Salafi cannon-fodder with guns play a different, albeit concurrent, role]. An important element of this effort towards social engineering involves trying to make acceptable, a revisionist interpretation of historical antecedents by stating the same, in manners suited to the occasion, at every given opportunity, with the intent of turning fiction into the 'new fact'.
