Numbers of mig29/29k,mirages in service
70 Single seaters 10 trainer mig 29s were procured
21 have crashed. IAF has total of 59 mig29s left.
IAF has 52 single seaters migs 29s & 7 trainers not much of use in combat. Especially in a2a domain.
Navy procured 45 mig29k 5 trainers and 40 single seaters. 2 trainer have crashed and 3 single seaters have crashed. IN has total of 40 mig29k in service. However the mig29k trainers are as capable as single seaters ones unlike IAFs mig29s. trainer are upgradable.
Total of 92 combat capable mig29s in service not counting IAF trainers.
There were total of 59 Mirage 2000s procured (40+9+10) so far 15 have crashed.
However we had procured 24 retired Mirage 2000s from France in 2021 for 27 millions, Out of the 24 Mirage fighters, 13 are in complete condition with engine and airframe intact with 8 of them ready to fly after servicing, not just for canabalism to sustain existing fleet rather 8 of them are in fly away conditions while another 5 are complete airframes with engines on. Total of 13 can be made flight worthy operation ready given the state of our sq they would have done it. While rest of 11 would be used for canabalism.
Coming back to the total numbers of mirage 2000s in-service, Till 2011 when upgradation began 9 were crashed and 1 was repaired, and so 51 left were decided to be upgraded to the T standards.
Ideally they should have replaced 8 of them but who knows there were reports of aircraft getting replaced prior to 2007(production end) but have not found anything significant also the upgradation numbers media used to quote was 51 back then,meaning 8 written of crashed airframes weren't replaced. If they did so could have been classified. However since then 6 aircrafts crashed till today apr-2025 15 have crashed bringing the total airframe number of mirage 2000s down to 44 Add to that the retired airframes we brought from french out of which 13 were flight worthy. Ideally we should be having 57 mirage 2000s.
Must commend IAF for there efforts to sustain Mirage fleet.
Agreed, Equipping those total of 149 mig29/29ks, mirage 2000s with 912trm uttam aesa radar paired with astra mk1/2 is a low hanging fruit.
We have indigeneous mission computer on both mig29s & Mirage 2000s. There were some reports navy is seeking to upgrade it's mig29k with indigeneous mission computer along with Uttam AESA Radar.
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Imagine this 149 fighter aircraft equipped with much needed powerfull AESA paired with astra mk2/3. Unbelievable capability addition.
As per astra microwave pvt Ltd there production line could roll out 36 radars per annum, it is the only certified airborne fire control radar in india which has completed flight trials, they should be able to increase production if needed
We should have had initiated this upgradation atleast 1-2 years prior.
The same Uttam can churn out better performance with increased power in mig29s and maybe in mirages 2000s as well.
It will increase there electronic counter measure resistance as well as range significantly.
If we upgrade total of 149 (92 Mig29s + 57 Mirage 2000s) with existing 912trm Uttam AESA Radar. This would add up to our strength significantly without costing an arm and leg like whenever we upgrade from foreign OEMs. This is not just a very capable option but also a affordable one as we would be achieving economies of scale also this doesn't come with fancy GaN which increases the cost alot.
With 180 for Tejas mk1A and 149 for this above-mentioned aircrafts we would be achieving a huge scale of economies total of 329 radars this will bring down the cost exponentially. Infact there are many airforces out there who are seeking upgrades for there mig29s I think egyptian airforce is also seeking upgrades. If we have equipped our 330 aircrafts with this uttam aesa there will be prospects of foreign orders for upgrades along with it we can offer our missiles,various a2g weapons if they agree on mission computer upgrade. Anyways
Even pakistan has (much boasted number 40-50 jf17 b3, some say 23bl3, 20-25 j10CE which will reach 36 once all delivered) total of ~50-70 AESA Radar equipped aircrafts in service right now.
While we have mere 36 rafales & 60 darin III upgraded jaguars with AESA.
If there is no major induction and just another piece mall 40 rafales then we should upgrade our fleet with AESA Radars.
You have good production rate, not so expensive either anybody should have done a natural progression in this direction. Shouldn't we call this lack of vision in the higher ups.
Or could they be waiting for the newer Tejas mk2s radar it would be costly also the service life we expect from this platform isnt that much either. As per astra microwave representative at ai2025 the design & configuration it has long time to go.
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