The tailless configuration for carrier ops iss2 Prof. Prodyut Das “ I seriously want to know your aeronautical opinion of the F7U Cutlass or F4D Skyray. Cutlass had all sorts of mods to make it work on a carrier but the crash rate was its defining descriptor. Skyray was loved by pilots but it was quickly superceded by F8U and F4H aircraft.” Dear Mike Mueller. It is always a pleasure to exchange views on aircraft though the two you chose are somewhat of rara avi! Since you have a background of having worked in a Grey Funnel Line you may find some of the explanatory notes “known” stuff but I am an Indian and write for a largely Indian audience; there are those who like a more informative “ Aufklarung” style with “patter”. With that as an introduction let us begin: The fall of Nazi Germany was the aeronautical equivalent of the fall...
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Funds, facilities or Panchayats? Prof. Prodyut Das Any discussion on our track record of weapons development is always explained away by blaming inadequate funding of Defence R&D. Some point out the massive defence R&D funding of China and the US. I hold that given our inefficient Defence R&D structure even if we spent the same amount as the US on Defence R&D we would still be importing weapons. This is because we are structured wrong. One of the several wrongs is a focus on developing in isolation, the fashionable rather than the needed e.g. one does not des...
The Tejas, Tejas Mk2 and AMCA situation- A review of the crisis. Prof. Prodyut Das One has long given up having any faith in official briefings about these projects. The “facts” given in do not fit into the bigger picture and indeed, contradict it. If you try to force fit the new “fact” it dislodges another piece of earlier “official” information as happens in a bad jig saw puzzle. A new and disturbing phenomenon is noticed. Earlier the officials gave target dates knowing they could not be achieved e.g. a FF date of April 1990, month and year when at the time of making the announcement the concerned organization did not have its full team or even its own premises. Now the ...