ASTRA 🚀

Chinese kids jumping up and down, waving American and Chinese flags, greet Trump and Xi.

Some say Modi Government is still not releasing funds for the Super Sukhoi program, around ₹70,000 crores, and only news outlets keep reporting that it will happen. Others say, “Since 2018 I’ve been listening to this Super Sukhoi nonsense.” ✅ First we need to understand that the new Super Sukhoi upgrade is not your grandfather-era Super Sukhoi. ✅ This upgrade will take the MKI to a completely different level with a GaN-based AESA radar, something even current Rafale variants do not have. ✅ Add to that a new EW suite, digital cockpit, MAWS, a host of new weapons, and probably even a new engine in the future. If you monitor global fighter programs, you’ll realize the world was still talking about Rafale F4 when many here had already started discussing Super Sukhoi. However, the extent and scope of this upgrade is closer to Rafale F5-level ambition than a routine mid-life upgrade. Technology of this sort takes time. Virupaksha has only recently gone onto the test jig. Many of these blocks are still under development and validation. They are not yet at the stage where GOI will release full-fledged fund flow for mass execution. As milestones are achieved, the funds will flow. There is also a reason why restarting and expanding the Su-30 line has taken time. This is not a simple upgrade packag, it is practically the evolution of the MKI into an entirely new generation of capability.

I can't get over this :) (Yeah you can call me delusional)