The crash scene at that time
This air crash caused the only prototype of the HS-748 "Air Defender" early warning aircraft developed by India to crash. All four crew members and four members of the early warning aircraft development team on board were killed. The losses of this air crash were not only an early warning aircraft, but also completely paralyzed the entire project of India's self-made early warning aircraft, and had to take the worst strategy of seeking purchases from foreign countries. This move completely strangled the entire once ambitious development project of Indian domestic early warning aircraft.
HS-748 early warning machine prototype photo of the lifetime
As an ambitious South Asian subcontinent powerhouse, India's ambition has always been to turn Indian Ocean into its own "inland sea", so India has always spared no effort in seeking advanced military preparation. However, India has adopted an attitude of making others confused when watching the air force "multiplier" - early warning aircraft.
Logically speaking, India has tasted the sweetness of using early warning aircraft a little earlier, and it is impossible to be unclear about the huge military value of early warning aircraft. As early as the eve of the outbreak of 's third India-Pakistan War, India rented a Soviet Tu-126 early warning aircraft ( NATO code-named "Moss"), and was operated by Soviet crews to commit the war that lasted for 13 days.
Image-126 Early Warning Aircraft
Although the map-126 is only the first generation of early air warning and control aircraft of the Soviet Union, although the Soviet and Indian sides have problems such as language barriers and incompatibility in combat systems. However, the Soviet-made fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (Mig21 and Su7) rely on the guidance of early warning aircraft to carry out air strikes in the depths of Pakistani , and the farthest attack point even reached about 200 kilometers. Pakistan's local , Sindh, and Sakgar air bases and ground targets were hit by multiple precise strikes by the Indian Air Force. A total of 37 combat aircraft of various types were shot down and destroyed, accounting for more than 72% of the total number of aircraft lost by the Pakistani army in the entire war.
Perhaps it is because of the confidence that the Soviet Union, an "ally" can help him get his own at a critical moment. India, which has taken advantage of the situation, did not immediately start developing its own early warning aircraft. Wait, wait, wait - this has been waiting for more than 10 years.
Until around 1985, when India learned that its enemy Pakistan was seeking early warning aircraft from Western countries, it immediately launched its own early warning aircraft project.
India's path to developing early warning aircraft is no different from developing other weapons. After drawing a dazzling imagination, it will be accompanied by a bunch of data that is directly aligned with the international advanced level, and then a high-end weapon development plan will be completed. India gave the project the name "Guardian" in the name of the three masters of Hindu , Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu , but soon felt that it was not high-end enough and changed it to "Air Defender".
In this plan, the Indian military proposed that domestic early warning mechanisms must have advanced remote monitoring capabilities, and can be used as an air command and control center , and match the Air Force's MiG-29, Phantom 2000H and other advanced fighter , striving to surpass similar products of the Soviet Union in performance, and align with the US E-2C "Hawkeye"!
E-2C "Hawkeye" early warning aircraft
According to the ideas of the senior management of the Indian Air Force, choose an transport aircraft and then install an radar on the fuselage. Wouldn't this early warning aircraft be saved? What's easier in this world than this is to draw an imaginary picture in the office and pile up a bunch of data, right?
But it is easier said than done. First, it is a big problem to choose a model suitable for radar. The Indian Air Force in the 1980s was a "stitching monster" that forced together by multiple incompatible systems (of course, this is actually the case from India). The transport aircraft it equipped includes the Soviet-made An-12 and An-32, the British HS-748 "Aphro", and the German Do-228 and other "non-mainstream" models.
An-12 transport aircraft equipped by the Indian Air Force
An-32 transport aircraft equipped by the Indian Air Force
An-228 transport aircraft equipped by the Indian Air Force
In terms of comprehensive performance, the An-12 transport aircraft was a carrier for the existing transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force at that time, which was more suitable as the early warning radar carrier. However, the ideas of senior Indian Air Force officers are different from those of normal people. They think that since it is a "domestic early warning aircraft", the carrier aircraft naturally needs to have "domestic" transport aircraft, so that India's national strength can be reflected. Of course, this will also facilitate fooling the government into spending money, and it will also facilitate some people to "get benefits" from it.
Under this idea, the HS-748 "Aphro" type transport aircraft became the only "politically correct" choice. But someone wants to ask, the HS-748 is not a domestically produced aircraft in India.
This is true. The HS-748 model is a twin-engine turboprop transporter designed by the UK in the late 1950s and first flight in June 1960. It is designed to replace the seriously aging US DC-3 transporter.
The Indian Air Force has long been attracted by this aircraft with a length of 20.4 meters, a height of 7.6 meters, a wingspan of 31.2 meters, and is equipped with two single "Dat" turboprop engines with a power of 1,700 horsepower, which can carry 40-50 passengers or 5.1 tons of cargo, cruise speed 452 kilometers per hour, a full load range of 1,715 kilometers, a ceiling of 7,620 meters, and a combat radius of 450 kilometers. In 1961, an order for 89 aircraft was placed in the UK, but it required the introduction of licenses to be produced domestically in India.
HS-748 "Aphro" transport aircraft equipped by the Indian Air Force
On November 1, 1961, India's first self-assembled HS-748 was taken offline, 72 of the 89 aircraft produced were for use by the Indian Air Force, and the remaining 17 were delivered to the Indian Air Force. Therefore, in theory, the HS748 can be regarded as a "domestic aircraft made in India". By the way, the one who assembled this kind of aircraft is Hindustan Airlines (HAL), which is still terrifying.
has selected the carrier, and the next step is to fill in the radar and electronic equipment. But the HS-748 aircraft were technically in the 1950s after all, and most aircraft were produced in India in the 1960s and 1970s. Not only did the load capacity be relatively small, but the body also had aging. In addition, India does not have a strong electronics industry, it is impossible to reduce the weight and volume of radars, command and control systems and other electronic devices to a certain extent. Even if these things are forcibly stuffed into the aircraft, it will inevitably cause the aircraft's flight performance to be seriously reduced. Serious accidents will occur in a slight situation.
The top leaders of the Indian Air Force may not understand these technical problems, but the Indian aviation industry is not completely full of verbal and flattering people. When the early warning aircraft project that was forced to be launched, it was strongly resisted by some Indian aviation industry insiders. By 1986, with the failure of Pakistan's efforts to obtain early warning aircraft, the Indian Air Force was less under pressure on the aviation industry, so the domestic early warning aircraft project in India was temporarily dismissed.
But what is so good is that in 1987, India and "northern neighbors with two long ears" had another serious border dispute. The border defense forces of both sides confronted each other with live ammunition, and the war was almost about to break out. Later, although after the behind-the-scenes game by the top leaders, the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi saw that the two major financial owners of the United States and the Soviet Union were not on his side, and were forced to actively seek peace with the "Northern Neighbors of the North", and the crisis was resolved.
Rajiv Gandhi
But this crisis seriously stimulated Indians . The painful memory of being beaten up twice in 1962 and 1967 once again surged in my heart. A strong sense of crisis arose naturally, and the top leaders of the Indian Air Force were able to take the opportunity to put the domestic early warning aircraft project on the agenda again. The transformation plan of
seems very simple. According to the mainstream design of the world's early warning aircraft, a rotatable radar radome is installed on the body of the HS-748, and a high-performance radar is built-in; avionics, signal processors, and communication equipment are all considered to be active.The radar will be jointly developed by the R&D organization under the Indian Ministry of Defense and Hindustan Airways. Of course, like most of India's "domestic high-tech", the radar technology comes from a German company called "German Aerospace". What the Indians do is just adjust the size of the radar antenna to be suitable for stuffing into the aircraft.
On May 24, 1989, the prototype HS-748 early warning aircraft with no radar radome has been installed in Kanpur in India successfully flew for the first time. The aircraft was then sent to Bangalore to install the modified radar cover and radar equipment, and then there was a long ground test. It was not until 1991 that the Indian domestic early warning aircraft project was officially launched. In the past year, the Indian Air Force threw money from its small vault.
In February 1991, the Indian Ministry of Defense established the "Air System Center" after several evaluations, which is responsible for the design, research and development, integration and evaluation of the avionics system of the early warning aircraft. In 1994, the German radar was finally stuffed by the Indians and could be stuffed into the radar cover of the early warning aircraft, meeting the installation standards.
From the technical data alone, this radar does reflect the international advanced level in the 1980s and 1990s. The weight of the high-power side-lobe trough waveguide plane antenna array installed in the onboard radar cover is 160 kilograms, its detection distance can reach 300 kilometers, and can track 50 different targets at the same time. The radar also has the ability to identify enemies and enemies. The radar antenna is driven by a hydraulic control system that is also installed in the radar cover, and can rotate 360 degrees and implement all-round coverage. After the Indians installed the radar on the carrier aircraft, the prototype of an early warning aircraft appeared. The aircraft then began to conduct test projects such as electrostatic analysis, ground testing and computer simulation at the National Aviation Laboratory of India (NAL).
HS-748 early warning machine prototype
If we look at radar performance alone, if the Indians can really send this thing to heaven, it will be a good early warning machine. However, the Indians underestimated the difficulty of combining radar and aircraft, and the rotary radar radome prepared to be installed on the HS-748 was extremely large in size, with a diameter of 7.3 meters and a maximum thickness of more than 1.5 meters. For a transport aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of only 21 tons, this thing is really a bit too big. Just looking heavy, I don't believe how far this thing can fly.
But now the Indian Air Force and the aviation industry are already in a difficult situation. Everyone just thinks that this thing will affect flight performance. As long as I can’t see it or not happening, it will have no impact. You can count wherever you go!
In December 1996, at the opening ceremony of the first Indian International Air Show held in Bangalore, India, the prototype of the HS-748 early warning aircraft made its debut and successfully performed a flight performance, becoming the most dazzling star at the air show in one fell swoop! Indian media, who are good at speaking without any shocking words, flocking to it, describing it with various praises, praising this Indian domestic early warning aircraft as a magical tool that is "only in the sky and nothing on the ground". Even the American E-2C early warning aircraft , which was targeted by HS-748, was smeared by the Indian public opinion. Indians have sarcastically pointed out that the US E-2C and early warning aircraft with similar performance are generally priced at US$600 million to US$800 million (about INR 252-336 billion), while India did it only cost about 2 billion rupees.
HS-748 early warning aircraft prototype for flight performance at the Bangalore Air Show
HS-748 early warning aircraft prototype for static display at the Bangalore Air Show
Of course, what Indian media does not know is that in order to ensure the success of the test flight, the radar cover of the HS-748 early warning aircraft prototype is empty, and HAL did not dare to install radar and electronic equipment at all. After the
air show, the prototype of the HS-748 early warning aircraft conducted an air early warning test at the request of the Indian Navy, and the test results were still satisfactory. By 1998, the prototype of the HS-748 early warning aircraft had undergone 175 hours of flight test after installing the radar, completing about 90% of the test projects, and the remaining 10% were integrating the radar and electronic support systems into the surveillance platform, and everything was perfect.The excited Indian media reported on this intensively, and the Indian government and the opposition eagerly look forward to the official entry of domestic early warning functions around 2003.
The prototype of the HS-748 early warning aircraft was exhibited again at the second Bangalore Air Show in India at the end of 1998, and it still received special attention due to its home advantage. But at this time, the Indian media was no longer satisfied with being able to fool around by flying or two. They asked senior officials of the Indian Air Force and the aviation industry: "When will our early warning aircraft be put into service?"
1998 Bangalore Air Show prototype
1998 Bangalore Air Show prototype
1998 Bangalore Air Show prototype
1998 Bangalore Air Show prototype
1998 Bangalore Air Show prototype
1998. India had just successfully conducted a nuclear test, so the whole country was filled with a high nationalist sentiment. Under this circumstance, the development of early warning aircraft is under unprecedented pressure. So under the pressure of the government and the opposition, the final test accelerated the pace, and disaster followed.
In early January 1999, the Indian and government Indian Air Forces clearly required HAL to complete the HS-748 early warning aircraft project in 2000 and put it into active service. HAL had no choice but to speed up the test. On January 11, HS-748 was scheduled to undergo another test flight for equipment testing. However, due to the tight arrangement of the test subjects, the ground staff did not have time to check all safety items, so the plane rushed into the sky.
Then the scene at the beginning of this article happened -
15:45, the prototype of this HS-748 early warning aircraft crashed only about 5 kilometers away from the airport, and all four crew members on board and four early warning aircraft project research team members were killed. According to the subsequent investigation, the huge radome on the back of the plane suddenly fell off without warning, hitting the rear of the plane, causing the pilot to lose control of the rudder. The radome was later discovered about 2 kilometers away from the airport. After testing, it was found that the metal parts connected to the back of the machine were aging and broken. After all, this carrier was already an old aircraft with an age of more than 30 years.
to the time of crash, the total flight time of this prototype was 225 hours, and the body itself flew 1,600 hours (including the flight time as a transport aircraft).
This crash basically sentenced the death penalty to the development project of the domestic early warning aircraft in India. Rodham Narasimha, director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies and aerospace expert from the American Indian-American, said bluntly when interviewed and asked about this: "The crash will reverse the Indian early warning aircraft plan, and the entire system will have to be imported."
In January 2001, the Indian government finally had to make a decision that violated the painful three brothers Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu: to terminate the HS-748 "Air Defender" early warning aircraft project. This 15-year-old plan started with ambition and ended with an air crash that destroyed people. Like almost all self-developed weapons development projects in India, it finally came to a flawed end.
HS-748 early warning aircraft in flight
Nowadays, India has successively installed the "Felcon" system of the Russian-made Il-76 as a platform to obtain the A-50I large early warning aircraft (in fact, it has seized the results of the early warning radar developed by Israel for China); and installed the "balance beam" early warning radar developed by Israel on the ERJ-145XR regional passenger plane developed by Brazil and obtained the "Eye of the Sky" early warning aircraft. But no one dared to use these two things that were completely made up of imported goods (although they performed well) as a "domestic early warning aircraft", because in the hearts of all Indians, the real "domestic early warning aircraft" had already been summoned by Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu on January 11, 1999 and never returned.
Indian Air Force A-50EI "Felkang" early warning aircraft
Indian Air Force "Eye of the Sky" early warning aircraft
