An Indian Tejas fighter jet crashed during an aerial display at the Dubai Air Show

[Reichmarshal]

A very real/possible reason for the lca crash was that the pilot went into an A-lock

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[Khanivore]

Somehow the Indian started to spread this on social media, 300+ J-15, lol wut?

View attachment 161301

I see some made up numbers. It's worthless.

 

[PakSword]

The indian experts also saying the same he had time to eject but he sacrificed his life to save people on ground as well other assets.....God Knows.

There were no people in the direction and radius of at least 500 meters on the ground.

 

[flyingorca]

Somehow the Indian started to spread this on social media, 300+ J-15, lol wut?

View attachment 161301

LCA is also lowest in numbers of course crashes are also going to be low.

 

[wangdefa]

J15？We have 300 aircraft in service?

Somehow the Indian started to spread this on social media, 300+ J-15, lol wut?

View attachment 161301

 

[hyperman]

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[Shui]

J15？We have 300 aircraft in service?

we have around 100-120.

 

[PakSword]

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐀𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐆-𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞, 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞

It’s time India should stop pretending that India is an aerospace powerhouse just because LCA Tejas can pull 8G turns at airshows. For 40 years, the Tejas programme has dragged on; rebranded, relaunched, repainted but never truly reborn. Four decades for a single-engine light fighter? That’s not a development cycle. That’s a generational crisis. What India celebrates in the Tejas narrative is always the same: kinetics, thrust-to-weight ratio, angle-of-attack, G-maneuvers, the same old “look, we can turn tightly” chest-thumping.

But here’s the truth the cheerleaders refuse to acknowledge: modern air combat isn’t about how tight you can turn, it’s about how far ahead you can think. India is still stuck in a 1980s Top Gun VHS tape.

View attachment 161275

Today’s decisive combat edge lies in:

• Sensor fusion
• Real-time data-links and network-centric warfare
• Integrated electronic warfare suites
• Seamless BVR dominance
• Secure, jam-resistant communications
• Multi-domain interoperability

These are the technologies that win air superiority, not acrobatics, not paint jobs, not political speeches. India’s aerospace ecosystem still struggles with basic integration maturity:

• Indigenous AESA radars delayed and underperforming
• BVR missiles integrated years late and software not compatible
• No robust secure datalink ecosystem like Link-16 or MADL
• EW capabilities that lag a generation
• A supply chain that depends heavily on foreign vendors, while claiming “atmanirbharta”

• And let’s not forget the jet engine dependency that remains India’s biggest strategic vulnerability. After 40 years, India still can’t build a reliable indigenous fighter engine. No sensor suite, no weapon integration, no network capability can compensate for this core weakness.The heart of fighter aviation is the engine and India still doesn’t have one. A country that aspires to 5th-gen combat capability still cannot build:

• a reliable indigenous turbofan,
• a high-thrust core,
• an afterburner section that doesn’t eat itself,
• or even a sustained high-T/W ratio engine that meets modern combat loads.

The Kaveri engine remains a national case study in how not to run R&D, thousands of crores, decades of delays, and still not a single operational fighter variant. As a result, India remains dependent on foreign engines for every “indigenous” fighter platform, including Tejas.

What does this dependency mean? That India still cannot dictate:

• thrust class evolution
• thermal management
• fuel efficiency curves
• hot-section materials
• or afterburner signature modulation

All of which are essential for:

• supercruise,
• stealth shaping,
• BVR-first engagement tactics,
• high-altitude combat, and
• sustained multi-sortie wartime operations.

India loves to announce aerospace breakthroughs. But announcements don’t shoot down enemy aircraft. India doesn’t need more flypasts. India needs competence.

1. Competence in systems engineering.
2. Competence in weapons integration.
3. Competence in EW, AI-enabled decision loops, and autonomous teaming.
4. Competence that takes decades of consistent, disciplined investment in R&D, not ceremony.

As long as India glorifies airshow theatrics over true combat capability, India will remain a spectator in the modern fighter era, not a leader.

It’s time to stop bragging!

That’s one hell of a post. You summed everything up really well in just a few paras. Excellent read!

 

[wangdefa]

we have around 100-120.

So the truth of the 300 planes that disappeared is known only to the Indians.Lol

 

[PakSword]

So the truth of the 300 planes that disappeared is known only to the Indians.Lol

They say you had 420.

 

[MH.Yang]

J15？We have 300 aircraft in service?

The J-15 series produced approximately 180 aircraft in total, of which 4 crashed.

 

[hasn2009]

India has knowledge, they lack discipline. Pakistan is more disciplined then these people.
Having said that, I am pretty much sure the pilot passed out as the jet went into balancing mode in last moments( as it's clear from video). I think HAL needs to add one more AND in the logic

if ( pilot_is_irresponsive AND altitude_is_low) then
Eject_pilot <= true;
elsif ( pilot_is_irresponsive AND altitude_is_High) then
Perform_balancing_maneuver <= true;
end if;

Optimized version

if ( pilot_is_irresponsive) then
----if ( altitude_is_low) then
--------Eject_pilot <= true;
----end if;
----f ( altitude_is_High) then
--------Perform_balancing_maneuver <= true;
----end if;
end if;

 

[东风夜放花千树]

A very simple logic.

As is well known, the current unit price of JF-17b3 is approximately 70 million US dollars.

Because developed countries are rapidly replacing F-16 with F-35, there are now a large number of F-16 replacements available on the market.

The price of a second-hand F-16A/B is usually a free gift or not exceeding $20 million.

The price of second-hand F-16C/D b25/30/32 is usually $40 million (referring to the large number of F-16C/D acquired by Romania).

The price of a second-hand F-16C/D b50/52 is usually between 60 million to 80 million US dollars.

There are many second-hand F-16s on the market now, and they are not out of stock. Moreover, F-16s also comply with NATO system standards. If the performance of F-16 exceeds that of JF-17b3, then JF-17b3 should not have any orders.

So we can easily infer that the performance of F-16C/D b50/52 is slightly better than that of JF-17b3. And JF-17b3 better than F-16 C/D b25/30/32.

The United States can control the weapons it sells to other countries. It uses weapons sales, ammunition, upgrades, maintenance, and spare parts as leverage to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations. If a country possesses mostly American weapons, without the U.S.'s consent, it will be at a disadvantage in warfare.

Second-hand F-16s are indeed worth purchasing, but ammunition, upgrades, maintenance, and spare parts still need to be addressed. These issues inevitably involve the United States, and even after political negotiations, a large amount of money is still required.

Purchasing the JF-17 does not have these concerns. Buying JF-17s ensures combat capability even under U.S. sanctions. For many countries, it is a very good backup plan.

Countries not equipped with American weapons need to purchase JF-17s to ensure they can respond to threats from countries that have American weapons.

Here are some examples:
1. In 2017, Turkey purchased the S-400. The U.S. government sanctioned Turkey, restricting exports and stopping the delivery of F-35 fighter jets. Already-produced Turkish F-35 jets were withheld, requiring high “parking fees” to be paid. After the NATO Hague Summit in June 2025, Erdogan recalled that Turkey had paid approximately $1.3–1.4 billion for the F-35 program and reiterated that a solution was still awaited. The maintenance and upgrade work for Turkey's F-16 fleet was also being coordinated.
2. In 2019, the U.S. State Department announced that it would investigate Pakistan for irregular use of F-16s during the India-Pakistan air conflict, with penalties if violations were found.
3. In 2021, South Korean media reported that the newly commissioned F-35s in the South Korean Air Force required U.S.-provided key licenses to access full functionality. At the time, neither Korean nor U.S. officials responded, and the matter died down.
4. In 2025, TWZ reported that Qatar possesses highly advanced air defense systems and sensors, capable of issuing early warnings in most cases of impending attacks. It is currently unclear why Qatar did not attempt to intercept.

Additionally, according to U.S. Axios News, the U.S. military detected Israeli jets flying east toward the Persian Gulf but had almost no time to respond.

Iranian media have also questioned why the U.S., which has land-based Patriot missile defense systems and THAAD anti-missile systems in the Middle East capable of intercepting ballistic missiles, “did not fire a single shot to protect Qatar from an Israeli attack.” However, in June this year, the U.S. military launched Patriot missiles to assist Israel in defending against Iranian missile attacks.

A White House spokesperson responded on the 9th, stating that Trump “was informed that his military was about to launch an attack and had warned the Qatari leadership.” But Qatari officials complained that they only learned of the situation ten minutes after the attack occurred.

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed pointed out that the country's radar did not detect the incoming Israeli jets.

 

[Watandar]

Optimized version

if ( pilot_is_irresponsive) then
----if ( altitude_is_low) then
--------Eject_pilot <= true;
----end if;
----f ( altitude_is_High) then
--------Perform_balancing_maneuver <= true;
----end if;
end if;

Wont compile due to syntax error in Line 5.

Missing the Else too.

Sorry became a nerd lol.

 

[东风夜放花千树]

Right!! I am almost certain the pilot was well aware of his situation and was trying to get out of that but, as you said, not enough altitude.
He was a Wing Commander and had a lot of experience.

We overlooked one issue: every plane that India buys ends up having accidents when it reaches India. This is related to India's poor maintenance. Weapons made in India are not even used by the Indian military.