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[Goanet-News] Why is the Indian Navy racing a MiG-29 & a Lamborghini?
Goanet News
2018-08-05 21:25:01 UTC
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Why Is The Indian Navy Racing A MiG-29 & A Lamborghini?

Shiv Aroor



The video you see above emerged yesterday in social
media feeds, showing what appears to be an Indian
Navy MiG-29K speeding along the tarmac at Goa's
Dabolim airfield, with a supercar accelerating
alongside. The video, tweeted out by IAF veteran
Air Marshal Anil Chopra sparked a fair bit of buzz
over what was going on, and whether this was a real
video. Well, Livefist can confirm it is.

The video shows an official cinematic shoot featuring one of
the Indian Navy's MiG-29K fighters from the 'Black Panthers'
squadron based at Goa racing with a Lamborghini Huracan
before the fighter lifts off into a steep climb over the
Arabian Sea. The film being made will be released during Navy
Week in December this year and is being pitched at Indian
youth from a familiar adventure/speed angle. Love speed and
daring? Sign up with the Navy -- that's the proposition.

The Indian Navy, like the Indian Air Force and Army Aviation
Corps has a significant shortage of pilots, and needs steady
interest in its flying wing to justify proposals to buy
expensive new jets in the future.

Aviator Anil Chopra
@Chopsyturvey
4 Aug
Lamborghini racing MiG 29 at Dabolim Goa
http://pic.twitter.com/2V2HKVKwVs

Aviator Anil Chopra
@Chopsyturvey
http://pic.twitter.com/D5GOFUO6gN

An officer at the Navy's Goa base told Livefist,
"The film being made is pointed directly at the
young. When it's ready, it will be an exhilarating
showcase of speed from something that many can't
really relate to -- a fighter jet that costs
hundreds of crores -- to the things they can relate
to -- a sports car, for instance. The line of the
film will be direct too: If you have the passion,
if you crave adventure and speed, then look no
further than the Indian Navy."

The Indian Navy needs 735 pilots (its sanctioned strength)
but is short by 91, the government informed Parliament in
March this year. The Army is short of 192 pilots in a
sanctioned strength of 794. The Indian Air Force is short by
376 pilots on a required strength of 4,231. Waning interest
in the military and stubborn voids in the officer ranks
continue to haunt the armed forces as they look to create
leaner, younger structures.

The MiG-29K is currently the navy's only fighter since it
retired its Sea Harriers in 2016. Apart from 57 new fighters
it is looking to import from abroad (shaping up to be a
two-horse race between Boeing's F/A-18 and Dassault's
Rafale), the Indian Navy's test team has also recently
demonstrated progress with the naval Light Combat Aircraft
(LCA-N), though the aircraft in its present configuration
won't see frontline service with the navy from aircraft
carriers.

The Indian Navy, in its fighter-supercar race, is inspired by
a similar speed face-off from a decade ago, when the BBC's
Top Gear auto show had a Bugatti Veyron face off with a
Eurofighter Typhoon:


More recently, a similar race was organised in 2014 between
an Indian Air Force Su-30MKI and a Lamborghini Huracán for
Autocar magazine:
https://www.autocarindia.com/auto-features/days-of-thunder-392483

SOURCE: https://www.livefistdefence.com/2018/08/why-is-the-indian-
navy-racing-a-mig-29-a-lamborghini.html

* * *

TNN reports:

Sources said that the Navy was collaborating with a
magazine for an exclusive story which compares the
performance of the aircraft and the car.

The official claimed that the Navy was preparing an
advertisement campaign-cum-promotional video for recruitment
of pilots for which the video was shot. The Indian Navy has
joined hands with a leading automotive magazine to document
the race.

"Today's youth admire gadgets, fast cars and we want to
inspire them to choose the Navy," a naval officer said,
explaining the rationale behind the video....

"This aircraft has come in for a lot of flak regarding its
maintenance and we wanted to show that the MiG 29K remains a
formidable fighter in the Navy's arsenal," another naval
officer said.

A Mig-29K aircraft from the Indian Navy's White Tigers
squadron crashed in Goa's Dabolim airport in January this
year after going off the runway.

SOURCE: http://defencexp.com/mig-29k-vs-lamborghini-huracan-performante/



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