25 October 2015 (19:19 UTC-07 Tango 01, 24 October 2015)/03 Aban 1394/11 Muharram 1437/13 Bing-Xu (9th month) 4713

India is one of the last users of the Cold War era NATO developed SEPECAT (Breguet/BAC) Jaguar strike (ground attack) aircraft, and now they just gave it new life (again).  It is called the Shamsher in India.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Adour Mark 871.

The adour turbine engines have a relatively short lifespan, but a group of defense contractors in India claim they’ve developed new compressor blades made of a new titanium-rare earth mineral alloy.  The Indian government has ordered mass production of the expensive replacement blades.

U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Matthew Hannen, 30JUL2007.

India has been steadily upgrading their old school Shamshers, the most recent major upgrades took place in 2012 and involved electronics and weapon systems.

Anti-ship Shamsher/Jaguar equipped with Agave radar, over the Bay of Bengal, 07SEP2007.