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New
Delhi, 07 October 2006
The recent suggestion of Air Chief Marshall Tyagi to go for
40 more Sukhoi Su-30MKI multi-role strike fighters to arrest the
declining squadron strength of Indian Air Force (IAF) represents a
judicious and logical choice. Indeed, if any in-service aircraft
type needs augmentation then it should be the only 4.5-generation
(arguably 4.75-generation) type in IAF service.
It needs to be conceded that IAF had and will remain
numerically smaller in relation to air forces of its potential
contiguous adversaries in combination, a negative balance that will
be further aggravated if units of
Middle East
airpower are made available to our western neighbour in
contingencies. Thus qualitative superiority should be the IAF mantra
with an emerging ratio of 40:60 or above between IAF air dominance
fighters and multi-role strike fighters, medium and light. Air
dominance fighters hold the key to aerial superiority, take note of
the critical roles projected and played by United States Air Force (USAF)
F-15 Eagle/Strike Eagle and United States Navy (USN) F-14 Tomcat
during the height of Cold War to keep the numerically superior
Warsaw Pact air power “in check”.
No doubt, increasing the production numbers and rate of
production of proven Su-30MKI multi-role strike fighters will arrest
the declining IAF force levels in medium term with perhaps a force
of 12 to 15 such squadrons alongside force multipliers like Airborne
Warning & Control Systems (AWACS) and Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR)
platforms bound to represent a “knockout punch” to any potential
adversary. Simultaneous production in
India and Russia
will ensure rapid replenishment in addition to integration of ever
pristine sets of avionics and electronic warfare equipments. The
Flanker design has already established itself as one of the Classics
in history of fighter aviation. One important consideration should
be integration of
United States,
European and Israeli missile systems and strike ordnances beyond
reach of our potential adversaries for increased effectiveness of
IAF platforms. European MICA, Meteor Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air
Missile (BVRAAM), Israeli Python 5 close-combat missiles serves as a few
examples.
It has been realised that mere defence of national airspace
does not guarantee national security. One needs to have sufficient
punch to be able to mount irrecoverable damage to rouge and failed
States to deter them from pursuing terrorist activities in multiple
forms. The best anti-dote against “nuclear blackmail” is perhaps
capability to mount stand-off strikes against enemy nuclear
infrastructure including buried ones with precision conventional
strikes along with a fearsome assured retaliatory self-nuclear force
as insurance. Note the changing specifications of Medium-Multi Role
Combat Aircraft (M-MRCA) platforms, initially restricted more or
less to lightweight types, now expanded to heavier strike oriented
ones.
Finally, a robust Air Defence Ground Environment System (ADGES)
supported by state-of-the-art Anti-Tactical Ballistic
Missile/Surface-to-Air Missile (ATBM/SAM) network may be logical
while facing quantitatively superior combined air power. The
mountainous terrain will certainly facilitate mounting radars on
mountaintops to promote better detection. The Peoples Liberation
Army-Air Force (PLA-AF) fleet of
China totally
comprises of aircraft designed for medium altitudes including the
new Su-27/Su-30MKK types and much vulnerable to deadly efficient
ADGES/SAM network. Thus even a 36 combat squadron IAF in combination
with a robust ADGES/ATBM/SAM network will represent a formidable
force.
Proposed ATBM/SAM networks in calibre of United States
Patriot PAC-3 or French Aster 30 offers impressive slant range. In
the process they render operations of enemy AWACS and
AAR platforms at
high or medium altitudes extremely risky well within their own
airspace, blunting their operational effectiveness and impact to a
considerable degree. Time has also arrived to embark on strategic
alliances based solely on national interests to ensure that we need
not fight any major wars alone.
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