INDIAN AIRFORCE: AIRCRAFT PROCUREMENT
published in B&E 28/06/07
New machines, waiting in wings
The IAF has finally got a nod from the MoD to replace its obsolete fleet of combat aircraft
The Defence Minister, A. K. Anthony, has finally given a thumps-up to augment the fast-depleting combat readiness of the Indian Airforce (IAF). In a few days, India is expected to set into motion the procurement process for the purchase of 126 multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA) from the international market. The floating of this biggest ever global tender for arms procurement by India is necessitated by two reasons. Firstly, the indigenous aircraft development programme has simply been unable to attain cruising heights (The much touted Light Combat Aircraft project continues to move at a snail’s pace, due to the absence of a quality engine and of course, a general lack of aviation R&D expertise in the country). Secondly, the aging and accident-prone fleet of MIG 21s is also a major cause of concern for the security establishment. The Indian government has sanctioned 45 squadrons for the IAF to maintain. However, the current situation is so dismal that the paucity of hardware has caused the squadron strengths to come down from a peak of 39 to 30. If this situation continues, the day is not far, when the IAF may be operating only about 25 squadrons, with ageing machines incapable of meeting the security threats facing the country. The MIG 21 procurement programme, which began in the 1960s, continued to the late 1980s (a vast majority were produced under licence by HAL), adding almost 1000 flying machines in the arsenal of the IAF. The situation began to change, when the ‘revolution in military affairs’ (RMA) was triggered by stupendous strides made by information and communication technologies. “Quality began to replace quantity as the concepts shifted from ‘platform centric’ to ‘network centric’ warfare. The Indian defence establishment was concerned with the poor quality of the avionics of the Soviet-era machines and the acquisition of F-16s by Pakistan (1983) made the defence establishment think afresh,” said Group Captain (Retd) Sukumaran, while talking to B&E. Although some inductions were made in the form of MiG 29s from Russia and Mirage 2000 from France, the numbers were too small to make any substantial difference. The purchase of Su-30 MKI was the only comprehensive acquisition since 1988. Furthermore, inordinate delays in procurement process coupled with political & economic hassles (during the Prime Ministership of Narasimha Rao in the early 1990s) prevented the IAF from upgrading its fleet.
The old & obsolete MiG 21s (125 MiG 21s have been upgraded to Bison standard as a stop gap arrangement) still continue to be the mainstay of Indian air power, bearing testimony that the recent acquisition proposal announced by the Defence Minister is too little and too late. Now that we have the major producers of fighter aircraft - Lockheed Martin & Boeing of the US; Eurofighter of the European consortium; Sweden’s SAAB Grippen fighter, Rafael by Dassault Aviation and the Russian Mig 35 in the fray, India has a wide array of fighter planes to choose from for its future war machines. Lockheed Martin is in the process of manufacturing the ‘next-generation’ F-16 NG to meet the requirements of India. The Israeli Soufa Avionics Package and Weapons Systems package are one of the top contenders for the 126 MRCA of the IAF. Air power, one of the quintessential requirements of any defence force cannot be neglected. One only hopes that during the tenure of the Defence Minister AK Anthony, the process will be smooth and free of corruption. The IAF needs to concentrate on flying and maintaining the machines, rather than answering parliamentary queries related to illegal transactions by middlemen.
The Defence Minister, A. K. Anthony, has finally given a thumps-up to augment the fast-depleting combat readiness of the Indian Airforce (IAF). In a few days, India is expected to set into motion the procurement process for the purchase of 126 multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA) from the international market. The floating of this biggest ever global tender for arms procurement by India is necessitated by two reasons. Firstly, the indigenous aircraft development programme has simply been unable to attain cruising heights (The much touted Light Combat Aircraft project continues to move at a snail’s pace, due to the absence of a quality engine and of course, a general lack of aviation R&D expertise in the country). Secondly, the aging and accident-prone fleet of MIG 21s is also a major cause of concern for the security establishment. The Indian government has sanctioned 45 squadrons for the IAF to maintain. However, the current situation is so dismal that the paucity of hardware has caused the squadron strengths to come down from a peak of 39 to 30. If this situation continues, the day is not far, when the IAF may be operating only about 25 squadrons, with ageing machines incapable of meeting the security threats facing the country. The MIG 21 procurement programme, which began in the 1960s, continued to the late 1980s (a vast majority were produced under licence by HAL), adding almost 1000 flying machines in the arsenal of the IAF. The situation began to change, when the ‘revolution in military affairs’ (RMA) was triggered by stupendous strides made by information and communication technologies. “Quality began to replace quantity as the concepts shifted from ‘platform centric’ to ‘network centric’ warfare. The Indian defence establishment was concerned with the poor quality of the avionics of the Soviet-era machines and the acquisition of F-16s by Pakistan (1983) made the defence establishment think afresh,” said Group Captain (Retd) Sukumaran, while talking to B&E. Although some inductions were made in the form of MiG 29s from Russia and Mirage 2000 from France, the numbers were too small to make any substantial difference. The purchase of Su-30 MKI was the only comprehensive acquisition since 1988. Furthermore, inordinate delays in procurement process coupled with political & economic hassles (during the Prime Ministership of Narasimha Rao in the early 1990s) prevented the IAF from upgrading its fleet.
The old & obsolete MiG 21s (125 MiG 21s have been upgraded to Bison standard as a stop gap arrangement) still continue to be the mainstay of Indian air power, bearing testimony that the recent acquisition proposal announced by the Defence Minister is too little and too late. Now that we have the major producers of fighter aircraft - Lockheed Martin & Boeing of the US; Eurofighter of the European consortium; Sweden’s SAAB Grippen fighter, Rafael by Dassault Aviation and the Russian Mig 35 in the fray, India has a wide array of fighter planes to choose from for its future war machines. Lockheed Martin is in the process of manufacturing the ‘next-generation’ F-16 NG to meet the requirements of India. The Israeli Soufa Avionics Package and Weapons Systems package are one of the top contenders for the 126 MRCA of the IAF. Air power, one of the quintessential requirements of any defence force cannot be neglected. One only hopes that during the tenure of the Defence Minister AK Anthony, the process will be smooth and free of corruption. The IAF needs to concentrate on flying and maintaining the machines, rather than answering parliamentary queries related to illegal transactions by middlemen.
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