Tale of two air forces

It is time to analyse and tell the tale of two air forces. Firstly, New Delhi, which completes 87 years today, October 08, 2019, being founded in 1932, Friday, October 08, by the British, as Royal Indian Air Force; and Beijing which thus far has flown a month short of 70 years as it began its flight Saturday, November 11, 1949 as People's Liberation Army Air Force or PLAAF.

Both India and China which have had unhappy past owing to loot and subjugation of/by western imperialist powers, beginning middle of the 19th century, however, can justifiably take pride (bordering on boasting) about impressive strides made in their respective nation-building enterprise; being in a position to cross swords, if need be, with powers that be of the past, through economics as well as defence tech.

There, however, is a catch. Between China and India, the former has advanced much more than the latter thereby increasing the technological and qualitative gap and the consequential power projection capability to influence diplomacy in the high table. Things are too stark: good for China and not-so-good for India. It is a harsh reality that virtually 100 per cent fighters of India (except the under-trial and ongoing induction-process of the Tejas) are imported which stands in sharp contrast with that of China's impressive indigenisation programme of combat aircraft production.

In this context, one sample product of multi-role fighter of Chinese would reveal how far the Hans have proceeded and succeeded in their fighter enterprise. Thus, out of 24 types produced in the world, China, with six multi-role fighter programme, alone makes 25 per cent of the global venture. Others following Beijing are Russia with five, USA with four, India with two and all others, such as France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, Turkey and four-nation European consortium, with one each.

This makes a three-dimensional advantage-disadvantage scenario for China and India. First, indigenisation will help China more than India in a long battle. Second, it saves money for China for local manufacture and increases expenditure for India's imported craft, thereby affecting the overall financial health of the state. Thirdly, it adds muscle to Beijing's diplomatic corps and defence delegation to deal with foreign nations, allowing the Chinese-made fighters to be offered at the high table and demonstrating the capability of fighters. All owing to technological advancement resulting in homemade machines. Lastly, the import of fighters by India created another monumental problem. Serious charges of corruption, in several high-profile imported aircraft deals, often reached doors of the highest-ranking rulers of the state thereby delaying subsequent refurbishing, re-equipping and modernisation programmes of the ageing fighters. Thus, IAF became a classic model fleet of "block obsolescence". So much so that the IAF even today has the best of men to fly their machines, but not enough of new machines to be flown by these men.

To be fair, however, it has to be admitted that India did try to make fighters at home from the very beginning of her independence. Yet, somehow, things did not work out the way they should have been. Why? Because, from the beginning, there existed an unholy nexus between a minuscule but extremely muscular "import lobby" of/for western manufacturers; with a section of sympathetic ruling members of India, silently and stubbornly working under the radar to avoid detection. That, to a great extent, adversely affected India's march towards self-sufficiency in military machine manufacturing.

Be that as it may, today's IAF inventory still has to deal with huge old stock. No doubt things started moving in the early 2010s when serious attempts began for expeditious procurement to prevent capability gaps resulting from low levels of operability of air assets in its inventory.

A few examples will suffice here. Anglo-French Jaguar deep penetration strike aircraft joined IAF 1979, 40 years ago. MiG-21 multi-role fighter started journey 1973 (46 years). MiG-21 U first flew in India 1966 (53 years). MiG-29 came in 1986 (33 years). French Mirage-2000 joined Tigers and Battle Axe squadron in 1985 (34 years). Upgraded MiG-21 Bison is one of the few "new" craft which is only 20 years old, being flown by pilots from 1999, and Russian Sukhoi-30 MKI, ordered 1995, joined 24 Squadron in 1997 and started regular service from 2002 (17 years).

In comparison, the Chinese PLA Air Force is in a better position with modern aircraft and new acquisition. JH-7 combat attack craft delivered in 2004. H-6 bomber came in 2009. J-11A fighter flew 2001 and J-11B multi-role in 2004. J-10B multi-role fighter inducted into squadron services in 2009. The best part of the Chinese stands out. Although all of their fighters originated from Moscow, Beijing engineers and pilots transformed them into an indigenous product. Taking full advantage of the technology made available by Russians, Chinese undertook research and development for upgrading PLA Air Force. The PLAAF personnel were greatly helped by the Chinese state. Therefore, the Chinese PLA Air Force doesn't face the "block obsolescence" like that of India Air Force.

Going through the inventory of air assets of other countries like the USA, Russia and France also, it is clear that all of them prefer building fighters rather than buying to be recognised as truly independent, sovereign nation. European nations like Germany, UK, Italy, Spain and the Israelis amidst the Arab world as well had their independent aviation industry not too long ago. However, individually, they are no longer in top-notch fighter-producing league of nations. Nevertheless, they also don't allow themselves to drop guard, stricter budgetary provisions thereof notwithstanding.

Coming back to IAF on its 87th birthday, what suddenly lit up the scenario was the emphatic and unambiguous message given by the new Air Chief on Friday, October 04, 2019, that indigenisation, henceforth, would be a top priority. Nothing could be better and sharper a point by no less a person who himself was the test pilot of Indian-made fighter, Tejas. The chief of the Air Force, having come through the cockpit of the Tejas, surely knows best. Compliments to the Air Chief. One sincerely hopes and prays that Indian-made Tejas will have more variants and upgrading programme for its models.

A final question now. Will India's fighter indigenisation alone be sufficient enough to cope up with any future eventuality? Perhaps not. In that case, India has to keep its door open for a limited number of fighters also. On whom, then, could India bank upon for fighters? According to this author, as things stand, except France and Russia, there doesn't appear any other foreign fighter manufacturer on which IAF can rely at this point. Hence, it has to be Indian fighters and reduced numbers of fighters from either France or Russia, if need be.

(The author is an alumnus National Defence College and the author of 'China in India'. The views expressed are strictly personal)