Guest Column | Writing on the Wall

AVM Manmohan Bahadur (retd)

As the Indian Air Force (IAF) celebrates its 86th anniversary on 8 October 2018, the challenges for it are encompassed by one statement from its Chief, Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa. Speaking at a widely attended seminar, ‘IAF Force Structure: 2035’, organised by the Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS) in New Delhi on September 12, he said, “Even when we do have 42 Squadrons, we will be below the combined numbers of two of our regional adversaries.”

Earlier in his talk, he had stated that India faced a grave threat and that, “...its neighbours are not sitting idle.” This laid out the imperative requirement on part of the government to pay special attention to the requirements of the IAF since air power would pay a pivotal role in any future conflict. This article would be a stock-taking of the IAF’s strength and challenges — at present, and in a time frame of the next 15 years or so. It is good to start with the strong points, the positives, as it were.

Fixed Wing Airlift Capability

The fixed-wing airlift capability of the IAF is the best in a region extending from Africa to the furthermost point in the East, leaving aside the US; it is better than that of China too. With 10 C-17 Globemaster airlifters (and the 11th coming soon), 15 odd IL-76 and almost a hundred An-32, the IAF can be truly called a regional airlift provider, come any Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) requirement or mass movement of our diaspora spread out in the area.

Hopefully, the 56 vintage Avro aircraft would be replaced by the versatile and much more capable C-295 which, for reasons of commonality and logistics efficiency, should be ideal candidates for moving in for the An-32 when they start phasing out in the coming decades. The addition of C-295, with their short-field performance, higher payload carrying capability (vis-a-vis An-32) and rear ramp for loading, would greatly add to the versatility of the transport fleet.

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The air maintenance requirements of the Indian Army will not go away in a hurry. The arrival of the C-17 has revolutionised the carriage of stores and personnel as well as winter stocking in the Leh-Ladakh region. An added advantage has been the capability of the C-17 to carry back an increased number of army personnel going on leave, especially during the summer months; this has been a big morale-boosting step for our jawans who soldier-on in the harsh climes of Siachen and the northern areas.

Rotary Wing Lift Capability

The present heli-lift capability of the IAF, like its fixed-wing counterpart, is also the best in the region, including being better than China’s in the high-altitude Tibet area. The 250+ strong Mi-17 fleet of various versions, especially the latest Mi-17V5, is the mainstay of the rotary-wing capability; 24 more machines are being bought to raise new helicopter units, a figure reduced from the earlier demand of 48 due to lack of funds; it can be surmised that the remaining 24 would also be procured at a later date.

This additional requirement of 48 helicopters has come about due to the myriad tasks that have come the IAF’s way for conduct of national elections, state polls (like in the Northeast and Naxal prone areas), the frequently occurring natural disasters and the unfortunate law and order problems that require induction of police forces to interiors. The trusted war horses, Chetaks and Cheetahs, have shown their worth (besides the Mi-17 fleet too) in urban and mountain HADR, as was seen so vividly during floods in Uttarakhand, Srinagar, Chennai and recently in Ke