Letter from the Editor | October 2024

The onset of autumn coincides with the Indian Air Force Day which FORCE commemorates with a special edition. Usually a celebratory issue, this year the IAF special tries to raise a few questions that should be asked frequently if we don’t want military surprises of the unpleasant kind. The focus is on testing the claims of self-reliance (aatmanirbharta) on the touchstone of India’s defence manufacturing capabilities and capacities. The trigger for this was a talk at a seminar in September by the present chief of air staff, ACM A.P. Singh (then vice chief), where while underscoring the importance of self-reliance, he said that it could not pursued at the cost of national security.

This has also been FORCE’s consistent position for over two decades. Building indigenous defence manufacturing capability is critical for national security. No nation can hope to exercise independent strategic choices if it is dependent upon imports for something as basic as ammunition. In the aerospace domain, the IAF’s dependence on imports is even more pronounced. A platform-intensive service, almost everything that the IAF flies has foreign antecedents. Even the recent achievement of HAL manufacturing the AL-31FP engine for Su-30MKI at its Koraput factory, has the Russia hand behind it. For other fighter platforms, such as LCA MkII and the 5^th Gen. AMCA, which is still in the making, India has signed up with the US engine manufacturer GE. And while we are on engines, the French origin fighters, Mirage and Rafale have French engines. Similarly, the British-origin fighters, Jaguar and AJT Hawk, have British engines. What multiplicity of platforms and engines mean for maintenance, is a no-brainer. The same story repeats itself with other platforms.

This is not to run down India’s indigenous efforts, but to point out that once the government understands that self-reliance is not achieved through mere catchy slogans, it will understand that under the present circumstances aatmanirbharta and war preparedness will have to be put in silos. More importantly, instead of chasing cost-intensive, easily-outdated platforms, say the 5^th Gen AMCA which will already be obsolete whenever it comes as the world is moving towards unmanned combat aerial systems, Indian industry should do a reality check on what it can do to enhance the capabilities of the IAF. In this there is a need for greater public-private collaboration, without the DPSUs trying to play the big brother.

The other highlight of the October issue is the essay by Pravin Sawhney who had participated in the 11^th Beijing Xiangshan Forum last month. Culled from the discussions he had at the Forum and the general mood of the participating nations, the essay points out how India is choosing to be on the wrong side of history. Hope better sense prevails.

On that note, Happy IAF Day!