Shortage of Fighter Aircrafts

What is the issue?

• At the end of the current financial year, two squadrons of old aircraft will be decommissioned.
• Complete replacements for these crafts haven’t been mapped as yet, which leaves the airforce severely short of fire power.

What is the current situation?

• In four months, the number of its fighter squadrons will fall to 31 while, the Air Force is authorised 42 squadrons of fighter aircraft.
• This is a serious challenge as a full strength is needed to dominate a two-front conflict from both China and Pakistan.
• Notably, each squadron of the IAF has 18 aircraft or slightly higher this depending on the number of trainers in that squadron.

What is the status of Tejas Aircrafts?

• After long delays, India has developed its indigenous single-engine Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas.
• Starting last year, 5 Tejas crafts were inducted into the IAF and the count was expected to increase over the years.
• This initial supply of 5 crafts by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) is part of a total contract for 40 aircraft.
• The Air Force has also committed to buying another 83 Mark-1A version of Tejas which is in design stage.
• Also, the production capacity of HAL is low and the entire delivery of even the first 40 will at least take till 2023.

What is the status of current foreign craft purchases?

• As the currently planned rate of induction of foreign-made aircraft is also slow, this might not help.
• The IAF will get 36 French Rafale fighters (double-engine) besides the balance Russian Sukhoi Su30 MKI fighters.
• Even if the induction of the Sukhoi, Tejas and Rafale aircraft are on schedule, the number of fighter squadrons will continue to fall.
• By 2032 then, the IAF will only have 27 squadrons, which will come down further to 21 in 2037, and 19 in 2042.

What are the options, then?

• IAF would love to order more Rafales but it is an expensive aircraft that can’t be afforded.
• The other option is to buy some other foreign single-engine fighter, and this is the route the IAF is currently exploring.
• American F-16 and Swedish Gripen are in contention for the supply of 114 fighters, most of which will be made in India.
• If evaluating of the two aircraft start by 2019 and the government takes a decision by 2020, the first 18 could be in service by 2023.
• If things go as per plan, then the IAF can have six squadrons of the foreign single-engine fighter by 2032.

Is the call for indigenisation sustainable?

• There is a view that the IAF could do with more LCA Tejas (the only indigenous craft) instead of foreign single-engine fighters.
• That would mean significantly augmenting HAL’s production capacity and ensure timely delivery, which is not easy.
• Also, the aircraft itself has design limitations — and the IAF needs a better fighter.
• The LCA Tejas Mark-1A can carry an external load of 3 tonnes compared to 5-8 tonnes of Gripen and 6.7 tonnes of F-16.
• While Gripen and F-16 have escort ranges of 520 km and 645 km respectively, for the Tejas it is only 300 km.
• It takes more than 60 minutes to prepare Tejas for the next mission; for Gripen it is 23 minutes; for F-16, 21 minutes.

What is the way forward?

• While India must develop and promote its indigenous defence industry, the nation’s security is paramount.
• A right balance needs to be found by a mix indigenous and foreign fighter aircraft.
• Decision on purchases needs to be made soon as IAF’s fleet is depleting fast to critical levels.
• If everything goes as per plan, then the IAF will have 37 fighter squadrons in service by 2032.
• But IAF had its full complement of 42 squadrons in 2002 and it is not going to reach those numbers again anytime soon.

Source: Indian Express