In Defence Of The Indian Air Force

A recent headline says:

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Shocking, isn't it?

Makes you wonder, 'What is wrong with the IAF?'

I had ignored that article then, but now I see it being re-published on other portals, and shared on social media.

The IAF defends our nation, in war and in peace. Who will now defend the IAF?

I will, simply and briefly.

The numbers seem alarmingly huge, only because they are added up all the way from the year 1952, and include the losses in various wars since then.

Wartime losses are inevitable, we know, but why do we lose aircraft in peacetime?

Challenging flying

Military flying involves harsh manoeuvring at the limits of aircraft and pilot's performance.

And this is not only for the fighters. It applies equally to transport planes and helicopters who also fly in extreme weather over unforgiving terrain.

When I flew in the IAF, we had none of the things that we take for granted today. No Instrument Landing Systems, no reliable navigation systems, and no autopilots. It was all manual flying by day and night.

In military flying, the margin of error is negligible and the penalty for a mistake is often a certain death.

Military Aircraft Design

Military aircraft are designed for combat operations, so safety, comfort and redundancies are not always the priority.

During training, when I flew an earlier version of the Mig-21, called the Type-77, the ejection seat had a minimum height of 110 metres. That meant if you lost an engine below that height, you could neither glide to force land nor eject¡ªwhich meant you'd be dead!

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Did that stop me and many others from flying? Of course not.

For decades we used the MiG 21 for training, because we could not procure a more suitable Advanced Jet Trainer.

Older technologies

When India became independent, we had a few vintage aircraft kept in flying condition by our ingenious engineers.

The story continued down the years, simply because we had no other choice.

The IAF needs 42 fighter squadrons, but has only 31.

Requirements were projected decades ago, but successive governments were unwilling or unable to spend on modernisation.

Delays in Indigenous Manufacturing

We kept hoping our DRDO and HAL would mass produce inexpensive aircraft to fulfil our needs but that did not happen.

Homemade basic trainers like HT-2 and HPT-32 flew for decades, but never were quite reliable.

HF-24 Marut, HAL's first attempt at making a fighter plane, did not live up to the expectations, and had to be retired early.

In 1985, the IAF submitted the operational requirements for the LCA or Light Combat Aircraft.

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We excitedly looked forward to flying a Made-in-India fighter plane, but it got so delayed, that some began to call it Late Combat Aircraft!

Finally, the IAF got the LCA, now rechristened Tejas, in 2016.

Single engine

The earlier fighter aircraft had single engines. So, in case of any engine problem, there was no option except an ejection, while the airplane crashed.

I have lost many a friend. More in the so-called peacetime than in actual combat. That's the price we paid for defending the nation, with inadequate and antiquated equipment.

We knew the risks, yet we continued to fly.

My relatives called me brave, but I disagreed. I thought my parents and my wife were braver.

Pilot errors also do happen, but that's inevitable, especially when they are expected to compensate for ageing aircraft, outdated technology, and a challenging flying environment, which are the major reasons for accidents in the IAF.

Let's look at the headline again, with its subheading.

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The IAF has to buy 114 fighter jets soon. Over the years, as more aircraft retire, the requirement will increase to 500.

What does this headline sound like now?