Forget Rafale Row, With Just 31 Squadrons Of Jets, IAF Chief BS Dhanoa's Worry Is Genuine

Last week, two pilots of the Indian Air Pilot (IAF) died during an acceptance sortie of Mirage 2000 upgraded by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). A day before the accident, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa had emphasised on the need of the fighter jets and maintaining the squadrons of fighter jets to counter any emergency.

AP

He spoke on how HAL hasn¡¯t been able to deliver and how IAF has cooperated with HAL, ¡°as a service; we have made concessions for HAL, but will the enemy make any concession for us when we face them in battle?¡±, he said as reported by HT.

The purchase of the 26 French Dassault Rafale fighter jets has been marred by a massive controversy and it has become a political issue despite Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa time and again reiterating the less number of India¡¯s fighting jet squadrons given how Pakistan and China have modernised their jet fleets.

AFP

But his worries have been taken lightly despite the shrinking squadrons. Though the authorised strength of IAF is 42 squadrons and it¡¯s a figure which has never been touched. The highest number of Squadrons IAF ever had were 39.5 in the early 1990s which is way back now.

#WATCH What we do not have are the numbers, against a sanctioned strength of 42 squadrons, we are down to 31. Even when we do have 42 squadrons, we will be below the combined numbers of two of our regional adversaries:Air Force Chief Birender Singh Dhanoa in Delhi pic.twitter.com/DKa6sQHDva

¡ª ANI (@ANI) September 12, 2018

The phasing out of MIGs and non-purchasing of the new fighter jets have left IAF with considerably low number of squadrons and months back Air Force Chief Dhanoa said and was quoted by IndiaToday, "Against the sanctioned strength of 42 squadrons, we are down to 31," Dhanoa said. He further added that even if India has its full strength of 42 squadrons, it will still "less than the combined strength of our two adversaries -- China and Pakistan".

Which fighters jets constitute our squadrons?

The Print on September 20 came out with a story based on the information provided by their sources, the publication compiled an inventory of the IAF¡¯s fighter jet fleet. The jets were categorised by type of planes from the oldest to the most modern and upgraded ones. The list said:

The three types MiG 21-Bison, Bis and M/MF has 6 squadrons with 4, 1 and 1 respectively in each category. MiG 27 has two while Jaguar has six in which one is upgraded, Mirage 2000 has three out of which two are upgraded and MiG 29 has three.

PTI

Sukhoi30 MKi- the most advanced fighter jet in IAF has 11 squadrons taking the number to 31.

The IAF, however, has raised a squadron of the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), however, nine of the aircraft are not fully cleared for operations which is why the number of squadrons is still 31.

A squadron is expected to hold 18 fully functional jets along with two trainers.

What do our adversaries have?

Reuters/Representational Image

Months back, The Week compared the numbers. Against India¡¯s 31 squadrons, Pakistan has 20. Though the comparison looks quite unrealistic, one fact can¡¯t be overlooked that Pakistan squadrons have more teeth as most squadrons comprise Chinese designed JF-17 and an upgraded version of American F16. China has roughly 17,00 fighter jets which include 800 fourth generation jets against India¡¯s 600.